"Lin Feng?"
’!’
’Urgh—what is this?’ It was strange as suddenly I felt a sharp, sting-like sensation in my head as if something had just poked me so sharply that I felt a strange surge of memory surfacing within me.
Instantly, my consciousness was painted with strange memories.
DING!
[ Activation Trigger for the Ultimate Villain—]
’System.’ I firmly stated, sharply enough to silence the system’s window that had turned red.
In that fleeting moment, as if a strange rage was boiling within my body, burning through each nerve, I said, ’You are a medicine system... don’t forget it.’
[...]
[ Yes, Host. ]
’Huh?’ What the hell? Did something just happen right now?
It was strange that I felt a peculiar kind of memory overlapping my mind, and now there was just silence.
’What was that?’ The sensation I felt was like standing in front of a truck, waiting for it to hit you.
Not because you thought but because your body reacted. And just now, my body reacted in a strange way I couldn’t understand.
’Damn it, let’s focus on food first.’ Ignoring everything, I started to stuff my face with food, focusing on eating until my stomach was finally full.
I flopped back onto the cave floor like a beached whale, my belly so stuffed I could barely breathe.
Holy shit, I’d just eaten what was probably worth more than my entire medical school tuition in magical herbs, and my body felt like it was about to explode from the inside out.
"Ugh," I groaned, rubbing my distended stomach. "I think I overdid it."
The herbs had tasted amazing—way better than any medicine had a right to taste—but I had gotten carried away.
When you’re starving and suddenly presented with what looks like the world’s most expensive salad, you don’t exactly pace yourself.
I blinked up at the cave ceiling, trying to process the warm, buzzing sensation spreading through my entire body. It wasn’t painful, exactly, but it was definitely... intense.
Like every cell in my body was vibrating at a frequency I’d never experienced before.
That’s when I noticed her.
Lianhua was sitting cross-legged near the fire, holding her cup of herb soup with both hands.
But instead of drinking it normally like a sane person, she was taking tiny, careful sips, then closing her eyes and sitting perfectly still for several minutes before taking another microscopic taste.
What the hell?
I watched this bizarre ritual for a good ten minutes, my confusion growing with each painfully small sip she took.
The soup was probably getting cold at this rate, and she had barely consumed a quarter of what I’d given her.
Finally, I couldn’t take it anymore. I struggled to sit up, my overstuffed belly making the movement more difficult than it should have been.
"Hey," I said, scratching my chin as I looked at her. "Why are you doing that? You could eat all of it, right? Or are you trying to cool it down?"
She opened those silver eyes and stared at me like I’d just asked why water was wet.
"Wait," she said slowly, her voice filled with dawning horror. "Have you eaten all of it?"
"Yeah," I replied, patting my distended stomach. "Probably shouldn’t have, but I was starving and it tasted incredible."
Her lips pursed into a thin line, and for a moment she looked like she was trying very hard not to laugh. Or scream. Hard to tell which.
"Of course," she said, her voice taking on a strange tone that was half bitter, half amused. "You got that ability where, due to heaven’s blessing, whatever you ate turned into cultivation without getting overloaded. You were more special than us, always."
She hung her head as she said it, and the melancholy in her voice confused the hell out of me even more than her words did.
"What nonsense are you talking about?" I asked, though something about the phrase ’heaven’s blessing’ poked at a memory in the back of my mind.
Everything about this situation—the magical herbs, the cultivation talk, the woman with fox ears—it all screamed one thing: cultivation novel.
I’d read enough web novels during boring study breaks to recognize the tropes. But actually being in one? That was a whole different level of crazy.
I needed confirmation, and I had a feeling this woman held the answers.
"So," I said, trying to sound casual, "can you tell me why you were trying to kill me?"
She looked up at me sharply, her silver eyes searching my face. "You don’t know?"
There was something in her voice—anticipation, maybe? Like she already knew the answer but wanted to hear me say it.
"Yeah, I seem to have lost my memory," I lied smoothly.
To my surprise, she actually chuckled at that. A soft, sad sound that made something twist in my chest.
"You said that when we first met too," she murmured, so quietly I almost missed it.
What the fuck did that mean? We’d never met before, had we? I would have remembered a gorgeous woman with fox ears and silver eyes trying to murder me.
That’s not exactly something you forget.
"So can you—" I started to ask, but the words died in my throat as her expression suddenly shifted.
Her eyes narrowed, and she stood up with fluid grace, still holding her cup of soup. There was something predatory in the way she moved, like a cat stalking its prey.
"What are you—" I began, but then she was walking toward me with deliberate steps.
Before I could react, she positioned herself directly in front of where I was sitting and... sat down. Right on my lap.
"Ugh!" I yelped, my hands flying up instinctively to steady her as her soft back pressed against my abdomen.
Thank God I’d tied that bedsheet around my waist earlier, because this would have been a whole lot more awkward otherwise.
But even with the fabric barrier, I could feel everything.
The warmth of her body, the way her fox tails draped over my legs, the soft curve of her spine against my chest.
My body responded immediately and embarrassingly, blood rushing south faster than I could think to stop it.
"What are you doing, lady?" I managed to croak out, my voice coming out higher than I intended.
She leaned back against me more comfortably, like this was the most natural thing in the world.
"What?" she said innocently, though I could hear the smile in her voice. "I was feeling cold; that’s why I’m trying to warm both of us."
"But isn’t the fire already burning right there?" I pointed desperately at the crackling flames not five feet away from us.
She turned her head slightly, and I caught a glimpse of her profile—the elegant line of her nose, the curve of her lips. "You’re still so dense, aren’t you?"
Dense? I wasn’t dense! I was trying not to embarrass myself further by getting harder than a rock with her sitting on me like this.
But apparently, my body had other plans. She shifted slightly—deliberately, I was starting to suspect—and the movement sent a jolt straight through me.
My erection pressed against the bedsheet, directly feeling the twitch and clamping of her butt cheek, and there was no way she couldn’t feel it.
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, trying to think of anything other than the beautiful woman currently using me as a chair.
"Lady," I said through gritted teeth, "I’m warning you. You’re my patient, so you better keep some distance from me."
"Fine, I will," she said sweetly.
But instead of moving away like any reasonable person would, she did the exact opposite. She leaned back further, resting her head on my shoulder, her fox ears tickling my neck.
And then, before I could process what was happening, I felt her teeth gently bite down on my earlobe.
"Fuck!" I gasped, my face flushing red-hot as every rational thought flew out of my head.
The sensation shot straight through me like electricity, and my erection went from uncomfortable to downright painful in the span of a heartbeat.
My eyes squeezed shut, and I found myself muttering the most embarrassing confession of my life: "Please, lady, let me just tell you—I am a virgin."