Villain: Manipulating the Heroines into hating the Protagonist

Chapter 930: Bathing In Courtyard

Lianhua awoke to a world of aches.

Her entire body felt as if it had been dismantled and put back together incorrectly. A deep, thrumming soreness radiated from every muscle, and her intimate areas felt swollen, tender, and raw. Yet, beneath the pain was a confusing, lingering, thrumming pleasure, a warmth that coiled in her newly repaired meridians.

She was naked, tangled in the ruined, stained sheets of the bed.

The memories of the past day and a half crashed down on her. The violence. The pleasure. The endless, raw, animalistic coupling. Her mind, her rational self, reeled in horror.

She sat up, her head spinning, and saw him.

Wang Jian was sitting across the room in a simple wooden chair, already fully dressed in clean robes. He was watching her with a calm, patient, and unmistakably possessive smile. He had been waiting for her to wake.

"You are awake," he stated simply, his voice calm, as if they were discussing the weather. "Good. The morning air is fresh. We should bathe. Together. In the open pond in the courtyard."

Lianhua’s head snapped up, her heart lurching with a new, fresh wave of horror. "Bathe? Together? In the courtyard?" she hissed, her voice a raw croak. "Are you mad?!"

She clutched the soiled sheet to her chest, her knuckles white. "Ruyan is right in the next room! She could walk in at any moment! I cannot... I will not be seen like this with you!"

Wang Jian merely shrugged, an indifferent, infuriating gesture. "A pity. Well, if you don’t want to accompany me, I suppose I’ll have to accept Ruyan’s offer from this morning."

Lianhua froze. "What... what offer?"

"Oh, she’s a very devoted disciple," Wang Jian said, his tone light, conversational. "She asked me earlier if she could wash my back. As a small ’thank you’ for saving her esteemed Teacher. I refused her, of course."

His eyes met hers, and they were cold, reptilian. "Because of our... deal, Lianhua. Our agreement. You are my outlet, are you not? But if you won’t fulfill your duties..."

He stood up and made a show of moving towards the door. "I’m sure she’s eager. She might even ’accidentally’ slip and fall onto me in the water. Accidents happen. She is rather infatuated, after all."

"No!" Lianhua scrambled out of the bed, the sheet clutched desperately around her, her body screaming in protest. "Wait! Stop! Don’t call her!"

’He wouldn’t,’ her mind screamed in panic. ’He wouldn’t dare! Ruyan... she’s innocent! She’s infatuated... she doesn’t know what he is! She’d be throwing herself at this... this beast! I can’t let that happen! I can’t!’

"I... I will come with you," she stammered, her voice trembling with a mixture of rage and utter, helpless despair. "I will bathe. Just... do not call her. Do not... taint her."

Wang Jian’s cold, victorious smile was almost invisible, but she felt it. "Good. A wise choice, Sect Mistress."

He looked at the sheet she was clutching. "And leave the sheet. You won’t need it in the water. It’ll just get wet."

Lianhua’s breath hitched. "But... to walk through the courtyard... naked...?"

"Yes," he said simply.

Tears of pure, abject humiliation stung her eyes. But she had no choice. Her sacrifice for Ruyan, it seemed, was only just beginning.

Slowly, her hands trembling so violently she could barely function, she let the sheet fall to the floor.

She stood before him, naked in the harsh morning light, her magnificent, mature body exposed to his cold, appraising gaze.

"After you," he said, gesturing to the door.

That walk... it was the most agonizing journey of her life. Each step from the bedchamber, across the small stone-paved courtyard to the steaming pond, felt like a mile.

The cool morning air kissed her bare skin, raising goosebumps on her arms and making her large, heavy breasts sway with every hurried, shameful step. She could feel his eyes on her back, on her buttocks, watching her, savoring her humiliation. She felt like a prized broodmare being paraded by its master.

They reached the pond. It was beautiful, fed by a natural spiritual spring, steam rising from its warm, clear water. But it was open. Surrounded by high courtyard walls, yes, but open to the sky, and to the doors and windows of the other rooms. Open to Ruyan.

"In," he commanded softly.

Shivering with a chill that had nothing to do with the air, Lianhua stepped into the warm, steaming water. It swirled around her thighs, her hips, her waist, finally covering her breasts, offering a small, blessed relief from his gaze.

The relief lasted for a single second.

He stepped into the water behind her, his own robes discarded in a heap. The water displaced as his larger, harder body entered.

He didn’t hesitate. He pulled her close, his wet, naked body pressing against her back. His hands immediately began to roam over her wet, slippery skin.

"Wang Jian..." she protested weakly, but his name died on her lips as his hands found her breasts.

He cupped her massive, floating breasts from behind, weighing them in his palms. "So buoyant," he murmured, his voice a low growl against her ear. "Magnificent."

His thumbs found her nipples, which were already hardened into tight peaks from the cool morning air. He teased them, rolling them, sending sharp, unwanted jolts of pleasure through her. He pressed his half-hard dick against the small of her back.

Lianhua tried to push his hands away, her own hands trembling. "Wang Jian, please... not here... she could... she could see..."

He just shot her a cold, hard look over her shoulder. "Remember Ruyan," he whispered, his voice a blade of ice. "This is for Ruyan, isn’t it? To protect her? Or shall I call her out to... help?"

She instantly stopped resisting. Her hands fell limply to her sides. She just stood there, letting him mold her, letting him do as he pleased.

The combination of the warm, swirling water, his skilled, demanding hands on her most sensitive parts, and the gut-twisting, heart-pounding fear of discovery... it created a horrible, heightened, agonizing state of arousal. She hated herself for it. She hated him for making her feel it.

He was kneading her breasts, his head buried in her neck, his teeth gently grazing her skin, when he suddenly tensed.

His head snapped up.

"Speak of the devil," he hissed, his voice suddenly sharp. "Someone’s coming. It’s Ruyan."

Lianhua’s blood ran cold. "No!" she gasped, her voice a terrified squeak. "Where?! I can’t... she can’t see me! Not like this! Not with you!"

She splashed, her eyes darting wildly, looking for an escape, a place to hide. But there was nowhere to go. The path back to the room was blocked by the courtyard’s entrance!

Wang Jian, the calm puppet master, didn’t panic. He pointed with his chin to a large, mossy, ornamental spirit rock at the far edge of the pond.

"Behind that," he commanded. "Now. Submerge yourself if you have to. And do not make a sound, or I will call her over."

Lianhua didn’t hesitate. She scrambled through the water, her heart hammering so hard she thought it would burst from her chest. She hid behind the large rock, crouching down in the chest-deep water until only her nose and eyes were above the rippling surface. She was trembling violently, her teeth chattering with fear.

Wang Jian swam over, his movements unhurried. He pressed his hand to the front of the rock, the side that would face the courtyard.

"A small ’Shadow-Veil Concealment Talisman’," he whispered to her, his voice low and cold. "It’s high-grade. It won’t hide you from a direct spiritual probe, but it will bend the light and muffle your presence. She won’t see you unless she knows exactly where to look. Stay. Still."

He swam back to the center of the pond just as the courtyard gate creaked open.

Liu Ruyan entered, humming a happy, cheerful tune. She was carrying a small basket filled with fresh, glistening spirit fruits.

She stopped, feigning perfect, innocent surprise.

"Oh! Senior Brother Wang!" she exclaimed, her voice light and musical. "Good morning! I didn’t know you were taking a bath! The water looks so lovely and warm."

Her eyes, which Lianhua could just barely see over the top of the rock, were lit with a mischievous, playful intent.

’No, Ruyan... go away... please, go away...’ Lianhua prayed, her heart sinking.

Liu Ruyan set the basket down on a stone table and walked right to the edge of the pond, her steps light and eager.

"You... you look tense, Senior Brother," she said, her voice dropping to a sultry, caring tone. "Are you sure you don’t want me to wash your back? I... I still feel I haven’t properly thanked you for saving Teacher. It’s the least I can do."

Lianhua watched, her stomach churning, as Wang Jian put on a masterful performance of reluctance. He glanced nervously, obviously, toward the rock where she was hidden, a pained, forced smile on his face.

"Ah, no, Junior Sister Ruyan, that’s truly not necessary," he said, his voice strained. "I’m... I’m almost done, really. You should go... practice your alchemy."

"Nonsense!" Liu Ruyan giggled, her voice light and playful, completely dismissing his refusal. "Teacher always says we must repay our debts with sincerity! And I am very, very sincere!"

And then, to Lianhua’s absolute, soul-crushing horror, Liu Ruyan reached for the sash of her robes.

With a fluid, unashamed, and almost theatrical motion, she untied it. Her green outer robes fell to the ground in a soft, whispering pile. Then her inner robes.

Revealing her own stunning, youthful, completely naked body.

Lianhua almost gasped aloud. She had to bite down hard on her own lip, the coppery taste of blood filling her mouth, to stay silent.

’Ruyan! No! What are you doing?! He’s a married man! You... you’ve lost your mind! Stop this! Stop this at once!’

Liu Ruyan, oblivious to her Master’s silent, screaming horror, stepped gracefully into the water. Her naked, youthful curves—her high, firm breasts, her slim waist, her taut thighs—were a stark, painful contrast to Lianhua’s own mature, heavy magnificence.

She moved smoothly, sinuously, towards Wang Jian. "You saved her, you saved me," she murmured, her voice a low, seductive purr. "Please, Senior Brother. Let me serve you. Just a little."

She reached him. She wasn’t subtle. She was not the shy, hesitant disciple Lianhua knew. This was a bold, confident woman.

She immediately pressed her wet, naked body against his, and began to "wash" his chest, her hands lingering, soaping him slowly, her fingers tracing the muscles of his abdomen.

Wang Jian acted deeply uncomfortable. He kept glancing at Lianhua’s rock with that pained, forced smile, a "what-can-I-do-she’s-so-insistent" expression. He was saying, silently, to Lianhua: ’See? I tried to stop her. She’s throwing herself at me. This isn’t my fault.’

Lianhua watched in pure, unadulterated horror. Her beloved, innocent disciple... acting like a common... no. She couldn’t even think the word.

She watched Ruyan’s hands slide down Wang Jian’s abdomen, lower and lower, getting dangerously close to the water’s surface, where his... manhood... lay.

Every touch, every giggle from Liu Ruyan, was a dagger in Lianhua’s heart. This was her fault. She had sacrificed herself to prevent this, and now she was being forced to watch it happen anyway, from a hidden, shameful vantage point. It was a carefully orchestrated, psychological torture, and she was the only one in the audience.

She couldn’t take it. She couldn’t watch Ruyan debase herself, ruin herself, any further.

She marshaled her weak, pitiful Qi Condensation spiritual sense and sent a desperate, frantic mental transmission directly into Wang Jian’s mind.

’Stop this! Wang Jian, I’m begging you! Send her away! I cannot watch her do this to herself! Please!’

His reply came back instantly. It was not a voice, but a cold, demanding, and utterly triumphant thought.

’And if I do? I am a man with needs, Lianhua. You know that. I’m already aroused. If I send her away now... I will be very... frustrated. What are you going to do about it?’

Lianhua watched, in frozen horror, as Liu Ruyan’s hand, her disciple’s hand, slid underwater. She saw Wang Jian’s eyes flutter closed for a second, a small, involuntary groan escaping his lips. Ruyan was... she was touching him. Stroking him.

She broke. Completely.

’No! Not her! Me! Take me!’ her mind screamed at him, a desperate, silent plea. ’Anything! I will do anything you want! Just make her leave! Right now! Please!’

A genuine, predatory grin flashed across Wang Jian’s face. It was a grin of pure, savage triumph, hidden from Ruyan, but aimed right at the rock where he knew Lianhua was watching.

He had won. Again.

He gently, but firmly, caught Liu Ruyan’s wandering hand underwater.

"Junior Sister Ruyan," he said aloud. His voice was firm, but kind. The perfect, reluctant gentleman. "As much as I... appreciate this... I actually need you to do something more important for me right now. This is urgent."

Liu Ruyan, a masterful actress in her own right, pulled her hand back, pouting playfully. "Now? But I was just getting started... I haven’t even finished washing your back..."

"Yes, now. It’s urgent," he insisted, his tone leaving no room for argument. "The intelligence you gathered yesterday was good, but it’s not enough. I need more. I need you to go to the outer courtyards. Find your Senior Sisters—Qiu Yun and the others. See what the Second Elder’s faction is really doing. Are they consolidating power? Purging our old allies? We cannot be blind here."

She sighed dramatically, a put-upon, lovestruck girl. "Fine. Business first, I suppose. But you owe me for this, Senior Brother."

She stood up on her tiptoes in the water, her wet, naked body glistening, her firm, youthful breasts pressed against his chest.

"A kiss for the road?"

Before he could "refuse," she planted a deep, passionate, open-mouthed kiss on his lips. It was a long, lingering, almost obscene kiss, and she did it while staring defiantly, though Lianhua couldn’t see it, right in his eyes.

Lianhua had to look away. She closed her eyes, tears of shame for her disciple—and for her own part in this disgusting, twisted play—stinging her eyes.

Liu Ruyan finally pulled away. She got out of the pond, and then, with agonizing slowness, she dried her magnificent, youthful body, giving Wang Jian a full, thirty-second show of her every curve. She dressed slowly, picked up her basket, and cast one last, longing, seductive look back at him.

"Don’t work too hard, Senior Brother," she purred. Then she left the courtyard, humming her happy tune again.

The moment the courtyard gate clicked shut, Wang Jian canceled the concealment talisman.

"She’s gone," he said, his voice flat. "You can come out now, my dear Sect Mistress."

Lianhua emerged from behind the rock, dripping wet, shivering not from cold but from a mix of fury, shame, and a cold, terrified anticipation. She clutched her hands over her breasts, her body exposed and vulnerable.

She looked up.

The "reluctant," "uncomfortable," "brotherly" man was gone.

In his place stood a predator.

His eyes were no longer feigning anything. They were burning with ferocious, unrestrained lust. He was fully, painfully erect, his need visibly throbbing in the shallow water, a testament to the "frustration" Ruyan had caused... and that Lianhua had just promised to fix.

"You promised," he growled, his voice a low, terrifying purr. He began to stalk towards her through the water like a shark closing in on its prey.

"You promised me... anything I want. Right here."

She backed up, step by step, her feet slipping on the smooth stones. "Wang Jian... I... I..."

Her bare back hit the rough, cold stone of the courtyard’s outer wall. There was nowhere left to run.

She looked at his face, at the raw, undisguised hunger there. She knew what was coming. She knew what she had just agreed to.

It was going to be a long, long day.

She lowered her head in defeat, her wet hair curtaining her face. "I... I promised."

He reached her. His hands slammed onto the stone wall on either side of her head, trapping her. He leaned in, his hot, wet, naked body pressing against hers, his hard dick digging painfully into her soft stomach.

"Time to pay up, Lianhua."