Jiang Zheyu remembered the way the man had looked at her so intently. ’Actually, becoming normal Beast Mates—like a couple—wouldn’t be so bad, would it?’

When she realized what she was thinking, her heart skipped a beat. ’How dare I covet the female lead’s man? How could I?’

Jiang Zheyu hurriedly shook her head, trying to shake all those thoughts away.

’It must be because I haven’t been in a relationship for too long. That’s why I’m so desperate for a man.’

’Tomorrow, I’ll go buy a docile Beast Slave who can provide me with emotional support!’

After her shower, Jiang Zheyu remembered the task she hadn’t completed yesterday. ’What’s the punishment for not completing a task?’

"System, System, what’s the punishment for not completing the task?" Jiang Zheyu hurriedly poked the system. "Tell me in advance. When does it start? What is it? I need to mentally prepare."

The system replied: "Host, you don’t need to mentally prepare. I also don’t know what the punishment is or when it will start. In any case, your body will be controlled and forced to do some embarrassing things."

Jiang Zheyu caught on. "Does that mean I’ll be unconscious while my body is being controlled?"

’If that’s the case, I won’t even know what mortifying things I’ve done! Then I have nothing to be afraid of, right!’

"Host, that’s not how you should understand it," the system said quietly. "If you were unconscious, how could it be considered a social-death punishment?"

Jiang Zheyu’s pretty little face fell, her expression one of utter despair. 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

"System, you win." Jiang Zheyu’s curse at the system had no bite to it.

Her flash of anger fizzled out instantly.

Jiang Zheyu lay down to sleep, deciding to forget these unpleasant matters.

The midnight wind blew in through the half-open window, making the curtains by the window lift slightly.

The young woman on the large, soft bed slowly sat up. Her pristine white feet landed directly on the porcelain-colored floor. Her slender ankles were even more beautiful and fairer than the porcelain tiles themselves.

The wind from outside blew in, landing right on the young woman. The hem of her loose, knee-length white nightgown swayed slightly with the breeze, exposing a pair of slender, well-proportioned calves to the air.

Jiang Zheyu’s short, neat, jet-black hair also blew slightly to the sides with the wind.

The cold wind carried a chill. Jiang Zheyu shivered and became slightly more awake.

Then, before she was fully awake, she found herself slowly walking outside.

When Jiang Zheyu saw her body uncontrollably open the door and start walking forward barefoot, she was suddenly wide awake.

’Has the punishment begun?’

The originally dark hallway gradually lit up as the young woman emerged.

Jiang Zheyu could only watch helplessly as she walked to the door of Su Yan’s room, her hand landed on the doorknob, and then turned it.

The door actually pushed open!

’Su Yan doesn’t lock his door at night?’

’What is happening? Why am I opening Su Yan’s door?’

Jiang Zheyu already felt mortified. She had just told Su Yan not long ago that they needed to draw clear boundaries and that she only saw him as a regular friend. Now, here she was, opening his door in the middle of the night. No matter how you looked at it, her actions didn’t match her words.

Su Yan had actually woken up when he heard footsteps in the hallway.

He was a little surprised that his Female Master would be out in the middle of the night, until the footsteps stopped at his door, and then his door was opened.

For a moment, Su Yan’s heart actually began to beat a little faster.

Jiang Zheyu slowly walked into Su Yan’s room. It was very dark inside. The lights were off, the windows were shut tight, and heavy curtains completely blocked any light from outside.

She could barely tell east from west.

But her body had already automatically walked to the side of the bed and was slowly climbing onto it.

The moment Jiang Zheyu felt her knees press into the soft duvet, she knew what the punishment was.

The punishment was actually to climb into Su Yan’s bed.

Su Yan, in the bed, had a rapidly beating heart, but Jiang Zheyu, climbing into the bed, had a heart that was beating just as fast!

Jiang Zheyu crawled next to Su Yan’s thigh. She could feel one of her hands, through the blanket, bracing against a powerful thigh. Her other hand was about to lift Su Yan’s blanket when her wrist was suddenly grabbed firmly by a large hand.

This action also seemed to break the control over Jiang Zheyu’s body.

Caught completely off guard by the sudden return of control over her body, she had no way to brace herself and fell forward, kneeling, onto Su Yan.

Su Yan propped himself up with his other hand, sitting up. He looked down quietly at Jiang Zheyu, who had fallen onto him. The loose nightgown clung to the curves of her back, revealing the beautiful, graceful line of her spine and the lovely, upturned arc at its base.

His red pupils darkened a few shades.

’Right now, I really don’t want control of my body back! This is so awkward, so awkward! This is social death, pure social death!’

Her face was buried in Su Yan’s waist, separated only by a layer of silky black pajamas. ’If I don’t get up now, it’ll be even more awkward.’

Jiang Zheyu struggled to push herself up, kneeling on the bed. Her gaze then met Su Yan’s deep red eyes.

"Female Master, climbing into my bed in the middle of the night..." Su Yan’s palm landed on the back of her neck, caressing it gently. He lowered his head slightly, as if to kiss her, but stopped just a few centimeters from her lips. "What is it you want?"

Their faces were extremely close, as if Su Yan only needed to turn his head slightly to press his lips against hers.

Jiang Zheyu’s heart sped up. She pressed her lips together again and again, her long lashes lowered and trembling slightly. ’How am I supposed to explain this?’

’How am I supposed to explain this?’

’I didn’t come here on my own! The punishment controlled my body, and I was forced to climb into bed!’

’But I definitely can’t say anything about the system.’

"I... I was sleepwalking." Jiang Zheyu cursed herself for meeting Su Yan’s gaze so lucidly just now, which made the lie she was telling now incredibly easy to see through. "I just woke up."

She slowly tried to retreat.

But Su Yan wasn’t about to let someone who’d delivered herself to his doorstep leave so easily.

His palm landed on Jiang Zheyu’s waist, and he gently pressed her toward him, closing the distance between them again.

Jiang Zheyu found she couldn’t retreat; instead, she was pulled even closer.

"Su... Su Yan..." Jiang Zheyu placed her hands on Su Yan’s chest, her pair of tea-colored eyes looking at him uneasily.

"Female Master, you said we should keep our distance." Su Yan looked down at her quietly. "So what does it mean that you come and climb into my bed in the middle of the night? Your rejection isn’t absolute, and you keep giving me hope. I don’t like being toyed with."

Jiang Zheyu was suffering in silence, unable to voice her grievance.

"Yu Yu, we are already legitimate Beast Mates." Su Yan’s voice grew deeper. "So it’s only natural for us to do the things Beast Mates do, isn’t it?"