Shi Ying’s heart skipped a beat. Instinctively, she flipped her palm over and gripped the other person’s wrist, while crimson threads coiled around her free hand, poised to strike.
Yet, the moment she caught sight of the face outside the window, her movements slowed, disbelief flickering across her expression.
“What are you doing here?” As she spoke, she swiftly tucked her hand, still wrapped in red threads, behind her back, letting them dissolve and vanish.
Yun Jinghe stood on the tiled eaves, her lips pressing tighter together the moment she heard Shi Ying’s voice.
Without a word, she tugged Shi Ying closer to her.
Shi Ying stumbled slightly, bracing herself against the windowsill to steady her balance. “What are you doing?”
Yun Jinghe’s gaze swept past Shi Ying, her brows furrowing slightly as if searching for something. “Who’s in there?”
She had been standing below earlier when she detected a faint trace of demonic energy. Following it had led her here.
But now, it had dissipated without a trace. She hadn’t expected to stumble upon such an unexpected sight.
Seeing her like this, Shi Ying couldn’t help but ask, “Your eyes, can you see now?”
“Mm,” Yun Jinghe replied tersely, offering no further explanation. “Just a little.”
Her attention remained fixed on the space behind Shi Ying, though she could barely make anything out. “Who were you with just now?”
Shi Ying thought of the two unconscious figures inside the room. Blocking Yun Jinghe’s line of sight, she met her gaze calmly. “No one. Just me.”
Yun Jinghe turned her eyes back to Shi Ying, speaking slowly, “Is that so?”
For some reason, Shi Ying felt a prickle of unease under that scrutinizing gaze.
“Of course,” Shi Ying said. “You still haven’t told me why you’re here.”
Yun Jinghe’s expression tensed as she struggled to steady her voice. “And why are you here?”
“Me?” Shi Ying tilted her head, considering. “I’m here on business, of course.”
“Business here?” Yun Jinghe’s jawline tightened as she spoke.
“Yes,” Shi Ying answered bluntly. “Is there a problem?”
Yun Jinghe’s grip on Shi Ying’s wrist tightened imperceptibly. Before Shi Ying could react, she suddenly vaulted through the open window and landed inside.
Shi Ying was caught off guard. In the blink of an eye, Yun Jinghe had already stepped gracefully into the room, moving deeper inside.
Standing in the chamber, Yun Jinghe felt as though she were enveloped by the thick, cloying fragrance of perfumed powders. Every breath was saturated with a sweetness like melted sugar, clinging to her senses.
At the same time, she felt her heartbeat quicken faintly. She couldn’t say whether she had entered more to pursue that elusive trace of demonic energy or for some other reason.
Her eyes swept across the surroundings. The room’s rafters seemed draped with layers of sheer gauze, swaying gently now that the window was open, stirred by the breeze.
The fluttering veils only made it harder for Yun Jinghe, whose vision was already blurred, to discern the room’s full layout.
She pulled Shi Ying forward, brushing aside the cascading layers of silk, intent on investigating further.
Unbeknownst to her, her actions sent Shi Ying’s heart racing.
Shi Ying had initially been relieved that the gauzy curtains obscured the room’s interior, making it impossible to see everything at a glance.
But now, Yun Jinghe was pressing deeper inside. And Shi Ying had no idea just how much of her vision had truly returned.
“I told you there’s no one here.” No sooner had Shijin finished speaking than a faint, delicate hum of a woman’s voice was heard.
Speak of the devil!
She quickly glanced at the figures lying on the ground, one of the women seemed to be showing signs of waking.
“What was that sound?”
Though her vision was impaired, Yun Jinghe’s hearing remained exceptionally sharp, and she naturally caught that subtle noise.
As she brushed aside the gauzy curtains and took two more steps forward, she suddenly sensed a shadow flicker before her eyes. The next moment, her waist was seized, and a soft, warm body pressed tightly against hers.
Shijin seemed to have knocked into something, followed by a dull thud of a heavy object hitting the ground, but Yun Jinghe had no time to dwell on it.
“You!” Yun Jinghe’s breath hitched, her pupils contracting slightly.
“There’s no one inside, don’t go any further.” Only after confirming that the woman showed no further signs of waking did Shijin withdraw her foot.
Hearing this, Yun Jinghe’s momentarily dazed thoughts gradually sharpened. She lowered her head slowly, her lips pressing into a thin line.
Only someone trying to cover up would act like this, what was it that she didn’t want her to see?
She reached out to pry Shijin’s hands away. “Let go.”
Her clear, cool voice carried a trace of anger.
Shijin didn’t understand why the woman had suddenly gotten angry, but she wasn’t about to obey.
After all, just behind her lay the two figures collapsed on the other side of the table, currently obscured by the skewed angle of the desk. But if Yun Jinghe took even a step further, she couldn’t guarantee they wouldn’t be spotted.
“I won’t let go.” Not only did she refuse, she tightened her embrace even more.
Yun Jinghe’s expression darkened instantly, her eyes simmering with rising fury.
Just who was over there that made her so desperate to block her from seeing?
She tried again to wrench Shijin’s hands away, determined to push forward and uncover the truth.
But Shijin seemed intent on opposing her, clinging stubbornly to her waist, refusing to loosen her grip.
However, the strength Yun Jinghe had honed through years of swordsmanship was not something Shijin could contend with. Bit by bit, she peeled Shijin’s hands from her waist though she didn’t release her entirely.
She intended to drag her forward as well, her slender, pale fingers tensing visibly at the knuckles.
Shijin, unable to match her in strength, watched helplessly as the two figures on the ground were about to come into view. Just then, a gauzy curtain brushed against her cheek, sparking an idea. Deliberately, she leaned into the hanging drapes, feigning a stumble.
The moment Yun Jinghe sensed Shijin tilting, she instinctively wrapped an arm around her waist to steady her.
But the delicate fabric, whatever it was made of, clung stubbornly to their bodies, refusing to come loose. Their steps tangled in the chaos Shijin had orchestrated.
As they teetered on the verge of falling, Yun Jinghe swiftly twisted their positions, taking the brunt of the impact as her back slammed heavily onto the ground.
Something sharp and numbing pierced her shoulder, draining the color from her face for an instant.
Their struggle had dislodged the surrounding curtains, which now fluttered down like a cascade, enveloping them both.
Yun Jinghe wanted to see what had struck her shoulder, but as she tried to rise and turn her head, she felt hands cup her cheeks, guiding her face back until her nose abruptly met Shijin’s.
The candlelight from outside filtered through the pink gauze, scattering a soft, even glow across the intimate space between them.
Their breaths intertwined, one urgent, the other slow, indistinguishable from each other.
A single misstep, and they would brush against each other’s softness.
“Get up.” Yun Jinghe’s voice sounded slightly hoarse, her fair neck tinged with a faint flush that crept all the way to her ears.
“No!” Shi Ying nervously cupped her face, afraid that with just one turn of her head, Yun Jinghe might catch sight of the other two lying on the ground nearby.
Yun Jinghe’s lashes fluttered as she tried to tilt her head away from their touching noses, but Shi Ying quickly followed, pressing close again.
“Stop moving,” Shi Ying murmured, though soon her attention was drawn elsewhere by something new and intriguing.
A faint, cool touch grazed Yun Jinghe’s neck like the delicate stroke of a wolf-hair brush before Shi Ying’s innocent voice asked,
“Why is it so red here? Are you aroused?”
The question, pure in its naivety, sent a tempest raging through Yun Jinghe’s heart.
In the dim, flickering light, she seized Shi Ying’s fingertips, her dark pupils swirling like the brewing eye of a dangerous storm.