The cicadas droned on.
The summer sun was scorching, its heat seeping into one's body like flames in the air.
A bead of sweat rolled down from her snow-white chin. Ji Lin looked at Ye Feng with a hint of regret.
What did he mean by, cool off?
It had to be the kind of fire she was thinking of, right?
Has this body already been... thoroughly played with by Master? Just like he played with Red Kite...
So... Master was really just as he said.
The NPCs here... he could use them however he wanted.
Without any regard for the time or place?
She had been too careless.
Ji Lin had assumed that under the bright light of day, Master wouldn't do anything so indecent.
After all... every time Ji Lin had entered, he had been very respectful of her wishes.
Just as Ji Lin was about to speak, she saw Ye Feng's pair of jet-black eyes staring intently at her as he muttered to himself:
"Why does this NPC look a little different? Could it be that Ji Lin has 'awakened'? If that's really the case, and she's still pretending to be an NPC to trick me, then I'm going to get angry."
"...?"
Angry?
Ji Lin didn't dare to move a muscle.
Kiana had told her that Master was terrifying when he got angry.
In truth, just being stared at by Ye Feng now was making her hair stand on end.
She was terrified of her act being exposed.
Although she didn't know why, she was just scared.
She had a feeling that if Master saw through her disguise... something terrible would happen.
Ji Lin had no choice but to bite the bullet and continue her act.
"Seems like she really is just an NPC."
Ye Feng said, stroking his chin.
Ji Lin let out a long sigh of relief in her heart.
"Kneel."
Ye Feng commanded.
"?"
Ji Lin's body didn't bypass her consciousness and "forcefully execute" the command as it had before. This left the beautiful virgin wife a little dazed.
She stood frozen in place for a good while.
Should she kneel, or not?
"Hmm? What's going on? An NPC would never defy a command, so it must be..."
Ye Feng mumbled to himself, and Ji Lin's heart couldn't help but tense up.
"Forget it. Come with me."
"..."
Ji Lin followed behind Ye Feng, the long train of her white dress dragging on the floor, yet remaining unstained by dust.
Ye Feng led her to Fu Hua's dormitory.
At this time of day, Fu Hua had just finished her training, taken a shower, and was taking a short nap on her bed.
Ye Feng used [Vision Obscurement] on Ji Lin, making it impossible for her to see Fu Hua.
Then, he had the beautiful and gentle virgin wife sit on her husband's bed.
Ji Lin sat primly, her skirt spread out to either side. Her graceful legs, wrapped in soft white silk, extended over the edge of the bed, her two small and lovely silk-clad feet dangling in the air.
It had to be said, the ancient-style clothing paired with stockings had a unique flavor all its own.
Thanks to years of sword practice, Ji Lin possessed sufficient composure and endurance.
Sitting on the edge of the bed, Ji Lin curled her toes, not daring to move.
The reinforced design at the tips of the white silk stockings only revealed the alluring silhouette of her toes. The gentle, graceful curve of her arch stretched to her slightly protruding, sexy ankle bones. The silk covering the bottom of her feet was stretched thinner by her heel and toes, allowing a glimpse of the tender, pink flesh of her soles.
The fine, smooth texture of the high-density stockings gave the silk's surface a few shimmering silver threads under the light, which shifted and flashed along the curves of her long legs and jade-like feet, making one's heart flutter.
Ji Lin's own heart was now fluttering with unease.
She could almost predict what was about to happen.
However, in her nervous state, Ji Lin didn't even notice that this was Fu Hua's bedroom.
If she had, her inner turmoil would surely have been even greater.
If I had known it would come to this, I wouldn't have pretended to be an NPC...
But some things, once left unsaid at the beginning, become harder and harder to say later on.
That was just Ji Lin's personality.
Otherwise, she wouldn't have gone to seal Chiyou without ever confessing her feelings to Fu Hua.
Just as Ji Lin's mind was racing, Ye Feng came up behind her.
He smoothly swept the beauty's three thousand strands of black hair to one side of her shoulder, exposing the swan-like neck that was barely covered by any fabric.
"—!"
Ji Lin trembled as if struck by electricity.
A sudden chill ran down her back.
Still, Ji Lin could endure this level of contact.
After all, when she had made the contract with Ye Feng, she had exposed that flawless, beautiful back of hers.
Just like at this very moment.
Her skin, as clear and translucent as white jade, looked as if it would break from a mere puff of air, adorned by two sexy, butterfly-wing-like shoulder blades.
A few black straps crossed her jade back and her slender, graspable waist. A narrow strip of semi-transparent gauze, thin as a string, extended down the deep ravine of her straight spine, disappearing into the narrow skirt that just barely covered her buttocks, sinking deep into the alluring cleft of her glossy, white-silk-clad rear.
'Is it... is it about to happen...'
Ji Lin nervously clenched her delicate fists.
She summoned her courage, preparing to pretend to have "just woken up."
But then she heard Ye Feng mutter to himself again, "At this time, my good Lin'er should be arriving soon, right? Ah, I'm already all fired up. If my good Lin'er wakes up, I still can't force her..."
Who's your good Lin'er!
Ji Lin cringed at the name.
But Ye Feng's muttering also stirred a different kind of feeling in her heart: so he really did respect her wishes.
Hearing this, Ji Lin felt a flicker of fondness, but very quickly, Ye Feng changed his tune.
"When that time comes, I'll just have to use Fu Hua to cool off."
"!!"
Ji Lin's pupils contracted violently.
The image from the summit of Mount Taixu—of Red Kite bound by red silk inside the golden birdcage, "soaring" through the sky, scattering wind and rain—flashed through her mind again.
No, I can't... I can't let Master humiliate Red Kite again.
At the very least, not in front of her.
The courage Ji Lin had just managed to muster was snuffed out once more.
She felt Ye Feng's scorching fingers roaming across her back.
The almost-scalding temperature made Ji Lin bite down on her silver teeth.
'If it's just this...'
It wasn't... unbearable.
At the very least, she could help share Red Kite's burden.
Ji Lin lowered her head and said nothing, allowing Ye Feng's burning fingers to trace and rub against her smooth, jade-like back.
A few stray strands of hair would occasionally fall onto her back, and when her soft flesh rolled against the strands, it created a heart-stirring tickle.
"Hmm, you're too low. Ji Lin, kneel on the bed."
"..."
Ji Lin moved like a marionette, slipping off her pure white embroidered shoes.
She got onto the bed, turned her back to Ye Feng, and slowly knelt down.
The charm she exuded as she turned was truly a captivating sight of indescribable elegance.
The dignified and graceful classical maiden, her palace attire trailing on the ground, knelt with her back perfectly straight, the back of her head level with Ye Feng's waist.
"Huh?"
Ji Lin's beautiful eyes suddenly widened.
Red Kite!
Ji Lin saw her beloved Red Kite lying right beside her.
Since when?!
Just as her thoughts were in turmoil, the burning sensation of fingers returned to her back.
The fingers moved nimbly, sometimes brushing past her butterfly-wing shoulder blades, sometimes slipping under her arms, and sometimes moving to her fragrant shoulders and the nape of her neck.
Ji Lin knelt as if turned to stone, staring at Red Kite's sleeping face. She didn't dare to breathe, and her tender body couldn't help but grow hot...