Skinwalker Belle – Chapter 313 – Traditional Craftsmanship

The main light in the bedroom was off, leaving only a few dim wall sconces glowing.

The warm halo of light fell across the bedsheets, casting an unmistakably intimate atmosphere.

Lin Fan lay sprawled across the center of the large bed. Her loose black kimono-style robe had long since fallen open, exposing most of her back to the air.

Her skin was so pale it was almost dazzling. Tracing down her spine was a suggestive, deep groove.

“A little lower.”

Lin Fan let out a lazy hum, her voice still carrying traces of lingering drowsiness.

Between her fingers hung half a lit cigarette, her wrist draped over the edge of the bed, the ash threatening to fall at any moment.

“Yes, my lady.”

Yuzuru, kneeling at the bedside, responded in a low voice.

The deep purple furisode kimono she wore was slightly disheveled, her collar hanging open to reveal a large expanse of snow-white skin marked with a few faint red impressions.

She didn’t touch Lin Fan directly with her hands.

Her ten fingers hovered half an inch above Lin Fan’s skin, faint cyan currents of air swirling around her fingertips.

Wind elements compressed to their absolute limit.

The same wind blades that had once cut through metal and jade, that had killed without a trace, were now tools of service.

Microscopic vortices precisely drilled into the muscle fibers of Lin Fan’s back, vibrating at high frequency, shattering and draining away the deep soreness buried in the fascia, bit by bit.

This technique was far more impressive than that “Thunderous Fury” that left your hands numb from vibration.

“Mmm…”

Lin Fan blew out a ring of smoke, squinting her eyes in contentment.

Nothing beat the real thing.

No matter how well-made a tool was, it was still dead.

Only a person knew where to apply pressure, where to be gentle, where to linger a little longer.

It was the same gap as between doing it yourself and hiring a master technician.

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Especially when it was someone like this—a former leader of the Resistance Army who had once stood high above—now kneeling at your feet, using her Special Ability to give you a royal massage.

That psychological satisfaction was even stronger than the physical pleasure.

Yuzuru kept her eyes lowered, her movements terrifyingly steady.

She didn’t dare stop, and she certainly didn’t dare show the slightest resentment.

“How’s the pressure?” she asked softly, her voice slightly hoarse.

“Not bad. Passable.”

Lin Fan shifted her shoulders, her bare feet swinging idly in the air, toes rounded and tinted a healthy pink. “Was your family in this line of work before? You’ve got good hands.”

“The Yuzuru family has served the imperial household for generations.”

Yuzuru’s hands never paused, the air currents sliding down along Lin Fan’s waistline, her tone as calm as if she were talking about someone else entirely. “Tea ceremony, flower arrangement, massage—these were all required studies. Though the Post-apocalypse years let the skills lapse somewhat, what’s carved into the bones is never forgotten.”

Yamato Nadeshiko.

In this country, that meant the ultimate embodiment of submission and devotion.

Once you acknowledged your master, you had to keep them comfortable and satisfied.

That was the rule. And it was also the currency that kept her alive right now.

“I like that cleverness about you.”

Lin Fan rolled over, lying face-up on the bed.

The sash of her robe had come completely undone, revealing a generous expanse of skin, but she didn’t seem to care in the slightest.

She lifted one leg and draped it directly across Yuzuru’s thigh.

Yuzuru’s body stiffened for a moment, then she obediently reached out and began massaging Lin Fan’s calf.

Lin Fan studied the woman before her.

Fresh out of the bath, all the messy disguises wiped from her face—that cold, beautiful visage paired with her current meek, downcast demeanor was genuinely intriguing.

“Much better than that clumsy one over there.”

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Lin Fan glanced toward the corner.

Yui was kneeling there, holding the ashtray and teacup high above her head with both hands, not daring to move a muscle.

At those words, the young girl’s hands trembled, and the tea nearly splashed out.

She pouted her lips in grievance, tears welling up in her eyes, but she didn’t dare make a sound.

She had wanted to help earlier too, but her skill level left something to be desired, and she’d been shooed off to the side by her sister to serve as decoration.

“Yui is still young.”

Yuzuru’s fingers pressed firmly on a pressure point in Lin Fan’s calf, covering for her sister, “Besides, for this kind of waiting-on-people work, I’m more than enough on my own. She’s clumsy—I’m afraid she’d disturb your enjoyment.”

Protective of her own.

Lin Fan smiled and didn’t dwell on the topic.

She stubbed her cigarette into the ashtray Yui was holding, grinding it out with force.

“Talk.”

Lin Fan rested her head on her interlaced hands, staring at the intricate crystal chandelier on the ceiling, “What’s the situation with those rats now?”

Yuzuru’s fingers clearly paused for a moment.

But only for an instant.

The next second, the vibration frequency of the wind element returned to normal.

She knew who Lin Fan was asking about.

Those remnants of the Resistance Army.

“Not doing well.”

Yuzuru pressed on the tender flesh of Lin Fan’s inner thigh while organizing her words, “Besides me, there are five other Level 5s. The strongest is a fire-type named Inoue, late Level 5. Hot-tempered, single-minded, always shouting about going down in flames together with the Dragon Clan.”

“The remaining four—one earth-type, two strength-enhancement types, and one sonic-wave type—are all early to mid Level 5.”

In any other place, five Level 5 Evolved beings gathered together would indeed count as a regional power.

But in Lin Fan’s eyes, they were just slightly bigger ants.

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Crushing five was no different from crushing one.

“Besides these leaders, there are about three hundred more people,” Yuzuru continued. “Mostly Level 2 and 3 Evolved beings. The ordinary humans died out long ago.”

Lin Fan showed no reaction.

That was normal.

On an island full of Mutated Beasts and Zombies, ordinary humans without power were just walking rations. It would be a miracle if any survived.

“So? Where were you all planning to go?”

Lin Fan asked.

Judging by how desperately Yuzuru had been trying to take her sister away earlier, she must have already found an escape route.

“Hokkaido.”

Yuzuru spat out a place name, “The far north of Sakurajima as it stands now.”

“The climate there is freezing, with relatively fewer Mutated Beasts and Zombies. Inoue drew up a ‘Northern Migration Plan’—abandoning this stronghold and pulling everyone back there.”

At that, Yuzuru curled the corner of her mouth in self-mockery.

“Calling it a migration is just a fancy way of saying running away.”

“If we don’t run now, once the Dragon Clan frees up their hands, we’re all dead.”

“Since you were all running anyway, why did you come back?” Lin Fan raised an eyebrow. “A Level 5 wind-type like you—if you wanted to run, no one could stop you unless those Level 6s at the vanguard camp came after you personally.”

Yuzuru’s hands stopped.

She looked up.

Her gaze passed over Lin Fan and landed on the sister beside her, holding a teacup with a bewildered expression on her face.

That simple, foolish girl.

“Because she’s my sister.”

Yuzuru’s voice was soft, yet carried a fierce edge, “She’s my only family. As long as I’m alive, there’s no way I’d leave her alone in that hell.”

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“Even if it meant death, I’d still come back to take her with me.”

The air fell silent for a few seconds.

Only the faint hum of wind elements remained.

Lin Fan sat up, her robe slipping off to reveal a expanse of smooth, fair skin.

She reached out and lifted Yuzuru’s chin, gazing into those eyes filled with stubborn defiance.

“Enough. Don’t perform this sisterly affection act in front of me.”

Lin Fan pulled her hand away and stepped barefoot off the bed.

She walked to the floor-to-ceiling window and yanked the curtains open.

Beyond the glass lay a pitch-black sea, waves crashing against the rocks in a dull, rumbling roar.

“Since these rats want to run, let them run.”

Lin Fan stared into the darkness, her tone casual. “I don’t care for this place anyway. Leaving them a path to survive might just cause the Dragon Clan some trouble down the road.”

Letting them scrape by in the far north was worth more than killing them outright.

If the Dragon Clan wanted to wipe them out completely, they’d have to send troops to that godforsaken frozen wasteland.

With stretched supply lines and difficult logistics, it would be the perfect opportunity to bleed the Dragon Clan dry.

“You’re not going to kill them, my lord?”

Yuzuru was surprised.

She had assumed that with Lin Fan’s “those who obey prosper, those who defy perish” mentality, none of them would survive.

“Just a few ants. Going out of my way to stomp them—even if you don’t mind the effort, I’d rather not dirty my shoes.”

Lin Fan turned around, leaning her back against the glass window.

The laziness in her eyes slowly faded, replaced by a sly, wicked smile.

“Besides, tonight, I have something far more important to do.”