Ku Lo’s awareness began to gather. Upon opening his eyes, he found Rin Tin Tin at the foot of the bed, cultivating her gains from the session.

At first, he was at a loss on what to do and even the thought of exploiting her lowered guard came alarmingly late. But when he shifted his weight ever so slightly, her eyes snapped open and a smile spread across her face. 

It didn’t feel threatening or otherwise dishonest. Instead, it looked like the expression of someone genuinely happy to see him. Which just served to make him feel more cornered. I could barely read her before. And now she can act perfectly?

“You’re up, Lo’er! In that case, quickly get to cultivating my Qi. You have to become strong after all.” Her tone matched the friendly expression, making him shudder from what even he couldn’t entirely ascribe to dread. But the next moment, she closed her eyes again and resumed absorbing.

Becoming aware of her growing influence on his thoughts, he wanted to snap back at her, simply to prove that he could. Yet he also knew that it wouldn’t do him much good.

Their bond still existed and was now even stronger than before due to their recent unity. Her cultivation far exceeded Qingling’s to the point he wasn’t able to tell by how much.

He would be challenged to take the latter head on, so Rin Tin Tin being this much ahead meant that he’d have to face a Spirit Base Cultivator.

The Inner Court disciples had been in the same realm, too, of course. But terribly drunk at the time of combat. Forget about using techniques, they would have been challenged with walking in a straight line. 

On the other hand, is the situation that different? She’s just sitting there. Yin Paw doesn’t require me to move, but one well place-

He had barely reached the thought of trying to kill her when her body dashed forward, her legs unfolded in an instant. A silver gleam shot through the air and closed in on his neck before the dagger was abruptly stopped by the hand that wielded it.

“W-what?” He didn’t have room to back off anymore, staring at the close up of her still slightly flushed, but now distinctly displeased expression. 

She retreated to the end of the bed while pouting. “Lo’er shouldn’t scare me like that, alright? Almost making me kill you after we just reunited, don’t be stupid like that anymore.”

Facing her oddly serious complaints, Ku Lo was uncertain how to respond at first. Yet, awareness couldn’t save her from pure strength, so increasing his cultivation was an even more urgent matter than it had before.

He got to absorb her Qi. It was leagues below what Meifen could offer, but the difference to that of Gingge or even Qingling was an order of magnitude.

On the other hand, it was also a lot more obstinate in getting assimilated. It took quite some time, the fact that they had yet to be disturbed nurturing his doubts about the fairness of Rin Tin Tin’s ‘game’. Not that that made her remark at his initial refusal any less true.

Once the last strand of her gifts had been cowed in, he began moving off the bed. Expecting to have to argue with her about checking on the sisters, he was surprised to see her not even open her eyes.

Through the door, he could hear people arguing indistinctly. But when he swung it open, the women in front of him weren’t the Huang sisters, but Gingge andHuling.

“Still, how could you- Oh, Lo’er!” Gingge, upon seeing him, ceased berating the newcomer and jumped into his chest. She called out in a worried tone not a moment later. “You smell like that maniac! Did she… ?”

Yet his attention was entirely taken by the black haired and still lightly dressed woman she had been talking to. “You are here as well?”

A conflicted expression was painted on her face and he saw her hand reach out to him, only to drop halfway. “I wanted to stand at your side a-a-and apologize to you. For how I treated you back then.”

“So you’re ready to admit that Yao Khange is a two faced bastard?”

“N-not that. But I was too-” She took a single step forward while speaking, but backed off until she hit the wall when he replied.

“Then we have nothing to talk about.”

Silence filled the corridor and with Huling in front of him and Rin Tin Tin in the room at his back, he didn’t exactly feel like staying. “Where’s Qingling? Did she wake up yet?”

Gingge took a moment to respond, but then did so while separating herself from him. “Sister is in her room.”

“So still asleep? We’ll need to break the news to her then.” He began moving in the direction of her chambers.

“No, she’s… I h-have somewhere to be,” she moved further away from both his body and the corridor to Qingling’s room. “Please take care of her.”

With that, she rushed off, and as Huling had apparently chosen to respect his rejection, he made his way there on his own.

The servants he met on the way were especially deferential and congratulated on his ‘outstanding victory’, making Ku Lo guess that they had yet to learn of the new tyrant in their walls.

He found Qingling laying on her bed, staring at the ceiling. It had been a common state to find her in during her bedridden phase, but he had expected her to be either fast asleep from the Dream Anis or up and about like her old self. At least what he had come to know as such.

As he stood in the door thinking about the best way to start, she turned her head to him with a slightly melancholic smile. “What brings you here?”

“Rin Tin Tin is here. She-” He himself was unsure how to describe what had happened in that bedroom, but Qingling interrupted him in a low voice before he had gotten to that point.

“I know. We fought, if you even want to call it that.”

“No one of the Huang family seemed to know, though?”

“She challenged me in here.” Her hand pointed towards her blade that had been tossed in a corner. “i was supposed to fight the other clans, but i missed that and even…” her voice trailed off into an incomprehensible mutter.

He marched over to the bedside and grabbed her shoulders. She’s my most powerful ally right now. I can’t let her remain like this. “We need to think of a way to beat her! She held back in the sect because of Meifen, but without her, she’ll do whatever she wants!”

Her eyes focused again and sought his face, but the vigor inside them remained absent. “You don’t know how badly I lost to her. Before I even knew it, she held a knife to my throat. But,” her hands lifted from the sheets and pulled him in “she said that I’m still allowed to be with you if she’s not around.”

“Get a grip!” Why is everyone acting strange all of a sudden? Even I am, if it’s with her. 

“But I think she has a far better grasp of the situation than you do, my Lo’er.” A sweet, yet to him bone-chilling voice spoke from the doorframe. “I even allowed being with other women, but if Lo’er refuses to be honest with me, I won’t be able to control myself, you know?”

Ku Lo spun around to face Rin Tin Tin, who slowly closed in on him while Huling awkwardly stood in the hallway. The terrifying pressure assaulted him, but being at least minimally prepared, he fared a bit better than before at keeping his composure.

“Until Lo’er becomes obedient, I won’t let him be alone with people who tempt him to do stupid things. Especially her.” She shut the door behind her and sat on the mattress at the far end of the bed with an expectant expression. “I always wanted to see how Lo’er does it if he’s not deceiving himself. But please don’t make it too good. Otherwise I might get jealous.”

He glared at her, but in the next moment, a tug drew his attention to Qingling’s somewhat inexperienced attempts to remove his robe.

In surprise, he swatted away her hands and called out to her. “What’s wrong with you? Hey, look at me!”

“father was right. i’m weak, so the only way for me to live is by offering my body to the strong.”