Su Ruo pushed open the dormitory door, and the sight before her made her heart sink instantly.
Bai Lili was curled up on the left side of the long sofa, her cheeks still flushed with a lingering crimson. Her breathing was slightly labored, looking as though she had just undergone some intense ordeal.
On the other end of the sofa, Lilith wore an obsessive, infatuated grin, her eyes brimming with contentment. Clearly, she had just experienced something wonderful.
Witnessing this scene, Su Ruo realized immediately: her home base had been invaded.
However, she had to suppress the frustration filling her chest, not daring to let even a trace of it show. Her engagement to Bai Lili was a private arrangement; she had personally promised Uncle Bai never to speak a word of it to the outside world.
She had originally thought that as long as she stayed by Bai Lili’s side and blocked all potential suitors, Bai Lili would eventually marry her, whether he fell in love with her or not.
Thinking about it now, she had actually believed the nonsense spouted by Bai Lili’s mother.
The woman had claimed she was intentionally placing her and Bai Lili in the same dormitory to bring them together. Who could have predicted that the dorm would also be stuffed with two equally matched, predatory rivals!
She knew all about Lilith of the Blood Clan. The higher the level of a Blood Clan member’s ability, the more paranoid and obsessive their desire for exclusivity became. That innocent and harmless expression on her face right now was almost certainly a facade.
The other one, Qing Hanyin, was even more mysterious and unpredictable. Information on Mental-type abilities was scarce to begin with, and her past was a bottomless pit with no traceable records. Based solely on the faint hostility in Qing Hanyin’s eyes when she looked at her, Su Ruo knew she was no saint.
In just one day, she had ended up in a position where her home had been invaded; it was impossible to guard against. At this moment, Su Ruo felt like a restricted, powerless wife, forced to watch helplessly as everything was snatched away.
Though her heart was in turmoil, her expression remained as gentle as water. Su Ruo walked slowly to Bai Lili’s side, her voice as light as a feather and flawlessly tender. “Lili, what happened?”
The flush on Bai Lili’s face slowly faded as she shook her head flustedly. “No… it’s nothing.”
To the side, Lilith saw right through Su Ruo’s mask and sneered inwardly. She spoke to the System in her mind: ‘This Su Ruo is too good an actress. If I didn’t know that the possessiveness of a Nine-Tailed Fox is etched into their very bones, I might have been fooled by this gentle facade.’
The System replied tonelessly:
[**Host, your possessiveness is no weaker than hers. In terms of acting, you are a cut above.**]
Lilith glanced sideways at the interaction between Su Ruo and Bai Lili, her fingertips curling slightly. ‘System, if I were to get into a fight with this fox vixen Su Ruo, what are my chances of winning?’
The System, somewhat helpless regarding its host’s combativeness, answered truthfully: [**Based on current strength, it is fifty-fifty. The rest depends on future opportunities and effort.**]
Lilith lowered her eyes in thought, a glimmer of calculation flashing through them. The System looked at her and then glanced at the oblivious Bai Lili, feeling a few sparks of pity.
This little fox was being targeted by three S-rank ability users simultaneously. Two of them had possessiveness bordering on paranoia, and the other was a regressor who had returned with memories of a past life.
Shifting her gaze back to Su Ruo, who was acting with such gentle consideration, Bai Lili felt a quiet sense of relief. She felt that Su Ruo might not be as difficult to get along with as the rumors suggested; she preferred to believe what she saw with her own eyes.
The original plot had already collapsed beyond recognition. If she continued to stubbornly follow the script, she would be truly foolish.
Thinking of the plot, Bai Lili paused. ‘Where is the original Protagonist?’ According to the story, the Protagonist should have arrived at the ability academy by now, recruited personally by the principal as a special exception. The news should have spread through the campus, yet there wasn’t even a whisper of it.
Forget it. Why bother wasting energy on things that had nothing to do with her?
Just as Bai Lili snapped out of her daze, a large, gentle face suddenly leaned in close. It startled her so much that her entire body froze, and she nearly leaped off the sofa.
“You… why are you so close!” Bai Lili’s cheeks instantly turned bright red, and she shrunk back with a bashful huff.
Lilith had already wordlessly retreated to her own room, her steps light and bouncy, clearly plotting something in her mind.
Su Ruo looked at the startled little cat and smiled even more tenderly, raising a hand to lightly stroke her burning cheek. “You were spacing out for so long, I thought you were feeling unwell or getting sick.”
As she finished speaking, she was about to move a bit closer when the dormitory door was pushed open once again.
Qing Hanyin walked in and immediately saw the scene on the sofa. Su Ruo had Bai Lili pinned into the corner of the sofa in a kabedon-like pose. Bai Lili’s cheeks were crimson and her eyes were filled with a soft, bashful panic.
Su Ruo caught sight of Qing Hanyin out of the corner of her eye. She calmly pulled back and sat down beside Bai Lili as if nothing had happened.
Qing Hanyin’s gaze swept over Su Ruo indifferently. She said nothing and turned to go straight into the kitchen to prepare a meal.
Su Ruo watched her back, her eyes darkening.
By this time, Qing Hanyin should have finished her classes long ago, yet she had returned late. During that gap of time, she must have done something.
Su Ruo never believed that Qing Hanyin would do anything without a purpose. Her intuition repeatedly warned her that she had to keep a close eye on this woman.