A Tight, Soft Embrace

As they sat on the floor, gazing at the football-sized orb of liquid hovering in the air between them, both their faces flushed crimson.

Their breathing grew shallow, and a wave of heat washed over their bodies.

‘How lewd…’

‘It feels like we just did something incredibly naughty…’

They thought in unison, the tension in the room shifting from trauma to a thick, awkward embarrassment.

Xi Xue fixed her gaze on the translucent liquid sphere twirling in the air, born from Ruobing’s magical response to sheer overstimulation.

‘To create so much water purely from a magical reflex…’

‘Ruobing’s elemental control is tied so deeply to her emotions.’

‘If she ever lost control entirely, it would be like a faucet exploding, water everywhere.’

She couldn’t help but imagine it, her two fingers pressing together, twitching with a lingering urge.

Just as her mind began to wander back to dangerous territory, Lan Ruobing’s timid voice suddenly broke through:

“Xi… Xi Xue, how… how should we deal with this?”

Lan Ruobing asked in a small, shaky voice, her face burning red as she buried her head in her hands, utterly mortified by what her magic had produced.

Xi Xue looked at the liquid orb and said awkwardly, “Leave it to me.”

With that, she extended two fingers and poked them into the liquid orb.

Lan Ruobing watched, dumbfounded.

The liquid orb was cool to the touch. The moment her fingers pierced it, Xi Xue jolted awake from her lingering fantasies.

‘Oh no, what am I doing? I’m just making this weirder.’

Her hands trembled slightly. She wanted to pull them out but didn’t know how to salvage the situation naturally.

So, under Ruobing’s watchful eyes, she bit the bullet and explained, “I need to incinerate it with bloodflame.”

“Oh, so that’s why you have to poke it?” Lan Ruobing nodded, seemingly understanding, though her voice still trembled slightly from the aftermath of her tears.

“…” Xi Xue was grateful for Ruobing’s cooperation, but couldn’t she choose a different word than ‘poke’?

“Yes,” Xi Xue said, going against her conscience. “The bloodflame is incredibly powerful; I’m afraid of hurting you if I just throw it.”

Upon hearing this, Lan Ruobing immediately scrambled back, putting distance between them. “Xi Xue, don’t worry, I won’t let the bloodflame hurt me. Just use it.”

Xi Xue’s mouth twitched.

She said nothing more, concentrating her magic to her fingertips, and a crimson Bloodflame abruptly ignited.

The liquid orb’s interior instantly collapsed and disintegrated.

White mist surged, expanding the orb dramatically like a blowing bubble, making its liquid wall thin.

It was as if Xi Xue had lit a candle inside a giant crystal ball, with white mist swirling, dreamy and enchanting.

However, in the very next second, the fiery crimson tongue flared and flickered, licking the crystal ball clean in a violent burst of heat.

Then, Xi Xue gripped her right hand forcefully, and the Bloodflame extinguished in an instant.

It was like the fleeting bloom of an Epiphyllum.

Even so, in that single moment, Lan Ruobing’s face felt as though it had been pressed against a scorching furnace, radiating intense heat.

Her heart nearly stopped, her legs rooted to the spot, unable to even breathe.

‘A Tier 5 expert is truly terrifying!’

Lan Ruobing was mortified; the sheer, destructive power Xi Xue wielded made her seem like a monster in her eyes.

The flash of fire had sent her from heaven to hell in an instant, a stark reminder of the massive power gap between them.

If Xi Xue hadn’t extinguished the Bloodflame in time, she would probably have turned into a roasted dragoness!

‘This is Xi Xue’s true power!’

Lan Ruobing was utterly stunned. School rumors only spoke of Xi Xue being Tier 5, but she never imagined it felt this oppressive.

‘That Bloodflame… if she disliked someone, she could just toss it at them, and they’d simply evaporate!’

‘Terrifying, truly terrifying!’

Lan Ruobing swallowed hard, watching Xi Xue warily, the lingering fear of the physical boundary-crossing now compounding with the fear of Xi Xue’s lethal magic.

“Done,” Xi Xue said cheerfully, clapping her hands after incinerating the liquid orb.

‘Next, I’ll treat Ruobing to a big meal to mend our relationship properly…’

She mused contentedly, wanting to make amends.

But when she turned, she met Ruobing’s fearful gaze and saw her pale face.

Concerned, Xi Xue asked, “Ruobing, are you okay? Did I burn you?”

“Ah? No, no, I’m fine, I’m not burned,” Lan Ruobing said with an awkward wave, maintaining a safe distance from Xi Xue, afraid to look at her.

“Really okay?”

Xi Xue looked suspicious. She walked over, gently cupped Ruobing’s face, examined it closely, and then exclaimed in mock shock, “Ah! You say you’re fine, but your face has blisters!”

“What?! Really blistered? Where, where, let me see!” Lan Ruobing cried in alarm, rushing to the mirror to check herself repeatedly, finding nothing amiss.

She turned to question Xi Xue but was met with Xi Xue’s sharp, knowing eyes.

“Was the Bloodflame too powerful? Did it scare you?”

“N-no…” Lan Ruobing shrank her head, not daring to look at Xi Xue.

The next second, a fragrant breeze enveloped her. Before she could react, Xi Xue had pulled her into another tight embrace.

Xi Xue held her close, her body trembling slightly, but she remained silent.

The tight, soft embrace felt as if Xi Xue feared she might escape, wanting to envelop her completely, providing a solid warmth to chase away the fear she had caused.

So solid, in fact, that even through her chest, she could feel Xi Xue’s heart thudding, beating against her own.

“Change your clothes. Let’s go have a big meal,” Xi Xue said after a long while, her tone perfectly even and calm, hiding her own deep remorse.

Having said that, she obediently exited the fitting room, without any further mischief.

Before leaving, she reminded Ruobing to call her if anything happened.

Lan Ruobing stood frozen, the rhythm of Xi Xue’s heart still lingering against her chest.

Thump-thump-thump…

It gave her a strange feeling, as if she had come incredibly close to Xi Xue, yet was still separated by an invisible, terrifying wall…

Outside, Xi Xue walked woodenly, images flashing before her eyes: the deeply fearful pupils of the young girls she had previously fed on, reflecting her long, sharp fangs.

Ruobing had looked at her with that exact same fear just moments ago.