Chapter 123: Intertwining, Soothing, Heartache
’Who could have injured Bai Ye this badly?’
With his SSS-level strength and his status as the Star Alliance War God, how many people in the entire Star Alliance could possibly wound him so severely?
He’d fought Si Jin before, and even though Si Jin was an SSS-level Dark Sentinel, Bai Ye had never been at a disadvantage.
’So this time... who was it that hurt him?’
Yun Sheng pressed her lips together lightly, saying nothing.
Just then, the turmoil in Bai Ye’s spiritual landscape intensified.
His spiritual power surged like an uncontrollable tide, and the cracks widened at a visible rate.
Bai Ye’s brow furrowed tightly, a vein throbbing at his temple.
The spiritual power radiating from him seemed to have found its only outlet, continuously converging on Yun Sheng, carefully hooking onto her faint spiritual power.
It was tinged with urgency, with desire, and with a restraint born from the fear of being pushed away.
"Help me..."
Bai Ye spoke again, his voice unimaginably hoarse.
That single plea, "Help me," was like a thin needle, gently piercing a corner of Yun Sheng’s heart she hadn’t even known existed.
She couldn’t quite identify the emotion welling up inside her.
’Was it compassion? Or something else?’
All she knew was that seeing Bai Ye like this made her feel an inexplicable tightness in her chest.
’She should have pushed him away.’
But her spiritual power had already surged forward, beyond her control.
Her faint spiritual power actively entwined with his, like parched earth finally receiving a long-awaited rain, greedily tangling with his.
A tremor shot through Bai Ye’s gaze.
He stared at her, complex emotions churning in the depths of his eyes.
There was surprise, desire, and the long-suppressed thrill of finally receiving a response.
He couldn’t hold back any longer.
The moment his kiss landed, Yun Sheng’s breathing fell into utter disarray.
This wasn’t the gentle probing of before, not a careful request. It was a dam breaking after being suppressed for too long, a loss of control born from the peak of desire.
Bai Ye’s lips were scorching as they crushed against hers, fierce and demanding, as if he wanted to devour her whole.
Yun Sheng was left breathless by his kiss. She instinctively tried to pull back, but he grabbed her by the waist and yanked her into his arms.
His hand was scalding hot, searing her skin through the thin fabric of her clothes as if to leave a brand on her.
The searing kiss finally left her lips. She had just managed to gasp for air when his mouth descended on the side of her neck.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
He moved with an urgency that threatened to consume her, trailing down the length of her slender, pale neck.
When he reached her collarbone, he paused slightly, his teeth grazing gently against the sensitive skin, leaving a trail of tremors that seeped into her bones.
Yun Sheng let out a muffled gasp, but she bit down hard, cutting the sound off before it could fully escape her throat.
She could feel the marks he was leaving on her.
The wet, scorching, meandering red marks—each one a silent declaration of ownership.
The hand on her waist tightened, the force so strong it felt like he was trying to knead her into his very bones.
His palm was burning hot, pressed directly against the skin of her waist, making her tremble all over.
’The buttons on her shirt... when had they come undone?’
Yun Sheng didn’t know.
All she knew was that she felt like she was being roasted over a fire. Heat spread from every inch of skin he touched, burning so intensely it made her dizzy.
She wanted to push Bai Ye away.
But as her hands pressed against his chest, just as she was about to push, he suddenly looked up.
His eyes met hers.
They were crimson, the color of blood, churning with an overwhelming tide of desire and madness. It was as if all reason had vanished, leaving only the most primal impulse to drive him.
And yet, as those eyes looked at her, his movements gentled.
His breath was still scorching, his chest heaving, but the kiss on her collarbone turned into a careful caress, as if he were afraid of hurting her.
’A contradiction.’
’Such a contradiction.’
Wanting to devour her on one hand, yet reluctant to use any force on the other.
Yun Sheng stared into those eyes, her heart pounding so fast it felt like it would burst from her chest.
She wanted to say something, but all the words were stuck in her throat.
All she could do was let him press another kiss, and then another, onto skin already covered in red marks.
His kisses continued.
From her collarbone to the hollow of her shoulder, from her shoulder to the space over her heart, he left a searing trail.
Yun Sheng’s breathing grew more and more erratic. She wanted to push him away, but her hands were completely devoid of strength, leaving her to his mercy.
"Bai Ye..."
She finally called his name, her voice impossibly soft and laced with a tremor she herself hadn’t noticed.
His movements paused.
Those crimson eyes lifted to look at her.
The madness churning within them was still there, yet it seemed something had been awakened by her call.
’Was it reason? Or something else?’
He just looked at her like that for a long, long time.
So long that Yun Sheng thought he wouldn’t move again.
Then he lowered his head and buried his face in the crook of her neck.
His warm breath fanned across her skin, carrying a slight tremor.
He just held her, motionless, like a drowning man finally grasping a piece of driftwood, or like someone desperately suppressing something.
"...Don’t move." His voice was muffled and so hoarse it was almost inaudible. "Let me hold you for a bit."
Yun Sheng froze.
She could feel his heartbeat, frighteningly fast.
She could feel his breathing—rapid, scorching, branding the side of her neck with every exhale.
And she could feel his restraint. The knuckles of the hand gripping her waist were white, the hold tight enough to crush her, yet he never went any further.
’He was enduring it.’
’Struggling immensely.’
Suddenly, Yun Sheng didn’t know what to say.
She just lifted her arms and gently wrapped them around his back.
The embrace was light, as light as a feather landing on water.
But his body trembled violently.
"You..."
His voice was impossibly hoarse, as if something was caught in his throat.
Yun Sheng said nothing.
The spiritual power that had unknowingly seeped into his spiritual landscape while she was lost in his kisses was now intertwining with his rampaging energy.
It was like a gentle stream flowing into a dry riverbed, like a tender hand stroking a cracked wound.
As her spiritual power brushed over them, the crisscrossing cracks actually stopped expanding.
The surging silver light at the edges of the cracks also began to calm, like a soothed beast.
A few of the smaller cracks were even slowly closing.
Yun Sheng was stunned.
She had never seen anything like this. She had stolen spiritual power from Bai Ye and Si Jin before, but she never imagined her own could be used to... heal?
But now, as her spiritual power deeply intertwined with Bai Ye’s, his energy was actively accepting hers, even beginning to repair itself under her touch.
’Is it because he willingly opened his spiritual landscape to me?’
’Or is it because...’
She didn’t let herself finish the thought.
She simply tightened her arms around his back, allowing her spiritual power to delve deeper, more gently.
His body trembled again.
This time, it wasn’t from pain.
It was from the bone-deep thrill that came as the cracks began to seal.
Bai Ye closed his eyes, burying his face deeper into the crook of her neck as a suppressed sigh escaped his throat.
Hearing that sigh, a corner of Yun Sheng’s heart softened without her realizing it.
’She was actually feeling sorry for Bai Ye?!’