He smiled bleakly, a desolation born of seeing through the ways of the world in that smile, the helplessness of one weathered by countless trials, and perhaps... relief?
"So that's why you came here."
His gaze swept across the small courtyard, the room with its open window, and the rumpled bed.
He murmured, "You were waiting for him."
Bao Xiaoqin gave a cold laugh.
The laugh was sharp and grating, like a blade being honed against stone.
She folded her arms, only then realizing that she was still barefoot and wearing nothing but a gossamer-thin veil.
But she did not care—if anything, she raised her chin even higher, like a soldier awaiting inspection, or a prisoner facing judgment.
Her gaze passed over Hu Yulou, over the succubus, and even over Yan Hui before her.
She stared at a point in the void and gave a cold laugh.
"Even if you guessed right, I can still find someone else."
Her voice suddenly became very soft, as though she were speaking of something utterly insignificant.
"Why did you have to say it out loud?"
Her gaze returned to Hu Yulou's face, carrying a provocatively mocking look.
"Does saying it make you feel good?"
Hu Yulou replied evenly.
"You're wrong. There's only hatred in my heart."
Bao Xiaoqin abruptly rose from the bed—no, she rushed out of the room, her bare feet stepping onto the bluestone slabs in the courtyard as the thin gauze around her fluttered in the night wind.
In an instant, the gauze slipped from her body.
Whether the wind had blown it off or she had deliberately flung it away, no one knew.
She stood there naked in the courtyard, without a shred of covering on her body.
Moonlight shone upon her body, upon her full breasts, her slender