Qiu Qi was incredibly strong. Let alone a vat of water—she suspected she could carry an entire mountain on her shoulders without the slightest trouble.
After hauling the hot water into the room, she mixed it with cold water in equal measure until it reached a comfortable temperature. Only then did she step away from the tub.
“Beauty, take your time washing. I’ll wait for you in bed.”
Pei Yuqing lowered her head, her gaze dropping to the floor.
“My lord, I’m feeling a little unwell today. I’m afraid…”
“You’ve misunderstood!”
Qiu Qi knew perfectly well what Pei Yuqing was implying.
A bath, then bed, then sleep—wasn’t that basically the classic three-step bed-service routine? But Qiu Qi wasn’t the original owner’s overeager, lust-crazed self. Why would she force someone into something they didn’t want?
Besides, she felt so protective of Pei Yuqing now that she could hardly bear to let her pour even a cup of tea herself, much less think about the sorts of activities that would need to be blurred out.
“Sleep. Just sleep. I won’t lay a finger on you!”
Qiu Qi raised her left hand and held up three fingers.
“I swear.”
Pei Yuqing’s gaze skimmed over Qiu Qi’s tense, nervous face, lingered as it traveled over her, then calmly shifted away.
“Thank you for your consideration, my lord.”
Pei Yuqing could have exposed Qiu Qi right there, but this demon insisted on pretending they were on good terms—a trick Qiu Qi had never used before.
But if Qiu Qi thought this performance would make Pei Yuqing lower her guard, she was underestimating her.
Still, since Qiu Qi wanted to put on an act, Pei Yuqing would play along.
After all that commotion, Qiu Qi was already quite sleepy.
But as soon as her head touched the pillow, before sleep could overtake her, a flood of adults-only fantasies crowded into her mind.
The room was not small, but that hardly mattered when this body had such excellent hearing. There was only a single folding screen between the tub and the bed, and the amber candlelight cast the graceful silhouette of a woman behind it.
Qiu Qi held her breath as she watched the alluring figure behind the screen. Even the simple act of lifting a hand to caress her own body was enough to send heat racing through Qiu Qi from head to toe.
She stared wide-eyed as Pei Yuqing raised a hand, trailed her fingers across the surface of the water, and rested them on her shoulder. Then she swept aside her long hair, dampened by the steam and clinging to her skin.
Thinking of the smooth, flawless skin, pale and soft as cream, that she had glimpsed earlier in the bath, Qiu Qi felt the inside of her nose begin to itch again. The nosebleed she had only just stopped seemed ready to return.
As Pei Yuqing leaned back against the tub, the low sigh that escaped her made it clear she was thoroughly relaxed and enjoying herself. She seemed not to have noticed the lecherous demon lying beside her at all.
Qiu Qi covered her scarlet face and turned away, determined to uphold the virtuous rule of seeing no evil and hearing no evil. When she read comics, she had always been the one shouting at the author to hurry up, but now that a real person was taking the stage, she had retreated before the battle even began. How humiliating. Sob.
Pei Yuqing really did take a long bath. It was only when Qiu Qi was lying drowsily on the bed, nearly asleep, that she heard Pei rise from the water.
Her ears pricked up on instinct. Her body did not move an inch, but every bit of her attention was fixed on the other woman.
One step, then another. Pei Yuqing slowly approached the bed. A faint, clean scent drifted into Qiu Qi’s nose, and the furrow in her brow relaxed without her realizing it.
“My lord, are you asleep?”
Perhaps worried about disturbing her, Pei Yuqing had lowered her voice.
Qiu Qi peeked half her head out from under the quilt and blinked her round eyes.
“Mm. I was just about to.”
After saying that, she dutifully scooted farther toward the edge.
“Come on up. Be careful not to catch cold.”
The bed was wide, but Qiu Qi had curled herself into a tiny strip along the edge, taking up less than a third of it. She looked so cautious that one might have thought she—not Pei Yuqing—was the respectable young woman dragged here and forced to spend the night in someone else’s bed.
Pei Yuqing nodded, sat on the edge, removed her shoes, then knelt upright and reached to untie the canopy at the head of the bed.
Qiu Qi watched her loosen the bed curtains. The contrast between her long, pale fingers and the vivid red fabric was strangely seductive. Pei Yuqing was already as ethereal as a fairy, as though she might sprout wings and fly away at any moment. Though she was close enough to touch, Qiu Qi felt that if she reached out, her hand would close on empty air.
Once the canopy came down, the charged intimacy between them intensified in an instant.
Aaaaaah! Sharing a bed on the very first day—and with a beauty this gorgeous…
Qiu Qi sniffed and could not help murmuring:
“I’m so unbelievably happy…”
“Mm?”
Pei Yuqing heard her and arched one eyebrow.
“Does my lord need something?”
“No, no. Go to sleep. You must be exhausted from today.”
Pei Yuqing’s gaze moved from Qiu Qi’s face to her hands. She did not miss the unconscious clenching of Qiu Qi’s hand or the shy little motion with which she pinched the corner of the quilt.
The Qiu Qi of the past had always carried an unmistakable viciousness between her brows. If she wanted something, she simply took it, and she would not stop until blood had been spilled.
But the woman before her now had not a trace of an aggressive aura. Those moist, doe-like eyes made Qiu Qi look as docile as a pampered little pet kept by humans. It was as if a mere beckoning finger would send her bounding over with a foolish grin, throwing her arms around one’s leg without the slightest wariness, wagging her tail and shamelessly begging for affection.
She looked terribly easy to bully.
“My lord, your face is very red.”
Pei Yuqing spoke softly as she leaned over Qiu Qi and pressed her right hand against Qiu Qi’s smooth forehead to check her temperature.
The cool fingers touched her skin, and Qiu Qi shuddered all over, apparently not expecting Pei Yuqing to touch her first.
“I-I… maybe I just have a little too much heat in my system lately? It’s fine, really.”
“Perhaps the middle of the month is approaching, and the weather has grown a little hot and dry. Tomorrow, I’ll go to the kitchen and personally make you some sweet soup to clear the heat.”
The seasons in this world cycled differently from those in the modern world, changing frequently. The middle of every month was the hottest, while the beginning and end gradually grew colder. Then the cycle repeated.
Pei Yuqing silently withdrew her hand, the suspicion in her lowered gaze deepening.
Two things had surprised her. First, when she had reached out to touch Qiu Qi, Qiu Qi had not immediately slapped her hand away.
Second, although Pei Yuqing had taken advantage of that brief contact to read Qiu Qi’s mind, she had detected no difference whatsoever between Qiu Qi’s thoughts and what she had said aloud.
Even a five-year-old child would not be so guileless that her thoughts and words matched perfectly. Pei Yuqing’s heart slowly sank.
This was not the first time. It could not be a coincidence. Yet she could not figure out what sort of trick Qiu Qi had found to hide her thoughts, allowing her to evade Pei Yuqing’s mind-reading again and again with such ease.
Qiu Qi was a full-time comic artist, used to living alone and surviving on takeout and instant noodles. Hearing that Pei Yuqing actually planned to make soup with her own hands for this very enemy nearly moved her to tears.
She even excitedly flung her arms around the beauty’s slender waist and took a deep breath of the intoxicating fragrance clinging to her body, overwhelmed with emotion.
“My wife, how can you be so good to me? I may have lost my memory, but I know I must have done many things to hurt you in the past. You can hit me or scold me if you want. The way you’re treating me makes me feel so guilty.”
The corner of Pei Yuqing’s mouth stiffened, but a smile quickly returned as she gently patted Qiu Qi’s back.
“You’re too kind, my lord. Since you don’t remember any of it now, let the past be carried away by the wind.”
Qiu Qi did not realize that the smile never reached Pei Yuqing’s eyes. All she heard was a voice that was gentle and pleasant, each word softly soothing her lonely heart.
She nodded vigorously, thinking that no matter what jaw-droppingly beautiful woman appeared in the future, she would never change her chosen love interest again.
The writer had practically custom-built such a beautiful, gentle character to suit her tastes!
After another bout of fussing, the two finally settled down to rest.
With her enemy right beside her and countless unexpected variables from that day still unresolved, Pei Yuqing had no hope of sleeping peacefully. She closed her eyes, but heightened all her other senses, refusing to miss the slightest stir in the air.
Qiu Qi, on the other hand, kept her word. She behaved herself, did not try to take advantage of Pei Yuqing, and sprawled spread-eagled on her side of the bed, sleeping soundly.
As the night wore on, however, Qiu Qi’s sleeping posture gradually grew more uninhibited. First, she flung an arm over Pei Yuqing’s waist. Then she rolled over and draped a leg across her as well. Finally, she pulled Pei Yuqing into a tight embrace, treating her like a body pillow.
Pei Yuqing’s brows furrowed slightly. She reacted with remarkable speed, stopping Qiu Qi’s approaching head with one hand. Just as she was about to shove it away, Qiu Qi took advantage of the contact, grinned broadly, and rubbed her soft, chubby cheek against Pei Yuqing’s palm.
“Beauty… don’t be sad. From now on, you’re my one and only precious wife. I’m a very faithful woman. I’ll treat you well for the rest of my life. I’ll make it up to you properly and spoil you rotten!”
The soft mumble lay right beside Pei Yuqing’s ear, sweet and almost syrupy. Paired with that utterly unguarded smile, it was remarkably disarming.
Pei Yuqing heard every word clearly, but every one of them sounded strange to her.
*Make it up to me? Spoil me rotten?*
She curled one corner of her mouth in a silent, mocking smile. Her body shuddered slightly; even that tiny movement tugged at her back, and the Profound Ice Ring there pulled at her flesh with a ripping pain.
*All I want is for you to repay me with your life. Would you be willing?*
Pei Yuqing lay on her back, patiently waiting until Qiu Qi’s breathing lengthened and grew even. Only then did she carefully lift the arm draped over her and get up.
“My wife…”
The call was soft, lingering, and thick with drowsiness.
Pei Yuqing froze and slowly looked back. When she saw Qiu Qi’s eyelids were tightly shut, she breathed a sigh of relief.
Qiu Qi’s eyes remained closed, her lips slightly parted. Her long lashes cast a faint shadow over her skin. Her brow was smooth, the corners of her lips curved into a smile, and she slept with her guard completely down.
Pei Yuqing lowered her head and stared at Qiu Qi’s peaceful sleeping face. The look in her eyes grew darker and darker, while the violent impulse in her mind screamed without pause for her to send the demon before her straight to the afterlife.
Her hand hanging at her side clenched tightly. Her nails dug into her flesh, and thin threads of blood seeped from beneath them.
She raised her right hand. Without needing to chant an incantation, a small sphere of pale-blue light coalesced in her palm.
Among the elves’ five-element magic, Pei Yuqing was most skilled at controlling water. She could alter water’s form at will, turning it solid or vaporizing it. An orb of magic this small was enough to turn every bit of tissue in an elephant’s body to ice in an instant.
Holding her hand aloft, Pei Yuqing slowly brought it closer to the sleeping Qiu Qi. The pale light washed over Qiu Qi’s face, turning her skin an eerie light blue. A few loose strands of hair nearest her hand were already coated in white frost and frozen stiff, as if the slightest touch would snap them in two.
If she moved even a little closer, the living person before her would lose all vitality just like those strands.
But Pei Yuqing did not take that final step. Something about this felt wrong.
Qiu Qi’s beast core was innately sensitive to the energy around her. It could sense even a battle taking place dozens of miles away. That was why no one had ever managed to ambush her over all these years—no one could get close to her in the first place.
Yet now, Qiu Qi lay completely within reach. The more effortless it seemed, the more uneasy Pei Yuqing became, wondering whether this was a trap.
“Mm…”
With her eyes still closed, Qiu Qi hugged the pillow in her arms and unconsciously nuzzled it. The unruly tuft of hair on top of her head stood up in a fuzzy mess. Frowning, she struggled to drag the entire quilt covering her toward Pei Yuqing.
“My wife, remember to cover yourself… You have a cold constitution, so you catch chills easily.”
Her tone was relaxed, with not the slightest awareness of the danger that might be about to unfold. Even in deep sleep, she seemed to have nothing in her heart but undisguised tenderness and concern for Pei Yuqing.
Pei Yuqing lowered her eyes. The blue light in her palm gradually dimmed, and the killing intent in her gaze receded with it.
“Yes, my lord.”
Even amnesia should not have been able to suppress an instinct carved into one’s bones. Yet all Pei Yuqing could sense from the beast core inside Qiu Qi was the stillness of dead water, utterly without a ripple.
Pei Yuqing smoothly schooled her expression, abandoning the thought of alerting Qiu Qi. She reached out and caught the quilt, spread it over the spot where she had just been lying, then bent down and whispered by Qiu Qi’s ear:
“I’ve covered myself, my lord.”
The sleeping woman smiled sweetly, the furrow between her brows smoothing out.
“Good. Good night!”
Pei Yuqing did not leave immediately. She sat there quietly for a while, and only after Qiu Qi had fallen completely silent did she leave.
The wooden door closed so quietly it was almost imperceptible. The only difference from before was a faint trace of blood in the air.
The woman who had seemed to be sleeping peacefully opened her eyes without a sound. At some point, Qiu Qi’s dark, ink-black eyes had taken on a blood-red hue. She stared at the canopy overhead, her unfocused gaze making her look dazed.
She remained in that daze for five or six minutes before slowly lifting a hand. Trembling, she clutched a lock of hair beside her ear. The chill at her fingertips felt as though it could freeze the flesh to necrosis in a single second, yet she held on tightly and could not let go for a long time.
For the first time in her life, she had come this close to death. It was… pretty fucking thrilling.
