When a soft, warm, and moist sensation pressed against his lips, Lin Xiao was completely dumbfounded. His eyes widened like bronze bells as he stared blankly at Su Qingning.

That's right, Lin Xiao was utterly bewildered. It wasn't that they had never kissed before. In fact, this was their third time. The first was when Su Qingning was under the influence of an aphrodisiac, and the second was when Lin Xiao had kissed her forcefully. The third time was right now.

Lin Xiao would never have dreamed that Su Qingning would take the initiative to kiss him. Her enchanting eyes were shimmering with a passion that seemed ready to overflow, making his heart pound so hard it felt like it would leap from his chest. He was just about to respond when her lips had already left his.

Her pretty face was as red as a ripe peach. She didn't dare to continue; if she kissed him any longer, she felt like her heart would explode.

To conceal her panic, Su Qingning feigned calmness and said, "Just drive properly!" With that, she bashfully turned her head away.

Lin Xiao finally snapped out of his daze. Luckily, the car was moving slowly. Otherwise, with that momentary lapse in attention, they might have gotten into an accident.

Seeing Su Qingning's bashful silence, Lin Xiao suddenly said with feigned anger, "Su Qingning, you're bullying me!"

His words left Su Qingning bewildered. She looked at him with questioning eyes. "How am I bullying you?"

"You left before I could even react! If that's not bullying, what is?" Lin Xiao said domineeringly.

Su Qingning blushed. "Lin Xiao, you're impossible! Don't talk about this anymore!"

"Not a chance. Unless you let me kiss you back, I won't drop it. Otherwise, I'll complain about it the entire way home!"

Su Qingning was speechless. If she had known this would happen, she never would have kissed this damned rogue. But in truth, even Su Qingning herself didn't know why she had just kissed him. All she knew was that she'd wanted to. She was happy, and the kiss had been a way to release all the pent-up frustration in her heart—a release that Lin Xiao had given her.

But who would have thought this kiss would lead to so much trouble?

Seeing Lin Xiao's relentless teasing, Su Qingning sighed helplessly. "Lin Xiao, stop messing around and drive properly. At worst..."

She couldn't finish her sentence. Not only had the words caught in her throat, but her fair cheeks also flushed an even deeper shade of red, all the way to the tips of her ears.

Provoked by her reaction, Lin Xiao desperately wanted to pull her into his arms and kiss her senseless. "At worst what?"

"N-Nothing!"

"Honey, if you don't tell me what you were going to say, then don't blame me for what happens next," Lin Xiao said with a sly smile.

"Wh-What are you going to do?"

Lin Xiao said nothing. He simply began to slow down and pull over to the side of the road. Su Qingning's heart jumped as she realized he intended to stop the car and kiss her right there. She grew flustered.

In a soft voice, she pleaded, "Lin Xiao, stop fooling around, can't you just drive properly? We can talk about whatever it is when we get back."

"Can I kiss you when we get back?"

"N-No, you can't," Su Qingning stammered, her voice trembling. She truly regretted provoking him. This guy is such a scoundrel! He's probably been dying to kiss me for ages, and now I've handed him the perfect opportunity.

"A 'no,' is it?" Lin Xiao's grin widened. "Then I'll just have to turn that 'no' into a 'yes'!"

Su Qingning panicked. Her beautiful eyes grew watery as she gazed at him. "You damned rogue, stop it! I-If you want to kiss me... can we at least wait until we get home? Please?"

Lin Xiao's heart bloomed with joy. "Okay!"

With that, he gunned the engine. After finally finding an exit, he sped off the highway and immediately got back on, heading in the direction of home.

It was past eleven at night by the time they returned to Hidden Dragon Villa, and the vast estate was quiet.

The moment Lin Xiao got out of the car, he looked ready to pounce. Su Qingning was so mortified she wished she could find a hole to crawl into. "Lin Xiao, can we not do this now? Let's go inside first, then we can talk!"

"Okay!" Lin Xiao knew she was shy, so he agreed.

They entered the villa one after the other. Shen Jingzhe was sitting in the courtyard, staring blankly at the moon. When she saw Lin Xiao and Su Qingning enter, she quickly tied her gossamer veil back into place.

"Jingzhe, have you eaten?" Su Qingning asked.

Shen Jingzhe nodded. "I have," she replied, her voice neutral.

"Oh, then you should get some rest!"

Shen Jingzhe hummed in acknowledgment. Su Qingning's attitude toward Shen Jingzhe was markedly better than her attitude toward Shao Mei'er and Chu Xiangxue. In her mind, Shao Mei'er and Chu Xiangxue were here to steal her husband, while Shen Jingzhe was here to protect her. Their purposes were different, so she treated them differently.

Lin Xiao was about to follow Su Qingning to her room when Shen Jingzhe's cold voice stopped him. "Lin Xiao, do you have a moment? There's something I'd like to discuss with you."

"Then you two talk. I'll go upstairs first," Su Qingning said.

Lin Xiao nodded. As much as he wanted to kiss Su Qingning right now, he knew that whatever Shen Jingzhe wanted to talk about must be important. Otherwise, she wouldn't have stopped him at this hour.

After watching Su Qingning head inside, Lin Xiao smiled. "Alright, what's on your mind?"

"Those people from this morning were from the Ghost Medicine Sect, weren't they?" Shen Jingzhe asked.

Lin Xiao nodded. Shen Jingzhe was from the martial world, so it wasn't surprising that she could recognize their origins.

"So, how did you provoke them?" she asked again.

"It's a long story. I'll give you the details when I have more time."

A flicker of indifference crossed Shen Jingzhe's dark eyes. She said coolly, "If you don't want to talk about it, then forget it."

Lin Xiao frowned slightly. No matter how he heard it, her tone sounded a little unhappy. "Fine, I'll give you the short version," he conceded. "Some scum schemed against my wife. His master was from the Ghost Medicine Sect. I dealt with him, and that's how we ended up with a grudge."

The chill in Shen Jingzhe's eyes finally lessened. She nodded. "Then you should be more careful in the future. The Ghost Medicine Sect is known for its vengefulness."

"So, you're worried about me?" Lin Xiao asked curiously.

Shen Jingzhe's delicate brows knitted together. "I'm just worried there won't be anyone to cure my poison," she said coldly.

"Got it. Anything else?"

Shen Jingzhe shook her head.

"Alright then. I'll go have a chat with my wife, and then I'll come detoxify you."

At his words, Shen Jingzhe's cheeks flushed faintly. Fortunately, the veil concealed her expression. Not that Lin Xiao would have noticed even if he could see it. At that moment, his mind was solely focused on kissing Su Qingning.

When Lin Xiao arrived at Su Qingning's bedroom, however, he found that she had locked the door from the inside to stop him.

"Qingning, open the door!" he called out.

"No, I'm going to sleep!" she replied, trying to sound calm. The slight tremble in her voice, however, betrayed her completely.

"No you don't. You promised you'd let me kiss you when we got back," Lin Xiao said domineeringly.

"I never promised you that!"

So now she's playing dumb, is she?

"Honey, I suggest you open this door," Lin Xiao warned. "Otherwise, when I get in, I'm going to kiss you until I've had my fill."

Su Qingning glanced at the locked door, a mischievous smile touching her lips as a playful idea took root in her mind. "Fine," she challenged. "If you can get in, I'll let you kiss me!"

Lin Xiao paused for a moment, then almost snorted with laughter. An open invitation for a kiss, delivered right to his doorstep. How could he possibly pass this up?

Without another word, he flicked his finger, summoning the Xuantian Needle. Then, he began to deftly pick the lock.

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