Hello, is this a letter addressed to Demon Fortress?

Ugh.

The next day, after Lin Gui was fully awake, his first thought was helplessness.

He didn't expect that Shia would actually do something to him.

Unlike Elvia's entanglement, which only involves words and calculations.

Shia chose the most direct and brutal method—

Physically knocked down.

What Lin Gui didn't understand was...

He turned his head slightly and looked towards the corner of the basement.

Shea was sitting on a small wooden stool.

Under the dim light of the magic lamp, I held a book and read it with great concentration.

The book's cover was brightly colored, and the title was—

"The Overbearing Dragon's Little Darling Wife".

Lin Gui remembered that it was one of the melodramatic novels that Xia bought in the capital, and it was one of her favorites.

At this moment, however, she seemed to be studying some profound classic text.

His brows furrowed slightly, his fingers traced lines across the pages, and his lips moved silently as he muttered to himself.

This scene...

The strangeness made Lin Gui begin to have doubts.

Shea meticulously planned a trap to catch him last night, wasn't it all for "that thing"?

Was it just a simple... prank?

Lin Gui tried to move.

He was bound to a sturdy wooden bed with strong animal sinew ropes.

There was a clean sock stuffed in his mouth.

If his mouth hadn't been gagged by this thing, Lin Gui would have really wanted to ask:

What are you doing?

resignedly.

He decided to take a small risk.

A slight thought.

[Storage].

The wad of fabric in his mouth vanished instantly, stored in his unique alternate dimension.

With his mouth freed, he gently moved his somewhat stiff jaw.

Lin Gui took a breath of the cool air, lowered his voice, and asked with deep confusion:

I said…

"What are you looking at?"

"I've seen you read that book over and over again countless times."

Shea seemed completely absorbed in the book.

He answered subconsciously:

"Let's see how it's done in practice."

"Practical training?" Lin Gui was even more confused. "What practical training?"

Shia's gaze remained fixed on the pages of the book, her tone matter-of-fact:

"It's like the actual process of giving birth."

"I've practically worn this book out, but I still haven't found any specific details."

Lin Gui: "..."

He paused for two seconds, trying to make his tone sound normal:

"Um... what do you think of those details..."

"Would it really appear in a novel that's actually sold on the market?"

Shia immediately raised her head to retort, her bloodshot eyes filled with "You don't understand":

"But there are details like that in novels about male friendships!"

"It's written in great detail!"

Lin Gui subconsciously followed up with another question:

"What details...?"

The last word, "节" (jie), hadn't even been uttered yet.

He regretted it.

Under Shia's gaze, pure yet filled with an excitement that seemed to say, "This is opening a new world for you."

In her frank and even academically-like description...

Some extremely vivid, specific images that completely deviate from normal physiological common sense.

It uncontrollably surfaced in Lin Gui's mind.

Chrysanthemums wither, leaving only scars on the ground.

Lin Gui felt a chill rush from his tailbone straight to the top of his head.

It instantly polluted his "relatively" pure heart.

Shea closed the book and sighed.

"There's no other way but to ask others."

Lin Gui couldn't help but ask, "You've been in Karan City for so long, haven't you ever seen anything like this?"

"Aren't some nobles quite adept at playing games?"

While in New Testament City, he witnessed "exciting" scenes more than once at the back gates of noble mansions or in groves.

Not to mention the raw, unadulterated desires of those in the slums, entangled with the struggle for survival.

That's a truly unwatchable drama for anyone looking for a casual, gossipy experience... a story of a victim.

Even if Shia hadn't seen it with her own eyes, just by listening to the vulgar conversations between those ordinary people under immense pressure, she should have been able to guess the general idea.

Shia shrugged, her expression somewhat helpless:

"I've already put my eyes there, but I haven't even started 'observing' yet."

"He pulled up his pants and ran faster than the wind."

Lin Gui then realized that he had overlooked something.

Shea is not human.

She is an elf.

A race with an extremely conservative culture in related matters.

So conservative that they require a dedicated mentor, usually a mother or a matriarchal elder, to provide oral instruction at specific times.

It's somewhat like the ancient society of his hometown.

According to Shia, her mother had already died in the wild.

So she decided to ask any reliable elderly women she knew.

"Lin Gui, you stay put and wait for me to come back."

Shea closed the book, stood up, and left the basement.

After the door closed, Lin Gui's eyes darted around.

His gaze fell on the complex hemp rope binding him.

Shea's methods were indeed cunning and shrewd.

The knots were tied in places where it was difficult to exert force, and the knots overlapped in layers, which would give even a skilled thief a headache.

If it were the old Lin Gui, tied up like this without any tools, he would probably have been trapped for a while.

It's true that the energy-blocking handcuffs can restrict mages from casting mid- to high-level spells.

However, Shia, who knew Lin Gui's abilities very well, naturally wouldn't be as careless as Morpheus.

The hemp rope she used had tightly woven coils of strong iron wire.

The fire continued to burn.

Trying to break free by brute force?

Even if Lin Gui used levitation to control a small knife to saw with his physical strength, it's unknown how long it would take.

What's more, this basement is completely empty except for this bed and a magic lamp.

However, Shia probably didn't expect this.

Not long ago, Lin Gui acquired a brand new ability.

[Storage].

After obtaining this spatial magic, Lin Gui would study it whenever he had free time.

He discovered that any complete, independent object that comes into contact with his body is a potential candidate.

And as long as its volume does not exceed the space's capacity, it can be stored inside.

It cannot contain a part of an object and is not capable of cutting or attacking.

In other words, as long as the target is a "whole" and "can be contained", it can be accepted.

The opposite is not true.

And now, these ropes are binding him tightly.

Although it is tightly fixed to the bed, it is ultimately a "complete object" independent of the bed frame.

Lin Gui concentrated, feeling the rope.

The mind focuses on one of the taut sections of rope.

A thought subtly stirred within me.

[Storage].

The wrist was suddenly released.

Lin Guigang had just concentrated, intending to continue gathering the remaining sections of the rope—

"Squeak."

The basement door was suddenly pushed open.

Lin Gui jolted awake, immediately stopped moving, and leaned back against the bed.

Shia peeked in, her face full of confusion.

She walked a few steps to the bedside, her bloodshot eyes sharply fixed on Lin Gui.

Lin Gui felt a chill run down his spine.

"Cough, cough," Lin Gui preemptively said, "Um... what's wrong? Weren't you going out to ask someone?"

Shea clicked her tongue and looked down at his mouth.

"I just remembered..."

How could you speak?

"Didn't I gag you with Eve's sock?"

Lin Gui remained unfazed, speaking with righteous indignation:

"I pushed it out with my tongue just now."

As he spoke, he quietly took the sock out of his spatial storage.

With a very slight flick of her wrist, she tossed it onto the ground in a blind spot of Shia's sight.

Then he gestured with his eyes for Shia to look over there.

"Look, it fell over there."

Shea followed his gaze and indeed saw a sock.

She picked it up strangely and looked at it.

Lin Gui suddenly realized something and asked in astonishment:

"Wait a minute? You just said... whose socks were they?"

Shia answered calmly:

"Eve's. What's wrong? Is there a problem?"

Lin Gui: "...Why use socks? And hers at that?"

"Can't you just find any scrap of cloth? Is it that hard to find?"

Shia's face clearly said, "What's so strange about this?"

"Aren't socks just balls of cloth?"

"As for why it's Eve's..."

"Because she handed it to me, I just used it without thinking."

After she finished speaking, without saying another word, she stuffed the piece of cloth back into Lin Gui's mouth.

The movements were swift and decisive.

"Lin Gui, you'd better stay put."

"Don't even think about running away."

"I will let you go when the time comes."

With his mouth gagged, Lin Gui could only make indistinct sounds:

"Ugh... Ugh? (When?)"

Two faint blushes suddenly appeared on Xia's face.

His gaze was also somewhat unfocused.

"Um... the chances of elves getting pregnant are very low."

"So, um... cough cough..."

She cleared her throat, trying to make her voice sound assertive:

"Anyway! Until Eve confirms I've 'won' the bid..."

"You'd better stay here obediently!"

"I will take care of all your physiological needs."

"Including...going to the toilet."

After saying that, she turned and walked towards the door.

As she placed her hand on the doorknob, she turned back and gave Lin Gui a bright yet slightly sly smile.

"The days that followed..."

"Just enjoy your life of being waited on hand and foot."

"Honey."

"Click".

The door was closed gently, and the sound of the lock clicking shut could be heard.

The basement returned to silence.

Only Lin Gui remained, lying on the bed, staring at the magic lamp whose shadow flickered on the ceiling.

About five minutes passed in this way.

Reflecting on what just happened.

Lin Gui felt very strange.

A stunningly beautiful white-haired, red-eyed elf imprisoned herself in a basement.

Her purpose was to discuss the great harmony of life with him, and she wouldn't let him go until she was pregnant with a little darling...

Has he seen a similar plot somewhere out of the ordinary?

What kind of room is this where you can't get out unless you #####

The key point is that what men seem to have always longed for has actually happened to them.

Lin Gui's first thought was to run away.

You spineless coward, you turtle-man, you're not a real man.

A stunningly beautiful elf throws herself at him, but all she thinks about is escaping.

What kind of Japanese anime features an incompetent, kind, and useless male protagonist?

Lin Gui muttered a self-deprecating remark.

But the ears remained focused and attentive.

After confirming that there was no movement outside the door and that Shia's footsteps had completely faded away—

His gaze sharpened.

[Storage].

With a thought, all the rope segments were locked in sequence.

Wrists, ankles, chest... all disappeared one after another.

Those intricately structured hemp ropes were erased as if by an invisible eraser, disappearing piece by piece into thin air.

Lin Gui stretched his wrists and ankles, which were sore from being tied up, and sat up.

The bones made a slight "click" sound.

He sighed helplessly, his whisper echoing clearly in the empty basement:

"Looks like... I'll have to hide for a while."

"After the Demon King returns and confirms Avalon's safety..."

"Let's quietly take Eve away again."

An oak staff appeared out of thin air in his palm.

The warm, woody texture brings a sense of calm.

Gripping his staff tightly, he nimbly jumped off the bed, ready to leave the temporary cell.

Just as he turned around, his gaze inadvertently drifted towards the doorway—

His movements suddenly froze.

That wooden door...

Unbeknownst to them, a crack had silently appeared.

Shea was standing in the doorway.

He was holding a hard-looking piece of black bread in his left hand.

He held a wooden cup filled with water in his right hand.

The expression on her face changed from initial relaxation to astonishment at seeing Lin Gui break free of his restraints and stand on the ground.

Then, when their gaze fell on the staff in his hand, which was clearly about to be used for a spell, their eyes instantly turned to sharp alertness.

The whole process takes less than a second.

Lin Gui's lips twitched.

A surprise attack?

Two more times?!

"You...why are you back?" he asked instinctively.

Shia also answered subconsciously:

"I was just thinking on the way that you might be hungry when you wake up in the morning..."

"I just grabbed some breakfast and wanted to bring it to you..."

Before he could finish speaking...

Her eyes had already shifted from bewilderment to alertness.

Especially when they saw the staff in Lin Gui's hand that was clearly ready to be used for casting spells.

The faint glow of "Levitation" had just appeared beneath Lin Gui's feet.

Shea's figure flashed like a silver lightning bolt, appearing before him in an instant!

Blood-red eyes left afterimages as they sped along.

That seemingly slender fist, yet imbued with the extraordinary power of a wandering knight, was already upon Lin Gui.

There was simply no time to react.

"Bang!!!"

A muffled thud.

Lin Gui felt a jolt in his face, and saw stars before his eyes.

He was thrown backward by the tremendous force and crashed hard into the wooden crates piled up in the corner.

A sharp, dull pain shot through the back of my head.

Consciousness was once again brutally dragged down by the familiar darkness.

On the other side...

A merciless punch instantly knocked out the fragile little mage.

After she withdrew her fist, Shia glanced at the ground.

The place was empty; the ropes that should have been scattered all over the ground were nowhere to be found.

She blinked, a little confused:

"How...how did this guy break free?"

"That's the 'Steel-Binding Rope' that even a living demon of the transcendent level can't break free from..."

The confusion lasted only a few seconds.

She walked up to Lin Gui and squatted down.

Looking at the human man on the ground, his cheeks swollen and unconscious.

A faint sense of grievance gradually surfaced in his bloodshot eyes.

"Really..."

She muttered softly, gently poking Lin Gui's swollen cheek with her finger.

"You really don't want to...be with me?"

"Don't you want to have children with me?"

"I am an elven beauty, the kind of beauty in storybooks that symbolizes the highest reward for the protagonist."

"Do you despise me that much?"

"You stinky man."

She bit her lip, and the feeling of grievance was quickly suppressed by an even more stubborn determination.

She turned around, pulled Lin Gui's arm over, and wrapped it around her shoulder and neck.

Then, he grabbed his wrist from behind and, using a thicker, tougher leather belt that he somehow produced, quickly and tightly bound their wrists together.

Next are the waist and legs.

She held Lin Gui firmly to her back as if packing an important suitcase.

Each knot was tied very tightly, and several extra layers were wrapped around it for reinforcement.

Only after confirming that even if Lin Gui woke up, he would have no chance of breaking free did Xia straighten up.

She weighed the man behind her in her heels and snorted coldly:

"snort."

"Now let's see how you escape."

I don't care whether you want to or not.

"In short, you're not escaping my grasp!"

She paused, her voice lowered to almost nothing, barely audible to herself:

"At least don't leave me here alone, you idiot."