Orange Stirs Up New Jealousy Again; Huo and Dong'er's First Time, Bitter and Sweet

It was hardly strange for the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy to investigate Shrek's main lineup before the competition. What Orange most wanted to know, moreover, was news of Huo Yuhao.

Seeing Huo Yuhao's expression, Bei Bei asked in a low voice, "Someone from Sun Moon?"

Huo Yuhao nodded.

Xiao Xiao frowned. "Do they want to figure out our order of appearance in advance?"

"Probably." Huo Yuhao put away the communication-array interference pattern and did not mention Orange's name. "The competition hasn't even begun, and Sun Moon is already preparing to target us."

Wang Dong'er knew Huo Yuhao too well. The complicated yet familiar hesitation that flashed through his eyes when he recognized that Sun Moon conduction pattern made her suddenly realize that Wang Qiu'er had never been the only one around him.

Orange had been the senior student who had taken great care of Huo Yuhao during his exchange at the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy. She was now also the Crown Princess of the Sun Moon Empire.

Dong'er knew very little about their history together, but she still knew that they were far more than ordinary friends.

Her thoughts churned, and the jealousy on Dong'er's face could no longer be concealed.

After the review ended, Xuan Lao summoned Huo Yuhao to the Sea God Pavilion to ask about the possible soul tool arrangements on Sun Moon's side. Dong'er remained alone in Soul Tool Laboratory No. 3, where the soul tool recording array from that night at the Abandoned Post Station sat on the table.

She did not need to use soul power to review what had happened that night to know the answer. Dong'er sat before the workbench without moving for a long time.

She remembered when she had still been Wang Dong, sharing a dorm room with Huo Yuhao. Back then, he had been hopelessly foolish—returning from cultivation and immediately collapsing into sleep. Yet in battle, he had always shared his Spiritual Detection with her first. Later, when she had returned to her true female form, she remembered the surprised delight in his eyes when he saw her by Sea God Lake.

They had not only begun loving each other today. They had come this far step by step through countless battles fought side by side and countless brushes with death. That was why she had been willing to wait. But now, she was suddenly afraid—afraid that even someone who had arrived first, if she kept waiting, would be pushed behind by fate.

The laboratory door was gently pushed open. Huo Yuhao had arrived.

Seeing Dong'er sitting alone at the workbench in a daze, he felt a pang of heartache. "Dong'er."

"Yuhao." She paused.

"Dong'er, why are you here alone..."

"What happened between you and her in the inner room of the Abandoned Post Station that night?" she interrupted his concern.

Huo Yuhao felt as though his throat had been blocked. "I didn't mean to hide it from you."

Dong'er gave a small smile. "Then why didn't you tell me?"

The words were soft, yet heavier than any shout.

Huo Yuhao was silent for a moment before finally saying, "I was afraid you'd be angry. And I thought it was an accident." He wanted to explain that it had been the array, that Qiu'er had used her soul power to purify his spiritual sea, that the backlash in his spiritual sea had been too severe at the time.

Wang Dong'er's lashes trembled slightly. She did not flare up at once, only looked at him. "Was it just a kiss?"

Huo Yuhao's fingers slowly curled into fists, and his voice dropped even lower. "Yes."

The laboratory was so quiet that only the faint hum of the soul tool array remained. Dong'er stood and walked over to him. Her fingers lightly brushed his lips as she said calmly, "I used to think that there would only ever be us between you and me. I never had to worry about anyone taking you away. Because I came first, because I understood you best, because I was the one you would turn back to find without needing an explanation."

Her eyes reddened, but she did not cry. "But now I'm afraid. Afraid someone will take you away. Afraid that if I keep waiting, even what I treasure most will be taken before I can reach it."

Huo Yuhao reached for her, but Dong'er stepped back.

Huo Yuhao panicked.

"Dong'er."

"Don't call me like that." Dong'er looked up at him. "You know I'm not here to listen to you apologize."

Huo Yuhao's outstretched hand stopped at once.

Dong'er gathered her soul power and swung her hand, activating an isolation array. Then she slowly approached Huo Yuhao, seized the front of his clothes, and brought her nose close to his face. "If all you feel tonight is guilt, then don't touch me."

Huo Yuhao stiffened completely. Dong'er's voice was low, but every word was clear. "I'm not here to compete with her, and I'm not here to force you to compensate me. I'm only asking you one thing now. Do you love me?"

Huo Yuhao looked at her, and countless scenes flashed through his mind: when she had been Wang Dong, squeezed into the same dormitory with him, complaining that he cultivated like a madman while always guarding the door for him; at Sea God Lake, when she had returned to her female form and his heart had raced with surprise; every time they had fought side by side, her aura of light had been like a beam shining into the coldest part of him.

He loved her not because he had met her first, but because she had long since become part of his life.

"I do... I love you... Dong'er." Huo Yuhao's voice trembled slightly.

"Because you feel guilty?"

"No."

"Because I've been with you longer?"

"No."

"Then why?"

Huo Yuhao took her hand and gently pressed it against his heart.

"Because you are Wang Dong'er."

At those words, the coldness Wang Dong'er had been forcing herself to maintain finally cracked.

She suddenly kissed him. A faint flush spread across the corners of her eyes, and through misty eyes, she pressed him, "Then do you want me now?"

This was not a test, not reconciliation, and not gentle coquettishness. The kiss carried the grievance, jealousy, and possessiveness she had suppressed all night, as though she wanted to wrench away the golden trace left on him that night in the inner room of the Abandoned Post Station.

Huo Yuhao remembered the promise he had once made to return to the Clear Sky Sect with Dong'er. He had kept restraining himself, yet his breathing still grew heavier as he answered, "I do."

Dong'er noticed, and it only made her angrier. She bit the corner of his lips, then pulled back half an inch when his breathing fell into disarray. "Are you still going to hold back now?"

Huo Yuhao's Adam's apple bobbed. "Dong'er."

"Don't just keep calling my name." She clutched his clothes, the corners of her eyes deeply red. "Aren't you so good at enduring? Then when she came close to you that night, why didn't you push her away?"

Huo Yuhao froze, though he still could not suppress his increasingly ragged breathing. Dong'er's heart ached with bitterness, but she reached up and touched the fine beads of sweat on Huo Yuhao's forehead.

"Does it hurt?"

Huo Yuhao did not answer.

"Have you ever thought about how much I've suffered these past few days?" As she spoke, her tears finally fell. "So tonight, you're not allowed to avoid me. You're not allowed to go anywhere."

The isolation array lit up, and blue-gold soul power sealed the windows and door inch by inch. The lake wind, the footsteps of the night patrol, and the low hum of soul tools were all pushed far away. Dong'er's hair ribbon fell to the floor, but she stepped on it, refusing to let Huo Yuhao bend down to pick it up.

"Don't bother with useless things." Her voice remained cool, but the end of it had already gone unsteady.

Huo Yuhao lowered his head and kissed her. He kissed her slowly, deeply, as though he wanted to show her, little by little, all the feelings he had not dared speak of over the years and the desire he had not dared admit these past days. Dong'er pushed him away one moment, accusing him of being too hasty; when he truly slowed down, she grabbed his clothes and refused to let him retreat. Tormented by their back-and-forth struggle, Huo Yuhao's whole body burned, his breathing heavy beyond measure.

"Do you understand how torturous it is now?" Dong'er teased him. "This is how I've been suffering these past few days."

Those words were like the final spark, falling straight into Huo Yuhao's reason, which was on the verge of breaking. He caught her wrist and pulled her away from the array wall into his embrace. Dong'er drew in a soft breath, her fingers instinctively tightening around his clothes. In Huo Yuhao's eyes, she no longer saw only guilt and restraint. There was something deeper, hotter—possessiveness that made the tip of her heart go numb. She wanted to hide, but the instant she turned slightly away, Huo Yuhao followed. Not roughly, but without giving her room to prop herself up again with cold laughter and old grievances.

"Yuhao..." she murmured. Her body had already gone completely soft as she lightly gripped his hand.

Huo Yuhao said quietly, "Dong'er... look at me... it's you now. Only you."

Tears fell from her eyes, but the corners of her lips lifted faintly. "Then remember it clearly."

Wang Dong'er bit her lip, her breathing wildly uneven. More tears fell, yet she slowly released his hand and let his fingers continue undoing her buttons. The sound of fabric slipping free was especially clear within the silent isolation array. Her snow-white shoulders were exposed to the air, carrying a faint scent of sweat. Huo Yuhao's kisses fell upon her shoulder and slowly moved lower.

Dong'er trembled as she hugged him tightly, her fingertips leaving faint red marks across his back. "Yuhao... don't..."

Huo Yuhao sensed her tension and fear. His throat tightened, and he forcibly suppressed the heartbeat threatening to spiral out of control as he asked softly, "Are you afraid?"

Dong'er bit her lip and did not answer at once.

Of course she was afraid.

This was not the brief tenderness of leaning against one another after countless battles side by side. This was her truly deciding to give herself to him. She had imagined it many times. It should have been after the Clear Sky Sect gave its approval, after everyone acknowledged them. It should have been more proper, gentler, and less painful.

But this was not that moment. There was hurt in her heart, jealousy, unwillingness, and the terror that if she waited any longer, fate would push her away. Dong'er looked up at him, her voice so low that it was nearly inaudible.

"I'm afraid."

Huo Yuhao's heart skipped, and his breathing slowed. He loosened his hold on her slightly, resting his forehead against hers without going any further.

"Then we'll stop."

Wang Dong'er stared at him in surprise, then reproached him softly, "Now you know how to stop?"

"Dong'er, I want to... I really want to... But if you're taking this step only because you're afraid Qiu'er will take me away, because you're unwilling to lose, then I can't..."

She looked at him for a very long time before asking, "Will you take responsibility?"

Huo Yuhao barely hesitated. "I will."

She lowered her eyes to their clasped hands. She saw that her fingertips were still trembling, and she also saw that Huo Yuhao was clearly suffering from restraint, yet had truly stopped. Suddenly, she was not so afraid anymore. He had not treated her fear as something to be taken for granted. Dong'er raised a hand and gently pinched his handsome face.

"Huo Yuhao."

"Mm."

"I'm still afraid." Yet she moved closer, taking his hand and guiding it downward before kissing him again. Her voice trembled softly amid their mingling breaths.

"But I've thought it through."

At that moment, Huo Yuhao's reason finally wavered completely. He lifted her and laid her on the soft cushion beside the workbench, his movements gentle as though he were handling the most precious treasure in the world. As their bodies pressed together, Dong'er trembled softly and tearfully bit Huo Yuhao's shoulder, saying that it hurt, yet in the next instant, she tightly embraced his broad back. Huo Yuhao soothed her in a low voice, but he did not stop. Blue-gold light entwined with Ultimate Ice, slowly circulating where they joined, like the gentlest and most fervent response.

The light of the isolation array closed completely.

That night, there was no battle formation review in Soul Tool Laboratory No. 3, nor any calculation of fate.

Much later, Wang Dong'er lay in his arms, her hair scattered over her pale shoulders. Her voice was terribly hoarse, yet she still gave him a light bite, her words carrying a faintly satisfied nasal tone.

"Do you remember?"

Huo Yuhao held her tightly and kissed her sweat-dampened forehead. "I remember."

"Remember what?"

"It was you, Dong'er. You were the first person I loved, and the one I most want to protect."

Dong'er closed her eyes and blinked lightly. "That's more like it."

At the end of the corridor, Wang Qiu'er was drawn over by the final trace of light rippling from the isolation array.

She had not heard everything, but she saw the platinum light spilling through the crack in the door slowly fade. She also sensed a trace of light in Huo Yuhao's spiritual sea, deeper than before.

This time, she merely stood there for a long while, gripping the Golden Dragon Spear tightly before turning and leaving.