"This doesn't seem quite right," Zhou Hong said, a hint of longing in his voice.
Huo Ling'er nodded. As a girl, she certainly wouldn't initiate anything, but if Zhou Hong wanted it, she was willing.
"This is a bit undignified, we should be more reserved," Zhou Hong said with a smile. However, his desire was piqued, and he felt a prickle of annoyance that it remained unfulfilled. After all, Huo Ling'er's beauty held a captivating allure that inspired men to conquer. In his time on Earth, this was the first time he'd encountered such an aggressively attractive woman.
"Enough, enough, who cares about dignity? Come on, Ling'er," Zhou Hong declared, abandoning all pretense.
Huo Ling'er, her face flushed crimson, nodded and crouched beside Zhou Hong.
"Hoo!" A few minutes later, Zhou Hong let out a deep sigh.
At that moment, over a hundred meters away, hidden in a rock crevice, a camera was secretly filming. While the details were obscured, their actions were clear enough to discern what they were doing.
These individuals were none other than the paparazzi who had been secretly following them earlier, chasing sensational gossip.
"Oh my heavens!" the female reporter exclaimed, her face burning with embarrassment.
"Tsk tsk, I never thought Huo Ling'er, such a top-ranked genius beauty from the First Martial Cultivation Academy, would be doing *that* for a mere Zhou Hong, ranked 32nd, in the back hills," another male reporter chuckled.
"This news is going to be absolutely explosive. Hahaha," the reporters snickered amongst themselves.
Unaware of the distant surveillance, Zhou Hong occasionally took deep breaths.
About forty to fifty minutes later, it was finally over.
"I'm exhausted," Huo Ling'er pouted.
"Haha," Zhou Hong chuckled.
"Let's leave quickly. I wonder if anyone saw us," Huo Ling'er said, a flicker of worry in her eyes.
Zhou Hong immediately sensed the surroundings, detecting no one.
"No one's here."
Unfortunately, Zhou Hong was unaware that the reporters had long since departed. They had only filmed for less than ten minutes. Forty to fifty minutes had passed since then, so naturally, there was no one around.
"It's good no one saw, otherwise I wouldn't know how to face anyone."
"Ling'er, you've served me twice. Naturally, I must repay you. How about this, I have a spirit pill here, I'll give it to you." Zhou Hong took out a spirit pill from his person and offered it to Huo Ling'er.
"Thank you, Brother Zhou Hong." Huo Ling'er accepted it happily without any pretense.
"No need to be polite. Let's go."
"Mhm, mhm."
Afterward, under Huo Ling'er's guidance, Zhou Hong toured the Martial Cultivation Academy once more. Finally, they had lunch at one of the academy's canteens, and only then did Zhou Hong depart.
However, Zhou Hong was oblivious to the fact that a sensational piece of gossip had erupted on the major forums across Kyoto: Zhou Hong and Huo Ling'er engaging in illicit activities under a large rock.
This sensational news completely ignited the First Martial Cultivation Academy. After all, Huo Ling'er was widely recognized as the academy's undisputed beauty, and nearly every male among the top ten geniuses on the Earth Ranking had pursued her.
When these young geniuses saw the video captured by the paparazzi, they were stunned. They found it hard to believe that the pure and defiant Huo Ling'er would be crouching before a man in the back hills!
"No...!" Many geniuses who admired Huo Ling'er seemed to go mad upon seeing the video.
Meanwhile, after leaving the Martial Cultivation Academy, Zhou Hong toured Kyoto. It wasn't until dusk that he returned to the Qiao family.
He paid no attention to the forums in Kyoto and was entirely unaware that he had been secretly filmed that morning.
"Dad, Mom, I'm back," Zhou Hong announced as he entered the house.
"Zhou Hong, didn't we tell you not to come back these few days? Your conflict with the Dongguo family hasn't been resolved yet," Qiao Zhenhua said hastily.
"It's fine, it's just the Dongguo family." Zhou Hong scoffed impatiently, his temper flaring. He planned to march to the Dongguo family and eliminate their key figures.
At that moment, Zhou Hong's mother asked with a somewhat awkward expression, "Zhou Hong, did you go to the Kyoto Martial Cultivation Academy this morning?"
"Yes, why?" Zhou Hong nodded.
Zhou Hong's father also said with a look of embarrassment, "Were you at the Martial Cultivation Academy, with Huo Ling'er... somewhere secluded?"
"What do you mean?" Zhou Hong's brow furrowed immediately.
"Watch the video yourself." Qiao Zhenhua quickly opened a video on his phone. This video had been uploaded at noon, and by evening, it had spread across all the major forums in Kyoto and elsewhere. Qiao Zhenhua had seen it in a martial cultivation group chat.
Zhou Hong picked up his phone and saw himself in the video, standing beneath a large rock, with Huo Ling'er crouching before him, exerting herself diligently.
"Ah!" Zhou Hong's expression was one of disbelief.
"How is this possible?"
"It's obvious someone filmed you from a distance with a camera. You've been quite popular in Kyoto these past two days, and Huo Ling'er is a well-known genius beauty. The two of you... doing such a thing would spread throughout Kyoto in minutes."
Zhou Hong let out a wry chuckle.
"I was truly careless." Zhou Hong was filled with regret. He wished he hadn't been so overcome by lust that morning.
"Zhou Hong, did you acknowledge Changsun Qinghe's status as your fiancée yesterday?" Zhou Hong's mother asked.
"Yes." Zhou Hong smiled and shook his head.
"Then why were you playing so intimately with Huo Ling'er in the wild?"
"I...!" Zhou Hong was momentarily speechless. He had made a mistake that many men make; after all, every man harbors a dream of the wild.
"I wonder if Changsun Qinghe has seen this video," Liang Hongqin sighed.
"Need you ask? She definitely has," Qiao Zhenhua said quickly.
"Enough, enough, I'll explain it to her myself." Zhou Hong felt a headache coming on, unsure how to explain it to Changsun Qinghe. However, he thought there was little to explain; occasional indiscretions by men were common.
"Zhou Hong, I'm more worried now that more people will cause trouble for you. Huo Ling'er is a genius beauty from the First Martial Cultivation Academy, and a top ten genius on the Earth Ranking. There isn't a man who doesn't like her. I'm truly afraid they'll come after you."
Zhou Hong sneered. "Then let them come."
Zhou Hong had no intention of hiding anymore. If any geniuses dared to confront him, he would simply crush them. Since he was already famous in Kyoto, why not aim to be the number one on the Kyoto Earth Ranking?
Zhou Hong said no more and went to take a shower.
Meanwhile, at the Huo family, Huo Ling'er was naturally aware that her intimate encounter with Zhou Hong in the wild had been secretly filmed and uploaded online. It had spread like wildfire, and everyone in her family knew about it.