Chapter Ninety-Four: Adults Never Make Choices

Only Chang Luo remained calm. Hei Wa and Xiao Qing were both stunned.

Wasn’t there supposed to be a kindhearted big sister?

We don’t believe it.

She must have some unspeakable hardship...

Say it out loud.

Was she being threatened by a child?

But the fact remained: the kindhearted big sister was the one who had kidnapped them.

“I’ll stay.”

Xiao Qing shook her head at White Lotus again and again, but her answer was resolute.

“No.”

Chang Luo and Hei Wa refused Xiao Qing’s suggestion at the same time.

“No, all three of us leave together. Or we die here. We are not abandoning anyone.”

Chang Luo let out a cold laugh, and his whole bearing suddenly rose again. It was as if he were telling everyone present: I may be trash, but if I sell out my teammates, I’m worse than a beast.

“Chang, I’m so touched. You’re a real man. For your sake, I’m willing to stay.”

Hei Wa: (ˇˇ)

“Or we could leave Hei Wa behind as a hostage?”

Chang Luo asked Xiao Qing cautiously.

Hei Wa: (_ )ヾ

Chang Luo knew this dim-witted little snake demon. Stupid as she was, if he openly sold out his teammates, she might very well punch him into the next world.

“Fine.”

Xiao Qing nodded with certainty.

...

“Couples are such a scam...”

Hei Wa: ⊙▃⊙

“Then let’s leave this little snake-demon girl instead.”

White Lotus seemed not to approve of Chang Luo’s decision. With evident interest, she walked up to Xiao Qing, who was tied up, and studied her carefully.

“You’re a walking cash machine now. So many demons out there are coveting your savings. Staying with me is the safest option.”

White Lotus gently smoothed Xiao Qing’s somewhat disheveled hair.

When they first met Xiao Qing, it had been because a pack of demons was hunting her, and Wang Fatty had also hinted that Xiao Qing’s identity was anything but simple. In the end, he had even risked his life to protect her.

Besides, that drunkard, that foul-mouthed old grotesque, had said before that Xiao Qing was a genuine spirit being...

So Chang Luo knew very well that Xiao Qing’s background was anything but ordinary.

But...

“No, absolutely not.”

Chang Luo also firmly rejected White Lotus’s proposal.

Because...

I’m a weakling, damn it. Right now Xiao Qing is the strongest fighter on our side...

She still has to protect me, Chang Luo...

Chang Luo could not help but sigh, feeling he had let Wang Fatty down.

He had originally entrusted Xiao Qing to his care.

And now the one who was supposed to be protected had become the bodyguard.

Would Wang Fatty come back from the dead in fury?

“Spare me your nonsense, you narrow-minded woman, all you see are women...”

...

“You saw it yourself: even that foreign black guy can’t get his idioms straight. I still have to teach him idioms all the way there. I’m exhausted.”

Chang Luo rubbed his head and said miserably.

“Fine then, let them both be hostages. That way you won’t have to suffer over the choice, and besides, only one person can take part in the trial.”

White Lotus smiled and helpfully offered him a solution.

So this is what being an adult means: adults never choose.

Chang Luo understood that Xiao Qing and Hei Wa were basically both done for here.

He wasn’t taking either of them away today.

Because...

While White Lotus was speaking, Lin Dan-Dan had already resumed controlling the ropes. Dragged along by them, Hei Wa and Xiao Qing were actually being stuffed into the schoolbag he carried on his back...

Still, with White Lotus holding them, Xiao Qing and Hei Wa might be safer than they would be with him.

What else could he do if he didn’t think that way?

Anyway, I can’t beat them.

Am I not even allowed to think about it?

“Don’t worry. Once you finish the trial, I’ll let them go. It’ll be fine.”

White Lotus spoke to Chang Luo very gently.

She looked exactly like an older sister comforting a younger brother...

Don’t be scared, okay? Once the kidnapping’s over, I’ll buy you some candy. Be good.

“Is the trial safe? I mean, will I come out missing arms or legs?”

Chang Luo was practical by nature, so the first thing he thought about was his own safety.

“What are you talking about? How could I possibly let you lose an arm or a leg? How could I bear to see such a cruel thing happen?”

“Since I’m your backer, all you need to do is enjoy the cheat codes, then crush the monsters, show off, and come back victorious.”

White Lotus shook her head repeatedly and spoke to Chang Luo in a soft voice.

Only then did the stone in Chang Luo’s heart fall away. Thinking it over carefully, this deal didn’t seem like a loss...

Low risk, high return?

“Rest assured, you won’t lose any arms or legs. Even if you fail the trial, you’ll only be reduced to ashes...”

“At worst... if your mission fails, I’ll kill your two friends. Don’t worry, it’s very safe...”

...

Safe, my ass. Could you make a threat sound any more casual?

Chang Luo was completely gone. He had turned utterly to stone.

“All right, Boss, let’s get to the real business. Stop scaring him.”

Beside them, Lin Dan-Dan pushed up his glasses. On that youthful face, he put on an air of solemn maturity.

It didn’t fit him at all. Not at all.

He had meant to pat Chang Luo on the shoulder, to comfort him a little and say, Don’t be afraid, calm down...

But...

With the difference in their heights...

All he could do was pat Chang Luo on the backside.

“What the Boss says is true, but...”

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

Lin Dan-Dan noticed that Chang Luo was staring at him strangely, as if he were some kind of pervert...

He patted Chang Luo on the backside again, telling him to calm down.

His actions seemed to say: I’m not a pervert. Relax. Listen to me finish.

“Stop touching me, damn it...”

Chang Luo snapped.

“Ahem. That’s not the point. The point is, the reason the Boss recommended that you take part in this tavern trial was not to have you complete it...”

“Your task is far more important than the trial itself...”

Lin Dan-Dan quickly smoothed over the awkwardness with a startling shift in tone, then looked at Chang Luo with grave seriousness.

“Because the trial is too easy for me?”

“And there’s a more important mission for me than the trial?”

“I knew it. I’m a one-in-ten-thousand great demon...”

“I’m about to do something big?”

“Damn it, am I finally going to cheat?”

At Lin Dan-Dan’s words, Chang Luo grew excited. Was this overlooked little demon finally about to rise?

Smack!!!

White Lotus slapped him so hard that Chang Luo was stunned on the spot.

“Wake up. What’s wrong with you?” White Lotus frowned and, with great concern, touched the side of his face that she had just hit. Her movements were very gentle...

So gentle that Chang Luo began to hallucinate...

Damn it, did I just slap myself?

This gentle, water-soft big sister would never suddenly hit someone...

“Lin Dan-Dan, this is all your fault. Couldn’t you have said it more clearly?”

White Lotus glared at Lin Dan-Dan.

Lin Dan-Dan looked back at the boss...

Clearly, you were the one who took such a huge detour, all right?

Look at how you scared the poor guy.

He’s gone half-mad...

“Mm... fine. You’re not going to complete the trial anyway. Your task is to find this thing.”

Naturally, Lin Dan-Dan would not dare disobey his superior. He pushed up his glasses and took an object from his bag.