It was obviously her own body, right? Why avoid it? Why be afraid of it? Even if it was wrong, so what? Can’t she make mistakes? If no one in the world made mistakes, then why did the concept of punishment exist?
That night, the potent cursed seal and the spring wine brewed together and spiraled Lily’s mind into a sea of loss.
Her deep and erratic breath skimmed the ancient mirror, blurring her avid image reflected on its surface.
Lily returned the mirror to her bosom. At this moment, what reasons did she have to look at herself through the mirror? Was it to remind herself that it was another woman in the mirror?
Certainly not!
“That’s me: a woman with the consciousness of a boy. Can’t I just honestly accept it? Can’t I…”
Either side of Lily’s kimono slid down her narrow shoulders and rested on her inner elbows.
“Whatever, I’ve suffered a lot of hardships— struggling between life and death countless times. Although I eventually survived each ordeal, who could understand the burdens I shouldered at that time, no, all the time?! It’s okay to be scared… My courage isn’t endless…”
For the first time, Lily consciously cupped her towering breasts with her trembling hands, relishing in the ecstasy reciprocated by the tingling sensations.
“Mmm…”
On the gloomy deserted island, the lonely goddess bloomed poignantly.
It feels wrong— but sometimes sweetness could be savored from bitterness.
“Perhaps, deep within my heart, I am too obsessed with the idea of being a near-perfect woman. The things I find shameful in a woman isn’t necessarily a bad thing, right…?”
Lily’s face grew hot and her slender fingers pressed into her smooth skin, remolding her already perfect ‘snowballs’ into various shapes1. Sometimes, imperfection was also a kind of unique beauty.
If things continued like this, Lily would definitely sink deeper into her ardent desires.
All this was caused by the combined effects of the curse and alcohol, right?
Is that truly the case? Probably…
“But, maybe I’m just using this as an excuse. Is this the real me— the true indulgent, tender, shameless Lily?”
In the darkness laced by the sound of heavy rain, heavy footsteps gradually echoed from the distance.
Lily’s enraptured state had plummeted her vigilance and perception to the point where she only noticed the noise now.
“What?!”
Lily hastily pulled up her clothes while trembling all over. Although her face was burning red, she tried to calm her uneven breaths in an attempt to mask her volatile condition.
After straightening her posture, she fixed her sights in the direction of the disturbance. From both near and afar, several majestic figures emerged from the thickets and marched towards her position.
These ancient warriors were vested in sturdy armors and boasted well-developed arms and legs. They were all unusually tall, standing at an average height of 1.9 meters. With their tanned skins and bearded faces, they encompassed an aura uncharacteristic of small soldiers from the Heian Dynasty.
These warriors weren’t phantom bodies but real men! Their bronze skin and rippling muscles with toughness tantamount to copper were testaments to this fact.
“Who are you guys?! Get out of my way!” Lily yelled, but her efforts were in vain.
“Huh?!” Although she instinctively felt that her opponents were powerful, her spiritual probes couldn’t detect their power level.
Even if it was a case where their strength far outmatched her own, she should at least be able to sense their spiritual fluctuations.
“They don’t have any souls! I can’t sense any spiritual seas either.” Lily suddenly realized.
If the previous enemies were regarded as powerful souls without bodies, then these samurais were the opposite— powerful bodies without souls.
“Intruder…woman…impose death penalty!” “Impose death penalty!”
The inability to accurately judge the strength of the opposing party pricked Lily’s nerves. These formidable samurai exuded an aura that caused her heart to palpitate so she didn’t dare to take them lightly.
The pace of the samurai wasn’t too fast but their steps were heavy and powerful.
Lily took a few steps back and turned to escape.
At that moment, a huge bronze sword thundered through the air and flew in front of her face.
As the sword was about to brush the tip of Lily’s nose, she subconsciously bent her body into a bow shape, causing the blade to sweep across and miss her chest by a few millimeters.
Immediately afterward, a big foot stomped towards Lily with crushing force.
Lily barely managed to glimpse the image of a tall, bronze-skinned man before she had to roll sideways to avoid the foot.
Boom!
The entire mountain shook and large cracks snaked from the crater stamped into the ground.
Lily gauged that this kick was at least equal to the strength of a mid Spirit Jade expert!
“Why, why do you all want to kill me?! Can’t the world settle in peace and quiet?! Isn’t there anyone to protect me?! Why do I always have to confront all kinds of danger by myself?! Whether it’s life or dignity…you soulless pieces of flesh will never understand! There is no point in your existence!”
Lily kicked off the ground and summoned Yasutsuna in her hand. Since her opponents had no souls, Crescent Moon held no advantage in this fight. Channeling the momentum through her hands, Lily slashed Yasutsuna at the samurai’s robust body while leaving a trail of crimson light in her wake.
Although the flesh of the muscular samurai had a physical touch, it was many times tougher than real bronze. As Lily slashed, she could feel the obvious resistance transmitted from her katana.
Pfft—!
The blade got stuck halfway through the samurai’s waist.
Since the samurai retained no soul or consciousness, he didn’t react in any notable way when his body was deeply cut. However, his physical capabilities were still affected.”
“Don’t bully me!!!” Lily seemed to be crying, her emotions in disarray. A torrent of spiritual energy exploded from her slender body and strengthened the force in both her arms.
Whizz—!
Lily’s Yasutsuna forcefully broke through the resistance and pointed into the sky, completely splitting the burly samurai into two halves.
As the samurai’s torso fell to the ground, Lily had a feeling that she had seen him somewhere before.
Perhaps these bodies belonged to the ancient spirit warriors she fought before.
The successful kill caused Lily to calm down, reminding her to concentrate on the battle. This state of intense focus helped her to temporarily forget about the effects of the cursed mark.
The rest of the samurai slowly gathered around.
“Execute intruder!” “Woman dares trespass on the holy land! Kill woman!”
The voices of the samurai were deep but monotone in pitch.
Lily expanded her domain and couldn’t help but gasp in alarm. She was completely surrounded by these samurai— there were hundreds of them!
She was too careless. In a blink, she was surrounded by enemies on all sides.
“I need to find a way to break through. These samurai have tough skin so I have to be careful. If my sword gets stuck like last time while I’m facing multiple attacks, I’ll be in serious trouble!”
Lily used her domain to scour the area for weaknesses in the enemy formation. She jumped onto an ancient tree before leaping over to another, using the surrounding canopies as leverage to avoid the encirclement.
However, when Lily jumped for the third time, a swift figure suddenly appeared from out of the darkness. It was a stout and resolute-looking warrior wielding a short triangular trident which he promptly stabbed towards Lily’s waist. Lily hurriedly reacted, parrying the strike with her scabbard.
Clank—!
The triangular trident sparked a powerful impact that directly knocked Lily away.
“Damn, have I lost my mind?! I forgot to wear the chest undergarment!” Lily felt numb all over. Just now, she lost 30% of her spiritual energy in an effort to negate the attack.
Without the Amethyst undergarment, the full attack of a Spirit Jade adept, even if blocked with a scabbard, was enough to injure her through the shockwave alone.
Lily twisted her body in mid-air and changed direction by kicking off a tree trunk, landing behind a huge rock.
After landing, Lily didn’t hesitate to stab her katana into the ground. She quickly pulled open her kimono, causing a pair of snow-white buns to pop out and jiggle with her rough movements2.
She retrieved the chest undergarment from the mirror space and hurriedly strapped it on. In the meantime, heavy footsteps approached her hiding spot. A tall warrior came over and slashed at the rock with his heavy sword.
Too late!
Lily rolled forward.
Boom—!!!
The rock was shattered into pieces by the hefty strike, sending countless stone fragments flying about. Some of the pieces managed to hit Lily but were easily deterred by a wave of spiritual energy.
Although she didn’t get to pull up and fasten her clothes, Lily managed to put on the celestial battle undergarment in time. Instantaneously, her spiritual defense was amplified by a hundred times.
After Lily stood up, she found herself surrounded once again by a large group of bronze-skinned warriors.
She grabbed her tattered clothes and tore them off, diagonally ripping a huge portion of her kimono’s skirt. Now, her top was only covered by the chest undergarment while her lower area was partially covered by the ripped skirt that was shorter on one side. Lily stepped forward, her exposed thighs stretched taut in preparation for battle.
“Who exactly are you people, or should I ask, what are you? I’m merely trapped on this deserted island and have no intention to break into your holy land?!” “Whoever trespasses onto the holy land…execution!” “Execution!”
These ancient warriors didn’t have the ability to communicate with Lily. They only kept repeating the same words and phrases before resuming their attacks on her.
“Why am I even trying to talk to these soulless things?” Lily muttered to herself.
A warrior approached and stabbed at Lily with a bronze spear. Their moves were usually slow, but this particular attack was sudden and terrifying.
Lily quickly dodged to one side. The shockwave generated by the blow pierced through the trees in its path and sent pieces of bark, branches, and leaves raining over the area.
Before her opponent could pull back and recover his stance, Lily swung her katana and lopped off his head. To her surprise, the warrior remained unaffected and swept his spear at a wide-angle.
Bang!
The tremendous force hit Lily in the waist and sent her flying, causing her to slam into a nearby samurai.
“Ah!”
Fortunately, she decided to take the risk and wear the chest undergarment. With its aid, she managed to avoid injury but the pain of the impact still garnered a scream.
The samurai who fell along with Lily hugged her body with his big hands, forcefully restraining her while they lay on the ground.
Lily was restricted by the samurai’s tight embrace so she could barely move. She wriggled an arm free from the hold and summoned Brocade-Patterned Koi from the mirror space. With extreme precision, she sliced off the samurai’s fingers while trying not to hurt herself in the process. Now partially free, Lily turned over and thrust the tachi into the other hand, pinning it to the ground. She then stood up and stabbed Yasutsuna into the man’s chest.
However, beheading or even piercing the hearts of these warriors produced limited effects. The only way to completely incapacitate them was to destroy their muscles, tendons, and meridians so that they couldn’t exert any force. Just like ordinary humans, they still required these parts to move after all.
Lily slashed a few more times in succession, mutilating the samurai’s limbs to ensure he wouldn’t be a future threat. Even then, the samurai staggered to his feet and tried to dodge the incoming attacks. Lily dashed forward and struck at his leg, causing him to immediately fall to his knees.
These ancient warriors had no soul or treasures so it was useless to kill them. The bronze weapons they wielded were extremely old, heavy, roughly-made, and of low grade.
Lily deftly swayed from side to side as she ran, avoiding the attacks of several warriors who chopped at her path. With quick movements, she made a dash towards the outskirts of the encirclement.
