Raising the Villain in Wrong Way

She did not fall victim to the brain-melting smile.

She just turned her head, looking at him with the flat, deadpan, utterly unamused expression of a health inspector finding a rat in the pantry.

"Are you cold?" Ji’an asked, her baritone voice completely devoid of any romantic inflection.

Liuyun paused, his foxy smile faltering for a fraction of a millisecond. "Excuse me?"

"Your robe," Ji’an pointed a lazy finger at the heavy amethyst silk practically sliding off his shoulders. "It looks very heavy, but you seem entirely incapable of closing the buttons. Am I mistaken?"

"And your chest is covered in metal chains. Metal is a thermal conductor. You are actively leaching your own body heat into the ambient atmosphere. If you’re chilly, just ask Madam Rouge to turn up the thermal arrays. You don’t have to suffer for fashion."

The succubi gasped in absolute horror.

Madam Rouge’s jaw dropped.

No one spoke to Su Liuyun like that.

He was the fantasy.

He was the untouchable, mesmerizing illusion.

To reduce his meticulously calculated, million-spirit-stone seduction routine to a lecture on thermal conductivity was a blasphemy of the highest order.

Su Liuyun stared at the beautiful, silver-haired chef.

For three seconds, the foxy courtesan processed the unprecedented audacity of the insult.

And then, instead of crying like Xuefeng, Su Liuyun threw his head back and let out a rich, dark, genuinely delighted laugh.

"You are exactly as insufferable as Xuefeng claimed you to be," Liuyun chuckled, leaning in even closer, resting his elbow on his knee and propping his chin on his hand.

His amber eyes sparkled with intense, dangerous competitive fire. "How refreshing. A man whose tongue is sharper than his sword."

"I use a spatula," Ji’an corrected flatly, taking a sip of her tea.

"Even better," Liuyun purred.

He reached out, his long, elegant fingers moving with lightning speed. He didn’t try to touch her face; he simply reached out and plucked the jade teacup directly from Ji’an’s hands.

Before Ji’an could snatch it back, Liuyun brought the cup to his own lips.

He intentionally turned the cup so that his lips pressed against the exact spot where Ji’an’s had just been.

He maintained intense, unbroken eye contact as he took a slow sip, his throat working smoothly.

It was an indirect kiss.

It was a classic, aggressive, high-tier seduction maneuver designed to fluster the target and establish dominance.

Ji’an watched him do it.

She didn’t blush or stammer at all.

She reached into her spatial ring, pulled out a clean, sanitized white cloth napkin, and held her hand out.

"Give the cup back," Ji’an demanded smoothly.

Liuyun smirked, victorious, and handed the jade cup back to her.

Ji’an took the cup, raised the white napkin, and vigorously, aggressively wiped the rim of the cup where he had just drank from, sanitizing it before taking another sip from other side where he didn’t touch.

Of course she wouldn’t make a big mistake like this like a beginner... unless she wanted to get frozen to death by a certain ice vinegar king.

The entire penthouse went dead silent again.

Liuyun’s foxy smile froze.

His left eyebrow twitched violently.

’He wiped the rim,’ Liuyun’s internal monologue stuttered, his inflated ego taking a direct critical hit. ’I just executed the Golden Lotus Indirect Kiss maneuver. It has a one-hundred-percent success rate. And he wiped the cup like I have a communicable disease!’

"My apologize, but I don’t like to share glassware," Ji’an stated casually, popping another grape into her mouth, her words suggestive. "Health and safety regulations. You never know where people’s mouth have been before touching a cup. Especially in a brothel."

Madam Rouge hastily hid a laugh behind her crimson silk sleeve.

Su Liuyun’s eyes narrowed, the playful, seductive amber light hardening into the predatory glare of a man whose professional pride was now on the line.

This silver-haired broker was not just a handsome face.

He was an anomaly. He was immune to charm.

And Su Liuyun, the undisputed monarch of the Crimson Lotus Pavilion, absolutely refused to be out-rizzed in his own living room.

"You have a fascinating spirit, little broker," Liuyun murmured, his voice dropping an octave, the competitive edge razor-sharp beneath the velvet tone. "You possess a confidence that borders on arrogance. But words spoken on a cushion are cheap. True command is proven on the stage."

He turned to Madam Rouge, his gold chains chiming.

"Madam," Liuyun said smoothly. "Tonight is the Grand Welcoming Ceremony, is it not? The auction where our esteemed guests will bid on the new ’merchandise’ this broker has so generously provided?"

Madam Rouge nodded, a wicked spark lighting her eyes as she realized where her Top Courtesan was going with this. "It is, my jewel. The high-bidders are already gathering in the Grand Atrium."

"Excellent," Liuyun smiled, turning his foxy, dangerous gaze back to Ji’an.

"As the Main Dancer, it is my duty to open the auction with a ceremonial performance. A dance to inflame the blood and open the purses of our patrons. But I find myself... uninspired by dancing alone tonight."

He reached out, his finger lightly tracing the fabric of Ji’an’s black sleeve.

"I invite you to join me on the stage," Liuyun challenged, his voice dripping with seductive venom. "A duet. Since you claim to command the room so effortlessly, prove it. Dance with me. Let us see if your ’sensory perfection’ can match my choreography. If you truly wish to secure the best price for your thirteen muscular brutes... a demonstration of their broker’s flexibility would surely drive the bidding to astronomical heights."

Ji’an stared at him.

The words "dance with me" echoed in her brain, colliding violently with the words "sexy routine."

"I don’t dance," Ji’an said immediately, entirely deadpan.

"I chop onions. I braise meat. If you put me on a stage, the only thing I’m going to drop is the beat, and by the beat, I mean my spatula onto someone’s skull."

"Are you refusing?" Liuyun mocked softly, leaning closer, his breath hot against her ear. "Are you afraid you’ll step on my robes? Or are you afraid you’ll realize that beneath all that arrogant bluster, you are utterly powerless when someone else leads?"

It was a blatant, psychological trap.

If she refused, she looked weak, and her dominant young-master persona shattered.

If she agreed, she was forced into a highly sensual, incredibly embarrassing dance routine with a professional stripper.

Ji’an opened her mouth to decline, but Madam Rouge intervened.

"Oh, it is a magnificent idea," Madam Rouge purred, clapping her hands, her demonic aura subtly locking down the exits of the penthouse. "In fact, I insist. If the broker wishes for his merchandise to be treated well in the holding cells... he will indulge my Top Courtesan. If you refuse, I might just instruct my guards to test the endurance of your muscular brutes a bit... prematurely."

Ji’an’s blood ran cold.

She needed to keep the boys safe until she could disable the Yin-Suppression array. She needed time.

She looked at Madam Rouge’s threatening smile, then at Su Liuyun’s smug, victorious, intensely punchable foxy face.

’I am going to have to pop-and-lock for my life,’ Ji’an’s transmigrator soul wept, her culinary dignity disintegrating into dust.

At the same time, Ji’an was actually infuriated by the threat. ’So this is how they want to play, huh?’

She took a slow, deep, incredibly furious breath.

’Very well, tonight, I’ll show them what a demon’s dance from hell looks like!’

"Fine," Ji’an hissed, her silver-flecked eyes locking onto Liuyun with absolute, murderous intent. "I’ll dance. But if you try to dip me, I am breaking your collarbone."

Liuyun’s smile widened into a blinding, predatory grin. "I look forward to the attempt, my beautiful chef. I will send the tailors to your room. We have much... stretching... to do."

****

When Ji’an was being dragged in a problem she absolutely hated to do, at the same time, chaos still didn’t stop in the underground cell.

Deep beneath the Atrium, in the damp, blood-iron cells of Dungeon Block D, the Vanguard Retinue was currently engaged in a high-stress panic attack.

"I cannot break the bars!" Hu Yanlie roared, his teeth actually chipped from biting the enchanted metal. "The Yin-Suppression array is too dense! My Yang energy is being smothered!"

"We must use geometry!" Wen Shiru yelled at the boys on the top of his lung.

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