Chapter 39: Your Body Is Much More Honest Than Your Mouth
Yun Sheng gently set the small dog down on the rug outside the bathroom, gave its fluffy head another rub, then turned and went inside, closing the door behind her.
The sound of running water soon came from within.
Left outside, the little dog sat quietly in place, its eyes fixed unblinkingly on the hazy, shifting silhouette behind the frosted glass door.
Its ears twitched slightly, and every subtle sound from within—the rustle of fabric, the shifting flow of the water—was relayed with perfect clarity to Si Jin himself, who was not far away.
Instantly, every muscle in his body tensed like iron.
He immediately forced himself to sever most of the sensory connection to his spiritual body.
Yet, even so, the faint sound of water continued to stream in, seeming to echo directly in his mind. It carried with it the suggestion of rising steam and a presence that was impossible to ignore.
Si Jin could almost picture the steam-filled scene behind the bathroom door, could imagine the warm water cascading over her skin...
He snapped his eyes shut, forcing himself to stop the absurd train of thought.
A vein throbbed at his temple, and his throat felt painfully dry.
He tried to use his spiritual power to suppress the surging agitation in his body, but it was of little use.
To his ears, the sound of the water from the bathroom seemed to drag on for a century.
Si Jin stood frozen in place, a statue of ice, the flickering flames deep in his eyes the only betrayal of his inner turmoil.
He waited until the maddening sound of water finally stopped. After what felt like an eternity, a faint impression from his spiritual body told him the light in Yun Sheng’s room had been extinguished and all had fallen quiet. Only then did he re-establish a more complete link with his spiritual body.
He confirmed she was sound asleep, the spiritual body standing guard by her bed. The tension in Si Jin’s spine, stretched to its absolute limit, finally eased a fraction.
With great difficulty, he finally exhaled the searing breath he had been holding in his chest.
The night was as thick as ink.
Staring out the window at the distant horizon where the dawn refused to break, Si Jin felt for the first time how agonizingly long a night could be. He was almost frantic with anticipation for the next three days to be over!
Meanwhile, Yun Sheng had fallen into a deep sleep, her consciousness sinking into a familiar, hazy nothingness.
In the pure white space, where light and shadow shifted, she raised her eyes and saw the figure of Bai Ye sitting upright not far away.
This time, he wasn’t facing away from her. He sat cross-legged in her direction, eyes closed, surrounded by a Spiritual Force Field that was incredibly subdued, yet impossible to ignore.
He was clearly guarding against her next "invasion."
Yun Sheng’s heart sank.
’Should I go over? Do what I did last time... just throw caution to the wind and press against him, trading intimacy for power?’
’But Bai Ye is already closing in on me in the real world. If I "offend" him again in this dream, he’ll probably just escalate his actions and watch me even more closely.’
’But if I do nothing, am I just going to waste this precious opportunity?’
’I desperately need power, and every "recharge" in this dream is critical!’
Just as she was wrestling with her indecision, the seated Bai Ye suddenly opened his eyes.
His eyes were as deep as a frozen lake, reflecting a cold starlight, all warmth sealed away beneath a veneer of perfect calm.
His gaze instantly locked onto her!
Yun Sheng’s breath caught in her throat, and her first instinct was to back away.
Then, she saw him move.
Bai Ye rose quickly and strode toward her. Before she could react, he shot out a hand and seized her slender wrist.
His touch was ice-cold, his grip unbreakable.
Stunned, Yun Sheng looked up to meet his gaze, now just inches from her own.
He held her fast, saying nothing, his eyes locked on her as if trying to pierce through every one of her disguises.
Yun Sheng’s heart hammered in her chest. ’It looks like there’s no backing out now.’
Fear and a desperate, do-or-die resolve warred within her chest.
’Anyway, Bai Ye can’t see my face clearly in this dream, and he has no proof... So what’s there to be afraid of?’
The suffocating pressure he exerted on her in the real world now morphed into a rebellious urge.
’I need power, and he’s the only "charging port" available.’
’As for the consequences?’
’I’ll worry about those the next time we meet.’
The instant her mind was made, the look in Yun Sheng’s eyes shifted. Instead of pulling back, she used the momentum of his grip to lunge forward one step.
The already precarious distance between them vanished in an instant.
She rose onto her tiptoes and, with a surge of all-or-nothing resolve, tilted her head up and swiftly pressed her soft, warm lips against his cool, thin ones.
"Ngh...!"
Bai Ye’s pupils contracted violently, and his body went ramrod straight.
’This audacious woman! She really never learns!’
He tightened his grip on her wrist fiercely, his other hand rising, ready to subdue her completely or shove her away.
Yet, in the split second before he could act, Yun Sheng opened her mouth and bit down—hard—on his lower lip.
A sharp sting of pain shot through him. Bai Ye’s breath hitched, and his movements faltered for a crucial instant.
In that momentary lapse, a thought flashed through Yun Sheng’s mind like lightning.
’The real Yun Sheng is cautious and timid. In this dream, the more audacious I am, the more different from my real self I act, the more it might confuse Bai Ye’s judgment.’
’It might make him suspect more than just me.’
’Yes, that’s it.’
’The less I act like "Yun Sheng," the safer I’ll be!’
Her resolve hardening, Yun Sheng pressed forward again. With a proactive, almost defiant boldness—a stark contrast to her real-life timidity—she parted Bai Ye’s lips.
Bai Ye’s spiritual power—pure and immense—began to surge out of his control like a stirred abyss, pouring into her greedily absorbing spiritual landscape.
The fingers clasped around her wrist tightened, almost enough to shatter bone, yet his attempts to push her away felt like struggling in soft mire.
She wound herself around him like a vine, her free hand growing even bolder as it slid up to caress the firm line of his waist.
Her fingertips traced a slow, suggestive path downward over the crisp fabric of his military uniform.
"You..." Bai Ye’s voice was a strained rasp, squeezed from the depths of his throat. It was thick with ragged breaths and fury. "You really are... utterly shameless!"
At his words, Yun Sheng let out a soft laugh amidst their kiss.
The laugh was nothing like her usual self—it was tinged with a nonchalant languor, like a honey-coated hook.
"Hm?"
Her breath ghosted over the sensitive skin of his lips as she deliberately slowed her words, her tone a blend of almost-innocent and incredibly direct seduction.
"You like this, don’t you? Your body is much more honest than your words..."
Yun Sheng could feel his muscles tense in an instant, could hear his heart begin to beat wildly, out of control.
Even more, she could clearly sense how his spiritual landscape, hidden beneath a facade of perfect asceticism, was trembling violently from her "violation."
"We’re both getting what we need," she said, licking away the tiny bead of blood her bite had drawn on his lip. The motion was both intimate and defiant. "It’s not like you’re losing anything... Why the act, Lord War God?"