Chapter 14: A Sleepless Night’s Aftermath

Su Qianyu froze.

‘This, you!?’

‘Had I just been tricked into revealing information!?’

Her pupils gradually constricted with fear, and Su Qianyu’s legs instinctively buckled beneath her.

“It….it was someone setting a trap to frame me!”

Almost instinctively, Su Qianyu scrambled for an excuse.

Though the excuse sounded painfully clumsy.

Yet, Su Qianyu had always been a firm believer in a certain adage.

As the saying went, ‘Sharpen your spear at the last minute; though it may not be sharp, it will still gleam.’

“Oh? Really?”

Illo held her phone, her face alight with a knowing smile.

Those who wronged you knew better than anyone just how wronged you truly were.

As she scrolled through her phone, Illo’s gaze flickered towards Su Qianyu.

Seeing her chat history with the Sub-Moderator about to be exposed, Su Qianyu hastily changed her tune.

“Uh! Actually… I was just lying to you!”

“Oh?”

Illo’s eyebrows subtly arched, and her eyes quickly filled with their usual dangerous glint.

Of course, it was all an act.

“You know what happens when you lie to me, don’t you?”

Closing her eyes, Su Qianyu felt the dangerous aura emanating from before her and swallowed a trembling gulp.

Seeing that the other party was about to start rummaging through her phone again, Su Qianyu vigorously nodded.

“I, I know!”

“Then tell me, how should I punish you?”

Catching the phone after it traced a graceful arc in the air, Illo settled onto the bed, taking a sip of water with her free hand.

“I recall telling you from the very beginning that I truly despise children who lie, don’t I?”

Su Qianyu’s eyes darted around frantically; clearly, her brain was on the verge of overheating.

A child’s mind was already prone to falter, and under such pressure, it was even more likely to crash.

Su Qianyu held firm to her belief: she was not a masochist.

Nor was she some fox girl who enjoyed torment.

However, the current situation clearly afforded her no room for further hesitation.

At the mere thought of Illo discovering her chat logs, Su Qianyu could guarantee her situation would be far worse than it had been in previous days.

As if having made a grave decision, Su Qianyu closed her eyes, gritted her teeth, and loudly declared.

“I, I can accept anything!”

“Please, punish me as you wish!”

Clutching a resolve to face death, Su Qianyu knelt on the floor, almost to the point of stripping off her clothes.

‘This, this move is called ‘sacrificing a rook to save the king’ (TL Note: A Chinese idiom, ‘qì chē bǎo shuài,’ meaning to sacrifice a minor piece to save a more important one, or to make a small sacrifice to avoid a greater loss)!’

‘As long as the green mountains remain, there’s no fear of lacking firewood’ (TL Note: A Chinese idiom, ‘liú dé qīng shān zài, bù pà méi chái shāo,’ meaning where there is life, there is hope; or, if the main thing is preserved, the rest can be restored)!’

However, Illo merely clicked her tongue, shaking her head, and placed the phone before Su Qianyu.

“While I don’t know what you intend to do with my recording, how about we play a game?”

“A g-game!?”

Su Qianyu harbored no illusions that Illo had any good ideas.

“If you can touch your phone, I lose, and I won’t inquire about today’s matters again.”

“And if I don’t win?”

Before Illo could speak, Su Qianyu had already blurted out the question.

Yet, upon seeing the little fox girl interrupt her, Illo not only didn’t get angry but even let out a soft chuckle.

“You, guess?”

Though she didn’t know what Illo was thinking, Su Qianyu grasped one crucial fact.

‘It seems I’m not doomed yet!’

Seeing her phone resting on the bedside table not far from her, Su Qianyu’s heart surged with renewed hope.

‘Hmph, this is an opportunity given by you, Illo; since you’re practically handing it to me, how could I possibly refuse?’

At an unspoken command, Su Qianyu immediately shot forward.

While Su Qianyu admitted that without her ‘cheat codes’ (TL Note: A Chinese slang term, ‘jīn shǒu zhǐ,’ referring to special abilities or advantages, like a cheat in a game), she was indeed somewhat weak.

But when it came to reaction speed, she feared no one!

‘A mere phone, a trinket in my palm! How could it possibly escape me!’

However, just a second before her hand made contact with the phone, Su Qianyu’s consciousness blurred, and her vision grew hazy.

When she regained clarity, she found herself, at some unknown point, willingly beneath Illo.

‘Was it an illusion?’

Raising her head, Su Qianyu’s gaze met Illo’s directly.

Yet, staring at the phone not far away, Su Qianyu remained silent, offering no complaints; instead, she charged forward again with renewed determination.

‘Fine, I’ll take it!’

But just like before, the moment she was about to grasp the phone, Su Qianyu’s mind wavered again, and she found herself back in her original spot.

This time, however, she distinctly felt a tingling sensation emanating from her ear.

“Mmm!”

The sudden stimulation caused Su Qianyu’s mind to briefly go blank.

Feeling the warm breath against her earlobe, the girl, who had just been planning another charge, instantly felt her legs weaken.

‘W-what’s happening?’

‘I clearly touched it, didn’t I?’

However, before her brain could process it, another wave of tingling, accompanied by a moist sensation, descended from above.

“Don’t, don’t lick… Mmm!”

Her face flushed, the girl squeezed out a few words through gritted teeth.

But Illo, with a mischievous smile, moved twice more.

“Come on, little one? You’re just a tiny bit away from success, aren’t you?”

Teasing the little fox girl beneath her, the smile on Illo’s face deepened.

Yet, unexpectedly, Su Qianyu didn’t immediately collapse this time; instead, she forcefully endured the sensation and charged out once more.

Once, twice.

Her movements grew slower, her face redder and redder.

Watching Su Qianyu’s struggle, even Illo felt a touch of emotion.

‘This one, their willpower is truly tenacious, isn’t it?’

Even knowing she was the one causing mischief, Su Qianyu continued to push forward.

In every move, Illo seemed to see a reflection of herself.

In her previous life, she had been much the same, constantly struggling despite having no chance of victory.

Even if, after all the struggle, nothing remained.

‘This little one… they’re even moving a reborn person like me.’

Despite these thoughts, Illo still did not cease her actions.

‘How did that saying go?’

‘Humans don’t empathize with toys.’

‘And mental illusions (TL Note: ‘念写’ (niàn xiě) in this context refers to a psychic ability to create illusions or influence minds, distinct from literal thoughtography) are truly effective.’

This night, it was destined to be sleepless.

****

Another morning dawned.

Amidst the static of the radio and the chirping of birds, Su Qianyu slowly rose from the bed.

Rubbing her eyes, then yawning, she completed both actions in one fluid motion.

Still clearly half-asleep, the little fox girl stretched languidly in the sunlight.

Her graceful curves extended in the sunlight, casting shadows across the noticeably disheveled large bed.

In the air, a hazy, orange-scented aroma permeated the entire room.

“Eh?!”

Moving her somewhat stiff body, Su Qianyu discovered she was actually in Illo’s room.

‘Huh? How did I end up here?’

The person beside her had already risen; rubbing her head, Su Qianyu suddenly felt a blank in her memory.

Fragmented memories in her mind refused to piece together.

Whenever she reached a crucial point, her mind would simply go blank.

Gazing at the ceiling, Su Qianyu felt as though she had forgotten something incredibly important.

Bzzzt.

Her phone suddenly buzzed, and looking at it, Su Qianyu recalled the general gist of things.

‘Yesterday… yesterday… right!’

‘Yesterday, I was going to record Illo in her ‘red zone’ (TL Note: A Chinese slang term, ‘hóng wēn,’ referring to a state of extreme anger or being ‘heated,’ like an engine overheating) hitting someone!’

A sudden flash in her mind brought most of it back to Su Qianyu.

‘I hid my phone on top of the bookshelf, then quietly snuck into Illo’s room!’

‘And then something very important seemed to have happened?’

Rubbing her head, Su Qianyu’s mind crashed once more.

‘Ugh, it seems I have amnesia.’

But since I’ve completely blacked out, Illo must have hit me quite hard yesterday.

Otherwise, I shouldn’t be in this state.

Unlocking her phone, Su Qianyu quickly found her photo album.

Seeing a video that was several hours long, Su Qianyu felt a surge of surprise.

Without another word, the little fox girl immediately tapped to play the video.

She was determined to see just how merciless Illo had been, hitting her for several hours straight.

But as she watched, Su Qianyu’s face transitioned from pale to red, then gradually bloomed into a soft pink.

From time to time, one could even see steam rising from her head.

“W-what is all this?!”