Chapter 31: Then Take It Off
Bai Xuzi knew something was fundamentally wrong. He tried to pat Fan Yue’s hand with his little paws, asking in a self-righteous tone, “Why do you want my dried radishes? I never said that!”
Besides, he had been saving those for a long time…
He sniffled, unable to figure it out. He hadn’t agreed to anything, had he? Could it be that he forgot? That can’t be right.
“Is that so?” The other’s voice was perfectly calm, without a hint of unease. He even had the leisure to stroke the little rabbit’s ears, but his pupils had, unnoticed, already turned completely gold.
Bai Xuzi was still thinking hard, having no idea when he could have possibly promised to give away his dried radishes. This was just nonsense, wasn’t it? At the time, he had just gone to the bun shop, and then he was about to eat, but he accidentally caused some trouble. And after that, he was thinking…
The rabbit’s head shot up, and the ears in Fan Yue’s hand flicked away.
“Your Majesty, that… that seems to be my—” Bai Xuzi suddenly faltered, his words becoming jumbled. But after thinking it over and over, there didn’t seem to be any other possibility. “My inner thoughts,” he finally mumbled.
Bai Xuzi’s expression went blank with utter disbelief, his ears drooping. He was still buffering.
Fan Yue poked the chin of the rabbit in his hand, lifting its little head, and waited patiently.
“What are your thoughts?”
No matter how slow he was, he should have…
The rabbit’s head nudged forward again, its claws accidentally leaving a few light scratches on the back of his hand. Fan Yue glanced down but paid them no mind.
“Your Majesty, is your power so boundless that it reaches this level?” His voice was no longer trembling, but it was filled with a deep sense of “reverence.” He hadn’t thought about the Spirit-Word Pact at all.
Fan Yue: “…”
Bai Xuzi was really starting to doubt himself. How could someone be this powerful? If that’s the case, how is the protagonist supposed to win? If you can just casually hear people’s thoughts, you’d be invincible!
Fan Yue frowned slightly. He noticed something was wrong again. The little demon was clearly thinking about something. But once again, he couldn’t hear it.
Had the Heart-Linking Pact failed?
After his moment of reverence, Bai Xuzi fell into another kind of doubt. If he could really hear all his thoughts… hmm… then shouldn’t he have been exposed long ago?
He stealthily raised his eyes and met Fan Yue’s gaze.
Inner monologue: Your Majesty? Can you hear me?
“Mm.”
Fan Yue frowned, not quite understanding, but when he saw the excited little head, he was momentarily speechless. This reaction was completely wrong—
Both ears shot straight up, looking very excited.
Inner monologue: Your Majesty, the buns today were super delicious, right?
The rabbit’s eyes looked at Fan Yue expectantly, desperate for a response. It was as if he was starting to treat “this” as a communication device.
Fan Yue: “…”
His expression grew even stranger. But he still said, expressionlessly, “I didn’t eat them. I wouldn’t know.”
After getting a concrete answer, Bai Xuzi’s ears twitched. He still found it incredibly novel.
“It really works!!”
If this is the case, isn’t it super convenient? You can communicate without speaking, which greatly increases the safety factor! If only he had this ability too—
Wait, hold on.
The rabbit’s face suddenly turned serious, as if it had discovered a problem. This function… it seems to be one-way. The other person can hear him, but he… apparently can’t hear the other person!
Then all that nonsense he was rambling on about in his head before, he couldn’t have heard all of it, could he?
Slowly, ever so slowly, he raised his head.
Fan Yue was looking at him with an unreadable expression.
“Your Majesty, I have dried carrots… I do… they’re all yours.” His voice was weak, not daring to be impudent in the slightest. But it really pained him. He had been saving them for so long.
Back on the street, Bai Xuzi had been wondering what “a man of his word” meant. He never expected this was what was waiting for him. He was suddenly dejected. The rabbit’s head turned to the side and froze.
It really is karma. You can’t just get free buns from people. You have to pay with dried radishes.
Bai Xuzi thought for a moment and felt something was still not right. He grabbed onto Fan Yue’s finger with his paw. He said seriously, “This doesn’t seem fair, Your Majesty. I can’t hear your thoughts at all.”
At that moment, something stirred in Fan Yue’s heart. His eyes grew deeper.
“What do you propose?” he asked with great interest, in no hurry to tell him the fact that he couldn’t hear everything.
Bai Xuzi was a little surprised. Did this mean he could state his demands? He swallowed and said tentatively, “Could I… listen to yours?”
A dead silence fell…
Bai Xuzi instantly regretted it. His heart began to pound, and he was overcome with nervousness. It’s over, it’s over. Was he out of his mind?! How could he dare to make such a request? Does he not want his rabbit life anymore?!
But it wasn’t long before a light reply came. “You can.”
Fan Yue glanced down at the rabbit in his hand, but it seemed to have frozen completely. Its ears weren’t moving, and it didn’t even dare to look in his direction. He had to reach out and poke its little chin to manually wake it up.
The little black mists that were always swirling around also seemed to realize something. They thoughtfully flew behind Bai Xuzi and did their best to prop up his two drooping ears, forcing him to look “spirited.”
Bai Xuzi felt that the turn of events was surreal. But when he looked up, it seemed… the other man really wasn’t lying to him?
“R-Really?” he asked tentatively, his ears flicking as he did, scattering the little black mists.
Fan Yue raised an eyebrow slightly, as if he found this little demon a bit too naive.
“Of course you can.” His tone was still calm.
But hearing this didn’t relax Bai Xuzi much. Instead, a strange feeling surfaced within him, one he couldn’t quite describe, which made him anxious. His rabbit paws couldn’t help but scratch a couple of times. But when he looked down—ah, scratch marks. He looked up, about to explain.
“You did that,” Fan Yue said first, cutting him off again.
Bai Xuzi: “…” He couldn’t even apologize. Why was he like this? He could only stick his rabbit head out and blow on the scratches to make up for his mistake.
“Do you want to listen?” he continued, his voice tempting.
Bai Xuzi didn’t need to look up to know what he was talking about. His expression was complicated, but seeing the scratches on the back of the hand made him feel a little guilty. After much thought, he finally looked up. “Your Majesty.” His tone was quite serious.
Fan Yue looked at him and replied with a leisurely “Mm.”
Bai Xuzi took a deep breath and said sincerely, “Could you please not set traps for me? I can’t see them, and I’ll jump right in.”
“…” Fan Yue was suddenly at a loss for words. How could he be so self-aware? He had suddenly become quite sharp.
“Actually, I don’t have to listen to your thoughts,” Bai Xuzi explained quietly, suddenly feeling that maintaining the status quo wasn’t so bad. He had agreed so easily; from the beginning, he felt something was fishy. When something is out of the ordinary, there must be a catch. The wisdom of the ancestors is never wrong.
The sun was gradually rising, and the room was very bright. A small patch of sunlight landed right on Bai Xuzi. It was so comfortable that he really wanted to stretch his rabbit legs.
Just then— “You don’t want to be tricked, and you want fairness. You have quite a few demands.” The tone was unreadable, but Bai Xuzi had a bad feeling for some reason.
A flash of white light passed before his eyes, and in an instant, the little rabbit on the table was gone. In its place was a young man with white hair and red eyes, his face filled with bewilderment.
Bai Xuzi was sitting directly on the tabletop, right across from Fan Yue, whose hands were placed on either side of the table’s edge, effectively “trapping” him. His silver hair fell around him, and his fingers clutched the hem of his clothes, completely at a loss.
“Your Majesty?” He didn’t quite understand the situation. What were they going to do? Also, why change him into this form? They were still in the Shen Residence…
“Where was the Spirit-Word Pact from last time?” Fan Yue asked, tapping a finger on the tabletop. There was a surprising amount of patience in the gesture.
Although Bai Xuzi found it strange, he answered honestly, “On my arm.” Why was he asking this? Hadn’t he already sworn his loyalty?
Fan Yue glanced at the little demon, truly thinking he was hopelessly foolish. He didn’t say anything, just waved his hand to set up a barrier. The room instantly darkened, becoming like a different world from the outside.
“I’ll ask you again, do you think it’s unfair?” Fan Yue asked once more, deciding to give him a chance.
Bai Xuzi frowned. Of course it was unfair, why did he even need to ask? “Yes,” he answered. The word was short, but you could hear the nervousness in it.
Fan Yue seemed to have expected this answer. The corner of his mouth curved up slightly, and he continued to ask nonchalantly, “I’ll ask you one more time, do you really want to hear—my thoughts?”
His eyes were dark and deep, like a vortex that could pull a person in.
Bai Xuzi lowered his head, suddenly hesitant. He scratched at the tabletop with his finger, was noticed, and had his wrist seized.
“Nails are getting long?” Fan Yue simply took his hand, separated the slender fingers, and inspected them carefully, all while waiting for an answer to his previous question. Very patient.
Bai Xuzi’s mind was a mess. Wasn’t this a simple question? Why was he so conflicted? The other man heard his thoughts, so it was only right that he should hear the other’s thoughts. That was fair, that was just. There was no problem with that!
Bai Xuzi felt he couldn’t back down. He took a deep breath, about to speak—
“Figured it out?” Fan Yue didn’t even lift his eyes, offering a timely reminder before continuing to inspect the other hand. The nails were still neat, but they were a bit longer than when Fu Lin had sent him over.
Bai Xuzi pouted, wanting to pull his wrist back. But his strength was like an ant trying to shake a tree; it had no effect. The other man was still inspecting him slowly and deliberately.
“…” A wave of childishness came over him. Bai Xuzi bit his lip and said sullenly, “I insist on listening.”
Fan Yue’s movements paused. He finally stopped.
“You’ve listened to mine, so I should get to listen to yours. That’s what’s fair,” he continued to explain, his reasoning sound.
Fan Yue released the little demon’s hand and placed his own back on the table, once again forming an “enclosure.”
“The Spirit-Word Pact is on your arm, correct?” He lifted his gaze to look at him, confirming once more.
Bai Xuzi stared at him for a moment, paused, and then said, “Yes.”
The room was very quiet. The little black mists had long since disappeared, leaving a chilly atmosphere.
Fan Yue: “Good. Let me see it.” His tone was very calm, as if he were talking about something trivial.
Bai Xuzi was suddenly confused. “Why do you need to see it? Is it related to hearing thoughts?”
“Is it inconvenient?”
Bai Xuzi was hit right where it hurt and was rendered speechless. It was true, it was inconvenient. It was in an awkward spot, on his back near the shoulder and neck. The last time he tried to look at it, he twisted himself into a pretzel.
“It is a bit inconvenient. I’d have to take my top off to see it…” he had no choice but to explain.
Fan Yue: “Then take it off.” His tone was very objective, without a trace of any other thought, and even carried a hint of seriousness.
Bai Xuzi: “…”
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