The comfortable warmth and lazy feeling enveloping her body made Maya Natsume instinctively roll over. As she did, her cheek bumped against something hard, making her frown and mumble:
"Sleeping here... don't bother me."
'Wait. Sleeping?'
Maya's not-so-bright mind finally registered something amiss.
Before falling asleep, she'd apparently been watching her brother Shin and Luo Shu discuss how to capture So'unga at some remote mountain temple, then took poison and lay down in a pile of hay...
Abruptly, Maya opened her eyes to see a pair of pitch-black trousers directly in her line of sight.
She blinked repeatedly, her expression utterly blank.
Then a familiar male voice spoke up:
"Sleep well?"
Hearing the teasing tone, Maya tilted her head slightly to look up—until Luo Shu's face came into view.
Only then did Maya realise her current position: lying in the haystack with her head pillowed on Luo Shu's lap.
"..."
For a moment, Maya was utterly silent.
Seeing her dumbstruck expression, Luo Shu seemed surprised:
"The toxins and injuries on your body should have completely disappeared by now..."
Ears burning with embarrassment, Maya forced out the question:
"Why am I lying here... on your lap?"
Finally understanding Maya's earlier shock, Luo Shu couldn't help but laugh:
"Oh, you mean this?"
"Do you remember our earlier discussion about how to deal with So'unga?"
"You and Shin Natsume both took poison to fake being controlled by Naraku, letting So'unga choose a host to possess. Once it made its choice, I'd use the countermeasures I'd secretly prepared on you both."
"After you were poisoned and unconscious, So'unga chose you. But before my contingency could take effect, you awakened the Natsume family's bloodline..."
At this point, Luo Shu offered somewhat teasing congratulations:
"Congratulations, Maya Natsume. You've awakened the Natsume clan's secret technique - the Amaterasu Dragon Gate that nullifies all abilities."
"Amaterasu Dragon Gate that nullifies all abilities?!"
Maya blinked in surprise at these words, asking incredulously:
"What's that?"
This single question from Maya rendered Luo Shu completely speechless.
'You don't even know your own family's abilities?'
Seeing Luo Shu's dumbfounded expression, Maya flushed red and said somewhat guiltily:
"I'm not like Shin, who's always buried in our family's ancient texts. Isn't it normal I wouldn't know?"
Luo Shu sighed in exasperation before explaining:
"To summarise, the Amaterasu Dragon Gate is an extremely rare ability in your family, incredibly difficult to awaken and highly dangerous."
"When So'unga chose you as its vessel and tried to control you with its evil energy, your ability awakened. Your bloodline power clashed with So'unga's corruption."
"Unsurprisingly, your bloodline power was at a disadvantage."
"Shin had already foreseen this outcome with his Dragon Eye and knew my special ability could help resolve this."
"That's why you're currently lying on my lap. Understand?"
"Understood!" Maya nodded, then looked confused again. "But why the lap pillow? That doesn't seem right?"
'Shouldn't you be the one lying on my lap normally?'
Maya nearly voiced this thought but held back, worried Luo Shu might misunderstand.
To this, Luo Shu responded irritably:
"The lap pillow is a compromise."
"Normally, the best way to activate abilities is through physical contact. The optimal method would involve no clothing barriers at all."
"Would you prefer stripping naked and being held in my arms rather than a simple lap pillow?"
"Ah..." Maya's eyes widened comically at this revelation.
Compared to that alternative, the lap pillow suddenly seemed quite acceptable.
Seeing Maya's stunned expression, Luo Shu sighed again:
"By the way, when do you plan to pay the consultation fee?"
"Eh?" Maya looked utterly bewildered. "We have to pay money?"
Luo Shu raised an eyebrow, giving her an odd look:
"Do you have any idea how difficult it was to save your life from an ancient evil artefact, assist your ability awakening, perfectly resolve the conflict between powers, and ensure you woke up in perfect health?"
"This was equivalent to performing cellular-level repair surgery beyond modern technology's capabilities. Did you think such treatment would be free?"
Hearing this, Maya guiltily turned her head away, resting on Luo Shu's lap while casting desperate glances towards the temple doors.
Unfortunately, Shin Natsume didn't make the dramatic entrance Maya was hoping for.
Noticing this, Maya Natsume also realised something in her heart and muttered guiltily in a small voice:
"That... my family's quite poor..."
"Could you make the treatment fee a bit cheaper?"
Seeing this, Luo Shu wordlessly stared at Maya Natsume for a long while, until she got goosebumps, before finally speaking.
"As I thought, Shin Natsume plans to dump you onto the SDS."
Hearing this, Maya Natsume laughed awkwardly and quickly climbed off Luo Shu's lap, patting his shoulder as she said:
"How could that be!"
"My brother wouldn't do something like that!"
"Selling off his little sister because he can't afford the treatment fees... alright, he might actually do that."
Maya Natsume had already vaguely sensed the problem.
She sighed deeply before saying helplessly:
"The price for getting you to intervene - that so-called Amaterasu Dragon Gate. That bastard Shin probably thinks he can't protect me anymore, right?"
Hearing Maya Natsume's speculation, Luo Shu glanced at her and said:
"You're not completely stupid after all!"
"Of course I'm not stupid, you're the stupid one." Maya Natsume couldn't help retorting, then muttered inwardly: 'He didn't even take advantage during treatment? Am I really that unattractive?'
After this silent complaint, Maya Natsume hesitated before asking:
"So from now on, I'll be following you?"
"More or less." Luo Shu stood up indifferently from the straw pile, brushing off the straw clinging to his trousers.
"What do you mean by 'more or less'?"
Maya Natsume grumbled as she got up, then turned to look at her silver hair covered in straw. With a thought, she channelled her qi, shaking off all the straw from her hair.
"Huh?" Maya Natsume froze momentarily before exclaiming in surprise: "Why is my qi control so smooth now?"
"Bloodline factors." Luo Shu answered briefly: "After all, the ability you awakened is quite special, isn't it?"
An ability that nullifies other abilities - in some ways, this counted as a cheat-level advantage.
Although Maya Natsume was currently only at Elite Rank, the applications of her ability surpassed even those at Hero Rank.
"A special ability?" Maya Natsume repeated with a complicated expression before murmuring, "Never thought I'd gain an ability one day."
Among her family of three, her eldest brother, Shin Natsume, possessed the Dragon Eye, while her younger sister, Aya Natsume, also had the Dragon Eye. She, however, had been completely ordinary since childhood.
Now, suddenly becoming an ability user left Maya Natsume feeling somewhat unaccustomed.
Thinking this, she shook her head before asking curiously:
"By the way, what about that So'unga?"
"Did you catch it?"
"Look by your feet." Luo Shu gestured with his chin towards Maya Natsume's feet.
Maya Natsume blinked before looking down to find So'unga lying quietly near her right foot.
"What's this about?"
"Your bloodline power completely neutralised its evil energy. To put it simply, it's been drained dry."
As he spoke, Luo Shu walked over, picked up So'unga and fastened it at his waist:
"Alright, it's getting late. Time to regroup."
Hearing this, Maya Natsume instinctively glanced at the sky outside, mentally calculating the time:
"Judging by the sky, not much time has passed, has it?"
When he had taken poison to enter the temple earlier, the sky had looked much like this. It seemed less than an hour had passed?
Yet Luo Shu glanced at Maya Natsume and said bluntly:
"It's the next day now."
Hearing this, Maya was dumbfounded.
So... she'd slept on Luo Shu's lap for an entire day yesterday?
Ah...
In that instant, Maya felt her virtue might already be compromised!