A Luo shrugged innocently, indicating that she had been playing dead the whole time and had absolutely no intention of disturbing them.
But then, right behind A Luo...
The man watched helplessly as Chrollo, Machi, and Pakunoda emerged from the shadows of the Dark Alley-three whole Spiders.
For a moment, the man looked ready to cry!
The moment Machi emerged, she sniped at Feitan, who was lying on the ground:
"I told you this morning that you'd have bad luck today. Didn't I already warn you to be careful?"
Feitan stubbornly closed his eyes.
Machi spread her hands, gave Feitan a contemptuous look, then turned to Chrollo.
Chrollo had been staring at the dagger in the scruffy man's hand all along.
"We're the Phantom Troupe! If we see something we want, we take it."
Machi flicked up the Nen threads in her hand.
Seeing that things were going south, the sleazy man tried to run, only for Machi to bind him tight with her Nen threads!
Before long, Chrollo got exactly what he wanted: the dagger that could bypass a Nen user's defenses.
The Spiders dumped the sleazy man right at the murder scene, amid the scattered flesh and blood.
Then they swaggered out of the Dark Alley and returned to the hotel where they were staying.
This time, however, although their leader had obtained what he wanted, Feitan's unexpected defeat had left them with a problem.
The poison in his body wasn't fatal, but it would temporarily leave him unable to move.
There was no specific antidote. To recover, he could only wait quietly for his body to metabolize the toxin.
And that raised a problem.
Who was going to look after Feitan while he couldn't move or take care of himself?
The Phantom Troupe was a gang of thieves. When it came to murder, arson, and all kinds of wrongdoing, every one of them was an expert.
But looking after someone?
They were all hopelessly clumsy at it.
And so, the heavy responsibility of caring for Feitan was passed around until it finally landed on A Luo, the Phantom Troupe's little tagalong.
Faced with threats and inducements from three Spiders, A Luo had no choice but to nod reluctantly.
Reason and fairness were for people with strength. A weak child like her could do nothing for now but obey, could she?
From that day on, A Luo not only had to handle Feitan's food, drink, bathroom needs, and sleep, but also had to keep him in a good mood!
Chrollo said that was the only way to help Feitan flush out the toxins and regain his mobility sooner.
A Luo: "..."
Easy for you to say when you're not the ones looking after him, isn't it?
You really know how to make things difficult for someone!
When it came to caring for a short-tempered patient like Feitan, food, drink, and sleep were relatively easy to handle.
After all, the hotel had plenty of food. Failing that, A Luo could borrow the kitchen and cook herself.
She could make sure that guy Feitan was satisfied with his meals.
Drinks were easy enough too. A Luo made a special trip to get a pile of straws.
Whenever Feitan wanted water, he could drink through a straw without moving from his bed.
Sleeping needed even less thought.
It was the other two bodily functions that both A Luo and Feitan considered their greatest obstacle.
If only A Luo really were an ordinary little girl!
Under normal circumstances, a ten-year-old girl could never lift a man like Feitan, even if he was short and weighed far less than the average adult man.
But A Luo had been doing all kinds of special training since she was little!
Although her arm strength was negligible compared with the Spiders', it far surpassed that of other children her age.
In fact, she wasn't much weaker than an adult man.
At the very least, A Luo could easily pick up someone like Feitan.
So, with Machi and Pakunoda unwilling to help, and Pakunoda refusing to let Chrollo help because he was their leader...
A Luo, who happened to be strong enough to carry Feitan but had no say in anything, could only shoulder the heavy responsibility of taking him to the bathroom.
The first time, neither she nor Feitan had any experience.
They had barely entered the bathroom when Feitan's streaming killing intent frightened A Luo so badly that her knees buckled, and she accidentally dropped him onto the bathroom floor.
Sprawled on the floor and wishing he could die of humiliation and rage, Feitan gritted his teeth and silently swore to himself.
Once I recover, I'll peel A Luo's skin off, inch by inch.
Looking at the Spider on the floor, A Luo truly wanted to take advantage of his immobility and end everything with one swift stroke of a blade.
Unfortunately, the little girl then remembered the three other Spiders outside the door.
Every malicious thought in A Luo's head instantly vanished!
Until she was strong enough to fight three Spiders or found a foolproof way to escape, she had better keep dutifully playing the role of this spineless little cook!
And so, patient and conscientious, A Luo could only haul Feitan up from the floor.
Then she held him securely and gently lowered him onto the toilet.
Finally, she closed her eyes and undid his belt.
A child on the outside but an adult within, A Luo rushed out of the bathroom, her face burning red.
Ten minutes later, figuring he must be finished, A Luo returned to the bathroom and carried him out.
A Luo looked down at Feitan in her arms. His eyes were closed, and he lay utterly still, as though dead.
Remembering how he held a grudge over every slight, and how she had just dropped him, A Luo apologized in a tiny voice:
"I'm sorry. I really didn't drop you on purpose. I'll go find some medicine for you right now."
After saying that, A Luo put Feitan down, ran to the front desk to borrow a first-aid kit, and began applying medicinal liniment to the bruises on his knees and elbows.
Feitan quietly cracked one eye open.
"These little injuries will heal in no time. What's the medicine for?!"
At that, A Luo put down the medicine, looked up, and gave Feitan an ingratiating smile.
"So does that mean you won't blame me for dropping you?"
Feitan clicked his tongue and closed his eyes again.
A Luo: "..."
Did that mean Feitan forgave me or not?
That night, A Luo had a nightmare.
In her dream, she became a tiny flying insect, running and running and running... but no matter what, she couldn't escape the pitch-black forest.
Close behind the insect A Luo had become was an enormous spider with black compound eyes and twelve legs.
It brandished its forelegs threateningly, declaring that it would skin her, tear out her bones, and slice her into a thousand pieces.
No matter how hard A Luo ran, she couldn't get away. In the end, the spider caught her, bundled her in silk, and carried her into its nest.
The gloomy spider's nest was littered with severed limbs.
A Luo frantically looked around, searching for a chance to escape.
Instead, she met a pair of golden eyes!
As the view pulled back, she saw Feitan!
The next second, Feitan narrowed his eyes and let out a sinister cackle as he peeled A Luo out of the spider silk... then, grinning viciously, he ripped off all ten of her fingernails.
After tossing aside the bloody nails, Feitan pulled a huge blade from behind his back and said he would slice A Luo into sashimi!
With a terrified "Aah!", A Luo jolted awake.
No!
I can't just sit here and wait to die.
Especially when, over the next few days, those awkward scenes played out again and again.
Feitan's humiliation was making the killing intent radiating from him so thick it seemed about to become tangible.
A Luo couldn't sit still any longer.
She had to think of something and try to get on Feitan's good side!
If this keeps up, that gloomy-faced guy on the bed is definitely going to kill me!
Before you continue