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"Benefactor~!"

A small fox burst enthusiastically from the grass, like an agile puppy, leaping up in a few quick bounds to pounce on Yino's face.

Yino found himself with a faceful of fox belly fur. He barely managed to remove the face-hugging fox, but the creature suddenly let out a whimper, slipped free from his hands, and transformed mid-air into a foxgirl wearing a red dress with black stockings, landing gracefully.

Unlike her previous reserved behavior in crowds, the Foxgirl no longer concealed the three fluffy tails beneath her skirt, openly swishing them before Yino.

"According to what Benefactor said before, now that we're in the secret realm, are you going to start

training

me?"

In the sunlight, the red foxgirl batted her alluring eyes, her lips curving into a seductive arc.

She leaned forward, hands behind her back, suggestively swishing her tails at Yino.

For some reason, heart shapes reflected in the her eyes, and she seemed quite eager.

"..."

Yino clicked his tongue silently, surprised that as soon as they entered the secret realm, Jinyue immediately let loose, taking less than three minutes to find him and start wagging her tails.

Seeing the tails being so conspicuous, Yino suddenly reached out to grab them.

But Jinyue's reactions were clearly faster. With a graceful sidestep, she transformed into a red afterimage, appearing behind Yino:

"

Benefactor

, your reaction speed isn't very good, is it?"

"Can you really catch me?"

She poked Yino's back while leaning forward, her enchanting face filled with playfulness as she gave him a sweet smile.

Just as Yino was about to turn around, she created another phantom clone. Two foxgirls appeared simultaneously beside Yino, both using their fluffy tails to brush against his face.

"What are you doing..."

Yino felt a bit dizzy, noticing that ever since the battle at the Mountain Temple, Jinyue had disappeared for a month, and when she reappeared, her attitude toward him had clearly undergone a massive change.

Honestly, Yino knew little about Jinyue's true nature even in the original game, and he still hadn't figured out the logic behind her actions.

By rights... Yino had spent the past month developing his relationship with Yuyan, so why had Jinyue's favorability toward him clearly increased?

Moreover, she didn't even mind letting Yino touch her body anymore, often actively snuggling up to deliberately trigger his preferences.

"

Young master, come catch me

~"

Jinyue swished her tails again, instantly creating three phantom clones. Her sweet smile combined with the alluring voices coming simultaneously from three directions gave Yino the feeling of experiencing an ancient emperor's masked chase of his concubines.

However, the three foxgirl circling and teasing Yino were all Jinyue.

Yino stared for a long while, finally losing his patience.

He sighed, looking straight ahead, and suddenly spoke:

"Jinyue, what happened to your lip corner?"

At these words, the three Foxgirls who had been circling Yino and wagging their tails immediately stopped.

Two phantom clones gradually disappeared, finally materializing into Jinyue's true form before Yino.

"Lip corner...?"

Jinyue froze in place, raising her hand to touch the corner of her mouth.

Just as she was lost in thought, Yino actively reached out to grab Jinyue's hand.

"!!!"

Jinyue was startled, thinking this was Yino's trap to catch her.

But as Yino held Jinyue's wrist, he gradually pulled the her hand away, then stepped forward and used his other hand to gently rub the corner of her lips. As a thick layer of flesh-colored foundation was rubbed away, Yino finally felt the scab hidden beneath Jinyue's heavy makeup.

"No wonder your makeup is more alluring than usual today, it was to cover up the scar on your face?"

Yino suddenly spoke, as he carefully examined the scab at the corner of her lips.

The scab wasn't large, not a linear cut from a blade, but an irregular oval shape that looked like someone had punched her hard.

"What happened?"

Yino asked calmly.

But while asking, he also traced his finger from the corner of her lips into her mouth, examining the true extent of the injury inside and out.

For a moment, Jinyue, touched at her lip corner, was so stunned that her enchanting pupils forgot Yino's finger had already reached inside her mouth.

"Mmm..."

After Yino explored her face with his hand for a while, Jinyue finally struggled free after what seemed like ages.

She covered the scar at the corner of her lips, looking at the strand of silvery saliva on Yino's finger, and instantly lost her previous playful mood.

"I was punished for making a mistake..."

"Who hit you?"

Yino raised an eyebrow.

He couldn't say it was entirely out of concern, but mainly because he had never seen Jinyue being beaten up in the original game, making him ponder about her hidden story, just like when Yuyan was playing chess before.

"What, are you going to stand up for me?"

Jinyue blinked, speaking as if half-joking, but her peach blossom eyes carefully observed Yino's expression.

She didn't know what was happening, the atmosphere had suddenly become so strange. What normally wouldn't be a big deal for Jinyue now made her want to purse her lips when Yino stared at her face up close, and she couldn't help feeling a bit sour.

Jinyue knew this was probably what feeling wronged meant; she had experienced plenty of that in the Western Region when she was young...

"As the best friend in the world, can't I show some concern for you?"

"Besides, even if I want to stand up for you, you need to tell me who bullied you first."

Yino couldn't help but smile at Jinyue's pitiful face.

He never expected the mysterious Pleasure Demon from the Fallen Immortal would show such a beaten-down appearance.

"Telling you wouldn't help..."

Jinyue puffed up her cheeks, seeming a bit sulky.

She wasn't actually angry at Yino, but when he looked at her with concerned eyes, her heart would feel sour, and this feeling made Jinyue instinctively want to show resistance towards Yino.

"It seems you've really suffered quite a bit during this month we haven't seen each other?"

Seeing Jinyue speaking in riddles, Yino also pretended to make mysterious guesses.

At these words, Jinyue seemed to have been hit right in the heart, her already puffy face becoming even more wronged.

She stared at Yino, holding back for a long time, finally taking a deep breath and reluctantly revealing:

"I got beaten up because of you!"

"Because of me?"

Yino raised his eyebrows again, not expecting this hidden story to be related to himself.

Could it be because he killed Gu Wanglan and Chen Jianxin?

But in the game, wasn't Jinyue trying to kill Chen Jianxin in the first volume?

"What did I do that got you beaten up?"

Though Yino had many guesses, without certainty, he still didn't want to reveal that he knew parts of the plot.

On the other side, Jinyue bit her cherry lips, unwilling to say more.

"Yino, just leave it alone. Anyway, didn't you hate me from the start? You must be quite happy now!"

She crossed her arms over her chest, seemingly still sulking with Yino.

But for some reason, Yino wasn't angry at all now. Instead, he found the foxgirl's childish reaction amusing.

It was like childhood tsundere behavior - even though it was their own issue, when friends showed concern, they felt they couldn't save face and became even more embarrassed and angry...

Yino remembered clearly that Ruoning was just like this during her rebellious tsuntsun phase.

Ever since that little girl's cultivation became higher than his, she gradually stopped accepting his guidance. Sometimes when Yino clearly told her she was practicing a sword move wrongly, the little girl would stubbornly save face and not believe him, insisting on practicing her own sword technique with bitter determination. In the end, one wrong move led to another until she couldn't continue and made herself cry out of frustration.

In the end, the little girl would still come crying to Yino, getting scolded while obediently listening and practicing the sword moves with a pitiful expression...

He felt Jinyue had some of that same attitude now.

Having experienced Ruoning's childhood memories, Yino now had rich experience in dealing with little tsunderes.

Thinking of this, Yino raised an eyebrow:

"Jinyue, do you really not know why I hate you?"