Chapter 40: Childhood Friends Have Never Beaten the Newcomer, But What About a Newcomer Childhood Friend?

“I shouldn’t go, right?”

The petals of the sophora tree at the entrance of the alley rustled as they fell on the roof of the car.
Bai Ling’s fingers nervously tugged at the corner of her clothes.

Of course, this wasn’t because she was shy.
She was just afraid of interacting with strangers.

“No, you have to go.”
Xu Zhi put his arm around the girl’s shoulder like a buddy, giving her no chance to run away.

“If you don’t go, I might be eaten.”

To deal with Lu Qingyu’s dinner invitation, Xu Zhi had almost called everyone on his team.
But Gu Xiyan said she was busy helping her favorite younger brother farm materials to make equipment, and Zhou Xuan said he had to study data structures.

In the end, it had still turned into a family dinner with the Lu siblings.

Now, Bai Ling had become his last hope.

“Isn’t it nice to have a girl thinking about you?”
Bai Ling muttered as he pushed her into the passenger seat.
“I’m very happy that you can find true love, my brother.”

That’s what she said, but the girl who knew the whole story was a little disappointed.

‘What if this guy forgets his friend when he sees a pretty girl?’

‘I only have you as a buddy!’

“No, you don’t understand.
I see her as a sister.
She wants to eat me!”
Xu Zhi sat in the driver’s seat.
“So I’m using you as a shield.”

He pulled on his seatbelt and accidentally strained the wound on his side, making him grimace in pain.

“You’re injured?”
The moment Xu Zhi grimaced, Bai Ling smelled a faint scent of blood.
The scent of blood came from Xu Zhi’s side.

“Who did it?”
Bai Ling’s eyes instantly turned cold.

It’s fine, just a small wound.”

Xu Zhi grunted, swallowing the cry of pain.
But when he turned his head, he saw the girl’s tense jawline in the rearview mirror.

“I asked you who did it!”
Bai Ling suddenly reached out and pulled the handbrake.
The SUV, which had not yet started, stopped in place.
“A demon?!”

The setting sun shone through the car window and on her side profile, and the tear mole at the corner of her eye was as red as if it were about to drip blood.

“I was attacked by a madman after I dropped you off last night.
There was no demonic energy, so it probably wasn’t a demon.”
Looking at the girl’s frosty face, Xu Zhi suspected that this girl probably wanted to find the guy who had attacked him last night and then kill his whole family.
“Don’t worry, the Inspection Bureau has already intervened in the investigation.”

“The car you’re driving today is not the same as yesterday.
What about yesterday’s?”

“It… it blew up…”

Xu Zhi scratched his face in embarrassment.
He wanted to describe last night’s attack as lightly as possible.

But the Demon Suppression Division’s specially modified car had blown up, which meant that last night’s attack was definitely not something that could be dismissed lightly.
The Demon Suppression Division’s specially modified car could even withstand a direct hit from a rocket launcher!

Hearing this, the girl immediately unbuckled her seatbelt and opened the car door.

“Hey, hey? Where are you going?”

“To find that madman, and then kill him!”

Xu Zhi had to use all his persuasion to get her back.

And so, the SUV started in a silent atmosphere.
Twenty minutes later, the streetlights swept across the girl’s tense side profile, and the old residential building under the setting sun was already clearly visible.

“Alright, don’t be angry!”

When Xu Zhi pulled the handbrake, Bai Ling was still turning her head away with a frosty face.

Seeing that Bai Ling was still sulking, he shamelessly moved his face closer.
“This little wound will be fine in less than a week!”

“Why didn’t you tell me about such a big thing?”

Bai Ling unbuckled her seatbelt in a huff.
“If I hadn’t found out, would you have kept it from me?”

The matter of Xu Zhi being injured made her suddenly realize that this boy was a demon slayer, dancing on the edge of a knife every day.
Maybe one day he would fall on the blade and be cut in half.

“You said there were no demons before when I asked you.
Are there or not? Huh?”

She turned her face, her little face flushed with anger.

‘Great, she’s starting to bring up old scores.’

Xu Zhi thought a little helplessly.
This girl had always liked to bring up old scores whenever they argued since she was a child.

“It’s not that I…”

Xu Zhi scratched his head, thinking about how to explain.
He suddenly thought, ‘This silly girl wouldn’t have blocked me for several days just because I said there were no demons, right?’

But before he could finish, the girl suddenly turned over and sat on his lap.

The plain white, wide-sleeved dress on the girl swept across the steering wheel.
Her fingertips rested on Xu Zhi’s bandaged side, and a sweet scent of osmanthus drilled into his nasal cavity.

“If you dare to hide things from me again…”

The honking of a passing car broke the charming atmosphere.
Bai Ling shot back to the passenger seat, the tips of her ears red enough to bleed.

She opened the car door in a fluster, and in the crisp sound of the metal buckle colliding, there was an almost inaudible sob.

“I really won’t hide things from you in the future.”

Xu Zhi jumped out of the car and apologized, rubbing the back of his head.

But he didn’t expect a pair of soft things to suddenly touch his arm.

He looked up and saw the girl walking over with small steps and taking his arm, her face red enough to bleed.

“Didn’t you say you wanted me to be your shield? Let’s go!”
Bai Ling’s voice was as soft as a mosquito.

“Oh… oh!”

‘Tsk, how could I let you find true love?!’

Bai Ling thought, blushing and gritting her teeth.

‘This is your punishment for hiding things from me!’

‘But this temperature… really made the girl want to stick to him.’

On the residential building, Lu Qingyu, who was standing by the window and saw this scene, almost couldn’t breathe.

It wasn’t until Bai Ling took Xu Zhi’s arm and went up the stairs that she realized she had seen this girl who opened the door before.

“Ah? It’s you?”

Bai Ling looked at Lu Qingyu and couldn’t help but be stunned.
Wasn’t this the vegetable and fruit girl who had exposed the two extras for stealing a wallet in the vegetable market near Xu Zhi’s home?

“It’s you.
Long time no see.”

Lu Qingyu spoke softly, the corner of her eye sweeping over the girl’s fingertips, which were tightly holding Xu Zhi’s arm.

No one noticed that the knuckles of her hand, which was holding the soup spoon, were white from being squeezed.

“You guys know each other?”

Xu Zhi looked at the two girls who were greeting each other, a little stunned.

“Mmm, she was the girl who helped me out in the vegetable market before.”
Lu Qingyu gently took out two pairs of slippers from the shoe cabinet and placed them at their feet.

“Thank you for the last time.”

“It was nothing!”
Bai Ling also scratched her face in embarrassment.
That time, she had actually helped Lu Qingyu just because she was in a bad mood and wanted to vent her anger.

“Come in.
The food will be ready soon.
Is there anything you can’t eat?”

“Um, I can’t eat hot things very well…”
Bai Ling’s fingertips twisted the corner of Xu Zhi’s clothes.

The few of them were stunned.
‘Can’t eat hot things? What kind of dietary restriction is that?’

But Bai Ling was also desperate.
As a cold-blooded animal, snakes naturally resisted hot food.
What could she do?

She hadn’t eaten anything hot since she had become a snake demon.

“The weather is too hot.
It’s a little uncomfortable to eat hot things…”

Bai Ling added.
Fortunately, as a snake demon, she wasn’t completely unable to eat hot things.
It was just that a temperature that was just right for ordinary people was super hot for her.

“Sister, my name is Lu Qingtian!”

Fortunately, the awkward atmosphere was soon broken by Lu Qingtian, who came out of the bedroom.
The young man brought a gust of wind with him as he rushed forward.
“What’s sister’s name?”

“Bai… Bai Ling…”
Lu Qingtian’s enthusiasm made Bai Ling a little at a loss.
She grabbed Xu Zhi’s sleeve and wanted to hide behind him.

“Sister Bai, are you a professional cosplayer? I’ve seen your cosplay photos.
I didn’t expect you to be even more beautiful in person!”

Hearing this, Bai Ling couldn’t help but glare at Xu Zhi.
How could he show off her cosplay photos to others?

Xu Zhi blinked innocently.
He didn’t know why Bai Ling had sent the photos at such a coincidental time, just when Lu Qingtian had seen them.

“Qingtian! Go turn down the heat on the casserole.”
Seeing Bai Ling’s helplessness, Lu Qingyu finally showed her authority as an older sister.
She grabbed the back of her younger brother’s collar and dragged him into the kitchen.

The glass door reflected the entangled figures in the kitchen.
Lu Qingtian poked his head out from the doorframe again.
“Sister Bai! Do you play ‘Xuanhuang Ji’? My sister’s snake demon swordswoman is so bad…”

Before he could finish, he was hit on the forehead by Lu Qingyu with a soup spoon.

“Don’t worry, sister!”
Lu Qingtian covered his red forehead and looked at the two people in the living room through the glass door.
“Childhood friends have never beaten the newcomer.
You’re the newcomer, you’ll definitely win!”

Lu Qingyu rolled her eyes at this foolish younger brother.
‘He must have been watching too many cartoons.’