Chapter 43: He seems to like this smell (1/2)

Duan Ling raised his hand, gently pulling Lin Ting’s nape, his jaw slightly moving as he kissed her, his Adam’s apple rolling softly.

His warm, soft lips pressed tightly against hers, like a long-awaited nectar, his tongue slowly caressing her lips and teeth, entangling and grinding, his breath carrying a bewitching fragrance.

Lin Ting’s chest tightened, and she instinctively grabbed Duan Ling’s wrist. 

His wrist guard had long been undone, the damp sleeve losing its restraint, slipping down to his elbow, revealing a complete section of his wrist.

Her hand gripped right there.

Scars of various sizes crisscrossed Duan Ling’s wrist, like snakes and insects hidden in dark, damp depths suddenly exposed to sunlight, with nowhere to hide, revealing their inherent ugliness.

Without the wrist guard and sleeve, Lin Ting directly touched the skin on Duan Ling’s wrist, directly touching the marks of his repeated struggles with addiction, directly touching his inherent ugliness.

Yet she seemed oblivious.

The scars on his wrist were uneven, some old, some new, pressing against her fingertips, as if snakes were about to coil around her. 

Lin Ting unconsciously rubbed them, wanting to lower her head to see what they were, but suddenly heard Duan Ling’s soft hum, her mind completely drawn to that sound.

Lin Ting’s first reaction was that she should still be unconscious, the effects of the drug hadn’t worn off, so she was having a very absurd dream within a dream.

Otherwise, why would Duan Ling suddenly kiss her on his own? 

He wasn’t crazy.

But this dream was too real, the intermingling breaths in the kiss, the lips and teeth pressed together, the tongues entwined, their temperatures all so real. 

Even her inability to catch her breath was real, making Lin Ting feel like she was actually kissing Duan Ling in reality.

The most mysterious part was that every time Lin Ting was about to run out of breath, Duan Ling would slightly pull away, but soon kiss her again, gently grinding, as if trying to hold onto something.

Lin Ting wanted to push Duan Ling away, but after looking up and seeing his expression, she stopped.

Duan Ling’s eyes were closed, his long, dark eyelashes like two small fans, resting on his lower eyelids, occasionally trembling slightly, the corners of his eyes red as blood, as if suffering from great stimulation, tinged with a hint of desire, making his already beautiful face even more alluring.

A drop of water slid down Duan Ling’s high nose bridge, carrying his warmth, and fell onto Lin Ting’s face. 

Her breath hitched—was he the mountain demon from her dream, draining her very essence?

Why was she having such a dream?

They say that what you think about during the day, you dream about at night… but Lin Ting could swear she had never fantasized about Duan Ling like this, absolutely not, so this was a completely illogical and bizarre dream within a dream.

But upon closer thought, there was a bit of “daytime thinking” involved, such as her racking her brains in reality to find a way to complete the task, and in the dream, the system appeared saying the task was completed.

No wonder she heard the task completion notification without doing anything.

How could she wake up from the dream? 

By pushing Duan Ling away, or waiting for him to finish kissing her? 

Lin Ting was just about to choose between the two when she was immediately kissed by Duan Ling, her mind slightly unsettled.

So kissing was quite comfortable. 

Last time, she had forcibly kissed Duan Ling in a rush, her mind preoccupied with the task and fearing he would kill her, so apart from feeling soft and numb, there was nothing else.

After a long while, Duan Ling left Lin Ting’s reddened lips, but his nose bridge still pressed against hers.

He opened his eyes.

Lin Ting looked around: 

“Why haven’t I woken up yet, still in the dream?” 

Being unconscious from the drug really made her feel insecure; she needed to wake up quickly.

Duan Ling: 

“You thought it was a dream?”

She propped herself up, separating from him: 

“If it’s not a dream, what else could it be?”

He looked up: 

“It’s not a dream.”

Not a dream? 

Then wasn’t it even more absurd than a dream? 

Upon hearing this, Lin Ting lay back by the pond, closely observing Duan Ling in the water, and suddenly pinched him hard: 

“Does it hurt?”

“Bearable.” 

Compared to the injuries he had suffered, this was nothing.

Lin Ting gently pinched herself—it felt real. 

Was all of this real? 

The task was inexplicably completed, Duan Ling kissed her after the task was done, what was going on?

Wasn’t he having an episode? 

Lin Ting couldn’t figure it out, her eyes filled with confusion, looking at Duan Ling, she blurted out: 

“Why did you kiss me?”

She wouldn’t foolishly think Duan Ling kissed her because he liked her.

Even if their relationship had somewhat improved, no longer as life-and-death as in the original story, it didn’t erase the fact that she had indeed hurt him before. 

If Duan Ling didn’t seek revenge, it was already good enough.

Like her? 

A pipe dream. 

Lin Ting stared at Duan Ling, suspecting he had gone crazy from his episode.

Duan Ling’s fingertips twitched slightly, gazing at her: 

“Sorry, I kissed you because of my illness.” 

At the time, he wasn’t clear why he had kissed her, but by the time he realized it, his body had already moved closer to her, involuntarily kissing her.

After kissing Lin Ting, although his addiction was somewhat relieved, he wanted more. 

Duan Ling uncontrollably thought of her, kissed her, trying to make the addiction dissipate.

Then, he lost control.

He had actually lost control in front of Lin Ting, although she hadn’t seen the scene underwater and was unaware, she still hadn’t noticed. 

But it was a fact, his addiction had been soothed, thoroughly, his body experiencing unprecedented pleasure.

After this, Duan Ling finally understood why he had kissed her, his body had sensed before his mind that she could soothe his addiction, whether it was her breath or her voice all could.

Thinking of this, that strange feeling once again surged in Duan Ling’s chest.

For the first time, Duan Ling encountered something he couldn’t figure out why Lin Ting, why she could so easily soothe his addiction.

A leaf fell from a nearby tree, landing on the water’s surface, lightly causing ripples, the waves pushing the leaf to Duan Ling’s fingertips resting by the pond, touching him, then about to drift away with the current, he opened his hand and caught it.

Duan Ling held the leaf, gripping it tighter and tighter, but his eyes were on Lin Ting.

Lin Ting, hearing Duan Ling say it was because of his illness, suddenly understood. 

He wanted to use kissing  to distract himself, suppress the pain, just like he had used self-harm to suppress the “illness” before?

This reason was much more believable than Duan Ling liking her, and Lin Ting had seen with her own eyes that he indeed had an “illness,” his weakness was real, not fabricated. 

But how painful was Duan Ling’s episode that he had to distract himself by kissing her?

Lin Ting had read articles in modern times about using sex to relieve pain, as it could promote body relaxation.

Duan Ling using kisses to relieve pain was somewhat similar, and fortunately, he could relieve the pain with just a kiss, otherwise… 

Lin Ting voiced her guess: 

“You wanted to use kissing me to distract yourself, suppress the pain?”

Other than that, there was no other reason, he couldn’t possibly have a system too.

Duan Ling didn’t answer directly: 

“Thanks to you, I feel much better. But could you go back to the cave first and wait for me? I’ll join you later.”

Seeing that Duan Ling’s complexion had indeed improved, with an indescribable rosy hue, Lin Ting thought he probably wouldn’t die in the pond from his episode, and reluctantly agreed: 

“Alright, I’ll go back, but don’t drug me again.”

She definitely needed to settle the score with Duan Ling for drugging her, Lin Ting was quite vengeful.

Worried about his safety, afraid he might have an episode and an accident, she wanted to stay by the pond to keep watch, but was drugged instead, who wouldn’t be angry? 

Although her worry wasn’t entirely pure, mixed with her own desire to live, it was still a worry.

She didn’t hold it against Duan Ling for using kissing her to distract himself and relieve the pain of his episode, after all, she had forcibly kissed him to complete the task, so it balanced out, but the drugging incident needed to be addressed.

He even used her own drug!

If he had just said that kissing could solve it earlier, why drag it out so long, she wasn’t someone who ignored the bigger picture. 

Lin Ting cursed in her heart, running back to the cave without looking back, reigniting the fire.

After sitting and thinking for a while, Lin Ting still had one thing unclear what had she done at the pond that could be considered seduction, how did the task succeed? 

Did Duan Ling think that she would eventually come  to the pond to find him because she had ulterior motives, trying to take advantage of him?

Possibly.

Because of her “precedent” of forcibly kissing Duan Ling at Nanshan Pavilion, that’s why he might think so. 

Lin Ting felt wronged, but there was no way to explain, fortunately, the task was completed.

Accidentally completing the task… felt pretty good, no longer having to worry about pulling out hair.

Lin Ting didn’t rejoice for long before thinking about the points, still ten short of “unlocking the big gift pack,” there would definitely be more tasks before collecting them.

What would the next task be, would it still involve Duan Ling? 

The original story had so many supporting female character plots, not every previous plot had to be followed, Lin Ting couldn’t determine the next one.

When the soldiers come, the general will handle it; when the water rises, the dam will be built.

She felt like she had already developed a “player” mentality after being tempered by one task after another.

A quarter of an hour later, Duan Ling returned.

Lin Ting motioned for Duan Ling to sit by the fire. 

After spending so long in the water, his clothes were undoubtedly soaked, and following his recent episode, he needed to dry them quickly to avoid falling ill—especially with the mountain descent still ahead.  

Thanks to that drug, Lin Ting had managed to sleep and now felt refreshed, her energy restored. 

It was time to settle the score with Duan Ling.  

“Lord Duan, you…”

Duan Ling: 

“Drugging you was a last resort, as Miss Lin Qi said, I didn’t want others to see me having an episode, and you wouldn’t leave, so I had no choice but to resort to this.”

Lin Ting suddenly stood up: 

“Are you saying it’s my fault I was drugged?”

“No.”

The flush on Duan Ling’s face hadn’t faded: 

“It’s my fault, I hope you can forgive me.”

Lin Ting was stunned, he actually apologized, making it hard for her to be angry, then suddenly remembered Duan Ling was a ruthless imperial guard, still in the mountains, all her words turned into a light sentence: 

“What you said makes sense.”

Forget it, she wouldn’t hold it against him.

Duan Ling, sitting on the ground, looked up at Lin Ting standing, his sharp jawline and Adam’s apple clearly visible in the firelight, his jawline superior, from a certain angle, it almost looked like a submissive posture.

She also lowered her eyes to look at him, but instead felt somewhat uncomfortable being looked at by him. 

Why did an imperial guard have to be so good-looking, could it be to make people let their guard down when gathering information or killing?

Duan Ling picked up a branch: 

“I kissed you at the pond earlier, you…”