Volume One, Chapter 23: Tasty... Coca-Cola?

"Love? Don't make me laugh."

Ning Shiyu shook her head frantically. "I wouldn't believe that even if you killed me."

In Ning Shiyu's memory, Fang Mo and her sister had barely exchanged a word at home. The idea of them becoming a couple was completely unexpected.

Fang Mo, feeling increasingly annoyed for reasons he couldn't quite explain, raised his voice. "What is that supposed to mean? What’s wrong with me? Let me tell you, from today on, I am your brother-in-law. Even though we’re the same generation, you still need to show me some respect. You little brat, what exactly is lacking in me?"

"You!?"

Ning Shiyu wasn't the least bit intimidated by Fang Mo. Even when he was angry, his refined, gentle face didn't carry much menace. He was nothing like her sister, Ning Yuelan, whose mere glare could make her behave instantly. This only made her more certain that the two were ill-suited for each other.

However, if forced to come up with a reason, she couldn't quite find a suitable one. She thought for a moment and said, "Brother Fang Mo, you and my sister just aren't a match in terms of IQ!"

"Get out of here right now..."

Fang Mo pretended to strike her, which made his sister-in-law laugh and scramble away.

*Spare the rod, spoil the child!*

Whenever he visited the Ning household as a child, the elders would chat while he and Ning Shiyu played together; they were, in fact, peers. If you really traced it back, his childhood playmate was indeed Ning Shiyu, not Ning Yuelan. But hearing Ning Shiyu belittle him like this made his blood boil.

"Little brother, bring me the scissors!"

Just then, Ning Yuelan pushed open a door in the backyard and waved at the sulking Fang Mo in the living room. "Hey, what's wrong? Who made you angry? You look terrible."

"It's nothing!"

Fang Mo pursed his lips, his mind flashing back to Ning Shiyu’s words: *Does Sister Yuelan like you? Impossible!* His mood soured instantly, but he obediently picked up the scissors and headed toward the backyard.

The Ning family's large villa was well-lit, and the flowers in the backyard thrived in the abundant sunlight. Stepping into the yard, Fang Mo felt a sudden wave of sentimentality. It felt like he hadn't been here for five or six years. His thoughts drifted back to the past; ever since a certain incident, he hadn't dared to enter this place alone.

"What are you thinking about?" Ning Yuelan looked at the young man.

Fang Mo sheepishly scratched the back of his head and pointed in a certain direction. "Sister Yuelan, do you remember this swing?"

A swing hung between two wisteria trees in the backyard. Logically, at their age, neither Ning Yuelan nor Ning Shiyu would care for swings anymore. Furthermore, as the wisteria grew taller, that spot caught the direct glare of the sun. It was bright and stinging; the swing couldn't have been used in ages. Yet, it was kept immaculately clean. Although it looked old, weathered by time, it was spotless.

At his words, a trace of a smile crossed Ning Yuelan’s bright eyes. "You still remember that?"

"I think I was about fifteen or sixteen, right?" Fang Mo nodded, blushing.

"Everyone else had gone out. Ning Shiyu went shopping with her friends. I came to the Ning house with Grandpa and was bored, so I sat there on the swing. I accidentally fell asleep while swaying, and the nanny, thinking the backyard was empty, locked the door from the inside."

"Mom and Dad looked for me all afternoon and couldn't find me. I was terrified. As the sky grew darker, my mind started racing—I was even worried I’d be left here to grow old in solitude."

Ning Yuelan bit her red lip and pinched the young man’s cheek.

"Fortunately, Sister Yuelan found me in the end!" Fang Mo remarked with a sense of relief.

It was summer back then, and the yard was full of mosquitoes. He hadn't noticed while napping, but upon waking, he found himself covered in itchy, painful welts. As night fell and the temperature dropped, loneliness and fear had overwhelmed the young boy. After all, he was only fourteen or fifteen at the time!

"Sister Yuelan, how did you know I was here back then?"

*How did she know?* Ning Yuelan curled her red lips. *Because every time you came to the house, I was keeping track of your movements!*

But she didn't tell the truth, offering only a tranquil smile. "I was studying upstairs. Uncle and Auntie were panicked, and when I heard they couldn't find you, I was startled too and ran around looking for you."

"Finally, I thought of checking the small garden in the backyard, thinking you might be hiding there. It was just a blind cat stumbling upon a dead mouse..."

Fang Mo paused, feeling that something wasn't quite right.

*A blind cat stumbling upon a dead mouse?* She didn't suspect he’d been kidnapped by human traffickers? She went straight to the garden? He remembered it differently. Back then, when the door opened, he thought his savior had arrived, only to find a murderous-looking Ning Yuelan who, without a word, gave him a few slaps on the backside. And it seemed Sister Yuelan had cried too, though he’d been so traumatized he couldn't recall exactly what she’d said. He only remembered one line: "Do you want to scare me to death?"

And at the time, her parents hadn't been following her, had they?

"Come to think of it, you really are my savior, sister." Fang Mo couldn't help but chuckle at the memory.

Hearing this, Ning Yuelan rolled her eyes. *You’re certainly thick-skinned.* When Fang Mo had gone missing, her heart had been pounding with fear. Recalling that the boy had been snubbed by Ning Shiyu earlier that afternoon—told he couldn't go shopping with the girls and left at home—she knew he would have wandered into the garden out of boredom.

Twenty-two-year-old Ning Yuelan had grabbed some floral water and headed to the garden. Sure enough, she found little Fang Mo there, looking aggrieved. The boy must have been truly terrified; when she applied the water, he was shivering so hard he was nearly delirious.

Recalling this, she huffed indignantly. "Who sleeps in the yard for an entire afternoon in the middle of summer? You were practically serving as a charity buffet for the mosquitoes!"

"Hehe, I even remember you applying the floral water for me!" Fang Mo chuckled dryly.

Just then, Ning Yuelan stopped watering the flowers. "So, it seems I really did save your life, didn't I?"

"I suppose so." Fang Mo hadn't caught on yet.

The next moment, Ning Yuelan stood up and stared intently at the young man, her alluring peach-blossom eyes flashing with playfulness. "Then shouldn't you repay your sister?"

*Repay Sister Yuelan?* I’m a broke kid with nothing to my name—what could she possibly want from me?

"Sister, I’ve already helped you solve the trouble of Grandpa Ning pressuring you to get married. Isn't that enough of a repayment?" Seeing her smile grow more playful, Fang Mo felt the vixen was looking at him with ill intent, and he instinctively took a step back.

"Tsk, it's not that easy to dismiss your sister."

With that, Ning Yuelan suddenly wrapped her arms around the young man. The intimate physical contact made Fang Mo’s blood rush to his head. He felt something in his DNA stir, and his Adam’s apple bobbed involuntarily.

"What are you doing?"

Ning Yuelan leaned in, her high nose bridge nearly touching his chin. She was only half a head shorter than him. "Didn't the ancients say? If you meet a beautiful benefactor, you say you have no way to repay them and can only offer your body. If they aren't good-looking, you say you’ll be a beast of burden for them in the next life."

The scent of her orchid-like breath brushed against his face, making him itch. The next moment, she narrowed her eyes. "Your sister wants you to offer your body. Are you willing?"

*Boom.*

"Sister, you... didn't you say you weren't ready the day before yesterday?" Fang Mo shrank back. It wasn't that he didn't want to be intimate with her, but the posture made him uncomfortable. Being a normal man, he was having all the expected reactions.

Ning Yuelan looked over the handsome young man. The sunlight fell perfectly on his face; he wasn't strikingly handsome, but his long eyelashes—enough to make any girl jealous—flickered, and the innocent look in his eyes touched her heartstrings.

She curled her red lips. "Then we'll put it on credit. When I'm ready, I'll eat you up, little one. But let’s be clear: I’m very possessive. In this life, you belong to me alone. If you're unfaithful, if you dare to wrong me..."

*Ding.*

Just then, Fang Mo’s phone rang. He guessed it was probably Li Haowen sending him messages again, and a flash of panic crossed his brow. Li Haowen had no filter when chatting with his bros. Who knew what kind of strange things he might have said?

But that flash of panic was misinterpreted by Ning Yuelan. *I just said those things to you, and not only do you have no special reaction, but you look flustered? Does Fang Mo have someone else on the side?*

Ning Yuelan’s hand slowly reached down.

"Sister, don't, not here."

Ning Yuelan blushed and spat, "Who wants to do *that* with you here? I want your phone."

"My phone?"

"No way!" Fang Mo was horrified, but Ning Yuelan was faster. She had already reached his pocket. Seeing him trying to resist, she huffed and lightly lifted a leg in black silk.

*Oof!*

She hadn't used much force, but it had landed on a critical spot, dealing a critical hit. Fang Mo let out a cry and doubled over, clutching his crotch.

Having lost the initiative, the phone was already in Ning Yuelan’s hand. She had learned his passcode when he’d let her change her contact name on his phone that night, so she unlocked it with ease. She went straight to his chat history with Li Haowen.

...

Li Haowen: *They say women in their thirties are like wolves and tigers. I’d like to ask our classmate Fang Mo, how is your waist holding up?*

Fang Mo: *...*

Li Haowen: *Conquering a cold, high-status goddess is a long and arduous journey. When you have time, share your experience with me.*

Fang Mo hadn't replied below that, likely because he didn't know how to play along.

Ning Yuelan huffed. So, the kid was just worried about her seeing these chats. She looked at Fang Mo with a smile.

"Sister Yuelan, let me explain."

"Explain what? Explain when you plan to eat your sister?" Ning Yuelan giggled, tossing the phone back to him. "Don't worry. When that day finally comes, I’ll be the one to eat you first."

*Ugh.* Fang Mo blushed.

Just then, he noticed a new message on his phone, still in the chat with Li Haowen.

Fang Mo: *Coca-Cola. What do you think?*

*What does Coca-Cola mean?* Fang Mo murmured the words to himself. "Coca... Cola..."

*Pfft.* Watching Ning Yuelan’s graceful back as she walked away, the young man nearly lost his composure.

"Brother Shen!"

"Hmm!"

Shen Changqing walked along the path, nodding to those he recognized. Regardless of who they were, no one had any extra expression on their faces, as if they were indifferent to everything.

Shen Changqing was long used to this. This was the Demon Suppression Division, an organization dedicated to maintaining the stability of the Great Qin. Its primary duty was to slay demons and ghosts, though it had other sidelines as well.

It could be said that everyone in the Demon Suppression Division had blood on their hands. When one grew accustomed to life and death, one became indifferent to many things. When he first arrived in this world, Shen Changqing hadn't adapted well, but over time, he had grown used to it.

The Demon Suppression Division was vast. Those who remained were either powerful experts or those with the potential to become one. Shen Changqing belonged to the latter. The division was divided into two roles: Protectors and Demon Slayers. Anyone entering the division started as a low-level Demon Slayer, then climbed the ranks, eventually hoping to become a Protector.

Shen Changqing’s predecessor had been a probationary Demon Slayer, the lowest rank of all. With his predecessor’s memories, he was very familiar with the environment of the division.

It didn't take long for Shen Changqing to stop in front of a pavilion. Unlike the rest of the murder-filled division, this pavilion stood out like a crane among chickens, appearing uniquely peaceful amidst the blood-soaked surroundings. The doors were open, and people occasionally walked in and out. Shen Changqing hesitated for a moment before stepping inside.

Entering the pavilion, the atmosphere changed abruptly. A scent of ink mixed with a faint smell of blood rushed toward him, making him frown instinctively before smoothing his face. The blood-scent on everyone in the division was almost impossible to wash away.