Unless You Swear a Blood Pact

Xia Yao said coldly, "Didn't you just say you wouldn't hurt him?"

Seeing Xia Yao protectively shielding him, her uncle forced down the towering fury that could have brought the cafeteria crashing down.

He knew Xia Yao's personality all too well. She was stubborn to the core, and this wasn't the time to use force!

His chiseled face turned ashen as he laid down another soundproof field.

This time, though, the field's light wavered under the violent turmoil of his emotions.

Suppressing his anger, he squeezed the words through his teeth. "Come inside. I promise I won't hurt him—for now!"

But Xia Yao stood her ground, her face cold and unmoving. Like an ice sculpture, she kept Chu He firmly behind her and refused to give an inch.

Her stubborn refusal made her uncle's liver ache with anger!

What was this supposed to be? He was the mighty Ghost Chef, infamous far and wide. Even the Abyss Lord treated him with respect. Yet now his own niece, whom he'd watched grow up, was forcing him into a corner over some human boy!

He fought the urge to slap that pretty-faced boy into the wall and asked through gritted teeth, "Then what will it take for you to come inside?"

Xia Yao lifted her eyes. Her pitch-black gaze was utterly calm, but the words she spoke weighed like a mountain.

"Unless you swear a Blood Pact."

A Blood Pact?!

Her uncle was so dumbfounded that even his massive frame swayed.

Chu He's heart jolted, too. He didn't fully understand what it meant, but even the words alone told him how weighty it was.

It had only been a little over a day! And now, over some human boy she'd only just met, she was forcing her own uncle to swear a Blood Pact!

Once established, this kind of pact used one's own essence as an oath and resonated with the rules of heaven and earth. Breaking it would bring dire consequences: at best, a severe loss of power; at worst, the annihilation of one's soul!

His face darkened as he stared at Xia Yao, as if hoping to find even the slightest sign of hesitation.

But all he saw was resolve.

It was pure, unwavering conviction, as if Chu He were the only one she had ever chosen.

After a long silence, he forced out a single word from deep in his chest, his voice filled with frustration and helplessness.

"Fine!"

As soon as the word left his mouth, he raised his huge hand and without hesitation cut another thick finger with his nail.

Dark red blood welled up, but didn't fall. It hung suspended in the air, giving off a hot, coppery-sweet scent.

Using his finger as a pen and blood as ink, he quickly traced a pattern in the air.

It was an immensely intricate design, made up of countless twisting lines and ancient Runes, as if it contained the most primordial laws of heaven and earth.

With every stroke, the light in the cafeteria dimmed. A weighty, ancient, and inviolable presence spread through the room, making Chu He feel as if that power were scrutinizing his very soul.

When the final stroke fell, the blood-red sigil blazed and let out a muffled rumble. It then became a streak of red light, shooting into his uncle's brow like a meteor and leaving behind a mark that vanished in a flash.

The pact was sealed.

His uncle's face instantly paled, and his aura seemed to weaken.

Only then did Xia Yao nod in satisfaction. She turned around and gently stroked the top of Chu He's head. The face that had been cold as frost moments earlier now bloomed into a smile so clean and pure that even Chu He was stunned.

"All right. Now you're really safe."

Chu He opened his mouth, his throat dry. In the end, all the words he wanted to say became one complicated look.

Only then did Xia Yao turn and walk into the gray soundproof field.

Inside the field, her uncle looked at his niece standing right before him. Anger and helplessness mingled in his heart, and even his voice came out slightly warped. "Aren't you supposed to hate having men near you? How did you end up sleeping with him after knowing him for just one day?"

"When did I ever say I hated men?" Xia Yao asked, looking utterly confused. "I just hadn't met anyone I liked."

"Fine, fine!" Her uncle felt his temples throbbing. "Even so, love at first sight doesn't mean you should... should sleep together as soon as you meet! Who taught you all this nonsense?"

Xia Yao answered with complete confidence. "I read it in a book. It said that if you truly love someone, you should live together and never be apart."

Her uncle nearly choked. "What book?!"

The Domineering CEO's Contract Sweetheart.

"What kind of brainless book is that? How come I've never heard of it?"

Xia Yao gave him a look that said he was so ignorant. "It's a human book."

"A human book..." Her uncle trembled with rage, gritting his teeth. "All right, just you wait. I'll find out who gave it to you!"

"My best friend gave it to me," Xia Yao added at once. "You're not allowed to hurt her!"

"..."

Her uncle felt as if he were about to cough up blood. A stabbing pain pulsed in his chest.

He felt less like he was talking to his niece and more like he was going through a tribulation.

Giving up on finding out where the book came from, he tried another approach, hoping to awaken his niece's pitifully naive sense of reason.

"Fine, fine. Let's set all that aside. Are you really so sure that boy likes you? What if he's only after your power, or just using you to stay alive?"

The question seemed to catch Xia Yao off guard for a moment.

But only for a moment. She lifted her head and looked at her uncle as if he were an idiot.

"Why wouldn't he like me?"

She raised a finger and began counting, one point at a time, with the earnestness of someone explaining a universal truth.

"I'm pretty, and I have a great figure."

"And I'm powerful, too. I can protect him."

"And besides..." A blush spread across her face, and her voice dropped, tinged with a hint of smugness. "You have no idea how loving we were last night!"

"Stop—stop, stop, stop!"

Her uncle abruptly waved a hand, as if trying to banish some horrible image. He felt that if he listened any longer, he'd kill Chu He on the spot, Blood Pact or no Blood Pact.

Trying to talk to someone as blunt and bizarrely minded as Xia Yao was the greatest torture in the world!

He covered his forehead and paced back and forth inside the field, his huge figure casting a suffocating shadow.

After a long while, he finally managed to tamp down his surging anger and spoke with unprecedented earnestness.

"Yao Yao, men's words are lies. You're still young. You don't understand how cruel people can be. How about this? If that pretty boy truly loves you, I'll let you have your way."

Seeing Xia Yao about to speak again, he immediately raised a hand to stop her.

"But! I have to test him myself."

"I'll talk to him alone in a moment. Don't worry. The Blood Pact is sealed, so I won't do anything to hurt him."

He fixed Xia Yao with an intensely serious look.

"You have to agree to this. Otherwise, even if it means you'll hate me, I won't help you deal with your mother! And then there'll be no future for the two of you!"

Xia Yao thought it over for a moment and finally nodded.

"Fine, then."

"Mm." Her uncle let out a breath of relief, though inwardly he sneered.

A matter as important as your whole life together couldn't be treated like a game!

Let's see if you can pass my test, boy!