The strength to break free.
Mo Qingqing picked Su Yun up and turned her over, her movements gentle as if holding a fragile kitten, yet her fingertips carried an undeniable force.
Su Yun curled up in her arms. That usually charming and lovely face was now pale as paper, her long eyelashes trembling, her large, wet eyes filled with terror, like a small beast trapped by a hunter. Even her breathing carried a faint sob.
“Whimper…”
Mo Qingqing let out a low, cold laugh, her fingertip tracing the faint red at the corner of Su Yun’s eye, her tone laced with a chilling mockery.
“This time, you have nothing to say, do you?”
“I’m sorry…” Su Yun’s voice was as faint as a mosquito’s hum, thick with a nasal tone. She knew anything she said now was futile, only able to repeat her apologies over and over, her body still trembling uncontrollably.
“Heh.” Mo Qingqing’s laugh held no discernible emotion, yet it made Su Yun’s heart clench violently.
“It won’t stop until you break. After all, this time, you brought it on yourself.”
“Whimper…”
On this day, Su Yun finally remembered the fear of being dominated by the Witch.
Those terrifying memories of that room, deliberately forgotten, came flooding back like a tide.
She was tormented to the point of wishing for death, her strength to beg for mercy gradually exhausted, until she could only collapse limply in Mo Qingqing’s arms, letting her tears soak her clothes.
After that, Mo Qingqing seemed to have discovered a new amusement. She keenly noticed that every time Su Yun realized she had made a mistake, she would become more obedient than before, even actively seeking to please her, afraid of provoking her displeasure again.
Hmm… not bad.
After the pleasure, Mo Qingqing held Su Yun against the soft headboard, the faint milky scent belonging to Su Yun lingering at her nose, her fingertips lightly tracing the smooth curve of her back.
After starting school, she realized her friends were all busy with their own things. Only Su Yun was the one who unconditionally accompanied her.
So she planned to be a little nicer to Su Yun, in ways other than play.
Mo Qingqing’s fingers brushed over Su Yun’s drooping ears, her voice softening a little.
“A new Starlight Amusement Park opened on the school’s back mountain. It’s built with spatial magic, said to let you touch the stars. Get dressed. We’ll go for a walk later.”
Su Yun’s body stiffened. It took a long moment before she managed to squeeze out a weak syllable from her throat. “Yes…”
She had reverted to that timid, submissive state, not even having the courage to look up at Mo Qingqing.
Mo Qingqing wasn’t in a hurry, her fingertip gently rubbing Su Yun’s cheek.
Take it slow. She’ll open up eventually. Lin Mo’s words echoed in her mind.
If a person feels a place is their home, then in that place, they should be completely at ease.
If she wanted Su Yun to truly become an asset on her path of domination, she couldn’t stop at physical control. She had to reach her heart and emotions.
She couldn’t change the part about desire, but she could make Su Yun change her view of her in other ways.
So first, a small date.
The Starlight Amusement Park was indeed different from ordinary parks.
The entrance was a rainbow stargate. The moment they stepped through, the ground beneath their feet turned into a flowing river of stars, soft to step on, like walking on clouds.
In the distance, the carousel wasn’t ordinary horses. Each one was a crystal-carved pegasus, its wings inlaid with fragments of starstone, trailing long tails of light as they ran.
The roller coaster was even more outrageous. The tracks were laid directly on the clouds, named the Meteor Coaster, said to be fast enough to catch up with shooting stars.
The students around them were going wild. Some rode magic brooms weaving through the park, others held glowing nebula cotton candy that contained twinkling star fragments. One bite would give you the taste of the starry sky.
Mo Qingqing held Su Yun’s hand as they walked in, her fingertips clearly feeling the cold and trembling in her palm.
She chose what looked like the most romantic ride—the Starlight Carousel.
“Go sit.” Mo Qingqing pointed at the pure white crystal pegasus, her tone unusually gentle. “This one is a limited edition. It can fly to the place closest to the stars.”
Su Yun, however, flinched as if burned, lowering her head and whispering, “Master… I don’t dare.” Su Yun couldn’t understand what Mo Qingqing wanted.
“What’s there to be afraid of?” Mo Qingqing raised an eyebrow, directly picking her up and placing her on the pegasus. She tapped a fingertip to the pegasus’s forehead, injecting a wisp of magic.
“With me here, you won’t fall.”
The moment the magic activated, the crystal pegasus’s wings lit up, carrying the two of them slowly into the air.
The park beneath their feet grew smaller, the starry sky above drew closer. Those stars seemed within reach, and even fine stardust settled on Su Yun’s hair, shimmering faintly.
The mages around them cheered, making wishes upon the stars, but Su Yun clung desperately to the pegasus’s handrail, eyes tightly shut, her body taut as a bow. She even kept her breathing light, afraid that the slightest movement would make her fall.
After all, she still couldn’t fly.
The wind brushed her cheeks, carrying the coolness of stardust, but Su Yun only felt a bone-chilling cold.
She could feel Mo Qingqing’s gaze on her, a gaze that felt like hooks, making her lose even the courage to open her eyes.
Seeing her like this, Mo Qingqing’s brow furrowed slightly.
A romantic starry sky, dazzling stardust, an experience others could only dream of… and this little fox cub didn’t even dare to look?
She brought Su Yun back to the ground and walked towards the adjacent Illusion Dessert Shop.
This shop’s desserts were made with illusions and magical plants. Cakes floated and spun in mid-air, candies sang pleasant songs, and ice cream scoops hid tiny magical fireworks that would explode into a shower of starlight in your mouth with a bite.
Mo Qingqing ordered a signature Starlight Mousse, topped with a small, rotating planet. When the planet cracked, it released a magical mist with a floral scent.
She brought the mousse to Su Yun’s lips. “Try it. They say eating it lets you dream of the most beautiful dreams.”
Su Yun, however, pressed her lips together and shook her head, her voice tinged with timidity. “Master, I won’t eat it.”
She was afraid.
Afraid the mousse had some strange magic, afraid eating it would make her do something to anger Mo Qingqing, afraid those floating desserts would suddenly turn into the terrifying things from that room.
“When I tell you to eat, you eat.” Mo Qingqing’s tone cooled a few degrees. Her fingertips exerted slight pressure, pinching Su Yun’s chin, forcing her mouth open.
The Starlight Mousse was indeed very sweet, carrying the scent of roses and stardust, but Su Yun couldn’t taste any of it. Tears unconsciously fell, splashing onto the mousse, melting the tiny planet.
Seeing her swallow with tears in her eyes, Mo Qingqing felt inexplicably irritated.
Undaunted, she took Su Yun to the park’s most thrilling attraction—the Nightmare Haunted House.
This haunted house wasn’t about ordinary people dressed as ghosts. It used fear-projection magic to directly extract a person’s deepest fears and manifest them as concrete illusions.
Mo Qingqing thought that perhaps letting Su Yun face her fear head-on and vent it might help her relax a little.
The result was that the moment they stepped through the haunted house doors, the surrounding light instantly dimmed.
A chilly aura filled the air. Immediately after, countless illusions identical to Mo Qingqing emerged from the walls.
These illusions all wore that black-and-white maid outfit, faces bearing mocking smiles as they stepped closer to Su Yun, their mouths repeating the words from that day.
“What? Should I call you Master?”
“It won’t stop until you break…”
Su Yun’s pupils constricted violently. Her entire body seemed nailed to the spot, her blood feeling like it had frozen solid.
What she feared most had never been ghosts or monsters, but the woman before her.
“Ah—!!!”
Su Yun finally couldn’t hold back a scream, clutching desperately at Mo Qingqing’s clothes, pressing her whole body against her, trembling like a leaf in a storm, unable to even stand steadily.
This wasn’t just an illusion; it forcibly dredged up Su Yun’s memories, as if it had all just happened.
The surrounding illusions multiplied, surrounding her in layers. Those mocking laughs were like curses, drilling into her ears, pushing her almost to the brink of collapse.
Mo Qingqing hadn’t expected that Su Yun’s deepest fear was herself.
Seeing the strange looks from the people around them, her expression darkened completely.
She waved her hand, dispersing the illusions, grabbed Su Yun’s wrist, and quickly walked out of the haunted house.
On the way back, the two walked in silence.
The river of stars still flowed beneath their feet, the stars above still shone brilliantly, but to Su Yun, this path felt more terrifying than the haunted house.
She kept her head down, not daring to look at Mo Qingqing’s expression, her small hands tightly clutching her clothes, tears falling drop by drop onto the starry river, creating tiny, rippling circles.
Seeing her looking even more afraid of her than before, the bit of intention Mo Qingqing had to be nice to her was instantly replaced by irritation.
She had originally thought a romantic magical date might help Su Yun relax a little. She hadn’t expected it to make her even more afraid.
Back at the residence, Mo Qingqing甩开 Su Yun’s hand, her tone cold as ice. “Get back to your room.”
Su Yun seemed to have received a pardon, immediately lowering her head and stumbling back to the cat bed Mo Qingqing had bought for her.
Curling into a ball, shivering.
In her heart, this trip to the Starlight Amusement Park wasn’t a date at all. It was clearly another form of torment.
Another “test” from Mo Qingqing, testing if she was truly obedient, testing if she still dared to have even a hint of resistance.
Mo Qingqing stood in the living room, looking at the closed door, her fingertips tightening slightly.
She looked out the window at the gradually setting sunset, a flicker of confusion flashing in her eyes.
Just where did it go wrong?
She clearly wanted to be a little nicer to her. Why did it make her even more afraid?