People and Fire (Revised)

Among horror movie audiences, women far outnumber men, and the more adorable, petite, beautiful, or gentle a woman is, or the more popular she is with men, the higher the proportion of women who enjoy watching horror movies compared to other types of women.

This is a psychological phenomenon, and a detailed analysis could lead to a lengthy discussion, especially if it were linked to modern feminism and the awakening of female self-awareness, which would make it even more interesting.

Being sexually assaulted can be considered a terrifying type of crime. For example, a terrifying and perverted perpetrator, preferably a handsome and wicked man with a wicked smile, would be even more popular with women.

In novels aimed at women, it's common for the female protagonist to be sexually assaulted by the male protagonist right from the start. It's not that girls who enjoy this type of work actually have a desire to be sexually assaulted by a stranger; it's just that in such works, female readers identify with the female protagonist and realize that the male protagonist who assaults them is actually their boyfriend. After accepting this premise from the outset, they unconsciously treat it as a kind of fun.

Zhu Juntang enjoys provoking Liu Chang'an, but it's actually for the same reason. Experiencing tension, excitement, and coercion under safe conditions activates her endocrine system, generating feelings of excitement and satisfaction.

Because Zhu Juntang knew that even though she frequently provoked Liu Chang'an, he wouldn't actually provoke her or kill her.

"I can't be bothered to argue... You've forced yourself on me so many times. My little skirt and socks are no longer those of an innocent young girl. You've molded them so much that they've lost all their ethereal beauty and turned them into women of the night." Zhu Juntang pressed one hand to her chest and stroked her skirt and socks with the other, giving Liu Chang'an a few resentful glances.

Shangguan Dandan cut open Zhu Juntang's skirt from the middle of her chest, and Zhu Juntang pulled the skirt back, so she didn't have to worry about her underwear being exposed.

"Fairy sister, why are you lying in the box?" Zhou Dongdong asked with concern. "Would you like to come and eat some goose?"

"I was eating just now," Zhu Juntang quickly replied to Zhou Dongdong.

"Oh." Zhou Dongdong scratched his head.

"Let's go out." Liu Chang'an pulled Zhou Dongdong along, then said to Shangguan Dandan, "Didn't you buy a lot of clothes last time? See if there's anything suitable for her, consider it compensation for her skirt and socks."

Shangguan Dandan thought about it for a moment and reluctantly agreed.

After saying that Liu Chang'an and Zhou Dongdong went out, ignoring Zhu Juntang's nonsense.

Zhu Juntang originally wanted Zhong Qing to bring her clothes, but she didn't want Zhong Qing to see her like this. She had just been released from confinement and didn't want to give Zhong Qing a chance to tattle on her.

Let's be patient for now. This Shangguan Dandan looks clean and has a somewhat ethereal quality. Zhu Juntang doesn't dislike her, and besides, she's someone who can be Liu Chang'an's mother, which is quite impressive.

"Actually, I know you. You came here with that woman called Third Mistress." When Shangguan Dandan was observing this world from inside the coffin, she naturally sensed Zhu Juntang. Zhu Juntang and Third Mistress appeared together when Liu Chang'an held a banquet, and Zhu Juntang even gave him a red envelope for the first time.

"She's not called Third Mistress, she's my mother," Zhu Juntang corrected.

Shangguan Dandan glanced at Zhu Juntang, not wanting to meddle, so she didn't say anything. She touched her precious coffin, signaling Zhu Juntang to come out quickly.

"Didn't Liu Chang'an tell you to give me clothes to wear?" Zhu Juntang climbed out of the coffin, jumped onto the bed, and stood up. The bed was hard and had no elasticity at all... Right, this was the bed Liu Chang'an used to sleep on, so Zhu Juntang stomped on it twice.

Since there were only two girls left in the room, Zhu Juntang stopped covering her chest and simply took off her tattered skirt and kicked off her socks, revealing the beautiful body of a young girl wearing only underwear.

Shangguan Dandan walked over, tiptoed, and reached out to touch Zhu Juntang's chest.

"What are you doing?" Zhu Juntang took two steps back in surprise. Although she was wearing a bra, she was not used to having her body touched by others, except for Qin Yanan.

Shangguan Dandan sneered, then bent down and took out a rattan box from under the bed, opening it.

"What are you laughing at?" When Shangguan Dandan sneered, Zhu Juntang realized that this little girl exuded a completely different temperament from the one who squatted by the stove eating goose. She was aloof and arrogant. Especially when a girl with an elegant temperament and delicate appearance sneered like this, even the confident Zhu Juntang felt that the other party seemed to be discriminating against her.

"Your breasts are small." Shangguan Dandan compared them. Among the women who had visited Liu Chang'an's house, Qin Yanan's were the largest, and An Nuan's Zhu Juntang's were the smallest. However, An Nuan was Liu Chang'an's favorite, and she was tall and seemed to be good at bearing children. Zhu Juntang, on the other hand, had nothing except for her good looks.

"I'm short?" Zhu Juntang never imagined that she would be mocked by a little girl who was shorter than her and not yet fully developed. She immediately put her hands on her hips.

"Small," Shangguan Dandan said definitively, "Not even as big as a meat bun."

"What is a meat bun?" Zhu Juntang was taken aback. If it was the premium large meat bun from the supermarket downstairs, that would be huge. If it was the small, bite-sized meat bun she prepared in her own kitchen, then that would be a complete insult to Zhu Juntang!

"Something really delicious." Shangguan Dandan hoped Zhou Shuling could make her meat buns tomorrow. If she gave Zhou Shuling a look tonight, Zhou Shuling might understand Shangguan Dandan's expectations.

"Anyway, mine isn't exactly big either, but it's definitely bigger than yours," Zhu Juntang said, clearly unconvinced, showing no interest in the meat buns.

Shangguan Dandan nodded without saying anything.

Zhu Juntang was furious. What kind of attitude was this? Was she disdainful of arguing with her? Zhu Juntang reached into her bra, adjusted it, squeezed her breasts, and said to Shangguan Dandan, "Come on, let's compare!"

"Superficial." Shangguan Dandan wouldn't do such a thing. She was just commenting from the perspective of choosing a wife. Liu Chang'an's liking for wet nurses is a fact that has remained unchanged for more than two thousand years throughout history. Apart from An Nuan, no one else should have such good luck.

"How can you be like this?" Zhu Juntang huffed angrily, then looked down and realized that she actually had the same feeling as Qin Yanan when she was angry. She felt a little playful and happy, and quickly imitated Qin Yanan's mannerisms, frowning slightly and gently pressing her hand to her chest.

"You're having another episode. Go lie down." Shangguan Dandan looked up at Zhu Juntang, who was clutching her chest in discomfort.

"No... this is the expression our... our adults often make when they're angry." Zhu Juntang originally wanted to say "big breasts," but ultimately lacked the confidence and the thick skin to say so.

Zhu Juntang Shangguan Dandan was pointing and saw a coffin.

Zhu Juntang has seen this coffin before.

The first operation of the Nine Provinces Wind and Thunder Sword Sect was to search for this coffin.

Liu Chang'an also said that the coffin was the most prized possession of the Nine Provinces Wind and Thunder Sword Sect.

The coffin has now been opened.

It felt like I had just crawled out of this coffin.

Zhu Juntang took a few steps back in fear. How did she end up lying in a coffin? Did Liu Chang'an throw her into this coffin as soon as she felt unwell?

No, that's not the point.

"This... this is your coffin?" Zhu Juntang asked cautiously, glancing around as she did so. In the dimly lit storage room, the girl before her had a snow-white face. Although she didn't exude a ghostly aura, the aura she emanated was something she had never seen in reality... A fourteen or fifteen-year-old girl with an elegant, noble, and aloof appearance. Most people would think she had read too many Mary Sue novels and gone mad, but the girl before her didn't seem to be like that.

"It's my treasure." Shangguan Dandan put down the rattan box, walked around the bed, and touched her coffin.

Anyone who has spent two thousand years living with something day and night will develop a very special kind of affection for it.

Zhu Juntang, not caring that she wasn't wearing shoes, jumped off the bed and pressed herself against the wall, nervously watching Shangguan Dandan, unsure whether to call for help.

Reason told her that Shangguan Dandan should be safe, after all, she was Liu Chang'an's mother, but... this was most likely something that crawled out of a coffin!

Even if something emerges from a coffin and appears harmless and stunningly beautiful, does that mean it can be treated as a cute young girl?

Zhu Juntang is Immortal Sheep, not a celestial pig! She's not that stupid!

"What are you doing?" Shangguan Dandan glanced at Zhu Juntang suspiciously, but ignored her and went to turn the clothes in the rattan box over and over again.

Shangguan Dandan liked this box because it was beautifully made. It originally contained some tattered books and other seemingly useless things, so she made room for her new clothes.

"Are you... a human or a zombie?" When Zhu Juntang went to the Bow Family Realm with Liu Chang'an and Qin Yanan, she had asked if there were zombies inside.

Shangguan Dandan thought for a moment, "You are human, I am fire."

"Fire? The fire of flames? Are you the god of fire or something?" Zhu Juntang looked Shangguan Dandan. She didn't seem like it at all. The god of fire usually had flames all over his body or three fire points spinning in his eyes.

"Because you don't have breasts, you're a person, while I do, so I'm fire." After saying this, Shangguan Dandan thought it must be funny, so she picked up the thermos next to her, hugged it to her chest, and chuckled twice while shaking her arms.

It wasn't funny, it was a bit vulgar. Shangguan Dandan just wanted to imitate how modern people talk, she didn't mean it was really funny, so she nodded again and continued to flip through her clothes.

Zhu Juntang took a deep breath, and this time she truly felt like her chest was about to explode. How could this little girl be so hateful? Her ability to insult people was on par with Liu Chang'an's. No wonder she was Liu Chang'an's mother.

"Fine, you're fire, so why don't you show me your two points?" Provoked like this, Zhu Juntang wasn't so scared anymore... What kind of joke would a zombie make?

At most, he's just like Liu Chang'an, not an ordinary person.

Zhu Juntang is no ordinary person. In the eyes of others, she is a fairy, and in front of Liu Chang'an, she is Immortal Sheep. In short, she is "fairy".

Shangguan Dandan had lost interest. She had just tried to learn how modern people speak, and she already found it boring. Whatever she said was true, so why did these people always like to question and oppose her? It was so annoying.

"The short-sleeved shirt and skirt you're wearing were bought by Liu Chang'an. They were washed once after he bought them, and I haven't worn them." Of course, Shangguan Dandan wouldn't let anyone else wear clothes she had worn, even very ordinary clothes.

Zhu Juntang naturally understood that Shangguan Dandan had never worn such clothes, so Zhu Juntang wouldn't mind. The two had different understandings, but they tacitly avoided any argument over the clothes.

Zhu Juntang looked at the clothes. The workmanship was so rough. She wondered if these seams would chafe her delicate skin. Oh well, she'd just have to make do. After all, even fairies have to descend to earth sometimes. Even if she dressed like an ordinary person, her aura would still be that of a fairy.

"Are you really Liu Chang'an's mother?" Zhu Juntang wiped her feet, kicked off her old shoes, and walked up to Shangguan Dandan.

It was because she had thought of this again that she became certain that Shangguan Dandan was not some kind of ghost, but more likely really was Liu Chang'an's mother, so she stopped standing against the wall in fear.

The mothers of ordinary college students would typically look at least in their thirties or forties, so what's so strange about Liu Chang'an's mother maintaining a youthful appearance?

In ancient times, it was normal for people to have children at the age of fourteen or fifteen. After giving birth to Liu Chang'an, Shangguan Dandan maintained this appearance.

That must be it.

Shangguan Dandan nodded. This was something to be announced to the world, for the sake of the throne and the continuation of the empire.

"Then how should I address you?" Zhu Juntang looked at Shangguan Dandan with some excitement after receiving confirmation.

"You can just call me Empress Dowager," Shangguan Dandan said casually.

"Empress Dowager!" Zhu Juntang immediately called out.

Shangguan Dandan nodded and pointed to the rattan box.

Zhu Juntang immediately started packing her suitcase, not giving much thought to the special meaning behind the title "Empress Dowager," just like how she called Liu Chang'an "Grandpa"—it was just for fun.

"I ate lunch and was supposed to rest, but now I'm going to play cards." Shangguan Dandan ignored Zhu Juntang, picked up her thermos, and walked out of the room, heading towards the grapevines.

Liu Chang'an was still sitting under the sycamore tree, while Zhou Dongdong was working.

Seeing Shangguan Dandan's posture, Liu Chang'an knew she was going to be a money-giving boy, so he didn't call out to her. Instead, he called out to Zhu Juntang, "Fairy."

He even waved for her to come over.

Zhu Juntang looked at Liu Chang'an suspiciously. Why did he suddenly call her a fairy? Could there be some kind of conspiracy?

"Don't go over yet," Zhu Juntang stood motionless at the door, watching Liu Chang'an warily.

"Immortal Sheep!"

Seeing that nothing was amiss, Zhu Juntang placed her hands at her sides and ran over with her palms outstretched in a cute manner.

"You were eating goose when you fainted, so I carried you and put you in the coffin," Liu Chang'an began to ask questions.

"Why did I faint?" Zhu Juntang asked in confusion. She hadn't asked Shangguan Dandan before. After all, before she knew that she was Liu Chang'an's mother, she only thought of her as a little girl and instinctively trusted Liu Chang'an more. Of course, she should ask the adults about important questions and reasons.

"That day when we went to rescue the vampire, your body was affected, and you had an attack," Liu Chang'an said, looking Zhu Juntang over.

Zhu Juntang was wearing a white long-sleeved T-shirt and a black pleated skirt. When he was picking out clothes for Shangguan Dandan, he had chosen clothes based on An Nuan's usual simple style. Now, seeing Zhu Juntang's outfit without the fairytale-like feel, he found it much more pleasing to the eye.

It's roughly like a Bai Hui dressed in casual, girly clothes, minus the dots.

"Will it recur later?" Zhu Juntang asked nervously. Joining in the fun really does come at a price... But it's still a bit exciting. She has finally become a deeply involved member of this mysterious adventure.

For example, stories related to ancient treasures, cursed lands, and mysterious tombs, where the protagonist or supporting characters are afflicted by evil magic or spells, that's what makes an adventure!

That time when I went to the Bow Family Realm with Liu Chang'an and Qin Yanan, not only did I not take her with me on a crucial part of the adventure, but Liu Chang'an also knocked her unconscious!

What kind of adventure is it to get knocked out by your own teammate?!

"It shouldn't happen." Liu Chang'an wasn't too confident either. After all, he didn't have the X-ray vision that doctors often possess. Based solely on observing her current physical condition, examining her blood vessel pulsation, respiration, glandular secretions, and the perception of vitality and blood, he couldn't be certain that it wouldn't happen in the future.

But he spat a lot of saliva at her just now. If she absorbs it, then if she has another attack, at least her body won't be so easily overwhelmed.

Furthermore, Shangguan Dandan just offered to solve the problem herself, so she couldn't possibly be just trying to fool Liu Chang'an.

"That's good. I'm afraid of both death and pain." Zhu Juntang breathed a sigh of relief.

"I see you're always courting death? Are you afraid of dying?" Liu Chang'an really didn't see that coming. Maybe it's because her temper gets better as we live in a more civilized era. If it were thousands of years ago, she would have died countless times already.

Even in the last hundred years, apart from Su Mei, she is the only one still alive who has endlessly provoked Liu Chang'an.

A while ago... so-and-so, wasn't he just casually killed?

"I like playing with you..." Zhu Juntang leaned closer to Liu Chang'an, giggling with a slightly coquettish tone.

Liu Chang'an pushed her away and patted his arm.

"Tell me, what did you feel when you were in the coffin? Like when Shangguan Dandan was saving you while you were lying inside?" This was what Liu Chang'an was curious about.

"I didn't feel anything. When I woke up, I found that my skirt and socks had been forcibly aroused. I didn't feel anything else." Zhu Juntang shook her head, somewhat regretfully. Of course, she didn't want her skirt and socks to be forcibly aroused, but since it had happened, it was best if Liu Chang'an did it. Then she could feel the feeling of being forced, with tears in her eyes and feeling wronged and heartbroken.

Asking her was pointless; she was indeed just an Immortal Sheep... Even if she was called a mount, Liu Chang'an had never ridden her before. She had no stamina at all; he probably couldn't even run a single step while riding her.

"Why don't you just ask Shangguan Dandan?" Zhu Juntang looked at Liu Chang'an curiously. That's your mother, after all. She could tell that Liu Chang'an was quite interested in that coffin. Last time, he traveled all the way to the Bow Family Realm to find the coffin.

"She'll say I asked her a long time ago, she always suspects I'm trying to steal her precious coffin." Liu Chang'an shook his head.

Zhu Juntang somewhat agreed, "I just spoke to her too. She really isn't easy to talk to. She's always hesitant to speak, sometimes stopping halfway through a sentence, and you have to keep pressing her for an answer before she'll mumble something. She's got quite the airs."

"Yes, there's nothing we can do about her." Liu Chang'an rarely shared the same opinion as Zhu Juntang.

"How about I pretend to faint and let her come and save me again? That way, I can lie in the coffin fully conscious and observe what she does," Zhu Juntang cleverly suggested.

"It's no use. She's got a lot of hidden agendas. Besides, she's playing cards; she wouldn't even budge if there was an earthquake." Liu Chang'an rejected this approach.

"I didn't realize... You know, she just told me a dirty joke. She said she was fire, and I was a person." Zhu Juntang still had some lingering anger. The life-saving grace couldn't completely offset the anger at being ignored, and she also wanted to seek justice from Liu Chang'an.

"What do you mean?" Liu Chang'an glanced at Zhu Juntang's chest before looking away. An Nuan was an expert at interpreting such things.

"She meant I don't have breasts! She does! I initially thought it was inappropriate for a young girl to be so vulgar, but after learning she was much, much older, it started to make sense." Zhu Juntang crossed her arms to make her anger seem more authentic.

Liu Chang'an didn't want to comment on this. In fact, Shangguan Dandan had simply never worn a modern bra before, which wasn't apparent from her appearance.

Zhu Juntang has no hidden strengths.

"Brother Chang'an, I've buried all the goose bones!" Zhou Dongdong reported, carrying a small shovel, after finishing his work.

"Okay, we can dig them up and look for centipedes in a few days." Liu Chang'an nodded.

"My mom has the antidote," Zhou Dongdong emphasized, still shaken. Otherwise, she wouldn't dare eat those terrifying centipedes again.

I almost died from poisoning last time, but thankfully I took the little red pills my mom gave me as an antidote.

"You want to eat centipedes?" Zhu Juntang looked at the two, one big and one small, and suddenly realized that the people living here were too terrifying.

"Fairy sister, would you like some?" Zhou Dongdong looked at Zhu Juntang enthusiastically, because the fairy sister had given Zhou Dongdong a lot of candy before.

"Why would you eat a centipede? Honestly!" Zhu Juntang, holding the plump and chubby Zhou Dongdong's hand, thought, "How could such a cute and beautiful little girl be fooled into eating something like this by Liu Chang'an?" "Come on, let's go to the Candy House."

Zhou Dongdong quickly turned to look at Liu Chang'an.

"Go ahead, I'll come pick you up later." Liu Chang'an waved his hand, then added to Zhu Juntang, "Be careful, she's our sect's Saintess."

Zhu Juntang rolled her eyes at him. It turned out that she had suggested that Zhou Dongdong join the Nine Provinces Wind and Thunder Sword Sect, but he refused. Now he had casually given Zhou Dongdong the Saintess. Really, since this fairy maiden has the lowest status in the sect, she will definitely protect your darling!

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