Chapter 11
With Hu Tao's confirmation, the System completed her residency. Lu Lin deftly granted her the mark and access privileges, allowing her to freely enter and exit the Serenitea Pot from that point on.
The Serenitea Pot's access privileges were tiered, of course. He held the highest level — he could bring anyone in with him — but the marks granted to others only allowed them to enter on their own; they couldn't bring additional people inside.
Beyond access privileges, Lu Lin also granted Hu Tao the [Telepathy] entry.
The System now displayed a panel belonging to her.
[Resident Member: Hu Tao]
[Age: 18]
[Greatness Grade: A]
[Elemental Attribute: Pyro]
[Signature Weapon: Staff of Homa]
[Entries Held: Telepathy]
[Conquest Progress: 90%]
With Hu Tao's residency settled, Lu Lin looked down. What greeted his eyes was the upper half of a body — skin fair and smooth, as though it had just been soaked in milk.
Her lower half was clad in a pair of hot pants, revealing a generous expanse of soft, pale thighs. Her calves were wrapped in white stockings, embroidered near the top with two red plum blossoms — utterly captivating.
The small black leather shoes she'd been wearing had been kicked off during their earlier tussle. Her dainty, jade-like little toes peeked through the white stockings, curled tightly together from the intensity of it all, her soles stretched taut.
Lu Lin caught her lips in another kiss, then murmured softly, "I showed you around the house earlier. How about you show me around yours?"
"Hm? What house do I have to show you? You're not seriously suggesting we go to the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor looking like this, are you? Absolutely not — someone would see us!" Hu Tao misunderstood, shaking her head quickly.
Though in her current state — soft and languid — the head-shaking looked more like playful pouting.
"Not the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor." Lu Lin's hand quietly drifted downward, silently undoing the clasp on her hot pants. "I meant — let's take a look at the floor plan."
Hu Tao: ?
She hadn't quite grasped what Lu Lin meant at first, but as he made his next move, she understood in an instant.
Even Hu Tao, with all her quirky cleverness and wild imagination, had to admit that in this particular department, she simply couldn't match Lu Lin's quick thinking.
The results of the "survey" left Lu Lin very satisfied. The place had babbling streams and lush flowers — a true paradise, indeed.
Ganyu's place was also quite lovely, he reflected — no overgrown weeds, nestled against the hills and beside the water. A fine retreat in its own right.
By now, Hu Tao had nothing left on but a pair of white stockings. Lu Lin gently laid her flat on the bed, resting her legs over his shoulders.
The spirited girl's brow furrowed tight, then suddenly relaxed, and she couldn't help but cry out tearfully, "Lu Lin~!"
The plum blossoms bloomed, their fragrance growing ever richer.
No matter how heavy her workload, Ganyu always kept the habit of taking a midday nap — and today was no exception.
After a simple lunch at Yuehai Pavilion, Ganyu habitually headed to the rest room set aside especially for her to take a short rest.
But once she stepped inside, her thoughts drifted to Lu Lin — to that building that belonged to her, that home that was hers.
"Whenever you feel drowsy at noon, you can come in and rest. No more worrying about finding a safe place." Those were the words he had said to her back then.
A blissful smile spread across Ganyu's face. She activated her mark and entered the building in the Serenitea Pot that was hers.
Lu Lin had tidied up after getting out of bed, so the sheets weren't disheveled. Ganyu flopped down onto the bed, breathing in the familiar, warm scent, and drifted into a deep sleep.
It was a wonderfully sweet slumber. Ganyu even had an embarrassing dream — in it, she and Lu Lin were nestled together, his hands wandering mischievously, sending wave after wave washing over her…
Wait.
This… didn't feel like a dream?!
Ganyu stirred groggily awake, and she truly felt wave after wave of strange sensation!
The feeling was far too familiar. Yesterday, Lu Lin had done exactly this — wave after wave, surge after surge, time and again pushing past the limits of her semi-divine lineage.
How could this be? Do I really… enjoy this that much?
Ganyu's face flushed crimson. Her legs shifted restlessly, twisting and rubbing together in helpless agitation, and a faint dampness had already seeped through her skirt!
She didn't know it, but the [Telepathy] entry had taken effect.
[Telepathy]: Can be granted to multiple holders. When one holder experiences intense emotional fluctuation, other holders within a certain range will share the same sensation.
Lu Lin had granted this entry to both Ganyu and Hu Tao. Had Ganyu not entered the Serenitea Pot, the two of them would have been separated by an entire world, and the effect naturally wouldn't have triggered.
But now both of them were inside the Serenitea Pot. [Telepathy] was active — and every wave of pleasure Hu Tao was experiencing was being mirrored directly onto Ganyu!
And that wasn't all. Ganyu also carried the [Double Happiness] entry, which would further amplify the intense pleasure being fed back from Hu Tao.
And that amplified, extreme pleasure was then fed back to Hu Tao through [Telepathy].
Lu Lin had only exerted one effort, yet the experience for both Hu Tao and Ganyu was multiplying exponentially. The combined effect of the entries was, quite simply, explosive.
It… it was coming…
"Lu Lin~!"
Ganyu couldn't hold back a soft, honeyed cry. The gentle trickle became a surging flood — unstoppable, impossible to contain…
Ganyu skipped work that afternoon.
The reason, needless to say, went without saying.
She didn't understand why she had felt something so overwhelmingly intense, but she guessed it had to be connected to Lu Lin somehow. Under the circumstances, she naturally didn't dare return to Yuehai Pavilion.
The staff who came and went at Yuehai Pavilion were all women, but letting them see her in this state was equally out of the question!
So she had no choice but to wait until Lu Lin and Hu Tao were finished.
Fortunately, Hu Tao didn't last as long as Ganyu had yesterday. In an hour and a half, she had peaked five or six times before collapsing into exhausted sleep.
On one hand, Hu Tao was, after all, a human body — it was perfectly natural that her endurance fell short of Ganyu's semi-divine lineage. On the other hand, the combined feedback of [Double Happiness] and [Telepathy] was layered on top of everything.
The pleasure she was enduring had already surpassed what Ganyu had experienced yesterday!
Of course, today everything evened out. [Telepathy] prided itself on fairness — it treated everyone equally.
So when Hu Tao peaked five or six times, Ganyu peaked five or six times right along with her. And since each peak was transmitted between them, the sensation and duration of every single one was extended.
As for the final time — Lu Lin also reached his own critical moment simultaneously. After the cascade of impacts, Hu Tao, pushed to her absolute limit, fell directly into unconscious sleep.
Lu Lin got up, dressed, and carried Hu Tao from the damp sheets to another clean, fresh bed. He pulled the covers over her beautiful form, then made his way to Ganyu's building.
As the master of the Serenitea Pot, he could of course check through the System to see who was inside — but when he'd brought Hu Tao in, his mind had been entirely on her, and he hadn't noticed Ganyu was there too.
It was only when he saw the breathtaking expression on Hu Tao's face that he realized something was off. Her reaction had been a little too intense. Unless her constitution was very unusual, she shouldn't have been responding so dramatically from the very start.
That was when he realized Ganyu was also inside, and [Telepathy] had been active — but by then, there was no stopping it.
"Lu Lin~" When she saw Lu Lin walk into the room, Ganyu let out a soft, weak whimper, her whole body limp, and turned her head away in embarrassment.
Lu Lin held her and gently patted her back, saying warmly, "I'm here. It's all right now."
Ganyu's dress was completely soaked through. Fortunately, the wardrobe held plenty of her new clothes. Lu Lin carried her into the bathroom, gave her a quick wash, and changed her into a dry outfit.
"Do you think… I'm the kind of girl who has no shame? I don't even know what came over me — I just suddenly… felt so good…"
After the bath, Ganyu had mostly recovered her strength, but the embarrassment in her heart hadn't faded — if anything, she felt a little anxious.
"It's not your fault. It's on me." Lu Lin gently held her, pressed a soft kiss to her cheek, and then explained the matter of the residency entries to her.
This was a decision Lu Lin made on the spot. The entries weren't exactly easy to explain to others, but Ganyu and the others were already people he was fully committed to — their Conquest Progress was at one hundred percent — and they were the direct users of the entries, so there was no real need to hide it from them.
"So… the reason I felt that way was because of the entry?"
"Yes."
"You terrible man — why would you give me an entry like that!" Now that Ganyu understood what had happened, she couldn't help but pout in mock indignation.
"I just got a new entry and was curious!" Lu Lin said shamelessly, without so much as a blush.
"You just wanted to cause mischief, you scoundrel!" A pouting Ganyu had a beauty all her own — it made Lu Lin's heart skip a beat, and he was sorely tempted to go another round with her.
But Ganyu still had work to do. She was already late, and if things dragged on any further, she'd get nothing done at all. Besides, this was Hu Tao's first time — it would be best if Lu Lin was there by her side when she woke up.
"Alright, I'll spend more time with you another day. Go keep Hu Tao company — I still have work to finish!" Seeing the heat in Lu Lin's eyes, Ganyu was startled and broke free from his embrace, fleeing in a hurry.
What's the rush? It's not like I'm going to eat you.
Lu Lin shrugged and returned to the Ghost Haunted House. Hu Tao was sleeping soundly. He shed his outer robe, slipped under the covers, and pulled the slumbering girl into his arms.
Time for a nap.
Yuehai Pavilion.
Bai Wen, Bai Shi, and Bai Xiao stood with their heads bowed in silence, not daring to breathe too loudly.
Ningguang's expression was as still as deep water, her voice cold. "None of you know where Ganyu went either?"
"I saw Miss Ganyu enter the rest room, but when the lunch break ended she didn't come out. I went in to call for her and found the room completely empty. I asked the others, but no one saw where Miss Ganyu went." Bai Xiao reported.
"Very well. I understand. You may all go about your duties." Ningguang walked out of Yuehai Pavilion, brow furrowed in thought.
Ningguang had come specifically to find Ganyu. Her purpose, as always, was the same old principle: know yourself and know your enemy, and you will never be defeated.
She needed to understand what kind of person Lu Lin was — what he had to back him up. Learning about him indirectly through Ganyu was, without question, an excellent approach.
She also wanted to take the opportunity to probe Ganyu's situation — to see exactly how far things had progressed between her and that scoundrel.
What she hadn't expected was that Ganyu — always diligent, always reliable, never causing any problems — had apparently gone absent without leave.
This was far too out of character!
Ningguang had known Ganyu for many years and had never once seen her skip work. Even if something came up unexpectedly, Ganyu would always leave a message. Vanishing without a sound, without a word to anyone — something was very wrong.
That said, she wasn't worried about Ganyu's safety. After all, Ganyu was a powerful being with the adeptal beast Qilin Bloodline. There were precious few people in Liyue who could threaten her.
With no way to find her, Ningguang had little recourse for the moment and prepared to head back to the Jade Chamber.
Just as she turned around, she spotted a delicate young woman walking toward her.
This was the first time Ningguang had used the word "delicate" to describe Ganyu — but she felt she hadn't used it wrong at all.
At this moment, Ganyu's complexion was radiantly flushed, her spirits high, her refined features glowing with a freshness that seemed almost dewy — and there lingered about her a trace of something that hadn't quite faded yet.
Anyone who laid eyes on her would feel their heart skip a beat involuntarily.
When Ganyu exited the Serenitea Pot, she could observe the outside environment and choose a landing point within a certain range — roughly within a radius of twenty meters centered on the spot where she had entered.
She naturally couldn't reappear directly in the rest room. After so much time had passed, the others had surely already noticed she was missing. She would need to walk in from outside — so she had changed her landing point accordingly.
She hadn't expected that after only a few steps, she would run straight into Ningguang.
"Good afternoon, Miss Ningguang." Ganyu met her gaze and smiled gently.
"Did Miss Ganyu step out briefly for something?" Ningguang studied her dewy, luminous face, and in her heart she already had a fairly good guess.
Though Ningguang was still inexperienced in such matters, she was worldly and well-informed — she was by no means ignorant of the ways between men and women.
Seeing Ganyu in this state, how could she not know what had happened?
She must have gone on a rendezvous with that scoundrel! And judging by the lingering flush on Ganyu's face, their relationship had progressed far beyond what she had imagined!
"Eh? I… I had something come up suddenly and stepped out for a bit." Ganyu hadn't expected that Ningguang had come specifically to find her.
After thousands of years without ever skipping work, the very first time she did, she got caught by her superior.
Though Ganyu's status was exalted and her relationship with the Qixing was harmonious, technically speaking she was the Qixing's secretary — and Ningguang could genuinely be considered her superior.
"I see. If you ever run into difficulties and need help, Miss Ganyu, please don't hesitate to ask." Now that Ningguang had realized how rapidly Ganyu and Lu Lin's relationship was progressing, some of the questions she had intended to ask were no longer convenient to raise.
Still, she had no intention of giving up entirely. Gathering some less critical information through roundabout means was still worthwhile.
"It's nothing, nothing at all — everything's been sorted out. I'm heading back to work." Ganyu felt thoroughly guilty and wanted nothing more than to get back to her desk as quickly as possible.