Ye Lan felt a suffocating sense of absurdity.
Time seemed to freeze, with only the sound of the hot spring’s rising steam and the silent, yet fiercely colliding gazes between them.
“What’s wrong?” Mu Xi tilted her head, her voice still sweet and soft, but carrying an unquestionable urgency.
“Hurry up and say it, my suitor.”
She deliberately emphasized the word “suitor,” as if reminding Ye Lan of her current identity and predicament.
Ye Lan’s throat tightened.
Her lips moved slightly, but she couldn’t produce a single syllable.
That word was too heavy, too humiliating.
It evoked too many dark memories she didn’t want to recall, yet couldn’t deny.
Making her call Mu Xi “Mom” was a hundred times more unbearable than kneeling here and enduring any torture.
This wasn’t just a form of address—it was a complete subversion of power, a total reversal of status!
Mu Xi seemed to see through her struggle and resistance, and the smile in her eyes deepened.
“Unwilling?” she asked softly, a hint of playfulness in her tone.
“It seems your so-called ‘willing to do anything for me’ is nothing more than this.”
As she spoke, she slowly raised her small, delicate foot.
That foot was fair as jade, with cute, rounded toes, glistening with crystal water droplets, looking especially alluring in the steaming mist.
Ye Lan’s breath caught slightly.
She watched that foot slowly, with a nearly provocative posture, approach her face.
Mu Xi seemed to want to humiliate her this way.
Using a foot to step on someone’s face—this was, anywhere, an extremely degrading act.
Ye Lan’s heartbeat inexplicably quickened.
She didn’t dodge.
When that sole, carrying a hint of cool moisture and Mu Xi’s unique body fragrance, gently and tentatively pressed against her cheek, Ye Lan’s body trembled almost imperceptibly.
The touch was soft and delicate, carrying a young girl’s unique warmth.
Mu Xi seemed very satisfied with her submission.
The tip of her foot applied slight pressure, gently stepping on that face which had once inspired awe in countless people, and which had once frightened even herself.
Ye Lan’s gaze darkened.
Just as Mu Xi thought she had successfully delivered the humiliation and was about to retract her foot to continue pressuring her into speaking—
Ye Lan suddenly turned her head, and her warm tongue tip quickly and precisely licked across Mu Xi’s sensitive arch!
“!”
Mu Xi yanked her foot back like she’d been burned, a light blush instantly spreading across her face.
She stared at Ye Lan, both shocked and furious.
This bastard!
She actually… licked her sole!
Mu Xi suddenly realized what a foolish mistake she’d made.
How could she have forgotten?
Ye Lan, this pervert, had a nearly pathological obsession with her feet!
In those past torments, licking her feet and kissing her toes had always been one of Ye Lan’s favorite games!
She thought using her foot to step on Ye Lan’s face was an insult, a punishment, but she never expected that, for Ye Lan, this was essentially a reward in disguise!
A stimulation tinged with humiliation, yet one that made her excited!
Seeing the unbridled, burning desire in Ye Lan’s eyes, kindled by that lick just now, Mu Xi’s chest heaved with anger.
This bastard!
She got off easy!
No, she couldn’t let this go!
Mu Xi took a deep breath and forced herself to calm down.
A certain thought in her heart became increasingly clear and firm.
She looked at Ye Lan, who was still kneeling in the water, gazing at her with burning eyes, and a sweet yet slightly cold smile reappeared on her face.
Her voice became clear and resolute: “Ye Lan, I’ll say this one last time.”
“Not calling?” She paused briefly, watching Ye Lan’s face instantly tense up.
“Then call me Mom.”
She said it word by word, “Fine. Then tonight, you’re not allowed to touch a single finger of mine.”
Ye Lan’s pupils violently constricted.
Mu Xi met her gaze without flinching, even adding with a cold smile: “Oh, and don’t think about using force like before.”
“If you dare use violence, I’ll dare to die.”
Her voice was very calm, without a ripple of emotion, yet carried a conviction that made one’s heart tremble.
“Die?”
Ye Lan’s voice turned hoarse.
She stared hard at Mu Xi, trying to find a trace of hesitation or bluffing on her face.
“Xi’er, do you know what you’re saying? Here, how do you plan to die?”
The Silent Language Building was as solid as iron, heavily guarded.
Even if Mu Xi wanted to harm herself, it would be difficult, let alone commit suicide.
Ye Lan had absolute confidence that she could control every action of hers.
Mu Xi simply let out a light laugh, the smile carrying a hint of mystery and provocation: “How I’ll die, you don’t need to know. You can choose not to believe me, and just try it.”
“Let’s see if you drive me crazy first, imprison me until I know nothing but loving you, or if I find the chance first to make you lose me forever.”
“Want to bet?”
She tilted her head, asking innocently, “Let’s see who laughs last?”
Ye Lan’s heart suddenly clenched!
She looked into Mu Xi’s clear eyes, which held not a trace of jest.
It was a calm bordering on all-or-nothing, and beneath that calm lay a desperate resolve to shatter everything, even at the cost of herself.
Mu Xi didn’t specify a method, but it was precisely that unknown that terrified Ye Lan even more.
She didn’t dare gamble.
She truly didn’t dare gamble.
Compared to losing Mu Xi, any humiliation or embarrassment became utterly insignificant.
Their relationship had finally eased to this point.
Mu Xi was beginning to try accepting her, even willing to play this “suitor” game with her.
If, because of her own stubbornness and so-called dignity, she pushed Mu Xi away again, or even… made her do something irreparable…
Ye Lan couldn’t imagine the consequences.
She would go mad.
Even madder than she was now.
The water gently rippled, lapping against Ye Lan’s body, bringing waves of chill, yet nothing compared to the coldness and panic in her heart at this moment.
She looked at Mu Xi’s determined little face, struggled for a long time, and her clenched fists slowly loosened.
A sense of humiliation surged up like a tide, nearly drowning her.
But the fear of loss ultimately overpowered everything.
Ye Lan closed her eyes.
When she opened them again, the struggle and unwillingness in her gaze were forcibly suppressed, leaving only a dimness that bordered on resignation.
She took a deep breath, her throat bobbing painfully.
Under Mu Xi’s expectant and scrutinizing gaze, she finally, with a voice so low and raspy it was almost inaudible, yet clearly reaching Mu Xi’s ears, forced out that word: “…Mom…”
Those two words seemed to drain all the strength from her body.
The moment the sound fell, Ye Lan felt as if a corner of her world had collapsed.
However, Mu Xi smiled.
That smile was bright and radiant, carrying the pure joy of a successful prank, dispelling the cold resolve from moments ago.
She reached out her hand and gently beckoned, “Come here.”
Ye Lan hesitated for a moment, then obediently shuffled forward on her knees, drawing closer to Mu Xi.
Mu Xi looked at her with satisfaction, then made a move that made Ye Lan even more rigid.
She reached out both hands, gently pulled Ye Lan’s head over, and pressed it against her own flat, soft lower abdomen.
Ye Lan’s cheek pressed against Mu Xi’s warm skin.
Through the thin fabric, she could feel her steady heartbeat.
The tip of her nose was filled with Mu Xi’s unique, faint fragrance, like fresh grass after rain.
This posture… was too intimate, and too… bizarre.
Ye Lan’s entire body was stiff, not daring to move at all.
Then, she felt a soft little hand land on top of her head, gently and tenderly stroking her black hair, like comforting a wronged child.
Mu Xi’s voice carried a deliberate, imitated tenderness as she whispered softly in her ear: “Good baby.”
“So obedient.”
“Boom—!”
Something inside Ye Lan’s head exploded!