บท 83: Answer

"Eh? What are you saying?" Liling looked confused as I asked her to be my woman.

I wasn't kidding though. I really want her to be my left hand woman, since Guo Ning has already occupied the right-hand side.

[Well, you should've worded it a little better.]

{What's wrong with the way I said it?}

[It sounds like you're proposing to her.]

{Hmm, she isn't that bad looking, you know? And surprisingly, she's just five years older than me. So, I don't see why not? Hehe. Just kidding!}

[Yuri route, huh… It would really piss a certain someone off if you choose that route and not pick her.]

{Who the—nah, it's not like you're gonna say it, anyway. Why am I even trying?}

[Too bad. I was actually gonna tell you.]

{Nah, you weren't. You liar!}

[Whatever. Anyway, are you gonna leave her high and dry like this? I mean, she's having a hard time with controlling her emotions.]

I looked at Liling. Goldy was saying the truth. Her facial expressions shifted between immense shock and extreme shyness. Honestly, I found it cute. But I'm not gonna go out of my way to get into this mess called relationship. I'm quite content with being single.

[Isn't that just because you were single in the previous life and now you don't know how to handle a relationship, right?]

{Hey! Don't blabber out the truth like that! And shut your trap! Weren't you the one who asked me to take a look at the girl? I'm gonna do that now. You better not disturb me!}

I took a deep breath in. "Liling. Why do you look so flustered?" I asked, as if I wasn't aware of the reason already.

"What do you mean, why? It's a lot to take in, you know? I always thought that I was straight. So, to get in a relationship with a girl is a massive decision, you know?" She spoke as her fingers fidgeted.

"Eh? What are you talking about?" I acted dumb to her overly obvious actions.

"Huh?"

"I was asking you to be my left-hand woman. To join my sect and stuff. I'm sorry if it confused you." I bowed down.

Even if I said that, I deliberately worded it so to confuse her. I gotta have my share of fun as well, you know?

[You demon!]

{Shut the hell up, lizard!}

[Hey, I'm a dragon!]

{I know.}

[...]

Seems like I made Goldy angry as well. Ha… I'm just the worst.

Suddenly, Liling spoke up. "Oh, that was it?" She sighed. "I was having a hard time thinking of a way to reject your proposal if you were actually asking my hand in marriage. Good thing that this isn't something like that… It really isn't that, right?" She asked.

"Nope. I just want you to join me in my sect." I replied.

[By the way, she meant that she desperately wanted it to be an actual proposal.]

{Hmm, yes. I know how tsunderes work. By the way, weren't you angry at me?}

[Well, it's not like I can stop conversing completely with a person whom I share a bond with.]

{You're being quite untruthful, you know?}

[... I just can't keep my mouth shut for too long. You know that, right?]

{Right.}

I could sense a smile forming unconsciously on my face. The guy's straightforward with his speech. That's one of the things I like about him.

I thanked the one above for wearing a mask. Else, Liling would've seen it and spun some crazy theory by herself.

"Ha, that's great! REALLY great! You AREN'T gonna propose to me, huh? Great!" Liling mumbled.

"Well, I did propose you to become my left-hand woman." I spoke.

"Hmm. How can I trust you, though? With the mask and stuff, I don't even know who you are." She asked.

This woman! She was totally fine with me when she thought that I asked her out and now, since that isn't the case, she wants me to show my face? Well, it's working exactly the way I wanted it to—except for the misunderstanding part.

"Ah, don't worry. I expected you to say that." I said as I removed my mask. "Greetings. I'm Hua Liu of the Blue Moon Sect." I introduced myself with a smile.

I could see her checking my face out. I had no problem with that since my face is extremely pretty right now. So pretty that people would actually fall in love with me like crazy.

[My goodness! Praise yourself in moderation! You're just straight up sweet talking by yourself.]

{Well, I'm my biggest admirer after all!}

"You! How old are you?" Liling asked.

Her voice was quite stern. I guess she doesn't want to identify herself as a lolicon or pedo.

"I'm fifteen." I replied.

"Can't believe I fell for a—Argh. Anyhow, Blue Moon Sect. Fifteen. Minor sect. Do your parents even know about your powers?" She asked.

"Not really. You're like the fifty-first person who knows about it before them." I replied.

"What? Why would you reveal your secret to people like that?" She asked.

"Oh, they're my sworn brothers now. I swallowed a bandit group and made them my brothers." I replied.

"You! Are you an idiot? Don't you know how dangerous bandits are? And you-" Before she could say something about my brothers, I stopped her.

"They aren't like that. They're not people craving for violence. They did it because of their necessity. And even if they were, I'll punish them appropriately." I replied.

"Hmm, I believe your family isn't as strong as you are, right?" She asked.

"Yea, my brother will be. But he's still small. When he grows up, he's gonna be an amazing guy!" I smiled as I thought about Ao in the future.

However, then I'm reminded of his fate… Ha, I gotta save him from that fate.

"You're an idiot, aren't you? You left your family with those bandits. What are you gonna do if they killed them?" She asked. She sounded really serious for a second.

"Well, I got someone they care for with me all the time. So, they won't dare." I spoke.

"Bandits caring for someone, huh… Let's hope that's the truth." She sighed.

"So, what about my offer?" I asked.

Liling sighed. "Hmm, if I don't accept this offer, you're gonna continue being an idiot like this! So, you don't really give me a choice, right?" I saw a faint smile on her face even though she tried faking the part. It's a success!