Chapter 72: Put Her Down, Linlin Will Be Stolen Away Again

“Jiang Niaoniao, why is she going berserk too!” 

Linlin’s voice echoed through the space that was on the verge of collapsing. 

But no one answered her. 

Because Xiran was leaning against her shoulder, her breathing growing heavier and heavier. 

Because Ruan Yuan stood beside them, staring at the cracks that kept widening. 

Linlin’s mind was a chaotic mess. 

But why? 

What exactly is Xiran’s obsession with me?

The line on the task panel kept flashing: [Resolve Her Obsession with Linlin: Incomplete]. 

She had already said “I am yours.” 

She had already said “We’ll be together forever.” 

Why hadn’t it completed yet? 

Suddenly Linlin remembered the words Ruan Yuan had said earlier. 

[Envious Witch Avatar]. 

Envy. 

What is Xiran envious of?

The moment the thought surfaced, a passage from the diary flashed through her mind. 

“Today someone came to the house. They didn’t seem like bad people. Mom smiled so happily, like they were her friends. That auntie was really beautiful.” 

“But all my attention was on the little girl beside her. She was so cute, with pink hair and big eyes, always hiding behind the auntie and peeking at me.” 

“Mom told me to call her Linlin.” 

“I called her softly, and she smiled at me.” 

“That smile made me feel so warm.” 

“I sat nearby listening to the adults talk. The girl’s name was Bai Linlin, and she was that auntie’s daughter.” 

“A little envious…” 

Linlin stared at the memory, stunned for a few seconds. 

“Envy?” 

she murmured. 

“Could it be that she wants to be Mom’s daughter?” 

But what did that have to do with her obsession with me? 

This was bad. 

Linlin’s brain was about to overload. 

Her CPU was about to crash. 

She felt like an old computer with too little memory—too many windows open, now lagging, freezing, and starting to smoke. 

At that moment Ruan Yuan spoke. 

“Maybe what Xiran is envious of is your family.” 

Her voice remained steady, a sharp contrast to the collapsing space. 

“After all, her original family wasn’t good.” 

Linlin looked up at Ruan Yuan. 

Those white eyes held no emotion, only calm analysis. 

Linlin paused. 

Then the broken thread in her mind suddenly reconnected. 

“That makes sense,” 

she replied. 

What was Xiran’s original family like? 

The diary had described it clearly. 

Her grandma had called her a “money-loser.” 

Her dad had beaten her. 

Her grandpa had looked at Linlin with strange eyes. 

Her mom had died from domestic violence. 

That home held no warmth, no love—only violence, exploitation, and despair. 

And Linlin’s family? 

Mom would hug her, kiss her, and call her “Mom’s precious baby.” 

Dad was a bit weird—he shipped yuri—but he still cared about her. 

Their home had warmth, love, and a normal mother-daughter relationship. 

When Xiran first saw Linlin, what had she seen? 

A little girl brought by her mother, protected and loved. 

What Xiran envied might not have been just Linlin herself. 

What she envied was the “home” Linlin possessed. 

Linlin understood this, yet new questions immediately arose. 

“But how do we give Xiran a good family now?” 

She looked at the small Xiran leaning against her. 

This tiny black figure had her eyes closed, brows furrowed, as if enduring some kind of pain. 

Give her a home? How? 

Ruan Yuan recalled the ability panel of the [Jealous Witch Avatar]. 

[Jealous Authority]  

World-Destroying Shadow: Can control yin-attribute black shadows, devouring all matter, life, air, and even eroding consciousness, memory, and soul. 

She stared at the words for a few seconds. 

Then she said, 

“Perhaps we can rely on her.” 

“Who?” 

Linlin looked up at her. 

From this angle she could only see Ruan Yuan’s chin. 

After all, she was only about 1.4 meters tall right now. Standing in front of Ruan Yuan, her head barely reached below her chest. 

“Jiang Niaoniao,” 

Ruan Yuan answered. 

“But the key is still you, Linlin.” 

“Me?” 

Linlin froze. 

“What can I do in this useless tiny form?” 

She looked down at herself—small hands, small legs, pink dress. 

A shrunken version of Bai Linlin. 

Still nothing but cute. 

She looked back up, waiting for Ruan Yuan’s explanation. 

But before Ruan Yuan could speak— 

Rumble— 

The entire space began to shake violently. 

The cracks grew larger and denser. 

The golden sunset sky shattered like glass, pieces falling one by one. 

The slide trembled, the ground trembled, even the air trembled. 

Ruan Yuan looked up at the cracks. 

“It looks like Xiran can’t hold on much longer.” 

The moment her words fell— 

Crack— 

A sharp sound rang out. 

A massive fissure split from the top straight down to the bottom. 

Then— 

Crash— 

The whole space shattered. 

First came specks of light from outside, blinding white. 

Then the gale. 

Then the sensation of weightlessness. 

Linlin felt herself falling. 

But the next second a pair of strong arms caught her. 

Ruan Yuan. 

She held Linlin with one arm and Xiran with the other. 

The three of them huddled together, suddenly exposed in the sky thousands of meters high. 

The gale. 

A tremendous wind. 

Linlin’s hair whipped wildly, her skirt fluttering up and revealing the white panties underneath. 

But she had no time to feel embarrassed. 

Because when she looked down— 

Below lay a sea of bright red spider lilies. 

Countless enormous flowers blanketed the entire ruins. 

The blooms swayed in the wind like living things breathing. 

At the center of the flower sea stood two gigantic entities. 

One was the [Envious Witch Avatar · Xiran]. 

Several thousand meters tall and nearly ten thousand meters wide. 

Its upper body was a blurry human silhouette with arms spread wide. 

Its lower body was a massive skirt hem made of countless black and red tentacles. 

Those tentacles writhed and squirmed in the night sky like living creatures. 

But right now the tentacles were shrinking. 

Withering. 

Being sucked away by something. 

The other was the [Jealous Witch Avatar · Jiang Niaoniao]. 

It had already reached a thousand meters tall. 

A gigantic human skeleton with pale white bones and dark red light flowing through the joints. 

The skeleton wore a black evening gown that dragged across the ruins like flowing night. 

In the darkness above its head grew dense bright red spider lilies. 

There were more flowers than before, and larger. 

They surged out from the darkness on her head, spreading in every direction. 

Draping down onto the ruins. 

The entire ruins lay beneath her flower sea. 

And the most terrifying sight was the shadow tendrils. 

Countless dark red, semi-transparent tendrils wrapped around Xiran’s tentacles like living things. 

Tightening. 

Enveloping. 

Absorbing. 

They were pulling Xiran’s magic power into themselves bit by bit. 

Ruan Yuan carried Linlin and Xiran, leaping across the body of the [Envious Witch Avatar]. 

The massive tentacles became her stepping stones. 

She stepped on one, leaped, landed on another, and leaped again. 

Her speed was astonishing. 

The strong wind blew Linlin’s hair so hard she could barely keep her eyes open. 

She could only squint, watching Ruan Yuan’s direction. 

Ruan Yuan stared intently at the distant [Jealous Witch Avatar]. 

Her gaze was focused. 

Tense. 

Time to gamble. 

She adjusted course and charged straight toward Jiang Niaoniao. 

Ruan Yuan shielded Xiran and Linlin in her arms, using her body to block the oncoming gale and flying debris. 

Closer. 

Closer. 

Just as they neared the human skeleton— 

The shadow tendrils moved. 

They had detected the intruders within range. 

Countless dark red tendrils surged from every direction. 

Like awakened snakes opening invisible mouths, they lunged at them. 

“Ruan Yuan, what are you doing!” 

Linlin’s voice trembled in the wind. 

“Aren’t we just rushing to our deaths like this!” 

Ruan Yuan said nothing. 

She simply stared fixedly at the shadow tendrils, calculating distance, speed, and timing. 

If she misjudged, all three of them would die here. 

But she still had a trump card. 

At the very least she could protect Linlin. 

The shadow tendrils drew nearer. 

One hundred meters. 

Fifty meters. 

Ten meters. 

One meter— 

Linlin closed her eyes. 

Then the shadow tendrils stopped a single millimeter away from touching her. 

Linlin felt something light and soft brush her face. 

She opened her eyes. 

A dark red, semi-transparent tendril hovered right in front of her, only a millimeter from the tip of her nose. 

Its tip trembled slightly, as if sniffing something, confirming something. 

Then it gently poked Linlin. 

Not an attack. 

A touch. 

Like a greeting. 

Linlin was stunned. 

The tendril poked her again. 

Then more shadow tendrils gathered around her. 

They wrapped her gently, like cotton cradling her. 

Not squeezing—supporting. 

Ruan Yuan watched the scene, her tense body slowly relaxing. 

She had guessed correctly. 

The shadow tendrils held no hostility toward Linlin. 

Because their owner was Jiang Niaoniao. 

And Jiang Niaoniao’s obsession was “to obtain Linlin.” 

Not “to kill Linlin.” 

So Linlin was safe. 

Ruan Yuan released her and handed Linlin to the shadow tendrils. 

“Eh!” 

Linlin cried out in surprise. 

“Ruan Yuan, help!” 

She felt her body being lifted by the tendrils, slowly rising. 

Leaving Ruan Yuan’s arms. 

Leaving Xiran’s side. 

Floating toward the gigantic [Jealous Witch Avatar]. 

“Help—!” 

Linlin’s voice scattered on the wind. 

But Ruan Yuan did not move. 

She simply stood there, watching Linlin being carried away by the tendrils. 

Because she knew this was the only way. 

Linlin rose higher and higher, supported by the shadow tendrils. 

She passed through the enormous spider lilies. 

She passed through the evening gown of the human skeleton. 

Finally she was brought before the gigantic entity. 

Linlin kept her eyes shut, too afraid to look. 

But after a long wait, nothing happened. 

No pain. 

No suffocation. 

No feeling of being devoured. 

She secretly cracked one eye open. 

Before her stood the human skeleton. 

Pale bones gleamed eerily under the sunlight. 

The shadow tendrils gently and steadily placed Linlin onto the skeleton. 

Then something miraculous occurred. 

The gigantic [Jealous Witch Avatar] began to shrink. 

Not collapsing—contracting. 

The massive skeleton slowly grew smaller, as if its support had been pulled away. 

The shadow tendrils withdrew like a receding tide. 

In mere dozens of seconds the thousand-meter-tall entity vanished. 

In its place appeared a small figure. 

It floated down slowly from several hundred meters up, gently supported by the final shadow tendrils. 

It landed on a huge spider lily petal. 

Linlin opened her eyes. 

She found herself being held by someone. 

In a princess carry. 

The person looked down at her. 

Long white hair. 

A gentle smile. 

Sparkling eyes. 

It was Jiang Niaoniao. 

“Niaoniao?” 

Linlin’s voice was small and uncertain. 

Jiang Niaoniao did not answer. 

She simply hugged Linlin a little tighter. 

Her face leaned closer and nuzzled Linlin’s small cheek. 

“Linlin!” 

Her voice overflowed with joy she could not hide. 

“I’ve finally stolen you back, my Linlin.” 

Linlin was stunned. 

Stolen back? 

What did she mean? 

Then she realized her current state—being princess-carried, face nuzzled, called “my Linlin.” 

“Um, Niaoniao…” 

Linlin began. 

“Can you put me down first?” 

Jiang Niaoniao answered instantly. 

“No.” 

She said. 

“If I put you down, you’ll be stolen away by others again.” 

Linlin: “…” 

“Linlin, I don’t want you to be stolen away by anyone else anymore.” 

Jiang Niaoniao continued, her voice light yet utterly serious. 

“Linlin, I like you.” 

“I want to stay by your side for the rest of my life.” 

Linlin was stunned. 

Like? 

“Although saying this might sound a bit strange…” 

Jiang Niaoniao paused. 

“After all, we’re both girls.” 

“But I’ve already prepared myself to be Linlin’s wife.” 

Linlin’s eyes widened. 

W-wife? 

“Linlin, are you willing?” 

Jiang Niaoniao looked at her. 

Those sparkling eyes were filled with anticipation. 

“Linlin…” 

Ah—! 

Linlin’s brain completely exploded. 

What was going on? 

How had Niaoniao just confessed to her? 

What wife? 

How was she supposed to answer? 

She had already promised Xiran! 

She had already promised Ruan Yuan! 

And now another Niaoniao! 

She felt like a tiny cake being fought over by three kids. 

Xiran on the left saying “Mine.” 

Ruan Yuan on the right saying “Mine.” 

Now Jiang Niaoniao also saying “Mine.” 

Whose was she? 

Her own! 

But saying that out loud sounded kind of scummy? 

While Linlin struggled to find the right words, a semi-transparent blue panel popped up in front of her. 

It was the friend chat. 

A message from Ruan Yuan. 

[Agree to her, Linlin.] 

Linlin stared at the line, stunned. 

What? Agree to her? 

[The final condition to complete the task is on her.] 

Ruan Yuan added another line. 

Linlin took a deep breath. 

Exhaled. 

Took another deep breath. 

Then she looked up at Jiang Niaoniao. 

Those sparkling eyes were still fixed on her, full of anticipation, full of liking, full of the light that said “Linlin is mine.” 

Linlin hesitated for a moment. 

Then she spoke, voice small and a little shy. 

“Mm, I’m willing.” 

Jiang Niaoniao froze. 

Her eyes instantly grew even brighter, like lit-up bulbs. 

“Really?!” 

Her voice rose an octave. 

“Linlin, you really mean it?!” 

Linlin nodded, face slightly red. 

“Mm… mm.” 

Jiang Niaoniao hugged her even tighter. 

She buried her face in Linlin’s small shoulder and nuzzled back and forth. 

“Linlin—!” 

Her voice was muffled against Linlin’s shoulder, but the joy overflowing from it could not be hidden.