Chapter 31

Chapter 31

Shen Xiyin stepped into the cabin.

The cabin was cramped, with simple furnishings—a small couch for lounging, a small wooden table beside it, and a low stool under the table. There was nothing else.

A musty smell of aged wood, long soaked by the river’s dampness, permeated the cabin. Shen Xiyin stepped forward and opened the small window on the side. The river wind rushed in through the open pane, clearing some of the unpleasant odor lingering in the cabin.

The cabin had been given a quick once-over before departure. Now, she rolled up her sleeves, wrung out a wet cloth, and carefully wiped down the couch, table, and stool again. She then took a sun-dried, soft blanket and laid it over the couch.

After tidying the cabin, she reached into the bottom of her bundle and pulled out a "Ji" (lucky) character cut from faded red paper, pasted it onto the cabin door with glue.

This was one of the few characters she knew how to write, a symbol of the best blessings.

She hoped this voyage would go smoothly.

But just as she finished that thought, a corner of the "Ji" character on the door fluttered up in the river wind.

Pei Su, standing on the deck at a distance, saw this. With a slight movement of his fingers, a gentle, invisible surge of spiritual energy pressed the wind-lifted corner of the "Ji" character back down.

Shen Xiyin glanced at the character, now more firmly and neatly stuck on than before, and pretended not to notice, silently returning to the cabin.

Though nearly two days had passed since what went down in that room, she still couldn't face the man outside the door.

Maybe it was because her body had craved that kind of intimacy at the time.

Or maybe because he had wanted it too, and she was just too bad at saying "no."

Or maybe it was because the way he held her made her think she could just go with it.

In the heat of the moment, she'd been lost, but thinking back, she realized she'd hesitated.

She really thought about what he meant to her.

Probably just someone stuck in the same situation, forced to be around each other day and night; someone she'd have to bow to outside the formation; someone who didn't even know her name, someone she'd never see again once they left this place.

If she'd really given in, she was afraid she'd regret it.

Luckily, it wasn't too late to back out.

Outside, the rushing river carried the boat forward, and the cabin rocked gently with each wave.

Shen Xiyin had grown up in the mountains and wasn't used to being on boats. After rocking for so long, she felt dizzy and lightheaded, so she lay back on the small couch and closed her eyes for a bit.

Feeling a little better, she got up to fix lunch.

She walked to the storage cabin in the back and, in the narrow passage between the cabin and the railing, ran into Pei Su coming out of the storage cabin.

This boat was small, so without any barriers, they'd inevitably run into each other like this, seeing each other at every turn.

Shen Xiyin lowered her eyes and stepped aside to let him by.

Pei Su brushed past her, the sleeve of his black robe lightly sweeping across the back of her hand.

Her hand trembled slightly, and she nervously tucked it into her sleeve.

A storm brewed in Pei Su's eyes, as if an insect were slowly gnawing at his heart, bringing an irritating, suffocating ache. It wouldn't go away, and he couldn't scratch the itch.

Not long ago, that hand had been gripping his back eagerly.

Shen Xiyin kept her head down, not giving him another glance, and went into the storage cabin.

Pei Su walked straight to the bow, not giving that timid figure a single glance. Without the Lust Control Thread acting up, he quickly pushed aside those disrespectful thoughts about her and focused only on the path ahead.

Shen Xiyin planned to make a cold wild vegetable salad for lunch and steam two bowls of fragrant, not-too-greasy taro with small fish.

She picked out some wild vegetables and taro from the storage cabin, then headed to the stern.

At the stern, several old fish traps were submerged in the water, holding a few fat fish she had caught earlier.

She fumbled for the slippery net rope but felt the trap was unusually heavy. Frowning, she peered into the murky water and was suddenly horrified.

Beneath the turbid river surface, three or four swollen, deathly pale hands were gripping the fish trap.

They didn’t look like living hands—the nails were long and sharp, lifeless, with no trace of blood.

One of the hands’ owners, sensing her tugging on the net, suddenly looked up.

A bloated, twisted, pale face, waterlogged and distorted, pressed close to the surface, its hollow eye sockets deep and empty, staring straight at her.

Shen Xiyin stumbled back in fright.

Suddenly, a swollen, pale hand broke through the water, grabbed her wrist, and yanked her downward with deadly force, as if trying to drag her into a bottomless abyss.

Shen Xiyin’s pupils contracted, her body stiffened, and she tilted toward the river.

Before she could cry out, a warm, strong hand caught her waist and pulled her back with force.

She fell into the solid chest of the person behind her, carried by the force of that hand.

The moment her body pressed against his, he let out a muffled grunt.

Shen Xiyin looked up and met his gaze as he looked down at her.

Their eyes locked for a moment, then he averted his gaze and asked, "Are you alright?"

Shen Xiyin’s eyes trembled as she looked at the large hand resting on her waist, her voice barely a whisper as she replied, "I'm fine..."

As if burned by her gaze, he realized something and immediately released his hand from her waist, stepping back.

"They're water ghosts," he said, turning his head away from her to look at the thing that had tried to pull her into the water.

Shen Xiyin was stunned. "Water... water ghosts?"

"Are they dangerous?" she pressed.

"No harm," Pei Su said calmly. "Nothing difficult to deal with."

As he spoke, he waved his hand and formed a simple incantation, summoning a gust of wind that blew away the hands clinging to the fish trap. The water ghosts followed the whirlwind’s current and sank to the bottom. Moments later, the churning water surface returned to calm.

"It's fine now," Pei Su said.

"Mm," Shen Xiyin replied.

Pei Su looked up and saw her pale face. "Are you unwell?"

Shen Xiyin said, "A little."

Without further explanation, she turned away from him and went straight back to the cabin. Once inside, she closed the cabin door and window tightly.

In the dim cabin, she changed her undergarments.

Shen Xiyin looked at the undergarments discarded on the couch, her breath trembling.

Her body was getting worse.

Just from him gripping her waist for a moment, her body had gone so limp.

She really didn't know what to do.

Blushing with shame and embarrassment, she suddenly heard someone knock on the cabin door.

The sudden noise made her flinch.

Staring at the fresh wet spot on the couch, her face burning red, she asked the person outside, her lashes trembling, "What do you need?"

Pei Su stood outside the door, originally meaning to ask if she was feeling sick or scared by the water ghosts, but changed his mind at the last second and asked, "Just wanted to ask, do you still want the fish?"

"No," she answered from inside, her tone not her usual soft and shy one, but carrying a hint of annoyance, almost dismissive.

Pei Su, of course, wasn't that clueless as to think that if she was driving him away, he should still stick around. He turned and walked away in silence.

Inside the cabin, Shen Xiyin heard his footsteps fade and let out a sigh of relief.

She lay on the couch, feeling awful. She held out again and again, but it was no use; the feeling just wouldn't go away.

When she finally got through it, she was drenched in sweat, soaking half the couch.

Shen Xiyin closed her eyes, exhausted, her mind drifting hazily, when suddenly she heard a familiar rustling sound in her ears.

The fourth emotional trial of the Illusion Array came as she drifted into drowsiness.

A vague, blurry prompt, like river wind and mist, echoed in her ears.

Shen Xiyin's eyelids were heavy, half-asleep, her mind floating in a murky current. All sounds around her seemed muffled, as if through a water membrane, and she vaguely caught a few words.

"...use force..., until... it's done."

Use force for what? Until what is done?

She suddenly woke up, trying to grasp the message left by the Illusion Array, but it was too late. She attempted to piece together the fragmented sounds to understand what this trial was, but she couldn't.

She knew the following trials would only become more extreme.

This emotional trial would only be more improper and unbearable than being naked and familiarizing themselves with each other's bodies.

What could it be?

Shen Xiyin's heart couldn't help but race, and the sensation that had just calmed began to surge again.

When the prompt for the fourth emotional trial came, Pei Su was standing at the stern of the boat, driving away yet another water ghost clinging to the hull.

He was focused on why so many water ghosts were showing up in this area.

The moment the prompt suddenly appeared, his brow furrowed tightly, and his hand driving away the ghosts abruptly paused.

From familiarizing themselves with each other's scent, body temperature, to being naked—the previous superficial emotional trials could no longer satisfy the Illusion Array.

Starting from this trial, the Illusion Array began to demand that he invade her body.

Of course, he couldn't do that.

After the Desire Control Line was removed, his mind was clear, and he reflected on himself, knowing he would no longer lose control and do anything disrespectful to her.