Chapter 5

So hot.

Weren’t snakes cold-blooded?

Then why did every place his tail touched feel as though it had caught fire?

I wrapped my arms around Zhou Ci’s neck.

His palm cradled the back of my head. Our mingled breaths consumed the air between us little by little.

The flames burned fiercer.

My vision blurred beneath a veil of mist.

I couldn’t tell whether it was the heat of the day or the tip of the tail that had secretly slipped beneath my skirt to wreak havoc…

that was making my whole body burn.

“Ying Xu.” Zhou Ci caught my earlobe between his teeth. His voice was rough as gravel when he asked again, “May I?”

[Their kiss is practically stringing between their lips and he’s still asking?]

[Why was the kiss censored?! Why?! Don’t you dare do that next time! *points accusingly*]

[If Zhou Ci doesn’t screw the heroine senseless soon, I’m going to start wondering whether he can.]

[I work for the national academic records office. I found a problem with the heroine’s diploma in our system and recommend an immediate investigation into her educational credentials.]

[The heroine nodded!!!]

“Zhou Ci, you’ve lived for so long, so you must… I mean, you should know a little magic, right? Did you cast a spell on me?”

What else could explain how effortlessly he bewitched me every time?

I couldn’t get a single word of refusal past my lips.

I even…

I even had the illusion

that we had always been meant to be this intimate.

Zhou Ci lifted me and settled me astride his waist. A damp touch landed on the side of my neck. “I know a little, but I have never used it on you.”

[Sweetie, you’re a delicious little cake, and the big black snake is about to gobble you right up. And speaking of big…]

Just then—

the video doorbell in the entryway beeped twice and switched on automatically.

Zhou Yanxu’s voice came through it.

“Ying Xu! Open the door! I checked the security footage! You were the only person who visited my house the day the snake disappeared!”

[Why is this thing here? What a buzzkill.]

[Put yourself in Zhou Yanxu’s shoes: after the breakup, his ex gets together with his ancestor. I can’t wait to see his face when he finds out, hahahaha.]

[Congratulations to Ying Xu on her colossal promotion in seniority.]

Zhou Ci caressed my cheek. “Would you like me to take care of him?”

[That hand doesn’t belong on the heroine’s face. I shouldn’t have to tell you where it does belong.]

[Now that I got the joke, Zhou Yanxu seems even more hateful.]

[Does Zhou Ci mean the kind of ‘take care of him’ where he snaps his fingers and Zhou Yanxu disappears forever? If so, I approve.]

I shivered.

Shaking my head furiously, I said, “No, no. I can handle it myself!”

After speaking, I tried to move my legs and discovered I couldn’t.

My helpless gaze fell on the snake tail that still hadn’t released me.

“Zhou Ci, could you hide for a little while?”

Zhou Ci said nothing.

He merely continued rubbing the corner of my mouth with his thumb.

His golden eyes rested heavily on me.

[Is that scheming snake waiting for the heroine to kiss him?]

[Remove the question mark.]

I leaned in and kissed Zhou Ci. “Please?”

Zhou Ci tightened his arm around my waist and deepened the kiss, worrying endlessly at my lips.

Against my mouth, he murmured a muffled, “All right.”