On the Ark.

Chapter 421 Is this your knife? Let me touch it too (3K)

Chen never imagined that she would one day be able to completely pull out Chixiao in such a way, nor did she expect that Chixiao, which had been safely pulled out, would be so quiet in her hands. The powerful and chaotic force seemed to have completely disappeared at this moment, and then she tried to gently swing Chixiao, and the smooth and gentle feeling was indeed something she had never experienced before.

Then Lin Ye smiled and said to her, "Congratulations, you succeeded."

Is that it?

Chen sheathed Chixiao again. After finally drawing it out, she felt she should be happy, but she couldn't smile at all.

"What's wrong?" Lin Ye noticed Chen's unusual behavior.

Chen rubbed his forehead and said softly, "I have a feeling something's not right."

"Hmm? Something's not right? What's wrong?"

"This..." Chen looked at the Crimson Cloud Sword in his hand with a strange expression. "Can this be considered as something I pulled out?"

"Of course it's you," Lin Ye said without batting an eye. "You see, I didn't even touch Chi Xiao just now."

"I only touched your hand," Lin Ye thought to himself, but dared not say it aloud.

However, Chen was no naive girl; she was a senior inspector of the Royal Guard Bureau and wouldn't let the thrill of drawing her sword cloud her judgment. She quickly realized something was wrong, raised her head, and stared at Lin Ye with a cold gaze: "Dr. Lin, your movements just now were quite practiced."

Lin Ye coughed twice: "Cough cough, no, no, I just wanted to help you."

"That's a pretty good excuse," Chen said. "I'm starting to wonder again whether you went there to get a haircut tonight or did something else."

Lin Ye: "..."

Although he knew Chen was joking, Lin Ye was still a little flustered. What if this crazy woman got angry and dragged him to the police station for investigation? Then the laughter wouldn't be so funny anymore. If she just pinned a charge on him and called Rhodes Island to pick him up, the fun would be even greater. At this time, it seemed that only Eyjafjalla was still in Lungmen.

If Eyjafjalla were to come and escort this "attempted prostitution" senior, he wouldn't be able to stay on Rhodes Island.

Fortunately, Chen wasn't the kind of officer who would bend the law for personal gain, and she understood the principles of justice. She knew Lin Ye was genuinely trying to help her, even if the method was a little hard for her to accept. But then again, as long as she could pull out the Crimson Sky Sword, what did touching it matter? Even if it was... no, touching it was already the limit!

Mr. Chen felt like his brain wasn't working properly when he stood in front of Lin Ye. Was this what they meant by mental retardation being contagious?

Seeing that Chen hadn't spoken for a long time, Lin Ye thought that Chen was really thinking about what crime to accuse Lin Ye of, so he quickly changed the subject: "Don't be stunned, try again. Is pulling it out once enough?"

"Hmm?" Chen replied, glancing at Lin Ye, and said coldly, "Haven't you had enough? Want to touch me again?"

"Look at what you're saying..." Lin Ye raised his hands. "This time I absolutely won't touch you. You can do it yourself."

That's more or less.

Chen nodded subconsciously, then felt that Lin Ye's words were easily misunderstood, and wondered if it was intentional. But at this point, it didn't matter; pulling out the Crimson Sky Sword was the more important thing. If he had pulled out the Crimson Sky Sword with Lin Ye's help earlier, what about this time?

She gripped the hilt of Chixiao's sword again and took a deep breath.

Her successful sword draw just now gave her renewed hope, so she couldn't help but feel nervous again, but she didn't show it because she didn't want Lin Ye to see through her.

Then she slowly exerted her strength.

Clang.

Chixiao was drawn out of its sheath once again, and soon it was completely pulled out again.

Seeing this, Lin Ye breathed a sigh of relief: "Now there shouldn't be any problems, right?"

I don't know the underlying principle, but as long as I can figure it out, that's fine.

However, while Lin Ye relaxed, Chen's face showed no sign of ease; in fact, his brows furrowed even deeper.

Lin Ye noticed and asked, "What's wrong?"

Chen sheathed Chixiao again: "It's not as smooth as before."

"what?"

“I feel the obstacle again,” Chen said. “It’s not obvious, and it can be easily overcome, but it has definitely appeared, even though it wasn’t there just a moment ago.”

Lin Ye didn't know why this was happening, so he said, "Why don't we try again? Maybe it's just your imagination?"

“I wouldn’t be so sure about something like this,” Chen said. “But we definitely have to try again.”

As he spoke, Chen drew his sword again.

He drew Chixiao completely again, but this time, even Lin Ye sensed something was wrong. The entire blade trembled and emitted a slight buzzing sound as it was drawn, as if trying to break free from Chen's grasp. Before Lin Ye could speak, Chen sheathed Chixiao again and continued drawing, attempting four or five times until it finally became impossible to pull out.

"It's back to normal again," Chen said to Lin Ye after his seventh unsuccessful attempt.

Lin Ye's lips twitched slightly as he tentatively asked, "Did you pluck it too many times? Is it angry?"

Chen rolled his eyes: "What do you think?"

“I think it’s possible. Didn’t you say that Chixiao has a soul? What if it knows you…”

Before he could finish speaking, Chen held up Chixiao in front of Lin Ye again: "Then you try it."

Lin Ye didn't really want to try, because he could clearly feel the suppressed anger in Chen's heart. So, he couldn't just say he was going to try, because trying would easily lead to his death. However, if he didn't try, Chen might kill him on the spot. So, he could only reluctantly accept the task and, under Chen's gaze, begin to draw his sword.

He actually thought this behavior was pretty stupid, especially under the watchful eyes of others. But what was even stupider was that he never felt any resistance at all on Chixiao. He just easily pulled it out, then pulled it back in, pulled it out again, and pulled it back in again, repeating this more than ten times. Finally... Chen couldn't stand it anymore.

"Alright." Chen took Chixiao back.

Seeing Chen's reaction, Lin Ye thought she would never let him take Chixiao again. But what Lin Ye didn't expect was that after taking back Chixiao, Chen seemed to have made a decision and raised her hand towards Lin Ye.

Lin Ye didn't react immediately: "What?"

"Hold my hand," Chen said with a stern face.

"what?"

"What do you mean 'huh'?" Chen urged through gritted teeth, "Hurry up! It's not like this is the first time you've caught someone like this."

Lin Ye: "..."

Although he knew it was for Chixiao's sake, Lin Ye still felt strange seeing Chen make this request. However, he didn't dare to speak or ask, and could only silently reach out and grab Chen's hand. He originally just wanted to touch it... no, just touch it and then let go, but Chen directly grabbed his hand back, not letting Lin Ye let go.

After holding hands for more than ten seconds, Chen finally let go.

Without even glancing at Lin Ye, she drew her sword again.

Clang.

Chixiao was drawn from its sheath with unparalleled smoothness, its sharp blade reflecting Chen's liver-colored face.

"Hello, steamed foie gras." And of all times, the waiter brought out the dish at this very moment.

Lin Ye sensed that Chen's expression had become even more unpleasant, making him hesitant to continue his meal. He wanted to turn around and leave, but fearing Chen's further outburst, he suppressed the thought. After standing there for a long time, Chen finally sheathed Chixiao again, no longer drawing his sword. He sat down and said in a muffled voice, "It seems this sword does indeed like you."

Lin Ye wasn't sure if it was just his imagination, but he felt there was a hint of bitterness in Chen's words.

He could only sit down and try to comfort Chen: "Nobody wants this to happen... What I mean is, Chixiao likes you too, right? After all, you said that no one else can pull it out except you. So it's not that it doesn't like you, it just likes me more than you... Uh, hey, this foie gras is pretty good."

Lin Ye didn't know why, but even though he wanted to comfort Chen, his words came out strangely, as if he were adding fuel to the fire. And under his persuasion, Chen's face turned even darker, just as he had hoped. This made Lin Ye even more hesitant to speak, thinking it best to keep quiet, finish his meal quickly, and slip away.

However, in Chen's eyes, Lin Ye pulled out her knife, then coldly mocked her, and after mocking her, he still ate the food she offered. This made Chen feel even more heartbroken. At this moment, she suddenly noticed that Lin Ye also seemed to have a knife behind him, a black steel sword that was quite common when he came last time.

For some reason, Chen Yong asked casually, "You changed your knife too?"

“Yeah.” Lin Ye nodded and replied casually, “My knife is pretty good too… uh.”

He suddenly felt something was wrong, and sure enough, Chen's next words were: "Really? Let me try."

Lin Ye: "..."

So why does he have to be so sarcastic?!

Lin Ye smiled awkwardly: "This, isn't that a bit inappropriate?"

"What's wrong?" Chen said coldly. "Are you allowed to touch me, but I'm not allowed to touch you?"

If it were anyone else, Lin Ye would refuse without a second thought if they asked to touch [Feng]. However, it was Chen, and he really didn't know how to refuse, especially with Chen's expression that said, "You're not leaving this store until you let me see him," making him afraid to refuse.

So he could only smile wryly as he untied the [Maple] sword: "Actually, this sword of mine is just an ornament; it has no sharpness whatsoever."

"Perhaps," Chen said calmly, then reached out and took the sword.

Actually, Chen wasn't the first person besides Messiah and Lin Ye to encounter [Maple]; he was the third, the first two being Eileen and Lappland. And in the hands of Eileen and Lappland, [Maple] couldn't even injure anyone, which is why Lin Ye wasn't so worried.

But an accident still happened.

Lin Ye was holding the blade of the [Maple] sword, with the hilt facing the one Chen had given her, while Chen was also gripping the hilt, trying to take the [Maple] sword from her.

However, she was unable to take [Maple] with her.

Tick-tock...tick-tock.

That's the sound of blood dripping onto the table.

Lin Ye looked in the direction of the sound and saw blood seeping from between the fingers of Chen's hand that was gripping the hilt of the [Maple] sword. He couldn't help but open his mouth wide.

Chen slowly released his blood-soaked hand, and saw that the hilt of [Maple]'s sword was covered with sharp spikes like small twigs.

Chapter 422 Cartoon Angels (3K)

When Lin Ye returned to the building, it was already close to midnight.

He had only intended to have dinner and stroll through the Lungmen night market before heading back, but who knew it would turn into this mess. Even now, he couldn't forget the look in Chen's eyes as he left; it was a look that would break anyone's heart. After all, Chen not only couldn't pull out the Crimson Sky Sword, but he had even been pricked by Maple Leaf.

The latter was something Lin Ye hadn't expected at all, because before Chen, [Feng] had never acted this way. It hadn't happened when Eileen and Lappland used it either; he didn't know why this would happen as soon as Chen took over. Could it be that the way Chen held the knife (tip towards Lin Ye, hilt towards Chen) made [Feng] mistakenly think Chen was going to use it to attack Lin Ye, which is why it did this?

That possibility seems quite high, but then again, Lin Ye also tried to get Lappland to attack him with [Maple], but [Maple] didn't backfire on Lappland; it merely nullified the damage. So why only Chen… Could it really be because Chen doesn't like swords?

Lin Ye was completely baffled, but he wasn't one to dwell on things. If he couldn't find the reason, he'd leave it for now. After all, [Maple] wouldn't harm him, and after this experience, Chen probably wouldn't ask him to try [Maple] again, so he wouldn't be able to discover [Maple's] secret. In other words, the outcome was actually quite good, except for Chen, who suffered both physically and emotionally.

Before parting, Chen shook Lin Ye's hand again, probably hoping it would make things easier for him when he tried to take down the Crimson Sky next time. He wondered how long this effect would last. It was a rather interesting method, though; if Lin Ye were ever fired from Rhodes Island, he could always sneak into the Lungmen Guard Bureau and work under Chen.

All I need to do is run over to Chen when she's about to embark on a dangerous mission, shake her hand, and help her draw her sword, Chixiao. Of course, to save Chen's face and prevent her subordinates from knowing that she's someone who needs help even to draw her sword, I have to maintain a facade. Hmm, I'll just be a cheerleader then. Hug Chen before she fights, shake her hand, and shout "Ganbatte!"...

No, I can't think about this anymore, it's too ridiculous. Why does he always come up with such ridiculous ideas?

Lin Ye shook his head repeatedly, just as a knock sounded on the door behind him: "Senior, are you there?"

It's Eyjafjalla, of course.

Lin Ye hurriedly ran to open the door and saw Eyjafjalla and her lambs standing in front of him.

"Aren't you asleep yet this late?" Lin Ye asked, somewhat surprised.

Eyjafjalla said, "That's enough. I'll watch for another half hour before going to sleep."

"Is that so? You should probably go to bed earlier." Lin Ye thought to himself, what a diligent child. "Is there something you need?"