The Devil's Contract Lover - Chapter 45

“I’m here to apologize.” Chu Yan’s expression was incredibly sincere. However, everyone present, perhaps including herself, knew that no one would believe that statement.

“You want to splash me with juice?” Yao Yuan’s first reaction was to circle behind Xing Kong, watching the juice in her hand warily, until Chu Yan placed the juice on the table.

“Don’t be so sensitive, I really am here to apologize.” Even at close range, her face still gave people a sense of being unforgettable: “It’s better to let sleeping dogs lie. We should remain strangers.”

It was a very clear request for a truce; even her posture and voice were showing weakness. However, a sudden buzzing sound swept through Yao Yuan’s mind.

The crackling noise made it impossible for her to answer, and instead, her breathing became difficult.

Chu Yan reached out. That fair, white wrist appeared blurred in Yao Yuan’s vision. Because Yao Yuan was still hiding behind Xing Kong, the hand was held out flat in front of the devil.

Xing Kong’s voice finally held a trace of emotion; she looked mockingly at the human’s fingers: “You haven’t even heard a bedtime story?”

“I have.” Chu Yan still held out her hand: “Shaking hands with a devil is an extremely dangerous action. I completely understand this.”

The person who completely didn’t understand this was hiding behind the devil, full of question marks. She had shaken hands countless times… her pupils immediately contracted violently: Xing Kong was actually reaching out to Chu Yan.

The devil’s pale fingers about to touch the determined palm of the young girl… Absolutely not allowed!

Clap. Yao Yuan grabbed the hand first, her eyes filled with cat-like annoyance: “Didn’t I tell you to ignore this fellow!” Therefore, therefore, contact is forbidden!

When Xing Kong turned her face, her eyes did not hold their usual coldness: “You’re worried about her?” The smile on the corner of her lips was clearly teasing.

“Worried about the big ghost head.” Yao Yuan huffed and circled around, walking to the opposite side to separate them: “Sorry, our contract is the first priority.”

A long period of staring, so long that she thought the devil would offer the defense of [a handshake is not a contract], but she only waited for a soft laugh from Xing Kong: “Fine.” This time, the hand that reached out gently patted Yao Yuan’s bangs.

Stars reflected in Yao Yuan’s pupils, and the smile vanished the next second: A sharp dagger pierced Xing Kong’s waist, the handle firmly gripped in Chu Yan’s hand!

[What is going on—]

No blood seeped from the devil’s body. A black shadow burst out instantly, forming a spiral pattern to disperse the pure white light mist on the dagger.

Xing Kong finally became serious, her eyes glancing at Chu Yan, who dared to commit insubordination: A rune appeared on Chu Yan’s brow, and dissipated with a captivating, charming laugh.

However, as the rune shattered, the power that leaked out instead augmented the indistinct girl, causing her to undergo a secondary, non-human transformation… Is she a succubus?!

The echo of what is going on had just faded when Yao Yuan’s consciousness awoke, only to find herself tightly wrapped inside by Xing Kong. Chu Yan should clearly be the weaker party; the only reason she could harm the devil was one: the devil needed to protect the human on the innermost side from harm.

[If I could be stronger, I could fight side-by-side with her.]

[If I hadn’t distracted Xing Kong just now, she definitely wouldn’t have been ambushed.]

If… no, there are no ifs!

Emotions surged fiercely in her heart, and her heart burned again. An indescribable feeling was swept away by a wave of emptiness, and she collapsed weakly downwards.

“Xiao Yuan?” What came into her view was Xing Kong’s calm eyes. The storm had stopped. Everything around them hadn’t changed; there were no black shadows, succubus, runes, or agitated noises.

“Xing Kong, Chu Yan, she—” “Excuse me, I’m here to apologize.” Chu Yan stood at the door, holding a glass of juice, once again, exactly the same as about 10 minutes ago.

Huh? What does this… mean? Yao Yuan looked at the doorway as if she had seen a ghost. What… is going on? Time reversal?

She ignored Chu Yan’s probing expression and twisted her head back to examine Xing Kong: Even the devil showed no abnormality. So, even Xing Kong doesn’t have the memory of what just happened?

Is it time reversal or precognition within her mind? She couldn’t confirm for now. Subconsciously, she placed her hand on Xing Kong’s arm, opening her mouth, trying to say something.

[Don’t say anything.] This time, the voice that spoke was not only intuition, but reason was also saying the same thing. This was probably her [special ability], right? If she wanted to win the battle against the devil, maintaining a certain degree of secrecy was necessary. Facing a devil with a full hand of trump cards, she couldn’t be without one herself.

Xing Kong had already noticed her odd behavior, leaning down slightly, her gentle eyes carrying a questioning look.

“I’m fine, you…” Yao Yuan slowly regulated her breathing and forced a slightly indifferent smile: “Don’t pay attention to her yet.” That’s right, whether it’s precognition or time reversal, she had to stop Xing Kong from shaking hands with this fellow.

“Fine.” Xing Kong’s outstretched hand met empty air. The girl who was always hiding behind her protector actually stood up and walked toward the enemy with an unknown agenda.

“You’re here to apologize, right?” Yao Yuan was very fast. This time, it was Chu Yan who didn’t have time to react, as a fist went straight into the door frame right by her ear.

“Yes, I’m here to apologize, because…”

“Because of whatever, from now on, I forbid you from stepping within three steps of Xing Kong—” Old and new grudges mixed with the scene of the dagger piercing earlier boiled in her mind. Yao Yuan ignored the pain in her knuckles, grabbing Chu Yan’s shoulder and pulling her backward.

Unfortunately, Chu Yan only showed a hint of surprise and retreated half a step at first. After that, no matter how much she pushed, she didn’t budge, standing rigidly in the doorway.

“Please calm down. I’m very sincere this time.” Her emotionless voice sounded like it was criticizing Yao Yuan’s undignified actions.

However, this time, things were definitely not going to go her way!

“Hmph, I’m very calm right now~ Sincerity? Are you talking about this!” Yao Yuan suddenly gripped her wrist and lifted it up. Don’t think I’ll be fooled by you this time! The dagger could— Eh? Where’s the dagger?

The hand that was tightly gripped was as slender and fair as the wrist holding it. Most importantly, no dagger fell out of her palm or sleeve.

She didn’t give up, lifting Chu Yan’s sleeve and shaking it hard twice. Still, nothing fell out. Was it tied inside the sleeve, or was it not on her upper body at all? Strange, she drew the knife so quickly before…

Chu Yan’s voice finally lost its emptiness and carried a hint of annoyance: “Are you done making a scene?”

“No!” Yao Yuan looked her straight in the eye without hesitation, still patting her up and down as they stared at each other. Where on earth is the dagger hidden? I absolutely must find it. If I let you stab Xing Kong with a dagger again, I’d rather jump off the plane myself.

Chu Yan suddenly used force to break free of the wrist grip. A whoosh of air enveloped a great force, swinging toward Yao Yuan.

“Snap!” The hand, which was just inches away from hitting Yao Yuan’s face, was restrained by Xing Kong. To be precise, it was immediately entangled by a shapeless mass of shadow.

In a flash, the wrist entangled by the shadow immediately cracked into several pieces, evaporating into the air. The expected blood and screams… never happened.

The incomplete limb, which should never have healed naturally, rapidly regenerated before everyone’s eyes. The severed wrist and hand grew back unnaturally fast, looking exactly as they did before they were split.

“Interesting.” The devil’s words were filled with malice: “Does a synthetic life form like you have pain receptors? What is the limit of regeneration?” She looked like she was preparing to satisfy her curiosity herself.

“Xing Kong, stop talking nonsense with her, check if she has anything that looks like a dagger on her!” As this sentence left her mouth, Chu Yan’s expression instantly changed. She looked at Yao Yuan in disbelief.

[How do you know that.] This sentence was written all over her face. Her tightly clenched nails were about to pierce her palm.

“Nonsense?” Xing Kong gave a half-smile, but did not stop her hand movement. The shadow swept over the Chu Yan in front of her. The next second, she could split her into countless pieces and carefully search for the dagger among the corpse fragments.

Click. Yao Yuan heard a very clear sound of a clock hand, followed by the familiar feeling of time freezing. Did Xing Kong need to freeze time to deal with this person? Was Chu Yan’s dodging speed that fast?

She turned her head suspiciously. This time, it was her turn to show a look of panic: Chu Yan was not pulverized. She walked directly through the translucent shadow, standing in front of Yao Yuan and meeting her gaze.

This time, both their pupils were surging with determination and… confusion. What blew their long hair was not wind, but a dense, thick torrent of magic.

“Are you too?” Chu Yan spoke first, the surrounding scene was warping. She only managed to say this one sentence.

“Ha… uh…” Yao Yuan violently gasped, like a fish out of water.

“Xiao Yuan?” Xing Kong’s voice dragged her back to reality. The feeling of thirst immediately disappeared. It seemed that all she needed was a touch of fingertips to draw power from the other person’s body.

It truly was power; she could feel a stream of magic flowing from the devil’s fingertip, filling her dry circuit.

“What magic did you just use?” The devil’s inquiring tone was very considerate, like a couple in love. However, Yao Yuan, who was long familiar with her, understood very well that this question was definitely extremely dangerous.

She used the time to catch her breath to survey her surroundings: She was still on the plane, but not in the same seats as before. The young lady seemed to be sound asleep on a sofa near the bookshelf, and the plane had also taken off… Does this mean time has been skipped? Did Chu Yan’s question just now mean, [Are you also a Time Magician]?

A peculiar intuition made her strongly want to shake her head.

Yao Yuan was about to drink some water to relax, but looked up and saw the devil’s gaze fixed on her. Xing Kong had been waiting for this answer for at least 10 seconds. If this were a dating game, this round would be a major failure, right?

[I must find a logical reason…] Her brain quickly spun, trying to find the perfect evasive answer from some drawer.

“Don’t lie.” A dark danger lurked beneath the gentle voice. Xing Kong’s right hand gently stroked the back of her neck, moving from top to bottom, the way one strokes a cat.

“Ugh.” Yao Yuan’s shoulders twitched. For some reason, she thought of a whetstone.

[I didn’t cast a spell.] This clumsy lie immediately cracked into eight pieces in her mouth and could not be spat out.

“I…”

“You.”

“I think it might be prophecy magic.” Yao Yuan closed her eyes and spoke part of the truth at an extremely fast speed: “I’m not entirely sure about my own ability, but I just saw Chu Yan—” “I’m here to apologize.” Before she could utter the word dagger, Chu Yan stepped in, holding the juice: “For us to understand each other better, let’s have a temporary truce?”

“Tsk.” Yao Yuan bit her lip with mixed feelings. Emotionally, she desperately wanted to tell Xing Kong to quickly dispatch the opponent and seize the dagger, but reason did not agree.

Even if Chu Yan’s magic power was less than she imagined, and would completely disappear over several loops, eventually leading to her death by Xing Kong, rather than making a desperate move to twist the current situation with what appeared to be time magic… many secrets, perhaps her final trump cards, would also be buried with the opponent’s death.

[Throwing the rat and breaking the porcelain.] At this moment, the two people staring at each other could read the meaning in the other’s eyes. They were mutually suspicious of each other’s abilities and limits.

“Didn’t you already come over and apologize?” Yao Yuan gave way first. She leaned back against the backrest cautiously, showing that she would stay put.

“No, I haven’t been here before. This is the first time I’m coming over now. Did something surprise you?” Chu Yan’s expression was no longer indifferent. The information she spoke was also a sign of retreat.

“Say whatever you want. Just stay far away from us first.” Yao Yuan annoyedly leaned forward and hugged Xing Kong, guarding against a second surprise attack from a certain person.

“Alright, then we can talk in detail when we reach the destination.” Chu Yan said as she turned and walked back, without even setting down the juice.

Does this mean they will talk in detail later? Perhaps they’ll need to avoid Xing Kong.

Ah, speaking of Xing Kong… she nervously raised her head.

“Xiao Yuan, how about we talk in detail now?”

“Ah, uh…”

In a situation like this, is a smile all it takes?