Wait...
The test was to find her lost "True Heart."
And now, she was asking me for my "heart."
Wasn't this a free pass? No, it was a death sentence!
But Chu He remained unusually calm. In the blink of an eye, he seized on the key word: "find" her heart—not "trade" or "give" it to her.
This was a test of understanding and empathy, not a bloody sacrifice.
So the "heart" she wanted wasn't the one beating in his chest.
It was... someone who could warm her and keep her company.
I was her True Heart!
Once he'd figured that out, Chu He's racing heart miraculously began to settle.
Looking at the little girl before him, wrapped in endless loneliness and able to confirm her own existence only by tearing other anomalies apart, he instantly understood what she truly lacked.
Her "True Heart" meant warmth and companionship—the light that could drive away this eternal, icy darkness.
Little Xia Yao was already standing right in front of him, about to reach out with those bloodstained little hands that could tear anomalies apart with ease. Instead of backing away, Chu He stepped toward her, then crouched down so they were eye to eye.
The gesture clearly caught little Xia Yao off guard.
She stopped, a flicker of bewilderment crossing those pitch-black eyes.
Why wasn't this "food" afraid? Why wasn't he running away?
Chu He looked at her without a trace of fear. Instead, he smiled warmly and spoke softly.
"I can't give you my heart."
Little Xia Yao tilted her head, a puzzled look on her small face.
"You smell delicious," she said softly. "Your heart must taste good. You can't stop me!"
The temperature in the room seemed to drop a few more degrees.
In Dragon Country's livestream, everyone's heart was in their throat, and the comment feed had gone still.
But Chu He's next words left everyone—including the young Anomaly God—completely stunned.
"It'd be easy to cut out my heart and give it to you." He looked into her eyes, speaking with startling sincerity. "But even if you had it, a lonely heart would still be cold. It probably wouldn't taste good."
He paused, then changed tack, his voice growing tender and almost bewitching.
"Why don't we put our hearts together and keep each other warm instead?"
That outrageously direct "love confession" detonated like a bomb in the silent world of memories!
The whole ashen space began to shake violently. The twisted graffiti drawn in blood across the walls writhed like living things, while spiderweb cracks spread across them.
Faced with Chu He's open arms and his direct invitation to "keep each other warm," little Xia Yao's pitch-black pupils contracted. Her mind went blank. She had never seen food like him before, and she couldn't understand this offer of "warmth."
The sudden tremor made little Xia Yao stagger back half a step. She stared at him in shock.
But Chu He didn't give her time to think.
Meeting her stunned gaze, he stepped closer, ignoring the chill around her that could freeze a soul, and opened his arms.
"Your world is too cold."
"I want to come live in it and warm you with my body."
The moment the words left his mouth, Chu He pulled the small, cold, bloodstained body into a tight embrace.
The violence and wariness in little Xia Yao's eyes crumbled under Chu He's embrace.
Instinctively, she wanted to struggle, to tear apart this "food" that dared to touch her.
But a warmth she had never experienced before surged through Chu He's chest, forcing its way deep into the soul she hadn't known was frozen for so many years.
The warmth clashed violently with the slaughter and loneliness that were part of her nature.
She raised her little hand, her claws barely visible, but she couldn't bring herself to strike.
Chu He hugged her even tighter.
He rested his chin gently on the little girl's icy hair and spoke again, his voice low enough for only the two of them to hear.
"See? It's not so cold anymore, is it?"
"From now on, I'll stay with you. You won't be lonely again."
His words were like a key, instantly unlocking a long-sealed floodgate.
The last trace of ferocity vanished from little Xia Yao's eyes, replaced by endless hurt and confusion.
Her small body stopped resisting and slowly relaxed. Even her stiff shoulders began to tremble.
BOOM—!
The surrounding world of darkness shattered!
The twisted blood-red graffiti on the walls wailed as it crumbled to dust. The memory fragments suspended in midair all disintegrated, and the entire labyrinth of memories collapsed under Chu He's single embrace!
The endless darkness receded, replaced by an ocean of pure white light.
Little Xia Yao had disappeared from his arms.
Floating quietly before him was a heart-shaped sphere of light, glowing softly and pulsing faintly.
This was her lost [True Heart].
[Congratulations, player! You have passed the SSS-Class unique hidden test: Her Heart!]
[Test rating: Perfect! Rather than choosing to search, you chose to become the "True Heart" itself, deeply moving your target's soul!]
[Affection has surged! Current affection level: Dependence!]
Chu He gazed at the glowing sphere, his heart full of emotion.
So the test hadn't been about solving a puzzle or fighting at all. It was about whether he dared to embrace that loneliness with a sincere heart.
I wasn't her True Heart, but my sincere heart was the only key that could awaken hers!
Of course, Chu He had been able to make those choices because the memories of Xia Yao's slaughter and loneliness that he'd passed along the way had all seeped into his subconscious, guiding him!
The next second, his consciousness returned.
Chu He realized he was still standing outside the "Principal's Office," as if everything that had just happened had been nothing but a dream.
Yet only about an hour had passed in the real world.
The moment his consciousness returned, Chu He felt the world spinning around him. But a soft, icy force quickly held him in place.
Before he could even make out his surroundings, a petite figure had wrapped itself tightly around him.
At some point, Xia Yao had clung to him like a koala.
Her arms circled his neck, and her long, slender legs, covered by her school uniform skirt, wrapped tightly around his waist. She held on so firmly that Chu He couldn't move for a moment.
She buried her face in the crook of his neck, her cool hair tickling his skin.
Chu He could clearly feel her heart, newly "found," beating in an uncanny rhythm with his own through their two chests.
"Ahem..." She was squeezing the breath out of him, leaving him both amused and helpless. "Yao Yao, how about you get down first?"
The girl in his arms stirred and slowly raised her head.
Her stunning face was red as a ripe apple. Her once lifeless, hollow eyes now shimmered with tears, filled with an attachment and shyness she could barely conceal.
She gazed straight at Chu He, her eyes holding both a little girl's innocence and an unmistakable possessiveness.
Who could have guessed that this sweet, clingy look belonged to someone who could make heaven and earth lose their color with a single thought?
Chu He felt a little nervous, but more than that, he felt a satisfaction unlike anything he'd ever known.
Success!
He took a deep breath and gently patted Xia Yao on the back, his voice turning incredibly soft. "All right. Let's go inside."
"Mm." Xia Yao obediently nodded, but made no move to get down. Instead, she hugged him even tighter.
Helpless, Chu He accepted his fate and became a human climbing frame. Holding her, he pushed open the door marked "Principal's Office."
And just as they stepped inside—
WHOOSH!
The screens of the hundreds of millions of viewers in Dragon Country's livestream went black without warning!
Only a cold system prompt remained in the center of the screen: [Signal lost in the area ahead. Content cannot be broadcast.]
The livestream froze for 0.01 seconds, then erupted in a flood of comments.
"It's gone black? My screen's black! Where's my Chu God?!"
"What the hell! Did my internet cut out? Can you guys still see it?"
"Don't ask. It's black for everyone! Cutting the stream at the crucial moment—is that any way to treat us?!"
"The guy above is too young! Didn't you see Xia Yao's pose? She was clinging to Chu God like a koala, practically trying to squeeze herself into him. If they broadcast that, I'll eat my phone on the spot!"
"Now that's the truth! This isn't just simple dating anymore."
"So... does that mean Chu God won't be getting any sleep tonight?"
That last comment plunged the entire livestream into a strange silence—and endless speculation once more.
Before you continue