16: Chapter 16 Playing with fire can get you burned!

Su Yun had just stepped into Tingtao Pavilion, his seat not even warm yet.

An irresistible, flexible force swept in out of thin air, hoisting his entire body up.

The scenery before his eyes blurred, and by the time he came to his senses, he had already landed inside that luxurious Sleeping Quarters on Xiuyun Peak.

With a "creak," the hall doors closed automatically, sealing off everything from the outside world.

Inside the Sleeping Quarters, red candles burned high, and warm jade served as lamps.

The air was thick with the scent of Ambergris, ten times stronger than during the day, so cloying it almost felt like it could drip water.

Yet, at the deepest part of the fragrance, a faint, ethereal chill was hidden.

On the Yunluo Soft Couch in the center of the hall, large enough to accommodate several people, Lin Rou reclined.

She wore only a translucent crimson gauze robe.

Amidst the flickering candlelight, her graceful curves were like blooming equinox flowers—dangerous yet exuding a fatal temptation.

Her long, rounded jade-like legs were casually crossed; the golden bells originally tied to her ankles were nowhere to be seen.

In her hand was a Spiritual Power Whip.

She was mindlessly playing with it with her fingers.

Seeing Su Yun enter, Lin Rou slowly sat up straight.

Her soul-snatching peach blossom eyes narrowed slightly, her gaze like a leopardess eyeing its prey, filled with dangerous and excited light.

"Xiao Chen, come here."

Her voice was still soft and alluring, but Su Yun could tell there was a suppressed fire beneath it.

"Holy crap, this setup... is she planning a joint trial?"

Su Yun grumbled internally, but dared not show any neglect on his face. He shrank his neck and shuffled over with a submissive look.

"Revered Master Lin Rou, it's so late. Do you need something from me?"

He had just stood still three paces away from the soft couch when a whip's shadow cracked with a "snap," grazing the tip of his nose and lashing the floor at his feet.

Boom!

The hard white jade floor instantly exploded with a web-like crack, stone fragments flying everywhere.

The force of this whip strike was controlled perfectly, showcasing the terrifying power of a Nascent Soul Cultivator without harming Su Yun in the slightest.

Lin Rou walked slowly up to Su Yun.

"Well done, Lin Chen."

Lin Rou reached out a finger and tilted up Su Yun's chin.

"Am I not good enough to you?"

"Your kindness to me is as heavy as a mountain; your nephew is infinitely grateful." Su Yun focused his gaze, looking obedient.

"Is that so?"

Lin Rou sneered, the pressure from her fingertip suddenly increasing.

"Why do I see your heart being set on the Sect Master? What, now that you have someone else, you've forgotten about me?"

"Or perhaps..."

She leaned close to Su Yun's ear, her breath like orchids, but her voice was as cold as ice.

"Do you fancy the Sect Master's eternally frozen face? Do you think her flavor is better than mine?"

Boom—!

Before her words finished, a majestic pressure belonging to the Late Nascent Soul Stage, mixed with a jealousy so thick it wouldn't dissipate...

...bore down heavily on Su Yun like an invisible mountain.

Had it been any ordinary Foundation Establishment Cultivator, they likely would have had their bones snapped and tendons broken under this pressure, kneeling and begging for mercy long ago.

But Su Yun, possessing the Nine Yang Sacred Body, had an incredibly powerful Physical Body. He forced his back straight, his face only turning "just the right amount" of pale.

"You've truly wronged me!"

Su Yun instantly channeled his inner Best Actor, his eyes showing three parts terror and seven parts grievance, his voice even trembling.

"That's the Sect Master! A great expert of the Soul Transformation Stage! When her elder self asks questions, how would I dare not answer? I was afraid that if I said one word too many and displeased her, she'd perform a soul search on me right then and there!"

As he wailed, he secretly observed Lin Rou's expression; his cowardly act was truly convincing.

"Soul search?"

Hearing those words, Lin Rou's movements indeed paused.

She had forgotten about that. Leng Hanshuang was a cold-hearted woman; she really was capable of doing such a thing.

"Besides,"

Seeing it was working, Su Yun immediately added fuel to the fire.

"Who was I doing that for? I boasted so much, saying I had some 'Nine Yang Extreme Dao Body' that could cure all the world's strange poisons—wasn't that all to help ease the pressure on you, Revered Master?"

"Think about it, if I hadn't made it sound serious, how would the Sect Master believe that the Saintess was poisoned by the Divine Blade Sect?"

"If she didn't believe it and investigated further, finding out about you... about what happened between us last night, then what would we do?"

Su Yun's words were half-truths, but they accurately struck Lin Rou's weak spot.

What she feared most was her "affair" with Su Yun being exposed.

Looking at Su Yun's sincere expression of "I did it all for you," the anger in Lin Rou's heart dissipated by more than half.

This little thing certainly has a way with words.

"Glib-tongued."

The frost on Lin Rou's face softened slightly, but she didn't put down the whip, and the wicked fire in her heart hadn't completely vanished.

Her body softened as she pressed close to Su Yun again, almost hanging off him. Her breath was like orchids, her voice carrying a hint of dangerous charm.

"Even if you have a point, while the death penalty is waived, punishment is unavoidable."

"You kept me worried for over an hour; how do you plan to settle this debt?"

As she spoke, her peach blossom eyes shimmered like water, and an invisible Charm Technique followed her gaze, silently invading Su Yun's Sea of Consciousness.

This was her trump card, the Water Spirit Charming Bone combined with her unique secret method.

It was enough to make any male Cultivator below the Soul Transformation Stage instantly lose their mind, becoming her slave to be manipulated at will.

She wanted to give this ignorant boy a good lesson, making him understand who was the dominant one in this relationship.

To let him know that no matter how special he was, he had to obediently listen to her!

Sure enough, Su Yun's eyes began to glaze over, and his breathing grew heavy.

Lin Rou was smug; it seemed that no matter how capable this little thing was, he couldn't withstand her Charm Technique.

Licking her red lips, she prepared to issue her first "shameful" command.

However—

At the very moment she thought victory was in her grasp, Su Yun's originally glazed eyes suddenly became clear!

Where was there even a hint of sluggishness?

They were clearly two burning suns—radiant, overbearing, and filled with an aggressiveness that could incinerate everything!

"Are you done playing?"

A wicked curve tugged at the corner of Su Yun's mouth as he suddenly circulated his Cultivation Technique!

Boom!

As if a volcano dormant for a thousand years had suddenly erupted, a surge of extremely masculine and peerlessly overbearing Pure Yang Qi exploded from within him without reservation!

To an ordinary Cultivator, this aura might just feel hot.

But for Lin Rou, who possessed the "Water Spirit Charming Bone," this was nothing short of the most potent and fatal poison!

"Ugh!"

Lin Rou's delicate body shuddered violently, her internal Charm Technique instantly shattered into pieces.

Instead of charming Su Yun, she suffered a terrifying backlash.

The violent Pure Yang Qi surged through the skin where they were pressed together, brutally charging into her Meridians.

Her proud Nascent Soul cultivation crumbled at this moment; her whole body went soft, making even standing a luxury.

"You... you weren't affected?" Lin Rou asked, her body weak, her beautiful eyes filled with disbelief as she looked at Su Yun.

"I was."

Su Yun snatched the weapon from her hand and tossed it aside.

"I fell for your 'Honey Trap,' and I'll never be able to escape it in this lifetime."

"Didn't you say you were going to punish me just now?"

Lin Rou was completely stunned.

This isn't how the script goes!

What was happening? She was clearly the one who was going to "carry out the sentence," but in the blink of an eye, she had become the fish on the chopping block?

This bastard, how dare he?!

"How... how audacious!"

Lin Rou was both ashamed and furious, attempting to summon her authority as an elder.

"How bold, Lin Chen! You... you dare... mmm..."