Rewards and Interest

Ya Fei stood frozen in the icy mine tunnel, her delicate body trembling faintly.

Before her lay ice sculptures and corpses scattered in every direction. The air was filled with the frozen stench of blood and bone-piercing cold, forming a scene straight out of hell.

Yet what struck her heart more deeply than this sight was the unbelievably familiar feeling emanating from her rescuer!

That supreme frost that had changed the environment in an instant! That ruthlessly efficient fighting style! That powerful aura that seemed to have everything under control and regarded enemies with utter disdain...

All of it overlapped almost perfectly with the feeling given to her by the mysterious Mr. Ice she had encountered before!

No, it was more than mere overlap! That "extremity" and "majesty" originating from the Power Origin were almost identical!

Although one had an old, mysterious voice while the other possessed a young, handsome face, the core temperament and power attributes they displayed in battle

made the suspicion in Ya Fei's heart grow wildly like weeds, stronger and clearer than ever before!

"Mo Lin... Mr. Ice..." She repeatedly turned those two names over in her mind as a mix of realization and tremendous shock swept over her.

She was almost certain that even if they were not the same person, they were bound to share some incomprehensible, extraordinarily close, essential connection!

"Well, Sister Ya Fei, it's only been a few days. How did you end up this bedraggled?"

That familiar, teasing tone was like a warm current, instantly breaking through the icy barrier around Ya Fei's heart caused by extreme shock and fear.

She looked at the youth before her, dressed in white as pure as snow and wearing a roguish smile, then glanced around at the horrific scene resembling an icy prison. An absurd sense of unreality rose within her.

Was the coldly slaughtering figure from moments ago, like the god of death himself, really the same person as this grinning youth?

"You..." Ya Fei opened her mouth, only to find her throat dry. For a moment, she did not know what to say.

The relief of surviving disaster, her awe of overwhelming power, and that earth-shattering suspicion surged through her mind like a tide.

Mo Lin strolled closer, ignoring the frozen corpses beneath his feet. His gaze swept over Ya Fei's somewhat disheveled hair and damaged fitted outfit,

before finally settling on her still-pale, lovely face. His tone carried a hint of amusement. "What? Scared silly? Or... were you captivated by my heroic bearing?"

The narcissism and teasing in his words somehow loosened Ya Fei's taut nerves, and she could not help rolling her eyes at him.

That glance carried a charm even she herself did not notice. "W-Who was captivated by you?! You... why are you here?"

She had asked the most crucial question.

Mo Lin chuckled and stepped in front of her, close enough for them to feel each other's breath.

He lowered his head and looked at her with blazing eyes. Those eyes, cold and abyssal not long ago, now gleamed with cunning. "Why am I here? Of course... because I planned ahead."

"Planned ahead?" A trace of confusion and wariness flashed through Ya Fei's beautiful eyes.

"That's right." The roguish smile on Mo Lin's lips deepened with a touch of pride. "Do you remember our 'chance encounter' in the corridor last time? Back then, I left a little something on you."

Ya Fei's heart abruptly tightened! He had left something on her? And she had not noticed at all!

"Just an imperceptible spiritual mark." As if seeing through her thoughts, Mo Lin explained casually, twirling a loose strand of her hair around his finger. "Originally, I merely wanted to make sure the woman I had my eye on did not lose her life for no reason. I didn't expect it to actually come in handy.

I was cultivating just now when I suddenly felt an incredibly intense fear and sense of danger from the mark. I knew something must have happened to you, you little enchantress, so I hurried over to play the hero and save the beauty."

"The... woman you have your eye on?" Ya Fei's heartbeat suddenly skipped, and blood rushed to her cheeks with a boom, staining even her ears crimson.

The dominance and naked possessiveness in those words left her both embarrassed and annoyed, along with... a faint, indescribable flutter in her heart.

Especially after witnessing his godlike strength moments ago, and considering that startling suspicion about Mr. Ice, those words carried astonishing weight when spoken by him.

"What else?" Mo Lin raised an eyebrow, releasing her hair before gently lifting her chin, forcing her to meet his gaze.

His eyes held undisguised admiration and certainty. "From the first time I saw you at the auction house, I knew that you, Ya Fei, were the woman I had my eye on. How could just any stray cat or dog lay a hand on someone of mine?"

That incomparably domineering declaration struck Ya Fei's heart like a heavy hammer.

Under normal circumstances, she would surely have found this youth's arrogance laughable.

But after experiencing his rescue that had descended like divine soldiers from heaven, witnessing his unfathomable and terrifying strength that could even alter the environment in an instant, and thinking of Mr. Ice...

Coming from his mouth, those words carried a heart-pounding persuasiveness and... fatal allure.

Looking at Ya Fei's increasingly radiant face, flushed with shock and shyness, especially those slightly parted, full, moist red lips, a dark glint passed through Mo Lin's eyes.

His blood and vitality had already been surging after his breakthrough, and he had just gone through a slaughter. Now, with a beauty in his arms, her breath fragrant and her tempting red lips within reach...

As if possessed, he lowered his head and swiftly, precisely captured her slightly parted lips.

"Mmph!"

Ya Fei's mind exploded, instantly turning blank!

She had never expected Mo Lin to be so bold, so direct!

Warm, soft contact touched her lips, carrying the youth's uniquely crisp scent, along with a faint taste like ice and snow.

The kiss was brief, yet immensely forceful, filled with an irresistible dominance, as though it were stamping its seal upon his declaration.

Their lips parted at once!

Mo Lin seemed somewhat surprised by his own sudden action.

But he quickly recovered his carefree demeanor, licked his lips, and grinned wickedly with lingering satisfaction. "Mm, not bad. Let's call this... collecting a little interest first, as payment for saving you."

Before Ya Fei could recover from her overwhelming shock and embarrassment, he released her. With a flash, he had already retreated several meters away, a triumphant smirk on his face.

"As for the rest, you can pay it back once you've slowly figured out how to repay me! I'll leave this place to you, Sister Ya Fei!"

He winked at her, his tone lighthearted. Then his body turned into a blurred shadow once more and swiftly vanished into the darkness of the mine tunnel.

He had come suddenly and left just as decisively, leaving behind only a faint lingering warmth in the air and his arrogant, ambiguous words echoing through the tunnel.

Ya Fei stood there blankly, as though someone had cast a binding spell on her.

Her fingers unconsciously touched her lips, where that warm sensation seemed to remain. Her cheeks were red as sunset clouds, and her heart raced as if it might burst from her chest.

Embarrassment, annoyance, shock, confusion, and a trace of... secret fluttering she herself refused to acknowledge intertwined, leaving her completely flustered.

That Mo Lin! How... how dared he!

But... why, aside from embarrassment and annoyance, could she not summon much genuine anger?

Was it because he had just saved her?

Or was it because... that astonishing suspicion about his identity had subconsciously made it impossible for her to see him as an ordinary youth any longer?

"Supervisor... are you... all right?" Wang Yan, watching Ya Fei's rare appearance of flustered helplessness like a lovestruck young girl, cautiously asked.

He had been too far away to hear what the two of them had said. He had only seen Young Master Mo Lin seemingly... kiss the supervisor, and then the supervisor had become like this...

Wang Yan's voice abruptly brought Ya Fei back to her senses.

She took several deep breaths, forcibly suppressing her turbulent emotions and trying to restore a calm expression. Yet her crimson ears betrayed the unrest within her.

"I-I'm fine!" Ya Fei's voice carried an almost imperceptible tremor.

She quickly turned around, no longer looking in the direction Mo Lin had disappeared. Her tone became calm and decisive again. "Clean up the scene immediately! Proceed according to plan!"

Yet at the instant she turned, sharp-eyed Wang Yan seemed to see the corner of his supervisor's delicate lips... curve upward in an extremely faint, fleeting arc? Was it just an illusion?

That night, inside Ya Fei's luxurious bedroom at the Mietel Auction House.

Candlelight flickered, illuminating her cheeks, which still bore a faint blush.

She had already bathed and changed into a soft nightgown, yet she felt no sleepiness at all.

Sitting alone by the window, her fingertips unconsciously brushed over her lips, where that instant's warmth and dominance seemed to linger.

In her mind, Mo Lin's figure in the mine tunnel, like a god of war, alternated endlessly with the image of him kissing her with a wicked grin before swiftly fleeing.

That supreme strength, combined with the occasional roguishness of youth he revealed, formed an immense contrast. Yet strangely, they intertwined and branded themselves deeply into her heart.

Her suspicion that "Mo Lin was Mr. Ice" had not weakened because of this incident. Instead, it had become even clearer.

That dominance, that desire for control, and... the fleeting icy aura during their kiss, seemingly born of instinct, all made the answer in her heart ready to emerge.

Yet unlike before, when she had been driven to uncover the truth,

the Ya Fei who had experienced the life-and-death crisis during the day and that unexpected intimacy moments ago

now felt an indescribably complicated emotion welling up within her.

There was the relief of surviving disaster, awe for immense power, embarrassment at being domineeringly claimed, and a trace of secret fluttering,

as well as... a strange sense of responsibility to remain silent and protect a world-shaking secret she had glimpsed.

"Perhaps... not knowing truly is better than knowing." Ya Fei murmured softly, wisdom and complexity glimmering in her beautiful eyes.

She decided to bury this astonishing suspicion deep within her heart and interact with him as Mo Lin, though the weight he held in her heart was now entirely different.

She looked at the deep night beyond the window, and Mo Lin's arrogant yet bright smile as he left appeared in her mind.

The corners of her lips unconsciously curled into a slow smile, one she herself did not notice, carrying a hint of sweetness and anticipation.

"Mo Lin... no matter how many secrets you truly have... this debt of saving my life, and this 'payment'... I, Ya Fei, will remember them."