"Another cup?"
"No, thank you. This cup is enough. I haven't had tea this good in a long time." The red Lamp God was holding the teacup in both hands as he sat on the steps where the Magic Lamp's pedestal had been placed.
Boss Luo also picked up his teacup and sat down beside him, but he kept looking toward the entrance they had come through.
"The woman outside—is she your friend?" the red Lamp God suddenly asked in a lowered voice.
Luo Qiu thought for a moment before saying, "We're classmates for now. We only met recently, so I wouldn't call us friends. She came to the desert for certain reasons... She was drawn into some incident by accident, and that's how she ended up here."
The red Lamp God nodded. Perhaps because it had vented the anger it had kept bottled up for so many years, it no longer looked as hideous as before. It even seemed rather amiable.
Looking at Boss Luo, it said in the tone of someone speaking from experience, "It's good that you don't have much of a relationship. I can tell you this: women are the most terrifying creatures in the world, and the worst kind of thing you can get involved with! They won't just ruin you—they'll take everything you have... Beautiful women in particular are as vicious as snakes and scorpions... That bitch!"
Crack--!
Because it had used too much force, the cup shattered in the red Lamp God's hand. It seemed not to notice. Its eyes remained fixed on the passage before the entrance, gradually filling with a cruel light—but soon, it sighed. "Though she is a woman, I sincerely hope she can pass this trial. Otherwise, I don't know how long I'll have to wait until next time."