Chapter 25: The Nail in the Coffin
Today, Wen Yang’s lunch was clearly way more extravagant than usual.
Two meat dishes, one vegetable dish, and a braised chicken leg!
After all, he stood nearly 1.9 meters tall, and usually, his meals were tight and meager. If it weren’t for Ning Chu regularly pitching in, Wen Yang might even suffer from malnutrition!
To avoid any awkwardness between Wen Yang and Lily, they brought their cafeteria meals back to the dorm. Ning Chu casually opened a video, munching her food while watching, though her face wore a hint of worry.
When writing the novel, she was too busy obsessing over the plot twists to realize how much Lily was suffering in reality.
The real kicker? She had no idea that Little Emperor Wen would become a reality!
Oh, how she was digging her own grave!
After finishing her meal, sleepiness washed over Ning Chu. She yawned as she climbed into bed, giving her roommates a heads-up: “I’m taking a nap, keep it down.”
Zhang Shaoqing waved dismissively, Wang Jie put on headphones, and Wen Yang settled onto his bed to catch some Zs.
At some point, Ning Chu and Wen Yang’s habits had semi-synchronized, with the afternoon nap trend being a new thing she picked up from him.
But today, Ning Chu clutched her pillow, changed positions, and quietly beckoned to Wen Yang: “Come here, come here.”
“What’s up?”
Wen Yang turned to find Ning Chu draped over her bed, head poking out like a curious gopher.
Ning Chu glanced at the two still lounging on the floor, then wormed her way closer to Wen Yang, whispering in his ear, “Do you like Lily?”
Wen Yang, enjoying the girly warmth and scent wafting from Ning Chu, suddenly tensed. He hastily denied it: “No! I have zero interest in her!”
“But you keep sneaking glances during class?”
Why did it feel like being caught sneaking a peek at a hot girl by his girlfriend? Except, she wasn’t even his girlfriend!
Wen Yang panicked, desperate to clear up the misunderstanding: “Really, I’m just… a little curious.”
He emphasized, “Just curious! I don’t usually hang out with succubi.”
Sure enough…
Ning Chu felt a knot in her stomach.
The plot was already unfolding; who knows what Wen Yang might do next out of curiosity regarding Lily?
Better tackle Wen Yang’s curiosity before it spirals out of control.
“Oh? Curious about what?” she replied with a sly smile. “You can ask me, I know her pretty well.”
Last week at the library, she felt like a soldier going into battle against Lily; how did they get so chummy in just a weekend?
Wen Yang was confused, sensing his questions about Lily were more than a tad inappropriate.
“Spit it out.”
With Ning Chu pushing him along, he relented and shared his confusion: “It’s really not much, I just think Lily seems so aloof, yet online she’s…”
As he noticed Ning Chu’s cheeks flush, he hesitated: “The contrast is pretty stark, isn’t it?”
“Because she’s a succubus,” Ning Chu tried to gloss over it.
“But why do succubi have such a terrible reputation? I thought Lily was an exception, but apparently not?”
“……”
Ning Chu sighed, caught in a moral dilemma. After weighing her options, she decided to lay all her well-crafted plot points on the table.
“Succubi…” she mumbled, indeed an awkward topic. She buried half her face in the pillow, just her bright eyes peeking out at Wen Yang. “Succubi have irregular heat cycles; they develop a craving every few days and usually need to find a man to deal with it.”
Wen Yang gawped at her like she grew a second head.
“So, I heard they have… on their belly…”
“Yeah, after puberty, everyone has it—it means they’ve matured.” Ning Chu thought about her own half-finished patterns and couldn’t help feeling a wave of sadness.
“Lily is pretty impressive, you know? She can hold off in public; she just finds a place to take care of things on her own…”—her face blushed crimson—“And she hates men, don’t even think about trying anything!”
On the surface, she was jabbering about Lily, but Ning Chu couldn’t shake the feeling she was talking about herself.
If Wen Yang figured out she was a succubus too, it would be a total self-sabotage…
“I’m not a j*rk, you know.” Wen Yang was utterly baffled by Ning Chu’s belief that he was just out to cheat every chance he got. Leaning in, he added curiously, “I heard succubi are really sensitive?”
“Well… um.”
Wen Yang nodded thoughtfully, memories flashing back to that weekend when Ning Chu could barely walk straight, her legs locked tight and toppled to the ground when he accidentally bumped into her.
They both glossed over that incident, but it was clear Ning Chu was… in heat.
Ever since that day, Ning Chu got to know Lily and started chatting about intimate things online.
Wait, could it be that Ning Chu is also a succubus?
But succubi are supposed to have curves that could rival a work of art, and Ning Chu, well, look at her like a washboard!
He wondered if he was overthinking it, glancing uncertainly at Ning Chu, only to find her sporting a peachy glow—her eyes brimming with a dreamy glaze.
“……”
Is this the nail in the coffin?
“I’m going to bed.”
Ning Chu didn’t even know if she should feel happy or sad.
Happy that she effortlessly untangled Lily’s subplot, but sad that she had once again created a scene in the dorm.
At least this time, she was in bed; unfortunately, Wen Yang had caught on.
Look at the shock plastered across Wen Yang’s face; it was clear he had noticed something amiss…
In moments like this, she truly felt the weight of Lily’s strength. Her body was wracked with those maddening urges, but Lily could hold her composure while she was left merely burying her head like an ostrich.
Ning Chu flipped over, kicked Wen Yang with her feet, and turned to face the wall, wrapping her legs tightly around the quilt.
Sleep! Sleep!
Stop overthinking! Channel your inner Lily!
Suddenly, she felt a jolt tingling from her toes, a shiver of electric pleasure coursing through her that made her involuntarily scrunch her toes and tense up all over.
But the next moment, Ning Chu’s head shot up in a panic, only to see Wen Yang retracting his hand with a sheepish grin, looking innocent as a puppy.
Hmm, she was indeed sensitive; he just poked her foot for fun and her reaction was that over the top…
What the heck! Why does he test me instead of Lily?!
Her furious glare must’ve seemed cute in a shy sort of way, full of a mixed message: come-hither but also go-away.
Wait! If this follows Lily’s plot, what’s next on Wen Yang’s agenda? Something worse?!
“Are you guys still awake?”
Wang Jie’s voice startled Ning Chu, making her jump and yank all her limbs under the covers, even burying her head: “I’m going to sleep right now!”
“Why does your voice sound so weird?”
“……”
Ning Chu lay back on her bed, utterly despondent. Every attempt to fend off her punishment left her feeling mentally and physically drained.
Even more infuriating was Wen Yang sending her a text.
“You’re not a succubus too, are you?”
“NO!”
If this became the rock-solid truth, wouldn’t Wen Yang have a free pass to operate without fear of consequences anymore?!
