I adopted a child demon from the Gap, and I'm a special agent for the Bureau of Supernatural Ab

"My story... to be honest, I don't have any particularly interesting stories to tell..."

"tide wants to know!"

The little girl, however, was relentless, moving even closer until she was practically lying on top of Li Cheng. Her purple pupils gleamed in the darkness as she stared intently at Li Cheng, unblinking.

"Haha, okay, you win."

As if unable to bear the gazes, Li Cheng chuckled, rubbing his forehead. Then, after a moment's hesitation, he slowly began his narration.

"In the past, I was still very naive and childish. I always thought I wanted to be a messenger of justice, to protect the weak and punish evil. It sounds funny, doesn't it?"

tide listened quietly without answering.

"Well, I'm a pretty hardworking person, and I usually work very hard, so although it's been tough, I've still managed to get the life I wanted."

At this point, Li Cheng paused slightly.

"Azure Dragon, also known as the Azure Dragon Special Forces, may have a cheesy name, but it is indeed an elite team dedicated to fighting against all kinds of powerful criminals and villains. I am the captain of the team, commanding a group of more than a dozen people to fight against all sorts of bad guys and protect the normal lives of innocent people."

“tide doesn’t think it’s funny at all,” tide said very seriously at this moment. “Cheng is very powerful. Fighting for the weak and sticking to his beliefs, Cheng is very powerful.”

"Yeah……"

Li Cheng closed his eyes, a slight smile curving his lips.

"Then, why did Cheng come to this country? Why did he leave Qinglong?"

Unexpectedly, tide immediately started asking questions again. Li Cheng opened his eyes in surprise and saw tide's inquisitive gaze.

"...Ah, these kinds of things are really hard to say."

After a long silence, Li Cheng managed a weak smile and answered in a low voice.

"If I had to say something, I would say I betrayed everyone."

Despite it being the sweltering heat of summer, Li Cheng seemed lost in thought, as if he had once again returned to that cold, snowy season.

"...Because of me, I can't go back anymore."

"Cheng?"

A small, cold hand grasped his palm. Li Cheng was startled and opened his eyes to see Xi's worried expression.

"tide, did you hurt Cheng's feelings?"

The girl asked somewhat nervously.

“How could I be angry with tide?” Li Cheng raised his hand and gently stroked tide’s head, his voice gradually calming down. “It’s just that I was too weak.”

"tide, I don't understand."

The girl's head was pressed against Li Cheng's chest, and through the skin, she could clearly hear Li Cheng's strong heartbeat.

"Cheng, I was very sad and upset just now. I only started to feel sad after tide spoke, so, did Xi do something wrong? Did tide do something wrong?"

"That's not how it is, you silly little thing."

With a mixture of amusement and exasperation, Li Cheng pinched tide's cheek, and before she could struggle and protest loudly, he released her and said softly:

“You’ve never made a mistake, Shio, never.”

Whether in the past, present, or future, you have never been wrong.

It's just that I'm such an idiot, too weak, too useless.

That's why I cherish your existence so much, that's why I'm so unilaterally trying to be good to you, that's why...

Li Cheng closed his eyes again. In his memory, Konoe Hitoshi's contemptuous and mocking smile, and the words he casually spoke to him, resurfaced in his mind on that swaying plane.

Indeed, I am just an ordinary person, living only for my own selfish desires. But, but…

Opening his eyes, Li Cheng was greeted by Xi's still worried face. She was hesitating, wondering if she had said something wrong, and earnestly trying to cheer him up. Seeing her so genuinely concerned for him, Li Cheng was momentarily lost in thought.

What a luxurious happiness! I had nothing left, I had given up on everything, yet I was saved by a child in my most desperate moment. Perhaps I really am an unforgivable person.

Li Cheng suddenly chuckled softly. Almost simultaneously, through the contract, tide, who clearly sensed that Li Cheng's mood had improved, looked over with some surprise and immediately moved closer.

"Cheng, are you not sad anymore?"

"Alright, alright, it's getting late."

Li Cheng smiled, patted tide's head, and gestured for her to get off him.

"It's time for bed, tide. We need to get up and play again tomorrow morning. If you don't get some rest now, you won't be able to enjoy all the games and delicious meals tomorrow."

"Ah."

tide nodded gently, then yawned and prepared to climb off Li Cheng. But then, her eyes darted around, as if she had suddenly thought of something. Instead of getting off Li Cheng, she leaned back on him and reached out to hug him tightly.

"Cheng, hold me while I sleep!"

As if she were just a little kid (?), tide spoke in a coquettish tone.

"Oh, do you want to sleep in my arms? Well, I don't really mind, but you might have a sore neck when you wake up tomorrow."

However, Li Cheng, who treated tide like a child, didn't sense anything amiss. Although he was a little surprised, he simply smiled and gently pinched tide's nose, speaking to her casually.

Wait, didn't Chloe say that he would blush if she talked to him like that? Why isn't he reacting at all? Hmm, could it be that tide was deceived? Is Chloe lying to her?

With a sense of loss that she herself didn't understand, tide stopped talking and simply lay on Li Cheng's body like a kitten or puppy, clutching his clothes, closing her eyes, and quickly falling asleep.

After feeling the small figure on his body gradually even out her breathing, Li Cheng closed his eyes with a smile and quickly drifted off to sleep. However, the occasional turning over in his sleep that he usually did not occur this time. Even in his deep sleep, his body remained still; instead, he supported Xi's body from his sides with both hands to prevent her from turning over and falling off the bed in the middle of the night.

In another small hut, Ilya was taking deep breaths before slowly opening the door.

Outside the door was a pitch-black corridor, quiet and still, just like... just like the eerie corridor that Ryougi Shiki had mentioned, where a girl in red had hanged herself.

Ilya was completely defeated, not even daring to step out of the doorway, her body trembling uncontrollably.

Oh dear, it really won't work, it won't work at all!

Although her body was strongly urinating, the terrifying stories she had heard before bed, the bizarre events the adults had recounted with such relish—whether true or fictional—had caused a severe psychological impact on the nine-year-old girl. Now, everything seemed wrong to her, as if a disheveled, blood-red woman or a dark, shadowy figure might suddenly appear at any moment.

Speaking of which, Ms. Ryougi mentioned that she was attacked by bloodstained paper dolls that rushed out from behind the doors on both sides of this corridor...

Ugh, this makes me even more afraid to go out!

"Oh dear, are you scared, Ilya?"

A soft laugh drew Ilya's attention. She looked up and saw a familiar figure leaning against the door. It was Ryougi Shiki, the leader of the sixth team she knew.

The difference was that Ryougi Shiki, who had originally changed into summer clothes suitable for summer, was now wearing a pure white yukata, and her short hair had grown slightly longer. Moreover, for some reason, when Illya saw Shiki in front of her, she strangely felt an extremely ethereal feeling. All the distracting thoughts about the horror story disappeared without a trace, and she naturally calmed down.

"If you're scared, do you need me to take you there?"

With a gentle smile, Shiki took Ilya's hand and led her to the hotel's restroom.

"Thank you, Sister Liangyi! If possible, could you please not tell anyone about this?"

After using the restroom and returning to her room, Ilya approached Shiki, blushing, and whispered her request.

"Oh dear, such a young child already has such competitive thoughts?" The gentle woman in the white yukata smiled softly as always. She nodded and said softly, "It's alright, no one will know that Ilya is afraid to go to the bathroom alone at night because she's scared of scary stories."

"Oh, thank you, Ryougi-neechan!" (Waaaaah, didn't I just say it all out loud!)

"Hehe, I'm off now. Take good care of yourself, Ilya."

"Shiki" spoke softly, drifting away like a phantom. Ilya was stunned for a moment, and for some reason, she had the strange thought that the "Shiki" in front of her did not exist. She shook her head, and when she opened her eyes again, she found that she could no longer see where "Shiki" had gone.

They've probably already gone back, right?

Thinking this, Ilya yawned, closed the door, and went back to sleep.

Under the clear moonlight, a figure, like a dream, slowly walked onto the roof of the inn, gazing at the full moon above, and murmured:

"It's already...out of sight..."

Ryougi Shiki, one of the extraordinary powers she possessed that were unimaginable to ordinary people, was the ability to foresee the future, a power akin to "futurism," which is now unusable.

Is it because of her existence?

She lowered her head, her gaze passing through the bricks and tiles, and saw Xi sleeping on Li Cheng's body. Xi seemed to sense something and frowned, as if she was about to wake up. She then looked away, closed her eyes, and began to think quietly.

"No, it's not her, it shouldn't be her."

Although she is an anomaly, and indeed an unpredictable variable, her actions and behavioral logic are surprisingly stable. She is not someone who creates accidents or trouble; at least, she is not someone who would create trouble that even she could be disrupted by.

"So, who could it be..."

She couldn't understand it, she couldn't figure it out. She was sleeping soundly, yet suddenly she discovered such a huge problem. Although she knew a lot and understood a lot, she hadn't experienced much firsthand. To be honest, she was now feeling lost and didn't know what to do next.

"Sure enough, I'd better just keep sleeping. Let those two clueless 'me's' handle the trouble, hehe."

With a slightly mischievous smile, the beautiful woman in the yukata gradually disappeared, and under the moonlight, the roof of the not-so-large hotel was deserted.

"Don't blame me, Shiki. After all, I really didn't know what to do either."

In a small room, Shiki, who had been sleeping peacefully, suddenly frowned, then sneezed violently and woke up. She opened her eyes, somewhat groggy, but all around was quiet except for the steady breathing of Kurogiri Mikiya sleeping beside her. Still groggy, she blinked, then quickly lay back down to sleep, her breathing becoming steady once more.

Outside the slightly swaying curtains, the small window was slowly and silently closing.

…………

Thank you to the readers who gave their recommendation votes: NonexistentEight, Fluorine-Free Inverter, Yakumo Family's Elf, Distortion, Hanyu Ringo, Big Rabbit, and Tang Mu-Emperor Evil.

Since I switched from two updates to one, there have been far fewer votes. Well, although I had anticipated this, I still feel a little disappointed... Anyway, I hope everyone will continue to support me. Once I finish my current business, I will resume the original update frequency.

Being targeted by sensitive words, okay, okay, this is very Shuke (a Chinese online bookstore), no, this is very Hedgehog Cat (another Chinese online bookstore)...

Section 131, Chapter Twelve: Body Shape and Adventure

Opening his eyes, the believer slowly got up, his gaze sweeping around as he looked at the small room where he was temporarily staying.

The room was unchanged from last night; the hidden mechanisms had not been activated, the carefully placed details remained intact, and the windows had not been opened.

Therefore, it can be concluded that no one entered her room last night, and she is still maintaining a safe place.

After checking his surroundings, the believer slowly stood up from the chair.

Yes, the believer did not sleep in a bed; she spent the entire night in a chair in a corner.

She chose that spot because it offered a panoramic view of the entire house while avoiding blind spots from the windows, allowing her to easily wake up and carry out her mission at any time. As for sleeping on the chair instead of the bed, the reason was simple: she couldn't adapt to those incredibly soft beds. As a prospective Hassan who had undergone years of rigorous training, her life had always been one of simplicity and monotony; she simply couldn't accept something as purely luxurious as a soft bed.

Should we go to the beach with them again today?