The kiss lingered, deep and passionate. Li Shuang didn’t know how or when to end it, but before she could worry about that, Jin’an released her.
His warm hand slid from her cheek as he fell into a deep slumber. Li Shuang, having pinned a man against the wall and kissed him for the first time in her life, was bewildered that he had simply… fallen asleep?
As his body temperature returned to normal and his muscles relaxed, Li Shuang wasn’t sure how to react. At least she could catch her breath now.
She propped Jin’an’s limp body against the wall, supporting his waist with one hand and his shoulder with the other. “Wu Yin!” she called out. “If you haven’t left, come help carry him.”
“Oh, right… coming,” Wu Yin responded.
As Wu Yin entered with a smile, Qin Lan remained outside, his expression unreadable as he peered through the dilapidated door and windows.
Wu Yin helped Li Shuang move Jin’an to the bed. “General Li,” he said with a persistent smile as if they hadn’t just experienced a dire situation. “You soldiers are certainly forceful.”
Li Shuang glanced at him. “Instead of idle chatter, why not call your disciples back?”
“No need,” Wu Yin waved dismissively. “Who knows how he’ll be when he wakes? It’s troublesome to have them come and go. My sect has lived on South Long Mountain for generations; they have places to stay.” He added teasingly, “It’s late. Shall I send away that wooden fellow outside? With just the two of you here, General, you can do as you please.”
Li Shuang felt annoyed, but Wu Yin’s words made her glance involuntarily at Jin’an’s bare chest and the area around his navel. His belt was torn, barely hanging on. With her strength, she could easily rip it off with one finger…
She mentally shook herself. What was she thinking?
Suppressing her tumultuous thoughts, Li Shuang gave Wu Yin a cold look. “Go fetch some hot water.”
Wu Yin left, seemingly bored. Seeing Qin Lan still outside, he patted his shoulder. “Let them be alone for a while. Come with me.”
Qin Lan didn’t move. “Why is he like this?” Though he hadn’t interacted much with Jin’an in the Northern Frontier, he knew the black-clad man was rational and protective of Li Shuang, despite his mysterious background and immense power. Now, he seemed to have turned into a monster.
“Your general will explain later,” Wu Yin said, pulling Qin Lan away. Reluctantly, Qin Lan followed, constantly looking back. Before losing sight of the room, he saw Li Shuang’s profile as she wiped Jin’an’s sweat—a tender, loving expression he had never seen on her before.
Perhaps the general herself didn’t realize she could look at someone that way.
With Wu Yin gone, Li Shuang remained chained to Jin’an. She sat on the bed, cradling his head in her lap as he slept, studying his features closely.
His appearance differed slightly from usual. After spending time with Jin’an, Li Shuang had learned to distinguish the changes. At night, when Jin’an seemed to be in better harmony with the Jade Silkworm parasite, his power increased, and the flame-like markings spread to the corners of his eyes, turning them blood-red when open.
During the day, as a child, his face was clean, his eyes normal black, with only the red mark on his chest setting him apart from other children.
Today, however, Jin’an’s body was different. He remained an adult, but the flame markings hadn’t spread beyond his chest. They were contained in a circular pattern, like when he was a child. His eyes were closed, so Li Shuang couldn’t see their color, but his body didn’t feel as hot as usual.
Without the flame markings, his body seemed almost normal.
Curious, Li Shuang gently traced circles on the flame pattern on his chest with her finger.
Perhaps ticklish, Jin’an’s chest muscles twitched slightly. Li Shuang withdrew her hand, but when she looked back at his face, she found his eyes open.
His pitch-black eyes seemed to glow in the moonlight filtering through the window. In those eyes, she saw her reflection.
“Awake?” she asked.
He remained silent, moving his hand slightly. The chain rattled, and he raised his hand, looking down at the steel links connecting their wrists.
“Earlier…” Li Shuang began, carefully choosing her words. But Jin’an sat up, staring intently at her wrist.
Following his gaze, Li Shuang noticed her wrist was raw and bleeding, chafed by the chain.
Jin’an’s eyes flickered.
“It’s nothing,” Li Shuang said quickly, not wanting him to feel guilty. “Just a flesh wound.”
Before she could react, Jin’an gently grasped her arm and licked the wound forcefully.
Li Shuang was stunned.
She could only stare at Jin’an, her mind blank. His lips and tongue were gentle, and though the pressure of his lick wasn’t light, the mixture of slight pain and ticklishness sent shivers from her spine to her brain.
What was he doing…?
What was he doing?
After he licked around the wound, Li Shuang snapped back to reality and tried to pull her hand away. But Jin’an held on, his lips pressed against her wrist as if savoring a delicacy. His actions were ambiguous and terrifyingly seductive.
“I want you…” he said, taking her wrist into his mouth.
The sound of the chain, the slight pain of the wound, and the moonlight streaming through the window made the night feel dangerously alluring.
Li Shuang could hear her heart pounding, her blood burning uncomfortably.
Suddenly, she remembered Emperor Sima Yang’s words in the imperial study: “Li Shuang, I hope you won’t regret this one day.”
The memory struck her like a thunderbolt, instantly sobering her. The allure of the moment transformed into danger, sending a chill down her spine.
She abruptly pushed Jin’an away, but the force of her movement and the chain connecting them caused her to fall onto him. Quickly, she stood up, putting as much distance between them as the chain allowed.
She couldn’t forget what she had to do when she returned.
Jin’an, after being pushed away, simply stood and walked towards her, his eyes showing no emotion. Li Shuang realized something was wrong. She immediately composed herself, suppressing her hidden feelings.
“Jin’an,” she called, trying to wake him from his trance. But Jin’an approached, picked her up effortlessly, and kissed her forcefully.
Li Shuang was shocked. She tried to push against his chest with her elbow, but Jin’an’s hand had already circled her waist, gripping her belt. With a swift motion, he tore it off as easily as ripping paper.
It was karmic retribution—earlier, she had thought about how easily she could remove his belt, and now he had done the same to her.
But this was no time for jokes. Li Shuang knew something must have gone wrong while Jin’an was unconscious.
If his earlier physical changes resembled the initial stage of the Jade Silkworm parasite entering his body, his current state suggested the parasite had stabilized and was seeking the host’s comfort. But this wasn’t how she intended to comfort him!
Touching and kissing were already pushing her limits. Her body wasn’t hers alone to do with as she pleased anymore!
“Calm down!” Li Shuang managed to turn her head and gasp out these words, but Jin’an had already pushed her onto the bed.
Quickly following the belt, her collar was torn open. Li Shuang felt a chill on her shoulders as her skin met the air, immediately followed by Jin’an’s lips trailing kisses from her shoulder, along her collarbone, down the center of her chest, igniting a path of fire.
Alarmed, Li Shuang held Jin’an’s head, not forcefully pushing him away but caressing his cheeks to make him look up. Thinking she wanted to kiss him, he leaned in. At that moment, Li Shuang’s free hand moved to his neck, channeling her internal energy to strike hard at the base of his skull. Jin’an’s body stiffened, his eyes slowly closing as he looked at her.
Li Shuang immediately checked his pulse. She hadn’t held back her strength, knowing that what would knock out a normal person might not be enough for Jin’an. But she was also worried she might have used too much force and hurt him severely.
Fortunately, true to his resilience, Jin’an had merely lost consciousness.
Li Shuang quickly pushed him off, got out of bed, and hastily rearranged her clothes. She wanted to leave but was still chained to Jin’an.
She searched the room for the key, but after the commotion, it was nowhere to be found. She’d have to wait for Wu Yin and the others to return with a spare.
Sighing deeply, Li Shuang sat on the floor by the bed, hugging her knees. She glanced at the unconscious Jin’an on the bed and smiled wryly.
If it had been anyone else, she would have killed them many times over by now. But with Jin’an, no matter how far he went, she couldn’t bring herself to truly resent him.
Li Shuang knew that when he regained consciousness and remembered his actions, he would likely hate himself more than anyone else in the world could.
Realizing this, she found herself feeling more sorry for him than for herself.