"I think you look a lot better like this, dear heart." Ling states with a smile while gently caressing Qiu's upside down cheek. With her hands and feet attached to chains hanging from the ceiling she can do little but accept her fate. Qiu lets her head hang back limply knowing she'll need to save the strength for later. Each of Ling’s steps is punctuated by the crunching of a thin layer of ice beneath her feet letting her hear the princess circle to her rear even when she can’t see her. She feels Ling’s hands run up her thighs, from her rear to her knees. She tries and fails to stifle a snort realizing the girl can't reach any higher. Immediately the drop in temperature makes her shiver.
“Oh ho, you’re still laughing? That’s gonna change before we’re through, whore.” Ling states harshly while twirling her fingers through her bush, the curly red locks contrasting with her jade white skin. She pulls on them eliciting a whimper. “You don’t even shave properly, you animal. Perhaps I should save you the hassle and burn them off.” Ling adds with a cruel laugh and covers her free hand in blue flames. Qiu’s head jerks up and stares at her with undisguised fear. Ling’s grip on the girl’s pubes tighten and her jaw clenches.
“W- wait. Please don-”
“Shut up.” Ling’s words crack like a whip. “Do you really believe I’d mutilate you, Qiu?”
“I didn-”
“Shut up.” She says once more in the same tone. “Hold still or it might just happen.”
Qiu watches wide eyed as the flames slowly come closer and closer. The chains jangle as she pulls on them with her arms and legs alike trying to get away. The fire vanishes when Shun whispers into Ling’s ear, a twisted grin appearing at the words that are far too quiet for Qiu to hear over the rattling metal. What she can hear however is ice cracking loudly above her. Looking up she sees the ice attaching the pulleys to the ceiling shatter and reform, slowly moving the artifacts further apart until her legs are splayed open in a V-shape.
“Well aren’t you a lucky girl, my dear Qiu. Shun wants you to be punished in a different way.” The ice princess intones teasingly before theatrically moving to the side to unveil Shun and more importantly, the object in her hands. Qiu laughs nervously looking at the sheer size of the butt plug in the freckled brunette’s hand. She’d only recently learned of the existence of such tools when Ling had made her wear a smaller version of the one in front of her to a lesson. Had she had more knowledge she’d realize the one in front of her is hardly much bigger than the norm but the combination of only having worn a particularly small one and the sadistic gleam in Ling’s eyes makes the one in front of her seem far more intimidating than it has any right to be. “What a shame, the steel is polished to perfection and now it’ll be dirtied by your filthy hole. I do believe you should apologize for that.”
“I’m sorry?” A loud smack follows right after. She jerks and sucks in air through her teeth, her rear pulsing with the pain of being hit full force.
“I’m sorry, mistress.”
“That’s better. I’m still not hearing you thank Shun for punishing you this way.”
“Thank you, Shun.”
“That is Lady Dai to you, whore.” Ling adds with another loud smack.
“Thank you, Lady Dai!”
She can feel the cold steel press up against her rim, the pressure slowly increasing as it forces its way in. Her abs tighten and her toes curl. A soft groan forces its way out between her lips at the mixture of pleasure and pain that threatens to drive her wild. Her fingers clench and unclench due to the intense sensation nearly overwhelming her as the thickest part of the plug forces its way in. She loses her breath to a soundless scream when the last bit slips in, securing it firmly in place.
“There, that’s better. Right, Qiu?”
“Yh… yhes mhistress.”
“Tsk tsk tsk. We really do need to work on your pronunciation, as my servant you’re not permitted to be as barbaric as the rest of the Shen.”
Lost to the pleasure Qiu doesn’t even think to disagree with Ling’s statement, her full focus on the new sensation in her rear, the cold steel surrounded by her hot insides making her feel far better than she would have ever expected it to.
“That takes care of one of your two dirty holes, on to the next then. Hmm, perhaps I should cover this one with my mouth, what do you think, my dear?”
“Yhe-”
“Shut up you animal. I was talking to Shun. Apologize.”
“Ahm sorry, mistress. Ahm sorry, Lady Dai.”
“Mistress, if I may?”
“Of course, my dear.”
Letting her robes drop as she goes Shun makes her way around Qiu and crouches in a kneel so her head is at the same height as the redhead’s own. She plants a gentle kiss on her lips, one hand tenderly supporting her head while the other strokes her cheek.
“Given her lack of manners perhaps this hole could be considered a dirty one as well, my lady.”
“Indeed it could.”
“Might I volunteer to keep it shut, milady?”
“That would be very nice of you, Shun. Now of course…” She starts while running a finger down Qiu’s slit. “Given that we’re so courteous as to assist in preserving your modesty you surely won’t be so crass as to take pleasure from it, will you? That would be oh so horrible of you, we’d have to punish you so much more if you do.” The ice princess finishes with a laugh so innocent it is menacing.
Before Qiu can reply two mouths touch her lips. She closes her eyes and enjoys the taste of Shun’s tongue entwining with her own, her tender care in stark contrast to the more intense feeling down below. Ling’s upper lip teases her sensitive bulb while her tongue darts in and out of her mouth. Her fingers run in circles over the girl’s increasingly moist opening. She lets Qiu feel her hot breath right before her teeth close around her clitoris with just enough force to make the helpless girl moan into Shun’s mouth. All at once qi invades her from both sides. Shun’s feels like a warm breeze, the heat of a hearth passing over her to keep her safe and warm. Ling’s on the other hand is like a layer of ice creeping over her, fragile and brittle yet rapidly claiming more and more of her. The cold seeps into her very bones cutting ever deeper, the more she resists the quicker it pierces through to her very core.
Heat and ice meet in the middle crashing into a rocky sea, waves of earth carrying shards of stone and boulders alike across its length and breadth. Qiu’s movements grow sluggish as the frost claims the earth. She lets out a hoarse moan into Shun’s mouth when the heat melts the offending cold leaving naught but moist dampness. Ling’s burning fingers run over her cold belly creating a sensation not unlike a hot stone massage. Qiu can feel them trace the contours of her chiseled abs with admiration and just a hint of anger, the feeling transmitted far more clearly through their connection than the young mistress would have wanted. She doesn’t have long to focus on the thought as plumes of fire qi pierce straight into her dantian like spouts of magma. She can feel the burning heat in her loins kindling her desire further and setting her womb ablaze with passion. A hiss escapes her occupied mouth at the exact moment she realizes why the plug they inserted in her is made of cold steel. Now very, very cold steel. She can feel the corner of Ling’s lips curl up against her mound even as she intensifies her assault.
Qiu moans non-stop into Shun’s mouth as the pleasure becomes overwhelming, especially with her focus split between enduring their heartfelt efforts and maintaining her cultivation. After Ling’s earlier words she’d be deeply ashamed if she failed at that. Even after she’d accidentally hurt Shun the ice princess is still assisting her in growing her power. While she hasn’t known either of them for long she knows the young mistress well enough to recognise how much love is contained in that act, even if she expresses it through cruelty and punishments. Ling bites down on the girl’s lower lips and pulls her head back, stretching them out before letting go and allowing them to snap back.
“I think this is a bit too easy for you, no?” She says mockingly. “This is a punishment and yet all I hear is the debauched moaning of a bitch in heat. I’ll tell you what’s going to happen next. I’m going to spell out some words and you’re going to say whatever I spell correctly or you’re going to be getting the lash. Do I make myself clear?”
“Uh-humm.” Qiu mumbles in reply through the passionate kiss she is still sharing with Shun. The maidservant hasn’t let up even once since they’ve begun, even when she needs to breathe the freckled brunette merely recalls her tongue just enough so she can suck in air through the gap between their mouths before following as if drawn along with the flow. Her entire head is filled with Shun's taste. With her smell. With her scent. Truly the most devious punishment. To shower her in so much love and affection, to show her that she knows no harm was meant when she accidentally caused harm, to make her understand she is loved unconditionally. She wishes her punishment would never end. In that, she jokes to herself, lies the true wickedness of Dai Shun. She doesn’t need a chain to keep anyone close to themself, before long they’ll willingly do whatever it takes to stay by her side even if the girl herself wouldn’t want them to go so far for her.
Her focus returns lower when Ling pinches her sensitive nub to draw her attention. A single long lick marks both women changing their approach, Shun withdrawing long enough for her to speak before drowning her in pleasure once more and Ling’s incessant teasing replaced by slow, purposeful licks. “I…” Qiu breathes out in reply to Ling’s first lick. Next her tongue moves in a circle followed by a vertical lick curling to the right at its lowest point. The tip of her tongue goes up and down two more times savoring the redhead’s taste. “Am…” Ling speeds up forcing Qiu to focus entirely on her every move lest she get it wrong. “Yours!” The pleasure that courses through her is beyond any she’s felt before.
Her entire body shakes uncontrollably as she moans every last bit of air in her lungs out right into Shun’s mouth. Her moan turns into a silent scream when she runs out and Ling doesn’t let up, if anything she intensifies her efforts instead. Making use of her wide open mouth Shun’s tongue runs all over the inside of it covering her teeth, tongue and the insides of her cheeks with the brunette’s saliva. Fire courses through her veins turning the stone ocean into a molten lavascape rampaging out of her control. Yet even as her qi begins to deviate the only thing coursing through Qiu’s mind is the scent and feeling of her lovers’ tongues. Ling’s ice qi pierces through the fog like a needle into her brain immediately causing her eyes to widen and her entire being to concentrate on stabilizing her cultivation.
It’s too late, she can’t control it all. With decisiveness ingrained in her through years of excruciating training she gathers as much fire as she can into one place and tries to remove it from her spiritual ocean. She pushes to remove it with all her strength but it barely budges. She’s going to lose. Twenty-two years of effort gone with one mistake. She rages against the dying of her light nevertheless. Even though she knows she can’t handle this. But she isn’t alone and three pairs of hands can lift far more than one. Two palms come to rest upon her shoulders and the edges of their minds brush against hers. Memories of each other flit through their consciousness too fast to be remembered but long enough to leave a temporary imprint bringing their state of mind closer and closer to each other until there is no Shen Qiu, Li Ling or Dai Shun.
The one who is three lifts and the earth is torn asunder. A blanket of snow covers them, its chill protecting them from the burning sun wrenched from the crust. Plumes of solar fire blast in all directions melting rock as the orb is lifted higher and higher to take its place above the spiritual sea. Three mouths spit blood and three dantians begin to crack. It is too early, the strain cannot be handled. The one who is three reverses its course and sends the burning ball crashing back into the rocky sea like a comet. it penetrates the surface leaving naught but glowing red rock flowing in its wake. It goes deeper and deeper until it is surrounded on all sides by a thick layer of stone. The being takes a deep breath with six lungs at once and exhales sending an icy breath over the spiritual ocean returning the surface to a state the central body can control once more.
The molten core however can not be brought under its control so easily. All they can do is slowly cycle cooler rock in and out, slowly sapping the heat away and letting it dissipate. They have managed to contain the problem but not remove it, it will take months at this rate for the burning sphere to once more be fully attuned to the earthen qi of Shen Qiu. As soon as the name is thought the identity is reasserted, one mind becomes three and the unity is lost. Qiu falls to the floor as the pulleys lose their grip without the qi needed to maintain their grasp. The chains soon follow her down landing atop all three of their panting and heaving bodies. Shun looks back and forth between the other two in concern utterly heedless of the blood dripping down her own chin.
“What in the twelve hells was that?” Ling asks while looking at each of them in turn. No answer comes forth. Unlike all of their previous sessions their minds are fully out of sync, none able to predict what the others are thinking. Yet each of them deeply feels one thing and by the look in each other’s eyes knows the others do too. A hollowness in their soul. Like something they never knew was there is being brought to their awareness solely by its absence, the very idea slowly slipping further and further out of their reach. By the time they recover enough qi to try once more there is little more than an inkling left in their mind and no matter what they do, the oneness that now seems like a far off dream stays out of their reach.
What normal chapter were these supposed to follow?
'Bound' and 'Punished' take place sometime between chapter 29 and 31.