Chapter 271: Side Effect

“Hey, where are you going?” Yin Ruxue asked.

Jiang Fan said, “I’m going home. I just checked out the guest room downstairs. Su Qingci’s things are still in there, and the whole room smells like her. It grosses me out.”

Yin Ruxue quickly said, “I know you have a problem with Qingci, but she was just trying to look out for me. She’s not as bad as you think. And about the dinner party… I… I don’t think she set me up with Su Qingchu on purpose. I just happened to run into him. He said he wanted to introduce me to a supplier, so we went to the second floor. We couldn’t find the person and came right back down. You’ve most likely misunderstood Qingci!”

“Be that as it may, it’s still a fact that she backstabbed you last time. And even if I didn’t have a problem with her, I seriously can’t stand the perfume smell in that room!”

“But… I already promised Mengmeng we’d take her to school together tomorrow morning.”

“Ah… well…”

Jiang Fan hesitated. He could say no to Yin Ruxue, but he couldn’t bring himself to break a promise to Mengmeng—even one Ruxue had made on his behalf.

“Jiang Fan… if… if you’re uncomfortable downstairs, I had Nanny Chen get the rooms on the second floor ready today. Mengmeng is in one, and I’m in the other. You could stay with me, and we wouldn’t bother Mengmeng!”

“Huh? Stay with you?”

“Don’t get any funny ideas. We’ll have our own separate blankets. No crossing the line!”

“Me, cross the line? Please, I’m a perfect gentleman!”

“Even better. So, you’re agreeing, then. Let’s get some rest.”

Without waiting for Jiang Fan to reply, Yin Ruxue walked into the adjacent room.

Jiang Fan hesitated for a moment before following her into the room.

“There are pajamas for you in the bathroom. You were sweating just now, so you should take a shower before bed.”

Jiang Fan froze. ‘She even has pajamas ready for me?’ He couldn’t shake the feeling that Yin Ruxue was playing him.

However, he was indeed drenched in sweat from refining the Ganoderma earlier.

He went into the bathroom and enjoyed a refreshing shower.

When he came out of the bathroom, the room was dim. Yin Ruxue was lying on one side of the bed, apparently asleep. The only illumination came from the nightstand lamp on the other side.

Yin Ruxue was bundled up in a comforter, with another one neatly folded on the other side of the bed.

Jiang Fan didn’t think much of it. He got into bed and turned off the lamp.

As he lay in bed, a delicate fragrance reached him. It wasn’t perfume, but the unique, natural scent of a woman.

Jiang Fan didn’t know why he was feeling this way. This wasn’t the first time he’d been in bed with Yin Ruxue.

Of course, this was the first time they had lain together like this.

Jiang Fan had thought it would be fine, but the moment he lay down, his mind became a jumbled mess.

He had just showered, yet his body was growing hot and restless again.

‘I don’t consider myself a saint,’ Jiang Fan thought, ‘but I usually have more willpower than this. Why does it feel like my mind isn’t my own tonight?’

In the pitch-dark room, Yin Ruxue was motionless beside him. He wondered if she had already fallen asleep.

Jiang Fan gulped, his eyes fixed on Yin Ruxue in the dark. With his enhanced vision, seeing her clearly wasn’t difficult.

Yin Ruxue’s eyes were shut tight, her brow furrowed. A bead of sweat trickled down from her temple.

“Jiang Fan, you bastard… what did you give me to drink? Why is my breathing so heavy?”

“Ah… I… I…”

Hearing Yin Ruxue’s voice, Jiang Fan realized she wasn’t asleep. Then it hit him: it wasn’t just him. Something was happening to Yin Ruxue’s body, too.

‘No wonder my thoughts are running wild and I can’t control myself.’ It had to be a side effect of the Centennial Ganoderma.

Jiang Fan knew that the Centennial Ganoderma should strengthen one’s core and have a beautifying effect, but it absolutely shouldn’t cause these kinds of… libidinous side effects. ‘Could it be a catalytic reaction from refining it with the Dragon Elephant Profound Skill, guided by the Celestial Return Medical Records?’

Just as he was contemplating this, he felt a hand suddenly rest on his.

Yin Ruxue’s palm was scorching hot. Jiang Fan felt a jolt, as if electrocuted, and his blood began to boil.

In the next moment, Yin Ruxue had pressed her entire body against his.

“Ruxue—”

Jiang Fan tried to speak, but a soft warmth pressed against his lips.

The delicate fragrance from before was now magnified, intoxicating enough to make one lose all sense of self.

At that same moment, Jiang Fan was shocked to find that Yin Ruxue seemed to have slipped out of her pajamas. Her lips were moving against his like a parched traveler finding water, desperate and frantic.

In that instant, Jiang Fan was utterly lost.

He began to respond with equal passion, his hands exploring her body as he started to take what was offered.

He felt Yin Ruxue’s breath quicken, her mouth trying to devour his, before she bit down hard on his lower lip.

A faint sting of pain shot through him.

And in that moment, he was jolted back to his senses.

Pushing Yin Ruxue away—he didn’t know from where he found the courage or strength—a surge of True Qi churned within him, driven by his Dragon Elephant Profound Skill. He seized her burning hand and channeled a stream of True Qi into her body.

Yin Ruxue, who had been as passionate as a wildfire, convulsed for a moment before her body went limp and she fell still.

Jiang Fan sighed in relief and continued to circulate the Dragon Elephant Profound Skill within his body.

More than ten minutes later, a cool sensation spread from the soles of his feet through his entire body. At last, Jiang Fan’s mind was completely clear.

He let out a long sigh and looked at Yin Ruxue. She was resting against the headboard, her breathing now even. She seemed to have fallen asleep.

“Avert your eyes, avert your eyes,”

Jiang Fan muttered to himself before dressing Yin Ruxue in her pajamas and pulling the comforter over her.

Having done all this, Jiang Fan finally felt at ease and drifted off to sleep.

The next day, a shrill alarm clock blared, jolting both Yin Ruxue and Jiang Fan awake at nearly the same instant.

Yin Ruxue shook her head, sat up to turn off the alarm, then looked over at Jiang Fan.

As her awareness slowly returned, she saw the sky was already bright. A faint blush crept onto Yin Ruxue’s face as she glanced down at herself.

“Jiang Fan, what was that stuff you gave me to drink yesterday? What did we do?”

“Huh? We… we didn’t do anything. You were already asleep when I got out of the shower yesterday.”

“Really? I seem to remember that we… that you…”

“What about us? And what about me?”