Chapter 816: Suzuka’s Sadness

"You are awake?" Tyler asked, looking toward Hazel in surprise. Suzuka was puzzled. She knew Hazel was a special corpse, but that did not mean she could speak. Until now, Hazel had remained silent, almost like an ordinary puppet that simply followed Tyler’s commands.

"Yeah... I just woke up," Hazel replied.

Her voice was unexpectedly sweet and gentle, completely different from what Suzuka had imagined.

Suzuka’s eyes widened.

"You can talk?"

Hazel smiled and turned toward her. "Ah, Sister Suzuka. Thank you for taking care of me all this time. And... I’m sorry for causing you so much trouble."

Suzuka stared at her for several moments before finally finding her voice.

"Hazel... you’re alive?"

"Kind of."

Hazel gave a small smile. She then glanced toward Tyler, and a faint blush appeared on her cheeks.

"I told you not to wake me unless it was something important."

As she spoke, her gaze drifted toward the glass separating them from the performer in the neighboring chamber. Her cheeks became even redder.

Suzuka immediately looked at Tyler.

"How did you wake her up?"

Tyler scratched his cheek.

"By stimulating her carnal desires."

Suzuka blinked.

"Her... what?"

"In simple terms, I had to make her feel strongly horny enough to awaken her consciousness. I originally thought physical contact would be necessary." Tyler paused and glanced toward the glass. "Apparently, watching someone else was enough to trigger the reaction."

Hazel covered her face with one hand.

"Well... I did feel strangely warm between my legs while watching her."

Suzuka’s face turned crimson. Tyler, meanwhile, looked at the performer and said, "Wow, your performance can even make girls go crazy."

"Looks like we discovered another method."

Hazel sighed. "Anyway, don’t wake me again unless it’s important. And until you’ve finished exploring this place, store me inside your sword."

"You’re sure?" Tyler asked. "The floors above are even more... interesting."

Hazel immediately nodded.

"That is precisely why you should store me."

Tyler stared at her for a moment before sighing.

"Alright. You’re no fun."

He raised his hand and touched the ring on his finger.

At first glance, the ring looked completely ordinary. However, a tiny sword had been engraved onto its surface. It was the miniature form of the Ancient Sword, which had been reduced to a size smaller than a fingernail.

A faint glow appeared around Hazel’s body.

"Enjoy the tour, Sister Suzuka," Hazel said with a mischievous smile. "Maybe it will help you forget."

Before Suzuka could respond, Hazel’s figure turned into a stream of light and disappeared into the ring.

Silence descended over the chamber.

Suzuka’s face was still red.

Tyler looked at her curiously.

"Forget?"

Suzuka lowered her gaze.

"Yeah..."

Her expression became slightly complicated.

"I didn’t expect Hazel to remember that. It seems she had partially awakened back then."

Tyler’s expression became more serious.

"Something happened?"

Suzuka hesitated.

"You don’t have to tell me if it’s personal." Tyler said.

"It is personal," she replied quietly.

She was silent for a moment before letting out a small sigh.

"But... I suppose I can tell you."

She looked at the glass wall in front of them, though her eyes seemed to be looking far beyond it.

"I had a little fight with my boyfriend."

Tyler raised an eyebrow.

"A fight?"

Suzuka nodded.

"Nothing that serious. At least, that’s what I thought at the time."

Her voice carried a trace of sadness.

It happened two years ago, during the early construction of the Pink Entertainment Hub.

Suzuka had just returned from a short assignment with Hazel trailing behind her like a quiet shadow. Hazel mind often drifting, so Suzuka still kept her close out of habit and caution.

That afternoon Suzuka decided to visit her boyfriend. She rarely went to the mansion, but something in her chest had felt unsettled for weeks—small absences, delayed replies to her messages, a distance she could not quite name. To make sure Hazel did not wander off into trouble, she simply took the girl’s wrist and brought her along.

The mansion stood on a quiet slope near the outer edge of the sect grounds. Suzuka had purchased it with her own earnings years earlier, a place meant for both of them when her schedule allowed. In practice her boyfriend lived there almost permanently while she came and went. When the gates opened and she stepped into the courtyard, a small smile touched her lips. The garden looked well-kept. The spirit lamps along the path glowed softly. For a moment she allowed herself to feel something close to relief.

That feeling vanished the instant she opened the main door.

Lustful moans drifted down the hallway, thick and unmistakable. A strange, heavy scent hung in the air—sweat, perfume, and something sharper. Suzuka’s heart stopped for a single beat, then began to hammer so hard she could hear it in her ears. She did not wait. She ran.

The bedroom door stood half open. Inside, her boyfriend was tangled with a junior sister from the outer court. Both of them were naked. The girl’s hair was messy, her face flushed, her body moving in a rhythm that left no room for misunderstanding.

Hazel had followed close behind. When she saw the scene her eyes sharpened for a brief moment, clarity cutting through the usual haze. She said nothing. She simply stood there and watched.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" Suzuka’s voice tore out of her, raw and broken.

The junior sister panicked. She scrambled off the bed, snatching at discarded clothes to cover herself, and tried to flee. Clear liquid still dripped from between her legs onto the polished floor, leaving small wet marks with every hurried step.

Suzuka’s fingers flicked once. Two thin threads of sword qi shot forward and pierced the girl’s legs just above the knees. The junior sister screamed, collapsed, and passed out from the pain, her body curling on the floor.

Her boyfriend finally reacted. He sat up, face pale, and raised a hand. "Wait... don’t kill her. She’s my girl."

Suzuka stared at him. "W-what? I don’t mind if you have another girl. Polygamy is normal. But why didn’t you tell me? Why hide it from your own girlfriend?"

He said nothing.

"Tell me!" Her voice rose again. "Why behind my back? Why cheat?"

He snapped. "Shut the fuck up. Who’s the one cheating here—you or me?"

Suzuka took a step back as if struck. "W-what?"

"You might not know the rumors about you," he said, voice rising with anger and something uglier. "Let me explain. Plenty of girls saw you drag a boy into your room more than once. Short hair. Tanned skin. Inner-disciple male uniform. They saw it clearly."

"I never brought any boy to my room," Suzuka said. "Not even you—"

"Shut up." He cut her off, then stopped mid-sentence. Only then did his eyes move past her and land on Hazel. The girl stood quietly in the doorway, wearing exactly that uniform—short hair, tanned skin, the cut of an inner-disciple male robe (Tyler’s ). But the soft curve of her chest left no doubt she was a girl.

Suzuka turned her head slightly, following his gaze, then looked back at him with pure disbelief.

"For a small misunderstanding," she said slowly, "you decided to sleep with some sluts behind my back?"

He muttered something under his breath. "You never let me fuck you before unless you form your core. You are still at last stage for years."

The words hung in the air. Suzuka felt something cold settle in her stomach. She had always told herself she was being careful, that waiting until her foundation was solid was the responsible choice. Now that carefulness looked like neglect. She exhaled, shoulders dropping a fraction.

Maybe she really had been part of the reason he turned out this way. The thought stung, but she forced herself to speak calmly.

"I’m sorry. I’ve been neglecting you. It was my fault. I’m fine with you having another girlfriend. I’ll even raise your allowance so you—"

He interrupted her again, louder this time.

"Shut up. Don’t remind me of that. How the hell is your boss pouring so many spirit stones on you? I heard the stories. He’s a famous playboy who buys women with wealth. He definitely made you do those things, right? That’s why you were acting that way. One time I even came to visit you. You were with him in a brothel. All I heard were loud moans of women. Pretty sure you were one of those sluts."

Suzuka’s face burned. Anger and shame tangled together until she could barely breathe. Tyler was lecherous—everyone in the sect knew that—but he had never touched her. Not once. They had never even brushed skin against skin for a single second. The accusation against him cut deeper than the ones aimed at her.

She looked at the man she had once trusted and felt something inside her go still and cold.

"Get the fuck out of here," she said.

He blinked, startled. "Huh?"

The frustration that had driven his earlier outburst seemed to drain away, replaced by sudden panic. "Suzuka, I didn’t mean to... I was just—"

She did not let him finish. A few seconds later both he and the still-unconscious junior sister were outside the mansion gates. The doors closed with a heavy finality.

Suzuka finished the flashback and fell silent. Tears stood in her eyes but did not fall. The room around them felt quieter than before.

The naked performer girl sat cross-legged on the floor, still listening, cracking melon seeds between her teeth with casual interest. She did not interrupt.

Tyler’s arm rested around Suzuka’s shoulders. She leaned into the solid warmth of him without thinking, the tension in her body slowly loosening. For a moment the two of them simply sat there, the weight of the old story hanging between them like smoke that refused to clear.

Then Tyler broke the quiet.

"So you’re single now?"

Suzuka let out a short, tired laugh. "Mo... you’re such a mood killer, you lecherous boss." She shook her head, a faint smile tugging at the corner of her mouth despite everything. "No. We didn’t break up. He still sends me letters. He still tries to meet me. I just never reply. And I stopped sending him any funds a long time ago."

She leaned back from Tyler, eyes half-closed.