Chapter 23: A Perilous Journey and a Peculiar Predicament

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

Outside the city, a light gray bus sped rapidly along the highway.

Along the asphalt road, car after car was effortlessly left behind.

As for why the bus was traveling so fast today?

The driver, an uncle, stated that dog food was simply too unpalatable, and he needed to reach their destination quickly.

“Today, Nanyun City is sunny. Lijiang will experience light rain tonight, and the journey will take approximately three hours. Passengers, please prepare for rain!

To prevent boredom during the trip, this bus will now begin playing the movie, ‘War of the Demonic Dragon’!”

As the bus sped along the road, its built-in screen slowly came to life. After a brief, warm announcement, it began playing a movie to alleviate the passengers’ boredom.

‘War of the Demonic Dragon’ was called a movie.

However, it was more akin to a documentary, chronicling a true story that had unfolded years ago in Nanyun Province.

Nanyun Province, being a border region of Huaxia, possessed an exceptionally complex biodiversity due to its unique geographical environment. It was home not only to various fungi but also to a proliferation of toxic creatures.

In this peculiar environment, even before the advent of awakened abilities, Nanyun Province harbored a distinct ethnic group known as the Gu Clan.

Unlike ordinary people who viewed poisonous creatures as evil, the Gu Clan regarded them as precious treasures.

The movie ‘War of the Demonic Dragon’ recounted the tale of the last Gu Master in Nanyun Province. Having endured oppression and bullying from their own clan since childhood, this individual ultimately nurtured a malevolent white dragon.

Consumed by cynicism, after annihilating their kin, they sought to use the white dragon to exact revenge upon humanity, only to be ultimately defeated by a magical girl.

Given that the film was based on a true event in Nanyun Province, it was no exaggeration to say that every Nanyun native on the bus had seen it.

Yet, the magical girl’s attire in the drama was simply too dazzling.

Whether it was her slender, jade-like legs, encased in silky, pure white stockings untainted by dust, or her delicate and adorable, flowing pink twin pigtails, coupled with her incredibly charming expressions during battle—everything was truly eye-catching.

Combined with the magical girl’s indomitable spirit, the series genuinely had something captivating in every sense.

Since he first watched the anime as a child, Ye Yu had regarded the magical girl who defeated the white dragon and protected humanity as his idol.

He had lost count of how many times he had watched this series.

Typically, if he were taking a bus, Ye Yu would undoubtedly continue to watch it.

However, at this moment, he had no inclination whatsoever to watch the film.

The reason was quite simple: Ye Yu was currently embroiled in a significant crisis.

“Husband, tell me, what ability did you awaken?”

A warm, slightly sweet-scented breath of air gently caressed Ye Yu’s smooth, delicate earlobe.

As Tang Yue spoke, her graceful, shapely body pressed lightly against Ye Yu.

Accompanying Tang Yue’s question, Huangpu Pingqing, who had been secretly pressing her calf against Ye Yu’s beneath the seat, also shifted her curious gaze from the window to him.

To be honest, she was quite curious about what kind of ability could make Ye Yu so soft and his skin so smooth.

Feeling his wife, Tang Yue, pressing closer from his left, and inhaling the elegant, subtly alluring sweet scent of a young girl, Ye Yu’s head spun.

Ye Yu, faced with the question, was truly in a predicament.

One part of him struggled with how to tell his wife about his cross-dressing ability, as it would completely undermine his dignity as a husband.

On the other hand, Ye Yu, seated in the middle, was enveloped and compressed by soft, delicate bodies from both front and back, like the filling in a biscuit. His arms occasionally brushed against an exquisite softness.

As a normal boy with *something*, Ye Yu inevitably felt a surge of impulse. A small tent slowly began to rise beneath his slightly loose, cool men’s shorts.

To avoid being discovered and embarrassed, and to deftly steer his wife Tang Yue away from the topic, Ye Yu quickly acted.

After a brief thought, Ye Yu turned slightly, retrieved his backpack, and pulled out the book he had rented from the library after his ‘procedure,’ forcefully changing the subject.

“Wife, I rented an interesting book from the library! Do you want to read it together? Pingqing, would you like to join us too?”

As he spoke, to conceal the small tent, Ye Yu had already opened ‘Unofficial History of the Three Kingdoms – Diao Chan’s Unofficial Biography,’ talking to himself.

It perfectly covered the small tent while also serving as a makeshift stand.

Having accomplished all of this, Ye Yu let out a sigh of relief, engrossed in reading to distract himself. He failed to notice the astonished expressions on the faces of the two girls beside him.

Huangpu Pingqing was shocked because, the instant Ye Yu opened his backpack, from her vantage point, she caught a glimpse of a tiny cat-tail panty peeking out from a compartment in his bag.

Staring at the highly revealing, scantily clad, embarrassing panty, Huangpu Pingqing was utterly stunned.

She never imagined that privately, her best friend and the seemingly honest Ye Yu were playing such stimulating games.

In contrast to Huangpu Pingqing’s shock over the panty, Tang Yue was lost in thought due to Ye Yu’s movement as he leaned to retrieve the book.

Having grown up alongside Ye Yu since childhood, Tang Yue, though she had not yet taken that sacred final step into adulthood with him, naturally had some understanding and expectations regarding matters of men and women as a normal adult girl.

Because of her understanding, Tang Yue had secretly observed *it’s* reaction when she was alone with Ye Yu.

It had to be said, although Ye Yu was slender and not particularly robust for a boy, in Tang Yue’s impression, *it* was quite impressive and spirited.

Because *it* was so spirited, Tang Yue had even worriedly taken a ruler to measure the distance from her… to her navel.

Fortunately, her estimation suggested it would be just right!

However, after a casual glance just now, Tang Yue was surprised to discover that *it* seemed to have shrunk!

Could it be because she had sucked too much blood yesterday?

Or was it an optical illusion caused by Ye Yu’s shorts?

Just as Tang Yue was feeling a bit remorseful for her gluttony yesterday, a sudden sound echoed.

Buzz, buzz, buzz~

At this moment, the bus, which had already reached the outskirts, suddenly blared an urgent alarm.

As the sound rang out, the next moment, everyone on the bus felt the inertial impact of an emergency brake!

While the movie-watching passengers were still reeling, unsure of what was happening outside, a deep voice resonated from the front of the bus.

“Everyone, don’t panic! Do not run around. This is the Demonic Forest, 70 kilometers from Lijiang. It has a natural geographical barrier for protection. This single White Demonic Tiger was just lucky to get through. I can easily deal with one!”

The speaker was a mid-tier ability user, the bus’s escort. He appeared to be around 40 years old, very composed, as if accustomed to such situations.

Hearing the ability user’s explanation, many ordinary people on the bus who hadn’t awakened abilities breathed a sigh of relief.

After all, securing a position as a bus escort, a job involving human lives, required certification from the Demon Hunter Guild, and such ability users often possessed powerful combat abilities. Seeing his confidence, the problem likely wasn’t significant.

However, just as everyone began to relax.

Roar!

At that moment, in addition to the White Demonic Tiger blocking the road, another tiger’s roar erupted from the right side of the road.

As the roar subsided, several more White Demonic Tigers gathered in unison from the shadows of the forest alongside the road.

Witnessing this scene, many passengers on the bus panicked.

After all, even if a mid-tier ability user could defeat a White Demonic Tiger, they couldn’t protect so many passengers!

Chaos erupted instantly.

Some began praying to gods and Buddhas, some cried out in alarm, others urged the driver to go, and still others tried to break windows to escape. Just as the crowd began to stir, Ye Yu, seated between the two girls, felt his hair stand on end.

Beneath his dark, slightly long hair, drops of cold sweat trickled down his neck and into his collar.

This reaction wasn’t due to Ye Yu being overly timid.

Rather, through the window, he noticed that the several White Demonic Tigers emerging from the shadows were all staring directly at him with their tiger eyes.

It was as if he were the only prey that interested them.

Seeing this, Ye Yu’s heart pounded, and he drifted into thought for a moment.

A wild idea suddenly popped into his mind.

‘Emmmmm… could it be because of the hair removal?’

‘Is that why the White Tigers are targeting me?’