Chapter 24: Kissed to Tears

Leaning against the young man’s back, completely nestled in his embrace, his warm breath brushed her ear as he spoke, tickling her.

Held in such an intimate posture, Sang Ying felt her entire body stiffen, unsure where to place her hands, and ended up clutching the hem of her clothes awkwardly.

The young man’s words were even stranger.

What did he mean by, “When did I ever say I would let my junior sister go?”

Did he plan to keep her locked up forever, confined to this little dark room??

Not just his words, but he himself seemed entirely different today, nothing like his usual self. Even though he said he liked her, how could Xie Lingyu ever resort to locking someone up and acting so inappropriately close to her?

…Had he been poisoned by a Gu?

Thinking this, Sang Ying pushed against the hand wrapped around her waist and asked, “Xie Lingyu… did you eat something given to you by a stranger while you were in the Nanli Realm?”

Upon hearing this, the young man behind her suddenly let out a soft chuckle.

His breath fell against the nape of her neck, forming a warm patch. Sang Ying felt a tingling sensation and instinctively shrank back, inexplicably frightened. “What are you laughing at?”

“Junior sister is truly naive.”

His breath slowly moved upward from her neck to her ear. His cool fingers cupped her small face, his thumb gently stroking her lips. “Last time, when I kissed you until you cried, did you think the same way?”

…!!!

Last time—so the Xie Lingyu from the illusionary realm last time wasn’t created by Shuiyue Jinghua but was actually him?!

The same fierce kiss, the same habitual movements while kissing… So, this unfamiliar demeanor now was his true nature?

Sang Ying felt utterly bewildered, lost in a daze of confusion.

For so many years, Xie Lingyu had been reserved and taciturn in front of her. When they were still junior sister and senior brother, he had allowed her to bully and order him around. After their marriage, he spoke even less, becoming the aloof, untouchable figure of legend in the Cultivation World—the Qingyu Sword Lord, leader of the immortal sects.

In everyone’s eyes, including hers, he was a righteous gentleman of immortal bearing.

But now… he was locking her up with a gloomy, morbid obsession, holding her tightly and refusing to let go??

“What is junior sister thinking about?”

Her earlobe was bitten gently, followed by a warm, wet sensation as it was sucked and licked.

The unfamiliar touch sent shivers down Sang Ying’s spine. With a jolt, she instinctively tried to break free, only to realize she had long been tightly encircled by the dragon tail, unable to move.

Sang Ying reflexively covered her ears in panic. “Xie Lingyu, act normal!”

The young man lazily rested his chin against the nape of her neck, his fingers idly toying with the pendant on her collarbone. “Where does junior sister think I’m not normal?”

Her heart pounded wildly. Sang Ying’s ears burned with anxiety as she grabbed his hand. “Everywhere! You’re not normal at all!”

“Last time… last time when we were riding in the carriage in the Demon Realm, even when I sat in your lap, you remained calm and restrained, even telling me to get down. That was the normal Xie Lingyu.”

“Xie Lingyu, have you been oppressed and bullied by me for so long that you’ve developed some psychological issues? Nowadays, medical cultivators who treat inner demons are quite skilled. You should go see one…”

The young man chuckled softly, his handsome eyes curving into crescents. “You mean last time?”

As he spoke, he took her hand and guided it backward.

“Does junior sister think I told you to get down because I wasn’t interested, or…”

His fingers twirled a strand of her hair, pausing briefly. His gloomy voice, low and deliberate, sent shivers down her spine. “Because I was afraid I couldn’t hold back… from bullying junior sister?”

A slender, pale hand covered the Little Azure Dragon’s tail, the palm full and warm, the unique temperature of the dragon tail palpable even through the fabric. In an instant, Sang Ying’s ears flushed crimson, and she yanked her hand back with a swift motion.

“Xie Lingyu!”

Flustered and angry, she stammered, unsure of what to say, “You… how could you suddenly become like this?”

Xie Lingyu remained silent for a few breaths, resting his chin on the crook of her neck, his long lashes lowering slightly to conceal the emotions in his eyes. “At fourteen, my junior sister secretly went down the mountain and saved many people. Many wished to repay her kindness by offering themselves in marriage.”

“At fifteen, the young master of a sect came to the mountain with his elders. Upon seeing junior sister drawing talismans, he fell in love at first sight and sought to arrange a marriage, uniting the two sects through matrimony.”

“At sixteen, the head of a merchant guild was captivated by junior sister’s abilities and methods, developing feelings of admiration. He prepared to offer his entire fortune as a dowry, hoping to marry junior sister after her divorce.”

“At seventeen, among the group of people junior sister saved, one was willing to become her lesser husband, even without a title, just to stay by her side.”

Sang Ying was bewildered. “These… how come I never knew about them?”

Xie Lingyu chuckled softly. “How could junior sister know?”

He tightened his arms, and the smooth-scaled dragon tail coiled around her as well. In a posture of complete possession, he encircled the young girl entirely in his embrace.

Sang Ying felt almost breathless as she heard his low, obsessive, and almost pathological voice.

“…Junior sister can only be mine.”

Sang Ying’s scalp tingled.

So, he had always been like this—merely pretending, feigning the image of that aloof and noble senior brother.

At the same time, a sudden question flashed through her mind. Why, after pretending for so long, had he suddenly stopped?

Was it because he mistakenly thought she liked the eldest senior brother and wanted to divorce him? But they had just cleared up the misunderstanding—her supposed affection for the eldest senior brother was just a misunderstanding.

He said he liked her, so after the misunderstanding was resolved, shouldn’t he have pretended to be a gentleman to win her over and dispel her doubts? Why now… did it seem like he was throwing caution to the wind?

The arm around her waist shifted slightly as the young man produced a small jade box.

Sang Ying stared in disbelief. Wasn’t this the Love Gu given to her by the Southern Realm Demon King? How did it end up in his hands??

With his pale, slender fingers, the young man leisurely opened the box. Inside lay two small insects, sealed within transparent, round shells, dormant. He picked up one of them, pinched her chin with one hand, and brought it toward her lips.

Sang Ying stared at the approaching insect and panicked. “Xie Lingyu! I don’t want to eat this!”

The young man’s voice was low and icy. “At this point, does junior sister think she still has a choice?”

Sang Ying: “…”

It was over. Xie Lingyu had truly become a pervert.

Sang Ying felt a pang of sorrow. The person she liked had turned into a madman and a pervert, and now he was trying to force a Love Gu on her. What was she supposed to do?

And wasn’t he used to pretending to be a gentleman? If he was going to administer the Love Gu, shouldn’t he have done it secretly, behind her back? Who in their right mind would feed it to her face-to-face?

Sang Ying tilted her head back, her face full of resistance, dodging his hand. “Xie Lingyu, have you forgotten how much I hate bugs? You’re actually trying to make me eat one!”

Xie Lingyu paused. “Hate bugs?”

Hearing the slight doubt in his tone, Sang Ying exploded. “And you claim to like me, yet you’ve forgotten how much I hate bugs! You don’t care about me at all! I knew it—you saying you like me was a lie, you jerk Xie Lingyu! Liar!!”

As one waned, the other waxed. The young man’s imposing aura diminished, his dark eyes fixed on her as he pursed his lips slightly. “…When?”

“It was when I went down the mountain and picked up Lengmian. I ran into a big insect demon with a tail that laid eggs all over it—so densely packed. I cried in your arms for an hour and couldn’t eat for three days afterward. Have you forgotten?”

Xie Lingyu was momentarily stunned. Of course, he remembered that incident, but at the time, she had only kept crying about how disgusting the demon’s tail was, which was why he had never revealed his demon form again.

“…You didn’t say it was an insect demon.”

Sang Ying choked up. Had she not said it?

Never mind. She turned her head away. “If I didn’t say it, couldn’t you have asked? At the end of the day, you just didn’t care enough. Anyway, I won’t eat bugs. Get rid of it quickly. Isn’t there still a bottle of medicine? The effects are pretty much the same.”

The young man glanced at her with his dark eyes, gave a faint “mm,” tossed aside the Love Gu, and took out the bottle of love potion named Love Thread Entanglement.

He took out one pill, bit it in half, and gave the other half to Sang Ying.

Sang Ying glanced sideways, watching him swallow the pill expressionlessly, his throat bobbing like a smooth arc of jade. Her heart skipped a beat.

Holding the remaining half of the pill between her fingertips, her ears flushed slightly. Wasn’t sharing a pill a bit too intimate?

She hesitated for a moment, her movements slow and deliberate. Just as she was about to open her mouth to swallow the half pill, the young man suddenly grabbed her hand and took the pill away.

“Don’t eat it.”

Sang Ying was taken aback, feeling an inexplicable sense of disappointment she hadn’t even noticed herself. She turned her head to glare at him, her tone awkward. “What? You were forcing me to eat it just now, and now you’re acting all righteous?”

The young man tossed the remaining half into his own mouth and swallowed it, his expression indifferent. “The potency is too strong. You can’t handle it.”

He ate it like candy, but she couldn’t? Sang Ying was annoyed. “Who do you think you’re looking down on? Why can’t I handle it?”

She reached out to grab the medicine bottle from his hand. “Xie Lingyu, if I can handle it, you have to apologize to me today. And for tying me up, and for kissing me just now—with so many crimes piled up…”

Sang Ying’s mind raced, recalling the conversations of wealthy ladies during tea gatherings. “I’ll punish you by making you kneel on a washboard for two hours!”

The young man dodged her hand, glanced at her lightly, and smiled.

“Fine.”

“But you really can’t take that much of this medicine.”

Sang Ying was displeased. “Xie Lingyu, you… mmm.”

The gloomy, cold aura around him temporarily faded. The cool and aloof young man put away the medicine bottle, raised his hand to cup her chin, turned her face toward him, and abruptly swallowed her voice.

After a moment of rubbing and sucking, while she was still dazed, his tongue pried open her teeth and slipped in. The scent of white sandalwood, mingled with a faint medicinal taste, spread across her tongue.

Sang Ying was still sitting in his lap, leaning against him. The position wasn’t suitable for kissing, and she pushed against his arm. After a while, she let out an uncomfortable whimper.

The young man soon released her.

Sang Ying’s eyes were already misty with moisture. When she came to her senses, she quickly covered her mouth, her voice muffled. “You jerk, Xie Lingyu! You’re not allowed to kiss me!”

Xie Lingyu leaned lazily against the bedpost, watching her. His usually refined and aloof features now carried a hint of obsession and coldness. His voice was low, tinged with amusement. “I’ve already kissed you several times. Isn’t it a bit late for you to forbid it now, little sister?”

Sang Ying’s ears flushed red—she just hadn’t reacted in time.

She lowered her hand, about to say something, when she felt an inexplicable heat rising in her body. The air around her grew warm and stifling, making her face uncomfortable.

…Was the medicine taking effect?

She turned to look at Xie Lingyu, only to find that his expression remained unchanged despite having taken an entire pill. His demeanor was still calm, his dark, glass-like eyes quietly watching her.

The scent of White Sandalwood emanating from him swirled around her like a vortex, making her feel dazed.

Sang Ying pressed both hands to her flushed cheeks, her eyes glistening.

No way—he took a whole pill and was fine, yet she couldn’t handle just a taste of the medicine? That would be too embarrassing if anyone found out.

But her head grew increasingly dizzy, her thoughts slower and more sluggish.

So hot.

“Is my junior sister giving up?”

Hearing this vaguely, Sang Ying quickly shook her head. “How could that be!”

A cool presence suddenly drew near. The young man rested his chin on the crook of her neck, chuckling softly, his voice low and his breath brushing against her ear.

“Then why is my junior sister grabbing my tail?”