Jiang Huaiyue quickly pulled the blanket up to cover Shen Wuxiao and lowered her eyes.
The moment she looked down, her mind went completely blank. It was as if her ears had stopped working—no sound reached her. Her lips trembled, her body weak.
Her beautiful eyes locked onto the stark red stain on the bed sheet. The sight pierced her heart like a blade.
The hope she had been holding onto crumbled in an instant.
Unable to contain it, she covered her face with both hands and began to cry.
Shen Wuxiao, still pretending to be unconscious, was inwardly helpless. He hadn’t expected this to go that far. He could only go along with it for now and think of a way to fix it later.
With this kind of relationship between them, she could no longer treat him like just a friend.
And in her eyes, none of it was his fault.
Jiang Huaiyue didn’t know what to do. At that moment, she was completely lost.
After crying for a long time, she finally stopped.She wiped her tears, fixed her messy hair, and slowly got out of bed.
She then walked over and picked up a pair of scissors.
Shen Wuxiao, still under the blanket, panicked. Is she going to stab me?!
But to his relief, she didn’t.
Jiang Huaiyue simply cut the stained piece of the sheet, folded it carefully, and put it away.
Then, she dressed herself neatly, left the room, and sat on the sofa in the living room.
Only then did Shen Wuxiao open his eyes and glance toward the bed.
There was a hole where the sheet had been cut, but nothing else had changed.
About ten minutes later, he got up and threw on his pants, leaving his upper body bare.
He hurried out of the room, putting on an act like he had just woken up in a panic.
He saw Jiang Huaiyue sitting stiffly on the sofa, visibly distraught.
“Yue’er, are you alright? Did those people do anything to you?” Shen Wuxiao asked with concern.
Jiang Huaiyue looked at him. She wanted to scold him, but deep down she knew he wasn’t to blame.
If not for him, she might really have been taken away. And what followed after that… she couldn’t even imagine.
She shook her head gently, her voice faint, “I’m fine.”
Shen Wuxiao sighed in relief. “That’s good.”
“I… I don’t know what happened. I woke up in your room, undressed. It must’ve been those people… They said they wanted proof, so…”
Shen Wuxiao widened his eyes. “What the hell kind of twisted fetish is that? Knock me out, and then set something like this up?!”
He shook his head and smiled lightly. “It’s fine. I’m a man. What matters is that you’re safe.”
“I was careless this time. I only went to ask a few questions and ended up drawing attention. It’s my fault. I didn’t protect you. Thank goodness nothing worse happened. I’ll be more careful next time.”
Jiang Huaiyue said nothing, but stared at him with a complicated look in her eyes—anger, confusion, and sorrow, all mixed together.
But she couldn’t say anything. How could she possibly explain that something so intimate had happened while he was unconscious?
She couldn’t even admit it to herself.
“I’m tired,” she said softly. “I’ll rest for a while.”
Shen Wuxiao nodded. “Go ahead. I’ll stay here.”
Jiang Huaiyue didn’t respond. She slowly walked back to her room, then locked the door behind her.
Once inside, she curled up in bed and pulled the quilt tightly over herself.
But under that blanket, the scent of Shen Wuxiao lingered.
That clean, fresh scent stirred her heart again.
She didn’t want to think about it, but the more she tried not to, the clearer those memories became—everything that happened earlier, stuck in her mind like a loop.
She hated herself for being careless. She had come here to help Lin Fan, to gather information, and now…
She thought about Lin Fan.
They were comrades-in-arms. But there was something deeper between them—an unspoken bond.
Jiang Huaiyue knew she had feelings for Lin Fan. That’s why she came to Zhonghai.
They were just one step away from making things official.
But now, that step was gone—shattered in an instant.
Her beliefs were still traditional. She placed great value on her first time. Even though she liked Lin Fan, she couldn’t ignore what had happened.
She had already given herself—knowingly or unknowingly—to someone else.
Even if Shen Wuxiao didn’t know… she couldn’t pretend nothing happened.
She could lie to others, but not to her heart.
Jiang Huaiyue was emotionally exhausted. Eventually, her heavy eyelids closed, and she drifted into a troubled sleep.
When she awoke, the sky had darkened.
It was already evening.
She got up and washed her face, trying to pull herself together.
As she stepped out into the living room, she saw no one. The villa was quiet.
She walked toward the yard and saw Shen Wuxiao sitting alone on the garden swing, swaying gently, lost in thought.
Seeing him like that, Jiang Huaiyue’s expression softened ever so slightly.
Just as Shen Wuxiao had hoped—after everything that happened, she could no longer treat him as just a friend.
Although it wasn’t love, a certain wall between them had disappeared.
Their connection had deepened.
Jiang Huaiyue rubbed her temples and glanced at the time. It was almost dinner.
She didn’t want to stay idle. Idleness only made her overthink.
She walked into the kitchen, opened the fridge, and saw a good supply of fresh ingredients.
She took out some meat and vegetables, soaked rice, and began preparing a meal.
Jiang Huaiyue was the type who could do everything—cook, clean, fight, lead. She was just as good with a pan as she was with a blade.
Although she rarely had time to cook at the border, surviving on dry rations or food from the mess hall, she still knew her way around a kitchen.
Shen Wuxiao, watching from outside, was feeling proud.
She’s already cooking… how long until she calls me husband? Looks like I’ve got a reason to stay here tonight. Good chance to deepen the bond.
“System, does this count as having won over Jiang Huaiyue? Where are my points?”
[Ding! According to the progress, you’ve only completed half. If the host doesn’t mind the noise, you can choose to receive half the points now. The rest will be granted once it’s complete.]
“Forget it. Just give it all at once later—like a mortgage.”
[Understood. We’ll calculate everything together when the time comes. You’ll receive not only plunder points but other rewards as well.]
“Good!” Shen Wuxiao grinned.
He was eager to accumulate points. There were so many rare and powerful items in the system mall that he wanted to collect.
Especially the high-tier supernatural powers. He might not be able to use them yet, but owning them was different from not having them at all.
The path of martial arts was long and arduous. Shen Wuxiao knew very well—this world was not ordinary.
For regular people, the grandmaster level—Grade 7 to Grade 9—was already the peak.
But only true cultivators understood: becoming a grandmaster was only the beginning.
And he wasn’t even there yet. He was just a Grade 6, Level 5 master.