Chapter 54: Skilled, and Xiao Cui

She then sat down on Lin Xing’s lap, leaning her entire body against his chest with practiced ease.

Burying her face in the crook of his neck, she rubbed against him, her voice sounding soft and pillowy.

‘Again… is it happening again?’

‘But Lumiya is right next to us. If she sees this, I’m toast, right?’

Though he thought things were going south, his actions didn’t hesitate for a moment.

One hand skillfully wrapped around Little Green’s waist, while the other rested on her head, stroking it gently.

“Get up first, alright? Get up so I can go get the barbecue I brought back for you—”

“I don’t want to! Then… then I won’t eat! Lu… Lumiya promised me I could tonight!”

Instead of getting up, Little Green threw her arms around Lin Xing’s neck.

She clung to his lap, refusing to budge, as her rosy lips pecked repeatedly at his neck.

It should have been an ambiguous and romantic scene, yet Lin Xing’s face was filled with speechless exasperation.

Could anyone imagine being slammed into by a woodpecker that reeked of a mixture of barbecue and alcohol, giving off a strange odor?

Where was the ambiguity in that?

Aside from being covered in the smell of cumin, barbecue, and booze, the little thing kept knocking her forehead against his neck with a series of *thuds*.

Lin Xing didn’t know whether to laugh or cry as he tried to push her away, but Little Green held on tight, refusing to let him go no matter what.

“Hmph~”

Just then, a soft snort came from the other end of the sofa.

Lin Xing’s heart skipped a beat, and he snapped his head around to look at Lumiya.

The girl had woken up at some point. Her Golden Vertical Pupils were half-open, staring at him and Little Green with a knowing smirk.

‘I’m dead!’

Lin Xing’s mind went blank for a second. He frantically tried to peel Little Green off his body.

“Lumiya, let me explain. It’s not what you think…”

“It’s not~? Your hand is still on Little Green’s waist, though~”

Lumiya propped herself up on the sofa. Her Dragon Tail swayed slowly behind her, and her tone carried a hint of laziness.

“I’m not drunk~ I was faking it. Don’t tell Little Green!”

As she spoke, she used both her hands and feet to crawl across the sofa toward Lin Xing. Her golden hair swayed with her movements, and her eyes were full of mischief.

Little Green heard Lumiya’s voice, but she didn’t seem to hear exactly what was said.

Instead of letting go, she hugged him even tighter and looked up to make a face at Lumiya.

“Lin Xing… is mine… tonight… we agreed he’s mine…” Her drunken state brought her food-guarding instinct to its absolute limit.

Caught in the middle, Lin Xing had the clingy Little Green on his left and the teasing Lumiya on his right. He felt his head throbbing.

“Alright, I’ll stop teasing you. Hurry up and pull her off! It must be heavy having her hanging on you like that.”

Since Lin Xing looked so ridiculous—stiff as a board with a “koala” hanging off him, looking panicked yet afraid to move—Lumiya finally couldn’t hold it back anymore and burst into a giggle.

This time, Little Green heard her clearly, but her hands still didn’t loosen their grip on Lin Xing.

It seemed she was determined to stay tangled with him all night!

“This… I can’t pull her off…”

Lin Xing looked at Lumiya awkwardly as their gazes met in the air.

Lumiya let out a dissatisfied “Tch.”

“Can’t pull her off, huh? I’ll help you!”

She stood up and walked over to Lin Xing.

She simply patted Little Green’s head gently and whispered something into her ear.

Little Green, who had been as sticky as a piece of taffy, immediately slid off Lin Xing obediently.

She lowered her head and trudged toward the bathroom, looking quite dejected.

As she passed the sofa, she looked back at Lin Xing with a pitiful expression, her voice sounding watery.

“I… I’m going to go take a shower first! Lin Xing, wait… wait for me~”

Lin Xing watched her wobbly figure disappear and let out a long sigh of relief.

He was about to thank Lumiya when he saw the girl crossing her arms over her chest, raising an eyebrow at him.

“So? Was Little Green’s waist nice to touch? Do you want me to fulfill my promise and let you have one on each arm tonight?”

Her Dragon Tail lightly swept over the armrest of the sofa, her voice dripping with mockery.

“I wouldn’t dare~ I wouldn’t dare~”

Lin Xing knew Lumiya was just joking.

Although the three of them implicitly acknowledged their relationship, and Little Green and Lumiya didn’t mind him taking small advantages, Lin Xing could feel something else.

That fellow Little Green seemed to truly have the mindset of a bird. It wasn’t that she had fallen for him; she seemed to have known Lumiya before and just wanted to cling to her!

As for Lumiya… after living together for several months, Lin Xing still couldn’t fully understand her.

Lumiya seemed to have a natural sense of closeness to him. She would give him “benefits” from time to time and even blush or act shy on occasion.

However, their daily interactions felt more like they were best buds. That was why Lumiya allowed Little Green to give him those benefits.

But regarding himself, Lin Xing always felt that Lumiya’s possessiveness didn’t stem from love.

Rather, it felt like the nature of a Dragon—Lumiya simply couldn’t stand the scent of someone else being close to her property.

In reality, Lin Xing had guessed part of the truth.

As a bird, Little Green possessed extraordinary talent and grew too quickly. This caused the biological instinct for hypergamy and procreation to never awaken among her own kind.

That changed the day she accidentally got lost in the Spacetime Turbulence and was discovered and saved by Lumiya.

During the hundreds of years she spent with Lumiya, the Dragon’s power was deeply engraved in Little Green’s heart.

Her biological instinct to mate with the strong became firmly fixed on Lumiya, though it couldn’t be fully released due to their genders.

Over the thousands of years after she was sent away by Lumiya, as her own strength grew, her impression and understanding of Lumiya’s power only deepened!

This made her look down on her own kind even more.

That suppressed instinct had been locked away in the depths of her heart.

That lasted until the day of Lin Xing’s Contract, when Little Green felt Lumiya’s aura for the first time in ages!

She had accepted Lin Xing’s Contract without hesitation.

Feeling the aura of Lumiya’s favor on Lin Xing, she knew this man was the one chosen by Lumiya.

He would inevitably become incomparably powerful in the future!

In the short time she spent with Lin Xing, she experienced his peaceful and incredibly tolerant personality. Combined with the alcohol that day, her twisted feelings for Lumiya completely transferred onto Lin Xing.

When the mating instinct she had suppressed for years finally exploded, she took the initiative to court him.

After sobering up, Little Green didn’t regret it much.

According to the traditions of the Emerald Sky Bird race, once you take the initiative to court someone, there is no going back.

Moreover, her feelings for Lumiya were already quietly shifting toward Lin Xing.

Thus, she naturally accepted the fact that Lin Xing was her man. Being close to him was only a matter of course.

Regarding his understanding of Lumiya, Lin Xing was half right and half wrong.

Lumiya did indeed feel a sense of closeness to him because they were both Townsmen.

Her possessiveness also came from her many years as a Dragon, but that wasn’t the whole story.

Lumiya was a “human” before she crossed over! A genuine human!

She had been a Dragon for far too long. Just as she had said before, she was lonely—so lonely that she had almost forgotten how to live like a human.

Only scattered fragments remained for her to preserve the last shred of her humanity.

That was why she had been so shocked the moment she saw Lin Xing, a fellow Townsman.

That night, after reclaiming part of her humanity, Lumiya’s feelings for Lin Xing had become very distorted.

The possessiveness from thousands of years as a giant Dragon, the sense of belonging and identity born from sharing the same soul-deep origin, the softness of her returning humanity, and the stimulation brought by Little White…

All of these factors made Lumiya’s feelings for Lin Xing incredibly complex.

It wasn’t just “liking” or “love.” It was more like something she couldn’t let go of and couldn’t bear to lose.

Subconsciously, she kept telling herself that only by becoming Lin Xing’s legitimate “first wife” could she weld this sense of belonging into place and ensure no one could ever snatch him away from her.

Looking at the dazed Lin Xing, Lumiya leaned in close and whispered into his ear.

“Lin Xing, what are you thinking about? Why are you spacing out? Did you hear what I said? Having one on each arm is not allowed, but…”