Chapter Thirty-Eight: A Guide Like This Deserves to Be Eaten by Snakes

By the time Lu Meng returned to her apartment, it was already nine o'clock in the evening. As she reached the doorway, she spotted something sitting on the floor. Drawing closer, she realized it was the groceries—vegetables, fruits, and meat—she had bought at the supermarket.

How did these get here?

She instinctively glanced around, but the area was silent and completely empty. She had been so terrified by Ace earlier that she hadn't even thought about retrieving her belongings. Who could have brought them back for her?

Could it be...?

An image of Ace’s faint, threatening fangs flashed through her mind, and she couldn't help but shiver. It couldn't have been him, could it? Surely someone in his state wouldn't remember to return her things? It seemed highly improbable.

Still, who cared who brought them back? It saved her a trip to the supermarket tomorrow. With that thought, she opened the door and carried the bags inside, failing to notice a tiny, dark shadow that darted in quickly behind her and vanished from sight.

Lu Meng locked the door, stowed the groceries in the refrigerator, and grabbed her pajamas for a shower. Just as she was about to step in, she received a message from Xiang Chang saying that something had come up, and she wouldn't be able to make it over for dinner tomorrow. Although Lu Meng felt a flicker of disappointment, she simply replied that it was fine, suggested they reschedule when she was free, and told her to take care of her business.

Closing her light-screen, she sighed. That meant it would just be her and Wen Er for dinner tomorrow. That was fine, too—at least she still had Wen Er! Her mood lifted slightly. She closed the bathroom door, turned on the shower, and began humming to herself as she undressed, oblivious to the small head peeking out from beneath the vanity.

...

After delivering the groceries and returning to his dorm, Ace realized his spirit beast had gone missing again. He gritted his teeth, his head throbbing with a maddening pain. Between suppressing his contamination levels and dealing with a spirit beast that refused to obey him, he was at his wit's end.

He had run out of patience. Let it go wherever it wanted! Even if it died out there, he wouldn't care!

A moment later, he resignedly closed his eyes and used the innate sensory link shared with his spirit beast to track its location. After a brief moment of darkness, his vision cleared. Through a haze of steam, he saw a tempting, bare body.

Ace’s eyes snapped open, the image seared into his mind. He grit his teeth in a mix of shame and annoyance. That damn snake! What on earth are you doing!

...

After her shower, Lu Meng wrapped herself in a bathrobe and watched a bit of a soap opera before drying her hair and heading to bed. She turned off the lights, tucked herself into the soft quilt, and quickly drifted off to sleep. Consequently, she missed the rustling, slithering sound that filled the bedroom.

In her sleep, Lu Meng felt a cold, slick sensation tracing its way up from her calf. She instinctively recoiled, trying to wake up, but the sensation stopped, and she slipped back into a deep slumber.

Meanwhile, Ace, feeling the warmth and softness of her skin through their link, involuntarily recalled the scene he had just witnessed. His throat went dry.

How could this Guide be so stupid? he thought angrily. Doesn't she fear snakes? Why didn't she wake up when one crawled onto her? A Guide like this deserves to be eaten by a snake!

And that wretched snake—it was truly shameless! He knew that the very first time they met, the creature had set its sights on the little Guide. If he hadn't noticed and kept it locked away for these past few days, she would have been ensnared by it long ago!

It was all today’s fault. His mental state had flared up, and he had lost control of his spirit beast, letting it slip out of his body. If that hadn't happened, things never would have devolved into this mess!