Liu Yanyan's tears welled up in the corners of her eyes, but she couldn't hold them back. Large tears slid down her cheeks, leaving two tear tracks. In a voice only she could hear, she whispered, "What have I done in these past fifteen years? Is my life really that cheap?"
A handkerchief embroidered with a black bird pattern was handed to Liu Yanyan, interrupting her reverie.
“Girls don’t look pretty when they cry.” A gentle male voice reached Liu Yanyan’s ears.
Liu Yanyan looked up at the sound and saw a tall, handsome boy smiling at her. His slender, long hands, like works of art, gently wiped away the tears on her face with a handkerchief.
At that moment, Liu Yanyan's heart skipped a beat, then began to beat rapidly. A blush appeared on her wheat-colored face, but it wasn't very noticeable due to her skin tone.
It seems like it was love at first sight! (That's normal, as long as he's handsome.)
A thought popped into Liu Yanyan's mind: during her saddest time, just like in a fairy tale, her prince appeared before her and cared for her with tenderness.
This was the first time she had ever had intimate contact with a boy other than her relatives and the corpse.
Liu Yanyan blushed as she watched this almost perfect man gently wipe away her tears. The feeling of being moved was a little sweet and a little bitter. Meeting a boy who made her heart flutter should have been a happy thing.
But Liu Yanyan thought about her identity—a corpse driver, a woman who spends her life with corpses—how could she be worthy of the man in front of her?
Liu Yanyan felt a sudden emptiness in her heart. For the first time, she felt inferior. She couldn't help but think: How could such a perfect guy lack outstanding girls around him? Even if he did, what qualifications did a corpse-driving person like herself have to be with him?
Liu Yanyan's face turned deathly pale. She tried her best to control her facial muscles to stop the tears from flowing out, but it was all in vain. Her tear glands simply wouldn't listen to her commands and kept secreting tears.
With this thought in mind, Liu Yanyan unconsciously took a step back, distancing herself from the boy. The usually outgoing girl seemed to have something blocking her throat, unable to utter a word, and lowered her head, looking at the ground with teary eyes.
The passersby, seeing that it was a young couple arguing, and being of human nature to watch the spectacle, soon surrounded the two of them.
"Young man, you can't bully such a nice girl. You should comfort her properly." An elderly woman who had finished buying groceries and was about to go home couldn't help but speak up. She looked at the pretty girl and felt sorry for her as she cried.
"Yes, yes, yes..." "Such a beautiful girl is meant to be cherished."
A chorus of agreement rose from the crowd.
Seeing that the group had misunderstood her relationship with the boy, Liu Yanyan quickly explained, "No, he and I are just..."
"Thank you all for your kindness, I will take good care of her." The boy interrupted Liu Yanyan, who was trying to explain, took her hand, shielded her behind him, and squeezed out of the crowd.
Liu Yanyan's mind went blank. She followed the boy blankly, staring at his broad back as if it held up the sky. It was something she had longed for in her life for more than ten years. It was the feeling of being protected that she looked forward to every lonely night and could only experience in her dreams.
"I wish it could always be like this!"
Watching the boy holding her hand tightly as they walked down the street, a thought flashed through Liu Yanyan's mind: this feeling was too wonderful, she didn't want to give it up...
However, Liu Yanyan didn't see the meaningful smile that appeared on the lips of the boy walking in front of her...
(In the original novel, Liu Yanyan appears strong on the outside but is actually very fragile inside, so this is not an exaggeration.)
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Chapter 70: The Net (Surprised? Unexpected? Bonus chapter for the lazy reader)
Liu Yanyan followed the boy for an unknown amount of time, too nervous to pay attention to her surroundings. When she came to her senses, they had arrived at a secluded park.
Liu Yanyan sat down on a park bench with the boy. For some reason, a shy feeling welled up inside her, and she couldn't help but turn her head away, pretending not to care as she looked at a tree beside her. A butterfly took flight from the flowers, fluttering its wings and slowly flying around the tree.
Looking at the beautiful butterfly, Liu Yanyan had a beautiful wish in her heart. She thought of her past life, which was as ugly as a caterpillar, but as long as she could overcome this obstacle, she could transform from a cocoon into a butterfly, just like this butterfly, and fly freely among the flowers.
Thinking of this, Liu Yanyan regained some of the demeanor of a girl from western Hunan and said gracefully, "Hello, my name is Liu Yanyan, it's nice to meet you."
As she spoke, Liu Yanyan blushed slightly, lowered her eyes, and said softly, "I'm sorry for causing you trouble today."
"It's not a bother. On the contrary, I'm happy to help you. My name is Xu Le, a freshman at Nanjing University." Xu Le sensed the power within Liu Yanyan's body, which was somewhat similar to shadow magic, but there was a fundamental difference. The only similarity was that it leaned towards dark power.
In his perception, Liu Yanyan's own strength was not strong. These cold and gloomy energies did not strengthen her body. Rather, they were more like a symbiotic state, probably due to the corpse-driving technique she cultivated. Seeing this, Xu Le had to admire the powerful creativity of these guys. They were able to cleverly balance the corpse energy and human life force, and successfully control the corpses.
"Why were you crying in the street? Was it because of your boyfriend?" Xu Le scratched his head shyly and asked casually.
Liu Yanyan, who was initially a little shy, waved her hands repeatedly and said urgently, "No, I cried because I was thinking about something at home and I felt a little sad. I don't have many male friends my age, so how could I have a boyfriend?" After saying that, Liu Yanyan stared at Xu Le nervously, afraid that he would misunderstand her.
After hearing this, Xu Le smiled with relief and said with a warm smile, "I see. Where do you live now?"
"Not yet. I just arrived here by train today and haven't found a place to stay yet. I'm not familiar with this area and don't know where to go." Liu Yanyan shook her head, remembering that she had fled from home in a hurry and hadn't brought enough money, so she hadn't rented a place.
"I see..." Xu Le thought for a moment, then suddenly had a bright idea. He said, "If you're not afraid that I'm a bad person, you can stay at my house first. I have several empty rooms that you can move into after tidying them up."
"This..." Liu Yanyan was shocked. Was this the start of living together? "Is it really okay?" Liu Yanyan hesitated. Although this was a good opportunity to get closer, would it seem too promiscuous to agree directly? It wouldn't be good if Xu Le got involved, so she politely declined a few times.
"It's alright. It's not safe for a girl to be out alone, so don't be so polite with me." Although Xu Le knew that Liu Yanyan had several zombies protecting her and didn't need to worry about any perverts, he still needed to act according to his role.
"Thank you, Xu...Xu Le." Liu Yanyan stood up, thanked Xu Le, and called his name. Seeing that Xu Le was not acting strangely, Liu Yanyan secretly clenched her fist and cheered.
And so, Liu Yanyan followed Xu Le out of the park and headed toward the apartment that Xu Le had gotten from Nadutong Company.
The orange glow of the setting sun seemed to drape the park in a thin veil, while butterflies continued to fly freely in the air, slowly drifting towards a bright red rose.
Snap!
A large, intricate net caught it, and the butterfly began to tremble and shake the net, but it remained firmly stuck.
A black spider, about the size of a child's fist, slowly approached its prey with its eight hairy legs. It walked up to the struggling butterfly, its eight eyes reflecting the butterfly's pained image.
The spider slowly wrapped its dinner in silk, then its dark, sharp pincers pierced the struggling butterfly's body. The terrifying venom killed the butterfly in no time, but the spider did not stop. It continued to secrete digestive enzymes into the butterfly's body, turning it into a puddle of liquid, which it then slowly sucked into the butterfly's digestive tract.
After having a hearty meal, the spider left along the silk, leaving only the butterfly's still beautiful empty shell wrapped in the silk.
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A group of shadowy warriors moved through the dense forest, and soon a village came into view. A group of people had already gathered at the village entrance, led by a white-clad, white-haired man. Upon seeing the approaching shadowy warriors, he looked them up and down with interest, but felt no worry, for he was Ma Xianhong.
Ma Xianhong waved his hand as he watched the group of menacing shadow warriors approach. Behind him, a group of girls who looked exactly like the young girls sold in funeral parlors surrounded the shadow warriors.