【Ding! Key Plot Activation】
Yan Zhen knew it had arrived. He opened the door to find Yan Ruyu standing outside in a thin nightgown. Her left arm hung limply at her side while her right hand clutched her left forearm. She kept her head slightly lowered, her posture stiff and awkward—nothing like her usual poised and graceful self.
He had to fight back a laugh. Pretending ignorance, he asked, “What’s the matter, Cousin?”
Yan Ruyu couldn’t bring herself to meet his eyes. In a small voice, she said, “Let me inside first, then I’ll tell you.”
“Oh, sure, come on in.”
Yan Zhen stepped aside to make room, and she hurried past him like a thief sneaking into a forbidden lair.
With deliberate force, he slammed the door shut behind her—bang!—startling her into a slight tremble. She perched stiffly on the stool, her full, moonlike rear pressing against the seat and forming an enticing curve.
How could he resist? Yan Zhen marveled to himself. He poured her a cup of tea but didn’t sit down. Instead, he leaned one hand on the table and placed the other on his hip, looming over her.
Yan Ruyu’s nightgown was fairly modest, but from his vantage point, he could still glimpse the deep valley of snow-white cleavage between her breasts.
It wasn’t that he’d suddenly turned perverted. This was straight out of the script: a deliberate ploy to tease his cousin.
After all, that’s just how things were between them.
“Out with it, Cousin. What do you want with me?”
Oblivious to how her cousin was quietly taking advantage of her, Yan Ruyu replied, “You shouldn’t have been so reckless. Challenging Lan Ke to a duel on the Duel Platform in three days? With your talent, if you just waited half a year, you’d surpass him easily. Why rush? On the Duel Platform, the academy turns a blind eye as long as no one dies. If Lan Ke gets the chance to play dirty against you…”
Yan Zhen raised a hand to silence her.
“If that’s all you came here to say, then you can head back now. It’s no fun at all.”
“Hmph. Fine, don’t listen if you don’t want to. I’m done bothering with you anyway.”
She huffed in her usual haughty way, but she wasn’t truly angry. Those words were just the opener.
“You… when you were at the restaurant with Lan Ke, you said you’d recorded our conversation. Was that true?”
The corner of Yan Zhen’s mouth curved up. He nodded. “Of course it is. Want me to play it for you?”
He retrieved the Sound Recording Conch from his storage ring and pressed the switch at its tip. Moments later, her earlier conversation with Lan Ke emanated from the shell’s mouth.
“…the rules were fake, but my feelings for him are real—”
Whoosh!
Yan Ruyu’s slender hand shot out like lightning, trying to snatch the conch away. But Yan Zhen had anticipated it. He deftly tucked it away, leaving her grasping at empty air.
Her face flushed crimson. With an unwilling pout, she demanded, “Give that thing here!”
Yan Zhen put on his most innocent expression. “This is my Sound Recording Conch. It wasn’t cheap. Why should I give it to you?”
Yan Ruyu furrowed her delicate brows, her pearly teeth nibbling at her lower lip. “Then delete that part of the recording!”
He slanted a glance at her. “Why delete it? It captured Cousin’s heartfelt confession of love for me! I had no idea you liked me that much. What an honor!
“I… I only said that to turn Lan Ke down,” she protested, her momentum faltering. “I don’t like you at all. Don’t get the wrong idea!”
“Oh. I see.” Yan Zhen feigned regret. “And here I thought Cousin really, really liked me. What a shame.”
She bit her lip. Deep down, she almost wanted to hear him spout more of his silly, flirtatious nonsense to tease her—but she also feared he’d latch onto it and leave her completely at his mercy.
—This jerk!
Yan Ruyu steadied her breathing, her gaze sharpening. “Anyway, delete the recording right now. We can’t have anyone getting the wrong idea.”
But Yan Zhen just shook his head. “No way. This is my key evidence for grossing out Lan Ke later.”
Little bad egg! Yan Ruyu itched to throttle him, but with the evidence in his hands, she had no choice but to yield.
“What will it take for you to delete it?”
He pretended to mull it over. “Hmm. Well, I suppose I could delete it… but what’s in it for me?”
“What do you want? I don’t have anything valuable to give you. You toss around Minor Yuan Pills like candy—surely you’re not after my pocket change?”
“Of course not. Cousin has something far more tempting than that.”
“What?”
“That would be…”
Yan Zhen leaned close to her ear and whispered the two words.
Yan Ruyu’s beautiful eyes flew wide. It was as if a massive boulder had plunged into the lake of her heart, sending ripples exploding in every direction.
“You… you rogue!”
“Call me whatever you like. Let me cop a feel, and I’ll delete the recording. Otherwise, no deal.” He struck a lecherous pose. “Ah, listening to my dear Cousin’s passionate confession every night before bed—what a delight! Deleting it would be such a waste.”
Shame, resentment, and—just a tiny flicker of secret delight swirled in Yan Ruyu’s chest.
She recalled what Yan Meng’er had once said: Maybe Cousin keeps teasing you about your butt not to mock you, but because he wants it?
She hadn’t quite believed it before. But now? Yan Zhen had admitted it himself—and he was using the recording to blackmail her into letting him touch it.
Anyone else who dared make such a demand would’ve gotten a sword through the gut. But this was Yan Zhen… and with the blackmail hanging over her, she had no real choice. She’d have to agree… right?
She stole a glance at his face, where that smug grin she both loved and hated was plastered.
“Really? Just one touch?”
“A gentleman’s word is his bond.”
Yan Zhen smirked inwardly. Sure, just one touch—as long as he didn’t let go. He’d keep going until she was in tears.
“You’d better keep your word!”
Biting her lip as if steeling herself, Yan Ruyu slowly rose to her feet. She took his hand and guided it to the side of her thigh, then squeezed her eyes shut. Her voice trembled as she whispered, “Go… go ahead.”
Feeling the tender, resilient flesh of her thigh, Yan Zhen swallowed hard.
The role-playing requirement for this key plot point was to use the recording as leverage to threaten Yan Ruyu into letting him grope her butt—and only then delete it.
He’d only meant to tease her a bit. But he hadn’t accounted for being a hot-blooded young man, or for how incredible her butt would feel in his hands. Before long, he lost himself in it, unable to stop. His touches grew bolder and more unrestrained.
Only when Yan Ruyu began to sob pitifully beneath his roaming hands did Yan Zhen snap out of it. Overcome with regret, he slapped his own face and apologized profusely.
From that moment on, Yan Zhen not only lost all emotion but gradually turned ascetic, adopting a cool and aloof demeanor.
Even later in the story, when he accidentally fell victim to the Evil Dragon Aphrodisiac Poison, he refrained from laying a hand on the peerless beauties—the National Advisor and the Ninth Sword Immortal, a pair of stunning sisters—and chose to handle it himself instead.
This was a crucial turning point in the protagonist’s mindset. He couldn’t afford to slip up even slightly.
—Sorry, Cousin, but to keep the plot on track, I won’t hold back. Heh heh heh~
Yan Zhen’s hand glided slowly along her thigh toward her backside until it finally made contact with that perky curve.
The plump, fleshy sensation was irresistible. He gave it a gentle squeeze, and his fingers sank into the warm, yielding softness.
Yan Ruyu’s body shuddered. She quickly pressed her lips together to stifle any embarrassing moans.
