No wonder she had felt the bed was more crowded than usual.
“Next time, senior brother isn’t allowed to sneak me over in the middle of the night either.”
Ye Ran hadn’t expected Lu Li to find another loophole, so she quickly added an extra condition.
“I didn’t carry you over, junior sister. You came over on your own last night.”
Ye Ran didn’t believe a single word of that.
She had always been a sound sleeper and never sleepwalked. Lu Li must have carried her over after she fell asleep.
“I still have proof. Would junior sister like to see it?”
As if knowing Ye Ran wouldn’t believe him, Lu Li volunteered to show evidence.
This surprised Ye Ran a little. Curious about what evidence he could possibly have, she nodded.
“Alright, let’s see it.”
The moment she spoke, Lu Li raised his hand and released a stream of spiritual energy. A projection appeared before them.
It showed the events of the previous night.
Ye Ran was seen getting out of bed, walking purposefully toward the small couch. After squeezing onto the couch, she insisted on taking Lu Li’s hand and placing it on her waist before finally settling down.
This scene amazed Ye Ran.
Had she misunderstood Lu Li? Had she really gone to him on her own?
Unable to help herself, Ye Ran sat up and studied the projection closely.
Soon, she spotted the anomaly. After she lay down on the couch, a faint wisp of foreign spiritual energy flickered over her body.
Now she understood completely. Lu Li had controlled her and made her go to the couch.
Seeing Lu Li raise his hand to destroy the evidence, Ye Ran quickly grabbed it and froze the projection at the exact moment the spiritual energy appeared over her body.
“So it really was senior brother who brought me over. What do you have to say for yourself now?”
Ye Ran thought the evidence was right there—he must feel at least a little guilty. But instead, Lu Li grabbed her hand and pulled her back into his arms, looking utterly justified.
“Junior sister, just answer this: did you come over on your own or not?”
“You… you’re impossible!”
Ye Ran couldn’t help but pinch him.
Though her pinch wasn’t hard, Lu Li immediately let out a moan, a look of pleasure on his face.
“Thank you for the reward, junior sister.”
His shamelessness left Ye Ran at a loss. She wanted to pinch harder, but was afraid he would only enjoy it more.
In the end, she let go and prepared to get out of bed.
But the moment she moved, the hand on her waist tightened, pulling her back into his arms.
“What are you doing, senior brother?”
Startled, Ye Ran pressed her hands against his chest, her expression unsettled.
“Naturally, I’m asking junior sister for a reward.”
Lu Li pressed her head down, forcing her lips to his.
The moment their lips touched, before Ye Ran could resist, he was already kissing her deeply, exploring relentlessly.
With his improving skills, Ye Ran soon went limp, losing all ability to resist. She even began to respond to his kiss.
Just as they were getting deeply into it, a knock came at the door.
“Senior brother, the sect leader requests your presence at Tianyuan Hall.”
Recently, the sect leader had been summoning Lu Li more and more frequently, often just as he and Ye Ran were kissing. A disciple would come knocking.
Ye Ran had gone from being flustered to completely calm.
She lingered on Lu Li’s lips for a moment, then pulled back and pushed at him.
“The sect leader needs you, senior brother. You should go.”
Seeing the unsatisfied look on Lu Li’s face, a smug smile appeared on Ye Ran’s.
But just then, Lu Li suddenly flipped them over and kissed her again.
Only when he had nearly stolen all the air from her mouth did he finally let her go.
“Alright. As junior sister says.”
Lu Li gave her another quick kiss before getting up cheerfully and leaving the room.
Ye Ran lay on the couch, breathing heavily. It took her a long time to calm down.
Having spent the whole night squeezed onto the small couch with Lu Li, she hadn’t slept very well. Seeing that it was still early, she closed her eyes and fell back asleep.
When she opened her eyes again, Lu Li had returned and was sitting at the desk, brush in hand, writing something.
“What did the sect leader want, senior brother?”
Ye Ran had slept well and was in a good mood. When Lu Li looked over, she took the rare initiative to start a conversation.
“After discussions over the past few days, Master and the other sect leaders have decided to send disciples back into the illusion from last time to search for traces of the great demon lord.”
At this, Ye Ran fell into thought.
Regarding the rumors about that great demon lord, Ye Ran had also heard other disciples discussing it in the sect these past few days.
A thousand years ago, the cultivation world was not governed by various sects but was controlled by the largest family, the Lu family.
That demon lord was the young master of the Lu family and its next heir. Originally, his future was boundless, but after being ill for several years, he suddenly went mad and slaughtered the entire Lu family.
In the following centuries, the demon lord hunted down and killed anyone connected to the Lu family, nearly wiping them out.
It wasn’t until the remaining survivors of the Lu family joined forces with other families to ambush the demon lord. They fought for days and nights, and in the end, all the participants perished, while the demon lord was severely wounded and vanished—only then did the nightmare finally cease.
For hundreds of years after, no one heard any trace of the demon lord.
Gradually, everyone assumed he had died from his injuries in that battle, and the cultivation world slowly returned to its former prosperity.
Now, learning that the demon lord might still be alive, the various sects had no choice but to take it seriously. Otherwise, the cultivation world might face another catastrophe like the one a thousand years ago.
Thinking of this, Ye Ran recalled the jade pendant Lu Li had brought out of the illusion that day.
That day, Shen Zuihuan had said the pendant was very likely the demon lord’s. Now that the sects had decided to re-enter the illusion, that meant—
“So that jade pendant really did belong to the demon lord?”
But before Ye Ran could get an answer from Lu Li, the system let out a sharp, piercing shriek in her mind.
[What’s wrong, system?]
Ye Ran frowned and quickly asked the system internally.
[Host, you’d better not mention the demon lord in front of the villain.]
The system’s voice was cautious. After saying this, it seemed to disappear, and no matter how Ye Ran called out, it didn’t respond.
“What’s wrong, junior sister?”
Only when Lu Li’s voice reached her did Ye Ran snap out of it and quickly shake her head.
“Nothing.”
But the system’s words had planted a seed of doubt in her mind.
Why did the system warn her not to mention the demon lord in front of Lu Li?
She suddenly thought back to the illusion, when Lu Li had acted very strangely, as if he had known someone would be there to steal the pendant.
Then she remembered that Lu Li also had the surname Lu. In an instant, she felt she had figured something out.
Could it be that Lu Li was a descendant of the Lu family, and he harbored a deep hatred for the demon lord who had wiped out his entire family? That was why the system warned her not to bring up the demon lord in front of him.
Now everything made sense.
“What is junior sister thinking about?”
While Ye Ran was lost in thought, Lu Li had somehow appeared before her.
“Nothing.”
Ye Ran quickly shook her head, but when she looked at Lu Li, there was now a hint of pity in her eyes.
Lu Li caught her gaze—that mixture of concern and caution—and a flicker of confusion appeared in his eyes.
He stared at her for a moment before continuing:
“That jade pendant does belong to the demon lord. Master has ordered me to lead disciples into the illusion tomorrow. Disciples from other sects will also be going.”
“Then I want to go with you, senior brother.”
Hearing that Lu Li was leaving the sect, Ye Ran immediately insisted on going with him without a second thought.
Though going into the illusion might be dangerous, if her constitution flared up while separated from Lu Li, she would be even worse off.
So it was better to stay by his side.
To her surprise, Lu Li looked troubled.
“But junior sister’s name isn’t on the list for the secret realm.”
“Who decides the list?” Ye Ran grew anxious.
Lu Li just looked at her without speaking.
It took her only a moment to understand.
Lu Li was the one responsible for drafting the list. She would have to win him over.
So Ye Ran stepped forward, wrapped her arms around Lu Li, and gave him a quick kiss.
“Senior brother, please take me with you, alright?”
Lu Li still didn’t speak. Apparently, he wasn’t entirely satisfied with this show of affection.
Ye Ran had no choice but to stand on her tiptoes and kiss him again. This time, she didn’t pull away quickly. She lingered on his lips, then tentatively slipped her tongue into his mouth.
Lu Li cooperated fully, standing still without any movement of his own, letting Ye Ran explore.
It was only when she grew tired that he took the initiative, wrapping his arms around her and kissing her back.
After a long while, their lips finally parted.
Breathless, Ye Ran leaned against Lu Li’s chest, but her mind was still on the list.
She looked up at him. “Now will you take me with you, senior brother?”
“Perhaps junior sister should take a look at this first?”
A piece of paper covered in writing appeared in Lu Li’s hand. The moment Ye Ran took it, she spotted her own name immediately.
It hit her instantly.
Lu Li had been playing with her all along! He had already decided to take her with him.
Leave a Reply