Lin Du’s head felt a bit dizzy.
Although dying in the world inside the wristband didn’t mean he would die in the real world, every failure still dealt considerable damage to his spirit, and these damages kept accumulating. One day, he wouldn’t be able to hold on anymore.
He had to find a way to break this deadlock.
But he couldn’t transform in that world. The wristband could only bring him inside; it couldn’t bring the Blazing Knight’s armor along with him.
Bare-handed, using a mortal body to fight a dragon, was simply wishful thinking.
That wasn’t a battle. It was a one-sided slaughter.
He had originally planned to take the day off today. When he woke up in the morning, he felt his whole body lacking strength and thought about sending a message saying, “I have a fever. Can’t go.”
But Bai Li was already up. She walked to his door in her slippers, pattering along, and kept knocking.
While knocking, she kept saying, “Anyone who still won’t get up is a lazy dog.”
Arriving at school, he thought sitting in his seat and resting all morning would make things better. But by the afternoon, not only did things not improve, they only got worse.
When he just got up, he only felt tired, like he hadn’t slept enough.
At noon, he rested his head on the desk for a while. When he woke up, he found the teacher’s writing on the blackboard had turned into a blurry mess.
He squinted for a good while before realizing it wasn’t the teacher’s writing that was blurry—it was his own eyes that couldn’t see clearly.
Chi Yu’s words about “might die” weren’t meant to scare him. It was real.
It wasn’t the dragon killing him. It was him slowly draining himself to death.
After school, Lin Du leaned against the hallway wall and closed his eyes for a while.
Students came and went in the corridor. Someone ran past him, stirring up gusts of wind.
He couldn’t give up. Once he chose this path, he had to keep walking it.
“You’re no longer a knight. There’s no need to do those things anymore.”
Lin Du murmured, his voice very soft, as if saying it to himself.
He was just an ordinary high school student now. Living in his home was a fox girl with silver-white hair.
Every morning, she would lie in bed and only get up after being called several times.
When she drank milk, she would lick her lips, leaving a little milk stain behind.
When she ate steamed buns, she would eat the meat filling first and slowly chew the remaining dough at the end.
Wasn’t a life like this good?
It was pretty good, he had to admit.
From now on, all he needed to do was obediently be a good student, work part-time while attending university after high school, and then find a job after graduating.
Strange people, the Bureau of Anomalies—none of that had anything to do with him anymore.
But… how much longer could his time with Bai Li last?
She was a strange person. Strange people would eventually go back.
They had their own organization, their own missions, their own world.
What did he have to keep Bai Li here?
The money he spent buying her clothes? Or the warmed milk and the meals he made?
He couldn’t offer anything of substance.
Himself? Without power, he couldn’t even protect himself. How could he protect anyone else?
Lin Du’s thoughts might have been a little selfish.
“Citizens,” “protecting the city”—his disgust toward those high-sounding words was justified.
The reason he wanted his power back wasn’t really about “protecting those citizens” or “protecting the city.”
Those words were only there to make his actions seem righteous.
The real reason—the one he didn’t dare admit—was simply that he didn’t want Bai Li to leave.
He wanted power only so that when disaster came, he could hold her hand and tell her, “It’s okay.”
He wanted to stand shoulder to shoulder with her, not hide in the shadows trembling.
Lin Du inserted the key into the lock with trembling hands. His fingers lacked strength, and he had to twist twice before it turned.
Bai Li had rushed off right after school, saying she was going to the cat cafe to discuss the script with Xiao Yu. She should be back by now.
The door was pushed open a crack. The living room light was on, warm yellow glow spilling through the gap and falling onto the concrete floor of the hallway.
It looked like she was already home.
Lin Du let out a breath of relief and pushed the door open.
The old door hinges let out a creak. His gaze turned to the room, and his eyes flew wide.
Standing in front of the full-length mirror in the living room was a girl.
A black maid outfit, cinched at the waist, with white lace trim on the collar and cuffs.
A white butterfly knot was tied at the back of her waist, its tails draping down to the hem of the skirt.
White fabric spread outward from below her collarbone, revealing rounded shoulders and a delicate collarbone line that gleamed almost blindingly under the light.
The skirt hem stopped above her knees, swaying gently with her movements.
On her feet were black leather shoes, each adorned with a small flower. The soles were thin, making almost no sound when she stepped on the floor.
On her head, the girl wore a black headband. Fluffy fox ears peeked out from her hair behind the headband, twitching slightly.
The fine fur at the tips of her ears caught the light with a white sheen. Her long silver-white hair cascaded over her shoulders, smooth and silky.
Bai Li was facing the mirror, tilting her head slightly, adjusting the headband with her fingers.
She seemed to sense the gaze behind her. Her fox ears twitched, and she slowly turned around.
“Welcome back…”
She paused, a blush spreading across her cheeks.
Bai Li’s gaze shifted away from Lin Du’s face. Her lips moved, as if making a very difficult decision. Finally, she gritted her teeth and spoke.
“Mas… Master…”
Her voice was soft, like a mosquito whispering by his ear.
“Pfft—!!”
Lin Du’s nose went hot. Before he could react, a warm liquid surged from his nostrils and trickled down past his philtrum.
He hurriedly covered his nose with his hand, his fingers instantly coated in sticky blood.
His knees went weak, as if his bones had been pulled out, and his whole body gave way.
“So this is it… I really don’t have much time left…”
Lin Du muttered to himself.
His body tilted forward uncontrollably, toppling toward Bai Li.
The ceiling spun in his vision. The glow of the ceiling lamp rippled outward like spreading rings on water.
“Hey hey—!”
Bai Li shouted, quickly reaching out both hands to catch his waist and hold him up.
But the forward momentum was far greater than she’d expected. The two of them staggered back two steps together.
Lin Du’s face brushed past her shoulder, and she finally managed to steady him.
“Hey!”
Bai Li was dragged back half a step, and her heel accidentally stepped on the tip of her own tail. The pain made her suck in a sharp breath.
Her arms passed under his armpits, crossed over his back, holding him against her.
“Ugh, you’re kinda heavy!”
Bai Li’s voice sounded from above his head, carrying a slight breathlessness.
Lin Du closed his eyes. He only felt his dizziness worsening.
The scent of shampoo, along with a faint sweetness unique to her, both drifted into his nose, mingling with the smell of blood—unable to tell if it was sweet or coppery.
Oh no, his nosebleed seemed to be flowing even harder.
Lin Du closed his eyes. He felt like he might actually die this time.
Not dying heroically in battle against a dragon, but scared unconscious by a fox girl wearing a maid outfit.
Did this seductive vixen have no idea how lethal she was?
Maybe this was what they meant by “dying under the pomegranate skirt.” But was this death really too embarrassing?
So embarrassing he wouldn’t even know how to write his last words.
He felt like he was ascending, his body growing lighter, as if something was lifting him up, floating him toward the ceiling.
The ceiling lamp’s light grew brighter and closer, like an open gate to heaven.
“Hey, don’t pass out!”
Bai Li’s hand patted his face, and the heavenly gate slammed shut.
“What am I supposed to do if you faint? I can’t carry you alone!”
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You broke him