The Price

The anger had been vented, the bath had been taken, and she was even nestled in Bai Rui’s arms, yet she actually said, “I’m not on the same path as you.”

Lu Shanshui felt like there was something wrong with his ears.

Had he taken that beating for nothing?

“Wait, what did you just say?”

“I said I’m not on the same path as you. Do I need to put it more clearly for you to understand?” Ren Anhua said, enunciating each word.

“I will not join your team.”

“But you’re still sitting in Bai Rui’s lap right now,” it was clear that Lu Shanshui was quite confused about this.

“Because her lap is comfortable to sit in. Is there a problem?” Ren Anhua leaned against Bai Rui, rubbing against her with great enjoyment.

The expression on Bai Rui’s face was as if she had reached the pinnacle of her life.

Sometimes, having an extra habit was equivalent to having an extra enjoyment.

Although it wasn’t Ren Anhua’s intention at the beginning, it was undeniable that Bai Rui’s lap was now a place where she could relax greatly.

Although she was somewhat resistant due to her pride, it didn’t seem too shameful if she was the one taking the initiative.

After discovering Bai Rui’s self-restrained attitude, Ren Anhua, who was slightly reassured, began to push her luck, to the point where she was now somewhat unable to stop.

If you were to ask why, it was probably a sense of conquest from a change in status.

Recalling her days with the RV team, it seemed she had always been in a passive position, which was very annoying.

“I know we were in the wrong at the beginning. We lied to you. This made you very uncomfortable, but… but there wasn’t a better choice. Xiaoshan couldn’t die. But we didn’t just want to hurt you. We wanted to compensate you.”

“Compensate me by putting those things in my head?”

“That was just to ensure you wouldn’t run away. If you ran away, how could we compensate you?”

“You used the word ‘run away.’ It seems you’re also very clear about what kind of existence you were to me at that time,” Ren Anhua pressed Bai Rui’s hands down, which were getting a little too restless.

“Yes, yes, I know. But at that time, you really seemed quite… I don’t know what word to use to describe it. Fragile, angry, irrational. Something like that.”

“You looked like you would leave us at any moment because of that deception. But you were very fragile at that time, with no offensive power at all. Just being near you would cause you to uncontrollably heal the other person. We couldn’t just leave you alone in this dangerous world like that. We had to protect you, even if it was coercive. No matter what, you saved Ke Xiaoshan’s life and were hurt a lot because of it. We had to take responsibility for you.”

“Of course, you ran away in the end. And it turns out we underestimated you. You didn’t need protection at all.”

Lu Shanshui continued, “But we still hope you can return to the team now. We hurt you in the past, and now we just hope you can give us a chance.”

“As long as you ask, no matter what, we will satisfy you.”

Ren Anhua looked at Lu Shanshui and fell silent for a short while.

Compared to Lu Shanshui’s explanation, she was more puzzled by his attitude.

After half a month of calm and reflection, Ren Anhua was no longer the hot-headed person she used to be.

Analyzing it calmly, the other party was a team with the combat power of three Level Fours, and they were now here, humbly pleading with her?

For a team with the combat power of three Level Fours, this attitude was truly strange.

What was their motive for requesting her in such a low posture? Just because of their conscience?

Ren Anhua felt this was a bit unreliable because she believed the RV team had no conscience.

If these were not the main points, then the RV team’s motive was only one thing: herself.

They were desperate for her to stay in the team.

This was their motive.

“Well said. So you just messed with my head? You know what I’m talking about. I can feel it. You put some emotions that don’t belong to me in here,” Ren Anhua pointed to her head.

“What exactly did you do?”

“That was…” Lu Shanshui hesitated.

He also knew that this method was a bit excessive.

“It just made you have a natural good impression of us. You know, we didn’t have much time then. If possible, I would have liked to develop a real friendship, but we didn’t have the time.”

“Is that all?”

“And also… to strengthen your sense of identity with your own body. Simply put, it would make you accept and like everything about this body, its appearance, touch, and anything else. In short, you would accept and identify with all the feelings you experienced in the initial stage.”

“But this is a good thing for you. You know, you can’t turn back into a man. You can only live as a woman…”

“Alright, alright. You don’t need to emphasize that,” Ren Anhua raised her hand to interrupt the topic.

“The time we’ve known each other, including today, should be the fourth day, right? It’s hard to imagine, four days. I feel like it’s been several years. In the past half a month, I’ve thought a lot about you guys. I originally wanted to kill you. Well, I can’t do that, in both senses of the word.”

“But the compensation you mentioned, well, I don’t really want anything. This makes it difficult for me. So in the end, I thought, if you really have the heart, then based on the principle of fairness, you can just recreate everything you did to me on yourselves.”

“So listen up. What I want is not compensation, what I want is fairness. Lu Shanshui, it’s your turn to be a cute girl. Whatever I am, you will be.”

“Huh!?” Lu Shanshui was clearly stunned by such a strange request.

“But… but this doesn’t help you at all,” Lu Shanshui was obviously a little flustered.

Become a girl? He didn’t want to.

He still had someone he liked.

“I don’t need any help. What I need is fairness. An eye for an eye is a kind of fairness.”

“But… making me a woman is really… Oh, sorry, I didn’t mean to offend you. I mean, I really don’t want to…”

“Huh!? You’re not even willing to do this? You were talking so big before, saying ‘as long as I ask, anything is fine.’ I get it. You were all lying to me, right? What you want is just a mascot in the team. What compensation? When it really affects you, you have this kind of attitude.”

“I, I, I, I’m willing to undergo mental modification. Come, Sister Xingmei, make me unconditionally like Xiao An. I won’t have any complaints at all!” Bai Rui immediately raised her hand upon hearing this, indicating her willingness to undergo the same mental modification as Ren Anhua.

“You don’t need to do that!” Ren Anhua pushed herself up, bumping Bai Rui’s chin and making her shut up.

“Listen up. I’ll give you one day to consider. When I see Lu Shanshui tomorrow, I hope he’s already a cute girl.”

Ren Anhua jumped off Bai Rui’s body.

Although she was a little reluctant to leave the feeling of being held by Bai Rui, she knew that some things needed to be stated clearly.

If she kept being held by Bai Rui while talking, they might think she was being tsundere.

“Uh… why are you looking at me like that?” Lu Shanshui found that the way Bai Rui was staring at him had become a little dangerous.