Provocation? He Took It Too Far!

This thing... seemed to have some inexplicable fondness for him?

Recalling all the ways the black mist had explored his body earlier, Yu Qing slowed his steps and decisively stopped half a meter away from it.

He reached out, slowly curling his fingers. His pale fingertips hooked a thin wisp of mist, as though trying to lure something out.

But... the black mist did not react, much less form a black hand as it had before.

Yu Qing frowned. He beckoned several times, but the black hand from earlier never reached out again.

Growing a little impatient, he tentatively took another half step forward, plunged his entire hand into the dense mist, and gave it a casual stir. Then-

Within the mist, a small black hand slowly rose.

At first, it was only the size of a baby's hand.

But gradually, its fingertips lifted and its palm changed, until it actually grew to the size of an adult's hand and seized Yu Qing's wrist!

Finally!

Yu Qing's gaze sharpened slightly. Only then did he examine the hand-just the right size, elegantly shaped, with well-defined knuckles.

Had it belonged to a person, it would have been beautiful.

What a shame...

Yu Qing's lashes fluttered faintly. He moved his wrist, slowly slipping free of the hand's grip to touch its back, its wrist, and its palm.

A tingling sensation gradually spread. He could clearly feel the hand formed from black mist slowly hardening beneath his touch, even becoming a little... hot?

No time to worry about that.

Yu Qing continued to toy with the hand, tentatively spreading its five fingers before lacing them with his own and gripping tight!

The next instant, he raised the knife in his other hand, ready to chop straight down at the black hand!

Cut it off! This knife could analyze a thing's true nature. As long as he cut off one hand, he could discover what the black mist really was and how it had formed!

Know yourself and your enemy, and you would never lose a battle!

Yet the black mist seemed extremely protective of that burning-hot hand. Before the blade could fall, another hand reached out and unhesitatingly knocked the knife from Yu Qing's grasp.

Clang-

The gleaming knife hit the floor, and the impact left Yu Qing's wrist aching fiercely.

He drew in a soft, hissing breath, unable to help feeling puzzled.

Why?

Why was the black hand he held so hot, while the hand that struck his knife wasn't?

What exactly was this thing? What exactly did it want from him?

His knife hand had gone numb from the blow, and the young man's entire wrist had reddened.

With the knife knocked away, he was just about to retrieve it when he discovered two more hands reaching out of the mist, one on either side, clamping tightly around his waist.

"!"

Yu Qing found it difficult to move. Then another black hand slowly approached and toyed with his earring.

Cold fingertips brushed his earlobe, feeling around for a moment before suddenly pinching his entire left ear.

The force was immense, as though it meant to pull something out of his body. It felt as if, unless he reacted, his ear would be torn off in the next instant!

Fuck!

Yu Qing cursed inwardly. In his nervousness, he instinctively squeezed the hand he held. Then he discovered that the burning-hot black hand in his grasp had miraculously twitched and... grown a little larger.

It could grow! Could this be the monster's...

At that thought, Yu Qing's gaze sharpened. He actually mustered the nerve to take two steps forward, tilted his head, and kissed the scorching black hand.

The black hand twitched again. As though it had never been treated this way before, it moved excitedly, rubbing against the young man's lips.

Yu Qing grew even more certain of his guess.

There was no way he could overpower this boss through brute strength. He could only...

"Mmm..." Yu Qing continued kissing the black hand. As his kisses grew impassioned, he gave a soft whimper, tears glimmering at the corners of his eyes as though its tugging had truly hurt him, and nipped one of its fingers as if coaxing it.

His warm breath drifted into the mist. Sure enough, the hand pulling his ear loosened, and the hands around his waist gradually grew gentler too.

A hint of a smile curled across Yu Qing's lips, and he kissed the hand entwined with his own all the more intently.

His lips slowly brushed over its defined knuckles, and before long, he took a fingertip into his mouth!

The black hand shuddered as though in reflex.

Its grip slackened, relaxing completely.

Yu Qing's eyes curved with a smile. Still kissing the hand, he freed himself from every restraint and slowly backed away.

He never forgot that his health would drop if his whole body entered the black mist.

But without the system now, he had no way of knowing how far it would drop. He could not risk it-if he could not cut the boss this time, he would wait for the next opportunity.

Yu Qing slowly retreated, finally reaching safe ground. He was just about to release the finger from his mouth when the scorching black hand stretched without hesitation, its fingertip flicking his tongue.

"Mmph..."