Hua Yanyun pressed one finger against the small mouth of the girl beneath her. The strange sensation made He Shu struggle desperately, her body writhing in discomfort.
A few muffled whimpers escaped her. Her eyes reddened from the suffocating feeling, and the intense nausea rising in her throat forced out a few physiological tears.
Her hands were pinned above her head, her body held down firmly. No matter how hard she fought, she could not break free. She was completely at a disadvantage.
He Shu’s mind was overwhelmed by the strong urge to vomit and the itchy sensation spreading from her waist. For a brief moment, her thoughts shut down completely.
Hua Yanyun savored the sight of the black-haired girl’s pitiful, helpless appearance beneath her. After watching for a while, she withdrew the finger that had been blocking He Shu’s mouth.
At that exact moment, Hua Yanyun felt a faint sting at her fingertip. He Shu had bitten down on the tip of her index finger.
Hua Yanyun’s finger was naturally unharmed, a thin strand of transparent saliva still connecting it to He Shu’s lips. There was no way He Shu could actually bite through it.
A spark of anger flared in Hua Yanyun’s heart. She had not expected He Shu to dare bite her.
The faint smile on her face vanished. Hua Yanyun’s expression turned icy as she looked down at He Shu from above.
She did enjoy it when He Shu struggled and resisted while pinned beneath her. The more He Shu fought, the more excited Hua Yanyun became.
But that was nothing more than playful foreplay, a bit of spice. This time, He Shu had actively bitten her, and that was an entirely different matter.
“It seems I’ve been too lenient with you. You’ve actually grown bold enough to fight back.”
Her tone was freezing cold. Hua Yanyun slapped He Shu hard across the right cheek.
“Ah!”
He Shu cried out in pain. Her right cheek swelled up instantly, and the inside of her mouth tore against her teeth, leaking a few drops of blood.
Hua Yanyun’s hand wrapped around He Shu’s slender, delicate neck. She squeezed with just enough force to compress the trachea and arteries, her nails digging into the soft flesh.
The feeling of suffocation mixed with pain made He Shu’s small face flush bright red.
It hurts so much… He Shu felt as if Hua Yanyun truly intended to strangle her to death.
A wave of grievance rose in her heart. The force she had used to bite Hua Yanyun’s finger could not possibly have caused any real harm.
Her breathing grew more and more difficult. He Shu struggled with all her might, but her movements grew weaker and weaker.
When Hua Yanyun sensed that He Shu was on the verge of passing out from lack of air, she released her grip on the girl’s neck. She was angry, but she had no intention of killing He Shu just yet.
Killing her now would be too much of a waste. I can wait until I’ve wrung out every last bit of value and grown tired of playing with her.
Hua Yanyun thought this to herself. He Shu possessed a supreme physique with far-reaching implications. People were selfish by nature, and Hua Yanyun was no exception. She had no desire for anyone else to gain even the slightest insight into the Heavenly Dao through He Shu. Once the girl had no more use, she would definitely be killed.
The moment the hand left her throat, He Shu gasped greedily for air. She had been choked for quite some time; a little longer and she really would have suffocated.
“You… you…”
He Shu’s voice was weak, but Hua Yanyun still heard it clearly.
“What about me? Don’t tell me you still want to badmouth me?”
Her sharp gaze locked onto He Shu. Hua Yanyun made as if to grab her neck again.
“N-no… it’s nothing.”
He Shu had wanted to curse Hua Yanyun loudly, but she had not lost her mind completely. Doing so would achieve nothing except earn her another beating.
Even though she could not say it out loud, He Shu still cursed Hua Yanyun’s entire family inside her heart.
Hua Yanyun watched the way He Shu opened her mouth only to fall silent again and roughly guessed what was going through the girl’s mind.
She let out a light, indifferent laugh. “I see. You’re cursing me in your heart, aren’t you?”
He Shu’s heart jolted in alarm. For an instant, panic flashed through her, but she quickly suppressed it.
Her expression remained unchanged as she answered, “Of course not. You’re imagining things.”
Hua Yanyun smiled with amusement. The moment those words left He Shu’s mouth, she knew the girl had indeed been cursing her inwardly.
“The hatred in a person’s eyes cannot be hidden. It was your eyes that gave you away.”
In truth, Hua Yanyun had seen nothing in He Shu’s eyes, but that did not stop her from saying whatever she liked.
Her single sentence placed enormous psychological pressure on He Shu. After twenty years of careful undercover work, He Shu had believed she had excellent control over her expressions. She could not understand how Hua Yanyun had read hatred in her gaze.
Could she be bluffing on purpose? It’s possible. She’s a two-thousand-nine-hundred-year-old monster who has seen countless people in her lifetime. It wouldn’t be strange for her to guess what I’m thinking based on experience.
He Shu had guessed correctly. Hua Yanyun was indeed bluffing.
“It seems my little pet still refuses to submit to me,” Hua Yanyun said, waving her hand dismissively. “But there’s no rush. I have plenty of time to slowly train a disobedient little pet like you.”
She kneaded He Shu’s swollen cheek, then abruptly changed the subject.
“Enough about that for now. I actually came today with proper business.”
She rose from He Shu’s body and lifted the petite black-haired girl onto her own lap.
Hua Yanyun stroked He Shu’s long hair the way one might pet a cat. She had to admit that the girl’s hair felt exceptionally good to the touch.
“What is it?”
“I am hosting a private banquet soon. It will be held tomorrow evening, and I have already invited many of my concubines to attend.”
“I am specifically informing you now so you don’t sleep in too late tomorrow. You will be co-hosting the banquet with me.”
Hua Yanyun was not inviting He Shu. She was informing her that she must attend the banquet together with her.
He Shu inwardly complained about Hua Yanyun’s overbearing behavior, but a thread of worry rose in her heart.
She was worried about Mu Xinlian, who should be returning to Wanyi Tower tomorrow evening after meeting Shen Qingci at First Grade Residence.
The timing feels a little too coincidental.
After thinking it over carefully, He Shu dismissed the concern. Even for someone like Hua Yanyun, organizing a large private banquet would require at least two days of preparation. The chance that this was aimed at intercepting Mu Xinlian was extremely small.
Even so, He Shu could not fully relax. This was Mu Xinlian’s first time carrying out such a high-risk spy contact mission, after all.
Although Mu Xinlian had sworn confidently before leaving that she would complete the task without fail, He Shu still could not help feeling uneasy.
“I’m speaking to you. Have you gone mute?”
Hua Yanyun frowned slightly as she looked at the silent girl in her arms.
“No…”
“Tsk. Boring.”
She stopped stroking He Shu’s hair. With one hand pressing the black-haired girl down, Hua Yanyun began removing He Shu’s clothes with the other.
Hua Yanyun did not ask why He Shu was no longer wearing the white dress she had provided and had changed into a different outfit instead. She did not need to ask; she already knew it was something that little maid Mu Xinlian had arranged for her.
Both the dress and undergarments were tossed out through the bars of the cage. He Shu knew she was about to be tormented again.
She let out a silent, bitter sigh in her heart. As time passed, He Shu gradually lost the ability to think at all.