Chapter 50: If Worse Comes to Worst, Just Let You Tear the Stocking…

“You… You didn’t even know how to untie it yourseeeelf…?!” He Yimo choked out, sucking in a sharp breath. “GASP?! And you just let me squat here by your leg like an IDIOT, sweating buckets trying to figure it out?!”

Hearing Jiang Jinyue’s flustered, honest confession, He Yimo suddenly felt like this supposedly cunning, treacherous Witch of Delight from the original story… might actually be kinda… dumb sometimes?

“W-Well, I didn’t think you’d stoop so low either!! Using such a sneaky trick!” Jiang Jinyue retorted, her face scrunched up in a pout, looking pitifully at He Yimo. Sniffle…

He Yimo scanned Jiang Jinyue up and down, a desperate sliver of hope in his eyes. “Sooo… what was your original plan for getting the token to me, then? You didn’t expect me to just, like, carry your leg around to cash in the merit points, did you?!”

“Of courrrse not! Hmph!” Jiang Jinyue huffed, looking away awkwardly, her own plan sounding kinda stupid now that she said it out loud. “M-My original idea was… y-you know… you’d beg me… say some nice things to flatter me… and then, theeen I’d just take the whole stocking off! Poof! The token would come right off with it! And the little red ribbon with the dead knot? Well, that would just be like… a free bonus gift foooor you…”

“Riiiiight, riiiight. Okay. So, you wanted me to squat by your leg in public, in front of everyone, and beg you? Is that it?” He Yimo deadpanned. “Siiiigh…”

“Yeah, okay, maybe you don’t get to call me sneaky anymore. Looks like we’re pretty evenly matched in the ‘being a scumbag’ department now.” He pressed a hand to his forehead, genuinely impressed by the sheer audacity of Jiang Jinyue’s little scheme. Wow.

He took a deep breath. “So… why don’t you just take the stocking off now and get the damn token?”

“I twied! I did!” Jiang Jinyue whined, demonstrating by grabbing the lacy edge of the over-the-knee stocking where it dug into her thigh and yanking downwards hard. “Nnnngh! Hnnng!” She strained a few times, but the stocking just snapped back stubbornly against her skin—THWAP!—leaving an even deeper indent in the soft white flesh, refusing to budge. “See?! After you messed with it… I think the ribbon got even tighter…! It just… it won’t come ooooofffff! Waaaaah!”

Having showcased her failed efforts, Jiang Jinyue could only look up at He Yimo again with wide, innocent, pleading eyes. Pouty face activate!

He Yimo was rendered speechless. “…Wow.”

“Jiang Jinyue… you’re really something else. Seriously. Just… keep the stocking on forever. Make it a family heirloom or something.”

“NOOOOOO! Don’t say thaaaat! Q_Q” Jiang Jinyue grabbed his arm frantically. “Okay, okay, fine! So you won’t help me take the stocking off! Fine! B-But at least turn off that secret technique you used! Pweeeease?!”

Just then, Yun Jin, having finished registering, walked back towards them.

“U-Um…” she began hesitantly, looking from He Yimo’s exasperated face to the red-faced girl clutching his arm, legs pressed tightly together with a pitiful expression. “A-Are you guys… okay? Did… did something happen…?”

Even to someone as pure and innocent as Yun Jin, the atmosphere felt… weird. Super weird. Like some huge, scandalous secret had transpired between the two in the few short minutes she’d been gone.

Truthfully, Yun Jin didn’t know Jiang Jinyue well. They hadn’t really spoken before. Jiang Jinyue was always a lone wolf within the sect, mysterious and aloof. Although her stunning beauty attracted countless male admirers, nobody else really seemed to interact with her. The rumors about Jiang Jinyue always revolved around which Senior Brother’s confession she’d coldly rejected this week, whose cultivation heart she’d shattered… Nobody even seemed to know her actual cultivation level or who her master was.

But today, standing next to He Yimo, Yun Jin was seeing a completely different side of Jiang Jinyue, one totally at odds with the rumors. The supposedly cold, sharp-tongued loner had actually run over to find He Yimo, claiming she’d already registered for him.

It was such a stark contrast!

To Yun Jin, Junior Sister Jiang’s smile was full of energy, her eyes curving sweetly like a clingy, affectionate little fox. She wasn’t just beautiful, she seemed so… sunny and likeable! How could this girl possibly be the same aloof, perpetually annoyed Junior Sister who apparently rejected everyone? It didn’t make sense!

And now… seeing them like this… Yun Jin couldn’t help but feel a tiny bit suspicious about the… intimacy of their private relationship.

But that raised another question…

He Yimo had only been at the Wuji Sect for less than a month, spending almost every day training up on Ranmo Peak. When on earth did he get so close to Jiang Jinyue?!

Wait… Is He Yimo secretly… like… an incubus or something?!  (tln : male succubus)

“S-Senior Sister Yun! You have to help meeeeee—!” Jiang Jinyue spotted Yun Jin and immediately puffed up her cheeks, ready to launch into a dramatic complaint.

But He Yimo reacted instantly—SWIPE!—clapping a hand firmly over her mouth. “Mmmph! Hmph! Nghh!”

“Uh! Senior Sister Yun Jin, just gimme one sec, okay? I need to have a quick word with Miss Jiang,” he said with a strained, apologetic smile, simultaneously dragging the muffled Jiang Jinyue further into the corner.

Although Jiang Jinyue was making loud “Mmmph! Ooomph! Hmph!” noises, her body offered zero resistance, letting He Yimo pull her away obediently.

Back in the relative seclusion of the corner, the girl finally pulled free, crossing her arms defiantly and pouting, shooting He Yimo a deeply resentful glare from her peach-blossom eyes.

But He Yimo suddenly swept one hand past her face—WHAM!—slamming it against the wall right beside her head. A classic kabedon. (tln : Japanese slang for the trope where a character forcefully slams their hand against a wall near someone, trapping them.)

“Eep?! Wh-What do you think you’re…?!” The sudden, intense pressure closing in made Jiang Jinyue’s heart flutter nervously. Thump-thump-thump! Her earlier defiance evaporated, replaced by wide-eyed confusion. She instinctively brought her hands up protectively in front of her chest, nervously picking at her fingernails. Thoroughly intimidated, she tilted her head up, her crimson-patterned eyes staring at He Yimo with disbelief.

He Yimo mulled things over for a moment, then finally sighed, confessing with weary honesty: “Okay, look… truth is… t-there is no secret technique on your leg, alright? I didn’t do anything weird. I just… I just injected a tiny bit of basic Fire Spirit Art into the token. That’s it. That’s all! Just to make it feel hot and make you panic.”

“S-So… you were LYING TO MEEEEE?!” Jiang Jinyue gasped, looking utterly stunned, like waking from a dream. Her eyes went wide. “Y-You mean…?”

He Yimo raised an eyebrow, looking equally exasperated.

“Well, DUH! Of course it was fake! I was just trying to scare you! Scare you into untying the token quickly and giving it back! Why would I actually put some weird, creepy technique on your leg?! Honestly! Besides, what kind of messed-up technique lets you just… play with someone’s body like that so easily?! Except maybe… you know… aphrodisiacs or something?! What kind of twisted pervert do you think I aaaaam?!”

“Oh… I thought…” Jiang Jinyue muttered under her breath, looking vaguely… disappointed? Miffed? Hard to tell.

Honestly, she had actually wondered if He Yimo had dosed her with some kind of aphrodisiac that night. How else could her body have gotten so hot and… lubricated… and sensitive…?

But… it was just a suspicion. She had no proof. And He Yimo did have the undeniable medical results to back up his ‘treatment’. So, those embarrassing, unfounded suspicions remained locked away, unspoken.

“You ‘thought’ what?” He Yimo pressed, arching an eyebrow again. “Thought I’d hit you with some kind of ecstasy-inducing super-aphrodisiac or something?!”

Even if Jiang Jinyue didn’t say it, he could guess exactly where the dirty mind of this sly fox had gone. After all, she was a ‘demoness’ from an evil cult herself. She was a master of illusions; who knew what other… specialized fields she might have dabbled in?

“Y-You! Stop guessing! I-I wasn’t feeling anything like… like ecstasy… or anything! Hmph! No!” Jiang Jinyue flushed bright red, vehemently denying it.

He Yimo eyed her skeptically for another second but decided to drop it. “Fine. Okay. Let’s stop messing around.”

“The main problem now is: your stocking won’t come off. So how the hell are we gonna get my token back?!”

“What happens when Senior Sister Yun Jin asks? Or when we get to Snow Village and the Immortal Alliance guards demand to see our tokens…? What am I supposed to tell them?! ‘Oh, sorry, Officer, uh… I kinda tied my token to this girl’s stocking, you see…’?! Seriously?!”

“And furthermore… are you really planning to just… walk around the whole time with my token tied to your leg?! Really?!” He Yimo was genuinely stressed now. This was his token, not hers! If the Alliance guards did a spot check and he couldn’t produce his ID, he’d be the one getting arrested as a suspicious person!

Honestly! Ever since coming to the Wuji Sect, He Yimo had spent nearly every waking moment meticulously planning, strategizing, preparing counters for every twist and turn of the original plot. He was always prepared for everything!

But… somehow… every time he bumped into Jiang Jinyue, his carefully laid plans inevitably went completely off the rails thanks to her interference.

Like today! Who could have predicted this?! He hadn’t even reached Snow Village yet, and he was already completely roadblocked… by a token tied to a girl’s thigh with a dead knot?! Are you kidding me?!

“Aiiiyah! I didn’t do it on purpose! Stop being so meeeean to meee!” Jiang Jinyue whined defensively. “D-Don’t worry sooo much! It’s not like the token’s gonna run away! It’s tied right here on my leg! Super tight dead knot, remember? Nobody’s gonna steal iiiit…”

Being suddenly cornered against the wall (kabedon’d!) and interrogated by He Yimo made her voice sound surprisingly weak and lacking confidence.

Eep! This was the first time a guy had ever pinned her against a wall like this, looming over her and demanding answers. Thinking about the stupid mess she’d made, Jiang Jinyue felt inexplicably nervous, her heart hammering against her ribs (thump-thump-thump-thump), her toes curling inside her shoes so hard she could probably carve out a three-bedroom apartment on the floor tiles…

But… calming down and actually thinking about it… He Yimo wasn’t really asking for anything unreasonable. Just… logical questions. So why was she feeling so flustered and tense…? Weird…

“L-Listen!” she stammered, trying to regain control. “H-How about this?”

“It’s getting late now, okay? So… for now… your token can just stay hidden on my leg. If anyone asks later—hey! I’m a fox demon! I can totally use illusions to cover for you! Easy peasy!”

“Then… t-tonight… when we get to Snow Village… we find a place where nobody’s around… all quiet and dark… and then… a-and then…” Jiang Jinyue laid out her ‘plan’ obediently. But when she got to the crucial part, her words faltered, unsure how exactly to phrase the next step.

“Uh-huh,” He Yimo interjected dryly. “So, middle of the night, just the two of us, alone… find a nice, dark, quiet little patch of woods… aaaaaand then?”

Jiang Jinyue abruptly stopped talking, making He Yimo eye her with deep suspicion.

“W-WAIT! Stop putting words in my mouth! HEY!” Jiang Jinyue’s face flushed crimson again, glaring resentfully at him. “I never said anything about woods!”

She bit her lip, finally admitting with difficulty, “L-Look… I’ve never had this happen before, okay?! I really don’t know how to get it off!”

“B-But! Don’t you humans have that saying? ‘There are always more solutions than problems’?”

“AIIYAH! Just—! Look! If worse comes to worst… you could j-just try ripping the stocking open! Or… or maybe put some of that ointment you used before on my leg? To… lubricate it…? Th-Those are solutions too, right?! How do we know they won’t work if we don’t twyyyyy?!”

“B-But there are sooo many people in the hall right now! Even if we do try… you can’t possibly try it here, in front of everyone, can you?!”

“Miss Yun Jin and the other disciples are waiting! Just… just pretend you’ve entrusted the token to me for safekeeping for now! Okay?! We can figure it out properly tonight when we get to Snow Village! Deal?!”