Su Nian forced herself to say those words.
Each syllable was difficult to utter, unbearably humiliating.
But in order to gain the trust of that bastard Horned Demon and utterly defeat him, she had no choice.
“Su Nian… everything of Su Nian… was always meant to be offered to Master.”
Throwing caution to the wind, Su Nian decided to smash the pot and break the jar, and her words grew increasingly exaggerated.
The girl’s long eyelashes drooped, trembling restlessly like the wings of a startled butterfly, casting a faint shadow beneath her eyelids.
Perfectly concealing all the true emotions in her eyes.
The last ray of sunset struggled through the thick carriage curtains’ gap.
Casting a few strands of dim, ambiguous light.
The weak light illuminated the girl’s pale yet exquisitely beautiful profile.
The carriage rocked lightly and rhythmically.
The air inside the cabin seemed to freeze.
Not long ago, she was like a sacred, noble goddess worshipped by all the people in Bai Shui Town.
Radiant and glorious.
Now, she was humiliating herself with a nearly servile flattery.
Speaking words of complete submission to the bastard Horned Demon who held her fate in his hands.
‘… Really.’ Chu Tian leaned against the soft cushion opposite, a faint stir in his heart.
His heartbeat seemed to skip a beat.
The girl appeared completely immersed in her “role.”
With a voice so soft, it seemed like a dreamlike whisper, fragile and about to vanish at any moment.
She continued speaking those utterly insincere words.
“Master can make use of… can make use of the things Su Nian gives…” Her voice trembled deliberately.
As if excited.
Yet also as if shy.
“Su Nian… Su Nian truly…”
She paused.
As if gathering courage.
“Is very happy.”
The last words, “very happy,” were barely audible.
As if she had exhausted all her courage.
Or was desperately hiding the kind of bashfulness and modesty unique to a girl praised by her beloved.
At this moment, Chu Tian gazed at the gentle, beautiful girl who lowered her eyes submissively.
Listening to that deliberately softened voice, trembling slightly with gentleness.
Feeling the “sincerity” and “joy” concealed in her words.
At this moment, he was almost about to drown in this tender affection.
However, if not for the cold System Notification raging like a waterfall in his mind—
He might have really believed the girl before him.
“Ding dong, absorbed regret emotion, Annoyance Value +132.”
“Ding dong, absorbed helplessness emotion, Annoyance Value +108.”
“Ding dong, absorbed unwillingness emotion, Annoyance Value +72.”
“Ding dong…”
***
‘Hah, this little wildcat who says one thing and means another.’ A faint smile tugged at the corner of Chu Tian’s lips.
She said “very happy” in a soft, sweet voice, every word full of cautious “sincerity.”
‘Tsk tsk.’
His little wildcat’s acting skills were getting better and better.
Even he, her “Master,” was almost fooled by her tearful, overwhelmed appearance.
The slight redness at the corner of her eyes was like the dewdrops clinging to the most fragile morning grass.
Her butterfly-wing-like trembling long eyelashes fluttered with just the right amount of panic and shyness.
That hesitant, slightly servile posture.
Her acting was so convincing it could almost pass as genuine.
If not for this formless Annoyance Value System he carried, he might have really softened at this flawless performance.
Chu Tian squinted slightly, his eyes deepening.
His thoughts involuntarily drifted back to that broken church not long ago.
If her acting was this good, then why didn’t Su Nian kill him when he was “gravely injured and collapsed” in that ruined church?
She clearly had the chance.
Instead, she chose to heal him?
Could that also have been part of the act?
To win deeper trust, to act so realistically at any cost, what exactly was she after?
The girl before him, with her baffling behavior and suddenly surging power, always carried layers of secrets, like a dense fog.
Chu Tian didn’t know that Su Nian had already launched a decisive rebellion against him on another, time-reversed timeline.
She just failed.
Chu Tian’s slender fingers tapped the armrest unconsciously, his gaze refocused on the girl’s lowered cheek.
He reached out, a trace of coolness on his fingertips, gently lifting her chin, forcing her to meet his eyes.
He wanted to look straight into those amber eyes that tried to hide everything.
Was the girl before him filled with hatred toward him, always plotting rebellion and escape, wanting to tear him to pieces?
Or was she truly, as she was now acting, resigned to complete submission, even willing to save him out of some complicated, twisted emotion?
Perhaps, she simply didn’t want her “Master” to die at anyone else’s hands but hers?
She still hoped to one day personally take revenge and wash away all the humiliation.
Or perhaps that healing was just an unconscious reaction forced by the tense situation, her body acting before her brain could think?
Or… Chu Tian suddenly considered another possibility.
Maybe the girl had keenly seen through that mention of the box that tamed Da Hei was just a tease, meant to toy with her, to enjoy her regret and unwillingness.
That’s why she was so angry, so regretful, so unwilling.
That actually… made sense.
After all, even ordinary couples, or spouses who have been together for many years, often sulk or get upset over trivial matters, right?
Thinking like this, Chu Tian inexplicably felt much better, even a bit strangely pleased.
After all, even if Su Nian was still thinking of rebellion, he was not afraid in the slightest.
Instead, this girl’s current act of playing the obedient little servant, suppressing the wild waves inside, yet unable to fully hide the humiliation and unwillingness, held a peculiar charm.
Especially those slightly flushed cheeks, like peach blossoms blooming after the rain, wet, tender, and vibrantly fragile.
And those drooping, dense long lashes that occasionally trembled uncontrollably with emotional fluctuations, silently revealing her inner unrest.
And… his gaze slid with a hint of predation over her graceful, slender neck.
From the wide collar of the Light-element Magic Robe, a small patch of delicate, fair skin was faintly visible.
That skin was like the finest mutton-fat jade, still radiating a soft luster in the dim light.
Pure white.
Like the purest first snow of winter, unstained by any dirt.
Milky white snow!
Chu Tian’s Adam’s apple moved barely perceptibly, the inkiness in his eyes darkening.
The mischievous thought of teasing and tormenting her sprouted wildly like vines breaking through the soil, writhing and nearly impossible to suppress.
Since the performance had reached this level.
She was acting so “earnestly,” perfecting every detail.
If he didn’t cooperate, wouldn’t it spoil the atmosphere?
If he ignored her carefully prepared act, wouldn’t he be insensitive?
***
Chu Tian pinched the girl’s delicate chin.
He lazily leaned down.
The distance between them instantly shrank.
He slowly closed in.
His warm breath carried an unyielding hint of command.
It gently brushed past Su Nian’s highly sensitive ear.
That breath carried his unique scent, a mixture of chill and some indescribable masculine aroma, invading her nostrils with dominance.
Su Nian’s body instantly tensed.
Every muscle stiffened like iron.
She could even clearly feel the fine hairs on the back of her neck standing on end, sending signals of alert from this sudden proximity.
Her fingertips curled instinctively.
Clutching the edge of her clothes tightly.
The pile of cold, hard farm eggs in her arms contrasted sharply and absurdly with the warm breath on her neck.
‘Push him away!’
‘Hit him hard!’
‘Purify this shameless bastard with the Holy Light Spear!’
Countless rebellious thoughts screamed wildly in her mind, nearly breaking free from the bonds of reason.
But the collar named Lover’s Prison Collar, like an icy shackle, tightly strangled her impulses, reminding her of the price of rebellion.
She was forced to endure the overwhelming pressure of the bastard Horned Demon so close to her.
Feeling his warm breath spray over her cheek in waves, sending an unbearable, skin-tingling itch.
His clear amber eyes widened slightly in panic, unable to control themselves.
Just like that, right in front of her.
Without any extra movement.
The bastard Horned Demon directly kissed her lips.
The touch was soft, carrying a trace of warmth.
Not as passionate or possessive as imagined.
It was just like a feather, lightly touching and then withdrawing.
So brief it felt like an illusion.
Yet so real it stopped her heart.
Afterward, a slightly hoarse yet unmistakably clear voice filled with malicious teasing came to her ear.
“So, after this, are you happy?” Chu Tian’s low voice sounded by her ear.
His tone seemed to carry a faint, suppressed emotion.
His lips had just lightly brushed over her moist, full red lips.
Leaving a faint, lingering warmth.
Now he asked such a straightforward question—whether she was happy to be kissed.
What a big bad villain!
At this moment, Su Nian’s heart pounded wildly, like drums.
Almost bursting from her throat, striking her eardrums.
She could clearly smell the faint, cool scent of plants mixed with his own masculine aura coming from the bastard Horned Demon.
The smell was not unpleasant.
If the bastard Horned Demon smelled as foul as that “stinky” box, or like Goblins or Orcs with their nauseating stench, she might have resisted by instinctual disgust.
But… the bastard Horned Demon’s scent was surprisingly… not unpleasant.
Even… carried a strange, heart-stirring attraction.
This made her hate him even more.
‘Damn it. This shouldn’t be happening.’
‘As for the bastard Horned Demon’s question… being kissed, am I happy…’
How could she possibly be happy!
She wished she could summon the Holy Light Spear and nail this bastard to the carriage wall immediately!
But she couldn’t.
She had to endure.
She had to play this damned, obedient, conquered role well.
At this moment, she had to force out an even more bashful, more submissive expression, even with a trace of secret delight.
Just thinking about having been kissed by the bastard Horned Demon, and then telling him she was happy, made her cheeks burn uncontrollably.
The heat spread all the way to her earlobes.