CHAPTER 412: CHAPTER 412: CONFIRMED, XIAO XI LIKES XIAO YE! (PLEASE FOLLOW)

Ziran was several kilometers away, secretly observing Yunxi’s reaction.

*Did I use too much force, and ended up pushing her right into his arms?*

*Looks like this probe was a bust.*

Ziran turned and headed deeper into the Demon Beast Mountain Forest.

"Wait, hold on!" She spun back around, sneaking another look at Yunxi’s expression.

She ended up seeing Yunxi’s blushing, pretty face.

*Totally normal.*

*Getting hugged by a guy, blushing is definitely normal.*

"Could it be that the guy Xiaoxi likes isn’t who I thought?" Ziran’s brows knitted. "Does Xiaoxi really not feel anything for Xiao Ye?"

She studied Yunxi’s expression carefully, and the next second, she noticed something interesting.

Xiaoxi was in Xiao Ye’s arms, her pretty face flushed red, eyes looking dazed.

*The expression was normal, but the eyes were all wrong!*

*Those dazed eyes?*

*She looked like she was enjoying it—a look of comfort that she couldn’t hide.*

Ziran had experienced this herself—though not with her eyes. When things felt that good, she’d unconsciously let out an embarrassed moan instead.

*That dazed look in the eyes was basically the same as those shy little noises.*

"Hmph, caught you red-handed, Xiaoxi."

"If you really didn’t like Xiao Ye, there’s no way you’d look like that being hugged by him."

"That look is straight up foul play, like you’re about to get high or something."

Ziran grinned, deciding she’d probe again later, just to make absolutely sure she wasn’t making a mistake.

With a flash of white light, she dashed over to a spot not far from Xiao Ye and Yunxi, pointed at a big flat rock, and said,

"Put Xiaoxi here, let’s have a look at the injury."

"Okay, Yunxi twisted her ankle." Xiao Ye scooped Yunxi up in a princess carry.

He stepped carefully through the mudpit, then walked out and gently set Yunxi down on the big rock.

"You alright?" he asked.

"It’s nothing, I’ll be fine after a moment." Yunxi’s heart was pounding wildly. The second he let her go, she felt a sense of emptiness.

Ziran was right there, so she couldn’t just ask Xiao Ye to keep holding her.

Xiao Ye breathed a sigh of relief and said meaningfully, "No idea who the little prankster is that keeps messing with us behind the scenes. If I find out, I’m really going to kick her butt tonight."

Ziran looked away, realizing she’d been busted.

But when she heard Xiao Ye say that, she felt a secret thrill instead of fear.

Yunxi shot Ziran—her airport-chested friend—a sly look and said with a smile, "Probably some flat-chested girl who’s jealous of my figure and just wants to mess with me."

Ziran bristled, her innocent, pretty face darkening as she grumbled, "Ugh, Xiaoxi, you’re really mocking me with that?"

"My figure’s going to bounce back, so don’t get cocky!"

Yunxi’s cool, elegant face wore a calm smile as she shrugged, unfazed.

"Ah!" Ziran got even madder, clinging tightly to Xiao Ye’s arm and shaking it as she said, "Xiao Ye, you promised me you’d help get my figure back—let’s start today!"

"Now that I’m your Contractor, you don’t have so many concerns anymore. You can help me recover, right?"

"..." Yunxi remembered something and felt a bit gleeful at Ziran’s expense.

Xiao Ye let Ziran cling to his arm but didn’t feel a thing—well, she really was flat as a board.

*But then again, the idea of Ziran drinking his blood made his skin crawl.*

*Fine, flat is absolutely better than having your blood sucked.*

"Hey, Sister Ziran, I think your figure’s totally fine as it is. Maybe just keep it the way it is? Wouldn’t that be better?" he asked, trying to sound her out.

Ziran’s innocent face took on a pitiful look. "No way, I have to get it back."

"Honestly, my figure was always better than Xiaoxi’s."

Xiao Ye sighed. He had promised, after all, so he couldn’t really say no now. "Alright then, let’s start getting you back in shape today."

"Heehee!" Ziran leaned in, puckered up, and planted a smooch on Xiao Ye.

"Thanks, Xiao Ye!"

Yunxi chimed in with a grin, "Don’t worry, Ziran. Xiao Ye’s method really works. As long as you get past the mental block, you’ll be back in top form soon."

Ziran nodded eagerly, "Yeah, I will!"

Then, clad in purple, Ziran sat on the big flat rock, picked up Yunxi’s jade feet, and rested them on her own thighs.

She lifted Yunxi’s white robe, baring her soft, slender legs. Then she slipped off her shoes, revealing pale pink, delicate toes and elegant little feet.

"Ah! Ziran, what are you doing?" Yunxi squealed, quickly covering her robe to keep it from riding up and exposing too much.

Ziran giggled, "Didn’t you twist your ankle? Let me check if it’s serious. I’ll massage it and put on some ointment."

"Uh? No need." Yunxi blurted nervously.

*There was no twisted ankle—she just wanted an excuse for Xiao Ye to carry her. It was all fake.*

Xiao Ye and Ziran both looked at her feet. Those flawless, crystalline jade feet didn’t have a single thing wrong with them.

Xiao Ye felt puzzled. If someone twists their ankle, it’d usually be red or maybe even bruised—but Yunxi’s feet didn’t have as much as a mark.

Ziran smirked mischievously. "Xiaoxi, are you lying? You didn’t twist your ankle at all."

"Uh..." Yunxi’s cool face flushed as she looked away.

Ziran carried on, "I get it! It’s an internal thing, right? The joint’s sprained, but the skin is still baby soft and smooth."

"Yeah, exactly!" Yunxi nodded quickly. "It’s a joint problem, so—yeah, I twisted my ankle."

*Whew, that was close—almost got caught.*

Yunxi shot Ziran a grateful look.

Ziran asked, "Left foot or right? I’ll give it a rub."

"No need, really! I’m at the Saint Realm, my healing is super strong. In just a few minutes, it already—" Yunxi tried to say.

Ziran cut her off with a wicked grin, "Alright, fine—though I was gonna have Xiao Ye rub it for you. He’s got some serious Massage Skill. Sprains like this are nothing to him."

Xiao Ye nodded, "Yeah."

*He hadn’t immediately jumped in earlier because Ziran was here... and since he wasn’t Yunxi’s Contractor, you know, guys and girls keeping some boundaries. It didn’t feel proper to just grab her foot like that.*

"It’s not actually healed and it still hurts!" Yunxi changed her tune on the spot. "It’s my right foot, twisted at the ankle."

*Having Xiao Ye massage her ankle sure sounded like a happy thing.*

*Plus, she totally had a legit excuse—not just being clingy or unreasonable.*

Xiao Ye crouched down in front of those jade feet, sniffed a bit, and caught a faint, fresh fragrance.

Placing his hands on her ankle, he felt icy smooth skin.

*You could tell right away—her skin was so soft.*

A soothing sensation spread from her ankle. Yunxi did her best not to let anything show on her face, but deep in her eyes, a flash of pure joy passed by.

Ziran stared into Yunxi’s eyes, studying her carefully, and caught that little flicker of happiness.

She reached a conclusion—no doubt about it, the guy Yunxi liked was Xiao Ye.

*Time to go talk to Xiaobing. Xiaoxi’s mental hang-up probably had everything to do with Xiaobing.*