Chapter 70: Ruan Yuan and Xiran’s Confrontation

“I’m here to pick you up.”

Ruan Yuan’s voice still lingered in the strange space.

Linlin stared at her, stunned.

Was this Ruan Yuanjie?

A battered, ragged halo floated above her head. 

Her eyes were a terrifying white. 

Glowing patterns covered her chest.

Several red energy blades swirled around her.

Her entire vibe was completely different from usual.

“Ruan Yuanjie?”

Linlin called out uncertainly.

Ruan Yuan was about to speak.

Suddenly—

A massive head burst through the crack behind her.

Black scales, burning eyes, gaping maw.

It was a black dragon.

The black dragon forced half its body through the crack, staring at Ruan Yuan’s back. 

Black-purple light was already gathering in its mouth.

Ruan Yuan spun around and instinctively raised her blade.

Even though she knew she couldn’t win.

Even though she knew any slash would only do 1 damage.

She still had to block it.

Just as she braced for the attack.

The black dragon suddenly stopped.

Its burning eyes left Ruan Yuan and looked past her.

Toward the slide.

Toward the two tiny figures on the slide.

Then.

It retreated.

The massive head pulled back into the crack. Its body inched backward until it vanished into the darkness.

Low, unwilling roars echoed from outside the crack, mixed with something that sounded like fear.

Then the crack began to heal.

The broken edges of space knit themselves back together like living tissue.

Soon the tear Ruan Yuan had ripped open vanished completely.

The space was whole again.

Ruan Yuan stared at the healed wall. Her tensed body slowly relaxed.

She didn’t know why the black dragon had backed off.

But she knew she had nearly died there.

“What… what is that?!”

Linlin’s voice came from behind her, clearly panicked.

Ruan Yuan turned around.

She was about to speak.

The small black figure on Linlin’s lap moved.

Xiran opened her eyes.

She released the arms wrapped around Linlin’s waist and lifted her face from Linlin’s stomach.

Hands braced on Linlin’s thighs, she slowly sat up straight.

She shook her head.

A bit dazed, like a child just waking up.

Then she looked forward.

At the fully deployed Ruan Yuan standing amid the ruins, glowing red all over.

“Xiran, you…”

Linlin began.

Before she could finish.

Xiran moved.

She pulled Linlin into a tight hug, cradling the small figure completely in her arms.

Face pressed against Linlin’s shoulder.

But her eyes locked onto Ruan Yuan.

“Who are you?”

Her voice was soft and gentle, but clear.

“What’s your relationship with Linlin?”

Ruan Yuan looked at her.

This small black-haired girl in a little dress with pigtails and baby-fat cheeks.

It was Xiran.

The eleven-year-old Xiran.

Ruan Yuan glanced at Linlin.

The tiny pink figure held tightly in Xiran’s arms.

She had shrunk too.

What was going on?

Ruan Yuan’s mind raced, but her mouth didn’t stop.

“Me?”

She spoke, her voice more assertive than usual.

“I’m Linlin’s girlfriend.”

She paused.

“Who are you? Why are you trying to steal my Linlin?”

Linlin’s mind buzzed.

Girlfriend?

Ruan Yuanjie, what are you saying!

How could you say that in front of Xiran!

She opened her mouth to explain.

Suddenly she felt the arms holding her tighten.

Xiran hugged her even closer.

“Girlfriend?”

Xiran’s voice remained soft, but it sounded different now.

“Yours?”

Linlin felt a chill run down her back.

This was bad. 

This was so bad.

She quickly spoke up.

“No no! Xiran, don’t listen to her! She’s lying!”

Xiran slowly turned her head to look at Linlin.

Those deep black eyes stared straight at her.

“Linlin.”

Xiran spoke.

“Who do you belong to?”

Linlin looked at her.

In those eyes were expectation, unease, and a stubbornness that was about to overflow.

Linlin’s heart pounded.

But she knew what she had to say right now.

“I belong to you.”

Her voice trembled a little but was clear.

“Yours.”

“I promised you I would stay with you always, forever and ever.”

Xiran stared at her without speaking.

Linlin added quickly.

“Really.”

Then she sneaked a sideways glance at Ruan Yuan.

The look was obvious:

You big idiot!

Saying “girlfriend” at a time like this!

Shut up!

Ruan Yuan received the look.

But she didn’t shut up.

She simply stood there, watching the scene.

Watching Linlin being held by Xiran.

Watching Linlin say “I belong to you.”

Watching Linlin’s “you shut up” glare.

It stung a little inside.

But more than that was… an indescribable feeling.

While she was thinking that.

Xiran moved.

She cupped Linlin’s face with both hands and pressed her forehead firmly against Linlin’s.

Noses touching, warm breath brushing Linlin’s cheek. 

Linlin’s eyes widened instantly and her whole body stiffened.

She was held too tightly to move, forced to let Xiran press close. 

Those deep black eyes were inches away, filled with the familiar, Xiran-exclusive obsession and possessiveness.

Xiran’s face tilted slightly. 

Her gaze went straight over Linlin’s head, staring directly at Ruan Yuan with open provocation.

As if saying:

See that?

She’s mine.

Ruan Yuan stood in place, watching.

The intimate gesture lasted a long time—long enough for Linlin’s face to grow hotter and hotter, her ear tips flushing red. 

She tried to turn her face away, but Xiran only loosened her hands after a while, still keeping Linlin firmly circled in her arms, refusing to let go even an inch.

Linlin panted heavily, face beet red, eyes rimmed with pink, completely dazed.

Xiran looked at Ruan Yuan, the corners of her mouth curving slightly.

“Yours?”

She said.

The tone was soft and gentle, but dripping with mockery.

Ruan Yuan didn’t speak.

She simply looked at Xiran.

At the small figure holding Linlin, declaring ownership in such a solemn way, then asking her “yours?”

That look, that tone, that posture—

As if saying:

What do you have to compete with me?

Linlin was sandwiched between them, her mind blank.

She looked left.

Xiran was hugging her, face against her shoulder, eyes fixed on Ruan Yuan.

She looked right.

Ruan Yuan stood there, glowing, but her expression was… hard to describe.

Defiant, jealous, and a bit lost like “what do I do now?”

Linlin sighed silently in her heart.

What kind of situation is this?

How do I even resolve it now?

She didn’t know.

She only knew the scene was about to get even messier.

Sure enough.

Xiran spoke.

“Linlin said she’s mine.”

She paused.

“You heard it.”

Ruan Yuan looked at her.

“I heard.”

She said.

“But so what?”

“Linlin also said she’s my girlfriend.”

Xiran’s gaze turned colder.

“When?”

Ruan Yuan thought for a moment.

“Many times.”

“When we were at Linlin’s house and her mom asked, Linlin admitted it herself.”

Xiran froze for a second.

Then she turned to Linlin.

“Linlin?”

She asked.

“You admitted it?”

Linlin opened her mouth.

She wanted to say “that was a special situation.”

Wanted to say “that wasn’t real.”

But the words stuck in her throat.

Because she really had admitted it.

In front of her mom, she had said “Mm.”

It was her own words.

“Uh…”

Linlin made an awkward sound.

Xiran’s eyes grew even colder.

“Linlin.”

She spoke, voice still soft.

“You promised me you would stay with me forever.”

“Then you went and promised someone else to be their girlfriend?”

Linlin’s scalp tingled.

“No no!”

She hurried to explain.

“That was a special situation! Just to deal with Mom! It wasn’t real!”

“Not real?”

Xiran repeated.

“Then what about when you said ‘I belong to you’ just now? Was that real?”

“Real!”

Linlin nodded frantically.

“Absolutely! One hundred percent! Real!”

Xiran stared at her for several seconds.

Then she turned back to Ruan Yuan.

“Hear that?”

She said.

“Linlin said she’s mine.”

“Your ‘girlfriend’ is fake.”

Ruan Yuan didn’t speak.

She only looked at Linlin.

That look was complicated.

Hurt, defiant, and a little “you actually did this to me” grievance.

Linlin met that gaze and her heart sank.

She suddenly remembered.

Ruan Yuan had been genuinely good to her.

And now she had fought her way in, tearing open space, saying “I’m here to pick you up.”

While she had just told Xiran right in front of her that it was all “fake.”

What must Ruan Yuan be thinking?

Linlin didn’t dare imagine.

“Ruan Yuanjie…”

She began, wanting to explain something.

But before she could finish.

Xiran hugged her tighter again.

“Linlin, you’re not allowed to talk to her.”

Xiran’s voice came from beside her ear.

“You’re mine.”

“You can only talk to me.”

Linlin: “…”

She looked at Xiran.

Then at Ruan Yuan.

Ruan Yuan was still standing there, watching them.

That look made Linlin’s heart ache a little.

She wanted to say something.

But Xiran was holding her too tightly; she couldn’t move.

And what Xiran said wasn’t wrong.

She really had said “I belong to you.”

She really had promised “always, forever and ever.”

But…

What about Ruan Yuan?

Linlin’s mind was a complete mess.

At that moment.

Ruan Yuan moved.

She took a step forward.

Xiran’s gaze instantly turned wary.

“Stop.”

Xiran spoke, her voice turning cold.

“You’re not allowed to come closer.”

Ruan Yuan didn’t stop.

She took another step.

Xiran raised her hand.

The air around them began to twist.

Invisible magic power started surging again.

But Ruan Yuan didn’t stop.

She kept walking forward.

One step.

Two steps.

Three steps.

She reached the slide.

Stood there, looking at the two embracing each other.

Then she spoke.

“Linlin.”

She said.

“You promised me.”

“You said to wait for me to come back.”

Linlin froze.

She really had said that.

When she left the house, she told Ruan Yuan “wait for me to come back.”

It was her own words.

“I’m here.”

Ruan Yuan continued.

“I came to pick you up.”

“You said you would go back with me.”

Linlin opened her mouth.

But the words stuck in her throat.

Because Xiran was looking at her.

That gaze and Ruan Yuan’s gaze were clashing in her mind.

Linlin was caught in the middle.

She didn’t know what to say.

She didn’t know what to do.

She only knew that right now she really, really wanted to crawl into a hole and hide.

Unfortunately there was no hole.

Only two “girlfriends” standing on either side, waiting for her answer.

Linlin took a deep breath.

Then let it out.

Then she spoke.

Her voice tiny.

“Um…”

“Can I… think about it?”

Xiran and Ruan Yuan both looked at her.

One gaze cold, one sour.

Linlin shrank her neck.

“Just… thinking…”

She said softly.

“It won’t take long…”

The air was silent for a few seconds.

Then Xiran spoke.

“Think about what?”

She asked.

“You’re mine. What is there to think about?”

Ruan Yuan also spoke.

“You promised to wait for me to come back. What is there to think about?”

Linlin: “…”

She felt like she might die here—killed by the glares of her two “girlfriends.”