"Fshh~ So soft!!"
"Bah, I'm a gentleman. I'm only checking her heartbeat, nothing else. Yeah, that's all."
"Thump, thump!!"
"Whoa, that heartbeat's even stronger than mine. Looks like she's still alive."
After realizing that A Zhui was still alive, Ye Chen thought for a moment, then hoisted her onto his back. He picked up the Sword of Flames beside her and stowed it in his Portable Space before slowly climbing out of the crater.
Half an hour later.
Ye Chen leaned against a nearby tree, panting heavily.
"Huff, huff~ Damn, I'm exhausted. And what kind of place is this, anyway? Did I fall into the Primeval Forest?"
Looking around at the trees in every direction, Ye Chen couldn't help grumbling.
Night fell.
With A Zhui on his back, Ye Chen had finally found a Cave Dwelling belonging to some unknown animal. After clearing it out, he dropped onto the ground and panted heavily.
"Huff~ I'm beat."
Wiping the sweat from his forehead, Ye Chen shuddered as the cold wind blew in from outside. The temperature after nightfall was freaking cold.
He was wearing nothing but a Vine-and-Leaf Garment. It had kept him cool during the day, but now it was nighttime. He had just worked up a heavy sweat, and the wind made him feel cold all over.
Ye Chen wanted to start a fire and was about to go out to look for dry branches, but he glanced at the pitch-black sky outside the cave and heard the occasional roar of beasts.
Fine, he'd just have to put up with the cold. That was better than getting eaten by a beast.
Besides, his healing ability was so powerful that even if a beast bit off a chunk of flesh, his flesh would grow back before the beast could swallow it.
At that rate, the more than a hundred pounds of flesh on his body could probably feed a small pack of beasts.
The thought made him shudder.
Sometimes, having too powerful a healing ability wasn't necessarily a good thing.
At the very least, trying to kill himself would be painful.
Ye Chen glanced at A Zhui inside the cave, then walked over to her. He immediately felt much warmer.
As expected of a Super Soldier. She even came with automatic heating.
As night grew later, Ye Chen eventually fell asleep. With the temperature outside dropping lower and lower, he instinctively moved closer to A Zhui, until he ended up clinging to her like a koala.
The next day.
Ye Chen slowly woke up. All around him and A Zhui lay dead insects of all shapes and sizes, making his scalp crawl.
"Holy crap, what the hell is this?"
He immediately realized that the insects outside must have crawled in while he was asleep last night and tried to get close to them. But somehow, they had all died.
The reason wasn't hard to guess. It was probably A Zhui.
At the thought, Ye Chen felt a wave of relief. If A Zhui hadn't been there, those insects might have crawled all over him last night.
Just imagining them crawling over his body and burrowing into his mouth, ears, and all the other openings made him shiver with revulsion.
"A Zhui, I never knew you were not only a warm pack but also a Bug Killer. I really love you!"
As he spoke, Ye Chen hugged A Zhui.
Looking at A Zhui's beautiful face so close to his, Ye Chen felt his heart stir.
He admitted it: he'd fallen for her.
He swallowed, then nervously glanced around. Seeing no one nearby, he quickly stole a kiss from A Zhui.
"So soft, so sweet! Just like Cotton Candy."
"Boom!!"
"Holy shit!!"
Before he could savor the feeling, pain shot through Ye Chen's chest, and he slammed hard into the wall.
"Cough, cough!!"
"That really hurts, damn it!!"
Clutching his chest, Ye Chen spat out a mouthful of blood.
His healing ability immediately kicked in, and his injuries began to recover rapidly, but the pain in his chest still made him grimace.
"Who are you?!"
A cool voice, filled with murderous intent, rang out. Ye Chen looked up and saw A Zhui glaring at him, her beautiful face full of anger.
"Um... Ha... Haha! You're awake?!"
Looking at A Zhui's furious face, Ye Chen felt terribly awkward.
He'd been single since birth for all these years, and he'd always been a model student. He never expected that the first time he tried to act like a pervert and sneak a kiss, he'd get caught red-handed. This was so awkward.
"Tell me who you are, or die!!"
A Zhui waved her hand, brought a Sword of Flames out of the Dark Dimension, and pointed it coldly at him.
"Don't attack! I'll explain. Yesterday, I saw you unconscious in a crater in a valley. I was worried you were in danger, so I carried you here. I saved you, so you can't repay my kindness with enmity!"
With the Sword of Flames right in front of him, Ye Chen swallowed nervously and hurried to explain.
Hearing that, A Zhui frowned.
Then A Zhui's pupils turned white as she began reading the Dark Dimension's records from the previous day. She soon learned what had happened yesterday, as well as what had happened today.
A Zhui looked at Ye Chen and tightened her grip on the sword.
At that moment, she really wanted to cut him down. This guy had stolen her first kiss, and on top of that, he'd held her while they slept all night.
After a long silence, A Zhui sighed inwardly and took a long look at the mortal who had stolen her first kiss and slept beside her.
The wings on her back fluttered, and she vanished in an instant.
Blue Star, outer space.
A Zhui looked at Blue Star before her, as if she could see Ye Chen below through the thick clouds.
"Ah, I'll just pretend none of this ever happened. Mortals only live for a hundred years or so. Maybe by the next time I come here, he'll have turned into a pile of rotten dirt."
With that, A Zhui turned and flew toward the Angel Nebula.
But the man who had stolen her first kiss and held her as they slept that night remained deeply imprinted in her memory.
Before you continue