The conversation with Ye Feng had made Mei feel much more at ease.
Ever since the Nagazora City incident, the Herrscher of Thunder had been a weight on her heart.
Countless times, she would wake up from nightmares in the middle of the night, drenched in a cold sweat.
Paradoxically, the bomb implanted near her heart, capable of taking her life, was what brought her a sense of peace.
Just when Mei wanted more—that is, wanted to talk more with Ye Feng—Old Ye brought the conversation to an abrupt halt.
"Mei, you look very unwell. I'll take you to the infirmary so you can get some proper rest."
"Ah, o-okay."
He turned on the air conditioner and covered her with a blanket.
After Ye Feng left, the empty infirmary became exceptionally quiet.
It was so silent she could hear her own breathing and heartbeat.
And the strange sensation in her body was growing stronger and stronger.
Mei curled up on the bed, Ye Feng's gentle face flashing through her mind from time to time.
---o---
The moment Ye Feng stepped out of the infirmary, a green snake tail coiled around him, whisking him away into the adjacent classroom.
Mobius pinned Ye Feng against the blackboard, her enchanting body swaying.
The lights were off in the classroom, leaving it pitch-black. A pair of snake-like pupils shone with exceptional brightness in the darkness.
Mobius leaned in close to his ear, her breath like orchids.
"Little White Mouse, do you enjoy playing out these little pure-love dramas so much?"
"Could it be that my dear Mobius is getting jealous?"
"I'm tired of hearing that line. Do you really think it has any effect on me? It might work on a naive little girl like Raiden Mei, but that's about it."
"What do you mean, 'work on her'? Every word I said was completely sincere."
"But when you string them all together, they create a certain false perception, don't they? Fear, anxiety... and then, your comfort naturally makes her develop feelings for you and a sense of reliance."
Ye Feng licked Mobius's smooth cheek. "Oh? Is that what I was thinking?"
Mobius's cheek glistened, but she paid Ye Feng's action no mind, smiling seductively.
"And then? In what way do you plan to let her continue to 'accumulate' these feelings? Or will you just devour her directly?"
"..."
This snake... she really understood him.
"Because you're just that sort of detestable fellow."
Mobius continued, "You always say I'm jealous. I'm really not. It's just that when I see my beloved toy always running off to play with others, I do get a little emotional."
"Is that all it is? How heartbreaking."
Mobius cupped Ye Feng's face, pressing her forehead against his.
Ye Feng could feel the scorching heat of her delicate body and her faint, refined fragrance.
"Little White Mouse, I have an idea."
Mobius's voice was like the serpent in the Garden of Eden, tempting Adam and Eve.
"A young lady like Raiden Mei, isn't she the perfect target for a game of corruption?
A noble young mistress from a prestigious family, forced to work part-time jobs after her family's fall from grace. Every day at work, she endures the incessant chatter of customers, only to come home to a deadbeat father who has lost all will to fight."
"Hmm?"
Ye Feng raised an eyebrow.
Are you by any chance looking for Rickshaw Boy[1]?
Mobius didn't stop, continuing:
"If this goes on, she'll eventually be unable to bear it. The moment that tightly wound string in her mind finally snaps—heheh, things like reason, morality, and ethics will all be thrown into the garbage disposal and churned into a chaotic vortex."
Mobius said, "How's that for a script? Or, she could be burdened with a massive debt, and faced with debt collectors from the criminal underworld, the pure and proud young mistress can only repay it with her own body.
Or perhaps, the butler she hired covets the young mistress's beauty. The young mistress already has a beloved fiancé. On the night of their wedding, the butler knocks out the groom and enters the bride's chamber..."
Ye Feng stared at Mobius with admiration.
"Mobius? Why are you so proficient at this?"
But it was still too monotonous.
From beginning to end, it was only about the "pure and noble young mistress."
They could always add more characters.
Something like a Mother-Sisters story... actually, better not.
"Heheh."
Mobius looked at Ye Feng with great interest. "Aren't these just the teaching materials from your Little White Mouse's prized collection, 'The Path to Philosophy'?"
Ah. Now he remembered.
He did have those.
Ye Feng had extracted his own memories and stored them on a Void Cloud Drive.
Even with his consciousness in this world, he couldn't access it. But yesterday, Ye Feng had given Mobius partial access, allowing her to "read" it.
"So, Mobius, don't tell me you spent the entire day reading doujins?"
Ye Feng's collection was quite extensive, after all.
"Doing such a thing... I'm going to go tattle on you to Mama Aponia."
Mobius's expression instantly turned cold. "Don't mention that lewd nun."
Mobius had come to thoroughly despise Aponia.
This time, it wasn't just talk; it was genuine hatred.
I took you as a colleague, but you actually wanted to become my mom?.JPG[2]
And she had almost succeeded!
Although it all came to nothing in the end.
But Mobius would never forget the humiliation of having to hide behind a crack in the door.
The pitch-black corridor, the vertical sliver of light coming from the crack in the door, and the praying nun...
Just then, dark clouds suddenly gathered in the sky outside. Before any lightning flashed, a gale began to blow, and bean-sized raindrops began to patter down.
Ye Feng laughed. "How stuffy. This is a hot air pressure front, the kind the weather forecast is always talking about! It's a sudden shower, just like a woman with a hormonal imbalance—that period comes whenever it wants! No wonder! No wonder!"
"Who has a hormonal imbalance?"
"Then why are you so wet, Mobius?"
Ye Feng raised his hand.
Before Mobius could react, Ye Feng had reversed their positions, lifting her body into the air and pinning her back against the blackboard.
Lightning flashed outside the window, illuminating the classroom in a stark white. Mobius's knees were spread wide apart, almost touching the blackboard...
---o---
"Dog Ye Feng! I finally found you!"
Just as dawn was about to break, Kiana charged up to Ye Feng, looking like she was ready to fight him to the death.
"Kiana Kaslana?"
"Eh?"
Kiana's ferocious momentum came to a sudden halt, and she froze on the spot.
What did he call me?
What's the meaning of using my full name?
It felt strangely awkward.
Ye Feng stood his ground, looking at Kiana dispassionately. "May I ask what business you have with me?"
"??"
Kiana's brain short-circuited for a moment.
Then, a vein popped on her forehead. "You damn scoundrel! You ate me up and wiped your mouth clean, and now you're pulling up your pants and pretending you don't know me, is that it?!"
Ye Feng looked gently at the lady of House Kaslana, his gaze calm and mild as he looked at the Bug and chuckled.
"Then how should I recognize you? By fucking you?"
"You— I... Dammit!"
Kiana was so furious she was speechless.
She swung her fist, smashing it into the trunk of a nearby tree in a violent release of anger.
CRACK!
The large tree snapped in half at the waist.
"Dog Ye Feng, I'm going to kill you!"
[1] Rickshaw Boy (骆驼·祥子 / Luòtuo Xiángzi): A famous 1937 Chinese novel by Lao She. Ye Feng internally references it as Mobius's first "depraved" scenario shares thematic similarities with the novel's protagonist, who comes from a decent background but is slowly crushed by society and personal tragedy, leading to his moral and spiritual collapse.
[2] I took you as a colleague, but you actually wanted to become my mom?.JPG (我拿你当同事，你居然想成为我妈？.JPG): A direct reference to a popular Chinese internet meme format, used here to describe Mobius's feelings of betrayal and disgust towards Aponia's simulated maternal role.