After My Paranoid Act to Woo My Cold Master Failed - Chapter 27

Shen Shuheng raised her eyes and bumped straight into Fu Xueke’s gaze.

Her heart skipped a beat instantly. She stared blankly with wide eyes, not knowing what to do.

“Host, you’ve already kissed her! Don’t worry about ‘betraying your Master’ or any of that. Do you remember your persona? Right now, immediately, continue to force a kiss on her! No retreating!” the System incited her.

Shen Shuheng was in a daze, her brain having ceased all logical thought. Hearing the System’s command, she simply obeyed.

Her body leaned half-pressed against Fu Xueke, the faint, cold fragrance enveloping her nose. Her hands climbed to the back of her Master’s head, pressing down firmly. Her Master’s dark hair felt icy and smooth, like silk woven from the ice-silkworms of the Far North—slick and soft. She didn’t want to let go at all. She wished time would freeze at this very moment.

Shen Shuheng’s lips were pressed against Fu Xueke’s. She kissed her clumsily, her movements raw and inexperienced, guided entirely by instinct.

Fu Xueke allowed her disciple to act wantonly upon her lips. The icy solitude in her eyes melted into a pool of spring water, reflecting only the girl. The girl was much shorter than her, sinking into her embrace, her entire weight leaning against Fu Xueke.

As the kiss continued, Shen Shuheng couldn’t resist nipping her Master’s lip. The scent on her Master was too wonderful; a mere kiss didn’t feel like enough she wanted something more. Some things she hadn’t understood for a long time seemed to be surfacing, just a sliver away from being revealed. Just as she felt with this kiss, she felt she was missing something.

Shen Shuheng was entirely immersed in her own world, leaving everything else behind. She became addicted to biting Fu Xueke’s lips, trying to grasp the elusive realization floating in her mind while she nibbled.

Suddenly, Yue Bai let out a yawn. In the quiet surroundings, the sound was exceptionally prominent.

The noise snapped Shen Shuheng back to reality. She suddenly realized what she was doing. She lurched a step backward. “I…” Her hands trembled slightly, and her voice was unsteady.

What have I done? It’s all the System’s fault for giving bad directions.

Fu Xueke’s gaze remained as profound as ever, like a silent lake; no one could glimpse the undercurrents beneath the surface. Shen Shuheng cautiously observed her Master’s reaction. Seeing that her Master’s face was as calm as always, she suddenly felt less afraid.

Master only had her as a disciple; they shared a deep bond. What was a little kiss between them? As for biting her Master’s lip… well, when her Master was in that strange state before, she had bitten Shen Shuheng until she bled. Thinking of it that way, what she had just done was nothing at all.

“Do we… have a deep bond as master and apprentice?” Shen Shuheng asked.

Fu Xueke glanced at her. “Naturally, we do.” She suspected her disciple was about to say something strange again.

Perfect, Master took the bait. As long as Master followed her logic, she hadn’t “betrayed” her. Shen Shuheng smiled, her eyes curving into crescent moons. “So, it’s only normal for A-Heng to kiss Master. A deep bond can’t just be talked about; it has to be shown through actual actions.”

Yue Bai, listening from the side, looked at Shen Shuheng in shock. What on earth? She had never seen a “deep bond” like theirs. Her previous suspicions were definitely correct. This taboo relationship was far from simple.

A faint smile surfaced in Fu Xueke’s eyes. The wind caught her white robes, making her look like a quietly blooming water lily. “So, next time, what else do you plan to do to highlight this ‘deep bond’?” Fu Xueke’s voice flowed like a cold, astringent mountain spring.

Shen Shuheng was stumped. She had just made that up on the spot; she hadn’t considered the future. With a flash of wit, she kicked the question back. “What would Master like me to do next time?”

Fu Xueke took a step forward and leaned down. Her waterfall of dark hair spilled over, resting against the girl’s snowy neck. Shen Shuheng looked up curiously, waiting for her to continue.

Fu Xueke reached out, her porcelain fingertip touching the girl’s red lips, then slowly tracing them. “I want you to learn how to respect your Master and the Way.”

Master was very close so close that her breath hit Shen Shuheng’s face, turning it a burning red. Shen Shuheng couldn’t help but blink, her lashes trembling, revealing watery eyes that shimmered with light. Master’s finger continued to trace her lips while her eyes stared unblinkingly at her.

Under such a gaze, Shen Shuheng’s heart grew frantic, beating faster and faster. It felt as though her heart were caught in a violent tide, crashing against her chest. She guiltily avoided her Master’s gaze, turning her head to the side.

Seeing the girl’s reaction, Fu Xueke couldn’t help but let out a small laugh, her eyes rippling with tenderness. “Your face is so red again. Are you feeling shy?”

With her thoughts exposed, Shen Shuheng refused to admit it. She continued to be stubborn. “Not at all! I’m just excited! A-Heng gets very excited just thinking about how deep our bond is!”

Shen Shuheng forced herself to turn her head back. Fu Xueke looked at her playfully, as if everything about the girl were transparent before her, there was nowhere for her heart to hide. Master didn’t expose her further, leaving her a bit of dignity.

“So that’s how it is,” Fu Xueke said.

“Master, let’s go into the cave to investigate!” Shen Shuheng, assuming her Master had believed her, hurriedly changed the subject to escape the embarrassment.

The forest surrounding them was different from usual; no matter the species, every tree had bright red leaves, as if they had grown by feeding on blood.

Wooo— A sinister wind rose, and the crimson leaves flipped in the gale like a surging wave of blood ready to swallow everything. The group pretended to be captured by the Penglai disciples and led into the cave.

The moment they entered, the stench of decay hit them. Shen Shuheng wrinkled her nose. The cave was extremely narrow, allowing only one person to pass at a time. The air was stagnant, and combined with the rot from an unknown source, Shen Shuheng felt nauseous. She suppressed the urge to gag and walked slowly.

It was pitch black, as if the damp darkness had swallowed all the light in the world. After walking for a while, a feeling of disgust rose in her; she felt something wet and slippery under her feet. Suddenly, she slipped. Just as she was about to fall, the Fu Xueke in front of her reached back and caught her.

Shen Shuheng had already been struggling with nausea; the slip made her let out a dry heave. “Come here, I’ll carry you,” Fu Xueke said with concern, sensing her disciple’s distress.

Shen Shuheng obediently climbed onto her Master’s back, pressing her face against her neck. Sniffing the cold fragrance helped dispel the nausea from the stench.

As expected, Master is only exceptionally gentle at times like this. In the future, if I can’t win an argument, I’ll just pretend to be ill so she’ll indulge me in everything, she thought. At that, she suddenly let out a laugh. “Ahem, ahem!” she coughed intentionally to cover the sound of her giggle.

Fu Xueke was somewhat helpless. Her disciple was always doing silly things while thinking she was being clever. Though the cave was narrow, both were slender; Fu Xueke carried her slowly through the dark.

After about an hour, the path widened, and a dim yellow light from the distance illuminated the way. “Master, I’m better now. Put me down,” Shen Shuheng whispered.

Fu Xueke set her down and lightly stroked her head. “Wait a moment,” she said as the girl started to walk ahead.

Shen Shuheng looked at her Master in confusion, her obsidian eyes sparkling. Fu Xueke took a cup of tea from her storage bag. Her slender fingers gripped the elegant porcelain cup—the snowy-white hand and the lustrous porcelain complementing each other like an exquisite painting.

Wisps of white steam rose from the cup. Looking at her Master through the mist, Shen Shuheng suddenly felt that she seemed very, very far away. “Drink this,” Fu Xueke said, holding the cup to her lips. “Drink slowly, don’t choke.”

Shen Shuheng took a small sip. The warm tea washed away the bitterness in her mouth, leaving a sweet fragrance on her tongue. The tea had been brewed with fresh snow, so besides the sweetness, it carried a faint, crisp winter taste.

Shen Shuheng had always thought her Master was like a beauty made of ice and snow. She wondered if the taste of her Master’s lips and tongue would be as sweet as this tea. If she had known, she should have tried it back then to compare the two.

What am I thinking? Is that something I can just ‘try’? To do that, I’d have to put my tongue… no, no, no. She drank the tea while casting guilty glances at Fu Xueke.

One cup of tea dispelled all the nausea. She felt warm all over, and her heart softened. “More?” Fu Xueke asked.

“No more. Master is so good to me,” Shen Shuheng said, a flash of mischief in her eyes.

Master gave her a faint smile. Remembering the plot of the book where the female lead stole her Master’s affection, Shen Shuheng said seriously, “You can only be this good to me alone. Remember that? You aren’t allowed to share Master’s kindness with anyone else.”

Fu Xueke nodded slightly. The girl looked incredibly cute when she said such things so seriously. She reached out and scraped the girl’s petite nose.

Along the way, Yue Bai and Ye Changzhen remained silent. Yue Bai wanted to find a topic, but didn’t know how to start. Even if she did, knowing her Senior Sister’s temperament, the response would be the same things she had heard since childhood.

“Get in!” The Penglai disciples unlocked a cell door and pushed them inside. Only a single oil lamp burned here, the wick flickering in the flames and making the dim light sway.

In the corner, several people huddled together. Their combined shadows formed a massive monster on the wall, shifting with the light. Fu Xueke gripped Shen Shuheng’s hand tightly, pulling her closer.

“Bark! Bark!” A dog’s bark broke the silence.

The people in the prison were already numb; they showed no reaction to the sudden noise. Hearing the bark, Shen Shuheng remembered the white puppy. She looked back to see that it had followed them in at some point. The puppy ignored them, running in another direction.

“Little White!” a clear female voice rang out.

By the dim light, Shen Shuheng saw the puppy dive into the embrace of a girl in red. It nuzzled its head against her and licked the back of her hand. The girl was barefoot, with a string of bells tied around her ankle. When she moved, the bells gave a crisp chime—a sound that should have been cheerful but felt eerie in this environment, making one’s hair stand on end.

Shen Shuheng noticed the other prisoners were all huddled together, while this girl sat alone in the western corner. The girl seemed to be having a wonderful time playing with the dog, occasionally ringing her bells. Compared to the others who sat with hollow eyes, neither crying nor laughing everything about her seemed abnormal.