It wasn’t an illusion; it was a tangible sweetness.
Like honey diluted with warm water, not cloying, but carrying a lingering, pleasant comfort that spread from between her lips and teeth all the way to the depths of her heart, making her reluctant to let it end too quickly.
Su Yun froze there, even forgetting to breathe.
She could clearly feel Mo Qingqing’s movements, completely different from her usual roughness, carrying a careful, gentle tenderness, as if handling a fragile treasure.
This was the first time she had felt such gentleness from Mo Qingqing. It was so unfamiliar it made her heart flutter with panic, yet damnably, it allowed her tense body to slowly relax.
Then came the expected, restless hands.
Those always aggressive hands now seemed to be under a spell. Their fingertips traced her spine, skimmed past her waist, their touch as light as a feather brushing by, carrying a warmth that made her whole body go soft.
“Mmm…” Su Yun couldn’t help but let out a muffled groan, her eyelashes trembling lightly, a thin layer of moisture rising in her eyes.
She thought what followed would be the familiar, plundering force, but unexpectedly, Mo Qingqing’s movements remained gentle.
No tearing, no forcing, only perfectly measured touches, as if carefully tracing her contours, inch by inch, with an unmistakable sense of treasuring.
This version of Mo Qingqing was unfamiliar to her, yet it made her heartbeat uncontrollably quicken.
After a long while, their lips finally parted.
A strand of ambiguous silver stretched between them, shimmering with fragmented light under the sun.
“Ah…” Mo Qingqing panted slightly, a look of satiated amusement in her eyes. She stuck out her tongue, lingeringly licking her own lips as if savoring the sweetness from before. Her gaze fell on Su Yun’s flushed cheeks, carrying undisguised possessiveness.
“Ha…” Su Yun was also panting, her small face as red as a ripe apple. Her already large eyes were now even more dewy, filled with a bit of bewildered confusion as she stared blankly at Mo Qingqing.
The afterglow of what just happened still lingered in her body.
Unlike the resistance and numbness she felt during past forced encounters, this time, she had actually felt something.
That unfamiliar, warm palpitation, like tiny electric currents, raced through her limbs and bones, making even her fingertips tremble slightly.
Before, Mo Qingqing’s touch would only make her body instinctively activate self-protection, tensing up, resisting, like a little hedgehog raising its spines.
But this time, those spines seemed to have melted in warm water, becoming utterly soft.
“Here I come~” After just a brief respite, Mo Qingqing leaned in again, her voice carrying a hoarse chuckle as she covered Su Yun’s lips once more.
This time, Su Yun didn’t freeze up. She just lightly closed her eyes, her eyelashes trembling even more violently…
*
The next day.
In the magic academy classroom, sunlight streamed through the window, falling on Su Yun’s textbook and casting dappled spots of light.
The old mage was meticulously explaining something on the podium.
But she had no mind for the lecture at all.
This was the first time since coming to this world that her mind had wandered during class.
Her fair, delicate index finger unconsciously lightly touched her own lips.
The temperature and sensation of Mo Qingqing seemed to still linger there.
When she got up in the morning, Mo Qingqing had left a deep bite mark on her lips.
Su Yun looked at her fingertip, her gaze somewhat lost.
She wasn’t lost because it was the first time she had felt pleasure, but because of the extreme gentleness Mo Qingqing showed last night, which had stirred a tiny, flicker of unwarranted wavering within her.
At the moment their lips touched, Su Yun felt that Mo Qingqing seemed to have truly changed.
No longer the witch who enjoyed tormenting her to tears, who took pleasure in her pain, but had become… someone who would treat her gently.
However, this thought had just surfaced when she forcibly suppressed it.
She still didn’t believe it.
How could a person’s nature change that quickly?
That was the Witch!!
The witch who had harmed tens of thousands of people for an experiment!
Who had previously wanted to dissect her alive and subject her to all manner of torture.
Suddenly turning into a harmless, homebody lolicon?
Su Yun didn’t believe it.
Believing that was less credible than believing she was the reincarnation of Qin Shi Huang, with a million terracotta warriors, and that sending fifty red envelopes could get you appointed as a general.
Perhaps Mo Qingqing had just grown tired of her previous games and switched to a new way of playing.
Once she grew tired of this gentle act, she would quickly revert to her cruel self, continuing her fun, and she herself would remain the plaything at her mercy.
Wanting her to believe Mo Qingqing had truly changed?
That would require at least several months.
Only if Mo Qingqing could maintain this gentleness for months, only after she grew accustomed to such touches, perhaps then would she subconsciously forget those past acts of cruelty that had terrified her.
But that was too distant.
As distant as stars in the sky, visible but untouchable.
Su Yun withdrew her gaze, letting it fall on her textbook. Her eyes gradually grew firm.
She couldn’t pin her hopes on Mo Qingqing changing.
During the class break, she overheard classmates nearby discussing how Ning Die, after special family training, had already reached the fifty-second floor in the Trial Tower.
This news made Su Yun feel an unprecedented sense of urgency.
Ning Die had a Dominator father backing her, the best resources, the most powerful mentors guiding her. Her rapid progress was an inevitable result.
But her? She had nothing.
No famous mentors to guide her, no family to protect her. The only one she could rely on was herself.
And that unpredictable Mo Qingqing.
Su Yun was certain that if she displayed too much strength, Mo Qingqing might just take direct action against her as a precaution.
Regardless of whether Mo Qingqing would truly change, for her, only becoming stronger herself was the safest path.
More methods, more strength—only then could she gain a firm footing in this world of survival of the fittest, only then could she… have a little bit of the confidence to resist.
She couldn’t hand her fate over to someone else.
Su Yun lowered her head, her fingers lightly clenching as she rapidly calculated in her heart.
A moment later, she raised her head, her eyes already filled with resolve.
She decided to go find someone she had always subconsciously overlooked.
That person was her nominal grandmaster—Lin Mo.
Lin Mo was the original owner’s master, so in terms of seniority, she was indeed her grandmaster.
Moreover, Lin Mo’s strength was unfathomable, and she was far more reliable than Mo Qingqing.
Most importantly, Lin Mo seemed to think highly of her. She had previously specifically advised Mo Qingqing to treat her well.
Having such a senior to guide her was surely better than her groping in the dark alone.
Su Yun pursed her lips, her fingertips lightly touching the bite mark on her lip. The confusion in her eyes gradually faded, leaving only clarity.
To become stronger, she could only rely on herself.
And Lin Mo might just be the best guide on her path to becoming stronger.