Body takeover?

Xie Jinhuan returned to Clear Spring Lane alone, carrying a small parcel of snacks he had bought for Coal Ball on the way.

With the unexpected windfall he had obtained from Fu Dongping, he no longer had to worry about food or clothing for the time being, and had bought himself a new outfit as well.

Once he reached the residence, Xie Jinhuan vaulted over the white wall, intending to check whether Lin Wanyi had finished purging the poison. But after only a few steps, he suddenly noticed something amiss.

The residence was utterly quiet, as though deserted, and the Main Room's door stood open.

Xie Jinhuan frowned, rested his hand on the Heavenly Gang Mace, and silently approached the Main Room's doorway. Everything was still in its place, but Lin Wanyi was gone.

Meanwhile, the personal attendant left in the room to keep her company was crouching in a corner with its back to him and its head pressed against the wall, showing no intention whatsoever of coming out to greet him.

"Coal Ball?"

"Goo!"

Coal Ball muttered without turning around. From the look of things, it had gone half a day without food and was sulking.

At the sight, Xie Jinhuan knew Lin Wanyi had not helped him feed it. He immediately picked up the box of dried meat and shook it.

"Cluck, cluck, cluck~"

"Goo-ji?!"

Coal Ball turned its head a full hundred and eighty degrees, its big eyes brimming with shock. Its meaning was probably-Do you think I'm a free-range chicken? You might as well starve Ballie to death!

Xie Jinhuan could only set the dried meat on the table for Coal Ball to eat on its own, then went outside and looked around.

He had assumed Lin Wanyi had grown tired of waiting and gone home first, but soon discovered that the bathroom door was tightly shut, with faint sounds of circulating breath inside.

Xie Jinhuan approached the bathroom door, cocked an ear to listen, and called out:

"Miss Lin?"

A reply came from inside at once:

"Come in."

Without thinking much of it, Xie Jinhuan pushed open the door.

Creak~

The first thing he saw was a skirt hanging from the clothes rail.

Lin the Great Beauty, whose beauty could topple a nation, was soaking in the Bathing Tub, her long, ink-black hair spilling down her back...

?

Click-

Caught completely off guard, Xie Jinhuan thought he had entered the wrong place. He swiftly shut the door and looked around. After confirming that this was his own home, he opened it again to check. It really was Lin Wanyi. His gaze was positively incredulous.

"Miss Lin, what are you playing at? You called me in while you're bathing? Let me make this clear first: looking doesn't mean I'll devote myself to you forever, and I didn't look on purpose..."

"Heh~ Quite thick-skinned, aren't you? Last night, you practically wanted to shove your hand down my front. Why are you playing the gentleman today?"

Last night?

Xie Jinhuan remembered that he had not peeked at Lin Wanyi's chest last night. As he stood there bewildered, something suddenly occurred to him, and his eyes jolted.

"Ye Hongshang? You used Body Seizure?!"

"What Body Seizure? It's just possession. If you don't come in, your big sister's coming out."

Xie Jinhuan was dubious, but even if the Nightly Great Succubus used Body Seizure, she probably couldn't wield much power using Lin Wanyi's body.

He had thought this was a romantic encounter in which a Witch Cult Demoness seduced a young hero. Finding that it was the Nightly Great Succubus fooling around left him speechless, and he shut the door.

"Put your clothes on first! Possession is one thing, but why are you taking a bath?"

"I'm covering my chest. You can't see anything anyway..."

Splash~

As they chatted, splashing and rustling came from inside.

Xie Jinhuan waited by the door. Only when another "Ready" came from inside did he push it open and look.

Creak~

He looked up to find the peerless beauty inside still soaking in the Bathing Tub.

This time, however, she had sunk a little lower, with a white towel draped below her neck, while her fair, bare feet were raised and propped on the opposite rim. Her posture was exceedingly imperious. Paired with Lin Wanyi's intellectual bearing, she looked like a female CEO receiving her male favorite in the Bathing Tub...

Good grief...

Seeing her like this, Xie Jinhuan hardly felt comfortable approaching.

"What are you messing around with? Is she all right?"

Ye Hongshang leaned against the Bathing Tub, idly flicking up water.

"I'm helping her examine her cultivation method. Someone seems to have tampered with it, upsetting the balance of yin and yang and leaving her unable to resist baleful yin contamination. That loophole is precisely how I possessed her so easily."

"Tampered with it?"

Xie Jinhuan frowned. "You mean someone has designs on her?"

Ye Hongshang shook her head. "Lin Wanyi is too young to warrant anyone going to such lengths. It may be a case of 'a crooked upper beam makes the lower beams lean'-the problem with her cultivation method may go all the way back to her Grandmaster."

Xie Jinhuan had no idea where Lin Wanyi had learned such a sinister cultivation method. Since she would not let him help, he could hardly force his way into her business. After a moment's thought, he asked:

"Her life isn't in danger right now, is it?"

"Not in the short term, but she has no resistance to baleful yin things and is very easily contaminated by evil spirits."

"That's good, then."

Xie Jinhuan urgently needed pills to improve his strength. As long as Lin Wanyi would be fine in the short term and could help him through his difficulties, everything else could wait.

Having finished discussing business, Ye Hongshang suddenly asked:

"Xie Jinhuan, how did you feel when you first saw me?"

Finding the question baffling, Xie Jinhuan thought back briefly.

"Nearly scared me to death."

"Anything else?"

"What a huge ride!"

"Hm?"

Confusion appeared on Ye Hongshang's face.

Xie Jinhuan could hardly explain just how much impact a "sixteen-foot succubus" had on him, so he waved a hand.

"Hurry up and withdraw your divine ability. Can't you ask your questions when I'm asleep tonight?"

"But you can't touch me when you're asleep tonight."

As she spoke, Ye Hongshang thrust out her chest slightly, raising the white towel draped over it into the perfect curves of two overturned soup bowls.

"Want to have a feel? I'll keep your secret."

?

Xie Jinhuan never denied his appreciation of beauty, but if he was going to touch a girl, it ought to be Lin Wanyi herself freely offering.

What was this business of an "A Piao-brand designated driver" taking the wheel?

"This is Miss Lin's body. If you want me to touch you, come yourself. I promise I won't hold back."

"Heh~ I'm much bigger than this girl. I'm afraid you couldn't get a grip on me."

Xie Jinhuan could see just how richly endowed Lin Wanyi was. For Ye Hongshang to be much bigger than this, her true form would have to stand sixteen feet tall.

He was about to explore that question when the sound of wheels came from the alley outside the courtyard.

Rumble, rumble...

The sound drew closer and soon stopped outside the gate.

Xie Jinhuan frowned, thinking Yang Dabiao and the others had returned. Instead, a knock soon came from outside the courtyard, along with a young girl's sweet voice:

"Aunt~ Aunt~?"

?

Hearing the Poison-Hand Medicine Maiden's voice, Xie Jinhuan's heart jolted, and he looked toward the peerless beauty in the Bathing Tub.

"Quick, quick, quick, her girl's here! Log out already. Don't let her find out. I haven't taken advantage of anything, and if I get falsely branded a lecher and she plants a gu in me, I'm tossing you into the privy."

Ye Hongshang looked rather disappointed, but still leaned against the Bathing Tub and assumed the pose Lin Wanyi had been in when she fainted...

In Clear Spring Lane.

A carriage bearing a wooden plaque marked "Lin" stopped outside the courtyard gate. Having been astonished by Xie Jinhuan's performance at noon, the guard Jia Zheng held him in great respect and spoke quietly:

"Miss, Young Master Xie is no ordinary man. Remember to be courteous when you meet him, and whatever you do, don't drug him..."

Upon hearing that something had happened to her aunt, Lin Zisu had rushed over from the Academy. She now wore a standard pale aqua skirt with white trousers and shoes, looking neat and bright.

"It's not as though I don't know when to draw the line. If I scare Young Master Xie away, won't Aunt spend every day washing her face with tears, lost in sorrow..."

"Shh~"

The two waited like this for a moment before footsteps came from inside the courtyard.

Tap, tap...

Then the gate opened, revealing a distinguished young man in white robes.

Lin Zisu was a young woman, after all, and felt somewhat awkward about arriving unannounced. She hurriedly dipped in greeting.

"Greetings, Young Master Xie."

At the sight of the Poison-Hand Medicine Maiden, Xie Jinhuan braced himself and produced a smile.

"Miss Zisu? What brings you here?"

"I heard Aunt was poisoned, so I came to see her."

As she spoke, Lin Zisu peered into the courtyard.

"Is Aunt inside?"

"Uh..."

Xie Jinhuan had no idea whether the Nightly Great Succubus had withdrawn her divine ability yet. At this point, he could hardly claim he had never seen Lin Wanyi, so he could only say:

"She's doing quite well, but purging the poison this morning took a lot out of her. She's resting now. I went with the Yamen officers to Three Harmony Tower to deal with a case earlier, and I've only just returned myself."

"Really?" Somewhat concerned for her aunt's safety, Lin Zisu headed inside. "Which room is Aunt in? I'll go take a look."

Xie Jinhuan's expression stiffened. Just as he was debating whether to stop her, a voice came from the rear courtyard:

"Zisu? What are you doing here?! You... don't come in yet!"

Splash-

The splashing and flustered tone had more than a hint of "there are no three hundred taels of silver buried here." All three people at the gate fell silent.

Recognizing the voice as Lin Wanyi's Real Aunt, Xie Jinhuan secretly breathed a sigh of relief, though a trace of embarrassment also appeared in his eyes.

Lin Zisu's bright, limpid eyes visibly widened, and she even withdrew the foot she had stepped over the threshold. She wanted to speak, stopped, then wanted to speak again. Finally, she coughed lightly and pretended she had heard nothing.

"I heard you also killed a demon just now, Young Master Xie. You weren't hurt, were you?"

"Nothing serious. Please come in, Miss Zisu."

"No need. What if I really do see something once I'm inside... ahem~ Right here is fine..."

"Uh..."