On the bus.

Facing the fox‑eared girl alone, Lin Zichen wore a grave expression.

He used Danger Perception to probe her biological level and found it was only Ordinary Nine.

‘With methods this uncanny, could this be an ordinary being? It made no sense at all. Nor did it fit biology. So… was the biological level disguised?’

The more Lin Zichen thought, the more uneasy he felt.

The unknown is always unsettling.

If he could know the fox‑eared girl’s true strength, even if she were Rare‑tier, he would not feel this uneasy.

Right now he feared one thing most.

That the fox‑eared girl before him was stronger than Yuan Dongzhi.

If so, today would likely end badly.

“Little bed slave, there are only the two of us left in the bus now,” the fox‑eared girl said as she rose from her seat and walked toward Lin Zichen unhurriedly, smiling bewitchingly as she came.

She wore a purple silk long dress and revealed a pair of bare, delicate jade feet that could fit in one hand.

As she walked, the loose sleeves of her dress swayed.

Her steps were light and smooth.

She looked like a purple butterfly dancing—pleasing to the eye and exquisitely graceful.

Seeing that she walked barefoot, Lin Zichen felt puzzled.

‘Was she not afraid of dirtying her feet?’

Just as he thought that, in the next moment he was startled to find the fox‑eared girl was entirely floating.

Looking closely, he could see that her bare jade feet were actually a little above the floor.

About half a centimeter.

If one did not look carefully it was hard to notice.

At that, Lin Zichen’s brows drew together and his expression grew even more solemn.

The fox‑eared girl wore no shoes.

Yet her feet were still pure white and clean, with not a speck of dust.

What did that show?

It showed she had been maintaining a state of levitation all along, never touching the ground for even a second.

‘To keep one’s whole body floating at all times—how strong must her mental power be? Was Yuan Dongzhi’s mental power as strong as hers?’

Thoughts whirled in Lin Zichen’s mind and the more he thought the more powerless he felt.

The fox‑eared girl before him was extremely strong—so strong one could not even raise the thought of resisting.

Soon the fox‑eared girl came up to Lin Zichen and said in a soft, velvety voice, “Little bed slave, why are you frowning like that? I won’t eat you. Relax a bit.”

As she spoke, Lin Zichen caught a faint floral fragrance.

It wafted from the fox‑eared girl herself.

The scent was pleasant, intoxicating, making one want to draw closer.

‘Something was wrong with that floral scent—it felt like an aphrodisiac…’

Shaking himself free of the fragrance, Lin Zichen took a small step back and, as calmly as possible asked, “What do you mean by bed slave.”

As he asked, he readied himself to act at any moment.

If the fox‑eared girl made any strange move, he would strike without hesitation.

Although he was very likely no match for her, he had to try to know.

What if he could win?

What if the other party’s strength lay only in the mind while her body was extremely frail?

Anything was possible.

After all, beings with extremely strong mental power but very weak bodies were not unheard of.

Many aberrant beasts specialized in mental power had the weakness of a frail body.

“When I say bed slave, I mean it literally—a slave for the bed, responsible for pleasing me in bed, whose essence I will draw,” the fox‑eared girl said with a bright smile, “Your powerful physical gifts and handsome looks fit my requirements very well. Especially your physical gifts—being able to cross tiers to single‑kill an Advanced Six powerhouse with an Ordinary Nine body is simply unbelievable. With such a formidable physical endowment, the essence within must be sweet and delicious—you qualify to be my bed slave.”

‘Draw essence? What was that?’

Sensing something wrong, Lin Zichen asked, “Are you a Gene Fuser, or an aberrant beast or perhaps an aberrant human?”

Before this, he had assumed the fox‑eared girl was a Gene Fuser who had fused fox‑type aberrant beast genes.

Now he realized he might be wrong.

She very likely was truly not human.

At least not an Earth human.

She was likely a shapeshifted aberrant beast or one of the aberrant humans said to live in the Source Site.

However, her answer was somewhat unexpected.

She sat sideways on a nearby seat, lazily crossing one leg, tapping her petite jade toes teasingly as she smiled seductively and said:

“I am neither a Gene Fuser nor an aberrant beast and I am not an aberrant human either.”

“None of them?”

Lin Zichen was a little blank.

If neither this nor that, then what was she?

Could she, like him, be a pure‑blood human?

But the girl had beast ears and a tail—by no look was she a pure‑blood human.

The fox‑eared girl continued, “I am half Earthling.”

“Half Earthling?”

Lin Zichen did not quite get it.

Soon he thought of something and asked, “Are you from the Source Site?”

“Clever—you guessed right,” the fox‑eared girl said with a smile, “I am indeed from the Source Site. But rest assured, I am not like the other beings there—I have never thought of invading Earth and I bear no malice toward Earth humans. Because half of Earth human blood flows in me—I am half Earthling. Strictly speaking, Earth counts as half my hometown.”

“You are a human‑beast hybrid?” Lin Zichen asked.

“Not human‑beast—human‑fox, the fox of demon‑fox,” she corrected.

“‘Beast’ is a general term for non‑sapient life. My mother could speak human words, carry me for ten months and she mastered the four arts of zither, chess, calligraphy and painting. Do you think she was a beast?”

She sighed softly, “My mother was so excellent, but my Earth‑born father did not cherish her at all. He used her love to scheme against her—cheating her of money and love, getting her pregnant and then pulling up his pants and vanishing. As his daughter, I have grown up without seeing him even once. It was also my mother being infatuated—too trusting of a man’s sweet talk. As I see it, men deserve only to be bed slaves, with collars around their necks held by their mistress.”

As she spoke, the fox‑eared girl produced a collar made of animal hide out of thin air.

Her soul‑snaring beautiful eyes shimmered as she asked with a bewitching smile, “I have been this frank with you—will you put on the collar I prepared for you with care and be my bed slave?”

‘Producing an item out of thin air?’

Seeing the fox‑eared girl suddenly conjure a hide collar, Lin Zichen was taken aback.

He instinctively looked at her hands.

To see if there were any rings.

There were none.

Her ten slender, jade‑like fingers were bare—no adornments at all.

Not a storage ring like in online novels of his previous life…

Thinking that, Lin Zichen asked, “If I refuse, what will happen?”

“As for the consequences of refusing…” The fox‑eared girl smiled sweetly, “You have no reason to refuse—and no qualification to refuse.”

Lin Zichen fell silent, then said, “Then let me think about it.”

He was not confident of beating the fox‑eared girl.

He could only choose to stall for time and wait for support from the military.

And wait for Yuan Dongzhi to defeat the Ninth Elder of the Divine Plant Cult.

“Stalling for time?”

The fox‑eared girl laughed, “Give it up. The people from the military district can’t make it here. By the time they arrive, we’ll be long gone. Otherwise, why do you think I was willing to spend so much time talking to you?”

She brushed the hair from her brow and went on, “I prefer willing submission to forcing others. If you are willing to be my bed slave, I can guarantee you that the Divine Plant Cult will never dare target you again. They will even have to address you as ‘sir’ when they see you in future.”