The Unyielding Savior and the Persisting Predator

Neither Zhuo nor Yuan Anqing possessed a driver’s license. Although Yuan Anqing knew how to drive, he was entirely unfamiliar with this world’s traffic regulations. The risk of being caught by the police for unlicensed driving was too high—it would result in paperwork—so he chose to text Bai Tian for a pickup instead.

Meanwhile, Zhuo seized this downtime to earnestly convince Yuan Anqing to let him keep the Elven Entity at their home. “It can even talk and chat with you,” he argued, dangling the unconscious driver by the waist.

“I don’t need anyone to keep me company, thank you,” Yuan Anqing stated, utterly unmoved.

Zhuo turned his gaze to the Entity, who was now awake and contorting their face with resentment. “You want to live with us, don’t you?”

The Entity remained silent, glaring.

Zhuo smiled, wrapping a massive hand around the Entity’s throat. “I really like you, you know. Don’t ignore me~”

“Zhuo.” Yuan Anqing swatted Zhuo’s hand. “Don’t play around too much.”

“I’m not playing at all,” Zhuo retorted, a hint of genuine displeasure in his voice. “We agreed to adapt to each other, but you immediately rejected my suggestion of keeping a pet.”

He felt Yuan Anqing was infringing upon his rights; he had already made numerous concessions! If absolutely necessary, the ‘pet’ could even be kept on the balcony. After all, the novelty would wear off in two or three months at most, and then he would simply eat it.

“You can keep a pet, but not a person.” Yuan Anqing’s moral baseline was not particularly high, but it subtly existed. On this point, he would not yield.

Zhuo effortlessly lifted the Entity with one hand, holding them before Yuan Anqing like a prize catch. “You’ll be hard-pressed to find a pet this beautiful.”

Yuan Anqing felt utterly unable to reason with Zhuo. The monster completely disregarded whether the Entity possessed a personality, let alone understood the concept of basic human rights.

Just as a wave of exhaustion washed over Yuan Anqing, a sudden, blinding pain flared across his forehead.

The Entity had attacked him.

Using Zhuo’s grip as leverage, the Entity had swung their upper body forward and directly headbutted Yuan Anqing. When they recoiled, Zhuo initially thought the Entity intended to struggle free, never imagining a direct physical strike against the Savior.

The Entity had put their full, desperate strength into the blow. Yuan Anqing’s reaction was not quick enough. He stumbled back, his feet catching on the uneven pavement, and fell hard to the ground.

“What are you doing?!” Zhuo roared, instantly slamming the Entity onto the asphalt and pinning them down with a heavy knee.

“The Savior’s body is indeed not as robust as his mind,” the Entity wheezed, blood trickling from their forehead, their gaze still fixed triumphantly on Yuan Anqing.

They were in an undeveloped industrial area, where the concrete was broken by patches of yellow earth. A morning rain had soaked the uneven ground, and Yuan Anqing had landed squarely in a muddy puddle.

Yuan Anqing’s head had struck the ground, and a small stone had grazed the back of his neck. His glasses had flown off and shattered.

It was always like this.

Yuan Anqing quietly propped himself up, looking down at his clothes. His neat shirt and trousers were now soaked with dirty, brown water.

Situations always seemed to worsen, each time more dire and annoying than the last.

Yuan Anqing had genuinely believed he had maintained sufficient calm and composure. The bizarre transmigration, the psychopathic bodyguard, the bewildering task of being a Savior—he had adapted to each new development without excessive agitation.

He glanced at his fallen glasses, noticing the lenses were fractured into spiderwebs.

“My clothes will need a wash. And I’ll need a new pair of glasses,” Yuan Anqing murmured to himself as he slowly stood. He looked utterly disheveled; half his hair was plastered to his forehead with muddy water, and his palms were scraped raw from instinctively bracing against the rough concrete.

“I might catch a cold,” Yuan Anqing commented, methodically patting the dirt from his trousers.

Because the attack had not come from Zhuo, the contract ring had not activated, so the pain did not reflect onto the monster.

However, Zhuo felt no relief. He hadn’t wanted Yuan Anqing to end up hurt. It was clear that Yuan Anqing’s current predicament was a direct result of Zhuo treating a hostile enemy like a potential house cat.

“Zhuo,” Yuan Anqing called, picking up his broken glasses.

Zhuo’s tail instinctively shot up in defense, then slowly lowered in guilt.

Yuan Anqing’s tone remained flat, almost lifeless, but he looked profoundly exhausted. “You are very powerful, and you might not usually notice these small details. But I hope next time, you can keep dangerous creatures further away from me. Alright?”

There was no aggression in his voice; he was simply stating a logistical boundary.

Zhuo parted his lips. He felt that apologizing would make him lose face, but Yuan Anqing looked awful. If Zhuo argued back now, their fragile domestic relationship would likely revert instantly to the hostile stalemate of their first two days.

“My apologies,” Zhuo mumbled, pressing his lips together.

Yuan Anqing’s voice softened slightly. “Can we agree not to keep this pet?”

“Fine. We won’t keep it,” Zhuo conceded, though he still yearned to taste the Entity. He was clearly in the wrong.

“Thank you.” Yuan Anqing handed the broken glasses to Zhuo. “Could you hold these for me for a moment?”

“Why?” Zhuo asked, puzzled. Couldn’t Yuan Anqing just put them in his pocket?

Yuan Anqing offered no explanation. He simply pressed the glasses into Zhuo’s massive hand, then asked, “Could you release them?”

“Release them?!” Zhuo was bewildered.

“Yes,” Yuan Anqing replied, stepping closer. “Just don’t let them seize an opportunity to escape. Okay?”

Zhuo didn’t understand, but he slowly lifted his knee, loosening his grip.

“Do you intend to purify me?” the Entity inquired, coughing as they pushed themselves up. They had noticed the faint golden shimmer returning to Yuan Anqing’s eyes.

“I must warn you,” the Entity began, slowly rising and shaking their numb arms. “I am not one of those irrational, inferior monsters. It’s impossible for me to feel grateful for your benevolent purifica—”

Thwack.

Yuan Anqing’s fist landed squarely on the center of the Entity’s perfect face. He used his full body weight, knocking the beautiful creature right back onto the wet asphalt.

The Savior’s initial physical configuration upon arriving in this world had endowed him with an agile, healthy body. Although his consciousness had been dulled by office routines, his physical strength was not to be underestimated. As a healthy male standing at 183 centimeters, he was certainly not frail.

“My apologies. I generally do not resort to violence to solve problems,” Yuan Anqing stated, his tone still completely devoid of any inflection, as if reading an end-of-year expense report.

He glanced at his knuckles, where a trace of the Entity’s blood had appeared. “However, I’ve been under considerable stress lately. Every sudden incident has been quite dreadful. Can you understand?”

Yuan Anqing reached down and grabbed the Entity by their collar, hauling them halfway up.

The Entity possessed mental abilities, which meant their physical durability was no different from an ordinary person’s. Yuan Anqing’s punch had shattered their nose, blood streaming down their chin.

This was the Savior?

Hadn’t they been told the Savior was a saintly figure obsessed with redeeming the world? While they suspected this Savior was different, was directly assaulting a subdued captive not excessively out of line?

Yuan Anqing used his thumb to wipe away the blood smearing the Entity’s lip. “I’ve actually been trying very hard to cope with the ‘little surprises’ in my new life.”

“In this particular ‘little surprise’, I was kidnapped. I then had to argue with my bodyguard about whether he was allowed to keep you as a house pet. I had prepared myself with sufficient patience to handle all of this.”

Yuan Anqing looked dead into the Entity’s purple eyes, speaking with utmost seriousness, enunciating each word carefully. “But I should not have ended up in this state. Because of your headbutt, when I go home, I will track mud on my clean floor. I will need to mop. I will need to do laundry. I will need to schedule an appointment for new glasses. These are extra, unexpected chores that you have forced upon me.”

“And sometimes, a person’s breaking point comes from precisely such small things,” Yuan Anqing continued. His expression was completely blank as he raised his fist once more. “Violence doesn’t solve any problems. But human resources dictates that employees need an outlet.”

His fist descended again.

Smack.

Each resounding strike made Zhuo’s tail twitch.

Zhuo found Yuan Anqing genuinely frightening in this moment. The man was committing brutal acts with a cold, detached expression—an expression that should have been reserved for reading a book or doing complex math. It was isolated and intently focused.

Yuan Anqing knew he was venting. This release would not bring him joy. But he needed to vent—or rather, all people needed to vent, otherwise they would go mad. He was simply performing a necessary maintenance routine on his own mental state.

By the time Bai Tian arrived with a transport van, the Elven Entity had passed out from the beating, and the gaunt man was still unconscious from Zhuo’s initial kick.

“Are you alright?!” Bai Tian was startled by Yuan Anqing’s appearance. “Are you hurt?!”

“No. I might just catch a bit of a cold.” Yuan Anqing’s muddy clothes had begun to dry in the strong wind. He felt a slight chill coming on, but it wasn’t a major concern.

“He needs new glasses,” Zhuo informed Bai Tian.

“Are the Savior’s glasses broken?” Bai Tian asked, looking at the fractured frames in Zhuo’s hand.

“His surname is Yuan, and his name is Yuan Anqing,” Zhuo stated, correcting Bai Tian’s formal address.

“Ah? Oh… understood, Mr. Yuan,” Bai Tian said, a little surprised.

He watched as Zhuo gently guided Yuan Anqing into the back of the van, Bai Tian’s large single eye blinking frequently in confusion.

Their relationship is good now? Why? And Zhuo seems to genuinely like him.

Once inside the van, Zhuo silently pulled a wet wipe from his pocket and cleaned the cold, smooth scales at the tip of his tail. Then, he gently placed the tip of his tail against Yuan Anqing’s slightly feverish forehead, providing a makeshift ice pack.

“Thank you,” Yuan Anqing said, genuinely surprised.

“If you’re feeling weak, you can lean on me,” Zhuo offered, shifting his massive frame closer.

“It’s not that bad yet,” Yuan Anqing politely refused.

“You can lean on me if you’re sleepy too~” Zhuo tilted his head slightly, meeting Yuan Anqing’s gaze.

He had truly enjoyed Yuan Anqing’s demeanor out there on the pavement—that sudden, methodical display of violence.

No, it hadn’t been anger. When Yuan Anqing had resorted to violence, he hadn’t shown an ounce of hatred or passion. His cool, detached posture had formed a striking, terrifying contrast with his brutal actions.

Zhuo, despite knowing that Yuan Anqing’s physical strength could never actually harm him, had felt a genuine flicker of fear.

This was an entirely novel experience for the monster.

Yuan Anqing was far more interesting than any Differentiated Being! This person’s ability to compartmentalize and control their emotions was simply superb.

This realization stirred a deep sense of hunger within Zhuo. He eagerly desired to consume everything Yuan Anqing had to offer, but he knew he couldn’t rush it. Yuan Anqing surely had many more unique facets yet to be revealed.

Zhuo wanted to devour a complete, complex soul.

Yuan Anqing felt the tip of Zhuo’s tail gently tapping his forehead, leaving him somewhat perplexed. Is Zhuo happy now?

Before he could fully comprehend it, Zhuo’s tail began to coil securely around Yuan Anqing’s waist, drawing him closer until they were pressed together.

“I truly like you so much,” Zhuo mused, his red eyes glowing in the dim van.

“That doesn’t sound like a compliment,” Yuan Anqing realized with a sigh. He had somehow managed to make his bodyguard hungry again.