Xin Yi confirmed that Xie Shuo understood what she said.
Because the pale knuckles gripping the hem of her skirt suddenly paused, then released. He endured it and curled himself up, his face covered in hot beads of sweat.
But he resisted answering.
The gorgeous snake tail fidgeted restlessly, rubbing and swaying. Blood kept seeping from the spot scratched by the hairpin, staining the ground tiles everywhere, even splattering onto the surface of her embroidered shoes.
Xin Yi couldn’t help but step back two paces.
She lowered her head and saw that the pearl on the tip of her embroidered shoe was also splashed with a few drops of blood. Her face immediately darkened, and she really wanted to curse.
The young man’s lips were hot, his breathing scorching. Strands of sweat-soaked black hair clung messily to his jaw and neck.
His skin was very pale, but his lips were deep red. At that moment, he lay on the ground, breathing heavily with difficulty. On his gloomy and refined face, the pale golden vertical pupils were nearly unfocused.
He looked so wretched, on the verge of collapse.
He wanted to lick her.
Perhaps he even wanted to mount her.
Xin Yi watched him lie motionless on the ground for a long time, his face buried. The patterns on his snake tail seemed to flow.
After a moment, she frowned slightly, stepped closer, and tentatively nudged him lightly with her jade-pink embroidered shoe under the gossamer skirt. “Xie Shuo…”
He was, after all, a major villain with important plotlines, capable of destroying heaven and earth. In the original plot, he had force-fed the male and female leads dog food. He wouldn’t really die here, would he?
Unfortunately, she wasn’t a snake and couldn’t understand his current feelings, but he looked like he was in a lot of pain.
Seeing no reaction from him, she had to bend down again.
She wanted to pat his face, but accidentally touched the sweat drenched in lust on his neck. She wiped it disgustedly on her skirt hem.
Then she kicked him again, her original coaxing tone turning impatient.
She asked him in an almost threatening manner, “Are you going to say it or not? If you don’t, I’m leaving and ignoring you!”
After saying that, she pretended to really leave, but before she could take two steps, his snake tail suddenly wrapped around her from behind.
Then it dragged her forcefully into the young man’s arms.
“Mm—”
Xie Shuo buried his head in her neck, his damp sweat rubbing against her skin, his breathing chaotic and rapid.
His nose bridge rubbed repeatedly; he started sniffing her again.
Xin Yi was silently speechless. Why did he act like a dog?
After thinking, she decided to get it over with quickly. She cupped his face with her hands and leaned in close, her breath like orchids, seducing him. “Tell me quickly, why did you go to Chu Chu that night? If you tell me, you can kiss me.”
No sooner had the words fallen than, a few seconds later,
Her brows twitched. She struggled and angrily said, “Get off! I didn’t say kiss now!”
The pushed-away youth seemed to have reached the limit of his thirst and compromised with difficulty.
He licked his rosy lips, curled his body in pain, and wrote two words on the ground with his sweat-damp fingers—”Gu Slave”.
Xin Yi: “I don’t understand. What does that mean?”
What did these two words have to do with him and Chu Chu? They didn’t even relate to the previous question. Was he trying to fool her?
The other party, in a dazed state, added a few more words beside it. “I… Chu Chu, fed blood.”
“He is her gu slave.”
It was at this moment that the system finally unlocked the hidden plotline and immediately turned into a hindsight explainer in her ear. “Got it, host! Xie Shuo was controlled because, from birth, he was fed Chu Chu’s blood, turning him into a gu slave who could only obey her.”
“Even during his mating period, he needed her to give him a few drops of blood to soothe him. And before this, Chu Chu would cut her palm every month to draw blood and feed him.”
So that rainy night, he had desperately run out to find Chu Chu.
So later, she had seen white silk wrapped around Chu Chu’s hand.
Xie Shuo raised a courtyard full of venomous insects, gu, and snakes, living with them day by day.
It turned out he was one of them.
Moonlight shone into the courtyard, also illuminating this heated, surging corner.
Some uncontrollable emotion was slowly brewing and gestating, on the verge of breaking through all restraints and shackles, devouring everything.
But the woman slumped on the ground had a dazed expression.
She seemed to be frowning in thought, her light green ruqun skirt spread out like petals, flowing like a waterfall. She completely failed to notice how scorching with desire the snake-like vertical pupils fixed on her were.
Xin Yi realized belatedly and was about to raise her eyes to look when
The youth coiled his snake tail around her and pressed her beneath him. Her muffled grunt was still stuck in her throat as he bit her lip and impatiently pried it open.
He kissed too deeply, fiercely and profoundly.
Her tongue root went numb from being sucked, her lips torn with a bloody taste. She whimpered, forced to swallow the saliva he passed over.
Xin Yi struggled at first, but his embrace was too tight, and the heat in his mouth too intense.
It made her head dizzy and her bones soften on one side.
The snake tail wrapped around her slithered slowly upward, as if caressing her body. Her neatly tied skirt became disheveled, the collar loosened, and even the sachet at her waist fell to the ground unnoticed.
By the time she teared up at the corners of her eyes from lack of breath, two drops of red falling, the youth’s lips finally left.
But he still held her tightly, refusing to let go, burying his head to lick her fair neck.
Xin Yi felt pain and itch from the licking, panting twice. Her misty eyes narrowed unconsciously.
The youth’s fluffy black head at her neck pit pricked her; it was about to go lower. Her slender white fingers randomly pressed on the snake tail, forcing herself to briefly sober up.
No.
If this continued, something would definitely happen. Snakes were inherently lustful. If she did it with Xie Shuo in his mating period true form, she would die miserably—very miserably. No one could save her.
Thinking of that scene, Xin Yi shuddered in fear.
Her previously muddled brain from the kiss immediately cleared: Absolutely not. She would rather die than do it with Xie Shuo’s snake body! Not in this lifetime!
But the other party had clearly lost his senses, holding her and burying into her neck; she couldn’t push him away.
The next second, the ties of her moon-white undergarment loosened. Xin Yi suddenly bit her lip, holding back the moan that nearly escaped… Her face flushed completely red.
Just as the situation was about to spiral out of control, an idea suddenly popped into her mind.
—She wanted to try her own blood.
Who said snakes couldn’t change masters?
If Chu Chu’s blood worked, what if hers did too? Even if the chance was slim, it was better than sitting and waiting for death without trying.
With that thought, Xin Yi finally steeled her resolve.
She tremblingly raised her finger, closed her eyes, and ruthlessly bit the tip.
It hurt so much! She bit too hard; a bright red bead of blood instantly welled from her fingertip, making her dizzy just looking at it.
But she had bitten it; no wasting it.
Xin Yi hissed in pain and shoved her fingertip into his mouth. The first try failed, the blood smearing on his thin lips, but the second succeeded.
Once he contained her fingertip, he indeed began swallowing instinctively.
From wolfing it down like a snake devouring prey to meticulously licking every inch, as if savoring a rare delicacy.
Time passed second by second.
The moonlight grew clearer and more splendid, highlighting the hidden chaos in this corner of the room.
Xin Yi felt she was quite pitiful today.
Kissed nearly to suffocation, biting her finger to feed him blood—she lost on every front.
The only benefit was that familiar system prompt.
“Ding-dong~ Congratulations, host! Xie Shuo’s favorability is currently at 75%. Please keep up the good work!!”
After an unknown amount of time—long enough that Xin Yi suspected she might be anemic—
The youth finally regained some normalcy. His gorgeous lips parted slightly, spitting out her soaked slender finger.
He finally realized what he had done to her. His dark eyes stared blankly for a moment, then filled with complex emotions.
If not interrupted earlier, he might have truly lost control and coiled around her for wanton mating.
Xin Yi was already sullen, and now seeing his expression—like he had been forced into prostitution and taken advantage of—made her seethe.
He couldn’t be pushed away when he had grabbed and kissed her earlier, but now that he was sober, he treated her like the plague. Outrageous!
So she hiked up her skirt and approached, not even fixing her loose undergarment.
She deliberately widened her dark, charming eyes and kissed his lips, wanting to see if he resisted.
Xie Shuo indeed stiffened, letting her do as she pleased.
The handsome, harmless youth’s face flushed slightly, but his eyes were pitch black, his lashes trembling lightly with her breath.
Xin Yi continued kissing. At first, light pecks, hooking his chin and pressing against his red thin lips.
Though Xie Shuo’s dark eyes remained deep, he didn’t push her away.
In fact… he anticipated it.
A secret, unspeakable anticipation.
So Xin Yi teased him repeatedly, kissing about a dozen times.
When he finally couldn’t endure it, she pinned him down for a deep kiss. Both fully sober, they kissed.
Their tongue tips slowly entwined, mixed with each other’s pants and swallows, sounding indecent.
After kissing, she wiped the moisture from her lips and deliberately asked, “Did you like it?”
Xie Shuo flushed and closed his eyes, turning his head away, unwilling to look at her.
After a long while, under her persistent questioning, he honestly nodded.
Only then did Xin Yi smile in satisfaction. She stretched out her lotus arms to hook his neck, pressing her face to the youth’s cool jaw.
Taking it for granted, she made a request. “As long as you’re obedient, I can kiss you more in the future and even feed you blood from my finger. But you have to promise me one thing…”
As she said this, Xie Shuo showed little resistance, even hugging her tightly without restraint, burying his head in her collar to deeply inhale.
He seemed infatuated with her scent and closeness.
As a snake, he had no morals or shame anyway. Whether the venomous, jealous Central Plains woman or Xiao Cheng Ce’s original wife—it didn’t matter to him.
Xiao Cheng Ce had Chu Chu anyway; he couldn’t compete.
Who knew the woman in his arms would ask next, “Do you know how to use love gu? The kind that makes someone love the other deeply, devotedly to death.”
Without waiting for his nod, she continued, “Can you help me use one on Xiao Cheng Ce, so he’ll love only me from now on.”
Xie Shuo suddenly stiffened.
Then, gritting his teeth, he pushed her away hard, feeling deeply humiliated.
General’s Mansion, Goose Water Courtyard.
The little maid Yun Zhi was serving her lady to dress her hair. Thinking of something, she secretly blushed.
Praising from her mouth, “This servant sees that not only is Madam blessed with flower-like beauty and moon-like grace, even her younger brother is so. Young Master Xie is so handsome; he should be heaven’s gift. It’s a pity he has a speech impediment and can’t speak, and his temperament is too cold.”
As she spoke, curiosity bubbled up, and she asked Chu Chu, “Has Young Master Xie ever liked any girl before? He seems so aloof and isolated, close to no one.”
But he was truly good-looking, with red lips and white teeth, appearance like a fine woman.
Chu Chu had been thinking of Xiao Cheng Ce, feeling irritated. Hearing this, she immediately showed a mocking cold laugh. “Naturally not. Even if all the girls in the world threw themselves at him, he might not like any.”
What girl could that monster like? Snakes only had lust, no capacity for love.
Thinking of something, she turned to ask the little maid, “These past few days, has Shi Bi taken the initiative to seek out Bai Xinyi?”
Yun Zhi shook her head. “Rest assured, Madam. After the general drove her out last time, he hasn’t seen her again.”
“Bai Xinyi probably feels too embarrassed herself and has completely quieted down lately, basically not going to the east side courtyard.”
Only then did Chu Chu barely relax.
But halfway through relaxing, she felt they couldn’t keep such a scourge around forever, or there would never be peace.
On the other side, Xin Yi, whom they were discussing, sneezed.
She rubbed her itchy nose, exhaled, and frowned again at the medicine bottle on the table, worrying.
“Does it have to be today to drug him?”
The system answered her, “Yes, host. The original plotline is arranged this way. Today, not only do you have to drug Xie Shuo, but you must also ensure you preserve your little life, because from every perspective, you have no chance for a do-over.”