My Enemy Became My Cultivation Companion

At the dead of night, the world was utterly silent. In the mountain forest, only the sound of rushing wind broke the stillness. Inside this small camp tent, it seemed as though even the drop of a pin could be heard. With every step Chen Yi took closer, Min Ning involuntarily retreated a step.

Min Ning had always known of his lustful nature.

Most believed the rumors about Chen Qianhu frequenting brothels and recreational boats were exaggerated, thinking his past compromises were but temporary. Yet any woman who mattered to him knew he was deeply driven by desire, his very core dictated by carnal impulses, as if the lower corpse refused to be severed.

And now, under this boundless darkness, her eyes caught Chen Yi staring unblinkingly at her, his intentions bare and unmistakable. She shivered, forcing herself to grip the sword's hilt tightly. In this moment, she longed for the days when Chen Yi was simply her subordinate.

The past was better, but it was gone forever.

"Do you intend to become a rebel and traitor?" Min Ning diverted the topic.

"I was always destined to be a rebel and traitor." Chen Yi refused to let her sidestep, smiling as he said, "Then let me sin one more time."

Min Ning's voice was hoarse as she rasped, "You shouldn't do this."

Facing his gaze head-on, Min Ning did not back down in the slightest. Her eyes flashed like swords as she bit her lip lightly. Why was she hesitating? Wasn't this the moment she'd been waiting for?

Even though she hadn't used the drug yet, wasn't this the exact moment she'd prepared for?

"So… do you truly want this?" Min Ning sneered. "Even if I don't want to give it to you?"

Chen Yi rubbed his chin. He hadn't planned to take her right at this moment, but now it felt wrong not to act.

He noticed Min Ning's gaze, filled with both anger and disappointment. She… was the first woman apart from Zhou Yitang who genuinely cared for him. She was wonderful, maneuvering incessantly between him and her sister, even going so far as to be jealous for his sake. Even after their squabble, it was ultimately just jealousy.

Chen Yi wanted to cherish her, treasure her more, the same way he cherished his little fox now.

But perhaps it wouldn't hurt to take her first and cherish her afterward.

With that thought, Chen Yi sneered and said, "Then what if I say I truly want it?"

Min Ning's valiant face darkened just a touch with disappointment and said, "I thought you had principles. Turns out, it was just a lie. I thought you really had them."

"I do."

Min Ning's expression grew cold as she countered, "Neither poverty moves you, nor power bends you, nor riches corrupt you. Which of these three do you manage to uphold?"

"Except for not being corrupted by riches."

Min Ning's facial muscles stiffened slightly, her teeth biting together in frustration.

Chen Yi forcefully pressed down her sword, no matter how she strained and resisted, unable to raise it even a millimeter.

Min Ning stared at him fixedly; the chill seeped from her feet upward, her mind blank. Was this how she'd be taken—here in a camp belonging to a prince of foreign lineage, by Chen Yi, who had just used another woman moments ago?

"…If you're going to, then just do it." She stiffened her neck as she spoke, though her ten fingers trembled uncontrollably. "And I've already said—if anyone must bear the humiliation, let it be me, for my sister's sake."

Chen Yi's breaths grew ragged, his hot exhalations hitting Min Ning's neck, his eyes full of wicked intentions. She shivered visibly, goosebumps standing on her skin.

His hand slowly reached for Min Ning's ceremonial robe.

She froze, like a block of wood, as he gently pressed her down onto the bed.

Her eyes welled with tears, as though enduring unspoken disgrace.

But Chen Yi remained indifferent.

Suddenly, Min Ning locked eyes with his gaze, saturated with wickedness—completely different from the one he once had. Entirely different.

It was as though the Chen Zunming who journeyed with her to uphold justice had vanished entirely.

"No, don't do this!"

At the moment he was about to tear off her garment, he caught sight of her shoulder—it was snow-white, taut from years of martial training, and he was eager to admire it further. Yet at that precise moment, Min Ning suddenly cried out fearfully.

"Why not?"

"Weren't you the one who said you'd endure it in place of your sister?"

Chen Yi chuckled, about to tease her further, but his eyes landed on Min Ning's terrified face.

Out of nowhere, an ache bloomed in his heart, and his movements came to a halt. In the night's gloom, his heavy breathing began to subside.

Was he truly going to take her?

She was kind to him—couldn't he wait a little longer to pursue love, to give her more time?

Min Ning heaved a few ragged breaths, slowly calming as well.

The sparse moonlight lit the scene faintly, leaving them in silence.

They simply stared at one another.

After a long while, Chen Yi cleared his throat:

"Min Ning, you tempted me with taunts, and now you've fallen into my hands. You even claimed you'd nobly sacrifice yourself. How could I possibly refuse?"

Min Ning extended a trembling hand to touch his face, her voice hoarse:

"You'll… destroy us."

Chen Yi felt an inexplicable pang of sorrow as his eyes took in Min Ning's face—a face etched with disappointment and desolation.

"Are you… really going to do this?"

Min Ning's words were rasped out with difficulty.

Her questioning caused Chen Yi to hesitate slightly.

"Why wouldn't I… do this?"

Instead of pulling on her collar, Chen Yi raised his hand to stroke her resolute yet delicate face.

She trembled lightly in his grasp.

In truth, he cared whether or not Min Ning would be ruined. But her willingness to sacrifice herself for her sister, and her readiness to surrender everything to him, made hesitating almost meaningless.

And yet, her eyes—why did they carry so much reluctance?

"Why does it have to be us?"

As though crossing that irreversible line would shackle her forever to his power and ambition. A rebel who walks the martial path by challenging authority, yet now unable to raise her sword, no longer the Min Ning he once admired.

That part of her was what he liked most.

If so, Min Ming's scheming succeeded—and everything would be destroyed. All of it, utterly ruined.

The beauty lay before him—should he just let her go?

"Why does it have to be us?"

This time, it was Chen Yi's turn to ask, his voice husky.

"Because we should be slaying monsters and demons, upholding justice."

Min Ning mumbled, as if to herself.

"You've always coerced me, tempted me. If you truly plan to take me like this, I'll lose my spirit. Even if I accept being your concubine, nothing will be the same again."

"Afterward… I can go on alone."

"No, you can't. Don't abandon me just like that." Min Ning suddenly snarled with ferocity.

She fixed her gaze firmly on this man destined to be a rebel and traitor.

"Why couldn't I?"

"Because you always place profit above all else. You need someone… someone to stay by your side, to guide you back to righteousness whenever you veer astray. Someone to fight monsters and demons and stand for justice with you."

Min Ning raised a trembling hand and gently brushed Chen Yi's face.

Silence lingered between them, broken only by her hand caressing his visage.

She stared at him intently, her tone unusually bitter:

"Consider this as me begging you, just this once."

Chen Yi kept his silence.

"Is our bond not worth you granting me one request?"

Min Ning lowered her gaze; her brows, normally spirited, were now wrought with sorrow:

"Don't rush. I'll give myself to you willingly."

Chen Yi inhaled deeply and said in a harsh tone, "Have you ever considered that, in my eyes, 'us' pales in importance compared to you, Min Ning? All I've ever done, all our righteous acts, they've only been for the sake of having you."

She suddenly burst into a sorrowful laugh:

"Then have you ever considered that I slayed monsters and upheld justice, all the while never being able to forget you?"