Chapter 12: Chapter Twelve: Wan

Rui Tong said, "Then you also pretend to drown."

"That's a method, it seems there's no other way, let's go, accompany me to the riverbank."

"Huh? Now? It's the dead of night, the Lord has already gone to sleep."

Regarding medicine, Wan'er couldn't wait a moment and said, "Hmm, right now, the Lord is so kind to us; even if he's asleep, as soon as he hears someone drowning, he'll surely rush to rescue."

She dragged Rui Tong to the riverbank; it was spring in the north, and at night the river water exuded a biting chill that made one shiver even without touching it.

"Make sure you remember the spot where I jump, otherwise I'll freeze to death." Wan'er stared at the icy river surface, still unwilling to enter the water.

Rui Tong yawned, "I'm exhausted, are you actually going to jump or not? Otherwise I'll go back."

"Jump, jump. Can we first gather some dry firewood, make the campfire burn brighter, then we can warm up when we get out."

"It's already blazing."

"Can we first prepare the clothes we need to change into?"

"I'm going back."

"No, no, I really want to jump, I'm just scared; otherwise, could you give me a hand?"

"Don't even think about it; if the Lord finds out, he'll definitely punish me."

"Please, even if I truly can't get out, even as a ghost I'd thank you."

Rui Tong hesitated, and seeing that unless she pushed her into the water she wouldn't get a peaceful sleep, suddenly kicked her round hips; "Splash!" she sent Wan'er into the river and ran back to camp.

"Lord, Lord, Wan'er jumped into the river, Wan'er jumped into the river."

Li Bucai was still dreaming when the voice startled him awake; he rushed out of the tent, followed Rui Tong to the riverbank, where Wan'er was splashing in the shallow water at the bank, the river only knee‑deep, her head fully above the surface, and Rui Tong's expression didn't look nervous.

"What the hell are you doing at this hour?"

"Lord… help…" Wan'er, seeing Li Bucai at the riverbank, shouted a few times, then held her breath and pretended to faint.

Rui Tong, having already conspired with her, sang in unison, "Lord, she, she has fainted."

Li Bucai stared for a while; she truly was motionless. Her clothes could not get wet any more; when these girls arrived they had brought many spare clothes, but as a lord he was so poor he only had this one set, barely dried. He grabbed a willow branch from the riverbank and pulled her onto shore, gently patting her face, trying to wake her.

"This probably won't revive her," Rui Tong, following Wan'er's instruction as during the day, checked her pulse, saying, "Pulse is weak… there's no breath now, I'm afraid… I'm afraid she's already gone…"

"No." The previous scene didn't look like drowning; the water temperature now isn't enough to freeze a person in a short time, even in deep winter, without ten to twenty minutes, one can't freeze to death. Suddenly recalling that Wan'er had asked her about Artificial Respiration, she nodded, "Yes, this probably won't work."

She leaned down, placed her hands on the two peach‑like mounds on her chest, and gently kneaded them.

They were all girls who had never been touched by a boy; the first time their key spots were touched, Wan'er suddenly felt a shivering tickle spread over her whole body, and before Li Bucai could press his mouth to her lips, she couldn't help but let out a light hum.

"Damn, that's so unprovocative, she actually woke up, with a live audience, even a live broadcast." Li Bucai muttered, withdrew his hand from her body, and asked, "What happened?"

Wan'er's heart pounded wildly, she could clearly hear her own heartbeat, she couldn't keep pretending, so she got up.

"I… I…" Wan'er didn't know how to answer for a moment.

Li Bucai didn't want to expose her, pretended she was jumping, saying, "What troubles you that you came here to seek an end?"

"No… I wasn't… just… just… just couldn't sleep, thought I'd walk by the river, accidentally slipped into it; luckily Rui Tong was quick, otherwise I might have truly taken my own life…"

"Really not?"

"Really not."

"That's good. If you ever can't sleep again, tell me first, quickly go back and change clothes, otherwise you'll catch a cold; you can't fall ill, these people rely on you at all times." Then to Rui Tong: "This time it's thanks to you again; it's getting late, go back early and rest."

The two scurried back to camp, looking dejected.

Inside the tent.

"You're back…" Yan Qiu saw Wan'er all **, and asked, "How's your research work going…"

Rui Tong said angrily, "How's it going? It's just a wasted effort; I can't even fake being dead, all that effort wasted, and I almost got discovered by the Lord."

Wan'er wore a mysterious expression, didn't hear her words at all, muttering to herself, "So that's how it is…"

"Hm?" Rui Tong asked oddly, "Have you already figured it out? It seems you didn't bite me like when rescuing Yan Qiu, you just pressed your hand on me."

"Hmm, figured out half of it," Wan'er said confidently.

"What have you figured out? Tell me."

"The mystery is that when you place both hands on the chest, a strange force spreads throughout the body; it must be this force that reactivates the dazed Yan Qiu. Of course, this force alone is insufficient; you still need to rely on…"

"Huh? It's that simple."

"Hmm, it's that simple, do you want to try?" Wan'er said, raising her hands to strike at Rui Tong's chest.

"Um… you should still test it on Yan Qiu." Rui Tong hurriedly dodged.

Wan'er said, "Yan Qiu is a patient now, how can we use her for an experiment? I'm not lying, it's very comfortable."

She forced Rui Tong into a corner, leaving her no escape, and covered her delicate little hands over her peach‑like mounds, kneading a few times.

Rui Tong hurriedly pushed her hands away, saying, "Comfortable, you fool, I hate this feeling."

"How could that be? It should clearly be very comfortable." Just earlier at the riverbank, Wan'er indeed, because of extreme comfort, couldn't help but let out a low hum.

"Don't believe it? Try it yourself."

"I'll try, just like the Lord saved Yan Qiu, go ahead." She closed her eyes. When Rui Tong's hands touched her body, she instantly felt a jolt, goosebumps rising, thinking to herself, "Why does it feel different? Could it be because the Lord has magical power?"

Seemingly not understanding the principle that same sexes repel and opposite sexes attract, Rui Tong brought her vermilion lips inch by inch closer; the nearer she got, the more repulsed she felt. When the two cherry‑like mouths were an inch apart, before Wan'er could push her away, Rui Tong was already about to vomit, quickly turning her face aside.

"Indeed it's different. It must be because the Lord has magical power. No, I have to go find the Lord and ask clearly."

"It's already so late…"

Wan'er had already left the tent.

……

In the central army's tent, after Li Bucai returned, he found it hard to sleep; the fresh rosy face from the morning and Wan'er's soft humming kept flashing in his mind.

"Lord, Lord." Wan'er's voice came from outside the tent, very low, with a hint of secrecy.

Li Bucai didn't respond, wanting to see what she intended.

Wan'er called twice, seeing no reply, gently lifted the curtain, tiptoed to Li Bucai's bedside: "Lord, Lord?"

The voice remained very low, calling a few times; seeing Li Bucai give no reply, assuming he was already sound asleep, I reached out to shake him awake, but couldn't bear to disturb his sleep, so I thought of turning away. If I didn't get everything clear, I would never fall asleep tonight. After wavering repeatedly, I finally made a bold decision.

"Fine, let's pretend the Lord is drowning now; we can't be without the Lord. It's my time to step forward. I will give him Artificial Respiration and rescue our Lord."

Pouting her little mouth, she slowly brought it close, imprinting on his mouth.

The instant the two mouths touched, Wan'er's tightly shut eyes suddenly opened wide: "So the Lord really has magic; it's completely different from Rui Tong's feeling, like the holy spring of Sky City, a little sweet." Seeing the Lord still unconscious, she slowly closed her eyes, greedily sucking, savoring the wonderful sensation.

Suddenly, feeling a large hand patting her back, she startled, hurriedly wriggling out of his embrace. Seeing the Lord awake, she exclaimed with shock and joy, "Lord, you're awake?"

She was startled, wondering if the Lord would blame her for disturbing his sleep; she was pleased, realizing this was the so‑called Artificial Respiration.

"Not sleeping in the middle of the night and running here to cause trouble."

"I'm not causing trouble; I'm giving the Lord Artificial Respiration."

"Is this Artificial Respiration?" Not realizing how eager Wan'er was to learn, it seemed a proper explanation was needed: "This isn't really Artificial Respiration; at most it's a kiss. Artificial Respiration works like this..." He proceeded to explain the principle and method of Artificial Respiration to her.

"Oh, so that's how it is. Then... what is a kiss?"

"It's when a girl really likes a boy, and the boy also likes the girl very much; the two bring their mouths together—that's a kiss."

"Then... if they don't like each other?"

"That would be a forced kiss, which is illegal."

"Oh, does the Lord like Wan'er?"

"He likes her, has liked her for a long time."

"Oh, Wan'er also likes the Lord; then it's not a forced kiss, so it won't be illegal, right?"

"Um... really?"

"Wan'er truly likes the Lord; every time she sees him her heart pounds nonstop. They say that's because she likes him, so Wan'er really likes the Lord, she also loves kissing the Lord, and his saliva is sweet."

Li Bucai thought to himself, "Um... so direct? A long night, sleepless, why not?" He reached out, intending to pull her into his arms, when suddenly a clamor erupted in the distance.

Li Bucai shouted, "What's that sound?"

"Reporting to the Lord!" Xianghong ran into the tent to inform Li Bucai: "It's the sound of a fight, coming from across the river."

It's the camp of the school‑uniformed girls; how could there be fighting sounds? Were they attacked? Li Bucai hurried out of the tent, and the girls were all startled awake by the noise...