"Selling out the Grand Diviner just like that... doesn't your conscience hurt even a little?"
Qingque burst out laughing.
"To hear the word 'conscience' come out of your mouth is truly a rare event. Well, in any case, I'm just an insignificant small fry. My looks are average, I've got no butt and no boobs. There's really no need for Lord Ye Feng to waste too much effort on me."
Ye Feng's expression was gentle as he said understandingly, "Mmm~~ Qingque has really been bottling up a lot of stress."
"You're telling me. I don't know what's gotten into the Grand Diviner, but she's suddenly dumped all the miscellaneous work of eliminating 'information noise' onto me. You wouldn't even work a donkey this hard."
Qingque lay back on the bed with her legs parted, the exposed skin of her thighs looking snow-white and smooth. She said listlessly:
"So, are you going to get on with it or not? If not, I'm leaving."
"You can go."
"Eh?"
Qingque froze, not expecting Ye Feng to actually let her leave.
She recited with mock sadness, "This barren body of mine... I knew it would be tired of so quickly."
Then, without a backward glance, she left.
Only after she had walked a certain distance did Qingque pat her chest, her eyes carefully scanning behind her.
He hadn't followed!
"So this trick works? If I just act submissive, he'll find it boring? Hiss~~"
Qingque sucked in a sharp breath.
What a devilish man.
The more you resist, the more excited he gets. But if you just act obedient, he'll let you go.
Qingque shook her head and quickened her pace, heading towards the pavilion where the Grand Diviner was bound.
In any case, it was time to release some stress.
Fu Xuan was still hanging in the pavilion. From a distance, Qingque could see the small, purple figure suspended in the waterside structure. When a gentle breeze rippled across the water's surface, the figure swayed like a piece of straw.
With practiced ease, Qingque picked up the red cord and began whipping Fu Xuan's back.
"You damned Grand Diviner! What did I ever do to displease you so much that you'd torture me like this!"
"All I want is to live a leisurely life! Must you crush even such a small wish?"
"You look so small and cute, but your mind is so old-fashioned and stubborn! You really need to be taught a lesson about 'work ethics'."
Qingque whipped with gusto, and the frustration from her day vanished completely.
In its place was an unspeakable, forbidden pleasure.
After venting, a sliver of guilt would always rise in Qingque's heart.
But the feeling came as quickly as it went.
When it came down to it, this was all Ye Feng's fault.
Ye Feng kept Qingque in a "critical state," where only the sting of the red cord on Fu Xuan could grant her release.
After losing face in front of Fu Xuan once or twice... did it even matter what happened after that?
Besides,
"Is the Grand Diviner completely without fault?"
As she muttered this, Qingque suddenly felt a gaze upon her.
Qingque looked up and met Fu Xuan's eyes.
Their gazes locked...
"..."
"..."
Their eyes met.
The air fell silent.
After a long moment, Qingque rubbed the back of her head and chuckled sheepishly. "Gr-Grand Diviner? When did you arrive?"
Fu Xuan's hands were stretched upwards, suspended in the pavilion. She wore only her white silk pantyhose, her pink hair disheveled, looking as broken as a flower ravaged by a storm.
But the moment Fu Xuan opened her eyes, her entire aura changed. The demeanor of someone long accustomed to a high position, an authority that commanded respect without anger, sent a chill down one's spine.
The Grand Diviner's jade-like lips parted slightly. Her voice was calm, almost without inflection, as she stared at Qingque and said, word by word:
"Since 'You damned Grand Diviner'."
"Eh?"
Qingque's pupils contracted violently.
Doesn't that mean she's been here from the very beginning?!
"...Ahaha, haha, Grand Diviner, why... didn't you let this little one know?"
The suspended Fu Xuan swayed in the chilly autumn wind.
Internally, she was already cursing a storm.
You think I didn't want to?
The moment she entered, she was stripped and hung here by her own subordinate! If she revealed herself then, what would be left of her dignity!
Therefore, Fu Xuan had been enduring it.
Waiting for Qingque to finish.
But that red cord seemed to have a demonic quality. As it struck her body, the searing heat seemed capable of awakening her most primitive instincts.
If Qingque could have seen the pink progress bar, the Grand Diviner was already nearing her limit.
Even so, she had endured.
She thought Qingque would be done after one round, but she never expected her to take a break and then start again.
Seriously, are you ever going to finish?
If this kept up... Fu Xuan was going to wet herself.
Fu Xuan stared coldly at Qingque and said faintly, "...This one merely wished to confirm a few things. You... you are indeed Qingque, correct?"
"Ah, no, no! I am your inner demon! Jie jie jie!"
"Hmph! Still trying to deceive this one at a time like this!"
Fu Xuan's eyes widened in anger, startling Qingque into taking half a step back. She subconsciously hid the red cord behind her back.
Fu Xuan narrowed her eyes. "Considering this is your first offense, if you let this one down now, you may yet receive a lenient sentence."
"A lenient sentence? Um, Grand Diviner, please, allow me to explain..."
Qingque started walking forward, about to untie the ropes.
The next second, her body suddenly stiffened.
Hmm? Wait a minute, the Grand Diviner... can't free herself?
"Qingque, what are you hesitating for? Untie these ropes at once!" Fu Xuan commanded from her superior position.
Qingque took a step back. An idea had already formed in her mind.
If she released the Grand Diviner now, she'd be the one tied up and whipped next, wouldn't she?
Besides, this wasn't the real world anymore!
She had to be meek and submissive in the outside world, but couldn't she stand up straight even in this fantasy-like space?!
Qingque clasped her hands behind her head, a wicked grin spreading across her lips. "Grand Diviner, it seems you haven't quite grasped your current situation. In here, I'm the one in charge!"
"What?"
Fu Xuan's fine brows arched. "Qingque, such insolence! Do you wish to suffer the torment of the prison of Jiuyou?!"
"Ha? I don't care. The fate of that person in the outside world has nothing to do with me."
"Still putting on a brave face? You are Qingque, aren't you? Not some other conscious entity."
"Whatever. If the Grand Diviner thinks so, then so be it. However~~"
As if by magic, Qingque produced a camera and examined it in her hands.
Fu Xuan immediately had a bad feeling. "What are you planning to do?"
Qingque smiled devilishly. "The Grand Diviner in such a state is a truly rare sight. It might never happen again. Of course, I must make this moment eternal and preserve it."
With that, she began snapping photos, "Click! Click! Click!" The continuous flashing of the magnesium bulb illuminated Fu Xuan's body, clad only in white silk pantyhose.
The suspended Fu Xuan wriggled like a caterpillar.
"Hey, Qingque, you—don't take pictures! It's not too late to stop... Stop taking pictures!"