Help! I transmigrated to a Beast World-Chapter 47: Avoid Qing Lin at all costs!

Xin Yi had been hiding in her guest chamber for exactly four hours and twenty-three minutes.

Not that she was counting.

Okay, she was definitely counting.

[DING! (◕‿◕)]

[Host has successfully avoided Snake King for 4 hours, 23 minutes, and 47 seconds!]

[New Achievement Unlocked: Coward Extraordinaire!]

[Dignity Points: Still in the negatives!]

"I am NOT a coward!" Xin Yi hissed at the glowing screen, pacing back and forth across the small room. "I’m just... strategically regrouping! There’s a DIFFERENCE!"

[That’s literally what being a coward means! ☆]

"I will find a way to DELETE you!"

[Host has been threatening that for 47 days now! Still hasn’t figured out how! (◕‿◕)] 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

Xin Yi groaned and flopped face-first onto the pile of soft leaves that served as her bed. The problem was, she couldn’t hide forever. Eventually she’d have to face him. Face it. Face whatever the hell "It will be my turn to help you" even MEANT.

"Imagine.....having my cubs..."

"NOPE!" She sat bolt upright, her face burning. "Not thinking about it! La la la, I can’t hear the memory!"

[DING! (¬‿¬)]

[Oh, you’re thinking about it alright!]

[Your heart rate just spiked to 130 bpm!]

[Also, fun fact: You’ve touched your neck where he almost-bit-you exactly 47 times in the last hour!]

Xin Yi’s hand, which had been creeping toward her neck again, froze mid-air. "I HAVE NOT!"

[Denial is not just a river in Egypt, Host! ☆]

Before she could argue further, there was a sound at the door.

Knock knock knock.

Xin Yi’s entire body went rigid. Oh god. Oh no. Was it him? Should she pretend to be asleep? Dead? Transmigrated back to her bathroom?

"Pink Skin? Pink Skin, are you in there?"

She let out a breath so forceful it made her dizzy. Just Xiao Long. Thank everything holy, it was just Xiao Long.

"Yeah, Xiao Long baby! I’m here!"

The door didn’t open. It exploded inward as the seven-year-old burst through like a tiny, scale-covered missile.

"YOU’RE HERE!" Xiao Long shrieked, launching himself at her with zero regard for physics or personal space. "I’ve been looking EVERYWHERE! Well, not everywhere. Just here. But I knocked REALLY LOUD!"

Xin Yi caught him mid-flight, stumbling backward. "I heard! The whole VILLAGE heard!"

"Good!" The boy wriggled in her arms until she set him down. His black eyes were sparkling with mischief. "Uncle Qing has been looking for you ALL MORNING! He asked me like FIVE times if I knew where you were!"

Xin Yi’s stomach dropped into her feet. "...And what did you tell him?"

"That you were hiding!"

"XIAO LONG!"

"What?!" The boy looked genuinely confused. "You ARE hiding! Papa says we should always tell the truth! Unless it’s about who ate the last fish, then we blame the birds."

[DING! (≧▽≦)]

[Xiao Long is TOO PURE for this world!]

[Also too HONEST!]

[This child cannot keep a secret to save his life!]

Xin Yi groaned and sat down on the bed, pulling the boy down beside her. "Xiao Long, sweetie, sometimes grown-ups need to......not tell the WHOLE truth right away."

"You mean lie?"

"No! Just... delay the truth. Temporarily."

"That sounds like lying with extra steps."

This child is too smart for his own good.

"Okay fine, maybe I’m hiding a little bit," Xin Yi admitted. "But it’s difficult."

"Why?" Xiao Long tilted his head, his messy black hair flopping to one side. "Uncle Qing is really nice! He brings me sweets! And he doesn’t make me do boring grown-up stuff! And he smells like rain!"

"I know he’s nice—"

"Then why are you hiding from him? Did he bite you?" The boy’s eyes went wide with excitement. "Papa says when a male bites a female it means they’re MATES! Are you and Uncle Qing mates now?! Can I call you Auntie?!"

"HE DIDN’T BITE ME!" Xin Yi’s voice came out way too loud. She took a breath. "We’re not... he didn’t... that’s not what happened."

"Oh." Xiao Long looked disappointed. Then he leaned closer and sniffed her. His nose wrinkled. "But you smell like him. A lot. More than yesterday. Like, A LOT a lot."

Xin Yi’s hand flew to her neck. The spot where Qing Lin’s teeth had grazed her skin. Where she could still feel the ghost of his breath. Where he’d said—

Nope. Not thinking about it.

"That’s just because I helped him with the......the molting stuff! Professional helping! Very normal! Super platonic helping!"

[DING! (¬‿¬)]

[Platonic helping that involved him nuzzling your neck and talking about cubs?]

[Sure, Host. VERY professional. ☆]

"What’s pla-ton-ic?" Xiao Long asked.

"It means friends! Just friends! Nothing romantic!"

"But Uncle Qing doesn’t LOOK at you like a friend." The boy swung his legs, his little feet not quite touching the ground. "He looks at you like Papa looks at the big fish before he catches it. Like... like he wants to keep you forever."

Xin Yi’s heart did a weird fluttery thing that she absolutely DID NOT appreciate.

"That’s......that’s just his face."

"No, it’s not! When he looks at OTHER people, his face is all—" Xiao Long made an exaggerated scowl, narrowing his eyes to slits. "Like he wants to eat them in a BAD way. But when he looks at YOU, his face is all—" He softened his expression into something that was probably supposed to be romantic but mostly looked like he had gas. "Like he wants to eat you in a GOOD way!"

"THERE IS NO GOOD WAY TO EAT PEOPLE!"

[DING! (◕‿◕)]

[Actually, in romance novels there are SEVERAL good ways to—]

"SYSTEM, SHUT UP!"

Xiao Long giggled. "You’re funny when you yell at the air, Pink Skin!"

Before Xin Yi could respond, the boy suddenly grabbed her hand with both of his tiny ones. His expression turned serious.

"Pink Skin......you’re not leaving soon, are you?"

The question hit her like a punch to the gut. "I... well... I have to go back eventually. To Qing Lin’s territory. And then... and then back to Hei Yan."

"The angry cat?"

"He’s not... okay yes, the angry cat."

Xiao Long’s lower lip trembled. "But I don’t WANT you to go! You’re nice! And you smell good! And you make the Liquid Gold! And you don’t mind when I climb on you even though Papa says I’m too old for that! You helped us yesterday!"

"Oh, baby..." Xin Yi pulled him into a hug. The boy buried his face in her shoulder, and she felt his little body shake with a hiccup that might have been a sob.

"You’re the best Pink Skin I ever met," he mumbled into her tunic. "The ONLY Pink Skin I ever met. But still the best."

[DING! (╥﹏╥)]

[EMOTIONAL DAMAGE DETECTED!]

[Xiao Long Affection Level: MAXIMUM!]

[He has officially adopted you as his favorite person!]

[Warning: Saying goodbye to this child is going to HURT!]

Xin Yi felt her own throat getting tight. When had she gotten so attached to this weird little snake boy? When had he wormed his way into her heart?

"Hey," she said softly, pulling back to look at him. "Just because I have to leave doesn’t mean I won’t come back to visit. Okay?"

"Really?" His eyes were shiny with unshed tears.

"Really. I’ll come back and teach you more soap-making. And cooking. And maybe we can work on your hair-styling skills because what you did to me yesterday was a CRIME."

Xiao Long giggled wetly. "It wasn’t THAT bad!"

"It looked like a bird’s nest had a baby with a tumbleweed."

"I don’t know what those words mean!"

"Exactly my point!"

They were both laughing when the door opened again.

This time, there was no knock.

Xin Yi looked up and her laughter died in her throat.