Free Web NovelChapter 40: Chapter 40 Conditions
Lie Lang seemed to notice the changing expression on her face, and his eyes narrowed slightly. "Do not think of doing anything strange."
Xue Yao immediately looked innocent. "I wasn’t."
"You were."
"I was thinking peacefully."
"Your face says otherwise."
Xue Yao pressed her lips together, unable to argue because even she knew her face had betrayed her more than once. After a moment, she looked at him suspiciously again. "You said you don’t want this, and I don’t want this either. Then what exactly are we supposed to do now?"
Lie Lang’s expression turned colder at the question. "We pretend."
"Pretend?"
"We let the elders believe I accepted you for now." His voice was flat, but the anger beneath it was still there. "If they are satisfied tonight, they will stop sending people into my chamber for a while."
Xue Yao stared at him. "For a while? That sounds very unsafe."
"It is better than having them interfere every night."
Her lips twitched. The thought of being dragged into this kind of situation more than once made her scalp go numb. "Your elders are really shameless."
Lie Lang did not answer, but from the look in his eyes, Xue Yao felt that he might actually agree with her. For some reason, that made her feel slightly better. At least she was not the only one suffering from unreasonable old people.
He turned away from her, his silver-white hair falling over one shoulder as he spoke again. "My heart belongs to Ruo Shuo. Remember that. Do not misunderstand anything that happens tonight."
Xue Yao almost rolled her eyes so hard they could have fallen out. ’Who wants your heart? Keep it. Lock it up. Bury it under a mountain. Why is he telling me as if I came here to steal it?’
Still, when she heard the name Ruo Shuo, a small light flashed in her mind. So the grumpy wolf had someone he liked. No wonder he looked like someone had forced him to swallow bitter herbs whenever the word breeder came up.
A mischievous smile slowly appeared on her face. If he did not want this, and she did not want this, then that meant they had a small common goal. Since they were both trapped, why should she not take advantage of the situation a little?
Xue Yao straightened her back and cleared her throat. "Fine. Since we are both victims of your unreasonable elders, we can work together. But if you want me to cooperate, I have conditions."
Lie Lang turned his head slowly, his golden eyes landing on her face with a dangerous calm. "You have conditions?"
"Yes." Xue Yao nodded seriously, pretending not to notice the pressure in his gaze. "First, I refuse to be treated as a breeder. Give me a status higher than that. I don’t care what you call it, guest, cook, temporary helper, unlucky human, anything is better than breeder."
She raised a second finger before he could speak. "Second, return Honghong to me. She is my bonded beast, and if even one feather is missing from her body, I will hold your whole clan responsible."
Then she raised a third finger, her eyes brightening with hope she could not hide. "Third, when the time is right, you must let me go. And bonus request, don’t make me do anything, what I want is to sleep and eat."
The room fell quiet after she finished speaking. Lie Lang’s gaze stayed on her for a long while, and Xue Yao’s confidence nearly cracked under the weight of it. Just as she began wondering whether she had asked for too much, a cold glint flickered through his eyes.
"Fine," he said.
Xue Yao blinked. She had prepared herself for rejection, threats, or at least a long argument, but he had agreed so quickly that she almost suspected a trap. "Really?"
Lie Lang’s expression did not change. "But I have terms too."
Lie Lang’s gaze remained fixed on her, his golden eyes as cold and sharp as ever. "My conditions are simple," he said in a calm voice that somehow sounded even more threatening than when he was angry.
"You will not leave this fortress without my permission. You will not approach Ruo Shuo or offend her in any way. You will not interfere with my affairs, and you will obey my orders whenever they concern the safety of this clan."
Xue Yao nodded absentmindedly, though not a single word truly entered her ears. The moment she heard him agree to let her leave one day, the rest of his conditions had become nothing more than background noise.
’He agreed... that means I don’t have to spend the rest of my life in this strange place! Once I get Honghong back, I’ll secretly earn more beast cores, become stronger, and when the opportunity comes... I’ll run!’ In her mind, she was already standing triumphantly outside the Beast Realm, waving goodbye to every wolf behind her. ’Freedom... beautiful freedom... Mama, I’m coming home!’
Lie Lang frowned as he watched the strange smile slowly spread across her face. It was obvious that the human had wandered into her own little world again.
"...Did you hear what I said?" he asked coldly.
Xue Yao blinked before hurriedly nodding. "I heard everything."
Lie Lang’s eyes narrowed. "What did I say?"
The smile on Xue Yao’s face froze, and her eyes wandered toward the ceiling as her mind desperately searched for something...anything...that sounded close to his previous words.
"You..." she began cautiously. "...said something very important."
Lie Lang stared at her without expression. "...Continue."
Xue Yao coughed awkwardly. "I was listening with my heart."
Lie Lang closed his eyes for a brief moment before opening them again, his voice becoming noticeably colder. He retold the rules again before saying, "and I don’t trust you."
That sentence immediately wiped the remaining smile from Xue Yao’s face. Lie Lang slowly walked toward her, stopping only when less than two steps separated them. The pressure radiating from his body silently filled the room once more.
