Mu Anqi followed General Ji back to the General's Mansion.
As for that strand of hair, General Ji received it very seriously and expressed her thanks. However, Miss White didn't seem to care much; after giving the gift, she returned to the room, lay down on the sofa, closed her eyes, and immersed herself in the world of "Upside-Down City."
Mu Anqi found this ability quite interesting—after all, the world of the Upside-Down City was incredibly realistic, yet it was something that had been created. Watching Miss White close her eyes, Mu Anqi felt as if she were watching someone play a "holographic game."
After returning to the General's Mansion with the General, Mu Anqi learned that Miss White and Mr. Black were a special existence sharing one body with two souls. As for that strand of hair, it could be considered their "love gift" to Ji Huaichu.
"Once you absorb this, you'll be able to communicate with me through consciousness anytime," Ji Huaichu said softly, holding the strand of hair. "Would you like that?"
Wasn't this basically adding a real-time communication module between a player and the ghost king! How could Mu Anqi possibly refuse? Of course, the hair had its limitations—since it came from Mr. Black and Miss White, if Nirvana Space blocked their connection, Mu Anqi and Ji Huaichu still wouldn't be able to communicate. Or, if an existence stronger than Miss White intervened to sever it, there would be nothing they could do.
It was the same principle as when Mu Anqi entered the Upside-Down City and Miss White had cut off the token's link to Ji Huaichu.
"How do I absorb it?" Mu Anqi asked, looking at the strand of hair. "After the connection is established, will it be like telepathic communication?"
"Mm, but you'll be able to control it." Ji Huaichu took Mu Anqi's hand, separated the intertwined strands of hair, wound the white end around Mu Anqi's wrist, and the black end around her own. After about the time it takes to draw a single breath, the strand of hair faded and melted away where it touched their wrists.
So… that was it? Mu Anqi touched her wrist, but felt nothing at all—no special mark or pattern appeared on her skin. She tried calling out to the General in her mind, and immediately heard the General's quiet "Mm" echo back within her heart.
…This was amazing. Miss White's gift—Mu Anqi hadn't seen anything like it even in Nirvana Space's item shop! Of course, there might be items with similar effects, but the points required would definitely be high.
"Do you want to return to the space to rest for a while?"
"Let's just sleep here tonight," Mu Anqi said, glancing at the sky. "I'll go back to the space to settle things first thing in the morning."
Mu Anqi generated a red envelope of one thousand guan coins, handed it to Ji Huaichu with both hands, and asked with a smile, "General, would you like to sleep with me?"
"..." Ji Huaichu quietly looked at the red envelope and at the smiling little money tree. Her gaze lifted slightly as she accepted the envelope. "Alright."
She agreed.
Mu Anqi was stunned. She hadn't even used any skill! This was clearly meant as teasing—to fluster the General and see her awkward expression—so how… how did she actually agree? Mu Anqi blinked. Wasn't the General always the shy type, bad at expressing emotions? How come…
"Then the General must warm the bed for me," Mu Anqi said softly. She stretched a little, showing rare traces of fatigue. "I still want to soak in a medicinal bath."
Xia Fenghua had been borrowed out and hadn't returned yet, and as for the ordinary ghost soldiers… Ji Huaichu didn't like having them serve. Ji Huaichu nodded slightly and said quietly, "I'll prepare it for you in a moment."
She looked at Mu Anqi. Words like "dear" or "baby" lingered on her lips but refused to come out. Pressing them together, she finally gave up and quietly called her, "little money tree."
General Ji's temper seemed to be getting better and better. This partiality and favoritism toward her were becoming increasingly obvious. Mu Anqi smiled—perhaps she could give General Ji a gift? Could items belonging to players be given to the ghosts of the Shattered Mirror Continent? She'd have to go back and ask Nirvana Space about it. Mu Anqi took Ji Huaichu's hand; the General's fingertips, cold at first touch, quickly turned warm as she clasped Mu Anqi's hand in return.
…
Soaking in the medicinal bath, a tingling numbness spread through her whole body. Mu Anqi let out a long sigh, feeling that the General's medicinal bath was simply amazing. Just by soaking in it, the soreness in her muscles and the fatigue in her body and mind were both healed at once.
—"Do you need my help?"
"No need." Mu Anqi's cheeks were slightly flushed from the bath. She declined the General's offer of "help," got out of the wooden tub herself, dried off, and changed into her sleepwear. Then she tidied up the room a bit; when General Ji came back after dumping out the water, Mu Anqi was already lying on the bed in her white undergarments, reaching out a hand toward Ji Huaichu.
…It was just a simple embrace as they fell asleep together.
But when she felt that deliberately warmed embrace—warm from the energy the General had spent—Mu Anqi couldn't help herself. She slipped an arm around Ji Huaichu's waist, propped herself up, and, bold as ever, kissed the General on the cheek. "Doesn't this… use up too much energy? I was only joking about you warming the bed. I can warm you just as well."
Her long black hair spilled down, and the sharpness in the General's brows and eyes softened completely. She simply looked at her little money tree, raised a hand to pull her closer by the waist, and said, "Rest now. This bit of energy means nothing to me. Your General may only be at the fourth rank of the Kaiyuan level, but she's far from the weakest among the lords."
Through the fabric, they touched and embraced. This was probably the most intimate moment Mu Anqi had ever shared with the General. Lying in the beauty's arms, Mu Anqi felt almost as if she were dreaming. She had thought that someone like General Ji—who had lived in ancient times—would surely be shy or reserved. Mu Anqi draped a leg over Ji Huaichu, tilted her head up to brush against the corner of her lips, her face slightly flushed, yet still couldn't help but ask, "I thought the General wouldn't agree."
Ji Huaichu seemed to smile a little. She lowered her head, brushed against Mu Anqi's ear, then pressed a kiss to her cheek, whispering softly, "You are mine. So there's nothing I wouldn't agree to."
The exhaustion after the game was real, but so was the thrill of sharing a pillow with General Ji. Mu Anqi closed her eyes, trying to sleep, but her heartbeat stayed fast. The General's hand around her waist was hot—so hot it made her whole body go weak. Mu Anqi couldn't help but open her eyes again and again to secretly look at the General. Her eyes were closed, her breathing steady—she seemed asleep… but did ghosts even sleep? Mu Anqi didn't know.
She only thought that the General's brows and eyes were truly beautiful, her skin genuinely flawless. Looking closely, even the fine down on her skin was irresistibly cute. Her long eyelashes trembled slightly, reminding Mu Anqi of how Ji Huaichu looked when her eyes were open—the tall bridge of her nose, those thin lips that were soft and sweet.
In the quiet of the night, Mu Anqi listened to her own heartbeat, feeling the warmth of the person beside her. She'd never been very poetic, but in that moment, she thought of so many love verses she had once read—some by Yu Guangzhong, some by Xu Zhimo, and others whose authors she couldn't even recall. Those romantic, emotion-filled lines rose and faded in her mind, blending with her heartbeat, making her want to speak a line of love that was hers alone—but she didn't know how to begin.
"General, I can't sleep." Mu Anqi's eyes grew damp; she held Ji Huaichu tightly, feeling both pitiful and a little aggrieved.
So Ji Huaichu opened her eyes, and in those black pupils, Mu Anqi saw her own reflection. Ji Huaichu's fingers brushed over Mu Anqi's back—her little money tree's frame was small and always looked delicate, yet beneath that frail body was a soul both lively and resilient.
"It seems I disturbed you," Ji Huaichu said, her tone carrying a trace of helplessness. Her fingers lifted a strand of Mu Anqi's hair, the soft strands curling around her fingertips—smooth and tender to the touch.
"Maybe… General, I still want to kiss you," Mu Anqi murmured coquettishly. "A kiss kiss, alright? Just once."
Ji Huaichu's fingers slid upward until they reached the back of Mu Anqi's neck. She let out a soft laugh. "Alright."
…
When morning came, Mu Anqi lay in bed for a while before finally getting up. Sitting up, she rubbed the back of her neck—which faintly ached—and nearly wanted to cry, unsure if there were bite marks left there.
Did she kiss the General? She did. She kissed her lips—but didn't have the courage to go deeper, just lightly touched them a few times. Even that had made her so excited she could hardly breathe.
…And when she finally calmed down, Ji Huaichu had softly asked, "Are you done? Then it's my turn now, isn't it?" Mu Anqi hadn't even realized what was wrong—she thought the General just meant to kiss her back.
—In the end, General Ji pinned her down and bit her hard on the back of her neck! Of course, Mu Anqi felt that the General had originally intended to bite her throat, but since she was a player and not a ghost, a bite there might actually kill her. Ji Huaichu wasn't from the modern era—otherwise, Mu Anqi would've sworn she'd seen that scene in some anime before. Ugh… it really hurt.
It hurt so much that all her desire vanished on the spot.
Dating General Ji always came with such unexpected experiences…
Meals were included at the General's Mansion. Though she could return to Nirvana Space to eat, that would cost 3.5 points. Mu Anqi thought about it—after all, last night could still be considered part of their "romantic fun," since the General had at least asked her before biting. With a sigh, Mu Anqi slowly got out of bed, changed her clothes, and picked a scarf from the wardrobe to wrap around her neck.
No sooner had she stepped out the door than she ran into Xia Fenghua returning to the General's Mansion. The little Xia Fenghua looked furious—she felt that General Ji had given her far too much work! Having just come back from the White Fox Demon King, Xia Fenghua had gone straight to the General's study, only to be sent off again with double pay, continuing to dedicate herself tirelessly to the service of the mansion.
And of course, arranging Mu Anqi's "breakfast" was one of her tasks too.
"You're up, huh? Then I'll have someone bring breakfast," the little Xia Fenghua said, finishing her work. Her eyes immediately landed on the red scarf around Mu Anqi's neck. She glanced at the bright morning sky and felt the temperature inside the General's Mansion, then whispered, "Even if you were frozen by the General's aura, you shouldn't show it like this, right?"
"..." Mu Anqi felt her ears warm, but just smiled slightly and didn't answer. After all, she didn't know what to say. Xia Fenghua was a child—she couldn't lead her astray.
Xia Fenghua seemed to sense something from that faint smile. Her expression gradually went blank as she stared at Mu Anqi, recalling the General's joyful mood when they had met earlier today…
C-Could it be?! Xia Fenghua's face slowly shifted to horror. Her expression changed repeatedly before she quietly glanced at Mu Anqi and whispered, "You two… progressed that fast?"
The little Xia Fenghua seemed to be imagining something outrageous. Mu Anqi couldn't help but rub her temples and said helplessly, "…No, we haven't progressed like that."
Author's Note:
A little explanation:
The anime was just Mu Anqi's imagination. When I was writing, she was thinking of the scene where the giant bites the back of the neck (because I haven't been keeping up with anime in recent years…).
The General biting someone was originally intended to be a bite on the neck, but I changed it to the back of the neck since biting the neck could be fatal. General Ji isn't from an ABO world—she's a normal-world general who later became a ghost, so it's just her possessiveness as a ghost.
(When I wrote it, I might have been influenced by the concept of "ABO marking," but the responsibility is mine, not General Ji's—she hasn't seen it and isn't from an ABO world.) [T/N: so.. just your kink author?]