The room was left with only the lingering warmth of passion and the interwoven breaths of the three. The rich, exotic fragrance and the faint tea scent in the air were now tinged with a languid and enchanting quality, intimately clinging to everyone's sense of smell.
The sofa was a mess, like the aftermath of a battlefield, bearing witness to the intensity and surrender that had just transpired. Daziel's arms still held the two Foxian women beside him, feeling the unique sensation and warmth of their bodies, and their heartbeats, which had calmed but were still perceptible.
Tingyun was the first to stir. Like a contented cat, she nuzzled her cheek against Daziel's firm chest, her long eyelashes still damp with unspoken moisture.
She lifted her head, her seductive eyes now stripped of all flirtation, leaving only a pure, shimmering.
Her voice was very soft, with a hint of hoarseness after exertion, yet still astonishingly sweet, "Just now, the wounds left by [Nanook] felt like they were tearing open. It hurt so much."
As she spoke, she gently tilted her head back, as if savoring that intense sensation, yet her lips uncontrollably curved into a subtle upward arc.
"But..."
Tingyun's body pressed closer to him, her breath like orchids, "As long as I'm doing 'this kind of thing' with you, that agony becomes very strange. It's like... like my body itself lessens the pain, and what's left is just incessant pleasure."
Hearing her frank and bold words, Yukong, who was beside them, also opened her eyes.
She turned her body, her gaze falling upon Tingyun's slightly pale face.
Yukong reached out, her fingertips gently caressing Tingyun's sweat-dampened fringe, her heart filled with undisguised tenderness.
"Don't force yourself."
Yukong's voice was low, with a comforting tone.
Daziel silently watched the two women in his arms. Tingyun's infatuation and dependence, Yukong's precious care and heartache, all evoked an unprecedented complex emotion within him.
He tightened his arms, pulling them deeper into his embrace.
"That's not your imagination, nor is it your body's self-regulation."
Daziel finally spoke, his voice particularly deep and magnetic from the recent passion, "It might be because of the Wingweft Borisin War Chief's heart."
Tingyun and Yukong simultaneously looked up at him, their eyes filled with confusion.
"The Borisin's heart can control the Foxian's bloodlust and fear."
Daziel's gaze swept over their faces as he explained, "Just now, I sensed that Tingyun, you were enduring pain, so... I tried to release a bit of its pressure on you two."
He paused, as if carefully choosing his words.
"That pressure can directly affect the mind and body, making you feel a suppression stemming from life's instincts. Weak knees and trembling bodies are the most direct reactions."
Daziel looked at Tingyun, his gaze profound, "I saw the painful expression on your face transform into fear and trembling. I thought, although that's not a good emotion either, it's better than you simply enduring the pain."
His explanation plunged the room into a brief silence.
A flicker of understanding passed through Yukong's eyes. She recalled the sudden feeling of powerlessness, and the irresistible tremor that rose from the depths of her heart. So, this was the source.
Her gaze toward Daziel became even more complex.
However, Tingyun's reaction was beyond his expectation.
Her eyes lit up in an instant, filled with fervor and surprise.
The root of the pain, being given such a layer of dominant explanation, for her, was not a bother, but rather the ultimate boon.
"So that's how it is..."
She whispered entranced, as if tasting the sweetest candy in the world.
The next moment, her soft body coiled around him again, her arms tightly embracing Daziel's neck, her legs also wrapped around his waist, her entire being like a beautiful vine, firmly binding him.
"But I like this feeling, Papa..."
Tingyun pressed her lips to his earlobe, uttering each word in a tone almost like a confession, filled with ecstasy and pleasure.
"The feeling of being completely dominated by your power, inside and out, makes me tremble to my bones. I like this fear, I like this tremor, and I like even more... that this feeling comes from you."
Tingyun's confession was like the deadliest honey, every word barbed, drilling into his marrow.
No emotion could be seen in Daziel's golden eyes. He merely chuckled softly.
"Oh, you like this feeling of being a Fox Slave? What unique taste."
His words carried a hint of casual teasing, yet they did not make Tingyun shrink back.
On the contrary, Yukong, who was beside them, listening to this conversation and seeing the almost sacred look of infatuation on Tingyun's face, felt her heart sink sharply.
She gently pushed Daziel's arm away and sat upright, looking at Tingyun who was still clinging to the man, her eyes filled with complexity and worry.
"Tingyun..."
Yukong's voice was somewhat dry, "You..."
"No, you've misunderstood."
Tingyun interrupted her. She still maintained her tight embrace of Daziel, but her voice instantly lost all sweetness and hoarseness, becoming clear and sharp.
She turned her face, her eyes looking at Yukong, shimmering with the shrewd light of a merchant.
"'To abandon what one strives for and pursue what one desires, only then can one deal with the world and gain what one seeks.' This 'versatility' of mine, I will not change in the future. I am merely... achieving what I want through my own methods."
She paused, then pressed her face back against Daziel's warm chest, as if drawing strength, a trace of sigh in her voice.
"But now, Tingyun also understands that the laws of trade can be used to contend with people, but it is difficult to contend with gods."
These words completely startled Yukong. She looked at Daziel, then at Tingyun, finally understanding the profound implication in her words.
"This was never your responsibility to bear."
Yukong's voice was full of tenderness, "You are merely an innocent survivor of this war."
Hearing the word "survivor," Tingyun's body subtly flinched.
She slowly, inch by inch, lifted her head, her gaze passing over Daziel's shoulder, directly looking at Yukong.
"Master Yukong..."
Her voice was very soft, yet like a needle, it precisely pierced the other's softest spot, "Didn't you also become a 'survivor' of war?"
Yukong's breath hitched.
The air in the room seemed to solidify.
The languid and enchanting scent seemed to be dispersed by an invisible sharpness, leaving only cold silence.
Tingyun's eyes became deep, like an ancient, bottomless well, filled with a hatred and regret that completely contradicted her outward appearance.
"The resplendent gods in the heavens played humanity as pawns, gambling with the stars, leaving behind a land of wronged souls, lonely graves, and piled bones..."
Her voice was not loud, but every word was clear, like a nightingale weeping blood, "Master Yukong, have you ever thought of making them pay the price?"
"Every moment."
Yukong answered almost immediately, these two words squeezed through her teeth, carrying the accumulated weariness and despair of years.
She lowered her gaze, hiding the surging pain in her eyes.
"But how can insignificant servants like us escape becoming pawns in the game of price?"
"Don't be so pessimistic, Master Yukong."
Tingyun suddenly smiled, her smile as charming as before, yet now carrying a hint of desperate resolve.
She loosened her legs and slid from Daziel's body, kneeling on the sofa beside him, her posture still submissive, but her gaze intensely compelling.
"Thanks to 'the Lord's' 'kindness,' this time Tingyun can be a player in the game."
She leaned slightly towards Daziel, her whispers filled with reverence and excitement, "You know, those who walk alone with a staff, those who make generals helpless... are always the nameless little figures."
Finally, her gaze completely fixed on Daziel's face, a look that offered everything of herself: wisdom, body, and even soul.
"From today onwards, let me cooperate with The Xianzhou side and be a pawn for Papa Daziel."
The dead silence in the room was broken by a very soft chuckle, tinged with appreciation.
Daziel finally moved.
He said nothing, merely reached out a hand, his fingertips gently hooking Tingyun's chin, forcing her to fully tilt her face up, meeting his molten-gold eyes.
That gaze no longer held teasing, but a scrutiny, and a hint of approval difficult to detect.
"Interesting."
His thin lips parted slightly, his voice soft, yet clearly audible to everyone in the room.
"Using the most submissive posture, hiding the sharpest claws. Truly worthy of a merchant's fox."
This appellation, carrying his usual casualness, made Tingyun's eyes grow even brighter.
She knew she had made the right gamble.
The next moment, Daziel drew his arm in, pulling Tingyun, who was kneeling on the sofa, entirely into his embrace.
His palm rested against her slender back, warmth radiating through the thin fabric of her clothes.
"I understand now."
Daziel's low voice resounded above her head, "Then do you still want to return to The Xianzhou?"
This question made Yukong's heart clench. She instinctively looked at Tingyun.
Tingyun shook her head in his embrace, her voice muffled against his chest, but every word was exceptionally firm.
"No, I'm not going back. Originally, I planned to return with Master Yukong, but after what just happened, I seem to have understood. Staying by your side is what I want. If I were to go back, it would not be a wise move."
She pulled back slightly, looking seriously at Daziel, her eyes gleaming with calculation.
"My specific plan, I will report to the Alliance High Command via encrypted documents later. I will let the General know... that my greatest value can only be realized by staying by your side, Papa Daziel."
She once again used that intimate yet bold address, but this time, anyone could hear the clarity and determination in it.
This was not a whisper of lust, but a bargaining chip in a transaction.
The air in the room seemed to solidify, pressing down on everyone's heart.
Daziel seemed unsurprised by her plan, merely raising an eyebrow with interest, "Then what's your opinion, Yukong?"
Yukong stood there, like a stone statue about to weather away, her gaze fixed on Tingyun, unwilling to move an inch.
Daziel released his hold, deciding to leave the decision to the Foxian sisters themselves.
Yukong wanted to raise her hand, to pat the child's shoulder as she used to, but her arm felt heavy as lead, unable to lift.
"Tingyun."
Yukong's voice was terribly hoarse, as if sandpapered, "You..."
She wanted to ask, "Are you sure?", "Is it worth it?", she wanted to say, "Come back with me," but all her words were stuck in her throat, turning into a burning ache.
After all, The Xianzhou was still under the gaze of the Monarch of Ash, so Tingyun's words were not without reason.
"Understood, Master Yukong."
Tingyun interrupted her, lifting her face, a faint smile gracing her lips.
"You should go back. The General is still waiting for your debriefing. I will follow Master Daziel onto the train shortly. Once my aspirations are achieved, I hope the three of us can re-enact today's 'blessings'."
Yukong fell silent for a moment.
Tingyun's meaning couldn't have been clearer.
She looked deeply at Tingyun, trying to engrave the child's image into the depths of her soul.
Finally, she just nodded heavily.
The moment she turned, Yukong did not look back.
She was afraid that if she looked back, she would never be able to move forward.
The door opened, then closed silently behind her, separating two worlds.
Silence returned to the room.
Tingyun maintained her standing posture, her gaze lowered.
Daziel's gaze retracted from the tightly closed door, swept past Tingyun, and finally settled on the figure who had been silent in the corner of the room.
Ruan Mei was sitting in the single sofa, holding a pastry fork she had just used. Her fingertips were idly fiddling with the fork, seemingly studying its metal composition and mechanical structure.
She was unresponsive to the suppressed farewell that had just occurred, as if it were merely background noise unrelated to her.
"Seen enough?"
Daziel stood up and walked towards her.
Ruan Mei lifted her eyes, her beautiful eyes filled with pure inquiry. She looked at Tingyun, her tone as flat as if she were presenting an academic report.
"An interesting sample."
"Under immense pressure, she chose to parasitize a stronger host, thereby feeding back to her original group."
"This behavior pattern can also be observed in some lower symbiotic organisms. A very efficient survival strategy."
Her evaluation contained no emotion, neither praise nor disparagement, only pure observation and analysis.
Tingyun's eyelashes subtly fluttered, but she remained silent.
She knew that in this woman's eyes, she was perhaps no different from a bacterial culture in a petri dish.
Daziel chuckled softly and walked over to Ruan Mei.
"Efficient survival strategy?"
He repeated Ruan Mei's words, his tone full of playfulness, "Your evaluations are still so lacking in humanity."
Ruan Mei did not reply, merely setting down the pastry fork in her hand with a crisp, light sound.
Daziel's gaze then turned to Tingyun not far away, a teasing curve forming on his lips.
"Tingyun, don't look at her like that. She's actually just trying hard to act proper."
His words were like a clap of thunder, striking Tingyun's ears.
She lifted her eyes, looking at the genius who still sat elegantly on the sofa.
When the three of us were doing 'that thing'," Daziel's voice dropped even lower, "she was actually already itching for it."
Tingyun's heart skipped a beat.
As if Daziel wasn't satisfied, he took another step forward, his shadow almost completely engulfing Ruan Mei.
His gaze, as if it had tangible warmth, slowly swept over Ruan Mei's crossed legs in front of her.
"If you don't believe me, ask her to stand up and see if her skirt isn't already wet underneath."
These words were light yet vulgar, yet he spoke them with a certainty that sounded like a statement of fact.
Tingyun gasped, her sapphire eyes wide with disbelief.
She instinctively looked at Ruan Mei, the woman who had evaluated her as an "interesting sample," the creator who seemed so calm, as if devoid of emotion.
She simply couldn't associate the "itching for it" image Daziel described with this indifferent genius before her.
But after just a moment of shock, Tingyun suddenly understood something and then felt a sense of relief.
She remembered her reshaped body, those implanted, unfamiliar desires and instincts.
Ruan Mei had once said that to help her better adapt to her "new environment," she had woven some of her own "ideas" into Tingyun's genetic code.
If not for that, how could she have made such a bold and clear decision so quickly?
So, those unfamiliar impulses, their origin was right here.
Just then, Ruan Mei, who had been silent, finally reacted.
Her fair face, like fine porcelain, began to quickly flush with a thin layer of red, starting from her ears. That red stood out particularly starkly against her pristine face, completely shattering her cool, rational exterior.
She tightly pursed her lips, her fingers that had just been fiddling with the fork now nervously entwined.
She looked up at Daziel, and in those eyes that always held inquiry and calmness, for the first time appeared emotions akin to panic and vexation.
"Master."
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Unfortunately, two of our stories were removed... so I created a new account to post them: MikuDayo.
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