The bandaged boy found her gaze terrifying. It felt like a raging ball of fire with an intense heat capable of consuming everything in its path, yet at the same time, it felt like murky sludge from stagnant water—damp and sinister, creeping inward and spreading rapidly to swallow him whole.
He had never encountered anything so terrifying in his life. She must possess some kind of bizarre magic!
But soon, he reminded himself that he could not possibly be intimidated by a mere human female. Lifting his chin and stiffening his neck, he put up a bold front and blurted out, “If you keep looking at me with that disgusting gaze, I’m going to eat you!“
He considered this a deeply intimidating threat. After all, whenever the other escapees in the past heard him talk about eating people, they would flee in absolute terror, wetting themselves in the process. Yet the next second, he pictured the way Xia Miao had been sniffling and crying earlier. If she started crying again, wouldn’t he be the one who had to coax and comfort her?
Ah! What a pain!
Just as he was debating whether to tone down his fierce, menacing demeanor, Xia Miao suddenly reached out and grabbed his collar, pulling him down so he had to stoop. At that exact moment, she rose on her tiptoes and pressed her lips against the white bandages covering his mouth.
The bandages were cold, and the texture of the cotton gauze felt unusually pronounced between their lips. The boy should have long since grown used to the sensation of the bandages, yet for the very first time, it felt completely alien to him.
Once reality caught up with him, his eyes widened, his pupils constricting like those of a nervous cat. With a soft clatter, the flowers slipped from his hand and dropped to the ground.
“So what if it isn’t? Does this path have your name written on it? Am I not allowed to walk here?” He acted like a petty schoolchild, his expression haughty as he muttered under his breath, “Where do you get off thinking so highly of yourself? Saying I’m following you? Ridiculous! As if I’d trail behind you just so you’d kiss me again! It was just a kiss anyway. I’m a responsible adult, I couldn’t care less!“
Xia Miao stared at him in a daze.
A moment later, he watched as mist gathered in Xia Miao’s fragile eyes. His entire body tightened, and goosebumps broke out all over his skin.
Sure enough, Xia Miao demanded, “What do you mean ‘just a kiss anyway’ and ‘couldn’t care less’? That was my first kiss!“
Stamping her foot in anger, she shoved the bouquet of “flowers” straight into his arms. “I’m not talking to you anymore!“
With that, Xia Miao spun around and bolted.
He stood frozen in place for a full two seconds before instinctively chasing after her. “Hey, what are you crying for?!“
“What business is it of yours? Stop annoying me!” As the eldest daughter of the Xia family, pampered and spoiled since childhood, her temper was formidable. When she was in a good mood she might kiss him, but when she was in a bad one, she could drop a single ruthless word: “Scram!“
His eyes widened, his slit-pupiled gaze registering sheer shock before surging with anger. “Nobody has ever dared tell me to scream!“
“Scram!“
He quickened his pace to keep up right beside her. “Apologize to me! Apologize right now, or I’ll consider eating you!“
“Scram, scram, scram!“
Holding back his breath, he stubbornly inched closer to her face. “I’m really mad now. I’ll give you three seconds to apologize to me. Three… two… two point five.“
Crouching down slightly to match her height, the boy glared at her and huffed, “Two point four… two point three… two point two… I’m really going to reach one!“
Xia Miao: “Get lost!“
A lump caught in his throat, so he simply reached out and grabbed her by the arm, refusing to let go no matter how hard she shoved and pushed. Amidst a torrent of curses, he threw a tantrum of his own, causing several fingers to snap off and tumble out of the bone-flower bouquet he was holding in his other hand.
“Don’t think I don’t dare lay a hand on you! Let me tell you, my methods for killing people are terr—“
His eye was suddenly struck square by a fist, and the familiar sound of a crack echoed from his neck. When he blinked his eyes open again, the girl’s eyes were red with fury, her fair skin flushed with heat. She looked fierce, yet bursting with vibrant life.
“Not taking a girl’s first kiss seriously—you really are a scumbag! I’m not going to like you anymore!“
He stared at her in a daze for a few seconds. Just as Xia Miao raised her fists to start pummeling and kicking him again, he let out a squeak as soft as a mosquito’s buzz: “That was my first kiss too, you know.“
Xia Miao’s tantrum-throwing motions abruptly halted. She lifted her face, her gaze crashing directly into his.
The bizarrely dressed boy lowered his head, looking suddenly shy. Two seconds later, he lifted his eyelids again, casting a cautious peek at her before awkwardly muttering, “If you’re unhappy about it, then you can just take back the first kiss you gave me by kissing me again.“
The vein at Xia Miao’s temple throbbed. “How on earth are you supposed to take back a first kiss that’s already been given away?!“
“Can’t it be taken back?” The boy blinked in bewilderment. Then, realizing that he now possessed something belonging to him that no one else in the world could ever have, his deadpan eyes burst with a brilliant, dazzling radiance.
It felt as though an explosion of excitement was brewing inside his body, growing far too full to contain. He trembled slightly, yet he didn’t want anyone to witness such a humiliating sight. Cradling his bundle of battered, falling-apart claw-flowers, he hid his face behind them, peering out solely through the gaps between the bone-like stems to catch glimpses of her stark black-and-white eyes.
A thick, lingering gaze stretched across the air, clinging to Xia Miao’s face and hovering over her rosy lips. The sound of magma bubbling with a hot gurgle-gurgle seemed to echo from deep within his chest. Finally, he clutched the claw-flowers, squatted down right there on the ground, and buried his face straight into the “flowers.”
Looking both fiercely shy and intensely thrilled, his entire frame shivered and quivered, wriggling just like a crawling maggot.
After a long moment, Xia Miao let her heels touch the floor. Turning her face away, she muttered, “Things like eating each other are still way too early for our relationship. But considering you came looking for me today, I’ll let you have a kiss first.“
She was the one who had initiated it, yet he noticed that her ears had turned bright red as well. The air must have been laced with her strange magic; the boy was flushing furiously from head to toe, though thankfully the bandages concealed his expression and kept it from exposure. Even so, his chest was heaving violently, thumping against his ribs with heavy, uncontrollable heartbeats.
He pressed both hands against his chest, trying to shove his runaway heart back into place. Then, he stumbled backward three steps like a startled cat with its fur on end, staring at Xia Miao with a gaze full of bristling defense. “You kissed me?!“
Xia Miao bit her lip and turned back to look at him with a dissatisfied expression. “Don’t forget, our current dynamic is that I have a crush on you, and you are courting me. You haven’t succeeded in winning me over yet, so me letting you have a kiss is already extremely generous. If you want to do anything more inappropriate, it has to wait until after we’ve established a stable couple relationship!“
More inappropriate things?
The pupils in the boy’s eyes stopped moving. He froze completely, blanking out. But the next instant, whatever wild scenario his imagination had conjured up caused his body temperature to skyrocket. Wisps of faint black smoke began curling off the white bandages, and a magma-like red glow faintly showed through the gaps, as if he were burning from the inside out.
His body was about to catch fire!
Xia Miao picked up the flowers from the ground. Staring at them for a good while, she pointed at the bouquet and asked, “What are these?“
After a long pause, the boy finally managed to find his voice, answering dryly, “Flowers.“
Xia Miao pulled out a single “flower” and fell into a brief silence. “How come this flower looks like it has five fingers? It’s practically a hand bone.“
His eyes darted about evasively, though they kept helplessly drifting back to her lips.
“The old gardener said girls like unique gifts. I made these flowers myself; nobody else has them.“
His voice grew softer and softer, but his gaze ultimately failed to resist, finally sticking fast to her lips.
That mouth of hers was so rosy and lush, looking strangely captivating—almost as if she had just eaten a child.
Hearing that these were “flowers” he had crafted himself, Xia Miao’s expression improved slightly. Granted, the flowers he made looked bizarrely like claws, but since he had made them with his own hands, she had to give him points for sincerity.
She glanced sideways at him, let out a soft “hum,” and cradled the large bundle of white “flowers” as she strolled leisurely forward.
He hurried along right behind her, his deadpan eyes glued longingly to her back. But the moment Xia Miao turned her head to look back, he swiftly wiped away his pathetic, tag-along look, puffed out his chest, shoved his hands into his pockets, and radiated an aura of supreme indifference and rebellion.
As soon as Xia Miao turned away again, he eagerly shifted his gaze back to her and quickened his pace to catch up.
After walking for a while, Xia Miao suddenly spun around to look at him. “Why do you keep following me?“
“Who’s following you?” He lifted his chin, looking down his nose at her with supreme arrogance. “This path isn’t yours. I can go wherever I want.“
Xia Miao: “There are so many paths here, yet you just had to walk the exact same one as me!“
“So what if it isn’t? Does this path have your name written on it? Am I not allowed to walk here?” He acted like a petty schoolchild, his expression haughty as he muttered under his breath, “Where do you get off thinking so highly of yourself? Saying I’m following you? Ridiculous! As if I’d trail behind you just so you’d kiss me again! It was just a kiss anyway. I’m a responsible adult, I couldn’t care less!“
Xia Miao stared at him in a daze.
A moment later, he watched as mist gathered in Xia Miao’s fragile eyes. His entire body tightened, and goosebumps broke out all over his skin.
Sure enough, Xia Miao demanded, “What do you mean ‘just a kiss anyway’ and ‘couldn’t care less’? That was my first kiss!“
Stamping her foot in anger, she shoved the bouquet of “flowers” straight into his arms. “I’m not talking to you anymore!“
With that, Xia Miao spun around and bolted.
He stood frozen in place for a full two seconds before instinctively chasing after her. “Hey, what are you crying for?!“
“What business is it of yours? Stop annoying me!” As the eldest daughter of the Xia family, pampered and spoiled since childhood, her temper was formidable. When she was in a good mood she might kiss him, but when she was in a bad one, she could drop a single ruthless word: “Scram!“
His eyes widened, his slit-pupiled gaze registering sheer shock before surging with anger. “Nobody has ever dared tell me to scram!“
“Scram!“
He quickened his pace to keep up right beside her. “Apologize to me! Apologize right now, or I’ll consider eating you!“
“Scram, scram, scram!“
Holding back his breath, he stubbornly inched closer to her face. “I’m really mad now. I’ll give you three seconds to apologize to me. Three… two… two point five.“
Crouching down slightly to match her height, the boy glared at her and huffed, “Two point four… two point three… two point two… I’m really going to reach one!“
Xia Miao: “Get lost!“
A lump caught in his throat, so he simply reached out and grabbed her by the arm, refusing to let go no matter how hard she shoved and pushed. Amidst a torrent of curses, he threw a tantrum of his own, causing several fingers to snap off and tumble out of the bone-flower bouquet he was holding in his other hand.
“Don’t think I don’t dare lay a hand on you! Let me tell you, my methods for killing people are terr—“
His eye was suddenly struck square by a fist, and the familiar sound of a crack echoed from his neck. When he blinked his eyes open again, the girl’s eyes were red with fury, her fair skin flushed with heat. She looked fierce, yet bursting with vibrant life.
“Not taking a girl’s first kiss seriously—you really are a scumbag! I’m not going to like you anymore!“
He stared at her in a daze for a few seconds. Just as Xia Miao raised her fists to start pummeling and kicking him again, he let out a squeak as soft as a mosquito’s buzz: “That was my first kiss too, you know.“
Xia Miao’s tantrum-throwing motions abruptly halted. She lifted her face, her gaze crashing directly into his.
The bizarrely dressed boy lowered his head, looking suddenly shy. Two seconds later, he lifted his eyelids again, casting a cautious peek at her before awkwardly muttering, “If you’re unhappy about it, then you can just take back the first kiss you gave me by kissing me again.“
The vein at Xia Miao’s temple throbbed. “How on earth are you supposed to take back a first kiss that’s already been given away?!“
“Can’t it be taken back?” The boy blinked in bewilderment. Then, realizing that he now possessed something belonging to him that no one else in the world could ever have, his deadpan eyes burst with a brilliant, dazzling radiance.
It felt as though an explosion of excitement was brewing inside his body, growing far too full to contain. He trembled slightly, yet he didn’t want anyone to witness such a humiliating sight. Cradling his bundle of battered, falling-apart claw-flowers, he hid his face behind them, peering out solely through the gaps between the bone-like stems to catch glimpses of her stark black-and-white eyes.
A thick, lingering gaze stretched across the air, clinging to Xia Miao’s face and hovering over her rosy lips. The sound of magma bubbling with a hot gurgle-gurgle seemed to echo from deep within his chest. Finally, he clutched the claw-flowers, squatted down right there on the ground, and buried his face straight into the “flowers.”
Looking both fiercely shy and intensely thrilled, his entire frame shivered and quivered, wriggling just like a crawling maggot.