What's wrong with me?

"If you want people from the other courtyards coming over to watch, go ahead and scream."

Was the soundproofing bad?

Those words instantly silenced Xia Zhi's heart-wrenching cries.

"R-really?"

She still had her pride. She didn't want to make a spectacle of herself.

Lu Heng loosened his cuffs, exposing his strong, muscular forearms, and scared Xia Zhi with a perfectly straight face.

"So you'd better behave. No matter how badly you want to scream, hold it in."

Xia Zhi held back until her eyes filled with tears. She bit down hard on her lower lip, refusing to let a single sound escape. She looked so pitiful that even Lu Heng's heart softened a little.

"Do you need me to do anything?"

Seeing that Lu Heng was willing to help, Xia Zhi immediately smiled through her tears.

"Use that back scratcher to scratch my neck. This feels so awful. You probably can't understand what it's like. It's as if... as if countless little bugs are racing through my blood vessels."

"Their claws aren't digging into the ground. They're digging into my flesh. Thousands and thousands of claws..."

It was so, so, so unbearable.

With her hair a mess, her face grimy, and her body covered in marks, Xia Zhi had none of her usual radiance, yet Lu Heng couldn't take his eyes off her.

Lu Heng picked up the back scratcher but didn't know where to start. Xia Zhi's body was already a sorry sight, covered in red marks. It seemed as if the slightest extra pressure would break her skin.

Xia Zhi urged him, "Hurry!"

The itching was driving her mad.

Lu Heng watched her quietly for a moment, then tossed the back scratcher aside.

Xia Zhi was stunned. "What are you doing? Aren't you going to scratch me?"

She was being punished because of him. How could he just wash his hands of her?

Xia Zhi felt terribly wronged. "Lu Heng, you..."

Before she could finish, his actions left her frozen.

H-he was touching her neck?

What was going on?

Xia Zhi's eyes widened as she stared at Lu Heng's calm face in astonishment.

Yet Lu Heng acted as though he were doing the most ordinary thing in the world. His large hand massaged Xia Zhi's neck, gradually increasing the pressure to ease her discomfort.

Whether it was because Xia Zhi was too shocked or because Lu Heng's technique actually worked, she really did feel less itchy.

"Better?"

Xia Zhi's whole body was rigid. Only her eyes seemed able to move.

She slowly turned toward Lu Heng and managed to ask, "You're... not a germaphobe anymore?"

Just last night, Lu Heng had grabbed her wrist and then spent ages washing his hands. After touching her like this today, wouldn't he go through a whole bottle of hand soap?

Lu Heng was matter-of-fact. "I'll wash my hands afterward."

Xia Zhi was speechless.

Just as she'd thought.

She couldn't help defending herself. "Am I that dirty? I just took a bath. You haven't washed since you got home, and I haven't complained about you."

This archvillain was so fussy.

Lu Heng stopped what he was doing. "Do you still want my help or not?"

Xia Zhi immediately abandoned her dignity. "Yes, yes, yes."

"Your massage feels so good. I feel much better."

"You've practiced this technique, haven't you?"

"Even if you lose your job someday, you won't have to worry about going hungry. This is a real skill. You'd definitely be a big hit with middle-aged and elderly women..."

Her words cut off the instant she met Lu Heng's icy gaze.

Xia Zhi gave an awkward smile. "My back itches. Ah... Ah Heng, how about seeing your good deed through?"

It barely scratched the surface, but something was better than nothing. Her hands and feet were tied, and she couldn't persuade the archvillain to let her go, so she could only make do with a little rainwater to quench her thirst.

Lu Heng turned Xia Zhi over. "Where?"

"Higher, by my shoulders."

"Mmm, that feels so good."

"Harder."

"Ow, ow, ow."

At first, Xia Zhi had been a little reserved and unable to relax. But once she realized the archvillain was quite obliging, massaging wherever she told him to, she began to let herself go.

"Ah Heng, if you gave me a massage like this every day, I'd pay you two hundred each time."

That was already a huge expense for her, as well as an endorsement of Lu Heng's technique.

Lu Heng's fingers paused briefly, then pressed down hard. As he'd wanted, the woman yelped.

"Ow, ow, ow."

The man's cold voice came from behind her. "Then watch what you say."

Two hundred?

Did he look like he needed that two hundred?

Not even two million would get him to do it.

Xia Zhi immediately learned her lesson. "I-I was just complimenting you."

"Lower. That bone in the middle is itching like mad."

They went all the way down to her waist.

Lu Heng accidentally pinched the soft flesh at her waist, making Xia Zhi giggle. "That tickles."

"Lu Heng, you did that on purpose, didn't you?"

The man behind her didn't answer, but a faint smile appeared in his eyes.

Before long, Xia Zhi's long legs were rubbing incessantly against the sheets. "It's so itchy. My left leg, and my knee too."

Her long dress rode up unevenly as she struggled, revealing her long, straight, beautiful legs. Lu Heng had seen such a sight before, but back then he had felt nothing but disgust. Now, a trace of something different arose.

His large hand pressed against her smooth skin. Like the finest warm jade, it made him reluctant to let go.

Lu Heng's massage felt so good that Xia Zhi couldn't help lifting her leg toward his palm.

Mmm.

Not good.

Her breasts itched.

Surely she couldn't ask Lu Heng to massage those too?

That would be too...

It would make it seem as though she were trying to seduce him.

Although the original owner of this body had done that sort of thing plenty of times, she wasn't the original owner. She absolutely couldn't carry on those bad habits and make the archvillain hate her.

Xia Zhi had been lying on her side. Now she had no choice but to roll onto her stomach and wriggle forward, then wriggle a little more.

Watching her squirm like a cabbage caterpillar, Lu Heng was somewhat amused. "What are you doing?"

"I..."

Xia Zhi found it hard to say.

"My chest is a little itchy. I'm just rubbing it."

With her waist lowered and her bottom raised, she crawled laboriously, the line from the back of her neck to her waist forming a perfect curve.

Xia Zhi had no idea how alluring she looked just then. To make matters worse, the exertion made her let out soft, involuntary pants.

Lu Heng caught her by the waist and reached around. "Which one?"

Xia Zhi's jaw dropped. What was he doing?

Lu Heng pressed down on one of them.

Xia Zhi belatedly caught on, no longer caring about keeping her voice down. "Lu Heng! You pervert!"

"Let go of me!"

Lu Heng seemed not to hear. "Which one?"

Xia Zhi's face turned deep purple. "Y-you, let go, you bastard!"

Lu Heng frowned. "You let me touch everywhere else. Why not here?"

"Aren't they just two lumps of flesh?"

"What's all the fuss about?"

Xia Zhi was utterly speechless!!!

Were those just two lumps of flesh?

In a man's eyes, weren't they supposed to be a woman's most alluring, sacred, and inviolable place?

Suddenly, a thought flashed through Xia Zhi's mind. Could it be...

"Y-you, you."

Xia Zhi struggled to twist her neck and look at the man behind her.

"Are you gay?"

Lu Heng calmly massaged her breasts, his tone so composed that Xia Zhi wanted to punch him. "Not being interested in you makes me gay?"

"You really are full of yourself."

"My brother touches dozens of breasts a day. I've never seen him take an interest in any of them."

Xia Zhi said, "How is that the same? Your brother is a thoracic surgeon, but you..."

"What's wrong with me?"