Chapter 640: Asking for Trouble, the Curse of Black Light
"Sister Ruyan is going to celebrate Heavenly Queen Zhong's birthday, and Heavenly Queen Zhong must be very happy to know that." Zhong Lingyin was touched and surprised, yet also guilty and ashamed, when she heard that Liu Ruyan was going to the Film and Television City to celebrate her birthday.
"Of course, Lingyin is my Junior Sister, no matter what kind of Heavenly Queen or superstar she is, she is still my Junior Sister. If I, her Senior Sister, don't treat her well, who will I treat well?" Liu Ruyan looked at Zhong Lingyin, who was disguised as Anna, with a half-smile, her eyes long and alluring, like a seductive fox. Her voice was a low, silken purr, each word dripping with a double meaning that twisted the knife of guilt in Zhong Lingyin's heart. "Besides, Lingyin is also a very good Junior Sister, very respectful and loving towards me, her Senior Sister."
After hearing Liu Ruyan's words, Zhong Lingyin felt even more guilty and ashamed. The weight of her secret affair pressed down on her, making it difficult to meet her Senior Sister's knowing gaze. Every kind word felt like a subtle accusation, a reminder of her betrayal.
Second Senior Sister Liu Ruyan was too good to her, but she had stolen her man.
Although this matter couldn't be blamed on her entirely—it was a cascade of unforeseen accidents and mistaken identities that began in Sakura Country—the truth was obvious. Shen Anyu had initially mistaken her for Liu Ruyan, but what followed was a whirlwind of emotion and entanglement that had captured Zhong Lingyin's heart completely. Now, the thought of leaving him was an impossibility, a pain she couldn't bear to imagine.
'It's absolutely impossible for me to leave Brother Shen. If Second Senior Sister can't forgive me, I'll kneel down and beg her for forgiveness. No matter what, I can't give up,' Zhong Lingyin bit her lip lightly, a flicker of fierce determination in her eyes. The guilt was real, but so was her love. She would face the consequences, endure any punishment, but she would not surrender the man who had become her world.
"Let's watch the movie first, or we'll disturb others," Shen Anyu whispered, his voice a calm anchor in the turbulent emotions swirling between the two women. A faint, knowing smile played on his lips, his eyes glinting with amusement in the dim light of the cinema.
"Mhm, mhm." Zhong Lingyin hummed softly, grateful for the interruption. She immediately turned her attention to the massive screen, letting the explosive action and dramatic score pull her in. Slowly, the overwhelming guilt receded as she became engrossed in the film's plot, immersing herself in a world far simpler than her own.
Liu Ruyan snorted, a barely audible sound of frustration. She shot a venomous glare at Shen Anyu, her plan thoroughly derailed. She had been expertly weaving a web of guilt, intending to make her thieving Junior Sister feel so ashamed that she'd never be able to hold her head high in her presence again. She wanted Zhong Lingyin to be perpetually apologetic, to always feel like she owed her an unpayable debt. But Shen Anyu, with one simple sentence, had shattered the delicate tension she was building.
In truth, Liu Ruyan wasn't consumed by rage over Zhong Lingyin's transgression. If she were, she wouldn't have bothered to show up today, on Zhong Lingyin's birthday, to give her this modicum of face.
After all, this wasn't the first time one of her junior sisters had fallen for Shen Anyu.
Fourth Junior Sister Ye Liyou had done it.
Seventh Junior Sister Yang Luoluo had done it too.
By now, Liu Ruyan was practically numb to it. The addition of Zhong Lingyin to the list was less a shocking betrayal and more a weary, predictable pattern. She had grown strangely accustomed to it.
She knew, with absolute certainty, that the root of all this chaos was Shen Anyu. That damnable dog man was a walking disaster for their sisterhood. Logically, she couldn't truly blame Zhong Lingyin. But logic rarely soothed a wounded ego. If she didn't assert her position, didn't make her displeasure known, her thoughts would churn into a storm of resentment.
But the next moment, all her calculated annoyance evaporated, replaced by a jolt of pure shock. Liu Ruyan's alluring, fox-like eyes widened, and a crimson blush began to creep up her neck, staining her exquisite, beautiful face.
Liu Ruyan was wearing a knitted dress with an inner layer today. The fabric was a fine, dense weave, and its loose, comfortable fit was perfectly suited for her proud figure—a figure that ranked a solid sixth in the alphabetical hierarchy of feminine assets—without making her appear overly plump. This was the primary reason why, though people might initially mistake her and Zhong Lingyin from their facial similarities, a closer look would always reveal the truth. There was a significant difference in their 'weight'.
And at this moment, under the cover of darkness, Shen Anyu's fingers had found the seam of that knitted dress. They moved with a casual, confident grace, gently parting the fabric to make contact with the smooth, delicate, snowy skin beneath.
The warmth of his touch was like a brand against her cool skin. Liu Ruyan's first instinct wasn't to lash out, but to dart a panicked glance at her junior sister. Seeing Zhong Lingyin completely captivated by the movie, her eyes glued to the screen and oblivious to the drama unfolding beside her, Liu Ruyan let out a breath she didn't realize she was holding. Only then did she turn her head, her alluring eyes narrowed into a fierce, smoldering glare. She parted her crimson lips and mouthed the words silently, her voice a furious, soundless whisper:
"You dog man, behave yourself. This is a cinema, and there are so many people!"
Shen Anyu merely raised an eyebrow, a wicked spark dancing in his dark eyes. In response to her silent protest, his fingers vibrated—a subtle, almost imperceptible tremor. A thread of pure lightning, refined and controlled to an impossible degree, surged from his fingertips and shot directly into Liu Ruyan's body.
Her pupils dilated instantly. An electric thrill, both terrifying and intoxicating, flooded her entire being. Her muscles seized, then went utterly slack. A wave of profound numbness washed over her, making her feel as though her very bones were melting into jelly. She was boneless, powerless, a doll in his grasp.
"Husband, look! The main characters have found the killer! The fighting and special effects are so exciting!" Just then, Zhong Lingyin, caught up in a climactic scene, grabbed Shen Anyu's other hand, her voice a rapid, excited whisper that was barely audible over the film's booming soundtrack.
The screening room was packed, with over two hundred viewers on the edge of their seats. A collective gasp rippled through the audience as they stared, transfixed, at the screen. Popcorn was forgotten, drinks left untouched.
"It's quite exciting," Shen Anyu glanced at the screen for a moment before turning his gaze back to Liu Ruyan, his voice calm and even, a stark contrast to the storm he was creating within her.
A misty haze clouded Liu Ruyan's alluring eyes. She looked at him with a mournful, bewildered expression, her body completely unresponsive to her commands. She was trapped, paralyzed by that insidious current of lightning that now held every nerve ending hostage.
'Too much! This dog man is too much!' Her mind screamed in silent protest. He was actually bullying her, a supposedly weak woman, relying on his monstrous cultivation and overwhelming strength. 'No, he can't continue like this! But I can't move... I can't even speak...'
Her frantic thoughts turned to the oblivious girl beside her. 'Lingyin, Lingyin, save me! Save me! Second Senior Sister will forgive you for everything, just... Lingyin, save me! No, you can't, you dog man, you dog man, this is a cinema!'
Liu Ruyan, at this moment, was a picture of indescribable, tragic beauty. All her previous cunning and playful dominance had been stripped away, leaving her vulnerable and utterly captivating. She was like a clever fox finally cornered by a master hunter; no matter how shrewd or wily she had been, once caught in the powerful hunter's grasp, all struggle was futile. She was completely at his mercy.
Even though Liu Ruyan was already a Martial Dao Grandmaster, a practitioner of the top-tier divine art, the Martial God Art, and had even tempered her body with a priceless hundred-year zhu fruit, her strength was immense. She was confident she could even contend with a Half-Step Celestial Master.
But in Shen Anyu's hands, such distinctions were meaningless. Whether she was a Martial Dao Grandmaster or a newly initiated Celestial Master, she was nothing more than weak prey to be toyed with in the palm of his hand. His power was an ocean, and hers was but a single drop.
Just as Liu Ruyan was drowning in a flustered panic and Shen Anyu was savoring his victory, Yao Qi moved.
This subtle, hidden drama might have been invisible to the mortals in the audience, but how could it possibly escape the senses of a Half-Step Celestial Master like Yao Qi?
From his seat several rows back, Yao Qi watched, and a toxic brew of envy, jealousy, and sheer hatred curdled in his gut. He seethed as he saw Shen Anyu, that worthless pretty boy, flanked by two stunning, world-class beauties.
As a major wanted criminal with a list of bloody crimes long enough to fill a book, Yao Qi was no saint. He was a creature of base desires—addicted to wine, women, wealth, and wrath. The moment he laid eyes on Liu Ruyan and Zhong Lingyin, a greedy, covetous fire had ignited within him. He had only suppressed it because he was a fugitive, constantly worried about An Zhiyue, the Yanxia Female War God, and the relentless hunters from the Special Department.
But seeing this scene now, his restraint shattered. What right did a mere ordinary person, a man with no discernible cultivation whatsoever, have to possess two such divine women?
Watching the joyful, teasing expression on Shen Anyu's face—even though nothing truly untoward was happening, as Shen Anyu would never truly embarrass his women in public—Yao Qi could no longer tolerate it.
'Hmph, kid, if you want to blame someone, blame your bad luck for running into me!'
A brutal and cruel look flashed in Yao Qi's eyes. In the palm of his hand, a point of black light suddenly materialized. It was no larger than a single grain of rice, yet it pulsed with a terrifying, malevolent power. Even a Grandmaster would suffer excruciating pain if this light so much as grazed them. If they couldn't resist it in time and it surged into their internal organs, their Meridians would snap, their viscera would liquefy, and they would die a death of unimaginable agony.
This was Yao Qi's signature spell, the Curse of Black Light, an extremely malicious and terrifying technique that made his name feared among his enemies.
Previously, when Yao Qi broke through the Special Department's encirclement, he had relied on this very spell to instantly kill a Grandmaster and several Master-level experts, melting them from the inside out.
More importantly, the Curse of Black Light was insidious. After being afflicted, it was initially undetectable. It would lie dormant, a silent poison, only to erupt with catastrophic force once it had fully infiltrated the victim's internal organs.
'Hmph, it's a good time to kill someone and let that little girl An Zhiyue know that if she doesn't release me, I'll slaughter tens of thousands of people in Xihe Shopping Mall!'
[Akarin's Note:
Enjoying the story? Dropping a quick review, comment, or Power Stone means the world to me and keeps these daily updates flowing!
Want to read 50 chapters ahead or just want to help keep a shameless translator alive? (My livelihood actually depends on this, haha 😭). You can support me directly here:
(P.S. Just remove the brackets and replace the [.] with a regular dot . to use the links!)
✨ Patreon (50 Advanced Chapters): patreon[.]com/AkarinTL
☕ Ko-fi (Support / Sponsor): ko-fi[.]com/AkarinTL
🔗 All My Links: linktr[.]ee/AkarinTL
Thank you so much for reading and keeping this project alive!]