With that thought, Yan Zhen slipped back into character, looking down at her imperiously as he demanded, “Do you still dare to stab me?”
Yan Ruyu shot back without hesitation. “I’ll stab you dead!”
Smack!
The third one.
Yan Ruyu’s delicate body trembled, her legs pressing together slightly as an increasingly strange sensation washed over her.
Yan Zhen continued with his lines. “Just call me ‘good big brother,’ and I’ll let you go.”
Gritting her teeth, Yan Ruyu replied, “In your dreams!”
Smack!
The fourth.
“Will you call me that?”
“No!”
Yan Ruyu bit her lip hard, her legs rubbing together restlessly. Thinking she was still struggling, Yan Zhen pinned her down even tighter and delivered another smack.
That was the fifth. It was about time for her to pretend to submit, he figured.
“Will you call me that?”
“Beat me to death then! I-I’ll never submit to you!”
Yan Ruyu’s resolve was ironclad.
Well… all right. Maybe “two more” was just an estimate, not exact.
Or perhaps his strikes had been too light, not ruthless enough.
Yan Zhen huffed on his palm for warmth, then brought his hand down hard on Yan Ruyu’s pert rear.
The crisp sound echoed even louder than before.
Yan Ruyu’s beautiful eyes went wide, her mind blanking out for a moment before her body went rigid. Her waist arched like a fish out of water, and a long, piercing scream escaped her flushed lips.
Yan Zhen’s eyes lit up. The “scream like a stuck pig” had finally arrived. So that was it—his earlier strikes had been too gentle, making her cries sound almost like he was caressing her backside instead. Now that he’d ramped up the force, it sounded properly agonized.
He’d nearly botched the scene out of momentary softness, but he’d woken up in time.
“Will you call me ‘good big brother’?”
“G-Good… good big brother~”
Yan Ruyu’s face burned crimson, her eyes misty with allure. Her taut body quivered softly, her voice turning meek and breathless.
Yan Zhen thought to himself that this woman was a natural actress. She sounded just like she’d truly surrendered—it was no wonder the script had fooled him back then.
“That was nicely done. Say it one more time.”
“G-Good… big brother…”
“All right, you’re a smart one. I’ll let you off this time.”
Pretending to be taken in, Yan Zhen got off her. He patted his hands clean, looking as if he’d dropped his guard—but he was ready to bolt at any moment.
After all, Yan Ruyu could be terrifying when she lost it.
He glanced at Yan Meng’er, who was watching from the sidelines. She was biting her finger, her eyes wide with timid fascination, staring at him like he was some kind of pervert.
Yan Zhen felt a bit awkward but kept his cool, sitting back down calmly to sip his tea.
Seeing that Yan Zhen had no intention of laying a hand on her, Yan Meng’er felt a twinge of regret. While wondering if she should try provoking him like that next time, she stepped forward to help Yan Ruyu up. Her cousin’s body felt limp and boneless, soft as putty. It seemed like she’d truly…
Cousin Ruyu’s so naughty~
“Cousin, are you okay?”
Yan Ruyu buried her face in her hair, refusing to utter a word. She just wanted to crawl into a hole and vanish from the world forever.
Had he noticed? Probably not… or maybe he had but was pretending otherwise? She wanted to die—right that instant!
“Cousin? Come on, get up. It’s no good lying on the ground like that.”
Yan Meng’er understood her cousin’s feelings all too well. If it had been her, she’d have buried her head like an ostrich too, out of sheer mortification.
After a long moment, Yan Ruyu allowed Yan Meng’er to help her to her feet. She eased herself onto a nearby stone bench.
“Ah~”
The moment her rear touched the hard seat, Yan Ruyu yelped and sprang up again, her freshly recovered complexion flushing scarlet once more.
She shot a quick glance at Yan Zhen across from her, terrified he might mock her.
Yan Zhen appeared calm on the surface, but he was on high alert, poised to flee.
Their eyes met, and silence stretched between them.
Yet Yan Ruyu didn’t lash out. Instead, she was the first to lower her head, looking every bit the picture of wounded innocence.
?
What was going on? Wasn’t she supposed to go berserk and chase him down? Had he gone too hard, leaving her unable to run?
Damn it. Chase or no chase, he had to finish the “fleeing” part of the scene.
“I’ve got things to do. I’m heading out.”
With that, Yan Zhen turned and bolted without looking back.
Seeing that he wasn’t mocking her—in fact, he was avoiding her like the plague—Yan Ruyu’s heart sank. Her shame nearly boiled over.
H-He really had noticed!
How was she supposed to face Yan Zhen from now on? To think that just a few spanks on the butt had made her…
“Aaah!”
Screaming, Yan Ruyu fled the courtyard, leaving Yan Meng’er standing there in disarray.
It felt like her cousin had beaten her to the punch. She’d have to step up her game.
For the next few days, Yan Zhen didn’t see Yan Ruyu at all—not even during family dinners, when she actively avoided him.
Because of her cousin’s behavior, Yan Meng’er didn’t cling to him as much either, dropping by only occasionally.
Yan Zhen enjoyed the peace. He often slipped into the Crystal Stone Space to learn Fire Control techniques from his beautiful master. His proficiency soared visibly, and his mystic power grew ever more stable.
With the Gold-Silver Fire at his command, any Mystic Cultivator below Mystic Scholar level was child’s play.
The Heavenly Extreme Flames were domineering by nature.
Paired with the Emperor Flame Technique, they were downright terrifying.
And that tied directly into the next major plot point: the Dragon Night Platform at the Shangyuan Festival.
It was one of the Garo Kingdom’s customs.
On the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, the city’s major powers would set out prizes and erect arenas, inviting young experts in the Mystic Initiate Realm to challenge them. Victors claimed the prizes.
The more wins in a row, the richer the rewards—a festive celebration and a little boost for the younger generation.
These days, though, the Dragon Night Platform had become a battleground for Martial Tang City’s major powers to vie openly and covertly. The prizes were secondary; letting an opponent’s arena be fully conquered meant losing face big time.
This time around, the Three Great Families—Aos, Jias, and Lius—would send challengers to the City Lord Mansion’s arena to test its stance.
With Yan Lie ill and former City Lord Yan Xiao missing, the City Lord Mansion could no longer keep the families in check. They were all restless, itching for more power and gains.
Yan Zhen’s mission was to turn the tide at the critical moment and send the Three Great Families’ challengers packing.
“Another combat arc. Terrifying. I’ve got to train more.”
The strongest among them was just a Seven-Star Mystic Practitioner, whom he could trounce easily now. But who knew if the plot might veer off? Better to power up—no harm in that. He could always hold back on the cultivation flex.
Days passed, the New Year cheer lingering as Shangyuan lanterns began lighting up the streets.
Today was the big day: Shangyuan Festival, with the Dragon Night Platform running all through the daylight hours.
As the sun climbed high, Yan Meng’er dragged Yan Ruyu to Yan Zhen’s courtyard once more, inviting him to watch the Dragon Night Platform together.
Yan Zhen had been waiting, but he stuck to the script, declining a few times until her pleading and coquetry wore him down, and he “reluctantly” agreed to head out.
Yan Ruyu stood quietly off to the side, saying nothing—like a different person entirely.
It left Yan Zhen baffled. Sure, she’d mellow out a bit after he “disciplined” her, but not to this extent.
Yan Meng’er hooked her arm through his and suddenly asked, “Big cousin, are you going to get up on the platform and show off later?”
