Witches, please stop thinking about me!

"I was raised by my mother with great care, and as for my father, I've never heard of him."

"I was curious about him when I was little, but my mom would beat me every time she brought it up."

"After a while, I stopped asking."

Sitting cross-legged beside Lin Jiu, Liu Mei's narrow eyes watched Lin Jiu, who was deep in thought, and she nodded in response from time to time.

"She did many jobs to raise me, the last one being a worker in a small factory that made spicy snacks."

"That's why she never lets me eat spicy snacks."

"When I was in my first year of high school, the factory caught fire. By the time we realized what was happening, it was too late for anyone to get out."

Her voice suddenly turned somber, and Lin Jiu's fists began to clench.

"Her monthly salary is only a little over three thousand, less than four thousand, and she still has to support me..."

"She didn't actually need to go that day, but she hadn't rested for more than two months in order to save up for my college tuition in advance."

"It's a piece-rate wage; you get paid for what you do. She wanted to do more so I could save more money..."

"She was only forty-two years old at the time, but because of years of hard work, she looked like she was in her fifties, with wrinkles all over her face."

"My hands were covered in calluses and completely dry..."

"In my memory, my mother was quite young when I was in junior high school..."

"I was thinking of getting a summer job during the summer vacation and then taking her out to play..."

"Actually, that afternoon, I secretly went to the back street and bought her a short-sleeved shirt..."

"It's very cheap, only around thirty..."

"When I got home, I carefully placed it on the coffee table so she would see it as soon as she got home..."

After she finished speaking, Lin Jiu lowered her head and remained silent.

Seeing Lin Jiu's dejected appearance, Liu Mei finally understood why Zhao Changlin's words had such a strong impact on him.

For a boy his age, being interested in women is practically instinctive.

After those words, I forced myself to stop thinking about them and started to confront real-world issues that I wouldn't consider in my ivory tower.

She roughly guessed Lin Jiu's thoughts: if his family was rich, then his mother wouldn't have gotten into trouble.

If we had money, my mother wouldn't be so tired.

If we had money, my mother wouldn't have aged so much.

If he had money, he wouldn't have become an orphan.

At the same time, Liu Mei also realized that once real-world problems surfaced in Lin Jiu's mind, he might never be able to get rid of them.

So even though he had already given the hint, he still chose not to touch it.

Liu Mei felt a pang of regret; if she had known about his past earlier, she shouldn't have taken him to play golf.

It wasn't because it affected my ability to tame him, but because it reopened his wounds.

Although this hint of regret was somewhat unusual for her personality, Liu Mei did not deny it.

"sorry..."

Lin Jiu glanced at her.

"It has nothing to do with you, but it's good that you realize some problems sooner rather than later."

Liu Mei pursed her lips and said nothing more.

"Can we combine now?"

"Not quite. It seems the crown has used some kind of powerful move; it's barely responding to my calls now."

Recalling what had just happened, Liu Mei frowned slightly.

"How did you do that?"

Lin Jiu's face showed embarrassment upon hearing this.

"You... you did it like that..."

Liu Mei narrowed her long eyes slightly, propped herself up with her right hand on the ground, and leaned out from his right front to look at him.

"explain."

He glanced at Liu Mei's slender figure peeking out from the right; the pull of gravity made her ample bosom, encased in her white shirt, even more noticeable.

Lin Jiu looked away, pursed her lips, and said softly.

"Simply out of fear of death... my instincts screamed for the crown, and then... that's how it happened..."

Liu Mei looked thoughtful, then sat up straight.

Survival skills...

"Besides the crown causing a period of weakness, have any other long-term effects been discovered?"

"Not at the moment."

Liu Mei nodded, shifted her body slightly to relieve the coldness in her lower body.

"If you're ready, let's combine them quickly."

"Um."

A few minutes later, the all-consuming darkness descended once more.

The two merged and glanced at the underground entrance in front of them. After taking over the body, Lin Jiu floated downwards.

They flew forward cautiously, but the expected traps or monsters did not appear.

"Looks like that skeleton is the gatekeeper monster."

"Um."

"Speaking of which, if we were to categorize witches by their ranks, what rank would he belong to?"

"At the very least, it's a diamond."

He recalled the skull's six arms, each a different color but possessing extraordinary abilities.

No wonder information about this place is sold so cheaply and openly displayed in the Witch's Church.

Quite a few people must have come to explore, but after discovering this skeleton, they gave up on the idea of ​​getting the Howling Abyss Pass.

If it weren't for Lin Jiu, even if I brought other Golden Witches along, they would mostly just be easy prey.

You're so strong, how could I possibly let you go...?

The plan needs to be changed. Since Lin Jiu's mindset has changed, pure flirting will be much less effective.

Since that's the case, then I'll use money, emotions, and sex all at once; I'll be able to bind him to my side and mold him into the person I want him to be...

As for abandoning the idea of ​​domestication, that's impossible.

She, Liu Mei, disliked being subordinate to others.

On both sides of the underground passage, the melting and decaying human face patterns are unsettling, as if they might burst out of the murals at any moment.

"Won't these things come to life in a little while?"

"I'm not sure, I'll just grab my things and leave quickly."

After walking for a while, the two finally arrived at an empty hall.

Under the dim green candlelight, a mound of skulls made up of various kinds appeared before my eyes.

On the Jingguan (a mound of corpses), a bead emitting white light, with wailing faces constantly appearing inside, floats above.

As the two arrived, the eyes of the skulls in the Jingguan Tower glowed crimson.

As piercing screams began to surface in my mind, all these skulls floated up.

"Damn, I knew it!"

With a curse, Lin Jiu quickly activated his dark element to pull the bead close to his eyes.

Angry roars emanated from the skulls' mouths, the sound waves reaching their illusory bodies and causing distortions.

Lin Jiu felt as if she had been thrown into a washing machine, her body being spun around incessantly.

Who knows what kind of sinister abilities these skeletons possess? Lin Jiu didn't care about anything else and urged his dark element to fly towards the exit.

As he drifted into the corridor, just as he had guessed, all the murals came to life.

"I swear...%￥#￥% You're going to have a prosperous and wealthy life!"

At full speed, Lin Jiu finally burst out of the underground passage just before the murals came to life.

Looking down in horror, I saw the murals that had come to life were wailing as they filled the entire underground passage and quickly solidified into green rock.

Ding!

The black sword pierced down, but failed to leave any mark on it.

Shivering, Lin Jiu quickly flew out of the cave.