Brother, You Smell So Good

The two words "Dad" were like a red-hot brand wedged fast in her throat. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't make a sound. Her cheeks instantly flushed crimson again, the vivid pink spreading all the way to her ears and neck.

How could Wang Dong—the treasured little princess who had been pampered by the Clear Sky Sect's leader and cherished by everyone since childhood—call someone she'd known for less than half a day, someone so hateful and annoying, who used his strength to bully her... "Dad"?!

This was a disgrace beyond compare! A thousand times harder to bear than being defeated in front of everyone, or falling into his arms! It wasn't just a matter of what to call him; it meant completely submitting to him in her heart, and... a shame too overwhelming to describe.

Su Chen looked at her like that—her pretty face flushed red, her pink-blue eyes glistening with tears, filled with fury, indignation, and struggle. Her tiny nostrils fluttered, and she bit her lips so hard they'd gone pale. She looked as though she were on the verge of breaking down, yet still forcing herself to hold on, facing death with grim resolve.

A trace of amusement, so faint even he didn't notice it, flickered through his eyes, along with a touch of helplessness.

All right, he admitted it. Eighty percent of the reason he'd made that demand was sheer mischief. He'd wanted to see how the impossibly proud little princess would react. Judging by the results... it had worked brilliantly, though perhaps he'd gone a little too far.

He hadn't really expected her to follow through, after all. Pushing someone too hard could sometimes have the opposite effect.

Just as Su Chen was considering whether he should "show mercy" and give her an easy way out—

Wang Dong abruptly shut her eyes, her long lashes trembling violently like the wings of a startled butterfly. She didn't dare look at Su Chen, as if that might lessen her shame.

Then, in a voice so quick it was almost inaudible, yet strangely clear, she hurriedly forced out two trembling syllables:

"D-Dad..."

After saying those two words, Wang Dong seemed to have used up the last bit of her strength and courage. Her shoulders slumped at once, and her cheeks turned so red they looked ready to bleed.

She spun around, unable to look Su Chen in the eye again, and darted to her bed in a few quick steps like a startled fawn. Without even taking off her shoes, she plunged beneath the covers and wrapped herself from head to toe in the thick quilt, curling into a ball.

As though hiding in this enclosed little space of her own could make that mortifying moment disappear.

Su Chen: "..."

He froze for a moment, staring at the violently shifting mound of quilt on the bed, still trembling faintly. For a moment, he didn't know what to say.

He hadn't expected... that she'd actually say it.

Though her voice had been as quiet as a mosquito's, though she'd been full of reluctance and shame, she had said it.

This girl... sometimes her stubbornness and insistence on seeing things through really left him... not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

"Hey," Su Chen said, looking at the mound of quilt. Almost against his will, he answered with a hint of teasing amusement, "Good girl."

His voice wasn't loud, but in the quiet dormitory it rang out clearly.

The "quilt mound" stiffened abruptly, then began trembling even harder. A faint sound, like the muffled whimper of a little animal, came from within.

The curve of Su Chen's lips grew more pronounced, but he didn't press his advantage or say anything else. He knew when to stop. If he really pushed the little princess too far, she might start crying or fly into a rage, and that would be a real hassle.

He shook his head, ignored his roommate playing ostrich, and sat cross-legged on his own bed. Closing his eyes and calming his mind, he began circulating his Soul Power and entered a state of cultivation. For him, making the most of every second to grow stronger was what mattered most.

The dorm fell quiet, leaving only their faint breathing and the occasional chirp of insects outside the window.

After quite a while, the trembling of the "quilt mound" gradually subsided. A little later, the edge of the quilt was carefully lifted, and a pair of damp, pink-blue eyes, still ringed with lingering blush, peeked out like a thief. They cautiously studied Su Chen on the opposite bed.

Seeing that Su Chen had already closed his eyes and entered deep cultivation, the fluctuations of Soul Power around him faint but remarkably dense, Wang Dong finally let out a small sigh of relief. But then she pursed her lips.

"That annoying guy... he sure works hard." Wang Dong muttered in a voice so tiny only she could hear it, her tone complicated. "He really doesn't waste a single moment of cultivation. No wonder... no wonder I can't beat him..."

Thinking of how pathetically she'd "admitted defeat" just now, and... that name she'd called him, Wang Dong's cheeks, which had finally cooled down, flared hot again. She quickly shook her head, trying to fling those images out of her mind.

"Hmph!" She suddenly wriggled out of the covers and sat up on her bed. Facing Su Chen, she raised a small fist defiantly, as if to cheer herself on, though he couldn't see her. "I, the great Wang Dong, will never admit I'm weaker than you! Cultivation? What's so hard about that? Anyone can do it!"

"Just you wait, Su Chen! I, Wang Dong... I'll cultivate hard and swear to avenge today's humiliation!"

"I'll beat you until you're crawling on the ground! Then you'll have to call me... call me..." The word "Dad" rolled around on her tongue, but she was ultimately too embarrassed to say it. In the end, she could only huff angrily, "I'll make you regret it!"

After venting, Wang Dong took a deep breath and sat cross-legged, imitating Su Chen. She began circulating her Soul Power, trying to enter a state of cultivation and prove with action that she would never admit defeat.

But...

The spirit was willing, but the flesh was weak.

Perhaps her emotions had been all over the place that day, leaving her mentally exhausted. Or perhaps she was just... prone to losing interest after three minutes.

In any case, before she'd even managed to cultivate for a quarter of an hour, Wang Dong's eyelids began to droop, her thoughts grew hazy, and her posture gradually slumped to one side.

Finally, after nodding off once more like a pecking chick, she tipped over with a "thump" and sprawled flat on her soft bedding, limbs spread wide. Her breathing evened out as she sank into a deep sleep.

She even let out the faintest, cutest little snore.

On the other side, Su Chen, who had just finished cultivating, slowly opened his eyes. When he saw Wang Dong's uninhibited sleeping position on the opposite bed, he froze, then couldn't help laughing helplessly.

Wang Dong lay on her back, sprawled out like the character for "big," one leg hanging over the edge of the bed and the other curled up, her arms flung carelessly out to either side. Her short pink-blue hair was tousled across the pillow, and her little mouth hung slightly open. A faint flush from her exertion still colored her cheeks. She looked utterly defenseless and blissfully sound asleep. Where had the proud little peacock from earlier gone? She looked like nothing more than a sleepy child.

Su Chen shook his head, got out of bed, and walked over to Wang Dong's. First, he gently moved the leg that was about to slip off the bed back onto it, then adjusted her sleeping position so she'd be more comfortable.

As he approached, that faint, fresh fragrance drifted into his nose again.

This time he was closer, and the fragrance seemed clearer, carrying a scent unique to Wang Dong. It really did... smell pleasant.

Su Chen looked at Wang Dong's flushed, guileless profile as she slept and instinctively muttered under his breath, a touch of teasing in his voice:

"Brother, you smell so good."