Aponia simply leaned in and kissed him. Cangxuan's mind went blank, the world around her dissolving into a dream.
A nightmare.
Her hope and faith shattered, replaced by an even deeper, heavier despair.
She had considered every possibility of failure, but she had never imagined it would manifest in this way.
Wait, this is how you were going to "try"?
Is this really Aponia?
Could she be a fake, "created" by the Evil God to deceive her?
If this counts as a "rescue," then Aponia, what in the world are you protecting?
Cangxuan wanted to rage, to curse this obscene nun.
But the shocking reality of the scene before her caused her brain to short-circuit.
She could only stare blankly, as if time itself had frozen.
...No... that's not right.
Calm down, Cangxuan.
Perhaps Aponia had her reasons for doing this?
Was she feeding the tiger with her own body?
Was she trying to seize the Evil God's power with her own will?
But... why did Aponia look so blissful?
Her eyes were closed gently, her expression filled with anticipation.
Even now, her ten fingers were clasped tightly before her chest. Was she praying?
What are you praying for!
You're completely intoxicated by it!
And why is your face blushing! Does it feel that good?
And how long has it been? Why are you still kissing? Aren't you afraid of suffocating?
Cangxuan tried desperately to convince herself, but the Aponia before her was simply too lewd.
Cangxuan felt the same shock as a young virgin playing an erotic game for the first time, encountering a busty, lecherous upperclassman.
There was no hypnosis, no mind control, no attempt to alter reality. It was just a simple kiss with the Flame-Chaser known as「Discipline」.
And with that, Cangxuan's worldview began to show signs of collapse.
The long kiss finally ended. Aponia pulled away from Ye Feng and opened her eyes. The nun's usual expression of worldly compassion and faint sorrow was now rippling like water, clearly brimming with the heat of spring.
At the same time, Mebius finally had a chance to breathe.
While Ye Feng was kissing Aponia, the depraved beast had been assaulting her like a torrential storm.
The Snake felt like a lone skiff tossed upon a tempestuous sea, thrown to the crest of a wave one moment only to be plunged into a trough the next.
Mebius's hair was in disarray as she grit her teeth, her legs pulled taut. The nails of the hand gripping Ye Feng's shoulder were digging into his flesh.
The pitiful Mebius could only watch with half-lidded eyes as the lips of the detestable nun claimed Ye Feng's, unable to utter a single word.
Now that she could finally catch her breath, she fought back the... emotions that threatened to burst forth like a breaking dam. Her vertical pupils glinted with a cold light as she spat through clenched teeth:
"Aponia, don't you think your timing is a little poor?"
"No."
Ye Feng, cupping Mebius's rear, spoke. "Her timing is perfect. Since you both wish to help Cangxuan and Danzhu..."
"...I already told you, I don't care what happens to that pair of clowns..." the Snake retorted stubbornly.
"But, my dear Snake, you broke the rules of the game, and for that, you must be punished. Since I can't have a threesome with the sisters, a little Elysian Realm orgy will have to do. Isn't that right, Aponia?
Snake, no need to be so ten...se. My words can only be heard by the three of us."
Mebius raised a hand, intending to strike Ye Feng, but it landed limply on his firm chest, looking more like a lover's playful tap than an attack.
"Tense? Why would I be tense?"
"This part doesn't lie," Ye Feng said, giving a hard thrust.
The biological feedback meter, revealing her truest inner state.
Mebius grew flustered and angry. She said hatefully, "If you dare to put Aponia and me in the same... Nngh~!?"
Her words were cut off as her lips were sealed.
It wasn't Ye Feng.
Aponia reached out a slender, fair finger, letting it land on the Snake's lips like a butterfly.
"I am sorry, Mebius. I am merely... following her lead~"
As her voice faded, the three of them vanished from the attic.
Cangxuan was left alone, slumped on the ground in a daze.
She stared blankly at the spot where Ye Feng had been standing. The floor was littered with fallen books and dotted with wet patches on the wooden planks.
It was as if everything that had just happened was a lie.
So... have I been saved?
Did Aponia... truly have a way to "fight" the Evil God?
Did she sacrifice herself to save everyone?
And Miss Ye Mei...
She loved her dear father so much, yet she was captured by the Evil God...
Cangxuan slowly rose to her feet. She looked at her sister and Kiana lying on the floor, her heart a tangled mess of emotions.
It was because of everyone's sacrifice that they had ultimately escaped from the tiger's maw.
And yet, Cangxuan had been able to do nothing.
She could only watch, helpless.
This sense of failure and powerlessness coiled around her heart.
She never wanted to feel this way again.
Standing on the ravaged floor, Cangxuan made a silent vow: no matter the cost, she would protect them.
---o---
Danzhu's eyes slowly fluttered open. Her gaze was vacant as she stared upwards.
...A familiar ceiling.
"Am I... on Taixuan Mountain?"
Danzhu sat up, pressing a hand to her forehead, and looked around in a haze of confusion.
Everything was so familiar, filled with the warmth of yesterday.
Her sister, Hua, and Ji Lin... everyone living happily together on Taixuan Mountain.
It felt as if those carefree days could last forever.
—Though Danzhu knew that was impossible.
"No, wait, didn't I die...?"
The smoke-like fog in her mind began to clear, and her memories slowly returned.
Danzhu remembered that she and her sister had sacrificed themselves in a blood ritual to seal "Chiyou."
Afterward, she had awoken in a bizarre school campus shrouded by a blood moon.
An obscene Evil God lurked there, and monsters roamed the night. If you were caught by him, you would...
"Was it... a dream?"
Danzhu pinched her own cheek, hard.
"Ow..."
So, were those other memories the dream?
"Whatever, I don't care anymore."
Danzhu got out of bed, her slender, snow-white feet padding across the rustic brick floor as she walked toward the sunlit courtyard.
The layout of the room, the Bagua furnace in the yard, the scenery of Taixuan Mountain—everything was just as she remembered.
Hm?
Is it raining? Her cheek felt a little damp.
She looked up. The sun was bright in a clear blue sky. Birds chirped in the shade of the trees. There wasn't the slightest sign of rain.
"...Strange."
Danzhu wiped her cheek. The dampness gave way to a faint stickiness, like the time she had accidentally splashed some gelatinous liquid on her face during an experiment.