Chapter 56: Clashing Part 3

The blame would only be repaid twofold upon the person who had incited and seduced Xu Yinian away.

Like a dying fish returning to the water, Bai Ran greedily inhaled the scent of Xu Yinian’s neck. Her eyes narrowed, tracking Shen Ruoshuang’s every move with silent, vicious hatred as the other girl stepped into the entryway.

Bai Ran’s “gentle as water” persona, so deeply ingrained in Xu Yinian’s heart, could indeed easily regain her trust and dependence. After just this bit of warmth, a look of resolve flashed in Xu Yinian’s eyes. She decided to completely forget that strange sound and the image she shouldn’t have seen.

A figure coldly brushed past Xu Yinian, her long hair fluttering and releasing a faint, dark fragrance. In the narrow entryway, she inevitably collided with Xu Yinian’s shoulder—the one being held by Bai Ran.

She was the Unreachable Beauty, colder than anything, yet that touch felt intentional, a lingering provocation that refused to let go.

Finally remembering that Shen Ruoshuang was still standing behind her, Xu Yinian shuddered as if waking from a dream.

It wasn’t just because Shen Ruoshuang had been making those sarcastic remarks about their intimacy earlier. It was more because the ambiguity Shen Ruoshuang had proactively acknowledged felt like a brand burned into Xu Yinian’s skin.

Even though nothing had actually happened between them, a sense of promiscuous shame washed over Xu Yinian as she engaged in intimate contact with someone else right in front of her, the feeling searing her nerves.

Unable to take it any longer, Xu Yinian’s hands, which were pressed against Bai Ran’s chest, moved instinctively. She couldn’t bring herself to push Bai Ran away, so she reached for an excuse.

“I… I haven’t showered yet. I smell… I need to shower first.”

She didn’t realize that this excuse was an inherently suggestive topic for the two women eyeing her like predators. Even Shen Ruoshuang’s cold back seemed to pause in its retreat.

Feeling the sudden, stifling tension in the air, a mysterious heat rushed to Xu Yinian’s brain. The moment Bai Ran let go, Xu Yinian bolted into the bathroom.

She fled as fast as a rabbit that had only realized it was surrounded by a pack of wolves at the very last second.

Xu Yinian used the door to shut out the scorching air outside. But before she could even breathe a sigh of relief, she suddenly remembered the embarrassing design of this hotel: the walls were made of semi-transparent frosted glass.

She froze against the door, not daring to take a single step forward.

It had been embarrassing enough when it was just Bai Ran, but now there was a Shen Ruoshuang with “impure motives” in the mix…

Thinking of the silhouette Bai Ran had cast earlier, Xu Yinian bit her lip as a flush stubbornly climbed up her cheeks. Amidst her chaotic thoughts, one goal remained clear: she could not let Shen Ruoshuang see anything.

Closing her eyes, she steeled her heart and simply turned off the bathroom light.

The moment Xu Yinian vanished, neither of the women outside moved an inch. Their gazes followed her simultaneously, landing on the frosted glass wall.

They were both silently waiting for something, their intentions perfectly clear to one another. However, as the light in the bathroom abruptly died, their plans were foiled at the same time.

It seemed Xu Yinian had realized as well. Given how painfully shy she was, turning off the light was a perfectly characteristic move.

Realizing this, Shen Ruoshuang glanced at the bathrobe Bai Ran was wearing. Her cold, temperatureless gaze swept over Bai Ran’s figure with nothing but critical disdain. Shen Ruoshuang curled her lips into an overt smirk.

Her figure doesn’t compare to mine.

Meeting Bai Ran’s inscrutable, haunting gaze, Shen Ruoshuang mouthed two words silently.

“Is that all?”

You think you can seduce Xu Yinian with just that?

A vein pulsed on Bai Ran’s slender neck above her collar. Her chest heaved with a few sharp breaths before she spoke, enunciating every word.

“What did you say? What do you mean, ‘is that all’?”

She spoke aloud on purpose, banking on the fact that Shen Ruoshuang wouldn’t dare let Xu Yinian hear her.

The sudden voice startled Xu Yinian, who was currently fumbling in the dark to pile her discarded clothes onto the rack. Her hand shook.

With a soft thud, her entire outfit tumbled down, falling right into the constant-temperature bathtub that had automatically filled with water. By the time she fished them out, they were completely soaked through. There was no saving them.

Xu Yinian had moved into the hotel on short notice and hadn’t brought a change of clothes. In her haste, she had even forgotten to bring the hotel-provided bathrobe into the bathroom with her…

How was she supposed to go out after her shower?

The two women outside heard the significant splash and thought Xu Yinian had fallen.

“Niannian, what happened?”

“Xu Yinian?”

Their voices rang out simultaneously. Xu Yinian realized they were still standing right outside the bathroom in the entryway.

This shattered her last fantasy of sneaking out to grab a robe while they weren’t looking.

“I-I’m fine!”

But Xu Yinian’s frantic voice carried zero credibility.

“Niannian, I’m worried about you.”

“Did you fall?”

On the surface, they were on the same side, pressing for an answer, but they were clearly competing to be the one Xu Yinian would lean on.

Under their dual interrogation, Xu Yinian couldn’t hold out. Realizing she couldn’t leave without clothes, she finally stammered, “I… I didn’t…”

She suddenly remembered that if she opened the door, she would have to reach out to take the robe. How could she do that?!

Xu Yinian immediately regretted her words, swallowing the rest of her sentence.

However, Shen Ruoshuang’s eyes flickered when she heard those words. In her memory, there was a voice just as soft and small, stammering with embarrassment:

“Student, I… I didn’t bring any…”

The girl had been too ashamed to say the word, but Shen Ruoshuang had understood. She had passed a sanitary pad through a crack in the door.

Those fair, petite fingertips had been flushed pink with shyness. In her panic, the girl had accidentally brushed against Shen Ruoshuang’s fingertips, recoiling in a fright before vanishing instantly. All that remained was a “thank you” so tremulous it was barely discernible.

Is she really that shy?