The sound of water was clear all around her, and the soft couch beneath her swayed gently.
When Lian Yin woke, she was still on the pleasure boat. Outside, the night had fully fallen, and only a few scattered lights remained lit on the distant lakeside street.
She sat up, and something slipped from her body. Lowering her head, she saw it was a snow-white outer robe, faintly scented with wine.
Wine…
Fragments of memory surfaced in her mind, disjointed, like a dream, yet also like impulsive actions taken in a drunken haze.
She remembered that she had taken the initiative to kiss Xie Lanyin.
He had seemed to try to push her away, yet she had half-forced him down beneath her, their fingers interlocked… and she had kept kissing him.
Kissing him until his body softened, until he could no longer evade her, until his eyes turned red and breath spilled from his throat in uneven gasps…
At first, she did not know why she was doing it. Later, she gradually found it amusing, wanting to see him lose that usual composure, to become more affected, more disheveled.
She had begun touching him where he burned the hottest, maliciously tugging his clothes into disarray. He had caught her hand, a trace of pleading in his fragile gaze.
“The boat is about to dock…”
She had heard the lively voices from the shore, and then her consciousness had gradually faded, collapsing onto him.
“…”
Everything felt like something she had truly done, something she had been aware of, yet at the same time it all seemed absurd. How could she possibly have done such things?!
Her mind was a mess as she walked out of the room. Hadn’t she always been quiet when drunk? How could she have turned into someone who pounced on others like a beast? Had Lu Ying lied to her?
Outside the cabin, the night was cool like water, and starlight seemed brewed into wine, falling across the young man’s shoulders. The surroundings had already fallen into silence, with not a sound to be heard except the faint rustle of her footsteps across the deck.
The wind brushed her face and lifted the hem of his robes where they trailed over the deck. Xie Lanyin sat with his back to her, dressed only in a red robe, his head slightly tilted upward as though gazing at the starry sky in a daze.
Everything reminded Lian Yin that those memories were no illusion.
Embarrassment struck her so suddenly she wanted to retreat at once, yet Xie Lanyin had already turned and noticed her.
“You’re awake?”
“Yes…” She had no choice but to walk over and sit beside him under his gaze. “I think I got drunk earlier and did some very offensive things to you. I’m sorry…” She felt like she ought to kneel on the spot.
As she apologized, she did not dare look at his expression. What was the point of saying sorry for something like that? How could he possibly accept it…
“It’s fine,” Xie Lanyin said.
She froze slightly, then saw him look away indifferently as he added, “It’s not the first time you’ve offended me like this anyway. You’re going to pretend nothing happened again, right?”
Lian Yin forced herself to explain, “I’m not usually like this when I’m drunk. I don’t know what happened today…”
Xie Lanyin cut her off, frowning. “Are you trying to say I drugged the wine on purpose so you would assault me in front of everyone…”
“No!” Lian Yin grew flustered, her words tumbling out incoherently. “I didn’t mean that! I wasn’t saying you drugged anything! I was very clear-headed—no, I wasn’t—I mean, I’m saying I’m not usually like this, you have to believe me…”
“Didn’t I already say it’s fine?” Xie Lanyin turned slightly closer. “Compared to that… People always say that losing control after drinking means you’ve been thinking about it for a long time, that it was premeditated…”
“I don’t have improper thoughts about you!” Lian Yin blurted out at once.
Xie Lanyin paused. “Then did you enjoy playing with me just now?”
“I wasn’t playing with you, I just…” She faltered.
She just… what? Lost her mind? Any explanation sounded like a flimsy excuse for drunken recklessness. And in the end, she had been aware enough to bully him, even finding it amusing. If she hadn’t fainted in time, who knew what might have happened.
Lian Yin truly felt guilty. In a small voice, she said, “Then… how about I kneel and kowtow to you three times? I’ve never kowtowed to anyone in my life…”
Xie Lanyin laughed. “No need for that. If you really want to apologize, then be fair…”
Before she could ask what he meant, he said, “Whatever you did, I’ll do the same… alright?”
The last note of his voice came with the warmth of his breath as he leaned closer, brushing softly against her lips before pulling away.
He lifted his gaze to look at her. “Is it disgusting? If I kiss you like this, do you hate it?”
At this point, things had already come this far, so what was there to care about? Better to settle it quickly… Lian Yin leaned forward and lightly pecked his lips.
Receiving his answer, Xie Lanyin’s brows relaxed into a smile. His cool fingers held her chin as he leaned in again, prying open her lips without hesitation, carrying the faint scent of wine.
The next moment, the hand she had braced against the deck was caught, her fingers spread and interlocked with his. Losing her support, she could no longer hold herself up under the force of the kiss and was gradually pressed down against the deck.
He was recreating everything she had done to him.
Watching the tremor of his lashes up close, Lian Yin vividly recalled that earlier scene once more.
Compared to what she had done, his actions now could almost be called gentle.
The kisses fell in a continuous drizzle, like endless fine rain, gradually soaking her through, leaving behind a clinging, humid sensation…
Just as they were about to cross a certain boundary, Lian Yin suddenly came to her senses, grabbing his hand. “Let’s… skip this part. I didn’t really do anything to you…”
Xie Lanyin paused, his gaze sweeping over the fine sheen of sweat at her temples. “Aren’t you uncomfortable?”
He said, “When you treated me like that earlier, I was very uncomfortable. It hurt.”
“I am uncomfortable,” Lian Yin replied. “I feel just like you did then, so…” that should make them even.
“Is that so?”
His slender fingers shifted slightly, and her voice cut off, a sharp, electric sensation making her heartbeat tremble.
“If you’re uncomfortable, then how should I help you… how do I ease it… teach me, alright?” His lashes brushed lightly against her cheek, his low voice grazing her ear. “I won’t be as excessive as you, playing until I’m satisfied and then falling asleep…”
Lian Yin grabbed his hand again, holding it tightly. “No, no need. We’re both uncomfortable now, so it’s even. You don’t have to sacrifice yourself like this…”
She only wanted this to end quickly.
Xie Lanyin did not press further, withdrawing his hand, but he continued kissing her.
Perhaps because he had mentioned pain, Lian Yin noticed that he never truly pressed his body against hers. “Does it still hurt now?” she asked.
He did not answer, only lowering his head to seal her lips again, biting lightly or heavily, as though venting something.
It must still hurt.
Her fingers hooked his sash. After hesitating for a moment, seeing that he did not stop her, she wrapped her arms around his slender waist, her body winding up to press him down instead.
Xie Lanyin lowered his gaze. “What are you doing?”
“To clarify,” Lian Yin leaned closer as she spoke, her fingers moving in small circles to distract herself. “Didn’t you say I played with you and then fell asleep? I was really drunk then, I didn’t mean to treat you like that…”
He did not respond, only gazing at her as a hazy mist gradually filled his eyes. His chest rose and fell, a drunken flush spreading across his pale face, beautiful like a flower in full bloom.
The surroundings were utterly silent, every small sound amplified, until all that remained was the faint rustle of fabric.
Unable to bear the silence, Lian Yin urged, “Say something… don’t just stay quiet…”
Xie Lanyin opened his arms and pulled her into his embrace. “The seventeenth day… at the Xu hour…”
Lian Yin froze. “What… what Xu hour?”
He lowered his head to her ear, murmuring in broken fragments, “Seventeen days later… Xu… Xu hour…”
Lian Yin fell silent.
What was he even saying?
His scorching breath brushed against her neck as his fragmented voice continued. After a moment of distraction, she pieced together the meaning.
Seventeen days later, at the Xu hour, the Land of Fallen would open.
Even after he finished speaking, he did not fall silent. Short, broken sounds and breaths continued to escape him by her ear.
It was driving Lian Yin crazy. She had not noticed it before, but after he mentioned discomfort and stayed so close to her, it felt as though every part of him, his body, his fingers, his voice, his scent, was luring her.
It was irritating.
And this time, he was not as quick as before…
Held in his embrace, she could not see his expression, and perhaps seeing it would only make things worse.
“When did you… calculate it?”
“Just now…”
She suddenly did not want to hear any more. “Alright, stop talking. Be quiet.”
He obediently fell silent for a moment, then suddenly lowered his head and gently took her earlobe between his lips, a warm touch.
Her fingers weakened. “You…”
Her words were cut off again as something like a lick followed.
Unable to hold back, Lian Yin pinched him. His body trembled slightly, but he did not withdraw, instead holding her tighter, offering himself more completely into her grasp…
When it was over, Lian Yin casually wiped her hands on his clothes and pushed him away. It was unbearably hot.
As soon as she sat up, she heard Xie Lanyin ask, “Am I not good enough?”
She paused, then said, “No! This time, you were… quite good.”
Perhaps a little too good.
Xie Lanyin lowered his gaze softly. “Tomorrow, are you going to pretend nothing happened again?”
Lian Yin smoothed the wrinkles in her clothes and said, “Nothing really happened between us, did it?”
She still felt that what had happened while she was drunk was strange. She could not take responsibility for Xie Lanyin, especially when his attitude toward her… was just as strange.