You were given the authority to tame beasts, not to raise unspeakable animals.

The profanity that Wang Li was about to utter was abruptly blocked in her throat. It was suppressed by some heavy pressure, and finally turned into meaningless gurgling sounds.

Chen Mo didn't even look at her. He simply and slowly took a tissue from his pocket and carefully wiped his fingertips, which had just touched the air, as if he were dealing with some kind of invisible, highly toxic pollutant.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not interested in you.

He tossed the wad of tissue paper aside. It arced through the air and landed in the wastebasket. Then he turned his head, his gaze passing over the stiff Lin Youyou, and landing on the salesperson who had long since forgotten to breathe.

"I want this house."

He handed over the black card again. His tone was flat and monotone. There wasn't a trace of excitement about buying a luxury home. It was more like casually buying a bunch of not-so-fresh scallions from a roadside stall.

"Full payment. Now."

Wang Li's fingers, holding the card, began to tremble uncontrollably. She looked at Lin Youyou in terror, awaiting the young lady's furious wrath. In this city, no one dared to interfere with what the Lin family had their eye on, let alone such a blatant act of snatching.

The air in the hall felt thin. All eyes were fixed on the haughty school beauty.

There was no burst of light or flame as expected.

Lin Youyou's chest heaved violently. That face, usually shrouded in an aura of sacred inviolability, was now undergoing a chilling collapse. Astonishment, confusion, and a frantic, desperate longing, like a drowning person seeing driftwood, intertwined in her eyes, forming a chaotic tide.

She turned around and waved to the group of bodyguards who were holding batons, ready to clear the area.

"All of you, step back."

"But Miss, this kid..." The bodyguard leader's face was tense and muscular.

"Get out!"

The shout wasn't sharp, yet it carried the unique pressure of an S-class bloodline, causing the eardrums of several burly men to ring. The glass doors of the hall trembled slightly with the sound waves.

Lin Youyou ignored her subordinate's disheveled state. She turned to face Wang Li, pointing to the black card in Chen Mo's hand. Her speech was rapid, carrying a sense of desperate resolve.

"Don't you understand? This gentleman wants this apartment. Go and complete the formalities immediately."

"Huh? But you..." Wang Li's brain completely shut down. She looked at Lin Youyou, wondering if she was hallucinating.

Lin Youyou, who never lets go of anything she sets her sights on and who is as proud as a swan, is now actually going to hand over this land to someone else?

"The house belongs to him." Lin Youyou stepped forward, even slamming her platinum card onto the counter with a hint of urgency. Her knuckles turned white from the force. "No matter how much the handling fee, the express fee, or even the penalty for breach of contract, swipe my card for it all."

A moment of deathly silence fell over the hall. Then, barely suppressed whispers erupted.

Those who had been expecting a laugh were now completely dumbfounded. What was this? A domineering school beauty spending lavishly for a poor boy? Or was it some kind of high-level performance art that ordinary people couldn't comprehend?

Chen Mo stared at the platinum card on the table, not even lifting his eyelids. He never had the habit of refusing money offered to him. After all, that old cub, like a money-devouring beast, was indeed a bottomless pit.

Thanks.

He tossed the black gold card to Wang Li, who was still in a daze. His knuckles tapped crisply on the counter, the implication of urgency clear.

"Since you're so kind, Lin, please hurry. My pet has a bad temper and will destroy the house if it's hungry for too long."

Wang Li recoiled as if burned, clutching the two cards, and fled towards the finance office as if her life depended on it.

While waiting for the formalities to be completed, Lin Youyou waved everyone away.

She approached Chen Mo. The sound of her high heels on the tiled floor was chaotic and hurried. Her once aggressive aura had vanished, replaced by a cautious probing.

"Who exactly are you?"

Her voice was hoarse. Those eyes, which were always so domineering, now held only a desperate, dying plea for help.

"That thing... is afraid of you."

As the host, her senses were sharper than anyone else's. The monster that had been gnawing at her spine for three years was now cowering in the deepest shadows, not daring to utter even a nauseating chewing sound. As long as this boy stood there, she could experience a long-lost, painless tranquility.

Who I am is not important.

Chen Mo took the purchase contract and keys from Wang Li's hands. The metal keychain twirled between his fingers, leaving a silver afterimage.

"The important thing is that you are truly terminally ill."

His gaze moved downwards, landing on the heavy shadow at Lin Youyou's feet.

There. The edges of the shadows formed an eerie, sharp angle. It was as if something was trembling in the darkness.

"Those are Tindaros Hound pups, existing only in the cracks and angles of time." Chen Mo's voice was soft, yet every word was like a nail, precisely driven into Lin Youyou's nerves. "The more you use light energy to fight it, the more excited it becomes. Light is the measure of time; you're feeding it with your own life."

Lin Youyou's body swayed. The color drained rapidly from her face, leaving only a deathly pallor.

I see……

No wonder the more she cultivated these past three years, the faster that thing grew. It turns out she had been raising that executioner herself all along.

"Save me..." Her voice trembled with tears. That impenetrable, saintly facade shattered. "Anything you want, as long as you can take it away..."

"We'll discuss the terms later."

Chen Mo cut her off.

He glanced at the setting sun outside the window. The hour of twilight was approaching. It was the moment when those indescribable things would awaken and revel.

He slung the faded canvas bag over his shoulder and walked straight to the door.

Just when everyone thought the farce was about to end, Chen Mo stopped in his tracks.

He didn't turn around. He just stood with his back to Lin Youyou, raising the bunch of villa keys and jingling them. The crisp sound of metal clashing echoed in the empty hall.

"The house is mine. But in return, I don't mind teaching you how to put a collar on this disobedient dog."

He turned his head to the side. The dim twilight shone on his face, making his expression appear obscure.

"Come find me at this house tonight."

"Remember to bring this dog's favorite dog food."

After saying that, he pushed open the door and disappeared into the deepening night.

Only a deathly silence remained in the hall.

After a long while, gasps of surprise erupted from the crowd.

"Going to his place tonight? That's...that's so direct?"

"Would Goddess Lin really go? This is clearly like throwing herself to the wolves!"

At the center of the storm of gossip, Lin Youyou stood rooted to the spot, her hands gripping the hem of her skirt tightly.

There was no shyness or hesitation as others might have noticed. Although her cheeks were flushed, a desperate flame burned in her golden eyes.

"Dog food..."

She lowered her head, looking at the eerily quiet shadow at her feet.

She understood.

Since that thing feeds on light.

Tonight, she will carry this body of flesh and blood, this holy light that it so covets, to accept the devil's invitation.