Full-Scale Pursuit

Xie Xie's "lair" was easy enough to find. It was in the neighboring residential complex.

He thought he had slipped away quickly enough to avoid Gu Yue's "venomous tongue" attack. Feeling quite pleased with himself, he was already plotting what new tricks he could use to tease Gu Yue next time—and maybe mooch some good food while he was at it.

He never expected Gu Yue to arrive so quickly, and in a posture he had never seen before—burning with towering rage.

"Xie! Xie—!!!"

A sharp cry shattered the afternoon's tranquility, exploding from the entranceway with bone-chilling coldness.

Xie Xie jolted upright from the sofa and peeked outside, nearly scared out of his wits. Gu Yue was racing down the complex's main road like a silver-gray bolt of lightning, her long hair streaming in a perfectly straight line behind her. Ye Xinglan followed at an unhurried pace, arms crossed, her expression full of entertained anticipation.

What made Xie Xie's scalp tingle most was that although Gu Yue still ran with great speed, the formerly taut, fluid motion of her waist and abdomen now carried a subtle... sluggishness? Like a precision engine forced to exert more effort because it was carrying extra "fuel." And as she moved at high speed, the gray tracksuit she wore faintly revealed rounded contours stretching against the fabric around her back and waist.

"I'm dead, I'm dead, I'm dead!" Xie Xie shrieked. He did not even have time to put on his slippers before charging barefoot upstairs. He knew all too well what happened when Gu Yue got angry, especially when he was the one who had provoked her.

Before, she had given him the cold shoulder. But now... who knew what even more terrifying things this "glutinous rice ball" version of the great demon king might do?

"Stop right there!" Gu Yue's voice arrived before she did, sharp with icy menace.

Xie Xie scrambled upstairs in a panic. His hands shook so badly that he could barely hold the keys, and it took him a long while to stab one into the lock and open his apartment's security door. He squeezed inside in a flash and tried to slam the door shut behind him.

Bang!

The expected dull crash of the door hitting the wall never came. One of Gu Yue's feet was already wedged in the gap. The force behind it was astonishing; even the doorframe groaned under the strain.

"Move." Gu Yue growled. With a flick of her wrist, a subtle force flowed into the hinges.

With a soft crack, the security door's latch snapped.

The door flew open and slammed heavily into the wall. Xie Xie stared dumbfoundedly at Gu Yue, then at the ruined door, his mind completely blank. Was this really Gu Yue, the one who used her brain instead of her hands—or, when she did use her hands, always struck cleanly and stopped at just the right point? This was practically a demolition crew possessing her!

"Y-you have to pay for my door!" Xie Xie blurted out instinctively, trying to divert attention with his financial loss.

Gu Yue did not even look at him. Her gaze swept across the living room like a searchlight before locking precisely onto Xie Xie, who was cowering in the corner of the sofa. She advanced one step at a time, her sneakers tapping against the floor with crisp, oppressive clicks. With every step, the "glutinous rice ball" aura around her weakened slightly, while the great demon king's pressure grew stronger.

"The door?" Gu Yue stopped in front of the sofa and looked down at him. A cold, somewhat eerie curve tugged at her lips. "I'll buy you a solid gold one someday. Now, let's discuss the... 'offering' you left in the fitness area."

She extended her hand—not to hit him, but with her palm spread open and fingers slightly splayed. A faint golden glow lingered around her fingertips—the sign of soul power gathering.

"N-no, no! Big sis! Great aunt! Ancestor!" Xie Xie completely broke down, clutching his head as he wailed. "I was wrong! I really know I was wrong! I was just craving it! I never thought that you, esteemed elder—uh, you fairy—would actually snatch it! That stuff is filthy! Gutter oil! Carcinogenic! Unhealthy! You're someone aiming to become a Title Douluo, how could you—"

"Shut up." Gu Yue's voice was not loud, but Xie Xie fell silent at once. Her eyes were complicated, holding anger at being exposed, regret over her own actions, but more than anything, the aggrieved helplessness of having her sore spot struck with nowhere to vent it—and... a faint, secret yearning for "forbidden food" after her palate had been spoiled.

"I..." She opened her mouth. The words "I just wanted to eat it" rolled over the tip of her tongue, only to be forcibly swallowed back down by sheer willpower. In their place came an even colder snort.

"Xie Xie, you took this joke too far." She slowly raised her hand, the golden light in her palm condensing into an even more dazzling glow, aimed straight at Xie Xie's... head.

"Wait! We can talk this out! A gentleman uses words, not fists! I'll treat you to 'Golden Crisp' for a month! No, half a year! A whole year! Pick whatever you want! Don't hit me!" Xie Xie was terrified out of his mind, babbling incoherently as he begged. He knew that if Gu Yue really started fighting, his bones probably would not endure more than a few blows.

Leaning against the doorframe, Ye Xinglan finally could not help letting out a soft laugh. Gu Yue was obviously furious, yet her earlier "indulgence" had weakened her imposing aura slightly. With her emotions churning, her cheeks also looked even rounder and fuller, making the sight feel incredibly novel.

Where was the aloof Gu Yue who seemed untouched by worldly desires? This was clearly a young woman spoiled rotten by Tang Wulin, wildly testing the limits of mischief, only to be betrayed by her own gluttonous instincts and come here in embarrassed fury to conduct a "harsh interrogation."

"Gu Yue," Ye Xinglan said with a teasing smile, "are you really going to tear Xie Xie's home apart over something so trivial? If word gets out, no one will believe Xie Xie provoked you. They'll only say that your... well, 'bearing' has grown broader, and you've become more 'rounded' too."

"Ye Xinglan!" Gu Yue whirled around and glared at her. The blush on her cheeks deepened, spreading all the way to her ears. Her glare was thirty percent embarrassment and anger, seventy percent ferocity, but paired with that face softened by satisfaction, its intimidation was greatly diminished. Instead, it gave her a kind of... adorably clumsy air.

She took a deep breath and forcibly suppressed the urge to beat Ye Xinglan up as well. Turning her fire back on Xie Xie, she nevertheless slowly lowered the hand she had raised halfway.

"...Put it on my tab." She gritted out the words through clenched teeth, then spun around and strode toward the door. Her back remained straight, but her steps were noticeably more solid than when she had arrived. Even the hem of her tracksuit swung in rounder arcs with her movements.

Suppressing her laughter, Ye Xinglan followed her out.

Xie Xie collapsed onto the sofa. Looking at the ruined door, then in the direction the two had vanished, he let out a long breath of relief before sorrow welled up inside him. Not only had he lost a door, he had also offended the glutinous-rice-ball version of the great demon king Gu Yue. More importantly, he vaguely sensed that his freedom to enjoy Golden Crisp was probably going to be gone for a very long time.

After leaving the building, Gu Yue secretly rubbed her slightly bloated stomach where no one could see. A fleeting expression of satisfied, little-beast-like laziness crossed her face. Sunlight fell over her, wrapping her in a warm glow, and even her gray tracksuit seemed softer than before.

Ye Xinglan looked at her and said softly, "Actually, this is pretty good too. At least when you smile, you don't seem so cold."

Gu Yue paused, but did not turn around. Only the blush at the tips of her ears quietly deepened a little more.