Xue Yue's utterly unreasonable behavior set Yang Kai's blood boiling.
He glared at her with cold eyes for a long moment, then let out a snort and took a step toward her, a vicious light blazing in his eyes that made Xue Yue's expression shift with alarm.
In the next instant, Yang Kai reached out and pulled Xue Yue's soft, supple body into his arms. Under her stunned and utterly terrified gaze, he leaned down and pressed his lips against her thin, delicate ones, while one hand covered her chest and kneaded it roughly, his movements savage to the extreme with no intention of being gentle whatsoever.
"That hurts, you bastard!" Xue Yue cried out in panic, shoving against Yang Kai with both hands, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't budge him even a fraction — that towering figure pressed against her was like an immovable mountain.
Amid the pain, a strange sensation began spreading through every part of her body...
A soft whimper escaped her lips. Xue Yue struggled weakly a few times, but her body quickly went limp.
The Illusion Void Butterflies flapped their wings all around, filling the air with a low buzzing hum as their colorful, fluttering forms enveloped the two of them completely.
The Blood Beast fought valiantly against the enemy while the emerald giant dragon let out a thunderous roar...
A long while later, their lips finally parted.
Yang Kai pushed Xue Yue away, glancing at her sideways with the look of someone tossing aside a worn-out shoe.
Xue Yue's cheeks burned crimson, and the flush had spread all the way down her long, slender neck. Her body still seemed boneless, and she stumbled slightly after leaving Yang Kai's embrace. But now she was looking around in every direction, her gaze drifting — all her previous aggressive posturing had vanished entirely.
"Happy now?" Yang Kai snorted.
"You..." Xue Yue's face flushed even redder. She opened her mouth, but couldn't find the words.
"Damn it, will you ever stop?!" Yang Kai cursed. "Can't you see what timing this is? Getting on my case about this now — absolutely ridiculous."
Xue Yue's face immediately crumpled with grievance, her eyes reddening as tears threatened to spill. But she quickly composed herself, took a deep breath, and through gritted teeth said, "So what if it's ridiculous? I got what I wanted, didn't I?"
"That's what you wanted?" Yang Kai regarded her with a mocking expression.
"So what if it is?" Xue Yue pressed her red lips together. "In this world, apart from my father and a few Alliance Elders, you're the only one who knows I'm a woman. I'm not about to die without ever having experienced what it feels like to be one!"
"So you actually thought you were going to die." The realization hit Yang Kai — no wonder this woman had gone so crazy.
"That's right — you're the one who said it: 'Die beneath the peony, and even as a ghost, one knows romance.' So what if I let you have your fun?" Xue Yue giggled coquettishly, swaying like an enchantress. "At the very least, if I do die here, I'll die as a woman. That counts as fulfilling a wish."
"Truly impossible to reason with." Yang Kai shook his head slightly.
Xue Yue tossed her head and gave a soft hmph. "Say whatever you like."
With everything laid out in the open, Xue Yue seemed far more relaxed — her whole being had brightened considerably, and even her face now glowed with a dazzling radiance.
"Let's get one thing straight," Yang Kai said, wagging a finger in front of Xue Yue's face with the shameless air of someone who intended to take his fill and deny everything afterward. "You forced this on me today. I'm not taking responsibility."
"Who asked you to take responsibility?" Xue Yue pouted. "I know you have women, and more than one at that, but... as the saying goes, a wife can't compare to a concubine, and a concubine can't compare to a tryst..."
"You sure know a lot." Yang Kai chuckled, then suddenly sighed and looked at Xue Yue with a serious expression. He said quietly, "You've had it tough, haven't you?"
Xue Yue pouted. "At least you know it."
As she spoke, she leaned toward Yang Kai of her own accord, extending her delicate hand to him.
Yang Kai took her hand in his palm and teased, "What's this? Ready to follow me to the underworld?"
"At this point, what does it matter?" Xue Yue said with a look of complete nonchalance. "If you've got any tricks left, you'd better use them now. Otherwise, your women are going to end up widows. I'm too drained to keep fighting." She seemed to have already made peace with death.
Yang Kai nodded and wrapped his arm around Xue Yue's waist.
Seeing his enigmatic expression, Xue Yue's eyes lit up.
She had truly prepared herself to die here, but judging from Yang Kai's bearing, he clearly still had something left in reserve. A glimmer of excitement appeared in her eyes as she secretly wondered what trump card Yang Kai had yet to play.
Yang Kai let out a low chuckle and was just about to draw upon the power of space to tear open an escape route with Xue Yue when something suddenly slipped into his mind.
His movements paused involuntarily, and in the next instant, he produced the item.
It was unmistakably an Artifact in the shape of a bracelet, though its material was ancient and weathered, clearly quite old. Moreover, the bracelet appeared to be covered with densely packed, endlessly intricate runes.