Chapter 49 (Part 1)- I’ll Just Rub

Yu Zhengzheng rubbed her eyes, thinking she must be seeing things.

But when she opened them again, the face before her was still that of her senior brother.

After a moment of contemplation, she came to her own conclusion.

Years ago, when the Ghost King massacred the Eastern Sea, only the wet nurse, concubine, and infant son of the Eastern Emperor’s third prince had escaped. Later, the wet nurse fled to the human world, concealed her identity, married a mortal, and gave birth to her senior brother.

Thus, it was absolutely impossible for the Ghost King to be her senior brother. The Ghost King was tens of thousands of years older than her senior brother—this was an indisputable fact.

However, the fact that the Ghost King had sent Xiang Feng to kill her senior brother suggested there was some hidden truth. Perhaps her senior brother was actually the child of the wet nurse and the Eastern Emperor’s third prince, or maybe he was an illegitimate child of the prince.

If that were the case, it would explain why the Ghost King wanted to kill her senior brother.

After all, the Ghost King couldn’t possibly have a split personality and order an attack on himself.

The more Yu Zhengzheng thought about it, the more convinced she became. She looked at Rong Shang, who had an unreadable expression, and cautiously probed, “Are you and my senior brother blood brothers?”

Rong Shang’s thin lips curved slightly as he let out a soft laugh.

How could she think that?

To be his blood brother? That would depend on whether the person was even qualified.

Seeing her hopeful gaze, he suddenly recalled something she had said to him back when they were in the Ghost Sect.

He had asked her, “I heard you once took a sword for my enemy… Do you have feelings for him?”

She had grinned and replied, “No way! He’s just a toad wanting to eat swan meat. I only stepped in by accident.”

Whether or not she remembered, he hadn’t forgotten.

Rong Shang narrowed his long eyes slightly, looked into her expectant gaze, and smiled faintly. “No, I am that toad.”

Yu Zhengzheng froze for a moment, then finally understood what he meant.

Her expression darkened, but she still clung to a sliver of hope. “That’s impossible. My senior brother is so young, and you’re tens of thousands of years old…”

“Besides, who would be crazy enough to order their subordinate to kill themselves?”

Rong Shang clasped his hands together, his slender fingers slightly flexed, his lips holding a faint smile. “Your senior brother has been dead for over ten years.”

With that, he patiently addressed her second question. “I never said I ordered Xiang Feng to kill him. That command came from the Asura King.”

Yu Zhengzheng: “…”

Her senior brother had joined Mount Penglai over ten years ago. If Rong Shang was telling the truth, then her senior brother had already been killed by the Ghost King before that.

No wonder her unreliable father had once tested her senior brother’s spiritual roots and found four elements—gold, water, fire, and earth—when the original senior brother had only three: gold, water, and earth. She had thought she remembered it wrong because it had been so long.

So the original senior brother had died long ago, replaced by the Ghost King. And the man she had loved for seven years turned out to be the Ghost King?!

Yu Zhengzheng had always consoled herself with the thought that everyone encounters a couple of bad men in their youth.

But the problem was, she hadn’t even gotten over her senior brother when she fell for the Ghost King—only to discover that the two terrible men were one and the same?!

Yu Zhengzheng was utterly shattered.

She could tolerate his arrogance, even his obliviousness to romantic cues, but this? This she couldn’t forgive.

Her arms trembled faintly at her sides. “You’ve been lying to me all along?”

Rong Shang turned his head slightly, letting out a soft snort. “Haven’t you?”

She frowned. “What have I lied to you about?”

He tossed a black porcelain bottle toward her, his gaze cold and sharp. “What do you think?”

Yu Zhengzheng looked at the porcelain bottle, and in that moment, everything clicked.

The reason he had suddenly wanted her last night was that he thought she intended to help the Seventh Prince harm him, so he wanted to take revenge in this way.

He knew her all too well.

Her bottom line was her senior brother. That’s why he had disguised himself from the beginning, never daring to show his true face.

Today, asking her to assist him with washing was just a ploy to have her personally tear off his human-skin mask and experience the emotional freefall he had orchestrated.

After all, going from a night of passionate intimacy to waking up and finding herself face-to-face with her mortal enemy—who wouldn’t break down on the spot?

But he had underestimated her.

She wasn’t normal.

Yu Zhengzheng’s face broke into a gentle smile. She slowly untied the sash at her waist and reached for his hands.

Rong Shang raised his eyes slightly, a trace of confusion in his expression.

Her reaction was strange—entirely different from what he had anticipated.

Based on her usual temperament, she should have flown into a rage, gnashing her teeth and vowing to kill him.

He didn’t stop her actions. He was curious to see what she intended to do.

Yu Zhengzheng tied his hands with her sash. The sash was long enough that even after securing a firm knot, there were still two feet of excess length.

She tugged on the sash, slowly pulling him toward a red lacquered pillar.

Yu Zhengzheng glanced at the ceiling beam and then reached for the jade belt at his waist.

Rong Shang’s gaze darkened, his voice low and hoarse. “What are you planning?”

Imitating his actions from the previous night, she tiptoed closer, pressing her finger to his lips.

Leaning in, her warm breath brushed against his ear as she whispered with a trembling voice, “Are you afraid?”

Rong Shang smirked, his voice soft. “How could I be?”

Yu Zhengzheng nodded. She tied the sash and jade belt together, then looked up at the patch of weeds growing on the ceiling beam.

Perhaps due to the dampness of the wooden beam, a small clump of unknown weeds had managed to sprout and root. A faint smile played on her lips as she slowly raised her arm.

With a light flick of her delicate, pale fingertips, the undernourished weeds suddenly grew with wild abandon. In the blink of an eye, they transformed into a lush, verdant cluster. Extending her hand, the sturdy roots reached out to her arm as if responding to her will. She tied the silk belt to the weeds, which seemed to sense her thoughts and obediently lifted themselves upward.

As the belt rose, so did Rong Shang, who had previously been standing firmly on the ground. The weeds hoisted him into the air like a prisoner bound for interrogation, his legs dangling comically as he swayed.

Rong Shang’s expression darkened, though he remained silent.

If she intended to kill him, she was hopelessly naïve.

Weapons might wound his flesh, but they could never end his life.

Still, once he was free, her fate would be sealed.

He moved to struggle, but her soft laugh stopped him short. “This is the belt that matches your silken outer robe, made from celestial moth silk. Unless you cut off your own hands, you won’t be breaking free.”

Her tone carried a clear message: don’t waste your strength.

Rong Shang lazily lowered his gaze, casting her a sidelong look. “In that case, get on with whatever it is you plan to do.”

Nodding, she brought over a table and fixed his feet to its legs before pulling his inner garment down to his ankles.

Rong Shang: “…”

A chill swept over his thighs, and he instinctively tried to close his legs. Bound as he was to the table legs, however, he couldn’t move.

Her fingers, cool to the touch, trailed upward from his ankles as she murmured softly, “I never intended to harm you. I just wanted to get the antidote from the Seventh Prince.”

He turned his head away, saying nothing.

She offered no further explanation, focusing instead on her careful exploration. Her fingers traced the soft warmth she held, drawing circles and patterns. She felt him shudder faintly under her touch.

With a playful smile, she asked, “Do you like this?”

He didn’t respond, though the room, otherwise silent, filled with the sound of his increasingly heavy breathing.

When he remained silent, she lowered her head. Alongside his breathing came faint, wet sounds.

She planned to repay him in full for everything he had done to her the previous night.

Rong Shang, unaccustomed to such sensations, tensed. His arms, bound above him, tightened instinctively as his eyes fixed on her lips. Something primal stirred deep within him, desperate to break free.

Just as he reached the brink, she pressed her thumb against him, blocking his release. His face paled as his back went rigid.

She was laughing now—this was exactly what he had done to her.

All along, she had assumed his actions were mere playful games. Only today did she realize his intentions were far darker, a calculated form of revenge.

Stepping onto the table, she slowly slipped off her white robe.

She leaned forward, pressing herself against him. As if wielding a grinding stone, she moved slowly back and forth, her movements deliberate and measured.

After a few repetitions, she stopped.

His suppressed groan broke the silence, laden with tension and struggle.

Her lips curved into an innocent smile. “I’ll just tease you a little. I won’t go any further.”

For the first time, Rong Shang truly hated his lack of divine power.

The frustration burned within him, unbearable, as though he might explode.

Even if she had slashed him with a blade, he wouldn’t have made a sound.

But this… this was torture of a different kind.

If he could free himself, he’d pin her down on the bed and tear her apart, making her regret every second of what she was doing.

He finally lost his composure, his face cold as he growled, “Do it.”

She scoffed. “Do what?”