Chapter 86: A Temperamental Senior [R18]

Chapter 86 - A Temperamental Senior [R18] "S... seduce Lordi Payne?!" Sun Elaine's breath hitched, her carefully cultivated seductive expression freezing into genuine shock. The tea cup she held nearly slipped from suddenly trembling fingers as Luca Dawnwick's words registered. Her eyes wide as she gaped at Luca Dawnwick, sprawled in the guest hall's carved chair, his smirk lazy yet predatory. That vulgar brute? That uncouth oaf who can't even afford proper cultivation pills? Her stomach churned at the thought. Luca Dawnwick didn't pause his exploration of her body, his large hand sliding possessively along the curve of her hip, fingers dipping beneath the thin silk of her sash. "What?" His thumb circled the sensitive hollow just above her thigh, making her gasp. "You're unwilling?" Hell no, I'm not willing! The protest burned her throat, but Sun Elaine swallowed it, mind racing like a trapped fox. Lordi Payne? That brash nobody? Trade this for him? Instead, a breathy moan escaped as Luca's fingers found the heat between her legs through the fabric. She forced a trembling smile, voice dripping with feigned surrender as his hands stoked fires she couldn't ignore. "Hah... Senior Brother Dawnwick... Hngh♡... we're so intimate already... Ahh♡... ngh♡♡... how could you push me to bed another men?" With a feral growl, Luca tore what remained of her dress—the delicate lace fabric ripping like paper, her undergarments yanked away in a single, brutal tug. Bare, vulnerable, she knelt on the zither table, thighs quivering as she arched instinctively, her nude hips thrust toward him under his commanding stare. The air thickened, heavy with lust, her skin prickling as his eyes drank her in—every curve, every shiver. Wait—this isn't— Sun Elaine's thoughts scattered as a calloused finger traced circling with a torturous slowness around her dripping entrance, warm and teasing, before thrusting inside without warning. The sudden finger invasion that made her body clench, a moan spilling free. "Hngh! ♡♡♡ Haa!" Sun Elaine's back arched involuntarily, breasts pressing against the smooth zither table surface as he began a ruthless rhythm. Slow at first, his rhythm built—deep, relentless, punishing, each stroke sparking pleasure laced with shame. Sun Elaine's walls tightened, slick and yielding, as Luca Dawnwick's sped up, fingers curling to hit spots that made her vision blur. "Arh~... A-ahh~!" Her moans climbed, lewd and broken, echoing off the courtyard's stone. Biting her lip, Sun Elaine shed her shy mask, melting into the assault, her body betraying her mind's frantic scheming. "He's too good—too strong. A catch like this doesn't come twice." Sun Elaine's gold-digging heart wrestled with the heat pooling low in her belly. "Play it smart—moan sweeter, make him crave me. But gods, it's so fast—should I pull back, demand gifts? Stones, Fulus, a vow? Men chase harder when you tease." Her hands gripped the table's edge, nails digging in. "No, piss him off, and I'm done—small fry don't survive his wrath." She rocked against his hand, voice a pleading whimper: "Ah♡... Senior Brother... ngh♡... please... could you bear... hah♡... sending me to some lowlife like Lordi Payne? That lowlife was nothing—rude, crude... I'd rather—" The fingers inside her stilled abruptly. Sun Elaine blinked through pleasure-dazed eyes to see Luca looking down at her with an unreadable amused smirk that didn't reach his cold eyes. Sun Elaine's breath caught, confusion spiking. What's that look? Before she could parse it— Then—blur exploded before her eyes in a sudden! A vicious slap that sent her flying. Sun Elaine tumbled off the table, crashing against the courtyard wall with a sickening thud, rolling twice before sprawling in the dirt, naked and dazed. Bang! "Ahhh!" Pain exploded—her cheek throbbed, blood trickling from her split lip. A fourth-layer Qi Refiner, she was a gnat to his near-Foundation Stage might. Even restrained, his blow rattled her bones, vision swimming. "Why... Senior Brother Dawnwick?" Sun Elaine coughed, tasting copper, her entire body throbbing. Her voice quavered, shock drowning the lust that had clouded her moments before. One second drowning in intimate pleasure, the next in agony—the whiplash left her reeling. Sun Elaine's every instinct screamed to retaliate. Fury flared—how dare he?—but one glance at Luca Dawnwick's face snuffed it out. His eyes were ice, unyielding, a predator's stare that promised worse if she pushed. She lowered her eyes immediately, stammered the anger and dared not say a word. Luca Dawnwick's shadow engulfed Sun Elaine as he loomed over her crumpled form. With deliberate slowness, he fished a silk handkerchief from his storage pouch, cleaning each finger with slow, deliberate care, as if erasing her touch was a must. His eyes never left her, cold and piercing, as he spoke, voice a lazy drawl laced with venom: "Let me make this clear, bitch. I'm here to give orders, and you're here to obey, not negotiate. Do you or do you not understand me?" Just a moment hesitation, Sun Elaine's about to part her lip— CRUNCH. Luca's boot slammed down onto her face, grinding her cheek into the gravel. She tasted blood as stone fragments bit into her skin, his weight shifting methodically to maximize the pain. "Outer Sect whores like you?" He twisted his heel, eliciting a muffled whimper. "The holy sect endless mountains are littered with your kind. Dime a dozen—hundreds of thousands, maybe a million." he sneered, voice dripping disdain. "What? Did those pathetic worms fawning over you make you think you mattered? And think you can toy with me?" The pressure increased until her vision swam. Somewhere above, she heard the spectral cawing of his soul crows circling hungrily. "Were it not for your pityful remaining worth," Luca mused, almost conversationally, "I'd be peeling your soul from its flesh, and feed it to my wraith crows right now." When he finally stepped back, Sun Elaine saw death in Luca Dawnwick's eyes—not rage, but the utter indifference of a man watching ants drown. "Three days." The man folded his arms, bloodied bootprint stark across her face. "Fail my mission, and we'll test how many pieces a Qi Refinement body can be divided into." Emotions warred in Sun Elaine's chest—shock at the violence, fury at the humiliation, but most of all, the icy realization that Luca would kill her as easily as breathing. She swallowed blood and pride together. "S-Senior Brother Dawnwick..." Her voice cracked like stepped-on twigs. "This... this junior will obey!" A beat of silence. Then— "Ah, Elaine-chan!" Luca's face transformed, his sudden smile radiant as spring sunshine. The killing chill melted, replaced by a grin warm as a brother's. Luca Dawnwick bent, gently lifting Sun Elaine to her feet, his fingers brushing her cheek to wipe the blood and grime with a handkerchief, tender as a lover. "Oh, Elaine-chan, look at this pretty face—all scratched up," he cooed, voice soft, almost doting. "Clumsy thing, tumbling like that. Breaks my heart to see it." His hands, moments ago instruments of torture, now dabbed at her wounds with absurd gentleness. Where earlier his touch had been violating, now it lingered with exaggerated care, straightening her broken dress like a doting lover. Sun Elaine's skin crawled. Had she heard these honeyed words an hour ago, her heart might have soared. Now, they slithered down her spine like ice water. —— A few moments later, Sun Elaine's courtyard gate creaked open. The lotus-fringed pond casting glints in the fading dusk. Luca Dawnwick sauntered out, his silhouette cutting a smug arc against the shimmer of lilies—violet, crimson, glowing like forbidden jewels. A satisfied smirk curled his lips, eyes glinting with a predator's ease as they swept the area, pausing on a dense shrub cluster nearby. His gaze lingered, sharp and knowing, before he strode off, boots crunching on the path, the air rippling with his fading presence. A tense silence followed. Only after Luca was long gone did Hugo Payne dare to crawl out from his hiding spot, his body slick with cold sweat. He stared in the direction the cultivator had disappeared, his heart pounding. That man's cultivation... terrifying. Despite activating two aura-concealing talismans, despite holding his breath and suppressing his qi to near-invisibility—Luca had still detected him with nothing more than a glance. Hugo Payne swallowed hard, envy and fear twisting in his gut. Steadying his shaking hands, Hugo crept to the courtyard gate, knuckles rapping softly, each tap a plea. Inside, Sun Elaine lay crumpled on the ground, her robes torn, blood smearing her pale cheek, her skin marred with angry red marks, her torn lace dress barely clinging to her curves. The knock jolted her, a flinch ripping through her battered frame. "Who now?" Clenching her teeth, she forced herself up, wiping blood from her lips. She yanked a fresh robe from her storage pouch, its silk cool against her skin as she dressed, fingers hastily smoothing her disheveled hair before stumbling to the gate. Her fingers shook as she deactivated the wards. But when the barrier lifted—revealing Hugo's familiar, fawning face, eager and oblivious—Sun Elaine's carefully constructed composure smile shattered, rage erupting like a dam burst. "You useless piece of shit!" she shrieked, her voice raw. "Why the hell are you still here?!" Hugo Payne flinched, her words a lash he'd grown numb to. His heart sank, but he clung to his smile, voice soft and pleading: "Elaine-chan, I was worried sick..." "Worried?"She laughed, a harsh, jagged sound, and her hand cracked across his face, the slap echoing in the courtyard. "What good is your worry? You're fourth-layer Qi Refinement—You couldn't protect a fly, let alone me!!" She bit off the rest, chest heaving. "Get the fuck out, now!" "Elaine-chan..." Hugo Payne stammered, then froze, eyes catching the blood on her cheek, the bruise blooming under her eye. Horror widened his gaze. "Elaine-chan, what happened?! Your injuries—did that Senior Brother—?" Another slap silenced him, Sun Elaine's palm stinging as it met his skin. "I said OUT!" Her scream was raw, unhinged. The air shimmered, rippling as the courtyard's defense ward barrier slammed shut between them. Hugo Payne stunned, stood frozen, his cheek burning and stinging, his chest hollow. For a long moment, he lingered, staring at the sealed gate. Then, shoulders slumped, he turned away—glancing back every few steps, as if hoping she might change her mind. But the courtyard remained silent. —— Sun Elaine stood alone, her new robe barely masking the bruises from Luca Dawnwick's assault, blood crusted on her split lip. She watched Hugo's retreating figure until it vanished into the distance, her fingers digging into her palms hard enough to draw blood. Resentment burned in her glare, teeth grinding as her mind churned. The moment he was gone, her mask of fury cracked, revealing the raw humiliation beneath. Luca Dawnwick... The name burned like poison in her mind. She spat on the ground, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. That bastard is untouchable. Her thoughts spiraled, bitter and precise. Luca's near Foundation Stage cultivation was monstrous, his connections even worse—cousin brother to an Inner Sect Bloodline Lord's confidant. If she reported him to the Punishment Crypt, at best, he'd toss a handful of spirit stones like scraps to a dog. And then? Defying him openly would be suicide—Luca's phantom crows, those red-eyed wraiths, could shred her soul before she blinked. Report him, and I'm dead—slaughtered, erased, just another Outer Sect nobody. Her throat tightened. No. She couldn't fight him. Not directly. For now... she had to yeild. The realization tasted like bile. Tears stung, not from pain but fury. Years of gliding through the Outer Sect—adored, untouchable, her beauty a net for fawning dogs—all shattered in a single afternoon, crumbled in Luca Dawnwick's grip. "Son of a bitch!" she hissed, lips trembling, voice a choked vow. "I'm done being prey—done with men's mercy! I'll hook a real power, someone to shield me, lift me." Her nails bit her palms, the sting grounding her as she forced calm, ambition clawing back. A sudden thought struck her, sharp and baffling Wait. "Hugo's clan brother—Lordi Payne—he's still alive?" Her brow furrowed, confusion tangling with her rage. "That made no sense. Chen Huant and his pack of wolves, they don't spare runts like him. They should've torn that fourth-layer weakling apart like paper. How'd he slip their net?" She paced, robe swishing, mind racing. "Lowborn, weak, a nobody. And yet..." "And yet, Luca Dawnwick himself storms in, orders me to bed him? " "Why?" "Strange. Very strange..." Her eyes narrowed, piecing it together. "Luca's cousin Enzo Dawnwick serves Miu Tyanh—Wraithbone Bloodline. Hugo let slip once—Miu Tyanh and Kinson Wexford, Deathveil's Lord, they're at odds. This isn't about Hugo—he's trash, worthless. It's Bloodline grudges, and perhaps Lordi Payne's caught in it." A slow, ugly suspicion coiled in her gut. "Hugo Payne lied!" Suspicion flared, hot and vicious. "Lordi Payne—humble origins, sure, but is he? Did Hugo lie, hide something?" Her lips curled, venom pooling. "And Kinson Wexford—Hugo's dodged every chance to link me with this Bloodline Lord. However Lordi' Payne has got this Senior Brother's eyes, hasn't he? Enough to pull Luca Dawnwick's hate. Wraithbone Bloodline was moving against Lordi Payne..." Sun Elaine spat a curse, voice low and seething: "Damn you, Hugo, you spineless fuck—All his simpering devotion, his empty promises—You hoarded real opportunities while feeding me scraps!" "This isn't about Hugo," she realized, lips curling. "This is Inner Sect Bloodline politics." Her fist slammed into the courtyard wall. Pain flared, but she barely felt it. Men. Every last one of them, rotten. Snatching a sound-transmission Dao Fulu from her storage pouch, she hissed into it: "Find Lordi Payne. Track his movements. I want to know everything—where he goes, who he meets, what he's hiding." —— Meanwhile, at an unfamiliar mountain peak, Lordi Payne stood before the Pavilion of Myriad Arts. The three-story tower loomed modest. The three-story tower loomed modest, its plain stone facade hiding a weight that pressed against his senses—subtle, like a held breath.