Fang Yuan hooked her arm through her backpack strap, squinted at Liang Du, and sneered, “So you do remember I caught you working as a gigolo?”
Seeing that Liang Du was about to open his foul mouth and spew more crap, Fang Yuan abruptly turned around, not intending to tangle with him any longer.
As she turned, her gaze loosely swept over all the divine candidates present, pausing for an extra second on a little girl who looked to be only eleven or twelve years old. She then carried her backpack over to a clean spot under a divine pillar, gave it a quick pat, and plunked herself down.
Fang Yuan wasn't surprised by the child's presence.
Heroes cared not where one came from, and 【Blessing】s cared not about age.
She stretched lazily and rolled her shoulders.
She couldn't kill Liang Du for the time being, and her current bad-luck state hadn't been lifted yet either.
Still, "couldn't kill" didn't mean she couldn't try to kill him. It was worth trying a few more times—what if she succeeded by chance?
Fang Yuan put down her backpack, which emitted a clanking sound of metal hitting the ground as it touched down.
There was also Jiang Qiehuo; she could consider trying to kill her too.
She would see if she could steal her power first. If she couldn't, she would kill her; if she could, she would spare her for the moment.
However, everything had to wait until after entering the 【God Selection】. After all, she still had to show Wang Wei and Lin Xu some respect for now and avoid making trouble in Hero Square.
She pulled a pink shovel and a yellow hammer out from her backpack.
Since the God of Destiny had said that two melee weapons could be brought into the 【God Selection】, then as an obedient, well-behaved model student, Fang Yuan would naturally follow the god's instructions—two meant two, not one less and not one more.
The moment Jiang Qiehuo saw Fang Yuan clatteringly pull out two melee weapons, she silently widened the distance between them.
“Hello! Fang Yuan! Want to form an alliance?”
A bright, lively, and energetic voice sounded from behind Jiang Qiehuo. The owner of the voice darted past Jun Xihua, brushed past Jiang Qiehuo's shoulder, and trotted over toward Fang Yuan.
She wore a full hair bun decorated with all sorts of colorful dopamine-styled clips. The bright orange jacket tied around her waist swayed with her movements, looking somewhat like a tail from Fang Yuan's perspective.
Fang Yuan was lowering her head and sharpening the shovel in her hands. Pulling back her peripheral vision, she replied without even raising her head, “No making friends, no forming alliances, no dating, no handshakes, no hugs, no giving money.”
The dopamine bun-haired girl squatted down, cupping her face with her hands as she leaned up into Fang Yuan's field of vision. She pouted her lips and puffed out her cheeks. “Are you really unwilling to form an alliance with me? You won't be taking a loss, really~”
Her voice was soft and sweet, carrying a coquetting tone at the end.
Fang Yuan looked down at the cute girl's face that took up her entire view, leaning her neck back slightly as the girl pressed closer.
“My grandma said that cute girls who suddenly press up close like you definitely have black hearts.”
The dopamine bun-haired girl was amused by Fang Yuan's suddenly serious tone. She shifted her body closer toward Fang Yuan, while Fang Yuan picked up her shovel and scooted back a bit.
“I'm Ren An. If you form an alliance with me, I can lend you my bow, arrows, and dagger, okay?”
As Ren An spoke, she reached out to touch Fang Yuan's sleeve, carrying a distinctly fawning air.
Fang Yuan took a step back, grabbing her hammer and shovel as she stood up to maintain her distance.
A 【Blessing】 activated by touching people?
The expression on Fang Yuan's face remained unchanged. Ren An pouted after grabbing empty air, remaining squatted on the ground as she looked up at her discontentedly.
Whatever her 【Blessing】 was, brush her off first.
If she proved to be a threat, kill her after going inside.
Fang Yuan shouldered the shovel and held the hammer, smiling at Ren An: “My grandma said that cute girls who shamelessly cling and fawn have hearts that are even blacker.”
Ren An patted her skirt and was about to stand up from the ground when Fang Yuan's shovel pressed firmly onto her shoulder, pushing her half-risen body right back down.
“Ren An? Ren An? Whatever, whichever 'An' you are, I want to tell you a secret.”
Fang Yuan lowered her body, but still maintained a safe distance from her.
“I just saw you interacting with that Jun Xihua guy, you know? Even though you arrived later, the moment you stepped inside Hero Square, your gaze was darting around frantically until you saw Jun Xihua.”
“The two of you were landing your gazes on me far too obviously and frequently—you didn't even bother pretending. With just one glance, I could tell you two teamed up ages ago to do something bad to a weak, pitiful, helpless good girl like me. So naturally, I have to guard against you, right?”
Fang Yuan straightened up, using the action of brushing her hair back to glance at Jun Xihua, who was watching this direction closely.
“Alright, like I said: no making friends, no forming alliances, no dating, no handshakes, no hugs, no giving money. Give up, cute girl.”
Shouldering her shovel and carrying her hammer, she found another spot with fewer people, sat down, and resumed her grand shovel-sharpening project.
Ren An patted the shoulder that the shovel had touched and pouted, “If you don't want to form an alliance, then fine. Why touch me with something so dirty?”
She wrinkled her nose at Fang Yuan, let out a “Hmph,” then turned her head toward the upper left, her gaze sweeping past Jun Xihua's face as she gave a single wink with her left eye.
Jun Xihua pulled at the braid on his right shoulder and let out a soft sigh.
Failed, huh... He originally wanted to use Ren An's 【Blessing】 to confirm whether this Fang Yuan truly possessed more than one 【Blessing】 as rumored, and incidentally...
It seemed he would have to look for another opportunity.
On the other side, Ling Chun, who had been shaking hands and oozing charm all this time, finally put a stop to her grand handshake scheme.
Tears welled in her eyes, her lips quivering as she took the hand of that eleven- or twelve-year-old little girl.
This scene was truly far too strange, so Fang Yuan couldn't help stealing a few more glances over there.
The little girl was wearing twin tails wrapped with ribbons at the ends. Her whole face beamed as she stared at Ling Chun, seemingly liking her very much.
The four hands of the two were clasped together, creating a sense of sisters reuniting after being lost for years.
“Little sister! Oh wow, it's so great that I finally found you! Do you have any idea how I looked at almost everyone here just to find you?”
The little girl released her hands and gave Ling Chun a hug: “This is wonderful, Sister! I was still wondering what I should do!”
Fang Yuan's gaze swept past their faces, necks, shoulders, and arms, finally landing on a baby-pink ring on the little girl's ring finger.
Lowering her gaze, she resumed tinkering with her shovel while her mind replayed the second-long glance she had cast when that little girl first stepped into Hero Square.
Twin tails wrapped in ribbons, gothic-style clothing, hands...
There was a bracelet—a pitch-black snake-shaped bracelet.
There was only a bracelet on her left wrist, and nothing on her left fingers.
Right hand...
Nothing on her right wrist or fingers.
That's it.
There was no ring.
It was extremely likely that Ling Chun had slipped it onto her.
A 【Blessing】?
What kind of 【Blessing】 was related to a ring?
Fang Yuan tilted her neck slightly and glanced at the divine statue holding a leaf.
The God of Love.
The God of Love had the closest connection to rings.
Therefore, Ling Chun was extremely likely to be a Candidate for the God of Love.
Rate on N.U.
