Skadi, My Wife

Thinking of this, Chen An could not help but sigh.

As time passed, he found himself more and more unable to do anything about Skadi. Maybe after a while, he would not even be able to refuse her whenever she wanted to be together.

Come to think of it...

Immortality was not difficult. He wondered whether Skadi would be interested.

As Chen An pondered, he suddenly saw an acquaintance approaching him.

Bright dragon horns, neat medium-short hair, a stern expression, a sword at her waist, and a valiant bearing. A dragon tail behind her swayed unconsciously from side to side.

It was none other than Lungmen Guard Department officer, Ch'en Huil.

Chen An stopped and raised a hand in greeting. "Yo, isn't this Huil? Haven't seen you in days. Good morning."

Ch'en: "..."

Her expression changed. She instinctively looked around, and only after confirming no one was nearby did she storm up to Chen An.

"How many times have I told you? Be more polite when you speak to me! Don't call me by my name. Call me Ch'en sir!"

Ch'en did not dislike her name, but she had always felt it was too feminine. As a police officer, being called by her name in public would affect her authority and, consequently, her efficiency in handling cases. That was why she hated having people call her by name in public.

To prevent this from happening too often, she rarely told people her real name. Even now, only a handful of old colleagues at the Lungmen Guard Department knew it.

As for how Chen An knew Ch'en's real name... well, that was a long story.

A story that could be summarized in six words: someone misspoke while drunk.

"Don't be so petty."

Chen An waved a hand and said with a cheerful smile, "We've known each other for so long. What's wrong with calling you by your name? I call Hoshiguma by her name too, don't I? Anyway, are you patrolling again?"

Ch'en gritted her teeth. She wanted to say something, but after hesitating, she gave up.

She had indeed known Chen An for quite a long time. She had met him not long after he arrived in Lungmen.

Chen An had learned her real name shortly after that, and even now, he still had not broken his habit of calling her by it whenever he saw her.

Of course, she did not care that much. Whenever Chen An called her by name, there was either no one nearby, or he kept his voice low. When there were many people around, he still gave her face and called her Ch'en sir.

With a weary sigh, Ch'en could not be bothered to say anything more to the shameless Chen An. She glared at him and prepared to leave.

But then she seemed to remember something. After walking some distance away, she turned around and came back.

Seeing Ch'en blocking his way and staring at him with a frown, Chen An found it strange. "What? Aren't you going to patrol? Why come back to stare at me?"

Ch'en countered, "You're heading to the Outer District, right? Where are Skadi and Exusiai?"

The Outer District was the slums, and it was also part of Lungmen. Ch'en loved Lungmen deeply and was ashamed to use the term "slums" for part of Lungmen, so she had always called it the Outer District.

"Skadi's at home, and Exusiai is at home too... All right, all right, I'm leaving. Today's the day I do free consultations. If I keep dawdling, I'll be late."

Avoiding Ch'en, who was blocking the road, Chen An continued onward.

Ch'en watched his retreating figure for a moment. After hesitating for a few seconds, she followed him.

On the road from the city center to the slums.

Chen An chatted with Ch'en. "Weren't you going to patrol? Huil, is it really okay for you to follow me to the Outer District?"

"Patrolling isn't my job to begin with. I just like doing it. And—call me Ch'en sir!"

Ch'en's tail swung hard, and anger rose within her.

It was all Hoshiguma's fault. As an Oni from Higashi, she had actually lost in a drinking match to a seemingly refined guy like Chen An. Losing would have been one thing, but she had even let slip Ch'en's name while drunk. What a bastard!

And this guy too!

She could not help glaring at Chen An. He could drink Hoshiguma under the table. Was he a damn barrel?

"Even so, it's work hours right now..."

"I'm on vacation!"

Ch'en cut him off and said bluntly, "I'm off today. Otherwise, did you think I'd come out so early to patrol?"

Chen An clicked his tongue in amazement. "You patrol even on vacation? Huil, you work way too hard. No wonder the rich lady always says you're a workaholic. No wonder you can't find a boyfriend."

"**, that damned Swire! She actually talks behind my back!"

Seeing Ch'en's face turn dark as she gritted her teeth and spat out a Lungmen curse, Chen An thought for a moment and added, "The rich lady only said you were a workaholic. The part about not finding a boyfriend was mine."

Ch'en: "..."

A vein throbbed at her temple. She nearly drew Chi Xiao and cut Chen An down with a single slash.

Unaware that he had just brushed past death, Chen An continued, "Being strict with yourself and loving your work are good qualities, but people aren't machines. You need to rest when it's time to rest. You always push yourself so hard. Hoshiguma worries about you."

Ch'en fell silent. After a while, she said, "Enough nonsense. Worry about yourself instead. The Outer District isn't the city center. If I weren't following you, and you ran into the Infected on the road, let's see whether you'd still be in the mood to gossip about me."

When she said the words "the Infected," Ch'en unconsciously touched her waist, and complicated emotions appeared in her eyes.

Chen An did not care. "What's wrong with running into Oripathy patients? I've treated people in the Outer District so many times. Do you think I haven't seen plenty of patients with Oripathy? Yet I'm still fine. Sometimes they even give me gifts. Ordinary people aren't necessarily all good, and people with Oripathy aren't necessarily all bad. Huil, I seem to remember you telling me something like that before?"

Ch'en laughed bitterly. "If everyone could always think like you... Hmph. Your thoughts have always been so clean and naïve. No wonder you can keep swindling money out of that miser Swire."

Chen An was displeased. "What do you mean, swindling? Watch your words, will you? Am I the kind of person who cheats his friends out of money? The rich lady and I make fair deals willingly, okay?"

Ch'en sneered. "You sell them to other people for five hundred each, but you charge that damned cat and Exusiai at least two thousand each. You're really loyal."

Chen An protested loudly, "How is that the same? The ones I sold to others before were all thrown together casually, but the rich lady's and Exusiai's were custom-made. Even the details of the folds in their clothes had to be carefully considered. The effort I put into them was different, so how could the price be the same?"

Actually, it could, because whether he made them casually or paid attention to the details, Chen An expended the same amount of mental energy.

But he could not admit that! If he admitted it, would that not make him a profiteer? What about his integrity? How would he con... ah, make money in the future?

Ch'en could not be bothered with him. Shaking her head, she said, "Sometimes I really don't understand you. Call you a bastard, yet everyone who knows you thinks you're a good person. You even go looking for trouble, fearlessly entering an Outer District full of the Infected to treat people. Call you a good person, and sometimes even Hoshiguma gets so mad at you that she wants to beat you up..."

"What's so hard to understand?"

Chen An said casually, "I just like seeing people get furious but be unable to do anything about me. Why do you think I always call you Huil? It's because you look interesting when you're fuming."

Ch'en: "!!!"

Her steps stopped unconsciously, and her hand unconsciously settled on the hilt of Chi Xiao at her waist.

Sensing killing intent, Chen An turned around. Looking at Ch'en's unfriendly expression and face full of murderous intent, his heart skipped a beat.

Um, had he just said something truthful that he should not have said?

Rope Who Delivered Herself

"You've got guts, so stop dodging! Weren't you talking big just now?"

"I'm not stupid. If you've got guts, stop hitting me... Hey, hey, you're really doing it?"

In a corner, a small head peeked out furtively.

From afar, she watched Chen An and Ch'en argue as though they were flirting. The long ears on her head twitched, and she pouted unhappily.

It had not been easy for that airheaded Skadi, and those two troublesome women called Exusiai and Texas, to be absent. Yet another old woman, a stinking cop, had appeared...

"...Damn it!"

After muttering a curse, little Rope sulkily began turning in circles where she stood.

One circle, two circles—ah!

She suddenly stopped. Her long ears stood straight up, and an idea flashed through Rope's mind.

"Waaah! Officer, come quick! Someone's fighting over there! Hurry and save them!"

They had just reached the slums when a child suddenly ran toward them in a panic, shouting at the top of his lungs. Ch'en's expression tightened, and she hurried over.

"Where? Take me there, quickly."

"It's right ahead, right ahead—goodbye, Brother Chen An."

The child pointed ahead and led Ch'en away. Before leaving, he did not forget to politely bid Chen An farewell. He had once been Chen An's patient, knew him, and was deeply grateful to him.

In truth, most people in the slums knew Chen An. They were very grateful to the doctor who was willing to come to the slums to treat them, never charged them a cent, and sometimes even paid out of pocket to buy them medicine.

So even if Chen An truly came to the slums alone, he was unlikely to run into any trouble along the way.

And if he did, the people of the slums would help solve it.

Setting that aside, Chen An watched as Ch'en seemed to be genuinely tricked away by a child from the slums. Remembering her whispering to him before leaving, "Don't run around. Wait here. I'm going to see what trick this is. I'll be back soon," he could not help laughing.

This was not the city center. Why would people in the slums call the police when they saw someone fighting? Whoever had thought this trick would fool Ch'en was seriously underestimating her, was he not?

At that moment, Rope jumped out smugly from the shadows.

She did not know what Chen An was thinking, and even if she did, she would not care. She had someone lure Ch'en away not because she planned to scheme against anyone, but simply because she wanted Ch'en away from Chen An.

"Long time no see, Chen An. You foolish do-gooder really did come back to the slums to treat everyone."

Her long ears swayed as she spoke in a flippant tone. Then she raised an index finger and wagged it, speaking with the air of an elder. "But this won't do. The slums aren't a nice place. If you're alone, some gang might swallow you whole on the road."

Chen An said nothing and watched Rope's performance with amusement.

After bluffing and threatening Chen An for a while, Rope saw that he remained silent, as though he had been frightened. She patted her chest and confidently said, "But none of that matters, because I'm here. Since we've known each other for so long and you've helped me so many times, let me escort you through the slums this time. Remember, you need to stay close to me for the rest of the way. Otherwise, I won't be able to protect you."

Chen An still said nothing. His gaze passed over Rope and landed behind her.

Behind her stood Ch'en with a false smile, handcuffs in hand.

Seeing the handcuffs in Ch'en's hand, Chen An could not help silently mourning for Rope. Ch'en was on vacation and still carried handcuffs with her. It seemed little Rope was in for a disaster this time.

"...Um, is there something terrifying behind me?"

Rope noticed something was wrong from Chen An's expression and sensed killing intent behind her. Her boastful chatter came to an abrupt stop.

She nervously swallowed and carefully turned around to look.

Then...

With a click, she was handcuffed.

Thanks to Ch'en's handcuffs, Chen An now had two companions with him.

Still unwilling to accept that Ch'en had arrested her, Rope struggled fiercely along the way. "Why are you arresting me? I didn't steal anything this time! You old woman abusing your authority because you want to get your hands on Chen An, let me go!"

Then she said to Chen An, "Chen An, hurry up and save me! I'm telling you, this old woman who can never find a boyfriend must have seen that no one was with you and wanted to take advantage of the chance to make a move on you. She's not a good person—ow, ow, ow!"

Her head was suddenly struck. Rope clutched her head and crouched down defensively, unable to say another word.

After letting out a long breath, Ch'en, who had been called an old woman by Rope all the way, finally calmed the resentment in her heart.

She said coldly, "Deceiving and slandering a public officer. Little girl, you'd better behave yourself from now on, or don't blame me for being rude."

Rope rubbed her head indignantly. "You've already been rude, okay?! Chen An, did you see that? Abusing prisoners, violent tendencies—there's a reason this old woman can't find a boyfriend. Remember to stay away from her in the future."

Even at the end, Rope did not forget to complain to Chen An and speak ill of Ch'en.

Ch'en: "..."

Several # marks popped up at her temple. After repeatedly reminding herself, She's just a little girl, Ch'en finally suppressed the urge to hit Rope again.

Feeling that agreeing with Rope under these circumstances would probably get him badly beaten, Chen An could only laugh awkwardly and did not dare say a word.

Ch'en's face was expressionless. "Instead of wasting your energy badmouthing me, you should think about what you're going to do next."

"At worst, I'll go to the station with you. Why make it sound so serious?"

Rope did not care. She had been abandoned by her parents as a child and had grown up alone in Lungmen's slums. To survive, she had done plenty of petty theft.

She had lost her hand while stealing and ended up in the station so many times that she had lost count.

To her, the station was practically a second home. Other people were afraid of going to the station, but she was not. Sometimes, she even deliberately got caught and sent there—the slums often left people without enough to eat, but prison was different. She did not need to worry about anything, and she got three meals a day.

That was also why she dared to act so arrogantly around Ch'en. She was a habitual thief, and Ch'en had caught her several times, so she knew Ch'en well. She knew Ch'en was the kind of police officer who always followed the rules, had a conscience, and could sometimes be bullied a little.

Incidentally, Rope had barely gone to the station over the past half year.

The reason was Chen An.