Song Yao watched Su Yuan, who was intentionally or unintentionally inching closer to Zhaozhao. For the first time, she thought the rumors were wrong.
Was this guy really the same emotionless and desire - free boss of the Monster Management Bureau as rumored?
Zhaozhao didn't know what Song Yao was thinking. She huffed and puffed as she walked forward with her head down.
She had only one thought: to stay as far away as possible from the tree - eating monster.
"Zhaozhao," Su Yuan called out. Immediately, he received two resentful looks.
Zhaozhao turned around to look at him and whispered, "What?"
Su Yuan said, "We've taken the wrong way. It's this way."
As he spoke, he pointed at an ice crystal in his hand. The ice crystal was faintly connected to a trace of demonic aura.
Zhaozhao looked at the ice crystal. After a two - second reaction, her face flushed bright red. She stammered an apology, "S - sorry."
She felt it was a bit embarrassing. She'd been so angry that she'd even taken the wrong way...
Su Yuan watched as Zhaozhao rushed forward and then rushed back. He couldn't help but smile.
As the girl passed by him, he managed to hold back his laughter and said, "It's okay."
Song Yao thought the atmosphere was getting weirder. Why did it feel a bit annoyingly ambiguous?
Song Yao, who was extremely protective of Zhaozhao, frowned. She grabbed Zhaozhao and pulled her closer, saying unhappily, "Stay with me."
Zhaozhao obediently held onto Song Yao's hand tightly. She stole a glance at Su Yuan. Seeing that he was also staring at her, she immediately turned her face away, leaving him with only the back of her head.
Su Yuan wasn't angry. But his eyes dimmed a bit when they landed on Song Yao's hand holding Zhaozhao's.
The three walked on in silence, following the ice crystal's guidance deeper into the woods.
It was dead silent all around. In such a situation, even the slightest sound would seem extremely obvious.
Something seemed to be following them at a distance.
Su Yuan was the first to notice the movement. He cast a spell to protect Zhaozhao and Song Yao in front of him, his eyes darkening.
The thing kept running. It was very close to them, and there were faint gasping sounds.
Su Yuan quickly locked onto its position. A flash of spiritual energy, and the thing was instantly subdued.
"Ah!"
Hearing the scream, Zhaozhao and Song Yao rushed over to check. When they did, they were instantly stunned.
The trapped one was a little girl about four or five years old.
The little girl was holding back her tears. She looked very scared and curled herself into a small ball. She looked at Zhaozhao and the others as if she was about to cry.
"How could there be a little girl here..." Song Yao said in surprise.
Su Yuan clearly hadn't expected that the one following them would be a harmless human girl. He waved his hand to release the restriction on the girl.
Zhaozhao squatted down and stared at the little girl. She felt a familiar aura on this little girl, her own aura.
Zhaozhao was very confused. She asked the little girl, "Who are you? Why are you here?"
The little girl looked at Zhaozhao eagerly. Suddenly, she ran over with her arms outstretched, "Sister, carry me～"
Zhaozhao dodged in a flurry. In a hurry, she hid behind Song Yao and pointed at Song Yao, saying, "You've got it wrong. My cousin is the sister."
"..." Song Yao thought that maybe it was really necessary to send Zhaozhao to the Xuanmen to communicate with more people after they got back. She was just too naive.
Song Yao had no patience for kids. She kept a cold face all the time, which scared the little girl back two steps.
Seeing this, Zhaozhao poked her head out and chattered, "Cousin is very nice. Don't be afraid."
...
Song Yao rubbed her forehead and sighed. She said to Zhaozhao, "Shut up. Don't say a word."
"? " Zhaozhao didn't understand what was going on. She felt a bit wronged but still obediently covered her mouth.
Song Yao turned to the little girl and asked, "Kid, why are you here?"
The little girl was clearly afraid of Song Yao. She stammered, "This is my home."
Home? Song Yao frowned when she heard this. What was going on?
Just as she was about to ask further, she heard Su Yuan whispering to the little girl, "We're lost. We can't find our way home. Would you be kind enough to invite us to your home to rest for a while?"
The little girl looked at the extremely good - looking but a bit cold big brother in front of her. She felt a bit shy and said, "Okay!"
Then she happily ran in front of Zhaozhao. Her eyes sparkled as she looked at Zhaozhao and stretched out her little hand, as if she wanted Zhaozhao to hold it.
But Zhaozhao didn't understand. She hesitated for a moment and then took out a fruit from her small cloth bag and put it in the little girl's hand.
The little girl was stunned for a moment. Then she lowered her head aggrievedly. Her mouth puckered, and she said in a small voice, "Big brother and big sister, follow me." Then she walked in front to lead the way.
Zhaozhao didn't understand why the little girl, who had been so excited before, suddenly looked so sad. She wanted to ask her cousin, but Song Yao was now preoccupied with this strange little girl and had no time for her.
"She wanted you to hold her hand," Su Yuan walked up to Zhaozhao and explained.
Zhaozhao ignored him and moved a bit further away.
Su Yuan said, "Don't believe me?"
Zhaozhao looked at him for a while and then said, "You lie to kids."
Su Yuan cast a spell to swat away the mosquitoes behind her and said calmly, "Sometimes, appropriate lies are just necessary means to achieve a goal. There's nothing wrong with that."
Unexpectedly, Zhaozhao got even angrier after hearing this. Her face puffed up with anger. "So, when you praised the leaf for being beautiful the other day, were you also lying? Just to achieve your goal?"
Praising her for being good - looking, making her think he was a good monster, and then eating her when she wasn't paying attention...
Su Yuan didn't know how this was related to the leaf again. But he always had a lot of inexplicable patience with Zhaozhao. He said, "No. That leaf was really beautiful, and I had no ulterior motives."
"Humph!" Seeing that he still didn't admit it, Zhaozhao ran away angrily.
Su Yuan didn't pursue the matter. He just followed her leisurely.
Zhaozhao had never been this angry in the past 200 years. She thought Su Yuan was really hateful.
In her perception, Su Yuan was the second person, well, monster, she'd met after going down the mountain, besides her cousin.
Su Yuan had praised her for being beautiful and hadn't minded her calling him husband. She'd already regarded him as a good friend, just like what her senior sister had said.
But it turned out that he'd wanted to eat her... This was really hard for Zhaozhao to accept.
Zhaozhao walked in front. She endured it for a long time but finally couldn't hold back. She shouted at Su Yuan aggrievedly and sadly, "Can you stop eating trees? You can eat the tree's fruits. I have a lot of delicious fruits..."
Su Yuan was confused. "I don't eat trees."
Zhaozhao was stunned at first and then visibly happy. "You really don't eat trees?"
Su Yuan said, "… No dragon eats trees."
Zhaozhao didn't know whether dragons ate trees or not, as she'd never seen other dragons.
However, the news that Su Yuan didn't eat trees made Zhaozhao very happy. She bounced back in front of Su Yuan, pulled open her collar, pointed at the tooth mark on her collarbone, and confirmed with Su Yuan,
"Why did you bite me before?"
Su Yuan stared at the collarbone. Some inappropriate images flashed through his mind, things he'd done before losing consciousness.
He was thinking about how to explain when a roar interrupted his train of thought.
"What are you doing!? "