Do you want me to live here, or next door to you?

He chatted with Malson about Black Alley, and Jinx asked Li Ke many questions. Li Ke answered them one by one. What Li Ke found strange was that Jinx didn't seem as crazy as he imagined. She was clear-headed and emotionally stable.

This was different from the "Jinx in Li Ke's imagination."

He looked at Jinx, thought for a moment, and then sat down on the bed.

Jinx didn't resist Li Ke's action. Instead, she stretched out her long legs, placed her hands on the bed, tilted her head, and asked Li Ke, her lips slightly parted:

"Li Ke, why do you seem so afraid of me?"

Li Ke paused. "Do I?"

"Of course, I can tell," Jinx replied.

She reached out, and Li Ke instinctively raised his hand to block her. Then, he saw Jinx stop, shrug, and lean back. Jinx said with a half-smile, "See? Aren't you afraid of me right now?"

"."

"This afternoon at the restaurant, I saw a group of people looking for you. They were gangsters."

Jinx listened and suddenly understood. She raised her hand dismissively and said, "Ah, those are Silco's people. I ran away from home, so of course, he'd send people to look for me. Is this strange? Are you afraid of me because of this?"

Li Ke looked at Jinx in silence.

Jinx sighed, her small face creased. She said indifferently, "I know what you want to say, but what can I do?"

"Vander is dead, Vi doesn't want me anymore, where else could I go? They abandoned me first, what could I do?"

"Silco is annoying, but he's really good to me. I help him, and he takes care of me. Is that strange?"

Li Ke shook his head.

It wasn't strange. As he'd said before, she couldn't be viewed from a normal person's perspective. Moreover, given Zaun's current situation, there weren't many normal people in the entire city. Jinx was just crazier.

Silco was Vander's killer. By rights, he should be Jinx's enemy, yet she now accepted her enemy as a father. However, the relationship between Silco and Vander wasn't something that could be explained in a few words.

In short, if you tried to apply adult logic to this girl, you would only get angry and a bullet in return.

Li Ke looked at Jinx, took a deep breath, and said seriously, "So, should I call you Jinx now, or your new name, Jinx?"

Jinx.

No, Jinx.

She was stunned at first, then burst into laughter.

Holding her stomach with one hand and wiping the corners of her eyes with the other, Jinx laughed maniacally.

"Hahahaha."

"You know even this? Yes, it's about time you knew. After all, you and the little one are quite close. But I'm curious, why didn't you join the Hotarubi gang? Didn't they want you? Isn't he building a new home?"

She laughed heartily, tears welling up in her eyes. Wiping them away, she looked at Li Ke.

In a tone bordering on glee, with teary eyes and a mix of laughter and tears, she said, "Call me Jinx, Li Ke."

"."

"I have another question. Can I still live here?" Seeing Li Ke remain silent, Jinx asked.

"What will happen to me if you refuse?" Li Ke asked her, his meaning clear.

Jinx's mouth formed a cute, surprised 'O'. "What kind of talk is that? I'm not that crazy. We grew up together, I wouldn't kill you."

Fiddling with her little pistol, her small feet kicked the bed leg, her long legs swinging. Casually, as if stating the obvious, she continued, "But I'll live next door to you. It's just a matter of going over and saying hello to that family."

"Bang~ Boom~ Then they'll agree."

"I have nowhere to live right now. Sevika, that silly big sister, is too annoying. You remember Sevika, right? That silly big sister is too annoying!"

Jinx chattered away to Li Ke.

Sevika?

Li Ke certainly remembered.

A woman who embodied the will of Zaun. He remembered watching Arcane for the first time, Sevika betraying Vander and joining Silco. Li Ke had found her quite irritating then, but as he watched more, he found the character had a lot of charm.

She wasn't loyal to individuals; she was loyal to Zaun.

Whoever could lead Zaun against Piltover and bring dignity to Zaun, Sevika would work for them. Who could hate someone so purely devoted?

Well, Jinx could.

"I really want to shoot her dead, but I know I can't. Silco would be angry." Jinx faced Li Ke, her small hands clasped in front of her, her index and middle fingers hooked downwards in a cute gesture. But her words were anything but cute.

"So, what's your choice?"

"Are you going to let me live with you, or let me live next door?" Jinx asked Li Ke.

She wouldn't let Li Ke get away.

After so long, besides that little one Ekko, Li Ke was the only person she could consider familiar.

Having run away from home with no destination, Jinx would naturally latch onto Li Ke.

She was sick, truly sick.

Lacking security, when she saw someone familiar, she would cling to them. Although Li Ke wasn't the one who could cure her illness.

But why not?

Hehe.

Li Ke sighed, moved by the fact that his unlucky neighbor had such a selfless neighbor as himself.

Damn it, he should have just handed over some money honestly!

He saved his life!

"You can stay here, but I only have one bed," Li Ke said.

"It's okay, we can sleep together. I'll sleep inside, and you sleep outside. I'm not a good sleeper, I'm afraid I'll fall off," Jinx said with a giggle, completely unconcerned that Li Ke was a man.

Li Ke scratched his cheek, speechless, but found a hint of indescribable excitement stirring within him.

Jinx was crazy, but she was a very good-looking crazy person.

Besides her sturdy build, she had an extremely slender body, and her legs were so fair they seemed to glow. Most people from Zaun, who rarely saw sunlight, had pale skin unless they were genetically predisposed to darker complexions, and Jinx was a standout among them.

"What if Silco comes looking for you?" Li Ke asked.

"He hasn't found me yet, has he?" Jinx said casually as she lay down on the bed, her braids spread out on either side.

She rolled around on the small wooden bed, adjusted the pillow stuffed with rags, and then rested her head on it. She patted the bed, signaling for Li Ke to lie down too.

It was like the old days when they lay on the rooftop, watching the "sky" together next to the alchemy tanks.

Yes, Li Ke and Jinx were, in a sense, childhood sweethearts.

Although Vi often beat up Malson and Li Ke.

Li Ke hesitated, then lay down, but half of his body was hanging off the bed.

"Don't be so scared. I told you, I won't hurt you," Jinx said, winking at Li Ke, her pupils bright.

"You know everything, but it wasn't like that. I didn't intend to hurt Craig and Milo. That, that wasn't what I wanted. It was an accident, Li Ke, it was really an accident."

Jinx said.

She kept talking, seemingly afraid Li Ke wouldn't believe her, and poured out a torrent of words.

"I know, I believe you."

Jinx froze, blinking. "Really?"

"Yeah, I believe you. It was an accident," Li Ke said.

"You're the first. The first person to believe me," Jinx suddenly said, her expression a little strange, but soon she burst into laughter again, her eyes wide and manic as she chattered away at Li Ke.

Jinx's voice gradually quieted as the latter half of the night arrived. Then, under the glow of the graffiti lamp, Li Ke saw Jinx curled up against the far wall of the bed, her back to him, sleeping like a kitten.

She was completely different from when she was awake, like a cat lacking a sense of security.

If he had to choose who to interact with, Li Ke's first choice among the people of Zaun would naturally be Ekko.

Li Ke genuinely had a lot of good feelings for Jinx's character, finding her very charming. But no matter how adaptable Li Ke was, having a madwoman who killed as easily as drinking water lying next to him still made him feel uncomfortable, uneasy, and conflicted.

No matter how many excuses he made for Jinx, no matter how much he said the environment and people had made her this way, a mistake was still a mistake.

Ekko had also been through so much, yet wasn't Ekko still warm like sunlight?

Ekko was the true seed of Zaun.

I, Li Ke, officially vote for Ekko! Ekko is the future leader of Zaun!

But reality was that Jinx was lying on his bed, and Ekko didn't know where he was.

"Sigh--"

Looking at the sleeping Jinx, Li Ke hesitated for a moment before choosing to lie down further inside the bed. It was too damn uncomfortable to have half his body hanging off the edge. How could he possibly sleep?

As for a pillow...

Forget it, he'd use his hands.

Pillowing his head on his hands, Li Ke closed his eyes.

But just as he was drowsily about to fall asleep, Li Ke was hit by something.

He opened his eyes and saw Jinx had cuddled up next to him, her head resting against his elbow. One of her small hands was tightly gripping the fabric of his shirt, while the other was at her lips, biting her thumb, which was painted with blue nail polish.

"Vi, I was wrong, don't leave me."

"I really know I was wrong, and I didn't want to."

"Please, Vi, Vi..."

"Vi, I don't hate you anymore, please come back."

"..."

Listening to Jinx's voice, Li Ke lay down again and closed his eyes.

Perhaps...

It wasn't too late for everything.