Mo Ruxue could no longer think at all.
At the very beginning, she had even doubted herself. When the sense of guilt surged, she nearly fled. At that moment, she had wondered what she would do if she couldn’t bear the subsequent contact.
As it turned out, Mo Ruxue could bear it.
Or rather, it wasn’t that she could bear it—it was that she no longer had the mental capacity or energy to dwell on guilt.
At this moment, Mo Ruxue could only follow her body’s instincts.
She wanted to hold Xu Sheng tighter, as if trying to merge him into her very being.
Xu Sheng had originally been sitting sideways on the edge of the bed, barely face-to-face with Mo Ruxue. Now, at some point, he had climbed onto the bed and sat cross-legged, while Mo Ruxue’s legs wrapped around his waist.
Her arms and legs held him tightly. As a Ninth Realm powerhouse, her strength in this unconscious state was terrifying.
If Xu Sheng’s cultivation hadn’t already reached the half-step Tenth Realm, his bones might have cracked.
“Mo Ruxue, how could you dress like this to seduce me?”
Xu Sheng’s voice echoed in her ear. Perhaps because it was too close, or because the words awakened a sliver of her awareness, Mo Ruxue suddenly froze.
“I… I did it for the Linxian Sect…”
“Un. For the Linxian Sect.”
Such self-deception was obvious at a glance to Xu Sheng. He gently stroked the clasp on her back and continued:
“How is this for the Linxian Sect?”
Mo Ruxue swallowed.
“I… this is what you mentioned during the day—tuition.”
Tuition?
Xu Sheng laughed.
Leaving aside that “tuition” was merely a self-deceptive term, Mo Ruxue hadn’t thought carefully—if offering oneself while dressed in such a way was presented as tuition, what was it essentially even more ?
It was different from using Zhu Yuexi’s disciple’s life to threaten Mo Ruxue into giving herself.
The former wasn’t a last resort; Mo Ruxue hadn’t even considered finding help elsewhere.
But since this excuse was only self-deception, Xu Sheng didn’t use it to humiliate her further.
“Truly worthy of Fairy Mo. To be honest, I’ve admired you for a long time.”
Hearing this, Mo Ruxue’s face flushed even redder.
Xu Sheng continued, “Since that’s the case, I’ll teach you the method to resolve the Linxian Sect’s current predicament for free.”
Mo Ruxue was startled. Her first reaction was joy, but then Xu Sheng changed his tone.
“Fairy Mo, please go back first.”
As he spoke, his embrace loosened. A smile played on his lips, but Mo Ruxue sensed distance in that smile.
“What…”
She was momentarily stunned.
“Since Fairy Mo went to such lengths to please me for the sake of the Linxian Sect, I’ve said I’ll help you for free, so there’s no need for you to force yourself like this.”
Xu Sheng’s words sounded sincere, and judging by his eyes, Mo Ruxue saw no trace of sarcasm.
Mo Ruxue was an idealist at heart, which made her indecisive in many choices, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t read people.
Right now, Xu Sheng was indeed not lying.
According to his words, she truly didn’t need to embarrass herself here.
Just as Mo Ruxue was pondering, Xu Sheng stepped back half a pace, completely ending their embrace.
The sense of security that had filled her chest vanished instantly.
Mo Ruxue felt a flicker of panic.
The current number one under heaven, the strongest beneath the Tenth Realm, actually felt a kind of panic at that moment. She instinctively reached out, her hand grabbing Xu Sheng’s collar.
Xu Sheng looked down at her hand on his collar.
Even Mo Ruxue herself froze, then withdrew her hand as if shocked.
If he wanted, Xu Sheng could have made a big deal out of this movement, but he preferred to use his actions to induce Mo Ruxue into making a decision.
So he deliberately ignored her gesture.
“Since that’s the case, Fairy Mo, please take your leave.”
With that, Xu Sheng stood up, completely breaking the distance between them.
Mo Ruxue’s hand lifted again instinctively, but this time, because of the distance, she didn’t catch him.
Xu Sheng silently watched her.
The two stared at each other, and the air seemed to freeze.
Mo Ruxue didn’t speak, and Xu Sheng didn’t urge her.
After an indeterminate time.
“Then… I’ll go back.”
“Since Fairy Mo wishes to leave, I naturally won’t do anything you’re unwilling to do.”
‘Won’t do anything I’m unwilling to do…’
At that moment, Mo Ruxue wanted very much to say that she wasn’t actually that unwilling.
But at the same time, the little figure with strict moral boundaries inside her heart spoke up.
‘You are Mo Ruxue.’
‘You are the Sect Master of the Linxian Sect.’
‘How can you be so debased? How can you truly want to be close to this demon Xu Sheng?’
‘You should leave.’
‘Now you can leave. Xu Sheng has agreed to help. What reason do you have to stay?’
‘Could it be that you really are a cheap slut?’
‘No…’
At first, she had struggled, using “for the Linxian Sect” to deceive herself.
When Xu Sheng had been intimate with her, her mind had gone blank, and she had forgotten about morality.
Now.
Xu Sheng had agreed to help her unconditionally.
Mo Ruxue gradually calmed down.
The sense of morality rushed back, and she felt a suffocating nausea.
“You can leave, as long as you want.”
At the right moment, Xu Sheng spoke again.
Hearing this, Mo Ruxue remembered the kiss Xu Sheng had withheld the previous night.
At that time, she had pushed him away, and he had asked her in the same tone.
But… wasn’t she being proactive enough just now?
What she wanted as a reward was… that kiss.
For someone like Mo Ruxue, it was difficult to make an absolute choice in such matters. More often than not, she would only hint, or take half a step forward, waiting for the other side to meet her.
What was the highest level of conditioning?
Wasn’t it to force someone like Mo Ruxue, who only took half steps, to take a full stride forward?
At this moment, what Mo Ruxue decided didn’t really matter.
If she chose to take a big step forward, then Xu Sheng’s conquest of her would be eighty percent complete—the rest would just be development.
If she chose to run away now, that was even better.
After all, making her regret it—just like regretting not giving her that kiss yesterday—would bring Xu Sheng a different kind of pleasure…
Now it was up to Mo Ruxue.
A faint, almost imperceptible smile tugged at the corner of Xu Sheng’s mouth as he stared straight at her.