Wen Tang's expression darkened. She didn't take the control doll, her cold, emotionless gaze remaining fixed squarely on Song Yao's face.
A red thread slipped out of her sleeve and bound Song Yao's wrists tightly without a word. “Come back with me.”
Having lost her love threads, Wen Tang was just as difficult to reason with as Xie Zhou.
“Whoa, hold on,” Song Yao said, trying to stop her. “I can't. I'm a bit busy right now, so it's not convenient for me to go with you.”
Wen Tang spared her a cool glance. The red thread tightened, dragging Song Yao right up to her. She reached out to cup Song Yao's face, forcing her to look up. “Song Yao, I am not negotiating with you.”
This was her own room, and Wen Tang was her youngest junior sister. Song Yao really didn't want to fight her.
Besides, she might not even win if she did.
Out of options, she remained kneeling on the bed in an awkward posture.
After a moment's thought, her eyes suddenly lit up. “I'm not your only senior sister, you know. Second Senior Sister is also in the hall. Why don't you take her to Black Cloud Mountain instead?”
Wen Tang: “?”
Her expression darkened further. The thread around Song Yao's wrists tightened another notch as she spoke slowly, “Are you sure you want to keep bringing up other people in front of me?”
Song Yao grimaced slightly from the tightness, her watery eyes staring at her in confusion.
Frankly speaking, although Wen Tang and Zhu Zhao weren't very close, their relationship was at least not as terrible as her own relationship with both of them.
Taking Zhu Zhao along for company had to be better than taking her, right?
Unable to fathom the girl's train of thought, she could only yield. “Alright, alright, I won't bring her up. But since you've rarely returned to Nine Saints Hall, why not stay for a few days? Master and the elders must miss you very much.”
Wen Tang's patience had completely run out. “What does that have to do with me?”
Song Yao's legs were starting to feel numb from kneeling. She shifted her posture and kicked the blanket aside a bit. “But I'm really sleepy and want to take a nap. Why don't you take an afternoon nap with me, and we can talk after we wake up?”
Wen Tang: “...”
She looked down at Song Yao, as if trying to see what kind of trick she was planning to play this time.
Yet, Song Yao did indeed seem exhausted. The corners of her eyes were slightly red, her cupped cheeks flushed with a faint pink, and the red thread left a distinct mark on her pale wrists.
Wen Tang's throat felt a bit dry. In the next instant, she released the red thread, gently rubbing the mark left on Song Yao's wrist. “Go to sleep.”
Finally free, Song Yao scrambled back into the bed. She glanced at Lin Shui, who was huddled miserably in the corner of the room, too afraid to make a sound, and gave it a sympathetic look before asking Wen Tang, “What about you?”
Wen Tang sat down by the bedside and said calmly, “I'll watch you sleep.”
“Oh,” Song Yao replied, pulling the blanket up to cover half her face. She was truly baffled. “Do you have to watch me sleep? Why not watch Second Senior Sister sleep? She doesn't sleep much, so it would probably be more convenient for you.”
Wen Tang: “...”
Catching onto her words, she stared coldly at her. “How do you know she doesn't sleep much?”
“Isn't it obvious?” Song Yao said. “She's the Hall Master now, so everything in Nine Saints Hall is her responsibility. She's not like Master, who just washes his hands of everything. Where would she find the time to sleep?”
Wen Tang withdrew her gaze. “Oh.”
Song Yao scooted a bit closer and tugged at the corner of her robe. “Ye Chongguang is dead, and Fourth Senior Brother has gone to Taiqing Pavilion. But I reckon he won't be able to find your lost love threads. Can you sense them yourself?”
Wen Tang fell silent for a moment, lowering her eyelashes to look at Song Yao's hand. “Do you want me to change back to the way I was?”
Song Yao pondered. “Not necessarily. You're fine either way. It's just that if you had your love threads, you could still do whatever you want like you do now, but you could also choose to be like before. In short, you'd have more choices, and maybe you'd be a bit happier, wouldn't you?”
Wen Tang was taken aback, not expecting this response.
Song Yao rolled back over, hugged a soft pillow in her arms, and said with a yawn, “Well, whatever you prefer. I really need to sleep for a bit.”
She was likely indeed exhausted. Before long, her breathing gradually steadied, and she curled into a ball under the blanket.
Wen Tang stared at her for a while.
But...
She seemed to have lost her soul as well, which was even more terrifying than losing one's love threads.
Why wasn't she anxious at all? Why did she have absolutely no reservations?
The red thread uncontrollably brushed against her cheek, then gently wrapped around her wrist, carrying a heavily suppressed possessiveness.
No.
She couldn't keep scaring Third Senior Sister.
She couldn't let her hate her.
Song Yao probably felt ticklish. She grabbed the red thread and muttered softly, “Zhu Zhao, stop it... You're so annoying.”
“...?”
Zhu Zhao?
The one who had been talking to her just a moment ago, the one watching over her sleep, the one who said she disliked her mentioning other people—it was clearly her.
Why was it that irrelevant person again?
A string in her mind snapped. Her precarious sanity vanished in an instant.
Dark mist began to permeate the room.
Song Yao was fast asleep when the air around her suddenly turned heavy. Drowsily opening her eyes from her dream, she saw her fifth junior sister's breathtakingly beautiful face right in front of her.
However, Wen Tang's face was shrouded in a thick gloom, radiating an indescribable sense of danger.
A hand also tightly gripped her waist, pinning her down amidst the bedding.
Not fully awake yet, she blinked sluggishly, her vision blurry.
Instinctively, she raised her head slightly and gently nudged Wen Tang's forehead with her own. Her voice was soft and a little raspy. “Tangtang, do you want to take a nap too?”
The person on top of her seemed to freeze, but her hand only tightened further around her loose nightgown, brushing against her waist. This made Song Yao shrink back slightly, waking up a little more.
Wait, this wasn't right.
Song Yao struggled a bit, finding it hard to breathe. “Tangtang, you're crushing me... Why are you pinching me? It hurts.”
The sensation beneath Wen Tang's hand was exceptionally soft. Her senior sister used to practice her swordplay and fight every day; on the rare occasions she had hugged her before, her senior sister's waist had been firm, with beautifully defined muscles.
Now, her senior sister's waist was incredibly soft, so much so that a single pinch could leave a mark.
Her gaze was cold as she asked, “Did Zhu Zhao ever do this to you too?”
Song Yao's mind was still clouded with sleepiness. She pouted, “Her? She isn't even allowed in the same room as me. How could she do this? Tangtang, if you want to sleep, then sleep properly. Don't cause a fuss.”
She tried to pry Wen Tang's hand away, muttering, “I asked you just now if you wanted to take a nap, and you didn't want to. Now that I'm asleep, you're waking me up like this. That's not right...”
She couldn't budge it.
Wen Tang's fingertips rubbed against her skin, causing Song Yao to shudder again. Goosebumps broke out all over her body, and her voice cut off abruptly.
In an icy voice, Wen Tang said, “I never said I wasn't going to sleep.”
Song Yao's mind was a complete mess now. She didn't know whether to laugh or cry. “Then sleep! Why are you touching me? And don't you think we're a bit too close? Even though we're fellow disciples from the same sect, this is really...”
“Song Yao.”
Wen Tang looked down at the lovely, slightly pink lips of the person beneath her. “Who cares about being your fellow sect sister?”
Rate on N.U.
