“Shen Wang, Shen Wang, are you asleep?”
No answer.
Gu Shengsheng propped herself up halfway and peeked over the edge of the bed. By the intermittent flashes of lightning outside, she could see Shen Wang still blindfolded, his pale lips pressed tightly together. Except for the faint rise and fall of his chest, he hardly looked alive.
The velvet curtains billowed even without wind. In the distance came the eerie, mournful cry of an owl.
Gu Shengsheng’s skin crawled. In one swift motion she scrambled up and dove straight into Shen Wang’s blankets.
Shen Wang: “…”
Gu Shengsheng pressed herself tightly against him, her heart pounding so hard it felt like it would jump out of her throat. She was terrified of ghosts, terrified of thunder and lightning, terrified of everything in this gloomy old mansion. Compared to all that, Shen Wang was at least a living person.
She squeezed against him without any sense of boundaries — soft, fragrant, full of youthful vitality, plump like a ripe peach.
She had just showered; the overpowering perfume and makeup smell was gone, leaving only a faint rose scent.
Before any thought could fully form, desire rose first.
His long-dormant body suddenly felt an electric tingle spreading from where their skin touched.
A low, ragged breath sounded beside her ear — like a plucked cello string, gorgeous and deep, vibrating through his chest.
Then came a vicious snarl:
“Get out!”
Gu Shengsheng sucked in a breath and lifted her head inside the blanket.
Another lightning bolt split the night sky, illuminating Shen Wang’s tightly furrowed brow. His voice spat out in disgust, as though a venomous snake had licked him:
“Get. Off.”
“You’re so mean… I didn’t mean to… ah!”
Before she could finish, another bolt of lightning crashed down.
Thunder exploded one after another overhead. The fury of nature was terrifying — it felt as if the villa would be reduced to ashes in the next second.
“I’m scared…”
Shen Wang was terrifying, but the thunder was even worse. Faced with two evils, she chose the lesser one. Panicking, Gu Shengsheng burrowed deeper into his arms and babbled:
“I-I-I’m not trying to take advantage of you! I’ll leave as soon as the thunder stops. Don’t flatter yourself…”
Shen Wang’s raised hand paused half an inch from the back of her neck.
Gu Shengsheng was like a trembling little animal burying itself in his chest, treating him as a safe haven. This soft, warm little bundle lightly brushed against a very distant memory.
The thought lasted only a moment before he coldly shattered it with disgust.
A cold, heavy wave of anger rolled off Shen Wang, so thick it felt hard to breathe.
Gu Shengsheng rolled off him but refused to leave the blanket. She stubbornly insisted:
“The floor is cold and hard. This… this bed was mine to begin with.”
Finding her courage, she repeated:
“That’s right, this is my bed. I’m just letting you use it. Why should I be the one to get out?”
After waiting a long time, the man didn’t make a sound. His breathing evened out, as though he had fallen asleep.
Gu Shengsheng secretly peeked up at him. Just then, Shen Wang turned his head slightly to the side.
Lightning flashed outside, illuminating the elegant curve of his profile — cold as a frost-covered blade. Even though his eyes were covered by the bandage, Gu Shengsheng felt like she was being stared down by some massive predator. The back of her neck prickled.
She suddenly remembered a line from the book:
Shen Wang is a man of iron will and endless grudges. The angrier he gets inside, the calmer his face becomes — and the more terrifying his revenge will be later.
Thinking of that, Gu Shengsheng curled herself into a tiny ball, trying to take up as little space as possible.
But outside, the gloomy wind kept swirling, blowing against the back of her neck like something was breathing on her.
Gu Shengsheng was too scared to sleep. After waiting a long while, she stealthily reached out and lightly touched the fingers of his hand that hung by his side.
Shen Wang showed no reaction at all. He really seemed to be deeply asleep.
Emboldened, Gu Shengsheng hooked her little finger around his pinky and quietly probed the spiritual energy inside his body.
When she had grabbed his wrist earlier, she had already sensed the blazing yang energy raging within him.
People with the Flame Yang Constitution were one in a million — natural geniuses for cultivation. But as they advanced in practice, they often became violent and extreme, easily falling into qi deviation, or even exploding their own bodies from the buildup.
Right now, Shen Wang’s body was extremely fragile. The yang energy rampaged inside him like boiling magma trapped in brittle jade. If this continued, madness was only a matter of time.
Gu Shengsheng thought to herself: No wonder. In the original book, Shen Wang’s mind was already extremely unstable. By the later stages, he became so destructive that even the male lead couldn’t control him. Yet after winning everything, he shot himself with a bullet.
And Gu Shengsheng herself possessed the Pure Yin Water Constitution — exactly what Flame Yang cultivators dreamed of. As a cultivation cauldron, she could neutralize the violent yang energy. Dual cultivation with her would cause explosive breakthroughs in power. Even just being close to her brought benefits.
Pure Yin Water bodies were one in ten thousand. That was why the cultivators had hunted her so relentlessly.
Gu Shengsheng raised her hand and slowly gathered a faint stream of water-based spiritual energy. To her surprise, even this unlucky constitution had followed her here.
Dual cultivation? Absolutely impossible.
Gu Shengsheng furrowed her delicate brows, caught in an intense internal struggle.
Shen Wang was exhausted to the bone, yet his mind remained painfully clear. When Gu Shengsheng sneaked up and touched him, it felt like being wrapped by a cold, venomous snake. He frowned in disgust.
Her soft, cool hand first brushed his fingertip cautiously — then quickly pulled away. A moment later, it carefully came back and held on.
Shen Wang stayed still, curious to see what she was up to. But that tender little finger simply hooked his and didn’t move again.
Gu Shengsheng gently guided the chaotic spiritual energy inside him. Before long, she was exhausted.
The yang energy repelled all evil. Hooked to his finger in the small warm space between his burning body and the blanket, Gu Shengsheng finally felt a trace of safety. She sweetly fell asleep.
Shen Wang waited a long time… and eventually heard even, gentle breathing.
“…”
…
When Gu Shengsheng woke up, her arms and legs were wrapped around a giant human heater. The blanket was toasty warm, carrying the faint bitter scent of medicine from the man’s body.
She drowsily lifted her head. What filled her vision was a high, straight nose bridge, a perfectly sculpted jawline from lips to chin, and a light shadow of stubble that added a touch of weary, decadent beauty.
“…”
Gu Shengsheng froze completely, praying that the future big shot was still asleep and hadn’t noticed her outrageous behavior.
She held her breath, slowly — very slowly — removing one arm from around his neck, then the other leg that was draped over the big shot’s…
Hm?
Gu Shengsheng focused for a second. Her knee brushed lightly — and that scorching thing suddenly twitched.
What is this? A cat’s tail?
“Haven’t you touched enough?!”
A hoarse voice exploded suddenly.
Before Gu Shengsheng could react, a powerful force shoved her away. Her body rolled off the bed.
Thump!
She landed on the floor, luckily cushioned by her makeshift bedding, so it didn’t hurt much.
Still, Gu Shengsheng was furious. Puffing out her cheeks, she climbed up holding the edge of the bed — and then she saw Shen Wang on the bed.
When she fell, she had dragged the blanket with her. Now Shen Wang lay there in nothing but thin sleepwear. His body was painfully thin, almost skeletal, yet his frame was broad — a hint of the tall, upright figure he once had.
He lay quietly, reminding her of the saying: a dragon trapped in shallow water.
But what stunned Gu Shengsheng wasn’t that. It was… the very obvious reaction that the thin sleep pants couldn’t hide.
So big.
The temperature in the room plummeted to freezing.
Only then did Gu Shengsheng realize she had blurted it out loud.
A terrifying aura swept over her.
The man on the bed lay perfectly still, eyes covered by cloth strips, his icy-carved face showing no expression at all. Yet the hand resting at his side lifted slightly — as though he wanted to grab something to cover himself — but in the end, he didn’t move.
That hand — belonging to a supreme being — was long and elegant. In the past and in the future, it would command clouds and rain, holding the power of life and death over countless people.
Right now, it simply lay by his side, knuckles white from clenched force.
Blind. Crippled. He had already become the abandoned trash of the entire family. Even a woman sent for a good-luck marriage could humiliate him without restraint.
Shen Wang, Shen Wang — you’re nothing but a joke!
A soft breeze passed through. The blanket fluttered down, covering him.
Two nervous hands quickly tucked the edges tightly around him:
“Sorry, sorry! I didn’t mean to! Did I let you get cold?”
The room was like an ice cellar, but the blanket carried warmth — almost scalding against his numb body.
Shen Wang’s pale lips moved faintly. Then he heard Gu Shengsheng say in a fake-mature tone:
“This is just a normal physiological reaction. I understand.”
She had learned it from the original Gu Shengsheng’s memories. Now she knew everything.
Shen Wang’s lips pressed into a thin line. Coldly, he said:
“Shut up!”
He actually dared to tell her to shut up!
Gu Shengsheng’s almond-shaped eyes widened in outrage, but then she noticed the hand resting on the blanket — knuckles white from clenching.
Something twisted in her heart. She swallowed the “hmph” that was about to escape and felt an inexplicable pang of sadness.
A man like Shen Wang — even lying down, he inspired fear. In the future, he would stand even higher, unmatched by anyone. Yet right now, Gu Shengsheng felt genuinely sorry for him.
She had been spoiled rotten since childhood. Even the tiniest cough would bring her parents and siblings rushing over, fussing over whether she was cold or warm.
But at Shen Wang’s most wretched, most vulnerable moment, there wasn’t a single person around who cared enough to stay with him.
Thinking of this, Gu Shengsheng decided to be a little kinder to him. She glanced around the room, walked to the table, and poured a cup of hot water. She blew on it carefully for a long time, stuck a straw in, and carried it to the bedside.
“Are you thirsty? I poured you some hot water.”
Shen Wang didn’t react.
Gu Shengsheng sighed dramatically, like a little old lady:
“I didn’t poison it. Look, I’ll drink some to prove it.”
The moment she said that, the chill radiating from Shen Wang grew even colder. Gu Shengsheng nearly bit her tongue and hurriedly backtracked:
“N-no, no, I… I didn’t mean it like that!”
The corner of Shen Wang’s lips twitched faintly.
Gu Shengsheng blinked away the tears in her eyes. When she looked again, his face was still coldly indifferent.
She gently nudged the straw against his lips again:
“You haven’t had any water since last night. Aren’t you thirsty? The straw is right here — just bite it and you can drink.”
She brought the straw to his beautifully shaped but pale, chapped lips. The original owner had starved him for days; he must be very thirsty.
But Shen Wang pressed his lips together and turned his head away.
This was the first time he had moved beyond just frowning or pursing his lips. Gu Shengsheng tilted her head, thought for a moment, then suddenly understood:
“You… do you need to… um… go to the bathroom?”
Shen Wang’s jaw tightened again. The hand on the blanket clenched so hard his knuckles turned even whiter.
Gu Shengsheng’s cheeks flushed. She tried to sound as natural as possible:
“I’ll help you to the bathroom.”
There was a support bar at the head of Shen Wang’s bed for him to pull himself up, but the original owner’s room didn’t have one. Gu Shengsheng knelt one knee on the edge of the bed, leaned over, and wrapped her arms around his shoulders.
Something cool brushed against his face. Shen Wang’s hand shot up and shoved her away:
“Don’t touch me!”
His hand landed on something soft.
The mattress beside him suddenly sprang up — like a startled cat jumping away:
“Ugh! You… you’re so indecent!”
A faint rose scent lingered at the tip of his nose. Only then did he realize that the cool touch had been her hair.
Shen Wang lowered his hand and said coldly:
“Don’t touch me so suddenly.”
Gu Shengsheng clutched her chest, eyes red with grievance:
“I already warned you…”
The soft rose fragrance approached again. Gu Shengsheng said:
“This time I warned you. You… keep your hands to yourself.”
The last few words were whispered so quietly, but they didn’t escape Shen Wang’s sharp hearing.
Gu Shengsheng was truly upset — her voice trailed off into a soft, teary whine, wet and sweet with crying.
It would probably sound perfect if she cried in bed.
As he placed his hand on her slender shoulder, Shen Wang thought with a flash of malice.