The taste of blood wasn’t pleasant. It carried a slightly uncomfortable, fishy sweetness, but amidst the raging wind and rain, and the suffocating lack of oxygen, it didn’t seem to matter much.
Li Chu felt extremely lightheaded, her ears filled with a deafening, silent roar. It felt as if air was rushing in and out, forming a membrane that blocked her hearing, followed by a wave of dizziness that weakened her knees.
Ning Manqing’s face before her was both blurry and clear. Her tongue was numb from being sucked, and the cut on her lip throbbed faintly.
When Ning Manqing finally released her, Li Chu was still dazed. Like someone abruptly awakened from a dream and then rudely thrown into another, she couldn’t quite distinguish between reality and illusion.
“Awake now?” Perhaps due to the forceful kiss, Ning Manqing’s voice was a bit hoarse, different from her usual non-threatening demeanor around Li Chu. She looked at Li Chu’s slightly swollen, red lips, marked with teeth, her eyes dark and deep, a hint of danger concealed within the gentleness.
“A…Awake,” Li Chu responded meekly. Though she said so, she was still in a daze, as if lost in some profound philosophical contemplation.
This was probably the first proper kiss between Li Chu and Ning Manqing while both were fully conscious. The intimate exchange of breath, the intertwining of lips and teeth, was sometimes far more ambiguous and impactful than hazy lovemaking.
Ning Manqing released her grip on Li Chu’s cheeks but didn’t pull away. She simply gazed at Li Chu, her eyes lingering on her lips with a hint of reluctance, thinking with a touch of regret that it would have been alright to kiss Tao Tao again while she was still disoriented.
Of course, that was just a playful thought. Ning Manqing was focused on Li Chu’s state, making sure she had truly snapped out of it.
Half a minute later, Li Chu truly came to her senses. She wasn’t thinking about the scene anymore. Her mind was filled with a string of “holy shit, holy shit, holy shit,” a very eloquent expression of her current state.
Teacher Ning kissed her!
And it was pretty hot.
And… pretty nice.
A perfect trifecta of thoughts.
Seeing that Li Chu’s expression had returned to normal, Ning Manqing grabbed an unopened bottle of water from the lounge, twisted off the cap, and handed it to her.
Li Chu accepted the water and took a couple of sips to calm her emotions. An unspoken ambiguity lingered in the air, making her fidgety. She didn’t know what to say. She couldn’t very well ask, “Teacher Ning, why did you kiss me?” No matter what Ning Manqing answered, Li Chu felt she would die of embarrassment on the spot.
However, she didn’t have to initiate the conversation. Just as she was about to bring up a random topic to change the atmosphere, Ning Manqing spoke first.
Ning Manqing neither mentioned the forced kiss nor brought up the previous talk about responsibility. Instead, she shifted the topic with a change of expression.
“While immersing oneself in emotions is very helpful for an actor to understand a role, you should also know that relying on this method of immersion is like playing with fire. The more negative the emotions, the harder it is to come out of it, creating a vicious cycle. Don’t do this again.”
This was perhaps the first time Ning Manqing had spoken to Li Chu in such a stern and lengthy manner. Her furrowed brows clearly expressed disapproval.
Li Chu’s thoughts were immediately drawn to this matter. She nervously twisted her fingers, like a child who had done something wrong in front of a parent.
She opened her mouth, but hesitated, unsure of what to say. After a while, she looked at Ning Manqing with a mixture of helplessness and apology. “I’m sorry, Teacher Ning, I… I can’t help it. This is the only way I can…”
Li Chu was a very honest person, so she didn’t agree to Ning Manqing’s “Don’t do this again.”
Li Chu had no other choice. She knew that if she encountered such a difficult situation again, she would resort to the same method. She would use self-suggestion and immerse herself, getting close to the character and ultimately becoming the character.
She didn’t have any better methods. She wasn’t particularly talented, so she could only use this method to portray her roles, even though she knew it might affect her mental state.
Li Chu’s eyes reddened slightly as she looked at Ning Manqing and murmured, “If you were in this situation, you would do the same, wouldn’t you?”
In a sense, Li Chu felt that she and Ning Manqing were the same kind of people. Once they set their minds on something, they had to achieve it and do it well, no matter the method.
Ning Manqing didn’t refute her. She seemed to soften her stance and said, “Next time this happens, tell me beforehand.”
She looked at the peach-scented girl under the bright light. In the previous emotional outburst, the pheromone blocking patch might have lost its effectiveness. Coupled with her own sensitivity to Li Chu’s pheromones, she could sense the faint peach fragrance delicately entwining around her, making her feel both pity and affection.
“Okay.” Li Chu nodded obediently. She knew she had been impatient today because of the repeated failures. If Ning Manqing hadn’t pulled her out of the emotional mire, she might have continued to torment herself until she felt the scene.
“Let’s go eat. We’ve been cooped up here all afternoon. We can talk about the scene after dinner.” Returning to the real world was a better way to break character.
Li Chu nodded blankly and followed. After taking a couple of steps, Ning Manqing grabbed her hand.
Li Chu looked at her questioningly. Ning Manqing took out a mask and put it on Li Chu’s face.
Warm fingertips brushed against the soft curve of her ear, sending a tingling sensation through her.
Li Chu suddenly realized the mark on her lip and her face flushed. She quickened her pace.
Her heart felt like it was being scratched by a cat. She kind of understood Ning Manqing’s intention, but also kind of didn’t. Ning Manqing didn’t say anything, and neither did she.
How to describe that feeling? It was like drinking a cup of sweet Peaches Cloud Mist Tea. In short, she felt a little giddy with happiness.
“Sister Li, why are you wearing a mask? Are you going out?” Qian Duoduo, who was waiting at the door, breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Li Chu come out, but was puzzled by the black mask on her face.
“Not going out. I have some small red spots on my face. Bring dinner to my room later, I’ll eat by myself.” Li Chu lied. She didn’t dare take off the mask and let Qian Duoduo see the mark on her lip. Anyone could tell it was a bite mark, and not one she could have inflicted herself.
Besides her, there was only Ning Manqing in the room. If anyone saw it, it would be tantamount to confirming their relationship!
“What! Red spots? Are you okay? Should we see a doctor? Is it an allergy?” Qian Duoduo immediately became anxious. Sister Li’s face was so beautiful, how could anything happen to it? Brother Nan had said that anything concerning Sister Li’s physical and mental health was a major issue.
“No, it’s probably from being stuffy. It’s nothing, should be gone by tomorrow.” Li Chu continued to make up excuses, glancing at Ning Manqing, who was standing beside her.
Teacher Ning seemed completely unaware that she was the culprit and even smiled at Li Chu.
That look was different from usual, just like the Ning Manqing Bai Wu had described, carrying a hint of mischief.
Li Chu felt like she was trying to catch a slippery fish, dizzy from being played, her feet light, her heart swaying.
She had been firm in her thoughts before, but for some reason, she seemed to be wavering now.
Check out the new novel I’ll be translating: Rose of the Abyss. It’s a unique take on post-apocalyptic survival with a somewhat niche presentation. Though voting participation was limited, I was surprised to see it generate the highest interest among all novels. I hope you enjoy it!
If you’d like to read ahead and support me, you can request extra chapters or get the full novel as an EPUB.
thank you for chapters