Shen Lei stared at him for a moment and then turned to look at Luo Lin, afraid of what might come. "That … That would be an option."

Luo Lin also looked up at him and then raised his hand. "Well, I’d say let’s try it. Anyway, after what happened last night, I would rather know if there was something up with me."

Shen Lei nodded and then took a dagger out of his spiritual bag, making a small cut on Luo Lin’s finger. Seeing a drop of blood seep out, he first kissed him on the lips as an apology before he leaned down. To hurt the man he loved was something he also couldn’t do easily. Even though he knew that it was something that they were doing for Luo Lin’s own good to figure out what was up with him, and that it also wouldn’t inconvenience him, there was still some guilt there.

He gently licked over the wound before pulling back. Looking at his lover, he kept quiet for a moment and listened inside of him. His leg … it didn’t seem to have had any kind of impact.

Luo Lin looked back at him, unsure what to expect.

The others were staring at Shen Lei the same way, making him feel put on the spot.

He closed his eyes, and then circulated his spiritual energy for a moment, even though he hadn’t done that after kissing Luo Lin before. Still, Taishu Min had said that the red priest’s blood needed to come into contact with spiritual energy to actually work. He wasn’t quite sure how that might’ve worked with that kiss before but he didn’t want to leave any possibility open that they were getting this wrong.

Still, nothing happened and he finally felt like he could breathe a sigh of relief. Yes, even though it seemed odd, it seemed that this had nothing to do with Luo Lin and had merely been a coincidence.

He leaned in, gently cupping his fiance’s cheeks, and giving him another kiss. Pulling back, he wanted to tell him that he didn’t need to worry anymore when he realized that the dull pain in his leg had started to vanish.

He stared at Luo Lin, not quite sure what to make of this. Actually, this seemed even stranger than what had happened before. He continued to stare at him blankly for a moment before turning to Taishu Min and then pulling up his leg, rubbing his thigh. "I kind of hate to say it but it’s alright."

The others exchanged a look, not sure what to think either.

Luo Lin reached down and gently rubbed over Shen Lei’s leg, a little torn on this. He didn’t necessarily want some kind of ability that he knew nothing about and also shouldn’t have, but he was happy to hear that his lover was back to full health. Even if it was thanks to a mystery, that didn’t matter. The only thing that mattered was that he was alright and doing well. Leaning closer, he hugged Shen Lei’s waist and looked up at his face. "I’m glad you’re alright."

Shen Lei nodded and hugged him back, but he couldn’t help but look up at Taishu Min. "I have no idea what is going on. That just now … Originally, the blood didn’t do anything. I tried circulating my spiritual energy and there still wasn’t anything. It … only happened when I kissed him." And while he would swear up and down that Luo Lin’s kisses had always been out of this world, that still wasn’t an explanation. Not a good one, at least.

Taishu Min looked from one person to the other, not quite sure what to make of that either. In absence of anyone else she could turn to, she turned to look at Elder Baili instead. "Elder, I know you’re not from our sect, but do you have any idea what might be going on?"

Elder Baili raised his brows, not quite sure what to make of this either. "Well, maybe the effect just needed a bit of time?"

Shen Lei shook his head though. "It didn’t when that matter with my arm happened. I mean, I could probably break a bone and give this another try but I’m almost afraid we’ll still find out the same thing."

For a moment, he seemed to actually want to do that but Luo Lin hastily reached out and pressed his hands. "Don’t do anything. You’re going to break my heart if you’re like that."

Shen Lei smiled and leaned closer, his lips brushing over Luo Lin’s cheek. "That’s the one thing that I would never break, my little fairy."

Luo Lin smiled, and the others couldn’t help but hastily look somewhere else. Something told them that this a the moment they weren’t supposed to disturb.

Taishu Min had her brows tightly furrowed and finally crossed arms in front of her chest. "What is it about his lips?"

Zhi Guan glanced at her and then at his junior martial brother, trying to think if he could find any connection. There was only one thing that he could come up with though. "He gave him the red priest’s blood by mouth. Could that have something to do with it?"

Taishu Min turned to him and then also glanced at Luo Lin before turning back. "Well, that is the most reasonable explanation in a completely unreasonable situation. I still don’t think that he should have this ability but, clearly, it has something to do with him. I don’t get it either. This shouldn’t be something that anybody outside of our sect can learn."

Shen Lei glanced up and cleared his throat. "Well, I could imagine that there might be a bit of a link there."

Taishu Min raised her brows, not understanding what he was getting at. "What kind of link?"

Shen Lei glanced at Yun Bei Fen, not quite sure if this was something that he should say in front of that little bunny. But then, that child was already engaged himself, and even though he was pretty sure that nothing was actually going on between him and Mei Chao Bing in that regard yet, hearing about it every now and then probably couldn’t hurt either.

Making up his mind, he turned back to Taishu Min. "Well, even if you don’t cultivate a certain technique, you can come into contact with it if cultivating as a couple. And I do know that Xiao Lin happens to have had a few partners who were from your Zhen Yan Sect. Maybe that … enabled him to learn something that others couldn’t under normal circumstances."