At dawn, a ray of sunlight slipped through the curtains and spilled across the bed.
Fang Xuan slowly awoke from his deep slumber, but before he could fully open his eyes, his mind was still in a daze.
Just then, a faint fragrance slipped into his nose, followed by an indescribably soft sensation in the palm of his hand.
"Wait, this feeling?!"
The next moment, Fang Xuan's eyes flew wide open. A delicate woman's face appeared before him.
Countless unspeakable images flashed through his mind.
He lowered his head and looked at Ye Lingling, who was still fast asleep in his arms. Fang Xuan's brain instantly short-circuited.
"I'm done for!"
That was the first thought to cross Fang Xuan's mind. After all, the woman he'd slept with wasn't just anyone.
She was the sole inheritor of the Nine Heart Begonia Martial Soul in this world. But that identity was secondary. What mattered was her best friend, who knew how to use poison.
If Dugu Yan found out he'd slept with her best friend, wouldn't she castrate him with her own hands?
Run? No way!
The thought had barely crossed his mind before he immediately crushed it.
There was no way he could get away. If he somehow brought that old devil Dugu Bo here, he really wouldn't have a chance of surviving.
The only thing he could do now was keep Ye Lingling calm. Then he might have a sliver of hope.
Most importantly, yesterday hadn't been his idea, either. If they looked into it, he was the victim here.
Just as Fang Xuan was thinking of a way out, Ye Lingling, nestled in his arms, began to wake up as well.
"Mm, it hurts. What happened to me... Who are you? Why..."
As soon as Ye Lingling awoke, she saw Fang Xuan lying beside her. Then she realized that she was completely naked and aching all over. It was obvious what had happened.
"Ah...!"
Ye Lingling had just started to scream when Fang Xuan clamped a hand over her mouth.
"Miss Ye, please listen to me. This was purely an accident. Now that it's happened, we have to figure out how to resolve it. If word gets out, it'll be bad for both of us."
Fang Xuan was genuinely scared. He was just a commoner, while Ye Lingling was a noble. Given the feudal hierarchy of the Douluo Continent, she had a thousand different ways to get someone to kill him.
It wouldn't matter even if he was a Soul Master. He had no great sect backing him.
A Soul Master without connections was nothing but a slightly more powerful ant.
"And think carefully about what happened yesterday. This really wasn't my fault."
Looking at Ye Lingling, pinned beneath him with despair written all over her face, he was overcome by a deep sense of guilt.
He knew that in this situation, she wouldn't listen to anything he said. He'd have to let her calm down first.
"I'm sorry. I didn't want this to happen. I'll let go, but can you please not scream?"
"If you agree, blink."
Fang Xuan looked at Ye Lingling's delicate, lovely face. Her bright, watery eyes blinked softly a few times.
Fang Xuan let out a long sigh of relief. But the instant he started to lift his hand, Ye Lingling, who had been pinned beneath him, suddenly sprang up and lunged at him.
But as an auxiliary-type Soul Master, she lacked effective means of attack. And with the difference in strength between a man and a woman, Fang Xuan quickly reacted and pinned her down again.
"Miss Ye, please calm down. If you insist on dragging me down with you, then fine—I'll give you my life."
"But before that, I hope you'll think carefully. My life is worthless. Are you sure you want to trade your reputation for it?"
Fang Xuan was losing his temper, too. She wouldn't listen to reason and insisted on fighting him.
"I'll ask you just one thing. If you really want to risk your life against me, then walk outside with me like this, both of us naked. Let's see if you dare."
Those words instantly calmed the agitated Ye Lingling.
But her sense of grievance didn't lessen in the slightest. She was an innocent young woman, yet somehow she'd been defiled by someone. And now he was threatening her, too. Anyone would feel wronged.
Seeing that Ye Lingling had finally calmed down, Fang Xuan reluctantly let her go. He walked to one side and dressed himself in the clothes scattered across the floor.
Ye Lingling, meanwhile, curled up on the bed and wept nonstop, as if she'd suffered some terrible injustice.
Seeing how pitiful she looked, Fang Xuan's heart softened again.
He went over to comfort her.
"I'll take responsibility for you. But first, I need to make one thing clear: you were mainly responsible for what happened, not me."
Those words made Ye Lingling bristle instantly.
"What did you say? You took advantage of me, and now you're saying it was my fault?"
"Don't get worked up. Think carefully about what you did yesterday, then come back and argue with me about who was at fault, all right?"
Fang Xuan was speechless. Ye Lingling was beautiful, of course, but not so beautiful that he'd dare throw caution to the wind and make a move on her.
Still, he really was partly responsible for what had happened.
"I should've put that thing away."
Fang Xuan regretted it bitterly. It all came down to the plant Ye Lingling had touched yesterday.
To be precise, it was something his Martial Soul had produced.
Fang Xuan's Martial Soul was very special: a mysterious seed.
Every seven days, the seed randomly produced a plant from another world. To be precise, it produced plants from a game he'd played in his previous life, a game about plants tormenting zombies.
The plants it produced could exist for no more than seven days. After that, they disappeared automatically.
By fusing with a plant, he could gain its corresponding ability. His Soul Skill, meanwhile, could store the ability of one plant for unlimited use, and he could change which plant's ability it stored.
Thanks to this ability, he'd opened a plant teahouse, selling all kinds of miraculous teas. He'd even become somewhat well-known in Suotuo City.
Ye Lingling had come by yesterday just as he was about to close. He'd already been getting ready to pack up.
But she was so cute that he hadn't turned her away. Making her drink wouldn't take much effort anyway, so he'd asked her to wait a little.
And that little while was all it took for things to go wrong.
Curious, Ye Lingling had touched a new plant that had recently appeared—a Hypno-shroom he'd tossed into a corner.
The moment it was touched, it released hypnotic spores. Any creature that came into contact with the spores would fall into a state of bewitchment, stirring up their primal desires. (There might be some unexpected effects afterward, too ＞＜)
Fang Xuan hadn't thought the thing was useful, so he'd casually tossed it into a corner. He never expected Ye Lingling to be drawn to its bright colors.
By the time he noticed and tried to stop her, it was already too late. And that was how they'd ended up in their current predicament.
It was fortunate that closing time had come yesterday. Otherwise, the consequences would have been unthinkable.
With Fang Xuan's reminder, Ye Lingling recalled everything. She immediately realized that he hadn't been blaming her unjustly after all.
But was she really going to let him get away with bullying her like this?
At the thought, Ye Lingling couldn't help bursting into tears again. She'd never imagined she would encounter something like this.
She'd only heard there was a special teahouse in the city. The drinks sold there could ease pain, calm the mind, and soothe and beautify the complexion. She'd come to try one and see if it was really as miraculous as people said.
But she hadn't even gotten to drink the tea before she'd gotten herself into this mess.
Still, she had only herself to blame. Why had she gone around touching things?
Looking at Ye Lingling crouched on the bed, crying without end, Fang Xuan steeled himself and voiced what he truly felt.
"Since it's already happened, why don't I marry you?"