"Fuck! What do you mean, you're not showing us?!"
"Production team! If you still won't show us Hajiqi's face, we're going to riot!!!"
"Wait! Look at Bai Lili's expression!!"
"I get it. A maiden's blush says it all! They're describing Prisoner Ji's looks indirectly!"
"Holy shit, guys, there's some NTR here! Looks like Bai Lili's fallen for Prisoner Ji!!"
"Who wouldn't fall for him?!"
"Suyo: I have no objections."
"Wait! Bai Lili put on the mask Prisoner Ji was wearing, so doesn't that mean... an indirect kiss?!"
"Boom!!!"
The moment the bullet comments mentioned an "indirect kiss," Bai Lili belatedly realized it too.
And so, as though thunder had exploded, the girl's mind went completely blank!
All her life, because of her engagement, Bai Lili had been very deliberate about avoiding contact with the opposite sex.
That included Suyo, the person to whom she was engaged.
The Thousand Faces Family was an Echo family with a thousand-year legacy and strict rules, placing the utmost importance on propriety and boundaries.
The family elders had repeatedly warned her:
Before the formal wedding ceremony, any contact beyond what was necessary was frivolous and improper.
It would damage a Bai Family daughter's reputation and cause her future husband's family to look down on her.
So this was the first time in Bai Lili's life that she had done anything so "intimate" with a boy-
Whether being held tightly in his arms or that "indirect kiss" that had nearly broken her brain!
And it had happened in front of everyone!
The whole class was watching!!
Seeing Bai Lili looking utterly stunned in his arms, Qiji assumed the girl had been frightened by her brush with death.
Smiling, he waved a hand in front of her face and teased,
"Hey, boss Bai, how was that?
I told you, since I took your money, I wouldn't let you come to any harm.
Now, do you feel like you got more than your money's worth?"
As classmate Qiji's pleasant voice reached her ears, Bai Lili finally came back to her senses a little.
The moment she heard "more than your money's worth," she nodded subconsciously.
It was worth it.
Definitely worth it...
Just seeing half of classmate Qiji's face had already made her feel she'd gotten her money's worth.
No matter how many times she had to pay that kind of money, or how much, she was willing.
Chapter 43: Unrivaled Handsomeness
Just as Bai Lili lay limp in Qiji's arms, her thoughts in complete disarray-
"Classmate Qiji, how much longer are you going to take advantage of classmate Bai Lili?"
A voice suddenly came from beside them, standing up for Bai Lili.
"Don't forget, classmate Bai Lili is engaged."
It was Liuli.
The girl stepped forward and spoke with righteous indignation.
"..." Hearing this, Qiji belatedly realized that his position with Bai Lili was indeed a little suggestive.
He had been so intent on saving her that he hadn't thought that much about it.
Besides, when it came down to it, the person he'd intended to save in the first place was clearly the one making snide remarks now...
In any case-
"The situation was urgent just now..."
Qiji readily released the arm around Bai Lili's waist and took half a step back, putting some distance between them.
But the moment he let go-
"Ah!"
Bai Lili let out a short cry of surprise.
Her mind was in turmoil, and she was completely unprepared to stand on her own.
All her weight had been resting on Qiji. The moment he stepped back, Bai Lili lost her balance and began to topple backward!
"Huh?" Seeing this, Qiji instinctively reached out to steady her again.
But Liuli was faster!
It was as if she had prepared for this, or rather, had been on high alert the whole time.
The moment Qiji reached out, she had already caught Bai Lili firmly around the waist, pulled the girl behind her, and shielded her securely.
Completely cutting off any possibility of further physical contact between Bai Lili and Qiji.
"Are you all right, Lili?" Liuli lowered her head slightly and reached out, seemingly concerned, to wipe Bai Lili's lips.
"I-I'm fine... Thank you... classmate Liuli."
Bai Lili thanked her quietly. While she felt relieved, she also felt a little empty.
The bullet comments caught every bit of Liuli's subtly scheming combo and were instantly delighted:
"I'm dying! A shura field already?"
"Liuli's jealousy is way too obvious!"
"Why's she guarding her food now? 233"
"What was that little wipe of Lili's lips for? Erasing the traces of the indirect kiss? Hahahaha!"
"As expected of you, Prisoner Li. What attention to detail!"
"'That time I just wanted to save someone but somehow ended up at the center of a shura field'"
"I'm dying. Hajiqi just took an escort job..."
"Do you understand the value of a demon king escort?!"
"Suyo: The three of you living happily together is more important than anything."
In response to Bai Lili's thanks, Liuli put on her model-student smile once more.
"What silly things are you saying, Lili?
You only ended up in that kind of danger because you were trying to save me.
I'm the one who should be thanking you.
I really... thank you."
Like the trademark fake smile on Liuli's face, her thanks weren't entirely sincere.
To be honest, she even wished Bai Lili hadn't pounced on her to save her just now.
That way, the person lying in classmate Qiji's arms...
The person who saw classmate Qiji's face...
No, pfft, pfft, pfft!
What was she thinking?!
She had only wanted to die under the blood arrow and be done with it!
That was right. The only reason she was angry now was that Bai Lili had ruined her plans.
She'd stopped her from dying!
She had been so close to saying bye-bye to this garbage world she had no attachment to!
As the words "no attachment" flashed through her mind, Liuli subconsciously glanced at Qiji.
Meanwhile, the students of Class Eight also gathered around.
Most of the girls surrounded Bai Lili.
They asked if she was all right, while also secretly lowering their voices to ask what Qiji's face had looked like-
Was he handsome?
Was it really like the rumors said? Did he wear a mask because he was too handsome?
Bai Lili was a little overwhelmed by the girls' questions coming at her from all sides.
Under their persistent questioning, she finally lowered her head, nodded gently and honestly, and answered in a voice as faint as a mosquito's buzz:
"He's... very handsome..."
Liuli pretended not to care, but the moment Bai Lili mentioned the face beneath Qiji's mask, her ears perked up.
"Wow!!!" The girls immediately let out a chorus of muffled gasps and excited whispers.
Someone couldn't resist asking another question: "Then... how does he compare to Yile?"
Yile was a television idol who had recently shot to fame. With a handsome face said to be so striking that "even the gods had to yield before it" and a melancholy air, he was almost as popular as Dorothy and the dream lover of countless young girls.
Hearing this, Bai Lili compared the two in her mind and answered subconsciously, "Classmate Qiji is a little more handsome, I think..."
The moment the words left her mouth-
"Huh!!!"
"Really?!"
"Even more handsome than Yile?!"
"Ah! I want to see, I want to see, I want to see!!"
Even louder screams erupted one after another among the girls, and their gazes toward Qiji grew even more eager.
Of course, not all the girls were so "shallow."
Setsuna, for example.
They had just been through such a terrifying attack, with life and death hanging in the balance.
Setsuna couldn't understand how these people could let their guard down and start gossiping about classmate Qiji's face in the blink of an eye.
The source of the blood arrow was still unknown!
The enemy was still hiding in the shadows!
They could attack again at any moment!
Did these people even understand what kind of situation they were in?!
Or was it because classmate Qiji was here that they felt perfectly at ease entrusting their safety to someone else and completely letting their guard down?
Perhaps classmate Qiji's strength had spoiled them.
But Setsuna would never be like that.
Because that was how good-for-nothings thought!
Even if classmate Qiji was very, very strong now, he at least had to become a trustworthy comrade who could help, rather than a burden.