Those words—that quiet acceptance of defeat, that gentle release from obligation—hit something primal and stubborn deep in my core.

My jaw clenched as I looked down at her, something dark and possessive flaring in my chest that had nothing to do with system notifications or cultivation benefits.

Using Qi telepathy to keep the conversation private from Yue's increasingly suspicious glare, I leaned closer to Ying Jia's ear.

'Will I be a man if I can't claim the women I've laid eyes on?'

The words were crude, vulgar, completely inappropriate for someone in her condition. But they carried an undertone of absolute determination that made her breath catch.

Ying Jia blinked up at me, processing the sheer audacity of what I'd just said.

After everything she'd suffered, all the heavenly issues that had been heaped upon her, here was this man talking about claiming her like she was some prize to be won.

It should have been insulting. Degrading.

Instead, she gave me a blank look, as if not even bothering to show disgust—just that expression of acceptance looking towards her withered body.

I didn't even care about it.

I was a pervert who just cared about two things when falling in love: it had to be a woman, and second, if I fell for her, then that was it.

A ghost of a smile flickered across her ravaged features as she closed her eyes, her voice emerging as the faintest whisper.

"You are strange," she murmured, the words carrying layers of meaning that went far beyond gratitude. "But you will not get anything from me. My body is already withered, and I am too broken to satisfy your desires."

The statement was delivered with matter-of-fact resignation, but there was something else there—a challenge, perhaps, or maybe just the bitter honesty of someone who had nothing left to lose.

However, what I cared about at that moment was the fact that she said those words out loud.

'Ah, she can't use Telepathic Qi.' The realization was very much evident to me—so evident that I already knew the result of it. So I just lifted my head to look towards my wife.

Yue's sharp eyes caught mine. Her green gaze narrowed dangerously as she stalked closer.

"Yue, where are Mei and Feng?" I just tried to change the topic. It was the least I could do right now—to not let them know I was lusting over a woman who didn't even have a body. Though technically she had one, it was like skin and skeleton.

Though who cares? When I arrived in this world, I was just skin and skeleton too. Here I was, perverted. So what if the thing was now the other way around?

"What exactly did you just say to her?" Yue demanded, her voice carrying that particular edge that meant she was about three seconds away from drawing her bow. "I swear, if you're harassing a dying woman, I'll put an arrow through—"

"Let's get married, Yue." The words hung in the air like a thunderbolt.

Yue's entire body went rigid, her sharp green eyes widening to the size of dinner plates as her mouth fell open in complete shock. The bow in her hands trembled, nearly slipping from suddenly nerveless fingers.

"W-What?" she stammered, her warrior's composure crumbling like a house of cards. The confident, fierce woman who had been ready to put an arrow through me just seconds ago was now standing there looking like a deer caught in headlights.

Her face began turning the most magnificent shade of crimson, starting from her neck and creeping up to her cheeks like spilled wine on silk. Her mouth opened and closed soundlessly, trying to form words that simply wouldn't come.

I couldn't help but grin at the sight. Perfect deflection.

"I said," I repeated casually, as if I wasn't holding a dying woman in my arms while proposing marriage in the middle of a palace courtyard, "let's get married. We've been doing everything married couples do anyway, haven't we? Shouldn't we make it official?"

The effect was immediate and devastating.

Yue's hands flew up to cover her burning cheeks, her entire body trembling as steam practically rose from her head. The fierce archer who could put an arrow through a target at impossible distances was reduced to a blushing maiden who couldn't even look me in the eye.

"Y-You..." she whispered, her voice barely audible, "you can't just say things like that!"

I tilted my head innocently. "Why not? Don't you want to be my bride?"

That did it. Yue's knees actually buckled slightly, and she had to steady herself against a nearby pillar. Her face was now so red I was genuinely concerned she might pass out from the blood rush.

I fully expected her to start cursing me out, calling me every name in the book like she usually did when I caught her off guard. Instead, she just stood there for a long moment, head bowed, hands clenched into tight fists at her sides.

Finally, in a voice so quiet I almost missed it, she whispered, "Fine."

My smirk widened. Hook, line, and sinker. She'd completely forgotten what she was interrogating me about.

From my arms, I caught Ying Jia looking up at me with an expression that clearly said she was beginning to understand exactly what kind of man I was. Her silver eyes held a mixture of disbelief and something that might have been grudging respect for the sheer audacity of my deflection technique.

I just shrugged my shoulders and winked at her. Her expression didn't change, but I caught the faintest twitch at the corner of her mouth that might have been the ghost of amusement.

"Shall we go inside then?" I asked cheerfully, as if I hadn't just reduced one of my wives to a blushing mess and been silently judged by a dying divine being.

Yue walked behind us in complete silence, her head still down, face still glowing like a lantern. Every few steps, she would glance up at my back, then immediately look away again, her blush deepening even further.

The palace servants who had gathered to witness our arrival quickly scattered as we approached, clearly sensing the tension in the air and wisely choosing not to get involved in whatever domestic drama was unfolding.

As we entered the main hall, two familiar figures appeared from one of the side corridors. Mei and Feng approached together, both wearing expressions of curiosity that quickly turned to concern when they saw Yue's condition.

"What happened to Yue?" Mei asked, her dark eyes wide with worry as she took in her sister-wife's bright red face and silent demeanor.

Feng's pale blue eyes narrowed as she studied the scene. "She looks like she's about to combust."

Mei's concern immediately transformed into mischief as understanding dawned on her face. A wicked grin spread across her lips as she sidled up to the still-silent Yue.

"Oh my," she purred, "are you embarrassed about something, Yue?"

Yue's blush somehow managed to deepen even further.

"What could you possibly have to be embarrassed about?" Mei continued, clearly enjoying herself. "Unless... oh! Did husband tell you how rough he was with me earlier? How he made me all dirty and—"

"Mei," Feng's voice cut through the teasing like a blade of ice.

But Mei was on a roll now, her eyes sparkling with mischief. "Oh, maybe more dirty he went with Feng. He even threw his—"

"MEI."

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