Devouring the Heavens (ATG)

Chapter 20: Tongues and Talks

A/N: So if you guys aren't aware, Webnovel has been 'shadowbanning' comments recently. This means that any comment that contains profanities in any form, will be automatically deleted.

Anyways, enjoy the chapter!

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After whispering for a servant to go ahead and respectfully motioning Shane to follow him, the guard set off towards the estate at a moderate pace.

Shane marveled at the sights in front of him, huge lawns and flowerbeds leading towards a massive stone building reminiscent of ancient Chinese architecture. The gardens here were not only immaculately kept but also exceptionally vibrant, the fresh scent of nature invading his nostrils with every breath.

Heading towards a tiled archway, Shane could see that the sprawling, single-story manor in front of him was obviously meticulously crafted through time, effort, and lots of money. It was massive and joined together with many different shapes yet it was still very aesthetically pleasing.

The guard led him through the archway, into a large courtyard which joined onto a path made from very familiar-looking stone...

Meanwhile, Shane's excitement and restlessness grew with every step, his breathing became a little short with panic and his thoughts ran wild. 'Will she be here waiting for me? What if she doesn't actually want to meet me? I am kind of like a creepy internet stalker if I think about it.'

Eventually, Shane groaned and shook his head, he couldn't take it anymore.

His profound sense was unleashed and extended as far as it could be pushed, in the direction the guard was heading. He froze, she was sitting right there at a table in that familiar garden, just as beautiful as ever.

He could feel her chaotic aura as she anxiously stared towards the stone path. 'Seems like I wasn't the only nervous one today, hehe.' Nervousness, somehow blown away, Shane let out a breath he wasn't aware of holding and adopted an easygoing grin.

Seeing her, little miss ice cube, like that, how could he not mess with her a bit? Maybe he should use the wind to transfer a whisper or use his profound sense to tap her on the shoulder?

Unfortunately for Shane, he picked up another presence nearing the only other occupant of the table. It was the servant from earlier. She rushed toward the pavilion before whispering something into the ears of an average-looking and slightly overweight middle-aged man.

Frowning a little that his fun would be ruined before he could act, Shane grinned and used his profound sense to 'prod' Qingyue. The grin quickly turned to a helpless look as little did he expect that she would explode out with her entire cultivation base and even use her movement technique.

Shane watched her approach with swift and graceful steps, his profound sense never leaving her ethereal figure. As she rounded the corner, he prepared his best teasing grin and couldn't help but cock an eyebrow as her aura directly slammed into the guard and scared him into unconsciousness.

She didn't even slow down, in fact, she seemed to speed up as the distance between them receded by the second. Her Icy blue eyes were locked onto his crimson ones the whole time.

Suddenly, Qingyue displayed a beautiful smile with just a touch of mischievousness and Shane swore the morning sun seemed less bright. She opened her arms wide and slammed her foot into the ground as her body catapulted towards him from over a dozen meters away.

Perhaps only a few people in the whole Floating Cloud would be able to see her clearly now but Shane was definitely one of them. In fact, to Shane, she was traveling quite slowly, though that didn't mean there was no force behind her.

She couldn't actually hurt him, but that didn't mean that he wanted to be tackled to the floor by her, so he tapped into his profound energy for a second and stepped to the side.

As she reached him, one of his arms snuck around Qingyue's waist and the other went under her armpit and to her back as he twirled with her to counter the force.

As they were spinning, he instinctively pulled her in close until both their chests and foreheads were touching while their eyes remained locked onto one another the entire time.

Shane offered up a small apology to Disney for the plagiarism. Goddess knew this wouldn't be the last time either.

Once again, he couldn't help but marvel at how soft and warm, yet also strangely cold, her body was and now that she was in his arms, he absolutely never wanted to let her go.

Qingyue must have felt the same because her eyebrows arched a bit in joy and she looked at him questioningly with her eyes brimming with affection, as if imploring him to answer.

Lost in those beautiful globes, he was vaguely aware of her arms around his neck and her fingers in his hair as his own hand raised to the back of her head. He could feel her sweet and cool breath on his lips and the heat inside him was rising towards a boiling point

She wanted an answer from him? Then he would give her one she would never forget...

He pulled her head forward, closing the small remaining distance, and immediately attached his lips to her lush plump ones. He poured all his love into the connection as an intense feeling of contentment nearly overwhelmed him. Qingyue froze for a second and small tears gathered in the corner of her eyes.

Shane was almost scared to death and feared that he had ruined everything. Thankfully, as he was about to pull away, her fingers tightened their grip on his hair and she started to respond almost hungrily.

At first, she tried moving her lips and although she clearly had no idea what she was supposed to be doing, it didn't make the kiss in any way less amazing.

Shane led her along, swapping between small pecks and massaging or nibbling her soft lips between his. He would also flick his tongue across them from time to time, asking for entry.

Qingyue was completely lost as she clumsily responded to Shane's teasing. The poor little sheep had no idea that she had delivered herself right into the wolf's den, not that she minded at all.

The limited contact was no longer enough for Shane and he pulled her waist in tight as if trying to fuse them together. Qingyue let out a small gasp at the more intimate touch and that was all the opportunity Shane needed.

His tongue darted its way inside her mouth and ran wild, running along her gums and trying to coax hers out to play.

She seemed hesitant at first but after only a few seconds she began to lose herself in the kiss once again. It wasn't long before her tongue was clumsily responding to the ravishing it received from Shane's.

Qingyue's saliva was cool and tasted incredibly sweet and Shane relished the taste as the kiss deepened. Their tongues continued to dance together like two little fishes for at least a handful of minutes before finally parting.

They were both gasping for breath. Qingyue's face was flushed and her eyes had long turned hazy; she didn't even notice the string of crystalline saliva that still connected their slightly swollen lips.

Shane reached up a finger to wipe the saliva and then put it into his mouth. "Delicious," he said, in what he hoped was a 'husky' voice. Qingyue shuddered a little and then blushed up to her ears, before hiding her head in his chest. He could still feel her take a few deep breaths in through her nose though...

Outwardly Shane had a calm and gentle smile on his face but inwardly, he was celebrating and patting himself on the back. 'I just had the anime kiss moment with the saliva bridge! OMFGoddess you didn't abandon me!'

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*Cough* "Ahem. Shan Long, I presume?" A middle-aged man with a slight scowl on his face had rounded the corner and was now giving Shane the stink eye after seeing the position he and Qingyue were in.

'Shit shit shit! How long were we here? That must be Qingyue's father! How long was he there?' Shane berated himself for letting down his guard and slightly separated from Qingyue. Thankfully, they were within one of the manor's courtyards and were mostly out of sight.

He took a deep breath to calm himself and gave a small bow to the man that would hopefully become his father-in-law. "Senior Xia. It is a pleasure to meet you."

Xia Hongyi stroked his short beard while squinting at Shane and said. "Hmmm, when I heard from Yue'er that her friend had a business proposition for me, I must admit I wasn't expecting the friendship to be this close."

Qingyue seemed to be a little lost from the hostility her father was directing at her love but Shane just smiled and reached down to grasp her hand in his. Their fingers naturally intertwined and he gave her a reassuring squeeze before speaking.

"Senior Xia, I love her and nobody in this world can take her away from me." Qingyue just hummed in delight when she heard that.

"You are aware she is engaged aren't you boy?" Xia Hongyi almost spat.

Shane didn't even flinch. "I am!"

"You're also aware of the sect she has joined?" 'She must have told him.' Shanes crimson eyes narrowed a little as they took on a rather ruthless glint for a second before Qingyue noticed and pinched his waist.

Shane didn't even feel it but wouldn't he be courting death if he didn't at least pretend he was hurt? And so, he turned to Qingyue and screamed. "Aiya! Domestic abuse! Okay, sorry sorry."

He then took a deep breath and released it as a sigh before turning back to Xia Hongyi "Yes I am aware. Worry not, for I have many ways to convince Frozen Cloud Immortal Palace to allow our relationship. The benefits I can provide them with are also too many for them to refuse me and the Grand Mistress is a reasonable woman."

Xia Hongyi had a rather incredulous look on his face for a second as his daughter also nodded her head seriously at Shane's words. He could have sworn he saw a flash of annoyance in her otherwise lovestruck gaze at the boy's mention of helping them too. 'Interesting'

"Okay, follow me, boy. Let's have that chat." And with that, he turned his back and started walking back towards the garden.

Qingyue went to follow after her father but before she made it two steps, she was held back by a tug on her hand. As she turned to Shane with her eyebrow raised in question, he ducked down and pecked her on the lips lightning-fast, rooting her to the spot.

She gave him a look that said 'what are you doing?' but Shane just smiled innocently and started whistling a tune while nonchalantly dragging her along with him to the garden.

When they rounded the corner, the familiar stone path, the flowers, the plants, the old Chinese willow, and the crystal clear pool all came into view. Shane took a deep breath through his nose, appreciating the floral scents before his vision locked onto the new edition.

A beautifully crafted, large, oval-shaped, wooden pavilion with a tiled roof had been erected near the water. Sitting at an intricately designed table, with his arms crossed and a neutral look on his face, was Xia Hongyi. 'How did he even get back here so fast?'

Shane and Qingyue made their way over to the table with smiling faces and Shane pulled a chair out for her like a perfect gentleman. He then sat down next to her and across from her father.

Before the poor bloke could even say anything, Shane began. "I am sure you have quite a few questions for me, Senior Xia but I can tell that the most pressing one is about Qingyue's engagement, am I correct?"

Hongyi nodded and said sternly. "Yue'ers engagement to Xiao Che has been in place since just after she was born and the marriage itself is almost fully organized. If we were to cancel it now, not only would myself and Xiao Clan lose face, that poor kid Xiao Che would be devastated. What plan can you possibly have that would satisfy all parties?"

Shane still looked nonchalant about the whole thing and instead asked a question. "Senior Xia, you are aware that Qingyue is a disciple of Frozen Cloud, yes? He nodded. "Are you even fully aware of what that means?" He nodded again but looked less sure.

"Frozen Cloud Immortal Palace is 2nd place of the 4 top sects within Blue Wind Empire. Their disciples, elders, and even leaders are all totally comprised of females. Relationships between men and women are a taboo within their sect as they are well known for their purity.

I am guessing that if not for her incredible talent and potential, they would have never agreed to allow Qingyue to marry."

Xia Hongyi raised an eyebrow and said "What does that have to do with anythi-" His eyes went wide mid-sentence and he closed his mouth looking a bit regretful.

"It looks like you understand it, senior Xia.

Do you think for even a second that Xiao Che won't be devastated when he finds out that his wife is only a wife in name and that not only can he never touch her, but she will also leave him soon after the marriage and never return.

In fact, I think it would probably crush the poor boy and even if I wasn't completely in love with Qingyue or didn't care about him, I wouldn't have let this happen."

Xia Hongyi's breath quickened and all the color left his face, while Qingyue fidgeted uncomfortably in her seat as they both ruminated on what Shane had said before they both turned to him questioningly at the same time.

Shane grimaced a little and scratched his nose awkwardly as he said. "Well it's not like I was trying to make you guys feel bad or anything, it's just, how do I put this? Xiao Che and I kind of became brothers"

Qingyue was the first to react, her nails started digging into the back of his hand and she shouted "WHAT!?" in an extremely loud voice, making Dusty wriggle around his neck in an uncomfortable manner.

Shane rubbed her palm with his thumb reassuringly. "Calm down dear, calm down. Let me explain. Can I let my profound beast out into the pond first? She is getting rather restless." Qingyue narrowed her eyes and Hongyi just gave him a small shrug so he decided to call her out.

A green flash and the little Draconic Wyrm Dusty made her dazzling appearance. Shane scratched her under her chin and over her little horns and cooed "Who's my good little girl, heeeeey?"

Hongyi sported a shocked expression at how a necklace turned into a dragon snake and Qingyue just mumbled "beautiful" although it was unclear whether Shane's loving visage or Dusty herself were the cause.

He flashed a grin at Hongyi and said. "Now, try not to be too shocked at the next part, okay? Dusty, you see that pond over there? You can go play in it!"

Dusty chirped a couple of times before licking Shane's face and after he pointed at her, Qingyue's face as well. She then shot off of Shane's arm and with another flash, both her aura and size grew dramatically. Within just a second, she was at her full glorious length and another second later, all 25m of her slid into the pond water without a trace.

Qingyue's eyes went even wider and it looked like her soul flew away. She looked so cute that Shane couldn't help but pinch her cheeks! Consequently bringing her back down to earth a little.

"W-w-what was that?" She managed to ask and Xia Hongyi just nodded dumbly along with her.

"Hmmm, that's Dusty. She is a Draconian Storm Wyrm that I raised from the egg of a Forest Sand Wyrm. She is especially lazy and affectionate, though she seems to prefer that brat Lingxi to me" Shane grumbled the last bit under his breath, making Qingyue giggle.

*Clap* "Anyway, where were we? Ah, that's right. On my first day in Floating Cloud, I spotted a kid being bullied on the street.

Now normally I wouldn't have interfered but one of the trash young masters said something about how some other trash young master Yulong should marry Qingyue and so I got a little mad and wanted to send them packing.

*Cough* Little did I realize, they would be so weak that they almost pissed themselves in fear and ran away while calling me senior, senior...

Aaaanyway, after they left, this crippled kid that was being bullied got up and thanked me and I had a favorable impression of him for the way he acted even though life had been really unfair to him, so I dragged him along with me to see the city a bit.

Eventually, I found out his name and realized who he was. Unfortunately, by that time it was too late.

He had already invited me to stay in the Xiao clan and so I had the thought to see whether I could do something for him in exchange for dropping the engagement." Shane paused to take a sip of the tea that Qingyue had poured for him and brushed his fingers lovingly along her cheek.

"At first, I was thinking of him as someone who was part of a transaction and nothing more but after getting to know Grandpa Lie and Lingxi, I realized that they are all good people.

That kid Xiao Che also has a similar type of mindset to me in that he will go to great lengths to see his loved ones safe and happy."

Shane's eyes glowed a little at that point which scared the shit out of Xia Hongyi. Qingyue however, just squeezed his hand while giving him a bright smile.

"So anyways, after that, I got a rather crazy plan in mind for a way to help my brother and allow there to be no hard feelings for canceling the engagement."

Qingyue refilled Shane's cup of tea and he hummed in thanks as he gulped it all down at once this time, giving Xia Hongyi a chance to ask a question of his own. "So what did you do?"

Shane looked at him for a few seconds to allow for some suspense to build.

"I healed his veins" Xia Hongyi and Qingyue who had both just taken a sip of their tea, choked on it at the same time.

Hongyi especially looked at Shane like he was some sort of alien and asked in a quiet voice. "How?"

"Well, the official story is that my Master, who is a Medical Saint, diagnosed Xiao Che's profound veins as majorly damaged instead of crippled and concocted a medication for him which healed it and we should leave it at that." Shane said seriously.

Qingyue didn't know whether to laugh or cry. What Master? What Medical Saint? Shane had only been here for a couple of months, how could he have either.

Hongyi himself wasn't wet behind the ears and understood that asking further wouldn't bring any benefits for either of them so he just gave Shane a solemn nod.

"Senior Xia, I know you may not yet trust me but surely you trust Grandpa Lie? You can rest assured that Grandpa Lie was there with me when I healed Xiao Che's veins and he even took part in the procedure" He looked visibly more relieved after Shane said that.

"Now, even if that is not enough, I have two other trump cards at the ready as well. Before I can reveal them, I will need you to clear the garden apart from yourself and QIngyue." Hongyi waved off the servants and guards without another thought and leaned in to hear what Shane had to say.

"My first card is Xiao Lie himself. Due to my efforts in preparing spirit tea and another product that I will reveal to you soon, the barrier that has been blocking his progression to Earth Profound all these years has loosened.

If I can feel this, he surely can too and I intend to have him breakthrough within the next couple of months if not sooner. Now Xiao Lie is very selfless and so he probably cares little about progressing making this my weakest option.

My second card is Lingxi herself. I helped her break through 2 small realms these last 9 days and I also have a good impression of this hardworking little brat too.

She is clearly infatuated with Xiao Che and I am sure that he holds her in a somewhat favorable light beyond what their familial relationship would suggest"

Hongyi put a hand up to stop Shane from continuing before he said. "They are blood-related Aunt and Nephew though."

Shane let out a sigh and said. "They actually aren't related at all.

Xiao Lingxi is undoubtedly Xiao Lie's daughter but Xiao Che is in no way related to either of them."

Hongyi gasped and whispered. "How can you be so sure?"

Shane pointed at his nose and said. "I have an incredible sense of smell and their blood smells nothing alike"

Hongyi himself couldn't understand why he was trusting this boy before him but his eyes still gained a thoughtful look as he muttered. "That means"

"Yes, that would mean that Xiao Lingxi and Xiao Che are free to be together...

It also means that technically Xiao Che is not the son of Xiao Ying and so the debt of gratitude should not be paid to him. Well, that is only to be used if things turn for the worse, which they won't." 'I could also spend a month grinding to Earth Profound and return to destroy the Xiao Clan if I was forced.'

Shane looked meaningfully at Qingyue. "I was hoping that when all this all works out, we could turn the original marriage into a double one."

Qingyue blushed a little and smiled but didn't refuse and instead rested her head on Shane's shoulder. He flashed a cheeky grin at Xia Hongyi and said. "So, What do you think Father-in-Law?"

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