The NPC paused, looking at Yao Mingyue, who was smiling at the moment.
She was stunningly beautiful, but her smile felt like that of a hunter ready for the hunt.
She also took out a bottle of eye drops to relieve eye fatigue from her bag, dropped some into her eyes, then rubbed her eyes vigorously until they turned red.
The NPC watched, dumbfounded.
Xu Musen had also gradually adjusted to the darkness and began searching for Yao Mingyue in the haunted house.
Suddenly, a scream echoed, and Xu Musen turned his head.
He saw that in a corner, a green-faced NPC was shrieking, and the person cornered by it...
"Musen, I'm so scared, where are you..."
The girl hugged her legs, squatting in the corner, trembling all over, looking pitiful.
"Musen, don't leave me behind, I'll be good, please come back..."
Yao Mingyue's trembling voice made one's heart sour.
The scene was like many years ago, when Yao Mingyue crouched helplessly alone in the hospital corridor.
Xu Musen's heart skipped a beat, and he immediately ran over, pulling away the still eagerly shrieking NPC and squatted in front of Yao Mingyue.
Xu Musen hadn't expected her to be so frightened of ghosts and stretched out his hand to stroke her head, only to be subconsciously blocked by her.
Xu Musen said softly.
Yao Mingyue's body trembled lightly, then she finally lifted her head, her phoenix eyes reddened and moist, looking like a ravaged beauty.
It made one's heart irresistibly surge with tenderness.
"Musen... I thought you didn't want me anymore..."
Yao Mingyue's voice was full of grievances, her eyes brimming with tears, biting her lip, yet she didn't throw herself into Xu Musen's arms.
Instead, she stubbornly moved closer to the corner, as if still hurt that he had left her outside.
Seeing her like that, Xu Musen also felt a twinge of guilt, mainly because Yao Mingyue looked so pitiable, just like that night six years ago.
The more Yao Mingyue pushed back, the guiltier Xu Musen felt, reminiscent of the years he hadn't provided her with proper psychological guidance.
For the first time since his rebirth, Xu Musen took the initiative to embrace her.
"You don't have to worry about me..."
Yao Mingyue resisted at first but then compliantly let Xu Musen hold her in his arms.
"Sorry, it was an emergency just now, I didn't mean it."
Xu Musen hugged her tightly, the more she resisted, the more uneasy he felt, and the more he wanted to hold her close.
Only, he couldn't see that Yao Mingyue, seemingly "tear-stained," wasn't scared at all. Instead, there was only a triumphant satisfaction and the enjoyment of their embrace in her eyes.
The NPC beside them watched dumbfounded.
Even a boy who had been slapped also noticed all the subtle maneuvers Yao Mingyue had just performed.
Such scheming, the boy couldn't help but inwardly scorn himself; his own strategies paled in comparison!
The real hunter often appears in the guise of the prey!
At that moment, Yao Mingyue shrank into his embrace, sniffling and saying grievously, "Musen, can you not leave me alone anymore?"
"Yes, I won't leave you behind until we get out of the haunted house."
Xu Musen gently patted her back, consoling her as he had when they were children.
But this clearly wasn't the answer Yao Mingyue wanted as her voice began to whine.
"Even after we leave the haunted house, you can't leave me alone, Xu Musen. You promised to always protect me, to always be with me..."
These words somewhat exceeded the bounds of childhood friends.
Yet, hearing her sob, Xu Musen could only indulge her.
"Alright, alright, I promise you, happy now?"
Yao Mingyue nestled in his embrace, unwilling to leave; her nose twitched as she greedily inhaled his scent. Her phone's screen was lit inside the bag, recording his words~
Xu Musen saw her emotions stabilizing.
Yao Mingyue, a bit reluctant to leave his embrace, nonetheless instinctively held onto his arm while her cool, soft hands slowly interlaced through Xu Musen's fingers.
Slowly locking fingers with his.
Xu Musen turned to look at her.
"You said it, you won't abandon me..."
Yao Mingyue pursed her lips slightly, her eyes still red and glossy, looking pitiful, making it difficult for him to refuse her.
Xu Musen couldn't say much in return, and let it be, holding hands was just... childhood friends... sibling care.
It wouldn't count as giving in...
Xu Musen started walking out of the haunted house, holding her hand.
He didn't see the smug curve of Yao Mingyue's lips, her phoenix eyes harboring cunning and slyness.
She seemed... to have found a new strategy.
Yao Mingyue silently grasped their intertwined hands tighter, feeling the warmth from his palm.
And Xu Musen's familiar looks of concern and self-reproach were things that Yao Mingyue would find hard to forget for the rest of her life.
Indeed, I can't let you go after all...