Chapter 7: Failed Escape

After saying that, Lin Zhihan stood up. The system had been shouting in her ear, urging her to hurry up and get on with it. Why was she saying all this? The buzzing was giving Lin Zhihan a headache.

But she ignored it. She looked around and sighed silently.

“Never mind. Let’s go home.”

The grove was just too… Lin Zhihan had had enough, too.

Vaniel was still sitting on the ground. Lin Zhihan held out a hand to help her up, but she dodged it again. She seemed even more resistant than before to being carried.

Lin Zhihan frowned.

Why were they getting along worse and worse?

“If you insist on walking, I’ll just have to bandage you up again when we get home.”

Vaniel’s face flushed. She could only swallow the response Lin Zhihan had anticipated.

After a long struggle, the succubus slowly climbed onto Lin Zhihan’s back again and looped her arms around her shoulders.

Vaniel secretly turned her face to the side and noticed the fine sheen of sweat on Lin Zhihan’s forehead. Her back was taut, and she walked steadily, but her exhaustion was impossible to hide.

Vaniel buried her face in her arms, her thoughts growing more tangled.

When they got back to the rented apartment, Lin Zhihan meant to take Vaniel straight into her bedroom. But when she pushed open the door, Vaniel suddenly struggled down from her back.

Lin Zhihan turned to look at her.

Vaniel refused to absorb energy from the humans along the roadside. Now she wouldn’t go into Lin Zhihan’s room, either.

The trip had been a complete waste. If anything, their situation had gotten worse.

Vaniel curled up in the corner and lowered her head, saying nothing.

Did she hate Lin Zhihan that much?

Lin Zhihan sighed and asked quietly, “What, would you rather share a room with Wen Qiao?”

Vaniel turned her eyes away and stayed silent.

“Then do you want to sleep in the living room?”

The living room was cramped. If they moved the little coffee table out of the way, there was just enough space for someone to lie down. But the kitchen was on one side, the bathroom on the other. It was hardly comfortable.

Still, when Vaniel realized Lin Zhihan wasn’t going to stop her, she lay down stubbornly.

Lin Zhihan took a deep breath, feeling a little stifled. She could only bring Vaniel a blanket.

Then she returned to her bedroom and closed the door.

Vaniel had realized by now that she’d misunderstood Lin Zhihan in the grove.

She’d overreacted, and Lin Zhihan was probably a little angry. Yet she still hadn’t shocked her.

Vaniel felt even more conflicted. She secretly dragged the thick blanket over and laid it beneath herself.

But as soon as she lay down, she realized the blanket still smelled like the human.

Her throat itched, and her thoughts grew restless.

She didn’t want to go into the bedroom because the human’s scent was just too delicious.

It was like the smell of braised pork to someone who hadn’t eaten in days: rich but not greasy, with juices that would fill your mouth in a single bite. Just imagining how satisfying it would be made your stomach growl.

Why did Lin Zhihan smell so good?

Vaniel swallowed. Her tail curled unconsciously, and she buried her face in the blanket.

She’d never known being a succubus would be like this. She was so hungry, so weak.

Why had she felt that way when the human grabbed her tail earlier…

No. Forget that at once!

On the other side of the door, Lin Zhihan was so exhausted that the moment she lay down, she went still.

The system, however, wailed in her ear. “If you don’t do the quest, the world will reset again!”

“It’s not time yet,” Lin Zhihan murmured, eyes heavy. She was only trying to placate the system.

“Once she asks me herself…”

The system grumbled, deeply dissatisfied.

Lin Zhihan gauged its tone as her eyelids grew heavier.

She could probably put it off a little longer… but maybe not for much longer.

The next day, at the school library, Lin Zhihan pushed open the glass doors. The air-conditioning was strong, and the room wasn’t crowded.

But she glanced around and frowned. Every computer was occupied, from the one nearest the door to the one in the far corner.

Jiang Shuling sat at the last computer.

She leaned back in her chair, casual as could be, a high ponytail falling over her shoulder. Her fingers rested on the keyboard as she turned to look at Lin Zhihan. Her gaze was cool, and it was obvious she’d done this on purpose.

“What is it? Is there something you just have to look up right now? Tell me and I’ll look it up for you.”

Jiang Shuling sounded smug. She assumed Lin Zhihan wouldn’t dare say it.

Lin Zhihan stood still for a beat, then calmly answered, “Succubi.”

Jiang Shuling fell silent for a second.

“You want to look up succubi?”

“Yes.”

“Nothing else?”

“No. That’s what I want to look up.”

Jiang Shuling’s face turned red with anger.

“Lin Zhihan! Are you saying you waste all your time watching succubus videos instead of studying and still come first in the grade?”

She paused, then spoke angrily. “Don’t put on an act! You must be hiding some secret study method from everyone.”

Lin Zhihan: “…”

She looked at all the computers, then at Jiang Shuling. She was too tired to deal with this. In the end, she said nothing and left the library.

The day had already been bad enough.

At lunchtime, the system suddenly shouted in her ear, “Host, Vaniel’s trying to escape! She’s trying to climb out the window. The collar shocked her, and now she’s unconscious!”

“What?”

Lin Zhihan’s heart sank. She immediately stood up.

In the hallway, Wen Qiao was waiting for her with a lunchbox. The moment she saw Lin Zhihan’s expression, she realized something was wrong.

“What happened?”

“Eat without me,” Lin Zhihan said, already hurrying away. “I need to go home.”

Wen Qiao froze, then set the lunchbox down and followed. “I’ll come with you.”

“No!”

Lin Zhihan was already disappearing down the hall.

Seeing how worried she was, Wen Qiao hesitated, then ran after her.

The first thing Lin Zhihan saw when she opened the door was the kitchen.

Vaniel must have used tremendous force. She hadn’t just smashed open the little ventilation window; she’d torn half its frame out, too.

She must have been stopped by the collar halfway through. She’d fallen from the height and knocked over the pots and dishes by the stove. A wok had rolled onto the floor, and shards of bowls lay everywhere. Spilled water and seasoning covered the kitchen.

Vaniel lay sprawled among the debris. Her silver-white hair fanned out across the floor. Her face was deathly pale, and fresh blood from several new wounds soaked into her clothes.

Lin Zhihan went over and bent to look at the new injuries. Her expression darkened.

This was dangerous—whether she got hurt or really managed to escape…

Her legs were already in such bad shape, and she’d still tried to climb out a window? Did she have no regard for her own body at all?

Vaniel’s eyelashes fluttered as she slowly came to.

She opened her eyes and found herself looking straight at Lin Zhihan’s cold face.

Her heart sank.

Lin Zhihan stared at her, then spoke in a quiet, steady voice. “Have I been too nice to you?”

Vaniel’s gaze drifted toward the wreckage in the kitchen. A chill slowly crept up her back.

Her escape had been discovered. She knew she’d caused trouble, committed the worst offense a slave could commit.

“Do I have to punish you, too?” Lin Zhihan gritted her teeth.

Vaniel’s face went white.

She watched Lin Zhihan roll up her sleeves.

Here it came. Lin Zhihan was finally going to hit her! Weirdly, Vaniel felt as if a weight had lifted from her chest. She instinctively sprawled on the floor, covered her head with her hands, and squeezed her eyes shut, resigned to endure it.

Lin Zhihan looked her over for a moment.

Vaniel was so slender and already injured that Lin Zhihan couldn’t bring herself to hit her anywhere. She hesitated, then sighed and slapped Vaniel’s butt.

“Bad slave.”

Vaniel had been tense with fear. When the blow landed, she stared up at Lin Zhihan in bewilderment.

That… hadn’t hurt. If anything, there was a strange feeling she couldn’t quite name…

Lin Zhihan was still angry. She held Vaniel down and slapped her several more times, her voice growing stern. “You’re hurt, and you’re still trying to run? Are you trying to get yourself killed?”

This time, Vaniel made a startled sound. It didn’t sound painful so much as soft and trembling.

Lin Zhihan still had her pinned. The human’s scent was close enough to touch. Vaniel’s face slowly reddened, and her legs pressed together without thinking. The pink in her eyes spread, growing richer.

Lin Zhihan also caught an especially pleasant scent in the air and froze.

Just then, hurried footsteps sounded outside. Wen Qiao had arrived at the door, breathless.

She stopped in the doorway. Through it, she could faintly hear Vaniel’s little cries and Lin Zhihan’s low voice asking, “Have you learned your lesson?”

Wen Qiao leaned on the doorframe, unsure what to do.

Had the succubus done something wrong?

Lin Zhihan was always so mild-mannered. If she was this angry, maybe it was about money. Had Vaniel damaged something of theirs?

But beating a succubus wasn’t the answer. Maybe Wen Qiao should talk to her…

The moment she opened the door, she froze.

Vaniel had somehow ended up on top of Lin Zhihan, pinning her to the ground.

She panted softly. Her eyes had turned an unmistakable peach pink, and her cheeks were flushed. She sat astride Lin Zhihan’s waist, holding her wrists down.

Her forehead dipped close to Lin Zhihan’s. Her slender tail swayed unevenly from side to side, like a cat about to feed.

Wen Qiao: “???”

The sound of the door startled Vaniel. Her whole body went rigid, as if someone had thrown a bucket of cold water on her. She came out of the haze in an instant and sprang off Lin Zhihan, retreating to the corner. Her ears turned red to the roots.

Lin Zhihan slowly sat up and rubbed her head. She blinked, bewildered.

…Wait. What had just happened?

She’d only meant to scare the succubus. She hadn’t hit her very hard.

Then Vaniel seemed to get angry and pounce on her, and Lin Zhihan’s head hurt badly from the impact. It really hurt.

Succubi were strong.

She rubbed the back of her head for a while. When she looked up, she realized Wen Qiao was standing in the doorway.

Their eyes met. Lin Zhihan fell silent for a beat, then felt awkward.

Most of the things scattered across the kitchen were things Wen Qiao had put away. Now everything was scattered across the floor.

And after all that running back and forth, lunch break was almost over.

Lin Zhihan got up and apologized. “Sorry. I’ll clean everything up. I’ll pay for a new window, too. You should go back to school.”

But Wen Qiao didn’t leave. What she’d just seen stayed in her mind. The look in Vaniel’s eyes had been unmistakable—desperate, almost out of control.

She pressed her lips together and glanced at the succubus, who had wrapped herself in her wings again, and at Lin Zhihan, who still seemed bewildered.

Wen Qiao took Lin Zhihan by the arm and led her outside, closing the door behind them. She hesitated, then finally spoke.

“Zhihan… maybe we shouldn’t keep the succubus here. We’re only students. She originally belonged to someone else. If we’re found out, they might come after us…”

Behind the door, Vaniel heard those words clearly.

Her fingers curled reflexively. Memories of being captured and beaten as soon as she’d arrived in the human world flashed through her mind like fragments.

“I’m not sending her away.” Lin Zhihan’s voice was calm, without a trace of hesitation. “She has to stay here.”

Behind the door, Vaniel slowly and quietly unclenched her hand.

She felt something like relief.