"..."
Ning Xue's expression twisted with discomfort.
She didn't answer.
Because she couldn't say it. That she'd only arrived in this world three months ago. That she didn't even belong here. That everything around her—from the drinks to the sea to this strange, arrogant man—felt like soone else's story.
She bit her lip.
Hard.
She was lost.
Wang Xiao watched her. A long, judging gaze. Then, without a word, he began to move—toward her.
Ning Xue tensed.
But he didn't touch her. Didn't even get too close.
Instead—
"Mary."
She appeared again, silent as mist.
This ti, carrying a sleek black tablet.
She handed it to him like a ceremonial blade.
Wang Xiao powered it on, then turned it toward Ning Xue.
"Co here," he said.
She blinked. Then hesitantly shifted closer. Just enough to peer at the screen.
Videos. Colors. Moving images. Music.
Her eyes widened slightly. "What... is this?"
"Movies," he said simply, pressing play. "Visual storytelling, fiction, drama, desire, death, and dreams."
He explained each thing with a kind of patient obsession that Ning Xue hadn't expected from him. His voice was calm, but there was an undeniable magnet behind it. A man who didn't speak often, but when he did—you listened.
From the side, Mary stood silently. But a faint smirk touched her lips. She knew this look. When Wang Xiao beca curious about sothing—or soone—he studied them like a puzzle. And once he claid sothing as his, there was no undoing it.
Especially not this woman.
He'd said it before. That if he ever saw Ning Xue again, he'd eat her up. And now here he was... feeding her culture like wine before the hunt.
Ning Xue tilted her head, intrigued. Innocent.
Gentle.
There was a softness in her nature that caught Wang Xiao off-guard. He rarely encountered won like this—pure yet not naïve. Kind, yet firm. The closest he could rember...
Aurora.
His eyes narrowed slightly. A faint smile curved his lips.
They did look similar.
Sa round cheeks. Sa faint blush when they felt shy but didn't admit it.
Then—
"Daddy~"
A sweet voice drifted into the do.
Wenxi
She arrived barefoot, wrapped in a flowing dress of pale white that covered her figure like morning mist. She didn't care that another woman was present. She didn't even glance at Ning Xue.
She ca to show her dress.
And herself.
"Mm." Wang Xiao nodded, smiling faintly.
Then, without a word, he reached forward—
Pulled her in.
A soft gasp left her lips as he kissed her cheek.
Then her lips.
Then deeper—almost dragging her into the water with him, soaking the dress, letting it hug tighter, almost transparent now, like silk painted over her bare body.
Wenxi laughed, playful, soaking wet.
Then skipped away.
Ning Xue sat frozen.
Mouth parted.
Disbelief.
Her mind screaming: What the hell did I just see?
"Isn't she your… daughter?" she finally managed, voice trembling between disbelief and indignation.
Wang Xiao turned back to her, face calm. "What about it?"
His indifference was terrifying.
As if kissing your daughter like that in front of everyone wasn't immoral—but expected.
Ning Xue's heartbeat stuttered. Her chest tightened.
Too inappropriate.
She looked away quickly, shaking her head. Never mind.
But her cheeks betrayed her—flushed pink, her breath shaky. She'd just witnessed a scandal... and he didn't give a damn.
No, this man was immortal.
Distance. She must maintain distance. That was the only rational thing left.
But little did she know...
From the mont she sipped that drink, she was already inside the labyrinth.
Being fed.
Cald.
Tad.
Prepped.
Like a lamb grood for slaughter—
Or a virgin goddess being wrapped in silks, taught the pleasures of sin before being taken to the altar.
Everything was going to change.
And by the ti she realized it—
It would already be too late.
Wang Xiao leaned back, half-subrged, tablet in hand, teaching Ning Xue how to navigate what she called "the glowing slab of confusion."
He was patient, unnaturally so, considering this was a woman who thought "Airplane Mode" ant the device might physically take flight.
And then, because his curiosity had a cruel sense of timing, he asked—
"Oh, by the way… I heard you're in so group that opposes the prince?"
"Huh?" Ning Xue blinked, completely engrossed in the boss battle he had introduced five minutes ago. She nodded, absentmindedly. Didn't even look at him.
Wang Xiao smiled.
It wasn't the romantic kind. It was the kind of smile you give a mosquito right before smashing it with a rolled-up newspaper called "Repercussions."
He had done his howork on her.
Self-proclaid "Human Empress," no prior records, no birth trace, and sohow now the ideological sweetheart of a budding anti-prince movent.
A movent filled with the worst kind of idealists: archangels with political opinions, fallen nobles with delusions, and cultivators who couldn't spell 'strategy' if their lives depended on it.
All dedicated to overthrowing the evil, tyrannical, godforsaken... Prince.
Wang Xiao, anwhile, had never asked for the title.
Hell, he didn't even like it.
He just existed. And apparently, that alone pissed off half the planet. (The other half? Haha, erased by him seven years ago.)
"Have you ever t the prince?" he asked.
She shook her head. Still gaming.
"Do you believe he's evil?"
Another shake.
This ti, Wang Xiao's eyebrows lifted. Morality wasn't the reason?
"Then why are you against him?"
She paused. Looked up.
"I don't like him."
Silence.
Flat, honest, moronic.
Wang Xiao stared.
His fingers twitched.
He resisted the primal urge to slap her—not because of anger, but because never in his life had he t soone who hated him out of pure emotional pettiness.
Not fear. Not politics.
Just vibes.
Great. Beautiful. Wonderful.
____
An hour later.
The celestial pool turned into a warzone of passive-aggressive pedagogy.
Wang Xiao was still teaching her about the internet—but now with the intensity of a military drill instructor. His voice was sweet, sharp, and soaked in sarcasm.
"No, not that. That's a pop-up. No, not that either. That's an ad. Yes, I know it sparkles. No, it's not a treasure chest, it's spyware—stop.tapping.it."
By now, Yue, Wenxi, and the other walking bombs that made up Wang Xiao's harem had entered. They stood silently, watching this bizarre scene.
Yue blinked. "Is he… angry?"
Wenxi tilted her head. "He looks like he's smiling."
"That's his 'I want to bury soone' smile," Anran added helpfully, sipping from her glass like she was watching a docuntary titled Predator: Urban Edition.
And Ning Xue?
Blissfully unaware. Still poking the tablet like it owed her an apology.
Eventually, she stood and handed the device back. "I feel… weird."
She took two steps.
Boom.
Collapsed like a fallen goddess mid-mission.
Everyone froze.
Then—
"Haah~ Of course. He kidnapped another one."
That voice—bold, annoyed, and entirely unserious—belonged to Yanyan, who strolled forward in her black bikini and flip-flops, picked up Ning Xue's unconscious body like a beach towel, and turned to Wang Xiao with a wink.
"No worries, Dad. I'll toss her in your bed for you."
Wang Xiao's hand rested under his chin, the image of a villain who couldn't be bothered with dialogue anymore.
Everyone else?
Shrugged.
Wenxi: "Another one."
Wang Xueying: "She'll fit in."
Luna: "He has a type..."
Yue just shook her head.
They all turned back to the pool like this was Tuesday.
Because to them, it was.
Just another day.
Another soul dragged into the orbit of the man who made logic cry and morality weep.
And sowhere in the background…
Ning Xue's fate was sealed.
Wrapped in silk, kissed by salt, and delivered straight to the altar of sacrifice.
"Whatever. Another day, another girl."
"Forget it and enjoy."
"Soone open the drinks."
Laughter returned, music resud, and the pool rippled again with bodies and beauty.
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