Is this also part of your calculation?

We agreed not to use our hands, and afterward, there really wasn’t much use of hands.

Cao Xueyan might have gotten dizzy from soaking in the water too long, her head overheated, and without thinking, she agreed to many of Xiao Menglan’s excessive demands.

Among those demands, the most shameful one was asking her to hold her breath, dive underwater, and then use her mouth…

Ah! How could she do such a thing?

And why did I agree to it?

Xiao Menglan, Xiao Menglan… Cao Xueyan looked up at the sky with tear-filled eyes, wondering what sins she had committed in her past life to end up burdened with such a woman in this life.

So bad and so annoying, yet she couldn’t defeat her, and could only let herself be toyed with.

After madness, there often comes a period of calm, a sage-like time without desire.

Cao Xueyan’s jaw muscles were strained, and now even opening her mouth felt like a luxury.

She lifted her head to gaze at the flawless face of Xiao Menglan, the culprit behind it all.

Even if resentment lingered in her heart, she couldn’t say much.

But Xiao Menglan, being the one who had enjoyed everything, was naturally refreshed and satisfied.

Looking at that expression, she was clearly very content.

“Why have you been sulking since just now?” Xiao Menglan asked with a playful smile. “Could it be that the pool water has cooled and you’re uncomfortable soaking in it?”

“The water hasn’t cooled.” Cao Xueyan gritted her teeth, each word making the muscles in her cheeks spasm. “What chills me is that Master shows no regard for her disciple’s feelings.”

“How have I disregarded your feelings?” Xiao Menglan asked in surprise.

Cao Xueyan snorted coldly. “Master knows very well. I don’t need to say more.”

“Ah, could Yan’er be referring to what just happened?” Xiao Menglan pretended to realize suddenly, then with a flicker of mock sorrow on her pretty face, said in a tone of grievance, “But before doing it, I clearly sought Yan’er’s consent. Why blame me now?”

“That was…” Cao Xueyan grew anxious. “I was confused in the moment!”

“Really? Do you dare swear on your Dao heart that this is true?”

Cao Xueyan fell silent, turning over and lying on the edge of the pool.

Xiao Menglan, perhaps realizing she had gone too far—or maybe fearing being ignored—lowered herself and began to coax Cao Xueyan.

“Are you angry with me?” Xiao Menglan wrapped her arms around Cao Xueyan’s slim waist under the water, pressing her body closer, and whispered into her ear.

“How could a disciple dare be angry with her master? It’s just that my body overheated from soaking too long, so I came here to cool down. Nothing else.”

“Just now I was in the wrong,” Xiao Menglan said softly. “As Master, I shouldn’t always trouble my disciple. How about this—later, we switch roles, and I’ll go underwater…”

Cao Xueyan, both ashamed and furious, interrupted: “How can Master still be thinking about such things! Truly shameless!”

“Then how would Yan’er like me to make it up to you?”

Instead of anger, Cao Xueyan suddenly calmed down. “There’s no need for compensation. It’s just that while underwater earlier, I accidentally swallowed several mouthfuls of water. Now my stomach feels bloated. I probably won’t be able to eat supper later.”

At this, Xiao Menglan laughed. “That’s easy. I’ll tell the kitchen to prepare some snacks for you instead.”

The puppet maids were quick to act.

Even while sitting in the pool, Xiao Menglan sent out her order with divine sense.

Soon, a maid arrived carrying a tray of desserts.

Steamed flower cakes, baked sugar pastries, bean paste… and a jug of flower wine.

This wine, needless to say, was something Xiao Menglan had long ago pilfered from her senior sister, the sect master’s cellar.

The longer it was stored, the richer and more fragrant it became.

Xiao Menglan lifted the jug and drank straight from it, the clear liquid streaming from the spout into her alluring red lips.

Cao Xueyan stared, dumbfounded. “Why isn’t Master using a cup?”

With a trace of intoxication—or was it allure—in her eyes, Xiao Menglan answered, “A cup? Seems the maids must have forgotten to bring one.”

This was a lie.

She had deliberately instructed the puppet maid to bring only the jug, no cups.

As for her purpose… anyone could guess.

Xiao Menglan smiled dreamily, shaking the jug. “This wine was brewed personally by the sect master herself. Many people dream of just smelling its fragrance but have no chance. Since the opportunity is rare, why don’t the two of us share a few sips?”

Cao Xueyan’s heart tightened.

If not for having gone through those simulations, hearing that this was wine personally brewed by the sect master, she might have agreed on the spot.

But Xiao Menglan harbored ill intentions!

In the simulations, the foolish and naive Cao Xueyan never refused when Xiao Menglan offered wine.

And the result? She got so drunk she didn’t wake the entire night, and by the time she did, her body had been utterly exhausted by Xiao Menglan.

This time, I will not fall for it!

If I do, I’m a dog!

Resolving herself, Cao Xueyan declared sternly, “This disciple cannot hold her liquor, so I won’t drink. Besides, Master drinking alone under the moon is also quite a fine thing.”

But how could drinking alone with beauty at one’s side be a fine thing?

Xiao Menglan’s eyes flickered with disappointment, though she soon calmed herself.

This matter could not be rushed.

A pity though—the fine wine was again hers alone to drink, no different from before.

With that thought, Xiao Menglan lost her appetite.

After a couple sips, she set the jug aside and picked up a hot pastry, nibbling on it absently.

Cao Xueyan loved sweets, especially those baked sugar pastries—crispy on the outside, dusted with white sugar, and filled with syrup inside.

For the past few days, she had always asked the kitchen to prepare them after meals.

Perhaps it was hunger, but Cao Xueyan quickly devoured the entire plate of pastries, eating so fast she accidentally choked.

A cultivator choking to death on pastries—wouldn’t that be the laughingstock of the world?

In panic, Cao Xueyan grabbed the only drink nearby and gulped it down, forcing the sticky lump to slide down her throat.

“Didn’t you say you wouldn’t drink? Why the sudden change of heart?” Xiao Menglan asked with a charming smile.

Realization struck.

Cao Xueyan’s face turned pale.

What had she just drunk?

The wine jug Xiao Menglan brought… Damn it!

Her head spun, her body burned, and her nose and mouth reeked of alcohol.

With grief and fury, she glared at Xiao Menglan.

Was this all part of your scheme too!?

But it was too late.

Xiao Menglan had planned for this.

She knew that with Cao Xueyan’s tolerance, even a single sip would have an effect.

“Since you’ve already drunk, why not have a few more sips?” Xiao Menglan nudged the jug toward her lips. “This wine is brewed with the finest spirit herbs. Its nature is warm. Drinking it will benefit your cultivation greatly.”

Indeed, just from that one gulp, Cao Xueyan already saw her cultivation progress bar visibly rising on her simulator panel.

“Wha… hic… sha… hic… stu–upid… hic…” Cao Xueyan’s tongue was thick from drunkenness.

She really couldn’t handle alcohol.

That one night, she had only smelled the lingering wine scent on Xiao Menglan’s body and was already intoxicated beyond control.

Now, she tried to crawl ashore, but the rocks at the edge were too slippery.

After much struggle, she slipped instead into Xiao Menglan’s arms.

“I don’t want to drink… no drink… shi–fu…” she muttered incoherently, her voice growing weaker.

Xiao Menglan held her gently. “Alright, no drinking.”

“I… I’m tired.”

“Alright, I’ll take you back.”

“Like… Master…”

Xiao Menglan froze for a moment, then softly replied, “Mm, I like you too.”

She carried Cao Xueyan out of the pool.

Amid the swirling mist, she dried Cao Xueyan’s body with a spell, picked up a towel, and wrapped it around her.

She did the same for herself.

The maids collected the leftover food and wine, while Xiao Menglan carried Cao Xueyan back to her room and laid her gently on the bed.

Pulling the quilt over her, Xiao Menglan sat by the bedside, gazing at Cao Xueyan’s flushed cheeks with a smile in her eyes.

She looked and looked, but could never get enough.