The moment the vine was about to pierce through, Huanhuan grabbed it.
She lowered her voice. "Don't hurt anyone."
As soon as she spoke, Murphy woke up.
Huanhuan hurriedly stuffed the Soul-Devouring Vine into her clothes.
Murphy turned to look at her, his emerald eyes especially beautiful in the night. "Who were you talking to?"
"I was asleep just now. I might have been talking in my sleep." Huanhuan pressed down on the Soul-Devouring Vine hidden in her clothes with one hand to prevent him from causing trouble. She lifted the blanket with her other hand and sat up. "I want to relieve myself."
Murphy sat up too. "Do you want me to go with you?"
"No, go to sleep. I'll be fine alone."
Huanhuan lifted the hem of her dress and carefully stepped over Murphy's legs. She got out of bed, put on her shoes, and ran out of the room.
It was the middle of the night. There was no one outside. It was very quiet.
Huanhuan found a remote corner to hide and fished out the Soul-Devouring Vine from under her clothes. She said angrily, "If you dare to hurt anyone again, I'll throw you away!"
The Soul-Devouring Vine wrapped his vines tightly around her wrist, and the tip of a vine looked up.
The vine clearly had no eyes, but Huanhuan had the illusion that he was staring at her.
She composed herself. "Remember what I said?"
The Soul-Devouring Vine didn't answer and turned into a ball of black fog.
The black fog gradually condensed into a human form.
He transformed into a young man with short gray-white curly hair. His face was pale, and his lips were as red as blood. His amber eyes stared intently at Huanhuan.
"You like him?"
Xing Chen's question came out of nowhere. Huanhuan was stunned for a moment before she realized that the 'he' he was talking about should be Murphy.
"Murphy and I are just friends. Even if I like him, it's only as friends. It has nothing to do with romantic feelings."
The boy approached and wrapped his thin arms around her. "No."
Even if it was just friendship, he couldn't allow it.
He couldn't allow her to have eyes for anyone else.
That would make him want to kill her.
Huanhuan lowered her head. From this angle, she could see his soft hair and the small curl on the top of his head.
She reached out and stroked his hair. "Everyone needs friends. You need to get more exposure to the outside world and know more people. You'll have a lot of friends in the future. They'll help you without hesitation when you need help."
The boy hugged her tighter. "I don't need them."
'I don't need friends. I don't need anything else.
'I only want you.'
Huanhuan tried to convince him. "You can't be so stubborn. You have to interact more with people so that you can live a good life."
The boy said nothing. He just hugged her tightly as if he were hugging his entire world.
Seeing that he refused to listen to her, Huanhuan had no choice but to be more straightforward. "Even if you don't need friends, what about me? I need friends and family. I have my own life. I can't just watch over you forever."
The boy looked up at her blankly, his amber eyes watering.
There was sunshine in her world, friends and family, and a lot of warm things.
But she was the only one in his world.
"Don't you like me? Do you want to get rid of me?"
Seeing him like this, Huanhuan's heart softened involuntarily. She said gently, "I'm not abandoning you. I just want you to be rational and not hurt others for no reason."
Xing Chen hated having someone else with her. It made him feel uneasy about losing her.
But he had a vague feeling that if he hurt anyone around her, she might abandon him.
What would he do if she abandoned him?
At this moment, Xing Chen was confused and could not think of an answer.
The only thing he could do was compromise.
The boy whispered, "Alright..."
Huanhuan heaved a sigh of relief. The child could finally listen to her advice.
As long as he didn't hurt anyone, she could take good care of him as if he were family.
Huanhuan looked at his confused appearance. If she brought him back to the room, Murphy would definitely ask about the child's background. At that time, she wouldn't be able to explain.
She tried to ask, "How long can you maintain your human form?"
Xing Chen thought for a moment. "Until dawn."
There was still some time before dawn. Huanhuan led him a few steps and sat on a branch. She was prepared to chat with him to kill time.
She took a sweet fruit from her space and handed it to him. "Do you remember who you are now?"
Xing Chen took the sweet fruit. He held the plump fruit in his palm, which made his face look even more delicate and cute. He shook his head. "I don't remember."
Huanhuan asked again, "Then do you remember who I am?"
"Huanhuan," Xing Chen's eyes lit up. "You're my Huanhuan."
'You're my Huanhuan.
'You can only be my Huanhuan.'
Seeing that he could remember her even though he couldn't remember himself, Huanhuan's feelings became even more complicated.
Xing Chen took a bite of the sweet fruit and immediately narrowed his eyes at the sweetness.
Huanhuan said slowly, "Remember, your name is Xing Chen."
"Oh." He didn't seem to care what his name was. He held out the sweet fruit he'd taken a bite of. "It's delicious. You should have some too."
How obedient...
Huanhuan smiled and declined. "You can eat it. I still have a lot."
However, Xing Chen looked at her stubbornly with a look that said, 'I won't eat it if you don't.'
Helpless, Huanhuan could only lower her head and take a small bite of the sweet fruit. "Yes, it's indeed very sweet."
Only then did Xing Chen happily continue to eat the fruit.
The sun slowly rose from the horizon.
When the first rays of sunlight broke through the clouds and landed on Elven God Mountain, the youth turned into black fog and disappeared.
Huanhuan heaved a sigh of relief. "We've finally sent this child back."
Little Brat said, "It's okay. He'll be back before long."
Huanhuan choked and coughed. "Ahem, don't dampen my spirits now. Can't you let me be happy for a while?"
"I'm reminding you not to be happy too early. The demon king can already condense into human form, which means that his strength is recovering. If he returns to his original form one day and hunts you down, you'll have to cry and call me 'Daddy' again."
Huanhuan was speechless.
Little Brat said, "Actually, the simplest and crudest way is to kill him while he's weak. Anyway, you already know where his heart is. Killing him is easy."
Huanhuan covered her heart. "Can you really do it to such a beautiful young man?"
"Yes," Little Brat replied crisply.
"You're crazy!"
Little Brat didn't care. "I can't judge appearance. In my eyes, your appearance is just a program code. There's no difference between beauty and ugliness."
"Then do you think the prophet is good-looking?"
"Yes!" Little Brat replied quickly.
He looked like the prophet. Admitting that the prophet was good-looking was equivalent to admitting that he was good-looking.
Huanhuan asked, "Isn't the appearance of the prophet a code in your eyes?"
"Even if it's all code, the prophet's code is neater and prettier than anyone else's!"
Huanhuan: "..."
'Daddy, you're a scumbag with double standards!'