A warm breath washed over her, like sinking into a hot spring in the coldest of seasons, and a gentle warmth bubbled up in her chest.
Yu Zhizhi’s eyelashes fluttered as she felt Louis’s soft, shallow kiss.
It was a kiss devoid of lust, filled with tender affection, as if to soothe her trembling soul. Her nose tingled, and a single tear slowly traced a path from the corner of her eye.
Louis’s fingers gently massaged the back of her neck. Under his comforting touch, the rain-soaked chill in her body and spirit gradually subsided, and she grew calm.
The kiss ended.
Louis held the young woman in his arms. "Sleep," he said. "Get some rest. I’ll leave after you’ve fallen asleep."
Yu Zhizhi nodded lightly.
She was exhausted.
The side hall was sheltered from the wind and rain, and Louis’s embrace was so warm.
Yu Zhizhi gradually drifted off to sleep.
Louis continued to hold her. When he sensed her breathing become even and gentle, he leaned down and pressed a soft kiss to her forehead.
He scooped up his little rabbit and carried her to her alcove.
He laid her down on the soft bedding and gently tucked the covers around her.
As his fingers wiped the tear from the corner of her eye, a heavy ache filled Louis’s chest.
He stood and walked outside. The side hall was silent, lit as brightly as day. The Black Crow perched quietly on a stand forged from gold, its wings tucked in.
An irrepressible rage burned in the depths of Louis’s pitch-black eyes. He thought of the suffering Yu Zhizhi had endured in the Thunder Abyss, and as he opened his left hand, the metal stand began to hum.
The Black Crow hastily beat its wings and flew away.
It didn’t dare get any closer.
The leader before it was furious.
The black dagger on the metal stand flew into Louis’s hand.
A vicious glint flashed in his eyes. Without a shred of hesitation, he gripped the dagger and plunged it directly into his own left eye socket!
SQUELCH—!
The dagger had pierced straight through his left pupil. Blood streamed from the socket, carving a crimson trail down the left side of his pale face before dripping from his jaw to the floor.
He yanked the dagger out and flung it into the distance. It landed perfectly, embedding itself back in the metal stand.
The Black Crow stared, stunned, at the young man.
’The leader...’
’He’d harmed himself again.’
Ever since he was young, the leader had harmed himself more times than the Crow could count.
Louis clutched his left eye, blood seeping from between his fingers as a low laugh rumbled in his throat.
If anyone else had heard it...
...they would have found it utterly horrifying.
The Black Crow didn’t dare make a peep. It tucked its head under its wing, terrified of getting caught in the crossfire.
Louis saw only a blurry phantom before him; he could barely distinguish reality from dream.
He had returned to Paradise this time, determined to see his goal through to the end, no matter what.
’But...’
He slowly hunched over, the left hand clutching his eye socket trembling uncontrollably. The physical pain was nothing compared to the agony in his soul...
’His little rabbit was here.’
’What was he supposed to do...?’
...
When Yu Zhizhi woke, she found someone holding her hand. She groggily opened her eyes to see a figure in dark green robes sitting by her bedside.
Sensing she was awake, the young man stirred. He immediately leaned down, looking at her with concern.
Bandages were once again wrapped around the young man’s face. His single remaining eye glittered like an emerald-green agate.
"...Lou?" Yu Zhizhi’s voice was raspy.
Lou helped her sit up. "You sure can sleep," he said, feigning a relaxed tone. "I thought turtles only hibernate in winter."
Yu Zhizhi looked at the bandages on his face and suppressed the urge to touch them. "What happened... here?"
She gestured toward his eye.
"Who knows." Lou brought over a small tureen of soup from a nearby table. "Sometimes I wake up missing an arm, other times a leg. This time, I stabbed myself in the eye, heh..."
The young man chuckled softly.
His one remaining emerald eye rested on Yu Zhizhi’s face.
"As for you, why were you crying in your sleep? Did someone bully you in your dream?"
Lou had never been what one would call a considerate person.
But this time, for once, he hadn’t just shaken the young female awake.
He didn’t know the cause of her exhaustion.
Lou had kept watch by her side the whole time.
When he saw her crying, Lou’s expression had darkened, and a wave of irritation had washed over him.
’If someone was bullying her in her dream, he’d wanted to charge right in.’
"I don’t remember."
Yu Zhizhi took the soup tureen. Inside, she saw her favorite white radish, which had been stewed until it was perfectly tender.
She had slept very soundly.
She had dreamed.
But for the life of her, she couldn’t recall what it was about.
All she knew was that, in the end, it was Louis who had lulled her to sleep.
"Did anything happen yesterday?" Lou suddenly asked.
Yu Zhizhi froze.
She sipped her soup slowly, thinking, but said nothing. How was she supposed to tell Lou that she had been tied up by the Lord of Paradise?
Lou seemed to offer an explanation. "I went to the periphery yesterday to deal with a few stowaway rats."
"Oh? Did you see the other three?"
Her other three teammates lived on the outskirts of the Holy Temple. ’I wonder how they’re doing now,’ she thought.
"Didn’t see them. But they’re still alive, so don’t worry."
Lou stood up from the bedside. "I have to go. That guy might show up soon. I don’t know who it’ll be, but no matter who it is, you should ignore them. If it’s the Lord of Paradise, that’s one thing. But if it’s Louis—"
’She probably doesn’t know that name.’
"The only difference between Louis and me is his eyes. If you see my eyes turn black, hide. He’s even more trouble than the Lord of Paradise."
Hearing the name "Louis," the hand Yu Zhizhi was holding her spoon with trembled slightly.
Lou saw this and assumed she was interested.
So he elaborated, "Louis is tyrannical, cruel, and has an intense desire for destruction. He’s extremely dangerous. You have to stay far away from him, you understand?"
"...Mhm."
Yu Zhizhi took a guilty sip of her soup.
’She actually wanted to argue with him.’
’Louis wasn’t scary at all. He was so gentle.’
Having given his instructions, Lou left the room.
About ten minutes later.
Yu Zhizhi placed the empty soup tureen on the low table beside her. She went to the corner of the room and peered through a crack in the mural, watching the figure that had appeared in the side hall.
’It was...’
’The Lord of Paradise.’
A flicker of disappointment went through Yu Zhizhi.
’She had wanted to see Louis.’
’There were still so many things she hadn’t had a chance to tell him.’
Just as Yu Zhizhi was about to crawl back under the covers, the shadow servant that the Crow transformed into greeted her softly from outside the door. "Good evening, Miss Turtle and Rabbit."
"...Good evening."
"The leader requests your presence," the Black Crow said, its voice androgynous and exceedingly respectful.
"Alright."
Yu Zhizhi was both surprised and a little worried.
’Why would the Lord of Paradise suddenly summon me?’
Filled with this uneasy feeling, she slowly pushed open the door to her alcove. The blinding light of the side hall shone directly into her eyes, and Yu Zhizhi instinctively raised a hand to shield them. She saw the figure in the dark green robe standing beneath the magnificent chandelier.
Yu Zhizhi slowly walked over.
The man lifted his chin slightly, gesturing for her to sit at the tea table.
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