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"Th… That was my first kiss!"

"Well, it was my first kiss too, and you didn't get my consent either."

"You! You clearly enjoyed it when I kissed you! How dare you take advantage and then haggle over it!"

Jinyue was about to die of anger.

She never dreamed that one day she would voluntarily give away her first kiss, only for the recipient to be ungrateful and try to negotiate with her!

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Yino raised an eyebrow and started calculating with her again:

"The key is that your first kiss is too expensive! One kiss is worth a life? Then I don't want your first kiss anymore. Just pretend nothing happened in the forest today, and save your first kiss for some other poor soul, how about that?"

"Yino! What exactly do you take my first kiss for!"

Jinyue was completely infuriated by Yino.

Her internal state couldn't be described by simple anger anymore - it was like embarrassment and grievance had fused to the extreme—

Before Yino could react, Jinyue suddenly leaped up and sank her small tiger teeth into his shoulder with a chomp.

Yino was startled, not expecting Jinyue to be truly angry this time, biting hard enough to cause real pain. The human and fox tussled in the forest for quite a while.

By the time Jinyue released her bite, Yino's shoulder bore a neat, clear row of teeth marks.

Yino couldn't help but recall how last time Jinyue's bite marks had led to Yuyan's misunderstanding.

"Look at this, look what you did! What if you gave me rabies or something?"

Yino reached back to touch his shoulder while displaying the saliva on his fingertips.

He spread and pressed his index and middle fingers together, the transparent liquid between them forming gossamer threads in the sunlight.

Jinyue's face turned red seeing this. She hurriedly took out a handkerchief to wipe the saliva clean from Yino's hand.

"Yino, can you stop annoying me already!"

"I'm not asking you to be as gentle with me as you are with Yunjin, but at least don't be so harsh, okay?"

She puffed her cheeks, and amid her shame and anger, her enchanting eyes held a pleading look.

As her words fell, Jinyue also sighed, helplessly lowering her gaze:

"Even if a first kiss isn't worth the favor of you saving my life... at least I really did kiss you just now. Isn't that enough to prove I mean you no harm? Isn't it enough to dispel your suspicions about me?"

"....."

Yino fell into silence.

His peripheral vision caught Yunjin beside him, and surprisingly, the girl who usually didn't get along with Jinyue now showed sympathy for her obvious distress.

"So, you approached me because you actually like me?"

Yino suddenly hit her with this soul-searching question.

In an instant, Jinyue, who had been pouting, widened her eyes.

She uneasily averted her gaze, but seemed unable to escape the scrutiny of Yino's bright moon-like eyes—

"Yes, I do like you!"

After brief hesitation, Jinyue finally chose to go with the flow and admit it.

She actually felt quite conflicted herself.

When Jinyue first approached Yino, it was merely out of curiosity. Later, through a series of crises, she witnessed Yino's step-by-step growth, and gradually developed feelings beyond mere curiosity.

The key turning point was that day when the Celestial Master gave her a severe beating.

Now, Jinyue's choice to give her first kiss to Yino was more of a bold gamble on her future.

Ten years ago, when the fox clan's secret realm was destroyed by the demon abyss, the young surviving Jinyue was adopted by a passing white-haired immortal.

Later, Jinyue followed that immortal to the Celestial Hall, where she witnessed far too many prophecies come true.

Jinyue had always tried to rebel against these tyrannical prophecies, but to no avail - her struggles couldn't even anger the Celestial Master all these years!

That woman looked at Jinyue as if she were merely a cute pet, a watchdog, or a lucky cat on a counter...

No matter what Jinyue did, the Celestial Master never got angry. She had long known about Jinyue's secret defiance, yet still brought her to every organizational meeting as an observer, because even Jinyue's potential rebellious actions after learning the prophecies were all within the prophecy's calculations.

And all these years, only Yino had been able to break the prophecies.

So, Jinyue no longer held any hope for herself - she decided to bet all her future hopes on Yino!

This was why Jinyue had been especially ingratiating toward Yino since returning from the Celestial Hall.

She actively let Yino touch her legs, her face, and even when he held her waist or took advantage by patting her butt, Jinyue never had any extreme reactions.

If the Celestial Master's prophecies were truly unbreakable, if everyone's fate was planned from birth by an invisible hand...

Then what was the point of Jinyue maintaining her purity?

After all, who she would fall in love with, marry, and have children with was all just a matter of the Celestial Master's prophecy.

Rather than living such a rule-bound life, Jinyue would rather give her purity to Yino. At least Yino couldn't be predicted by the Celestial Master; at least she could see a glimmer of hope in him!

"...?"

While Jinyue was lost in thought, Yino was once again bewildered by these confusing words.

He had only asked to tease Jinyue, but didn't expect her to admit it without hesitation. This contrast was like Yino using a basic attack but getting an ultimate ability in response.

But what exactly did she like about Yino?

These feelings developed even faster than Yunjin's!

The key was that Yino never planned to put Jinyue on his waifu list, so he hadn't invested any emotional energy in her all this time!

"You're... not testing me again, are you?"

This confession came too suddenly for Yino to feel happy about it; instead, it raised more suspicion.

After all, she was the Pleasure Demon, the original story's unpredictable troublemaker. Who knew if she was just playing with Yino again?

"What's there to test? Is it not okay for me to like you?"