NOVEL WEB Chapter 113: Massage Punishment, Stratagem! (Please Follow)
Watching Xiao Ye's dark expression, Liu Ya couldn't help but burst out laughing, like a vivid flower blooming on her delicately beautiful face.
"Hmph, serves you right for making me angry. I'm going to punish you by making you give me a massage every day this week!"
Xiao Ye's face got even darker as he protested, "Can we at least cut it in half? Seven times in a week is exhausting."
*Giving massages every day—even a bull would drop dead from that.*
Liu Ya stubbornly refused, "No way, you need a serious punishment, then maybe you'll stop rushing off to help others."
*Xiao Ye wanted to cry but had no tears, so he could only give in obediently.*
During the prep, Xiao Ye put on his gloves, zipped himself up tight in a fireproof suit covering his whole body, and made sure to wear his mask and hat. He left no skin exposed at all.
Liu Ya looked speechless, "Why are you dressing up like that?"
Xiao Ye replied, still a bit traumatized, "Just making sure I don't get marinated."
Liu Ya: …
While Liu Ya was taking a shower, Xiao Ye called from outside the bathroom, "Don't you want to see your father-in-law?"
Liu Ya froze for a second, replying impatiently, "What for? Nothing to say to him even if I did see him."
Xiao Ye could see the disappointment she was trying to hide in her eyes, and he thought to himself,
*Looks like Assistant-sis doesn't actually have that much of a barrier with her father-in-law in her heart. There's definitely a chance for reconciliation—she just needs the right opportunity.*
The door wasn't closed, so Xiao Ye could see her expression—of course, it wasn't just her face he could see.
Half an hour later, Liu Ya walked into the bedroom with nothing at all to cover herself and laid down. Xiao Ye started the massage, following the massage diagram the Template Adjuster had given him last time, working the body's pressure points.
Just like last time, when he'd replenished her Dao Rhythm Energy, he massaged all 720 of her acupoints.
His hands slid over her skin smooth as butter.
*The first time, this kind of hard labor had felt so satisfying. Now? It was just exhausting.*
Seeing how reluctant he looked, Liu Ya suddenly snapped, "Hurry up, and don't even think about wearing gloves."
"Anyone else, I wouldn't even let them touch me!"
Xiao Ye pulled a long face, *The view was pretty extravagant, but after you've had the meat, soup doesn't really matter anymore.*
So for him, the massage was all pain, no gain.
"Hmph!" Liu Ya snorted charmingly, grumbling, "Harder! Didn't you eat anything!?"
Xiao Ye: …
*Wow, now you're backseat driving.*
"A little to the left—yeah, right there—now lower. Move your hands a bit further down," Liu Ya kept directing him. Reader support at M*VLEM*PYR made this translation possible.
Xiao Ye's mouth twitched as he argued, "Come on, Assistant-sis, if we do it your way, we're totally off the massage map."
Liu Ya gave him a flirtatious sidelong glance, "You're such a typical straight guy. Absolutely no sense of romance."
*Romance?* Xiao Ye glanced further down. That spot was way too sensitive, so he tried to refuse, "If I don't stick to the massage guide, I don't know what I'm doing."
Liu Ya pouted, "Massage guide? Like the system's official routine, right?"
"Don't bother with that junk. Just let me guide you—do what I say."
Xiao Ye: …
*If I do what you say and the gun goes off, then what?*
Meanwhile—
In the presidential suite of the Maid Tavern.
Hong Tao and Yang Junming were discussing something serious.
"This Xiao Ye isn't just a genius—after only a month of awakening, he'd already reached the High Grandmaster Realm. Plus, he can contract multiple Beast Girls. He's got three of them already. If he doesn't die young, he'll absolutely be one of the strongest someday."
As Hong Tao spoke, his eyes flashed with a sly grin, "So, before he's had a chance to grow up… heheheh!"
Yang Junming's neck shrank as he cautiously asked, "Brother Tao, are you saying we should take him out before he gets too powerful?"
Xiao Ye had snatched the girl Brother Tao had his eye on, and Yang Junming was well aware of his grudge against Xiao Ye.
Hong Tao's mouth twitched as he knocked Yang Junming on the head, snapping, "There's no deep-seated feud between us, so why bother killing him?"
"I mean we should invest early, before he's grown up, maybe even tie him to the Hong family."
"That way, our returns will definitely outweigh our initial investment. Heheheh."
Yang Junming shot him a look, *With that sneaky laugh, anyone would get the wrong idea, come on now!*
"But Brother Tao, Xiao Ye stole your dream girl and even succeeded. Can you really let that go?"
Hong Tao curled his lip, "There are plenty of women out there. You think Liu Ya compares to a future powerhouse? So I have a grudge—so what? A real man can bend or stand tall when needed. Letting go doesn't cost me anything."
"Besides, Liu Ya's newly married again. Not letting go would be pointless. I'm the Child of the Venerable—I'm above creeping on someone else's Contractor."
Hearing this, Yang Junming gave Hong Tao a look full of curiosity.
In his mind, Hong Tao had set his sights on that famously beautiful, widowed Assistant Liu Ya over a hundred years ago.
*A hundred years of possessiveness, and you can just let go like that?*
*But if Hong Tao says he can do it, then maybe there's a chance he really can.*
"Brother Tao, so if you want to invest early, what's your plan?" Yang Junming pondered it aloud, "With how proud Xiao Ye is, he'd never just take resources from someone for no reason, plus he's got a Great Venerable wife. He's not going to be short on Grandmaster Realm, Great Grandmaster Realm, or even Venerable Realm loot."
Hong Tao frowned, rubbing his chin as he thought, "That's what makes this tricky."
After a moment, he spoke again,
"You're a fellow student—so you should have common ground. Starting tomorrow, go chat him up. Figure out what he likes, what his weaknesses are. If you can, swear brotherhood with him—become sworn brothers."
Yang Junming's face fell as he shook his head, "Brother Tao, I'm still the Child of the Venerable—you want me to be brothers with him? I'm supposed to humble myself and suck up to him? No way."
Even though he called Hong Tao 'Brother Tao' like a pushover, Hong Tao was also the Child of the Venerable, and his father was the number-one Venerable in Devil City.
That Xiao Ye might have insane potential, but nobody could know for sure if he'd flame out early or not.
Hong Tao shot him a sideways glance, "Not interested? I'll look elsewhere. The Vajra Venerable's kid would do just fine."
Yang Junming: …
*That double-winged Azure Dragon, Cheng Yi, who messed with me?*
Hong Tao clearly knew about Yang Junming's loss to Cheng Yi, and he kept going,
"It's normal that Cheng Yi's ahead of you—he's got over a decade on you. But give it a few more months, and you'll probably lose to Xiao Ye, too."
Yang Junming's eyes widened, "A few more months and I'll be a Great Grandmaster. You think I'd lose to a freshman?"
Hong Tao said, "At his rate of growth, he'll outpace you sooner or later."
Yang Junming slumped, …
*An eighteen-year-old High Grandmaster after just a month of awakening—even a Venerable in their youth couldn't keep up with that speed.*
Looking at Yang Junming all deflated, Hong Tao burst out laughing.
*A minute ago, you acted like Xiao Ye wasn't as charismatic as me. But look at you.*
*You're not as good as Xiao Ye either!*
Yang Junming huffed, saying, "All right, I'll do it!"
Hong Tao grinned and started typing out a message to his top-tier Venerable father on the family's private communicator.
The message covered all the key points: High Grandmaster in just two months, peerless potential, multiple Beast Girl contracts, early investment, bring him into the Hong family.
He waited two minutes. The message was still unread.
*Hong Tao thought, He's probably busy. I'll check again when he's free later tonight; see what my dad's attitude is then.*
*For a super prodigy like Xiao Ye, who could even reshape the future of the world, of course the Hong family had to set things up early.*