At Clarity Spring Water on Diet Street.

Gu Qinghan sat alone on the stone platform. His gaze was cold as he watched the passersby, his expression dark.

Things had already come to this. There was no turning back now.

From here on, Gu Qinghan would use every means he had, until Liana opened her mouth and revealed the secret.

“The thing she hates most, and the thing she wants most, are two sides of the same coin.”

Recalling Miss Katarina’s suggestion, Gu Qinghan lowered his eyes.

For Liana, the thing she wanted most was undoubtedly punishment.

Gu Qinghan no longer had any doubts about that.

Then what did Liana hate the most?

—Not being punished.

Gu Qinghan had realized that almost immediately.

But how to set up the trap had become the real problem.

Simply not punishing her clearly wouldn’t be enough to break through Liana’s mental defenses.

After thinking it over again and again, Gu Qinghan came up with a method—

Put the punishment tools somewhere within her reach. Let her stare at them helplessly, but never let her use them.

Such devilish behavior... even if Hohenheim himself showed up, he’d probably have to admit it was ruthless.

And this was also the method that best matched Katarina’s proposal:

Place both sides of that “one thing” in front of Liana at the same time.

That was what “interrogation” meant.

After sorting through everything in his mind, Gu Qinghan let out a breath. Only then did he realize his whole body was soaked in cold sweat.

The logic was sound.

Now it all depended on how he used it.

Over the next few days, he had prepared even more outrageous interrogation stages for Liana, just waiting to be carried out.

He would crush her mental defenses step by step, and in the end, get the information he wanted.

At this point, he was already certain that this was the key reason the Hypnosis Nullifier hadn’t worked.

“All hypnotized subjects were willing participants.”

Hohenheim had written that sentence in his own hand in the thick notebook.

What did that mean?

If the person wasn’t willing to break free, then they most likely wouldn’t wake up.

Liana had embraced the hypnosis of her own accord.

That was the real problem Gu Qinghan had to solve.

Taking a deep breath, Gu Qinghan slowly stood up and looked toward his destination with tired eyes.

Next, he planned to buy some food.

It was close to noon.

To stop Liana from going off the rails again, even if he skipped his own meal, he still had to spend the money to make sure she ate her fill.

He couldn’t let her go hungry.

...

At the same time.

Inside Hohenheim’s house, two meters away from the alchemy table.

Liana had been imprisoned in the room for nearly two hours.

She was panting now, her eyes locked on the “prize” on the table as she racked her brain for a solution.

The gray curtains were drawn shut. No one knew what had happened inside this room.

She had been kidnapped.

And Hohenheim had once again violated the kingdom’s rules—an unmarried man and woman alone in a room together.

But none of that was enough to make Liana break down.

Because Mr. Hohenheim hadn’t done anything to her.

In fact, it was precisely because Mr. Hohenheim had done nothing that Liana was on the verge of collapse.

Why?

Why was there a kidnapper this weird in the world?

He kidnapped her, but did absolutely nothing!

He even deliberately put the tools right in front of her!

Liana felt like ants were crawling all over her body. The tools were right there, not far away, and yet she couldn’t get them.

By noon, hunger began to set in, and Liana gradually recovered some of her strength.

It sounded strange, but it was true.

From that hunger, Liana sensed a trace of hope.

Could it be that Mr. Hohenheim’s punishment was to forbid her from eating?

Liana froze for a moment. Then a hint of joy flashed through her eyes.

This was simply too cruel.

At the thought, Miss Liana’s cheeks flushed slightly.

She straightened up and leaned against the wall. Her breathing began to quicken.

Inside her body, it felt as if some kind of maggots were gnawing and tearing at her stomach, filling Liana with pain and pleasure at once.

“Mr. Hohenheim... what a cruel method...”

Murmuring softly, Liana couldn’t help pressing her legs together and rubbing them restlessly.

But just as her face grew hot and her heart raced, just as wave after wave of pleasure stimulated her body, the sound of a key turning suddenly came from outside the door.

Who?

The pleasant sensation had barely lasted a second when Liana was struck by a bad feeling.

Like a small child who had just received the reward they’d longed for, only to fear it would be taken away at any moment.

And then, in the next instant, that ominous feeling became reality—

Mr. Hohenheim had returned.

And in his hand, he was carrying a bag of sandwiches.

“Sorry, I’m back late. I bought you lunch...”

Hohenheim spoke in a low voice, smiling faintly.

Liana looked at Gu Qinghan. In the span of a single second, the light vanished from her eyes.

...

Gu Qinghan fed her the meal himself.

Since Liana’s hands were cuffed and she couldn’t move easily, he had no choice but to do it personally.

He thoughtfully cut the sandwiches into small pieces, each one just the right size for a single bite, then brought them to the girl’s lips on a steel fork.

“Open up. Ah~”

Gu Qinghan did his best to guide her in a gentle tone. Liana, meanwhile, stared blankly ahead, like her soul had left her body, and opened her small mouth.

She bit down.

Sweet fruit and rich steak juices burst out at once, flooding her taste buds.

It was a famous delicacy from the street.

But Liana’s reaction was like she was chewing sand. She showed no response at all.

Literally tasteless.

That was exactly the result Gu Qinghan wanted.

He speared another piece of sandwich, held Liana’s cheek, and personally fed it into her damp little mouth.

A brief glint flashed through his eyes.

Only by making sure she felt no “punishment” at all could the reverse effect become interrogation.

He would provide three meals a day on time, all delicious.

He would massage her shoulders with light, careful hands.

No matter what she asked for, he would satisfy it as much as possible.

Except punishment.

And yet, the punishment tools would remain right in front of her, close enough to touch.

For Miss Liana, there was probably nothing more unbearable than this.

While his thoughts drifted, Gu Qinghan’s hand shook by accident. A piece of bread and a slice of tomato fell to the floor.

Looking at the food on the ground, Gu Qinghan blinked and couldn’t help feeling a little pained.

“Ah...”

The muscles in his face twitched.

This sandwich hadn’t been cheap. He’d heard the ingredients were expensive and the craftsmanship meticulous.

It had cost him three silver coins.

He’d need to make an entire potion just to earn that back.

At the thought, Gu Qinghan reached down to pick it up.

The three-second rule worked in any world. If he moved fast enough, it should still be edible.

But at that moment, Liana, who had been sitting there like a doll the whole time, suddenly regained the light in her eyes.

“It’d be such a waste to throw it away. So... why not feed it to me?”

As she spoke, Liana lightly bit her lip and swallowed.

Gu Qinghan paused, then turned to look at her and fell into thought.

“That makes sense.”

He nodded and slowly walked over.

Liana stared fixedly at the sandwich in his hand, face flushed, heart pounding.

This is food that fell on the floor, she thought.

That little brat Hohenheim keeps saying he doesn’t like punishment, but isn’t he just humiliating me in a roundabout way?

This method... is so special...

At the thought, Liana unconsciously pressed her legs together and parted her rosy lips.

I love this so much.

Her eyes were locked on that slightly dirty sandwich, terrified the reward at her lips would fly away.

But unexpectedly, just as Gu Qinghan stood up, he got snagged by the chain near Liana’s hand.

In an instant, his body nearly lost balance.

In a rush, he stepped forward to steady himself.

The sandwich slipped from his hand and landed right by his foot, where he stepped on it.

—Splat!

The food, which had looked mostly intact a second ago, was crushed into mush.

“Tch. Now it really can’t be eaten.” Gu Qinghan looked at the ketchup on the sole of his shoe, feeling deeply regretful.

“No, no, it still can.”

Behind him, Liana’s breathing had grown a little rapid.

“How could anyone eat that?”

The words slipped out of Gu Qinghan’s mouth before he could stop them. Then he suddenly realized something.

Slowly, when Gu Qinghan turned back to look at Liana, he finally understood what had happened—

The girl was staring unblinkingly at the sole of his shoe. Her body leaned forward on its own, and her pink little tongue licked across her lips.

Her slightly trembling body, her burning gaze, her flushed pink cheeks—

They all proved the same thing.

Her body had been stimulated again.

“Let me eat it... please! Please let me lick your shoe sole clean!”

Gu Qinghan: ???

“Absolutely not!”

Damn it, that was way too close. He almost fell for it!