What?! I Became the Zombie Beauty in the Villain’s Arms – CH226-228

Chapter 226| Chapter 227| Chapter 228

Chapter 226: His Strength

Duan Xiaolin made no effort to hide his affection, entirely unbothered by the prying eyes of the high command. The surrounding dignitaries didn’t dare utter a single critical word; instead, they simply channelled their frustration back into the debate, arguing until their faces turned crimson and the veins on their necks bulged.

Pei Xiqing propped her chin in her hand, tilting her head to study him.

What on earth was this man playing at? Not only had he deliberately delayed his arrival, but now he was content to sit back and let everyone bicker in circles. He had also mentioned waiting until everyone had gathered. Aren’t there enough people in this room already?

She rubbed her temples. After sitting through just an hour of this council, she deeply felt the crushing weight of high-level management. If someone were relentlessly buzzing in her ear like this, she wouldn’t even be able to focus, let alone maintain the effortless, unshakeable calm that Duan Xiaolin displayed.

After another stretch of circular arguments, just when she thought the session was finally drawing to a close, a crisp knock suddenly rattled the heavy doors of the conference hall.

The frantic shouting died instantly. Every head in the room pivoted toward the entrance.

Fu Yan adjusted his posture. “Enter.”

The individuals who filed in weren’t the standard administrative officials who lounged in the upper sectors to dictate policy; they were the battle-hardened commanders of the base’s various outer military factions. Thirty frontline leaders marched into the hall, methodically taking their seats around the expanded perimeter of the mahogany table.

Pei Xiqing didn’t register the shift at first. It was only when she witnessed one of the vanguard commanders present a glowing, high-tier crystal core directly to Fu Yan that she cut her eyes toward the man sitting beside her. Looking at his perfectly calm expression, the puzzle pieces finally clicked together in her mind.

The mastermind’s true target wasn’t the defensive brief at all. Duan Xiaolin was playing an executive game to draw out those specific crystal cores.

She discreetly nudged his elbow under the table.

The glacial chill in Duan Xiaolin’s eyes thawed slightly. He tilted his head, a single eyebrow arching in amusement. “What is it?”

“The grand spectacle you wanted me to witness,” Pei Xiqing murmured under her breath, “it was actually about these crystal cores, wasn’t it?”

“Mhm,” he replied smoothly. “After all, I doubt anyone on this board is more intimately acquainted with their unique frequency than you.”

“Farming a massive stockpile of these artifacts won’t automatically grant you plot armor, you know.”

“I am simply harvesting them for your safekeeping.”

She blinked. These items were technically the legendary breakthroughs meant for the novel’s protagonist. If a single entity monopolized the entire world’s supply, wouldn’t that entity essentially usurp the role of the protagonist?

Then again, leaving these powerful artifacts scattered in the hands of the current factions was a recipe for disaster. The power vacuum left behind by Xiao Yue’s premature termination was already fracturing the sectors. If she had to choose, she would infinitely prefer to hold these variables in her own hands rather than risk the rise of another ruthless, unhinged savior character.

The newly arrived military commanders began detailing their recent operations. Their scouting units had unearthed these anomalies out in the badlands; some soldiers had attempted to hoard them privately, while others had immediately surrendered them to command to secure promotions. In total, ten high-tier crystal cores were formally transferred across the table to Fu Yan.

However, there was no baseline metric to calculate how many extra cores these commanders had hidden away in their private vaults.

Duan Xiaolin was undoubtedly calculating that exact deficit. He maintained a disciplined, heavy silence, refusing to tip his hand until Fu Yan personally slid two pristine crystal cores across the polished wood toward him.

The twin artifacts pulsed with a brilliant, celestial blue luminescence.

“I meticulously selected these two specimens from the reserve,” Fu Yan noted, his voice carrying a heavy, political weight. “Consider them a personal offering for the Office of the Chief Judge.”

Duan Xiaolin picked up one of the glowing spheres, turning it lazily between his gloved fingers to gauge its energy matrix. “My thanks, Marshal.”

“My elite scouting divisions bled out in the untamed zones to secure those,” Fu Yan elaborated, sensing the opening. “A mere fraction of one of these entities contains enough raw genetic energy to permanently awaken baseline humans. A whole, unrefined core can exponentially supercharge the output of an existing ability user. Such artifacts are fundamentally priceless.”

Duan Xiaolin offered a slow, noncommittal nod of agreement.

Fu Yan smiled smoothly. “Since they meet your standards, the secondary core is designated for Miss Pei. I am aware she commands a specialized perception trait. I trust this artifact will align with her biological requirements.”

Pei Xiqing hadn’t anticipated the Commander-in-Chief turning his calculated generosity directly onto her. “I appreciate your consideration, Marshal,” she replied elegantly, her tone polite but firm. “However, I cannot comfortably accept an executive reward without having rendered a corresponding service to the alliance. I will claim the core solely to transfer its utility directly to Brother Duan.”

Fu Yan let out a loud, booming laugh that echoed through the hall. “You are far too formal, Miss Pei. Whether these variables rest in your palms or his, the ultimate strategic outcome remains identical.”

Pei Xiqing offered a gentle, poised smile, stepping back from the dialogue.

With the formalities concluded, the council plunged straight back into the military brief. Only this time, with thirty faction leaders contesting the space, the atmosphere was infinitely more volatile. After another hour of fierce, exhaustive debate, Duan Xiaolin finally broke his silence.

He calmly delivered a succession of razor-sharp, flawless tactical directives that sliced right through the logistical deadlock.

Fu Yan’s eyes lit up, and he immediately slammed his palm onto the table. “An exceptional deployment strategy! Authorize the mobilization orders immediately. I trust the elite divisions of Franlun will provide total operational cooperation on the frontline.”

“Precisely!” a commander chimed in smoothly. “If the Chief Judge’s enforcers integrate directly with our vanguard infantry, we will achieve double the combat efficiency with half the attrition!”

Fu Yan stroked his trimmed beard, nodding in deep satisfaction.

But before the high command could finalize the logs, Duan Xiaolin’s cool voice derailed their momentum. “Franlun’s primary operational units are currently locked in a deep-grid investigation of the regional black markets. I am afraid my operatives are entirely booked.”

Fu Yan’s expression stiffened. “This… the black market corruption is a internal structural flaw. Could your office not put that investigation on temporary administrative hold? Surely we should unite our full military strength to neutralize the external parasitic threat before we systematically purge internal saboteurs?”

Duan Xiaolin let out a low, dangerous chuckle. He adjusted his glasses, letting the frames slide a fraction of an inch down his nose. The dark green gaze drilling into the Marshal was completely unyielding. “If the masterminds financing the black markets aren’t systematically hunted down and executed, countless frontline soldiers will be butchered by the greedy demons sitting right beside them before they ever lay eyes on a parasite.”

Fu Yan’s face turned dead solemn. A heavy, suffocating silence gripped the room as he hesitated, his voice dropping into a calculated whisper. “How long exactly does the Chief Judge require to bring this internal investigation to a definitive resolution?”

Duan Xiaolin glanced around the long table, his voice flat and execution-thin. “The precise timeline for the answer depends entirely on the entities sitting in this room right now.”

Directly across from them, several high-ranking officers visibly shifted in their chairs. One cleared his throat awkwardly, his eyes darting away to avoid the Chief Judge’s gaze, his posture turning entirely rigid.

Fu Yan took a deep breath, trying to salvage the alliance. “Without Franlun’s enforcers anchoring the grid, our projected success rate drops by at least fifty percent. Is the Presiding Judge truly refusing to personally command the containment?”

“I am.”

“Xiaolin… you…” Fu Yan clenched his fists, his political mask fracturing for a fraction of a second. “What if my office authorizes an immediate transfer of auxiliary divisions to supplement your enforcers?”

Duan Xiaolin shook his head. “Franlun operates on its own metrics. External assets cannot expedite our intelligence gathering.”

Fu Yan leaned forward, his voice tight with desperation. “But the parasitic swarm along the outer walls is hitting a critical mass. The crisis will not wait for your bureaucracy.”

“In that case, the parameters are simple,” Duan Xiaolin stated, his voice absolute. “Franlun will retain exclusive jurisdiction over the black market purge. Your office, Marshal, must maintain flawless, total supervision over these frontline commanders—otherwise, the structural defense will suffer a catastrophic failure. The exact second your live-specimen experiments yield a viable serum, I will authorize Franlun’s total mobilization under whatever terms your office desires.”

Duan Xiaolin paused for a heartbeat, his eyes locking onto the Commander-in-Chief. “Marshal, can your office truly guarantee absolute compliance with any terms I dictate?”

“Without question,” Fu Yan blurted out instantly, desperate to secure the alliance’s ultimate weapon. “I will sign off on any executive condition the Chief Judge demands.”

Duan Xiaolin’s gaze dropped, his eyes locking onto the twin blue crystal cores resting on the dark mahogany wood between them.

Fu Yan understood the leverage immediately. “The distribution of the crystal cores will not be an issue—provided the Presiding Judge personally commands the final breach.”

By now, the night had stretched into the early hours of the morning. The tactical lights inside the grand conference hall had been dimmed to conserve power, and even the laboratory complexes visible through the sweeping windows had gone dark. Yet, virtually no light fell across the man sitting to the right of the throne. The deep shadows stretching across the landing made it entirely impossible to read the calculated, predatory dark green eyes hidden behind his glasses.

When he finally spoke, his calm, even cadence radiated a absolute, crushing oppression that completely dominated the room.

“I want every single high-tier crystal core currently held within the alliance repositories.”

Chapter 227: You Must Hide Well

A single stone can cause a thousand ripples.

The conference room fell dead silent for two agonizing seconds before violently exploding. This demand struck directly at the core interests of every single faction leader in the venue. It was a blatant insult, as if the Chief Judge were stepping on their heads and trying to rip away the spoils they had already swallowed alive!

Almost instantly, the room erupted into a chorus of furious complaints. “Chief Judge! You are being completely unreasonable! Those crystal cores were pulled from the dirt by the blood and sweat of our brothers! And you want all of them?! What are we supposed to do now?”

“Has the Chief Judge gone completely unhinged trying to restore his lost powers? Your enforcers must have hoarded a massive stockpile of those cores already, and I’m certain you’ve been using them yourself. Just how much of your ability have you actually recovered?”

“Some things are simply destined not to happen! Chief Judge, drop the delusion! Why even bother? You already wield absolute authority in this alliance. Everyone obeys you and only you! Are you still not satisfied?”

“Exactly!”

“Even Marshal Ye has to walk on eggshells around the Office of the Chief Judge. You truly won’t leave a single avenue of survival for us or the high command. Your intentions are absolutely sinister!”

Though the officer who spoke that last sentence had significantly lowered his voice, it still cut clearly through the noise, falling straight into the ears of those who cared to listen.

Fu Yan’s expression instantly turned glacial. He twitched the corners of his lips, a look of profound helplessness washing over his features as he raised his hands to quiet the room. “Come now, everyone calm down and hold your tongues. Continuing down this line of conversation will inevitably fracture our structural harmony. The Chief Judge has sacrificed his entire life to secure the borders of this base; it is only reasonable for his office to demand a corresponding compensation.”

“But Marshal! He wants the entire repository! You know exactly how priceless those crystal cores are to our divisions!”

“Indeed…”

“I said, that is enough.”

Fu Yan cut them off sharply, turning his eyes back to Duan Xiaolin. “Xiaolin, the alliance is currently navigating an unprecedented deficit. My office will employ every resource to accommodate your requirements, but demanding the entire global cache is an administrative impossibility. How about a fifty-fifty split between the directorate and your office? The exact second our scouts unearth new specimens, alongside the reserves currently secured within the central headquarters vaults, we will transfer half directly to you.”

Duan Xiaolin took a slow, methodical sip of his tea, his expression remaining entirely detached and unreadable. “Marshal Ye, my office requires nothing else from your administration. But I will not forfeit a single crystal core.”

Fu Yan froze.

He couldn’t comprehend why this man was suddenly acting with such absolute, unyielding stubbornness. Throughout the five years he had operated alongside Duan Xiaolin, the Chief Judge had never pursued a material asset with this level of consuming intensity. For a moment, the Commander-in-Chief was left entirely speechless.

The dignitaries at the far end of the mahogany table dissolved right back into an uproar. This time, even the most disciplined military managers joined the rebellion.

“I will absolutely never authorize a concession of this magnitude! The Presiding Judge is actively disheartening the entire vanguard!”

“For an ordinary human to secure even a fraction of a core is a miracle from heaven! Right now, the alliance is facing a biological crisis, yet the Chief Judge refuses to deploy his enforcers to pull us through the dark. Instead, he demands a total monopoly over the crystal cores! The sheer selfishness of it is staggering!”

“…”

Fu Yan violently slammed his palm onto the mahogany table, the impact rattling the tea cups. “Enough!”

“Marshal!”

“I said, that is enough! Keep bickering, and my enforcers will throw every single one of you out of this hall!”

The room plunged into an immediate, resentful silence. Yet despite their forced compliance, the commanders refused to drop their hostility. Their complexions turned an ashen gray, their chests heaving with buried fury.

“Marshal.”

Duan Xiaolin spoke smoothly, dropping his elegant facade. The polished, meticulous politeness he usually projected vanished into thin air. He rose to his feet, his long fingers reaching up to slide his thin-framed glasses off his nose. Without the reflective shield of the lenses, his stark, emotionless gaze became a terrifying thing to look directly at.

“This was the first time,” he murmured, his voice flat and execution-thin. “And it will be the last time.”

He was sparing their lives one final time. If they chose to contest his metrics a second time, he would clear the board completely.

The man stepped back from the table, his hand reaching down to smoothly pull Pei Xiqing up to his side.

“Franlun has urgent operational matters to oversee. We will take our leave.”

He guided her toward the heavy double doors, his long strides unhurried. Just as his hand touched the brass handle, he paused. His lips curved into a slight, chilling smirk as he tossed a final sentence over his shoulder—a phrase that weighed like a lead anchor upon the fraying nerves of every officer in the room.

“Gentlemen, I suggest you take exceptional care to hide the crystal cores currently resting in your palms. The next time we meet, Duan will not waste his breath speaking so much nonsense.”

“Chief Judge! You—!”

“Are you openly threatening to rob the high command, Presiding Judge?!”

“Judge Duan, you are overstepping the boundaries! To orchestrate a shake-down right in front of the Commander-in-Chief is outrageous!”

Duan Xiaolin and Pei Xiqing had already stepped past the threshold, the doors hissing shut behind them, cutting off the furious shouts.

Inside the hall, the dignitaries continued to scream over one another, completely enraged by his unyielding arrogance. “Judge Duan! The Presiding Judge has grown far too tyrannical! Far too overbearing! If the high command allows him to slide down this trajectory unchecked, what is to stop him from executing our officers in the open streets simply to strip the cores from their chests?!”

The terrifying reality was that he was entirely capable of doing exactly that.

The penal division of Franlun was notorious across the sectors. Their execution methods were uniquely cruel, and executing political dissidents in the open sectors wasn’t an anomaly in their ledger. Duan Xiaolin’s parting aura had left every commander in the room shivering with a visceral, instinctual dread. They knew with absolute certainty that his enforcers could ambush and liquidate them the exact second they left the command sector.

Fu Yan let out a long, ragged sigh, his fingers aggressively massaging the bridge of his nose. “Shut your mouths… Every single one of you, clear the room. This council is adjourned!”

“Marshal! Our very lives are being targeted by his office! Are you truly going to sit back and offer no administrative protection?!”

Fu Yan pivoted in his high back chair, his eyes locking onto the complaining officer, his voice dropping into a cold sneer. “Then answer me this: how many high-tier crystal cores are you currently concealing within your private vaults?”

“I wouldn’t dare hoard military assets privately, Commander!”

Fu Yan let out a sharp, mocking laugh. “Do not insult my intelligence by assuming I don’t track your ledgers.”

Had these corrupt officials not spent the last five years lining their own pockets with resources meant for the vanguard? Duan Xiaolin’s demand had simply been too absolute, stripping away their political illusions and leaving them with nowhere left to scramble.

“Marshal!”

“We are being falsely accused! Our loyalty to your administration is absolute; we would never dream of hoarding a crystal core! The moment our divisions unearth a specimen, it is delivered straight to the central repository without a single hour of delay!”

Fu Yan stared at the sweating faces of his command staff, a sudden flash of dark panic bleeding into his expression. “You should all on your knees thanking God that Duan Xiaolin exercised a miraculous amount of restraint tonight. The only reason any of you are breathing right now is because that civilian woman was sitting beside him. If she hadn’t been anchoring his temper, this conference hall would have been converted into your collective burial ground before midnight.”

Splattering the concrete with the blood of high-ranking officials to send a brutal message to the remaining sectors was a standard play for Franlun. Duan Xiaolin had personally authorized at least eighty, if not a hundred, of those summary executions over the past five years.

The Commander-in-Chief’s expression turned grim as he rose from his seat, gathering his files. “We will table the distribution of the crystal cores for a few days. For now, execute the field directives exactly as the Presiding Judge dictated.”

If Duan Xiaolin wanted to chase after the crystal cores, Fu Yan would let him clear the path. But in a broken world like this, specific variables could not be acquired through mere political authority alone. It depended entirely on whether the Chief Judge possessed the raw strength to survive the extraction.

Chapter 228: Not Afraid at All?

Pei Xiqing was gently pulled away by the man.

Looking at the broad, unshakeable silhouette of his back, her mind raced with a sudden, sharp intuition. Duan Xiaolin had just openly declared war against the entire high command, demanding total control over the global crystal core supply. He was essentially making himself the enemy of every military faction in the alliance—and### Chapter 228: Not Afraid at All?

Pei Xiqing was gently led away by the man.

Walking behind his tall, broad silhouette, her mind was racing. A sudden, unshakeable intuition settled in her chest.

Duan Xiaolin had deliberately antagonized the entire high command, openly warring over the crystal cores, and she suspected the reason was directly tied to her.

She wasn’t an active combatant; those legendary crystal cores were technically useless to her. They were artifacts designed exclusively for the “lucky ones”—the elite ability users and protagonists. So why was Duan Xiaolin so ruthlessly determined to monopolize the entire global cache?

They walked in silence until Duan Xiaolin led her to a residence.

It was an ordinary three-story bungalow, architecturally identical to the ones they had passed earlier. This entire sector seemed packed with similar housing blocks. However, unlike the laboratory grids, this residential area wasn’t completely choked off by intimidating, electrified barbed wire. The fencing here seemed intended merely to separate the individual properties, rather than to trap the residents inside.

Through the iron mesh, she could still see crowds of laborers working frantically under the harsh floodlights in the distance.

Were these people made of iron? It was nearly ten o’clock at night. If she had to guess, this was merely the beginning of their shift. They had been working mechanically since she arrived, and they showed zero signs of stopping.

Pei Xiqing couldn’t help but think back to the terrified researcher who had mindlessly shattered his own skull against the concrete corridor. A chilling realization washed over her: this capital was not a sanctuary. It was an incredibly dark, complex machine.

Duan Xiaolin pushed the front door open, pulling her inside the house. “What are you thinking about?”

Pei Xiqing snapped out of her daze. “I was just wondering what kind of man Marshal Fu Yan truly is.”

“What is your assessment?”

“He is entirely consumed by his devotion to the base. I suspect he isn’t just determined to win the war against the apocalypse—he is dangerously obsessed with the concept of the base itself.”

If he wasn’t, a man in his early thirties wouldn’t have physically aged decades in a mere five years.

“In the end of the world, there is no shortage of monsters,” he replied smoothly. “The only thing lacking is good men.”

“Brother Duan is a good man,” Pei Xiqing countered softly.

She sat down on the plush sofa, finally taking in her surroundings. The exterior of the bungalow might have looked incredibly bleak and unremarkable—entirely lacking the futuristic aesthetic of a late-stage technological fortress—but the interior was a stark contrast. It was magnificently decorated, packed with modern, high-end technology and an indescribable brilliance.

It proved the rule: the simpler the facade, the more complex the reality hidden within. She suspected the exact same principle applied to every single official running this headquarters.

“That’s absolute nonsense. Even I don’t believe that,” Duan Xiaolin murmured, reaching out to gently lift her chin.

Pei Xiqing let out a soft chuckle. “Are you really taking that seriously?”

He arched an eyebrow slightly. “I know perfectly well you’re cursing my name in your heart.”

“I am not.” She wrapped her arms around his waist, resting her head against his chest. “Brother Duan, what you demanded back in that conference room… I need to know. Did you do it because of me?”

Before he could deflect, she added hurriedly, “Brother Duan, please don’t lie to me.”

Duan Xiaolin pinched the back of her neck, his thumb lazily tracing her skin. “Every human harbors selfish desires.”

And his ultimate selfishness was entirely anchored to Pei Xiqing.

Pei Xiqing parted her lips, but no words came out. She could only stare at him blankly, her heart fluttering.

Duan Xiaolin’s palm slid down her spine, coming to rest firmly on her waist. He slowly leaned down, the movement shifting the fabric of his suit to reveal the smooth, incredibly powerful lines of his muscles underneath. With a casual flex of his arms, he hoisted Pei Xiqing up by her thighs.

The sheer force of the lift made her gasp in surprise. She immediately wrapped her arms securely around his neck to anchor herself. Leaning in close to his ear, she whispered, “Everything about this place feels terrifyingly unnatural. And the administrative staff we passed outside… the longer I watched them, the more lifeless they seemed.”

“No matter who is stationed at headquarters, the system will eventually assimilate them.”

“Your administration here is completely devoid of humanity.”

The man’s large hand deliberately kneaded her thigh. “They are the ones lacking humanity, not I.”

What people called ‘human nature’ was largely just a tangled web of worldly desires—unattainable fantasies, crushing pressures, and lingering regrets that bred either malice or nobility. Countless elites had their edges violently ground down to dust inside this capital, while others merely learned to hide their sharpest blades in the dark.

Pei Xiqing felt a sudden shiver run up her spine, her body trembling slightly. “Stop messing around. We literally just arrived at headquarters.”

“What exactly are you worried about?” Duan Xiaolin teased, intentionally swaying her a little.

Pei Xiqing clung to him tighter. “How can I not be worried? You practically declared war on the entire high command in that conference room! I don’t even want to calculate how many hidden eyes are monitoring our every move right now. We have to at least maintain some decorum.”

Trapped in a completely unfamiliar, hostile environment, she was genuinely terrified of spies lurking behind the windows and listening devices planted in the walls.

“You haven’t had a proper night’s sleep in days because of the transit,” he murmured smoothly. “This headquarters doesn’t offer many redeeming qualities, but the Ocean Hot Springs are world-class.”

“Wait, what? Ocean Hot Springs?”

“The island’s unique subterranean topography allows seawater to flow deep into the bedrock, where it interacts with active igneous and metamorphic strata. The thermal energy superheats the water, creating natural marine hot springs.”

Pei Xiqing’s eyes widened in pleasant surprise. “Really?! Can I try it tonight?”

“It’s not too late.” He smoothly deposited her onto the edge of the polished dining table. Shrugging off his heavy windbreaker, he gestured for her to loosen his tie. “Allow me to help you relax.”

She truly was exhausted from the journey. While she had managed to catch some sleep in the car, and Duan Xiaolin had consistently secured the best available rooms and the freshest, most expensive food at the waystations, the sheer physical toll of traveling across the ruined highways was undeniable.

In contrast, he was the one who had genuinely sacrificed his rest to monitor the perimeter and process his endless files over the past few days.

As she unbuttoned his collar and gently removed his glasses, she noticed the faint, undeniable traces of fatigue lingering around his eyes. Her heart ached for him. “Alright, Brother Duan. Let’s soak in the hot springs, and then we both need to get a proper night’s sleep.”

“Good.”

Duan Xiaolin picked her back up into his arms.

Seeing him head toward the back door, Pei Xiqing asked, “Wait, where are we going?”

“There is an indoor marine spring facility within the compound, but it is currently closed for maintenance.”

“We’re going outside? Won’t it be freezing?”

“No.”

In the dead of night, the sprawling rows of bungalows across the base were still buzzing with mechanical, uninterrupted labor. In the distance, the towering skyscrapers of the elite sectors glowed with piercing neon lights, as if actively competing with the industrial grid.

Yet, the immediate streets outside their residence were completely deserted. She remained cradled securely in Duan Xiaolin’s arms, and they didn’t encounter a single patrol along the route. Even if someone had spotted them, she doubted he would have cared in the slightest.

When they finally arrived, she realized it was an entirely open-air thermal pool.

Hidden in the deep shadows just beyond the water was a dilapidated, standalone house. There wasn’t a single light burning inside; the structure seemed to swallow even the moonlight, radiating a gloomy, oppressive aura that actively warned people away.

Sitting on the smooth stone edge of the pool, she began slipping off her shoes. “Where exactly are we? Why does that house feel so incredibly eerie?”

The atmosphere behind them felt dark and chilling, yet the thermal water swirling beneath her feet was blistering hot—so intense that it was almost intimidating to touch.

“I used to live in that house,” he noted casually.

“You lived there? But the architecture looks decent enough—why didn’t you request to stay there this time?”

Duan Xiaolin simply smiled, offering no explanation as he smoothly descended into the steaming water. He waded over to the edge, leaning back against the stones. Without the sharp barrier of his glasses, his dark eyes fixed on her with an indescribable, consuming intensity. “Come here.”

Pei Xiqing hadn’t expected him to bring her straight to his former residence. Having taken her shoes off, she cautiously dipped her toes into the water, but the temperature was simply too intense. She pulled back, deciding to just sit on the edge and soak her feet. “I’ll join you in a minute. You go ahead and soak first, Brother Duan. Whether you were doing manual labor in the valley or burning the midnight oil processing files in the car, you’re the one who desperately needs this thermal therapy to recover your baseline.”

Duan Xiaolin’s eyes narrowed slightly. “Whether I was working the fields or managing the logistics on the road, I do not recall ever treating you unfairly.”

“I know,” Pei Xiqing replied instinctively. “Of course you haven’t treated me unfairly…”

She was only halfway through her sentence when she realized his true meaning. Her toes curled involuntarily against the stone. By the time her brain caught up to the trap, the man had already lunged forward, grabbing her waist to effortlessly pull her straight into the boiling hot spring.

From the surface, the water had seemed scalding, but the exact second she was submerged, she realized the thermal current was nowhere near as blistering as the massive, burning body pressing flush against her from behind.

He pinned her securely against the slick stone edge of the pool. Before she could even turn her head, a heavy barrage of kisses rained down against her damp skin.

The searing imprint of his lips tracing her spine sent a wave of numbness crashing through her system, far more intense than a thousand ants crawling over her nerves. He trailed his kisses all the way down to the curve of her lower back. She shuddered violently. Pulling her flush against his chest, he firmly pinched her chin, tilting her face up to capture her lips in a deep, bruising kiss.

The man’s large hand smoothly slid beneath the hem of her soaked clothes. The moment his calloused fingers grazed her sensitive skin, she trembled uncontrollably in his arms.

She knew full well that Duan Xiaolin hadn’t brought her to this isolated hot spring purely for relaxation, but the kiss was overwhelmingly fierce. Surrounded by the thick, suffocating steam of the thermal pool, she quickly found herself entirely breathless, struggling weakly to pull back and gasp for air.

Duan Xiaolin loosened his grip just enough to grant her a fraction of breathing room.

Through the heavy, rolling mist of the hot spring, his dark eyes locked onto her flushed, damp face. He reached up, the rough knuckle of his thumb gently rubbing across her cheek, easily leaving a faint red impression on her pale skin.

His voice dropped into a dark, hoarse whisper against her ear. “Why aren’t you afraid of me at all?”

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