As her words faded, she stood on her tiptoes and kissed those full, crimson lips that had repeatedly appeared in her dreams.
The palm that had been gripping her wrist suddenly stiffened, its hold loosening abruptly.
Taking advantage of the moment, Chai Xiaomi broke free. Her hands climbed up the young man's chest, gripping his collar and pulling downward.
He was too tall. Even though she tried her best to reach up, she could only barely brush against his cold lips.
Her arms were slender and weak, but with just this gentle pull—
The young man unexpectedly lost his balance and bent down abruptly. His momentum was so swift that he almost pinned the frail girl against the table.
He quickly reached out to press against the edge of the table, barely steadying himself.
The wooden table was knocked a few inches askew, its legs scraping across the floor with a harsh, piercing sound that made the cups on top rattle gently.
Chai Xiaomi, however, was completely oblivious.
She tilted her face up, stubbornly pressing close, heavily crushing against the young man's soft lips.
As their breaths intertwined, the air she exhaled was scorching, startlingly hot.
Wu Li felt as if his heart had been fiercely struck by something.
His mind exploded with a loud bang, turning completely blank.
He widened his eyes in astonishment. In this fleeting moment, it was as if he had been struck by lightning. His scalding nerves were repeatedly lashed, and it felt like thousands of blood-red silkworms were scurrying through his veins, making his internal organs tremble along with them.
A strange twitching sensation came from his heart, much like the reaction of being controlled by a mother Gu worm, yet entirely different.
Was he being seized by something else?
He could not move. Every inch of his body seemed to be frozen in place, unable to exert any strength.
A warm, soft, and moist sensation fell upon his lips, wrapped in a honey-like breath. Like a light drizzle, it fell softly and continuously, very light, landing on his lips and seeping into the tip of his heart.
He had never tasted such a sweet, clear, and lingering drizzle.
Wu Li suppressed his hurried, unbearable breathing, allowing the slightly intoxicated girl to act with reckless abandon.
After an unknown amount of time, Chai Xiaomi finally pulled back slowly.
She looked at him hazily, suddenly curving her eyes into a smile, her voice as light as sleep talk: Sure enough, you are as nice to kiss as I imagined, Lili.
Her trailing voice gradually grew faint. Her eyelids fluttered shut, and her forehead gently rested against his chest.
She just fell asleep like that.
After only a few sips of rice wine, she was dead drunk.
Wu Li looked down at the girl in his arms. Her eyes were tightly closed, a faint blush floating on her porcelain-white cheeks, and her cherry-pink lips still bore a touch of moist gleam.
He did not know if it was hers, or his.
His breathing grew slightly heavy, actually hoping that the moisture was his.
Stained on her lips, it seemed quite beautiful.
He had originally wanted to make her suffer a bit, but at this moment, for no reason at all, those gloomy thoughts were instantly washed away without a trace.
Truly a rice weevil.
The young man muttered in a hoarse voice, softly reprimanding her.
But the movements of his hands were unbelievably gentle. He picked her up horizontally at an extremely slow pace, terrified of waking the sleeping girl and disturbing her sweet dreams.
Wu Li himself did not realize that, despite his usually decisive actions, his every move right now was as sluggish as a snail. He, who despised clumsy people the most, had just nearly tripped over the corner of the table.
From the table to the bed was only a few steps, yet he walked it with many twists and turns.
By the time he had properly tucked the girl into the quilt, the night had quietly crept into the room.
Wu Li glanced at the open window, stepped forward to gently close it, and his gaze fell back onto the pot of rice wine, his eyes gradually turning cold.
He thought of the four-sided folding screen in the inn's front hall, and a mocking sneer tugged at the corners of his mouth.
He slowly and methodically used his knuckle to cut open his fingertip. A bead of blood oozed out, which he pressed onto the five-poison tattoo on his forearm. In an instant, the centipede in the tattoo glowed with a dark light, and a live centipede broke through the skin. Its dense legs climbed up the doorframe, crawled in a circle, and finally clung silently to the hanging beam.
You stand guard here tonight, he ordered, and the centipede vanished into the shadows.
I would like to see exactly what the person who set up this Soul-Locking Array is trying to do. A hint of amusement flashed in the young man's eyes, as if he had discovered an interesting game.
To lock wandering ghosts and lonely spirits in this place, denying them freedom even after death—just how deep must this hatred be?
It was actually somewhat more interesting than the revenge he was plotting.
No matter how poor Chai Xiaomi's alcohol tolerance was, she would not pass out from just a few sips of rice wine.
Only after the candle was extinguished and darkness completely enveloped the room did she quietly open her eyes.
In the pitch black, she pursed her lips, the quilt in her hands crumpled into a wrinkled ball.
Oh my god, what did she just do!?
Drinking ruins things. She was only slightly tipsy, but she never expected that in a moment of impulsiveness, she would actually do what she wanted to do in her dreams!
She was truly extremely grateful that Wu Li had not instantly turned her into ashes.
Because she honestly did not know how to wrap things up in the end, she had to pretend to be dead drunk, unconscious, and escape through sleep.
After feeling ashamed and embarrassed for a while, Chai Xiaomi regained her composure.
Just now, while pretending to be asleep, she had not dared to open her eyes, but she had heard what Wu Li said.
What was a Soul-Locking Array?
After the candle went out, he had left the room, and right now, she had no idea where he went.
She looked up. The window was shut tight, but a strong wind had picked up outside. The occasional cooing of birds could be heard from afar, sounding exceptionally eerie in the night.
The moonlight cast the shadows of trees onto the paper window. The branches swayed, casting shadowy figures that looked like countless ghosts bearing their fangs and brandishing their claws against the window.
Her back stiffened. She suddenly remembered Wu Li saying he left something to guard the room. Where was that thing now?
The room was pitch black, and she could see absolutely nothing. Only faint, rustling, exceptionally light sounds could be heard from the ceiling beam, like some tiny object brushing against the wood grain.
The more she thought about it, the more scared she became, so she simply hid her entire body under the covers.
This night felt exceptionally long.
It was only in the latter half of the night that she finally felt drowsy.
Just as she was about to sink into a dream, a faint crying sound, like a cold spiderweb, drilled into her ears.
It did not come from outside the door, nor from outside the window. The sound seemed to permeate the air in the room, carrying endless sorrow and resentment.
Chai Xiaomi jolted awake instantly, holding her breath, her body stiff under the covers.
The crying was intermittent, mixed with indistinct sleep talk.
Immediately after, she felt the bed vibrate slightly. It was not an earthquake, but more like something heavy being dragged across the floor.
Wu Li, she called out silently in her heart, her fingers tightly gripping the corner of the quilt.
Right at that moment, a rapid rustling sound came from the ceiling beam.
It seemed to carry a strange, irritated warning of being disturbed. Before long, all the crying sounds disappeared.
But not long after, a creak sounded.
A slight, teeth-setting sound of a door hinge turning echoed.
It was not the room door. It sounded like a cabinet door in the room, or perhaps the wall, had opened on its own.
Chai Xiaomi almost screamed out loud. She bit her lower lip hard, forcing herself to remain completely still, while frantically praying in her heart: Wu Li, come back quickly!
