Chapter 23

Nightfall by the riverbank, with a gentle breeze and the person she loved. It was a heart-stirring scene, one Luo Yihuan had never even imagined.

The river wind toyed with the hair of the woman beside her, revealing a beautiful profile. It was as if the breeze wanted to display its gentlemanly tenderness toward the beauty, stirring even the fallen leaves on the ground with unusual gentleness.

A long walkway stretched before them, and the two walked along it slowly.

They occasionally passed elderly couples supporting each other on their evening strolls, young married pairs walking their dogs, and boys and girls carrying sketchpads on their backs.

They even encountered a little girl with two adorable pigtails. She darted forward and flung herself at Jiang Li’s legs, shouting “Pretty Sister!” at the top of her lungs.

Jiang Li burst into delighted laughter. She bent down to chat face-to-face with the girl for a moment. The child took an immediate shine to her and kept clamoring for hugs and cuddles.

With tender affection, Jiang Li pressed her cheek against the girl’s and gave it a gentle rub.

Luo Yihuan stood quietly behind Jiang Li the whole time, watching the radiant smile bloom across her face. An indecipherable glint flickered in her eyes.

After a while, the girl’s older sister hurried over with an apologetic smile. She took the child from Jiang Li’s arms and explained that she had been squatting by the roadside buying something and hadn’t kept a close enough eye on her.

Jiang Li waved it off to show it was no trouble. She leaned down once more, her expression turning serious. “No running off like that next time, okay? Be a good girl and stick with your sister.”

The little girl nodded obediently and took her sister’s hand before they walked away.

It was just a small interlude in Jiang Li’s memory—one she would have long forgotten if Luo Yihuan hadn’t brought it up again later.

The pair continued onward until they reached an empty pavilion. Right in front of it lay a raised performance platform, where a crowd had gathered to watch the spectacle.

Neither of them wanted to squeeze into the throng for a better look, so they settled for a peaceful spot just behind it instead.

They stepped into the pavilion, and 123’s voice chimed in her mind. Jiang Li’s expression darkened.

【Ding. Time-Limited Task issued: Within the next half hour, say the following to Luo Yihuan—”I want to be the only person reflected in your eyes.”】

Standing in the pavilion, the same gentle breeze from before now only stirred Jiang Li’s heart into greater turmoil, like a hopelessly tangled mess of threads.

Could she really say that?

Luo Yihuan… she…

Her thoughts were a chaotic whirl, and without realizing it, Jiang Li began to instinctively avoid Luo Yihuan. She took a few steps forward, her gaze dropping to the river view below.

Luo Yihuan watched as the woman beside her drifted silently forward a few paces. Her hands, hanging at her sides, clenched the hem of her pants, her eyes flickering.

The river surface was a pitch-black expanse. All she could hear was the rhythmic crash of waves against the shore—one after another—its steady cadence somehow calming the mind and smoothing away turbulent emotions.

The wind picked up strength, whipping her hair into tangles before her eyes. Jiang Li was only an arm’s length away, and yet she suddenly felt impossibly distant.

Jiang Li closed her eyes, listening intently to the surging waves at her ear. Her mind was a storm: the half-hour task deadline, Luo Yihuan’s attitude, her own choice…

“123, can I skip this time-limited task?” Her brows furrowed tightly as Jiang Li tried to refuse it.

123 fell silent for a moment before replying: 【No.】

【I must remind you that time-limited tasks test your on-the-spot reactions the most. Failing one comes with severe punishment. Your divine soul will be dragged into…】 It paused, then continued, 【Luo Yihuan’s dream realm for an entire night.】

123 didn’t elaborate on what sort of dream realm it was, but the mere prospect of her divine soul entering someone else’s dream was utterly vexing. The divine soul was one’s most fragile and sensitive essence, and the most chilling part was the loss of control—the shared tremors rippling through it. Even a light brush brought unbearable prickling numbness that no one could resist.

Once trapped in another’s dream realm, she would be entirely at the dream’s master’s mercy.

123 was confident Jiang Li understood the stakes. Compared to mouthing insincere words in the moment, having her divine soul manipulated by another was far more unacceptable.

“What are you thinking about?”

The low voice came from behind her. Jiang Li didn’t turn her head. Instead, she tilted her chin up, letting the gusting wind blast across her entire face as she forced herself to make a clear-headed decision.

“Just enjoying the breeze.”

Her words were torn apart by the wind the moment they left her lips. By the time they reached Luo Yihuan’s ears, they sounded faint and indifferent, without a trace of anything more.

Luo Yihuan’s lips pressed into a thin, straight line. She parted them as if to speak, her gaze fixed unwaveringly on Jiang Li. Her thoughts churned like the waves on the river below.

Ever-changing.

When she reached out, her fingertips trembled in the air for an instant. Luo Yihuan placed her hand on Jiang Li’s shoulder, on the verge of speaking—when Jiang Li’s words struck her heart like a devastating blow.

“Luo Yihuan, do you like me?”

It wasn’t, “I like you, so you like me too?” No, she had phrased it the other way around.

Her hands clenched into white-knuckled fists at her sides. Time seemed to freeze in that instant as Luo Yihuan stood rooted to the spot, her lower lip bitten until tooth marks appeared.

Should she say it? Would Li Li reject her?

She had been too obvious just now, hadn’t she?

Darkness pooled in Luo Yihuan’s downcast eyes. Her brows drew low, sharpness and obsession burning through her features. Yet her lips curved into a secretive, eerie smile—gloomy in the extreme.

In this moment, she bore no resemblance to the clear-skied brightness of the daytime. A sickly calm masked her face, and her eyes reddened with agitation at the thought of what might come.

Gazing at the back turned toward her, Luo Yihuan let out a sigh as if relinquishing something. Then she stepped forward until she was right behind Jiang Li.

A cool gust swept over them, light and chilly, but the murmur she whispered into Jiang Li’s ear brimmed with scorching affection—burning hot.

“Yes, I like Li Li.”

“I’ve reached the point where I can’t get enough of her. I want to hug her. I want to kiss her. And above all…” Her voice deepened throatily, blending with the slow evening breeze into Jiang Li’s ear. “This time, I want to hold her hand openly and honestly.”

“I know, Li Li. It was you—the one who covered my ears back then.”

The words rolled halfway off her tongue, dredging up a long-lost childhood memory laced with obsession. The body before her went rigid.

So Luo Yihuan truly remembered that moment.

The searing warmth from behind drew closer, cool wind and scorching heat entwining around Jiang Li. Stray strands of hair danced across Luo Yihuan’s cheek. She tilted her chin up slightly, brushing it lightly against the back of Jiang Li’s head.

This was the first time Luo Yihuan had expressed her intimacy so openly while Jiang Li was fully aware.

“The first time I saw Li Li, I had a nightmare that night. When I woke up, that memory finally returned.”

“I won’t speculate on why Li Li was so sure I’d never remember. But Li Li, you’re here now.”

“You’re here… so you can’t leave.”

Her eyes narrowed, infatuation gleaming in their depths. Luo Yihuan inhaled the faint fragrance hovering at the tip of her nose. She dipped her head, lips brushing near the flushed earlobe as she murmured temptingly.

“Say yes, Li Li.”

“You said you’d give me happiness. You promised to make me happy. I love you— you’re the only one who can be my happiness.”

Luo Yihuan’s arms encircled her completely. Somehow, her exposed waist had already been claimed by a pair of strong hands with prominent knuckles. The heat from those palms made Jiang Li instinctively shrink back—

Only pushing herself deeper into Luo Yihuan’s embrace.

The woman behind her continued her obsessive whispers, alluring as a siren, desperately trying to lure Jiang Li into her carefully laid trap.

Warm breath tickled the skin behind her ear. Jiang Li’s arms, crossed over her chest, clenched tight as she listened to Luo Yihuan’s fervent words—until that heated mouth suddenly enveloped her earlobe.

Her heart jolted. Jiang Li whipped around sharply, breaking free from Luo Yihuan’s hold. A flush of shame surged across her face, her trembling fingertips flying to her ear—

Where the lingering warmth and slick moisture from that mouth still clung.

Before her, Luo Yihuan didn’t rush even after being pushed away. She stared straight into Jiang Li’s eyes, lips still glistening with wetness.

Jiang Li’s pupils contracted slightly. She watched as Luo Yihuan’s thumb slowly wiped across her mouth—followed by her tongue darting out without hesitation to lick it clean.

That pink little tongue emerged from her lips into the night, teasingly lapping at the pad of her thumb as if to entice her prey into pouncing. It traced back and forth in a mesmerizing fashion that set Jiang Li’s cheeks ablaze.

Jiang Li jerked her head away, butterflies rioting in her stomach. She couldn’t bear to linger there a second longer.

【Ding. Five minutes until Time-Limited Task deadline.】

Her mind was utter chaos. Jiang Li gritted her teeth, her fingertips digging into her jacket until they turned white. Only five minutes left on the time-limited task.

Saying the System’s line now would amount to accepting Luo Yihuan’s confession.

But staying silent meant her divine soul under control—who knew what might unfold in Luo Yihuan’s dream realm?

Which to choose…

Time ticked away second by second. Luo Yihuan said nothing. She merely watched Jiang Li’s downcast eyes, awaiting her decision.

The grip on her fingertips had already drawn blood.

“I…”

The words died on her lips. Jiang Li met Luo Yihuan’s pitch-black eyes, swirling with ominous darkness. Her expression was coldly composed, chilling enough to inspire terror—like a wolf in the final second before the pounce.

Deep-seated desire lurked there, poised to erupt.

“I’m sorry, Luo Yihuan.”

“I think we’d be better off as friends.”

A gentle rejection.

The night seemed to cool imperceptibly. The air around them wasn’t as comfortable as when they’d first arrived.

Ignoring 123’s frantic mental pleas against it, Jiang Li delivered her refusal. She watched as Luo Yihuan bowed her head in silence, an inexplicable chill creeping over her skin.

“Sorry.”

She figured people needed space after a rejection, so Jiang Li murmured a soft goodbye and tried to step past Luo Yihuan to leave.

The air grew so still that even the wind vanished from hearing.

Suddenly, 123 shouted urgently:

【Watch out!!】

Too late.

Pain exploded at the back of her neck. In her final second of consciousness, Jiang Li felt something soft pressing hard against her back, while powerful arms locked around her waist and yanked her into an embrace.

“Li Li, you’re being naughty.”

In the dim pavilion, the woman murmured. Light from overhead illuminated her hazy silhouette. Her lips pressed against the neck before her again and again, nuzzling obsessively like a lovesick madwoman.

“Li Li…” She sighed in dissatisfaction, burying her face in the crook of Jiang Li’s neck. A bone-chilling iciness lurked in her hidden gaze, her eyes tainted with a sickly redness.

Murmur after murmur—it banished every trace of her usual cold lunar grace, leaving her like a vengeful demon crawling from hell after being cast down by its beloved.

“All I want is you~”