Chapter 57: Bathroom
The silver chain connected the two of them, the soft and cold sound exceptionally clear in the quiet night.
The bathroom was not lit, only the warm yellow light from the bedroom, hazily outlining the bathtub. The darkness erased the visual sense, subtly amplifying the other senses.
The two of them stopped at the same time. Lina turned around, smelling the light and faint fragrance on Adele, and in an instant, she forgot the purpose of entering the bathroom.
Her breathing trembled. The thought of hugging, of kissing, completely occupied her mind.
The chain on her wrist was trembling slightly. The lop-eared rabbit’s trembling excitement had nowhere to hide. Adele tentatively pulled the chain. The next second, a warm and soft body crashed into her arms.
“Are you a little puppy?” Adele teased, “I just pulled, and you came over.”
Lina gave a “mhm” and nuzzled her with the tip of her nose.
The scent of the lop-eared rabbit was steamed by the gradually rising body temperature, melting into the air of the bathroom, and spreading in the not-so-spacious environment.
It wrapped around the white wolf, leaving no gaps.
Adele’s nose was filled with her scent. Her zero self-control made her restraint seem like a joke. In the face of a racing heart, it was completely useless. Even to herself, it was like a one-sided inch-by-inch halt.
Pure self-torture.
“Little puppies bark.” Adele surrendered and said wickedly, “How come I’ve never heard you bark? Bark for me.”
Lina raised her head, her eyelashes trembling, once again trying to get by with being cute. She said with a trembling voice, “Don’t be like this…”
Whether the rabbit ball was feigning refusal or was really shy, Adele no longer had the time to consider. She leaned in, only wanting to hold the person between her teeth.
“Lina.”
“Don’t pretend with me.”
“…”
The wind blowing from the ice field was occasionally very fierce. The first pink rose of early spring also had thorns. The last time, Lina had tasted the petals. This time, her mouth was pricked. She staggered in the passionate kiss.
The dim bathroom before her seemed to have turned into a white wolf’s cave. She was kissed into a daze. In a trance, she felt as if she had been stepped on by a wolf’s paw. It wasn’t even a matter of taking what she wanted; at most, she was at the mercy of the wolf.
Adele, having let go of her restraint, showed her wild side. The matter of being a master, she got it with just a hint. Lina had no time to swallow the desires of the two of them. The overflowing passion wet her neck, and tears also rolled down unconsciously. She finally began to beg for mercy.
She said she was wrong, and also said that Adele had changed. The last sentence was a complaint, and the next one was a sigh of comfort. In her infatuation, she let out a small “woof.”
She had barked.
She was begging for mercy.
Adele’s heart melted into a puddle. She pressed her forehead against Lina’s and said, “You’re always like this. You’re counting on me to have a soft heart, aren’t you? That’s why you do whatever you want.”
Lina’s voice completely melted, so soft it could drip water. She took Adele’s hand. Their two hearts were close enough that the silver chain became a decoration.
“It’s because you spoiled me.”
Adele ruffled her ears. “Bad rabbit.”
Lina let her have her way and suddenly asked out of the blue, “Then… does that mean that no matter what I do, you’ll forgive me?”
Adele’s hand landed on her neck. Her fingertips caressed the circle of red marks. Every slight tremor exposed her pity.
“Except for hurting yourself. Otherwise, I don’t mind giving you another beating.”
The faint light in the bedroom illuminated Lina’s flushed cheeks. She remembered what she had done, when she was being hit…
Lina shyly asked, “Then… what about other things? Can you forgive everything else?”
“Yes,” Adele said without hesitation.
But Lina avoided her gaze and hid her face in the crook of her neck. She said in a small voice, “What if I become a madwoman? A very bad, uncontrollable kind of madwoman… will you be disgusted with me? Will you not want me? What if I also hurt you…”
“If you become like that…” Adele gently patted her back, comforting her gently, “I’ll fix you. You’ll always be my baby.”
The word “baby” successfully hit Lina’s spiritual G-spot. The blood in her body was boiling. She could no longer form a complete sentence to confess her love. So, she seized the initiative and resumed the kiss that she had just called a halt to.
Who still remembered the purpose of entering the bathroom?
The door was slammed shut. The soap slipped out of its box and fell into the bathtub. After a soft “thud,” the refreshing scent of soap also mixed into the exchanging breaths.
In the pitch black, someone touched the shower switch. Hot water trickled down. No one went to turn it off because their hands were on each other.
A shirt is not easy to take off with one hand, but pajama bottoms come off with a single pull. Water droplets blurred their vision. They rolled into the bathtub together.
Adele touched the handprint she had left. She had indeed been too rough that day. The mark had not yet faded. Afterward, she had secretly cried when she was applying the medicine, but this bad rabbit was still reminiscing.
So bad…
Adele patted her lightly. The handprints overlapped. A warning was hidden in the crisp sound. The water was still trickling. She grabbed Lina’s ear, forcing her to look up, and said in a feigned harsh voice, “If you dare to hurt yourself again, I’ll break you!”
Lina obediently let her grab her, not resisting, seeming very well-behaved. But the words she said were very bastardly. “If you dare to leave me, I’ll cut myself, piece by piece…”
Slap!
If the last hit was a warning, this one was a real punishment.
“Are you threatening me?!”
Lina cried out in pain, whimpering, but she did not hide. Instead, she hugged Adele even tighter. The two wet people pressed against each other.
“Yes. Because you care about my tears, you care about my life. If you didn’t care, what would I have to threaten you with? I have no other way…”
Her voice suddenly grew low. “I understand your feelings for me, but I’m just scared. It’s not that I don’t believe you; I don’t believe myself. I know this is very annoying, very troublesome…”
“Lina…” Adele sensed her emotional fluctuations. Just as she was about to say something, her wrist was pulled.
She was sitting on the edge of the bathtub, but Lina had slipped to the bottom of the tub and knelt.
“So I’ll compensate you… okay? I’ll reflect…”
Lina knelt before Adele. She tilted her head up and said, “I also want to make you comfortable.”
Even in the pitch black, Adele could feel that burning, love-filled gaze.
Perhaps there was some paranoia, perhaps some sharpness was hidden. But she didn’t mind.
Lina was her baby. No matter what, she would fix her.
“Okay.”
The shower had been on the whole time. The bathroom was wet everywhere. The shirt on Adele was also soaked. As the water droplets flowed freely, a pair of snow-white ears popped out. The tips of her ears were congested with blood, trembling pitifully.
There was no support on the edge of the bathtub. Adele was dizzy. She was soaked in a tide of water. For the first time, she felt she was about to be eaten by the lop-eared rabbit.
A proud white wolf can’t even handle a little lop-eared rabbit! Adele wanted to close her legs again, but Lina was stuck in the middle, forcing her to separate them. Her breathing was rapid, but her mind could not completely escape the thoughts of the day.
She probed, “You, hmm… can you promise me… not to kill too many people? You should understand what Huaguang means… mmph… she doesn’t want a river of blood either…”
The probing was met with a punishment. The lop-eared rabbit ate faster, as if she wanted to swallow her, to take away her advice.
“I know, I know it all…”
Lina had drunk a lot of water, but her voice was hoarse.
“I can’t go against her. She’s also testing me to see if I have any rebellious intentions. I won’t do anything stupid…”
Her tone was light, but her movements became more focused and deep, as if she wanted to pour all her unease and paranoia into it, to completely possess Adele in this way.
Adele soon reached the edge of the unknown, more out of control than any time she had done it herself. A white light even briefly flashed before her eyes.
Alright.
Lina had indeed surpassed her teacher.
“Do you… want me to resign?” During a break, Lina suddenly asked.
Adele opened her mouth. Her throat was tight and constricted, her voice not yet recovered. She did not answer.
What could she say?
What right did she have to ask Lina to give up everything she had now?
Was love enough?
It was not.
The silence was amplified by the trickling water, making it exceptionally oppressive.
But silence was also an answer.
The taste of her still lingered between Lina’s teeth. The sense of security she had just grasped was easily shattered.
She thought of the night Adele had left.
The fear of having her heart gouged out came rushing back, making her tremble.
If she didn’t have the power and money in her hands, could she have found Adele overnight?
She could only curl up helplessly in her room, waiting for Adele to come and find her.
What if Adele wasn’t willing? What if Adele had really wanted to run?
She would have been truly abandoned, without even a chance to fight for it!
Lina said in a low voice, “If I didn’t have power, that night, I might have really died from the stress! What do you think I relied on to get through it?! I was just sure that I could find you! That you couldn’t run away!”
“I won’t leave you.” Adele’s fingers were still trembling in the afterglow. She comforted her, “I promise.”
Lina took a deep breath, trying hard to control her emotions that were about to spin out of control. “You say you won’t leave me, and I believe you. But what if someone wants to hurt you? What if someone wants to snatch you away?!”
Adele was speechless.
Lina said, “It’s better to have it yourself than to rely on heaven and earth. As long as I stand high enough, they won’t dare! They’ll have to think twice! My life needs a pivot point. Just love is not enough. You understand? You are the most important to me, but power is also very important.”
Adele gave a light “mhm.”
Lina had rushed back several times in the middle of the night, not letting her be alone. This sentiment was enough to give her a sense of security.
She should also support Lina…
Adele stroked her head and said, “Let’s not talk about these things… I support you.”
Lina buried her cheek in Adele’s leg again. “Don’t worry… I really only love you in this life. I swear, I can’t leave you. I won’t betray you just because I have power…”
She tried to get close to that warmth again.
A person experiencing it for the first time is always too fragile. Adele couldn’t bear it and subconsciously shrank back.
But the two of them were still locked together. The edge of the bathtub was also covered in water. With a light pull, Lina pulled her back. There was no escape.
“Teacher.” Lina said deliberately, “How did I do?”
Adele was stimulated by this form of address and said, “Don’t mess around.”
The lop-eared rabbit rolled up her ears and began to pretend to be deaf. “I just want to eat.”
*
Aomo walked into the clinic, wrapped in a damp and cold mist. The smell of carbolic acid disinfectant made her frown slightly. She closed the door with a backhand motion and took off her mud-stained cloak.
Haia was sitting at the consultation desk, tidying up medical records. Her hair was neatly tied up. The glass instrument cabinet behind her reflected the back of her snow-white neck and two fresh teeth marks.
Hearing Aomo’s footsteps, she didn’t look up and said, “You just drank last night. You want more?”
Aomo’s body stiffened slightly, her shoulders tightening. “No!”
She immediately denied it and eagerly explained, “I didn’t come for this. The docks… the docks are in complete chaos now.”
Haia still didn’t look up.
The docks?
Herlkin was at the docks.
Haia had an indifferent look on her face.
“The royal family has captured the bishop and elders of the Sacred Cult. There have been riots in many places. The royal family is bringing the rioters back, and they all have to pass through the docks. So far, there have been several prison break incidents!” Aomo said urgently.
Haia slowly leaned back in her chair, raised her eyes, and asked, knowing the answer, “So?”
“So I’m worried about Xiao Jin!” Aomo blurted out. “If this goes on, the royal family will sooner or later take over the dock area. She and her people are entrenched there. They might be cleared out! I’m afraid something will happen to her!”
“She’s the boss of the Sausage Gang. She has plenty of desperadoes under her. What could happen to her?” Haia cut her off and said in a cold voice, “Do you need to run to my place in the middle of the night, looking like you’ve lost your soul, and tremble for her?”
Aomo was choked by her words and persuaded, “You raised her from a young age! She used to love to follow you around. If you persuade her, she will definitely listen. Let her leave there, avoid it for a while. We can… we can go back to the mountains together, just like before.”
“Like before?” Haia sneered. “You are her teacher. She was also taught by you. If anyone should persuade her, shouldn’t it be you?”
“What’s the use of me going?!” Aomo was angered by her attitude and said, “Weren’t you the one who told her to get lost back then?!”
Haia shot to her feet. “Yes! I said it! But who was it because of?”
She walked out from behind the consultation desk. “If you weren’t so biased, would I have said that?! After she came, you neglected me!”
“I’ve always treated her as a child…” Aomo’s face turned pale.
“A child?” Haia pressed on, step by step. “Then what about me? Before she came, for more than ten years, in that desolate mountain, only I was with you! When I first came to your side, wasn’t I also young? Why? Why did everything change the moment she appeared?!”
The string of questions was filled with grievance.
Their eyes met. Haia asked, “What do you see me as?”
Aomo’s lips were pressed into a pale line. She said, “You just want to get motherly love from me. Since you see me as a mother, how can I lay a hand on you… My desire for blood has no limit. I distanced myself from you back then just to make you leave on your own. I don’t want to kill you!”
How could she not know that Haia couldn’t be driven away? She could only hurt her heart, force her to leave…
Haia stared at her. After a long silence, she suddenly laughed and said, “Mommy?”
She cornered Aomo and said, “Mommy, but I want to sleep with you…”
Aomo’s pupils trembled. She raised her hand and slapped her.
Haia was slapped so hard she took two steps back. Specks of blood seeped from the corner of her lips. She gave a triumphant smile. “It’s been a long time since you’ve disciplined me.”
So good.
Aomo trembled all over. “You bastard!”
She pulled on her cloak, rushed out of the clinic, and slammed the door.
Haia touched the burning fingerprint on her cheek, savoring it for a long moment, then returned to the consultation desk. She pulled open a drawer and took out a piece of paper from the bottom file.
It was a long bill. At the top was written:
Donation from Miss Lina: 200,000 pounds.
Below were a dense collection of names, each followed by the name of a medicine, the cost of surgery, and so on.
The money she had blackmailed from Lina was almost gone.
Just then, Haia’s assistant rushed in and said, “There’s been another shootout on the docks! A lot of people are injured!”
Haia abruptly raised her head. Her fingers unconsciously squeezed the huge bill. “Is there a red-haired person injured?”
The assistant quickly shook his head. “No.”
Haia let out an almost imperceptible sigh of relief.
“It’s the same as usual.” When she spoke again, she had returned to her usual calm. “Spread the news that our clinic, entrusted by the Sausage Gang, will treat the gang members in the dock area for free.”
“Yes!”
Haia looked at the nearly empty balance and took out a pen to write a letter to Lina.
At the same time, on the docks.
Herlkin was blocked by a woman holding a long knife.
The blade glinted with a cold light in the dim light.
Herlkin’s heart sank.
The woman said, “You’re the boss of the Sausage Gang, right?”
Herlkin readily admitted it. Just as she was about to fight, the woman sheathed her knife.
“Thank you for having someone set my leg bone. I won’t kill you or your subordinates. I’m the second-in-command of the Silver Eagle Gang. If there’s danger in the future, you can always find me at Pier 7. I’m leaving now.”
The woman turned and left, her figure quickly disappearing into the thick fog of the docks.
Herlkin was stunned in place.
Set what leg?
Whose leg was set?
When did this happen?
Herlkin: ?
*
In the manor’s basement, a black shadow gradually condensed into a human form. She looked at the iron chains on the wall, slowly changing her features, which were exactly the same as Adele’s, into Lina’s, and then changed her figure.
She stared at herself in the mirror with a wicked smile.
If she tricked Adele here and locked her up, Lina, who had lost Adele again, would surely go mad…