And he, he had noticed nothing at all.
Or rather, he had deliberately ignored every subtle sign of abnormality.
The heartache overshadowed the shame in his body.
It hurt even more than the forced violation by Yun He that night.
Because Yun He was a robber, but Chao’er… was a child he regarded as his own.
She was the only existence in this cold world to whom he had entrusted his tenderness and hope.
He had never expected that Chao’er truly harbored such feelings for him.
Not the adoration of a disciple, not the dependence of a junior, but the most primal, most greedy, most morbid possessiveness of a woman for a man.
“Why…”
Shen Mo’s tears finally broke through the dam, slipping from the corners of his eyes, disappearing into his temples. He stopped struggling, like a doll that had lost its soul, his eyes empty as he stared at the gray, overcast sky above.
“Chao’er, I am your Master’s Husband… I watched you grow up…”
Chao’er showed no intention of stopping.
Her hands were no longer merely lingering on caresses.
Wherever her fingertips slid, they elicited shivers of tingling numbness.
The already disheveled robe was completely torn open by her, revealing large swaths of pale skin.
She abruptly leaned down, pressing Shen Mo heavily against the rock wall behind him, their bodies fitting together perfectly.
Shen Mo could clearly feel the change in her body.
No longer a naive young girl, but mature curves full of wildness.
Chao’er’s breathing grew a bit heavier.
She reached out a hand, covering his heart.
It was beating fiercely, thump thump, as if trying to break through his ribcage and escape.
“Master’s Husband,” she said, “do you know what I regretted most when I fell into the Demon Abyss?”
Shen Mo did not respond.
“What I regretted most was not telling you sooner,” she said. “Not letting you know sooner how much I wanted to look at you like this, touch you like this, like—”
She lowered her head, her lips landing on his neck.
He shuddered all over.
“Every day in the Demon Abyss, the thought that kept Chao’er alive was to press Master’s Husband beneath me, just like this…”
“To make you cry and beg for mercy, to make your eyes see only me.”
“Master’s Husband, did you really not notice? Chao’er’s body… has already prepared itself for you.”
As she spoke, a thick, purplish-black Demonic Qi surged from within her, like a giant cocoon, enveloping the two of them.
Shen Mo discovered in despair that the Spiritual Power within him was utterly powerless against this Demonic Qi; he couldn’t even self-detonate his Dantian.
“Chao’er, don’t…”
Shen Mo’s voice was already tinged with sobs. He tried to use his last shred of reason to grab Chao’er’s hand, but she pinned it above his head instead.
Chao’er looked down at the man beneath her, fragile as if he would break with a single snap, at the fear, shame, and despair on his face because of her. The love and destructive desire in her heart reached their peak.
This was her Master’s Husband.
Lofty, aloof, virtuous Master’s Husband.
Now, he was like a lamb awaiting slaughter, trembling beneath her.
Chao’er untied the sash at her waist, her long hair cascading down like a waterfall, spilling over her chest.
She grabbed Shen Mo’s hand and pressed it against her own violently heaving heart. There was no heartbeat there, only a burning demonic fire.
“Chao’er… has always loved you deeply.”
Her tongue lightly traced Shen Mo’s jawline, her voice sickeningly sweet:
“I know Master’s Husband just can’t accept this fact, can’t bear the gaze of the world, can’t cross that so-called ethical boundary. In reality… you love me.”
Shen Mo opened his mouth, wanting to refute her, but found his throat seemed blocked by cotton.
Yes, he loved her.
But he loved the obedient, sensible little disciple, loved the child he had raised with his own hands. That was the affection of an elder for a junior, the doting of a father for a daughter!
It was absolutely not this kind of—male-female passion that wanted to devour him whole!
“See, Master’s Husband has nothing to say, right?”
Chao’er caught the hesitation in his eyes, the madness in her own eyes deepening further.
Her hand suddenly probed into forbidden territory.
Shen Mo let out an uncontrollable muffled groan.
But no matter how he moved, his body was like a sponge wrapped tightly in wire; the more he struggled, the tighter the constriction became.
“What a flawless, perfect love… We are both willing to go through fire and water for each other, we should be inseparable for a lifetime.”
Chao’er’s actions grew bolder.
With a kind of impatient roughness.
She wanted to mark Shen Mo with her own aura in the shortest time possible.
“I understand it’s hard for Master’s Husband to cross the moral constraints. You are a good person who follows the rules; you don’t want to be the villain.”
Her tone was gentle yet cruel:
“But it’s okay. Since you find it embarrassing, I’ll be the one to take the initiative as the villain.”
“As long as I make Master’s Husband mine, as long as we become husband and wife in truth, Master’s Husband will no longer be bound by those so-called Husbandly Virtues. Because you will already be my husband.”
“No! That’s not it!”
Shen Mo finally cried out in collapse, tears streaming madly down the corners of his eyes.
“Chao’er, that’s love for a disciple! Love for a daughter! How could I… how could I possibly have such filthy thoughts for you! I watched you grow up! How could you… how could you twist this familial affection into something so dirty!!”
He couldn’t accept it. He truly couldn’t accept it.
How could that little girl who once called out ‘Master’s Husband’ so softly and sweetly, who would cry when he got hurt, have become this female demon who spoke such obscene words and forcibly plundered him?
“Dirty?”
Hearing these two words, Chao’er’s movements abruptly stopped.
She slowly raised her head.
Those originally clear eyes were now completely dyed pitch-black by the Demonic Qi.
She looked at Shen Mo, the corner of her mouth curling into a chilling, cold smile.
“Master’s Husband says… we are dirty?”
“How heartbreaking…”
Shen Mo desperately clutched the remaining scraps of his clothing, his handsome face full of anger, hoping to find a trace of retreat on her face.
But Lin Chao’er looked at the Master’s Husband before her, like a fiercely cute little kitten, and her desire only grew.
“Shen… Shen Jun…” She softly uttered this address she had chewed over countless times in her heart but never dared to speak aloud.
Her tongue seemed to coil with endless lust and possessiveness, her voice dropping a few notes, carrying the uniquely mesmerizing magnetism tainted by Demonic Qi, “You look so beautiful when you’re angry.”
Her small hand ambiguously stroked his wrist, his waist, with an irresistible force.
“Much more beautiful than your usual gentle, virtuous appearance, smiling politely at everyone.”
Her gaze lingered on his face, his body, the desire churning within it naked and scalding.
She looked at that long, pale neck, leaned her body forward, and breathed in the intoxicating fragrance on him with extreme greed.
“It smells so good…” Chao’er murmured obsessively, her warm tongue lightly licking the pulsing blood vessel on the side of his neck.
He desperately tried to close his legs, to cover his already barely clothed body, but Chao’er’s Demonic Qi transformed into chains, restraining him in a spread-eagle position beneath her.
With the final barrier… gone, Shen Mo felt like a fish thrown on a chopping board, at the mercy of others.
“Chao’er… enough…” His voice was broken, thick with a nasal tone, like a kitten drenched in rain whimpering, “I beg you… leave me the last shred of dignity…”
Chao’er let out a light laugh. The small hand that was originally pressing on his wrist slowly moved lower, “The more you put on airs, the more I, your disciple, want to see you beg for mercy, see you cry, see you cling to me like a **.”