He'd been so focused on cheering Xia Yao up that he'd forgotten something so important!
Chu He's heart skipped a beat, and his smile almost slipped. His mind raced as he pieced together a watered-down version of the story.
"I did ask," he said, forcing himself to stay calm. But before he could continue, Xia Yao suddenly leaned closer,
her pert nose almost touching his lips as she gave them a light sniff.
"There's still a faint sweet-and-sour taste in your mouth, the same as Kachi's breath." Xia Yao's tone was calm, but her cool eyes narrowed slightly, a dangerous glint showing in them. "It's faint, but it's there. And why are your lips a little swollen?"
Boom!
Chu He's mind went completely blank. Cold sweat broke out across his back!
Damn it, he'd remembered to shower but forgotten to rinse his mouth.
"I..." His Adam's apple bobbed as his heart pounded. He forced himself to explain calmly, "I just told her straight out that I'm your man. She didn't believe me at first and even attacked me. We had a little... uh, scuffle, and she managed to get me under control.
"Later, she caught your scent on me and reluctantly believed me. We were pretty close then, so she really did smell that sweet-and-sour scent."
"You should've seen how surprised she looked."
Xia Yao stared at him for a full three seconds after he finished. When she saw no sign that he was lying, she burst out laughing, and her tense body relaxed a little.
"Of course she did. That gossip addict would keep asking questions until she got to the bottom of everything, right?"
Chu He nodded repeatedly. "Yeah, she kept asking how I met you and how we got together in less than a day."
At the mention of them living together, Xia Yao's laughter abruptly stopped. She remembered what Chu He had said in the dream. If Chu He knew, she wouldn't be embarrassed at all.
After all, there were no secrets left between their bodies.
But she just couldn't stand the thought of her best friend watching a movie starring her.
"It's over..."
"I still can't accept my best friend seeing me naked!"
"I can't face her!"
Xia Yao let out a wail and buried her face in Chu He's chest, like an ostrich startled by danger.
"She'll definitely make fun of me! The moment we meet, she'll humiliate me!"
Chu He gave an awkward smile and gently stroked her back, trying to comfort her. "This is all my fault. I shouldn't have thought about you, let alone done that kind of thing, when I knew I was in a dream!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Xia Yao suddenly lifted her head from his arms.
"This has nothing to do with you."
Chu He was taken aback.
Xia Yao continued, "If anyone's to blame, it's me for being born beautiful, with a great figure. You're a man in your prime. It's only natural that you couldn't help thinking about me!"
"..."
Chu He's mouth twitched like crazy.
He'd seen people who were full of themselves, but never anyone so self-assured and unapologetic about it!
And yet, every word she said was true! Still, it all felt bizarre.
In the end, Chu He could only nod seriously. "You're right. That's exactly it. It's all because you're too beautiful."
"Since there's nothing we can do about it now, let's try to avoid the library from now on."
He paused, then added, "By the way, isn't this your school? Could you come up with an excuse to get her to leave? We can't let her stay here."
Xia Yao's brows knit together as she thought it over.
After a while, she shook her head in resignation. "No, I was the one who begged her to come work as the librarian. She's so clever that she'd see right through any excuse I made. She'd know something was up, get even more curious, and be even less willing to leave."
Hearing that, Chu He could only put on a bitter expression.
Wasn't that the truth? He'd been at Kachi's mercy too!
And besides, she had also...
Just thinking about what had happened in that starry bedroom made Chu He instinctively squeeze his thighs together.
But if he couldn't get that little demon out of the school, it felt like a knife was always hanging over him. He couldn't shake the feeling that something terrible would happen sooner or later!
"If even you can't do anything, then I guess we'll just have to take things as they come," Chu He sighed.
"Mm. That's all we can do for now." Xia Yao replied, seeming unwilling to dwell any longer on her troublesome best friend.
The Principal's Office fell quiet for a moment.
Chu He suddenly asked, "What should we do next? It's only a little after four in the afternoon."
Xia Yao's eyes lit up briefly, then quickly dimmed. Her voice held a hint of longing and fear. "I'd like to take you to see my hometown, but... I'm afraid of my mom."
"Huh?" Chu He froze. "You're afraid of your mom?"
As far as he was concerned, Xia Yao was already at the very top of the food chain. How could she feel something like fear?
"Not the kind of fear you're thinking of." Xia Yao shook her head and explained. "She's very strict with me, but she loves me a lot. What I'm afraid of is... if she finds out about us, you'll be done for."
She looked at Chu He with utmost seriousness. "She'll kill you."
"And I wouldn't be able to resist her at all. Once, she was in a bad mood and simply furrowed her brows. An entire Anomaly race near our hometown was erased, along with the space they inhabited. Not even a trace was left behind. If she takes a dislike to you and decides to kill you without asking why, I... won't be able to stop her."
Hearing that, Chu He felt all the blood in his body freeze. Every hair stood on end.
Xia Yao was blunt and couldn't lie. He'd sooner believe pigs could climb trees than believe Xia Yao would lie.
This was the ultimate trump card!
Even an SSS-Class anomaly like Xia Yao couldn't resist her. What kind of terrifying existence was her mother?
Chu He felt utterly wretched.
He'd thought that as long as he clung to Xia Yao, his golden ticket, he could do whatever he wanted in this world of anomalies.
But now Xia Yao was telling him that she had a "mom" above her, an existence she couldn't resist in the slightest.
What kind of situation was this? A sense of total, utter despair swallowed him.
Just as Chu He's heart turned cold and he could barely breathe, a flash of inspiration suddenly streaked through his mind.
He remembered his [Kiss of the Bewitching Ghost].
The thing he now both loved and hated.
Yeah. What was there to fear?
This world didn't play by the rules! Rules were made to be broken!
So what if he kissed an anomaly to stay alive?
To hell with morality and ethics, to hell with being a pure-hearted young man! In the face of death, it was all bullshit!
Whoever she was, the King of Heaven or his future mother-in-law, as long as she was a woman—no, regardless of gender—as long as she wanted him dead...
He'd kiss her!
He'd kiss them all!
At that thought, Chu He's heart, which had sunk to the bottom, came back to life in spite of himself.
In that moment, he grew up. He cast off all the shackles that had been instilled in him since childhood.
He even began to imagine things beyond his control.
If Xia Yao's mom really tried to kill him, he could just... pucker up. Then the world would be at peace.
Tsk—
The image was so beautiful he could hardly bear to imagine it, but that was all he could do.
He'd deal with whatever came his way.
Whoever showed up, he'd kiss them!
The fear in Chu He's eyes gradually turned into a reckless, desperate resolve. In the end, a hard-to-describe, almost pathological fervor crept into his gaze.
Not only was he no longer afraid, but a twisted sense of anticipation was quietly rising in his heart.
Xia Yao was already SSS-Class. What rank would her mom be?
Super SSS-Class?
Seeing Chu He's pale face and hurried breathing, Xia Yao thought she'd frightened him.
Her cool eyes immediately filled with heartache and guilt.
She reached out, awkwardly trying to wipe the cold sweat from his temple. Her voice softened. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said all that and scared you."
The touch of her cold fingertips jolted Chu He back to his senses.
"It's okay." Chu He lifted his head, his eyes calm again, with an inscrutable look that Xia Yao couldn't understand. He took her cold little hand in his and spoke steadily. "There's no point in running. Sooner or later, we'll have to face this. I'll make her approve of me and come to like me."
Seeing him pull himself together so quickly, Xia Yao felt even more heartache. She assumed he was forcing himself to act strong so she wouldn't worry.
She nodded firmly and promised, "Mm! Don't worry. Before that happens, I'll find a way to get my mom to approve of us!"
Before you continue