My Arch-Nemesis is the R-Rated Male Lead - Chapter 21

Zhou Li’s fingertip pressed against her skin, pinning down that tiny red mole. Lu Rong’s chest and breathing trembled faintly. “Don’t…”

Zhou Li looked at her, her eyes shimmering with moisture as she gazed at him uneasily. He didn’t withdraw his hand. Instead, he asked, “Did you come looking for me? Or for something else?”

His gaze dropped to her lips. A day had passed, and the swelling from before had faded, revealing their natural rosy fullness.

She had applied lip rouge before coming. Up close, a faint floral scent lingered, making him want even more to bite her lips.

Bite them red.

Bite them swollen.

Bite them until moisture surfaced.

Under his gaze, Lu Rong’s face heated as well. “What are you looking at?”

She glared at him, embarrassed and irritated. Without needing to think, she knew he’d been staring at her mouth, definitely imagining biting her lips.

She instinctively pressed her lips together, cursing him inwardly.

[Ahhh, there’s no way I’m letting this beast kiss me again.]

Seeing her like a bristling cat, her entire body tense, Zhou Li suppressed the smile at the corner of his mouth and deliberately lowered his head a little further.

Lu Rong swallowed nervously.

Zhou Li couldn’t suppress his smile this time; the corner of his mouth curved upward slightly.

[No—wait. He really does want to kiss me.]

[Don’t kiss me anymore!]

[Last time he kissed me so hard my legs went weak!]

“What are you laughing at?” Seeing him smile, Lu Rong instinctively felt that her thoughts had been exposed, and embarrassment crept in.

Zhou Li didn’t answer her. Instead, he asked, “So what did you come here for?”

Lu Rong instantly went from bold to guilty. She had come to probe his demonic form—and not only had she failed, but she’d also been caught outright.

“Can’t I come see you?” she snapped back fiercely, figuring that staying close to him would eventually reveal what kind of demon he was.

Listening to her inner thoughts, Zhou Li lowered his brows and studied her clear eyes.

So, was she planning to report him to Lu Wen? Or was it simply curiosity?

Or… was she starting to scheme against him too?

“Looking for me?” Zhou Li’s gaze sharpened. He leaned closer and closer, his voice dropping low. “Have you forgotten I’m in heat?”

As he spoke, his grip tightened around her wrist, pulling her in until Lu Rong’s chest pressed firmly against his.

Her soft chest was pressed against his, their heartbeats colliding.

Their lips were inches apart—at such a dangerous distance, it was impossible to tell whose breath was whose.

Lu Rong’s eyes were wide, her chest rising and falling sharply with tension as she stared at him without blinking, her mouth dry.

[If you’re going to kiss me, then just do it already! This is unbearable!]

[If you don’t kiss me, I’m going to kiss you!!]

Hearing her inner cries, Zhou Li leaned even closer, yet always stopped just short of touching her. “Or are you trying to help me get through my heat?”

Wrapped in his cold, sharp breath, Lu Rong felt dizzy—so much so that she almost thought they were already kissing. But Zhou Li was deliberately tormenting her, teasing her through that thin layer of air until her heart burned.

She was truly desperate. Gritting her teeth, Lu Rong lifted her head, wanting to press firmly against his lips and bite them.

But Zhou Li lifted his head at just the right moment, seemingly avoiding the kiss by accident, even releasing her hand.

Lu Rong froze, struck by the hollow disappointment of wanting something and not getting it. It felt as though her heart had been clawed at—uneasy, unsettled.

She stared at him for a few seconds before Zhou Li pulled her to her feet.

“This place is dangerous,” Zhou Li said coldly, lifting his chin toward the outside.

“You’d better go back.”

Lu Rong hadn’t expected him to actually drive her away. But every time she came, he always ended up hauling her back anyway, so she couldn’t be bothered to argue over it.

She looked at the marks he’d left on her slender, pale wrist and pressed her lips together. “You hurt my hand gripping it.”

He glanced at her wrist. The marks were indeed a little red.

He’d held her too tightly. And he knew Lu Rong’s skin had always been prone to leaving marks. Every time he grasped her wrist, a ring would appear, faintly red even three days later.

“You always grip my hand so tightly,” Lu Rong muttered. “No one else does.”

“Who is ‘no one else’?” Zhou Li’s sharp gaze swept over. The name that had nearly slipped from Lu Rong’s lips was forcibly swallowed back.

“Anyway, you hurt me, so I’m not leaving.”

As she spoke, she plopped herself down where Zhou Li had been sitting earlier, a solid slab of cold jade, icy against the skin.

In the slightly stuffy late spring, it was just right. She lay down, hands folded neatly over her chest, looking utterly peaceful.

There was a faint air of feigning death, like deliberately playing the victim.

Seeing that she had even lain down, Zhou Li felt both amused and exasperated. He turned and went back inside.

Out of the corner of her eye, Lu Rong watched his retreating figure, wondering what he was going to do.

Was he going to change clothes? Or take a bath?

Her eyes darted around as she hesitated over whether to follow and spy on him, when Zhou Li had already walked out and headed straight toward her.

“Get up.”

“No.” Lu Rong pouted her rosy lips, looking like a shameless rogue refusing to leave someone else’s nest.

Zhou Li crouched down and stared at her. His sudden closeness made Lu Rong feel a little afraid.

[What if he suddenly pounces on me and does it to me?]

[Probably not. He didn’t even kiss me just now—he can definitely control himself!]

Zhou Li was indeed restraining himself with all his might. His desire was to seize control, to pin her beneath him, kiss her lips, then suck and bite at her neck, continuing downward.

But he knew he couldn’t do that.

He couldn’t be intimate with her. He was a demon, she was human. If he touched her, she would die.

Zhou Li lowered his long lashes and reached out, gently taking hold of her hand.

“What are you doing?” Lu Rong tensed all over—only to see Zhou Li holding her hand, eyes lowered, carefully applying medicine.

She fell silent for a moment, snorting inwardly. Why be so considerate?

She was suddenly too embarrassed to scold him.

By the time Zhou Li finished applying medicine to both her hands, the red marks on her wrists had faded away.

He tossed the medicine to her. “You can go back now.”

He stood up, took Bing Lie, and walked outside, clearly unwilling to be alone with her. Lu Rong didn’t move for a moment, watching him leave.

Through the window, she saw Zhou Li sitting outside, quietly polishing his sword.

He no longer needed to practice every day. His sword intent was already complete. Simply sitting within his spiritual sea counted as training.

But today, perhaps because of Lu Rong’s presence, his mind was restless. He didn’t dare enter his spiritual sea and could only gaze at the peach grove in the distance.

“Hey, Zhou Li,” Lu Rong’s voice came from behind. “Can I ask you for a favor?”

Zhou Li turned around and saw her leaning by the window, smiling with crescent eyes. He asked softly, “What is it?”

“The sect competition is coming up soon. Can you teach me swordsmanship?” Lu Rong flipped out through the window and hurried over to his side.

“Have someone else teach you.” Zhou Li turned his head away, unwilling to look at her.

“Zhou Li.” She squatted in front of him, gazing up at him expectantly.

“Don’t act cute.” Zhou Li tried his best not to be affected by her, but Lu Rong’s impact was still devastating.

She stubbornly chose to act cute. “Oh, come on, please—do you really want to see me come in dead last?”

Looking at her, Zhou Li inexplicably recalled how badly Lu Rong had cried after losing her first sect competition. “I’ve seen it once.”

Lu Rong snapped, “Don’t say it.”

She stood up angrily. “Then I’ll go find Senior Brother Lin to teach me!”

She turned to leave, expecting Zhou Li to stop her—but he remained unmoving, as if none of it mattered to him.

This time, Lu Rong was genuinely angry.

She left outright. She didn’t want to stay with someone so cold and heartless.

The moment Lu Rong was gone, Zhou Li’s rigid back suddenly slackened. His breathing turned heavy as he reached up to clutch his burning chest.

His vision blurred and warped, heat surging violently through his body—nearly enough to make him lose his human form.

“Master, this is dangerous. You need to find Lu Rong to relieve your heat,” Bing Lie said anxiously.

Zhou Li was drenched in hot sweat. Veins stood out beneath his flushed neck, showing how fiercely he was restraining himself.

“She can’t handle me.” Zhou Li was painfully aware of the gap between himself and Lu Rong.

“You can do it the same way as last time.” Bing Lie understood his master’s condition well. The cold, icy aura within the Xuan Snake’s body could not dissipate—if it continued to be scorched by this kind of lustful fire, one day his true form would inevitably break free, out of control.

“Kissing is no longer enough for me.” Zhou Li knew perfectly well what his body was clamoring for at this moment.

He harbored a dark, vicious desire to possess her.

Only by trapping her in his arms and completely devouring her could he fully suppress this sudden blaze of fire.

He took a few steadying breaths and stood up, intending to return inside to quell the wicked heat within—when something struck his back.

Lowering his head, he saw a peach roll a few circles by his feet before turning one side up.

Carved into it were three words: Big Bad Guy.

Zhou Li let out a helpless laugh. How childish.

He bent down to pick it up. The peach still carried Lu Rong’s lingering scent, and he nearly lost his composure.

Sure enough, anything that belonged to her was enough to make him burn.

“Master, touching peach fuzz will cause a rash.”

Zhou Li didn’t answer. He simply took the peach back inside. The door closed—and even Bing Lie was shut out.

***

Lu Rong stormed back to Zhuiyu Tower, propping her chin in her hand, her face full of irritation.

They had already kissed. So why was he being so cold to her?

Zhou Li was seriously annoying.

She picked up her brush, intending to draw a few more nude sketches of Zhou Li to vent her frustration.

But after finishing one, when she looked at his face in the drawing, her chest inexplicably tightened. She hurriedly crumpled it up and threw it away.

Feeling restless, she flopped onto the bed and tried to empty her mind.

Then she suddenly sat upright.

“No—Zhou Li’s emotions run too deep. Without his inner-thought barrage, I can’t read him at all.”

The sect competition was the day after tomorrow. She needed to find out what Zhou Li’s demon form was as soon as possible—only then would she have a cheat code when the competition came.

She had to find a way to deal with Zhou Li.

She hurriedly asked the system, “Are there any tasks that can help me regain the male lead’s inner thoughts?”

[Does the host wish to add additional tasks?]

“Yes!” Lu Rong nodded eagerly.

[Additional tasks require the male lead’s affection level to reach 60% before they can be added.]

“No problem.”

Lu Rong’s fighting spirit surged once more. She refused to believe she couldn’t take Zhou Li down.

Zhou Li was desperately suppressing the burning heat inside his body when he suddenly sensed Lu Rong’s presence reappearing in the Wuhui Ravine.

Why… had she come back again?

“Bing Lie, stop her.”

Zhou Li felt that if she came even one step closer, he would completely lose control.

Bing Lie flew forward, intending to block Lu Rong, who had returned after leaving.

But Lu Rong had already used Bing Lie twice and was no longer afraid of it. Seeing it, she even happily called out, “Bing Lie!”

As she spoke, she reached up and grabbed the sword hilt. “How did you know I was coming?”

For a brief moment, Bing Lie didn’t know whether it should struggle free. If it did, its sword aura would inevitably cut her palm.

Its master did not permit it to harm Lu Rong.

In that moment of hesitation, Lu Rong had already taken hold of it, her fingertips gently stroking along Bing Lie’s blade.

This was the first time she had looked at Bing Lie so seriously. The sword truly deserved its reputation as the number one sword, every inch flawless, sharp, and cold.

Just like Zhou Li himself.

Lu Rong gripped the sword and tried to form a sword flourish, only to realize that Bing Lie’s hilt was truly thick and sturdy.

She could barely keep her grip even while holding it.

She tried gripping it from different angles, eventually fumbling around the hilt. “Your master didn’t even hang a sword tassel on you?”

As soon as she finished speaking, her hand loosened slightly, and Bing Lie vanished with a whoosh.

Lu Rong: “???”

Why did it suddenly feel like she had just teased a respectable young sword?

Bing Lie hurried back into the room and, sure enough, saw its master’s eyes completely bloodshot.

He looked as though he had been soaked in desire. The room was filled with dense, arousing heat, which spilled outward so wildly that the flowers, plants, and trees throughout the entire Wuhui Ravine began to sway.

“Master, are you alright?” Bing Lie transformed into human form, looking worriedly at his master, hot sweat dripping from him.

Zhou Li had just barely forced himself to restrain it, his palms bleeding. Hearing footsteps approaching Wuhui Pavilion once more, he said in a hoarse voice, “Bring her in.”

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