Luo Yao wiped the blood from her face and found a mountain spring to change out of her blood-soaked clothes before heading back.
At this moment, Qingquan City was draped in a layer of white frost because of Lin Yue’er.
Lin Yue’er truly possessed a healer’s heart—especially compared to the cold in the bamboo forest, which was as hard as iron and could freeze a person’s lungs just by breathing in the moisture.
The layer of white frost in Qingquan City was already beginning to melt.
The chill would likely dissipate completely by dawn tomorrow.
‘Is the Young Master frostbitten?’
Luo Yao’s feelings were complex.
She did not want to hurt Ding Nan, yet she hoped he had been injured by Lin Yue’er.
That would prove that Lin Yue’er did not love Ding Nan at all!
She hurried back to the Ding Family Lands and saw the members of the Ding Clan bowing to her one after another.
“Greetings, Lady Luo Yao,” Ding Wen said, leading the Ding Clan members in a salute.
Seeing everyone performing perfect ninety-degree bows with their hands clasped, Luo Yao immediately understood what had happened.
“I see. The Young Master escaped,” Luo Yao said, closing her eyes sorrowfully.
“Our apologies, Lady Luo Yao,” Ding Wen said, bowing even lower.
“Xiao Nan’s talent has always been exceptional. Recently, you have been teaching him the Luo Family Spear Technique…”
Luo Yao waved her hand, interrupting his explanation.
“Yes, his talent is indeed excellent. First-class Cultivation Methods come to him with ease. While others were still struggling with their studies, he could already write lyrics and poetry. The moment he touched a cultivation method, he could infer three new points from one.”
Because of this, Ding Nan could easily be invincible among those of the same rank, and if pushed, he could even kill those at a higher level.
“Do we still need to continue the charade?” Ding Wen asked.
“There is no need to give the Young Master the cold shoulder anymore, but none of you are allowed to get too close to him—especially the women of the clan!”
As Luo Yao spoke, her gaze fell upon a girl in the crowd wearing a pale yellow dress.
She had slender limbs and a slightly budding chest—it was Ding Xuan.
Feeling the gaze, Ding Xuan’s body trembled involuntarily.
She bit her lip and looked down, her eyes turning slightly red.
Luo Yao stepped forward and walked past her.
Ding Xuan watched the hem of Luo Yao’s skirt sway, but she could not bring herself to lift her head.
Only after Luo Yao had walked far away did she finally look up.
The bright firelight could not illuminate her dim expression.
“Brother Ding Nan…”
Ding Xuan murmured.
***
Luo Yao returned to the courtyard where Ding Nan was staying.
She saw Ding Nan surrounded by four sturdy men from the Ding Clan.
He was sitting at a stone table in the courtyard under the light of an oil lamp, awkwardly fiddling with his fingers.
“Young Master…”
Luo Yao called out softly.
The voice was as gentle as water, yet it made Ding Nan feel as if he had fallen into an ice cellar.
A shudder of fear shot through him.
“All of you, dismiss yourselves.”
The men clasped their hands and left immediately.
Only Ding Nan and Luo Yao remained in the courtyard.
A gentle evening breeze blew, fluttering Luo Yao’s hair and lightly brushing against her temples.
The air was still, and the environment felt deep and secluded.
A chill seeped through Ding Nan’s thighs and climbed up his spine.
“G-good evening, Lady Luo Yao!”
Ding Nan said, rubbing his head and forcing a wide smile.
Luo Yao remained expressionless.
Ding Nan could not read her face, but his instincts told him that she was very dangerous right now.
“Yao’er, you smell so good right now,” Ding Nan tried to compliment her.
Luo Yao remained unmoved.
Ding Nan stood up and walked to her side with a face full of apology.
“Where did you go during dinner? Did you run into any trouble?”
“Young Master, you tried to escape, didn’t you?”
Hearing this, Ding Nan froze.
Then, with a sharp thwack, a snowy-white hand slapped Ding Nan across the face.
The force was so great that Ding Nan’s head rang.
He accidentally tripped over a floor tile and tumbled backward onto the ground.
Ding Nan clutched his face in bewilderment, sitting on the ground and looking up at Luo Yao.
It was night, and the moonlight was beautiful, scattering over the courtyard like a layer of white frost.
Luo Yao was shrouded in a layer of moonlight.
Large teardrops rolled down her face—which was more beautiful than the bright moon—one after another.
They glistened with light before falling to the ground and losing all their brilliance.
“I am sorry, Young Master! I am so sorry!” Luo Yao apologized.
‘What is she doing?’
Ding Nan could not understand her reaction.
“I didn’t want to hurt you, but… but I have no other choice!”
Luo Yao sobbed, looking as if she were the one who had been hit.
Ding Nan was stunned.
Seeing her so heartbroken, a sense of guilt welled up in his heart.
‘It’s true that aside from her being a bit overbearing, she provides for all my needs. Is it too unrighteous of me to keep thinking of escaping her grasp?’
“Young Master, I am sorry, I am so sorry…”
Luo Yao continued to apologize.
Ding Nan pressed his palms against the ground, wanting to stand up and comfort her.
Unexpectedly, Luo Yao pulled a whip from her Storage Bag.
The whip was made of leather, entirely black, smooth, and oily.
Its shape was similar to a riding crop… actually, Ding Nan could tell it was a horsewhip.
“Huh?”
Ding Nan was confused.
‘What are you doing with a horsewhip?’
Sobbing, Luo Yao wiped her eyes with her sleeve and then took out a jar of Golden Sore Ointment from her Storage Bag.
“Ah!” Ding Nan’s sense of guilt vanished instantly.
He understood now.
He didn’t want anything to do with this kind of discipline!
“I am sorry, but this is all the Young Master’s fault. Even though I have given you everything, you are still like this, refusing to accept me,” Luo Yao said through her sobs.
She poured the Golden Sore Ointment into her palm and then used her slender, jade-like fingers to coat the horsewhip evenly with the medicine.
“I was too confident. I believed the Young Master would lose himself in the land of my tenderness, but you didn’t. Then again, if you were such a vulgar person, our children would already be running around everywhere.”
Luo Yao swung the whip, and it made a crisp crack against her palm.
Ding Nan raised his hands, looking like he was about to cry.
“I’ve lost myself! I really have! I am exactly that kind of vulgar person! Have you ever thought that maybe I can’t take it because you’re too forceful and controlling?”
Luo Yao paused, staring at the cowering Ding Nan for several seconds.
“That can’t be right. If we truly love each other, the fatigue after intimacy is nothing more than the lingering afterglow of happiness,” Luo Yao said, clutching her chest.
“What?”
Ding Nan was choked up by her response.
“Loving someone is so painful. Whenever I am not by his side, I feel lonely. Seeing him look at other women makes me feel like I’m suffocating! This pain is heavy and lingering; the longer it lasts, the harder it is to soothe…”
Luo Yao looked up at the moon and took a deep breath.
“A forced melon might not be sweet, but it quenches thirst!”
‘Isn’t that just taking what you want by force? This is so heavy, so twisted, so overbearing!’
Ding Nan screamed internally.
“Young Master, it’s alright. It will only hurt a little at the beginning, but it will be over soon. Soon, you will know exactly how burning my love is! Once this training is over, the Young Master will be happy! This is all for your own good.”
As Luo Yao spoke, the White Silk Ribbon beneath her skirt slithered out like a living snake.
At the sight of it, Ding Nan’s face turned pale.
He let out a terrified cry and scrambled backward.
Unfortunately, the speed of the White Silk Ribbon far exceeded his own.
Ding Nan was ensnared.
“Young Master, you must remember clearly that ‘you love Luo Yao the most’!”
“Ah! No! Stop!”