Under the pale moonlight, silence overwhelmed the Peace Mansion.

However, there was only one room that wasn’t silent.

“Woof, woof, woof...” A woman could be heard imitating a bark. It was loud and quite attractive.

“Wasn’t she sick? Why is she playing the dog training game again?” Xia Lei couldn’t help but find it weird. He stood before the door for a few seconds before pushing it open.

Xia Lei was welcomed by a wonderful scene upon entry.

Qing Caiyue was bent over on the ground with her arms propping her body up. A red string was tied loosely around her neck. A piece of ham sausage was dangling off her lips. It was as if she was involved in a roleplaying fetish fantasy. The last time this had happened, Qing Caiyue was merely imitating a dog while fully clothed. This time, she was stark naked with props surrounding her! She was caught in a particular scene with a suggestive posture. How could any man resist the sight of her on all fours?

Xia Lei was shell-shocked. Was there an upgrade to the game?

Qing Caiyue ignored him. She kneeled beside the bed and started to whine. Her raised behind started to sway side to side. This mysterious scene made Xia Lei’s pants tight around his groins. He tried desperately to control his urges but there was just no way of suppressing his lust.

Zhu Xuanyue was on the bed under a thick blanket. There was a thermometer peeking out from her mouth and there was a neatly-folded fabric against her forehead. It seemed like she was really sick.

“Uncle Xia.” Zhu Xuanyue’s mumbles were unclear due to the thermometer.

Xia Lei entered the room and quickly shut the door.

“Woof! Woof! Woof!” Qing Caiyue abruptly released the ham sausage in her mouth to come crawling towards Xia Lei.

Though her movements were nowhere as fast and effortless as a real dog, the way she crawled over was much more beautiful than any other dog in this world.

Looking at the swaying white masses, Xia Lei felt his throat go dry.

“Arf!” As soon as she got to Xia Lei’s leg, she opened her mouth and bit on Xia Lei’s pants. Then, she started to back off, attempting to rip Xia Lei’s pants off him.

Xia Lei was helpless but he didn’t dare to make any sudden movements. Her teeth were not those of a real dog after all. He extended a hand to pat on the top of Qing Caiyue’s head. “Let go, that’s enough.”

“Whine!” Qing Caiyue made a noise and let go of his pants. Instead, she attacked Xia Lei’s finger.

Xia Lei frantically moved his hand away. As he tried his best to dodge her, he yelled, “Xuanyue, didn’t you hear me?! I said that’s enough!”

Zhu Xuanyue removed the thermometer from her mouth. Lazily, she drawled, “I thought you were talking to her. Are you telling me to change her back?”

Xia Lei was about to affirm the statement but there was a sudden change of mind. He replied, “Wait, can you make her quiet down?”

Zhu Xuanyue giggled. “Uncle Xia, you’re so bad! Are you trying to look at her butt?”

Xia Lei glared at her dangerously. “That’s not it. I got something to say to you, she must not listen to this.”

With that, Zhu Xuanyue commanded, “Good doggy, go to sleep.”

Qing Caiyue heeded her instructions obediently, gathering herself up against the floor and went to sleep. Weirdly, it didn’t take another second more for Qing Caiyue to be in deep slumber.

Watching the scene, the calmness in Xia Lei was a façade to his extreme shock. He rambled to himself, “With such a power, who could escape death when she instructs it upon you? I should’ve been able to get rid of Ling Han and Yu Shanhe tonight. Too bad...“

“Uncle Xia, didn’t you want to talk to me? Why are you so quiet?” Zhu Xuanyue interrupted Xia Lei’s thoughts.

Xia Lei came to the side of the bed. Before he could even sit on the soft surface, he felt an immense whiff of cold air invade his senses. The sudden shift of temperature felt as if he was sent from Jingdu in the autumn to Harbin in the winter. It was bone piercing and physically uncomfortable. But the most harrowing thing was the aura it gave off!

Xia Lei’s attention was immediately caught by the thermometer in Zhu Xuanyue’s grip. The mercury inside was clumped together and there were no signs of a rise. He couldn’t help but feel confused. Qing Caiyue mentioned that Zhu Xuanyue was developing a fever, but how was that possible when the thermometer said otherwise?

“Secretary Qing said that you fell into a ditch and got sick. She told me that you developed a fever. Was she the one who examined you?” Xia Lei stared straight into Zhu Xuanyue’s eyes.

“Yeah, she was the one who checked on me and she was the one who called you,” answered Zhu Xuanyue as she blinked her round dark eyes innocently.

“Are you sure you’re developing a fever?”

“I... don’t know. I wasn’t the one who said that.” Zhu Xuanyue pointed to Qing Caiyue who was slumped against the floor and continued, “You should ask her.”

Ask Qing Caiyue? Zhu Xuanyue was able to control Qing Caiyue’s mind at will. There’s no way to tell apart the words uttered by Qing Caiyue herself or the words fed to her by Zhu Xuanyue.

𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

“No need.” Xia Lei attempted to pry further. “Where exactly did you go today?”

“I went into the mountain and fell into a river,” answered Zhu Xuanyue.

“Really?”

Zhu Xuanyue pouted. “I really fell into a river and even got sick. Yet, you’re doubting me and not even worried. I... I...”

The woman started to cry. A string of water droplets came gushing down her cheeks.

“Shh... Don’t cry. Of course, I’d be worried about you. Why would I try to find out what happened to you if I wasn’t worried?” As he spoke, Xia Lei’s left eye twitched. His vision immediately penetrated through Zhu Xuanyue’s skull into her brain.

Under the tough skull was a normally developed brain. However, as soon as he bypassed the regular brain structure to arrive at its core, a piece of glistening material welcomed his sight. The finding surprised him. Compared to when he first observed the material, its numbers and strength had doubled. Some parts of it were even showing signs of an awakening!

“Uncle Xia, what are you looking at?” Abruptly, Zhu Xuanyue stared at Xia Lei cautiously.

Suddenly, Xia Lei felt a sharp pain in his left eye. The glistening material in his field of vision was abruptly replaced by a span of thick swirling darkness. It wasn’t akin to a night sky voided of stars, it was akin to a powerful black hole!

What the hell was going on?

Xia Lei was too shocked. This was the first time his X-ray vision had been cut off by an external force.

“Uncle Xia, what are you trying to look at?” Zhu Xuanyue repeated the question.

Xia Lei shook his head. “No, nothing. What did you think I was looking at?”

An innocent grin appeared on Zhu Xuanyue’s face. “You’re looking at me. You’re a bad uncle, you kept looking at Aunty Qing’s butt just now.”

Without warning, Zhu Xuanyue peeled away her blanket. The fabric insulation on top of her felt like it was frozen for days. With a swift moment, the fabric slid off her body like an oversized foam sheet.

“Pfft!” Xia Lei almost spat out a mouthful of blood.

Zhu Xuanyue was completely naked, exposing all her beauty to the air.

Her body was aesthetically perfect, be it from her height, curves, dimensions, and proportion. She was perfectly crafted to the point where there was no fault to her body. However, that wasn’t the most shocking thing to Xia Lei. The man had found it hard to move his eyes away from her skin, which looked like it was sculpted cautiously from ice. It was flawless and translucent, creating an illusion where you could see past her skin to the muscles beneath. Zhu Xuanyue’s beauty was mysterious and reigned superior over jades of the best quality.

“Hehe!” Zhu Xuanyue hugged the foam sheet-like blanket to cover her body. “You’re a bad uncle! See, you’re going to get a sty if you keep staring like that.”

Xia Lei broke out of his daze to extend an arm over. He grabbed on Zhu Xuanyue’s wrist tightly. The skin contact transported a wave of chillness into his body but Xia Lei had an extremely strong homeostasis regulation. Before long, his body was already used to the stimulation brought by the bone-piercing coldness.

“Uncle Xia? What are you doing? It hurts.” Zhu Xuanyue looked pitiful.

In a stern voice, Xia Lei warned, “Xuanyue, tell me the truth. Where exactly did you go today?”

“I went to the mountains!” Zhu Xuanyue was now irritated. Something dangerous flashed in her eyes. “This is the second time I’ve repeated myself, stop asking me this!”

There was a surge of pressure and danger that gripped Xia Lei’s mind. The man quickly released her wrist and took a step back.

Zhu Xuanyue reverted to her normal state. She looked wronged. “Uncle Xia, please don’t yell and beat me. I swear I’ll listen to you, okay?”

The one who was frightened was Xia Lei, not her.

Xia Lei fell silent. He said, “Xuanyue, promise me something. Promise me that you’ll be a good guy and not a villain. No bad deeds are allowed under my watch, got it?”

Zhu Xuanyue nodded.

“Please do not turn Secretary Qing into a dog again, alright?” Xia Lei said.

“I don’t mean to bully her too but she keeps bullying me. That’s why I turned her into a dog,” defended Zhu Xuanyue.

“How did she bully you?”

“She said I was a rascal and beat my butt.”

Xia Lei could only laugh at that. Having Qing Caiyue teach her etiquette would’ve required some discipline. But Zhu Xuanyue was literally the devil. How was she going to obey Qing Caiyue’s teaching wordlessly? Perhaps it would be best to keep Qing Caiyue away from Zhu Xuanyue. Who knew if Qing Caiyue would be badly injured by Zhu Xuanyue’s actions someday?

“Alright, I rest my case.” Xia Lei continued, “But let me ask you one last question. What’s with your body? Why is it so cold?”

“I don’t know. I ate some things and I became very uncomfortable...” Zhu Xuanyue blinked innocently. “Uncle Xia, I’m really cold. Can you please sleep with me? If you do I’ll take back my words about you growing a sty.”

Xia Lei glared at her. “That’s enough. Alright, turn Secretary Qing back and have her go to sleep.”

“Alright.” Zhu Xuanyue nodded.

Abruptly, Qing Caiyue crawled up from the floor and removed the string around her neck. Following that, she picked up her clothes and underwear that were scattered around the floor and began to dress.

Now fully-clothed, Qing Caiyue went to the exit, opened the door, and left their vicinity blankly.

“You should go to sleep too. Good night.” Xia Lei too left Zhu Xuanyue’s room.

Exiting the room, Xia Lei watched Qing Caiyue enter the guest room prepared for her. Throughout her journey there, she did not even turn back to spare a glance.

The moonlight remained as pristine as before. The autumn breeze continued to rustle the trees.

Xia Lei stared at the stars above and began to ponder about the mysterious deaths of the body-builders along with Zhu Xuanyue’s odd situation earlier.

Tonight was bound to be another sleepless night.