"Want to leave a mark? You can, but only after we get married," Xiao Jinsheng sneered.
Li chuckled softly, refusing, "No, you have to divorce them first before you can marry me."
Seeing that this man wouldn't fall for her trick, Xiao Jinsheng put on a helpless expression and spread her hands. "We were husband and wife, after all, and there's some feeling between us. Even if we divorce, it should be an amicable split."
"If I were to abandon them so cruelly, so cold-bloodedly, you wouldn't dare to be with me, would you?"
Li pursed his lips, trying hard to stifle his laughter, but he couldn't hold it back. He tilted his head in confusion; even his demon mask seemed less menacing with his naive gesture. "What kind of feelings could you possibly have? Your black snake beast-husband wants to kill you, and the jade cat wants to divorce you too."
"They're all just ordinary transformed beings. If you abandon them, you abandon them. Rather than being heartless, I think you're quite fickle."
Upon hearing this, Xiao Jinsheng inwardly cried out that she was being gravely wronged! She was trying so hard to maintain her broken marriage precisely to save her own life.
"Li, how can you think that of me?" Xiao Jinsheng lowered her gaze, feigning hurt, and raised a hand to cover her heart. "It's just that my heart is shattered into many pieces, and each piece has fallen in love with a different man."
"But for you, I'm willing to divorce them," Xiao Jinsheng's eyes were filled with deep affection for the man in front of her. She hadn't studied acting professionally, but since she was pretty from a young age, she had been invited to many school activities. When it came to acting, Xiao Jinsheng believed she had some talent.
"Then I'll await your good news of the divorce." Li reached out, caressing the skin behind Xiao Jinsheng's ear and along her neck. Xiao Jinsheng felt a tingling sensation spread to her back from his touch. She tried to dodge his hand and pull away, but Li's figure before her dissolved into shattered fragments, about to dissipate. The distance between them was less than a fist's width.
Li lowered his gaze, clearly seeing a glowing totem mark behind Xiao Jinsheng's ear. This mark would light up along with the totem behind his own ear whenever his skin touched Xiao Jinsheng's. However, as his thumb brushed over it, the mark on Xiao Jinsheng's neck was hidden.
"I don't like durian-hearted women. I look forward to our next meeting, when all your beast-husbands have become ex-husbands," Li whispered softly into Xiao Jinsheng's ear. As his words faded, his figure completely vanished before Xiao Jinsheng.
The dim palace receded, the surrounding darkness retreated, revealing the environment of the west side of the Misty Continent. Xiao Jinsheng looked up and around, finding herself in her current location, not far from the tall building where they had just fought the fog corpses.
"Xiao Jinsheng." A figure ran from a distance; it was Su Ye. He stood before Xiao Jinsheng, his golden eyes sweeping over her. "Are you hurt?"
"I don't know, probably not," Xiao Jinsheng shook her head, looking confused. She even looked down and began checking herself.
"You were supposed to be on the rooftop, why are you here?" Su Ye asked, puzzled.
"I don't know either," Xiao Jinsheng was even more confused. She recalled earnestly, "On the rooftop, Yu Yunxiao started acting strange when he spoke to me, completely unlike his usual self, so I grew suspicious." At this point, Xiao Jinsheng's face turned pale, and her shoulders trembled with lingering fear. "Then… Yu Yunxiao's flesh began to fall off before my eyes, and he turned into a walking corpse, devoid of skin and blood."
"I was chased and forced back, accidentally hitting the railing and falling from the building. When I woke up, I was here and heard you call my name."
Xiao Jinsheng could swear that everything she said was true. She had only deliberately omitted her encounter with Li. As expected, although Su Ye was puzzled by her falling from the building yet safely appearing here, he said nothing. He even extended a hand. "Can you still walk? I can carry you back."
"Oh, well, handsome brother, you're not scaring me anymore," Xiao Jinsheng teased him. Su Ye's face flushed at her words. He put on a grumpy expression and snorted, "Fine, don't ride on my back then."
"Don't be silly!" Xiao Jinsheng rushed over and jumped onto his back, wrapping her arms around his neck from behind, clinging tightly to him. "You don't know how terrifying that bloody figure was. It was even scarier than the skinned rabbit head you used to scare me last time."
"My legs are still weak from fright, I haven't recovered yet. You have to carry me. I might even consider giving you 5 extra points."
"Alright, score-keeper sis," Su Ye unconsciously curled his lips, steadily carrying her on his back.
"Don't call me score-keeper sis!" Xiao Jinsheng slapped his shoulder in protest.
Back at the tall building, the four men who had received Su Ye's message about finding Xiao Jinsheng gathered around her.
"Still alive, you certainly have nine lives," Mo Jiao sneered.
"If I didn't try hard to live, I'd end up like a pair of doomed lovers with you, and then you wouldn't be happy. What ever should I do?" Xiao Jinsheng frowned, looking at him with feigned pity. Mo Jiao successfully got annoyed and turned his back to her.
"It's good that you're not hurt," Huai Qing said, comforting her with a gentle smile.
Even Yu Yunxiao, who usually loved to contradict Xiao Jinsheng, was quiet at this moment. His cat ears drooped. He stood before Xiao Jinsheng, hesitating for a long time, then said apologetically, "I'm sorry, it's my fault for not protecting you well." Yu Yunxiao believed that he, as a 4-star transformed being, at least had better self-preservation skills than Xiao Jinsheng, a 1-star mental energy female. Yet, even under his protection, a fog corpse managed to deceive him and whisk Xiao Jinsheng away. This made Yu Yunxiao feel disheartened about his own lack of strength once again.
"Su Ye told me that the fog corpse that impersonated you was 6-star and its ability was illusion. You're a healing ability user by nature, so it's not your fault you didn't notice it."
"Besides, I'm fine now, aren't I?"
"If you protect me well from now on, won't that be enough?" Xiao Jinsheng said, lifting her face and smiling kindly at Yu Yunxiao. Yu Yunxiao's heterochromatic eyes were filled with surprise. He had thought that because he hadn't protected Xiao Jinsheng well this time, she would definitely throw a tantrum or even hit him hard when she was found. But Xiao Jinsheng's reaction was completely beyond his expectation. She was nothing like her usual self from the past two days, who could infuriate them with a single word. Even though she had just escaped from danger and was the one who suffered the most, she was comforting him instead. It was at this moment that Yu Yunxiao realized that Xiao Jinsheng's promise to change seemed to be true. In these past two days, she had indeed been improving.
"I… I will protect you well from now on!" Yu Yunxiao's face flushed crimson, and he turned his head as he spoke, but his gaze furtively peeked at Xiao Jinsheng, observing her reaction.
"I know, Tsundere Bro," Xiao Jinsheng chuckled softly.
"Don't give me nicknames!" Yu Yunxiao's fur bristled.
"Okay, Tsundere Bro," Xiao Jinsheng naturally nodded, refusing to agree.
Just as Xiao Jinsheng was teasing Yu Yunxiao, Que Zelian handed her a clean handkerchief.
"Hmm?" Xiao Jinsheng looked at him, puzzled.
Que Zelian's gaze darkened, resting on her red lips. "Your lip makeup is smudged."
In an instant, Xiao Jinsheng's heart leaped nervously. She chuckled dryly, took the handkerchief, wiped her lips, and feigned a puzzled guess, "Maybe I was scared by the fog corpse."
"Mm," Que Zelian chuckled softly, reaching out to brush a stray strand of hair from her face, his gaze falling to the back of her neck behind her right ear. "I know you like to bite your lip when you're nervous. Perhaps the makeup was… smudged then."