Possessive Madman Coaxes Him With a Hand on His Waist! The Cold-Hearted Host Starts to Feel Something - Chapter 73

Li Cheng noticed how dark Zhou Ci’s expression had grown, and instead of fear, curiosity flickered in his gaze.

Was he… worried about him?

The Fox Clan’s Heart-Sealing Spell was a bond that transcended lifetimes.
No matter how many thousands of years or reincarnations passed, the master who unlocked the nine tails would always—again and again—find that same little fox, fall for that same little fox.

Whatever.

He must be worried about me!

【Fox Host, you’re actually learning to comfort yourself now.】

Li Cheng: Mm. The dream’s big and round.

【Host, I suggest you get Zhou Ci to open up sooner rather than later. Otherwise, in this Illusory Realm, no one will be able to protect you.】

Li Cheng: You think I don’t want to? I’m already naked, and what’s he doing? Off being a damn Macca-Bacca!
(t/n: “Macca-Bacca” is a humorous modern slang reference in Chinese fandoms, derived from a children’s cartoon character, often used sarcastically to describe someone acting silly, clueless, or off doing something irrelevant.)

【Then maybe you should take the initiative again?】

When Zhou Ci saw that Li Cheng didn’t respond—just kept staring at him with that frightened, startled look—his tone softened slightly.

“I asked you, why did you come here?”

Li Cheng turned his head to glance behind him. The smoke from the light bombs still hung thick, blinding the fox demon’s sight.

Then he turned back, his expression instantly darkening: I swear to hell, I’m going to lose my entire performance bonus over this!

His gaze shifted in an instant. Li Cheng lowered his head slightly, loosened his grip on Zhou Ci’s hand after two seconds, and began gesturing:

“You weren’t home, and I got scared.”

He paused for a second before continuing:

“You didn’t tell me you went out. I got scared, so I came to find you.”

“Did I cause you trouble?”

He finished signing and stood there obediently, head bowed.

Scared?

Zhou Ci looked at the person in front of him—so earnest, so apologetic—and sighed softly.

He was genuinely afraid that if he raised his voice again, this little thing would burst into tears in front of everyone.

Without answering, Zhou Ci shrugged off the black scratch-resistant vest he wore.

When Li Cheng realized Zhou Ci was about to put it on him, he immediately backed away, hastily signing:

“I don’t want it. You’ll get hurt.”

Zhou Ci ignored him, slipped the vest over Li Cheng’s head, and said calmly,

“I’ll have someone take you home.”

“If you’re scared, go walk around the night market outside.”

As he spoke, he looked over his shoulder and lifted a hand. Two officers from the Weapon Research Center immediately approached.

“Boss.” They stood at attention, utterly formal.

Zhou Ci straightened Li Cheng’s clothes, then said casually,

“Send my wife home.”

“Wi… wife?” One officer’s eyes flicked toward the other, blinking rapidly.

Everyone at the Center had heard that the boss had gotten married in a flash.

But none of them had ever seen his spouse.

Now, seeing Li Cheng, the two men immediately grew more cautious.

You couldn’t afford to offend the boss’s wife.

Both turned to Li Cheng and bent at a perfect ninety-degree angle. “Hello, ma’am!”

Li Cheng: … That’s so cringy.

He returned their greeting in sign, a small polite smile on his face. “Hello.”

Zhou Ci gave one of them a light smack on the head. “Cut the chatter. Send him to my place and come straight back.”

At that, Li Cheng suddenly grabbed Zhou Ci’s hand and held it tight.

His grip grew stronger and stronger, his meaning obvious.

Those pleading eyes looked up at Zhou Ci, soft and pitiful, full of apology.

“What?” Zhou Ci’s gaze swept over his face. “You want to stay with me in the quarantine zone?”

Li Cheng immediately nodded and signed:

“I want to stay with you. Can I?”

After finishing, he intertwined their fingers tightly.

Zhou Ci looked down. Li Cheng was so obedient, so delicate, he almost felt like raising his voice would shatter him.

And he realized something—Li Cheng responded better to gentle coaxing than to harsh words.

So he tried a different approach.

He raised a hand and rubbed Li Cheng’s head. “Be good. It’s dangerous here.”

Seeing Zhou Ci’s tone soften, Li Cheng clutched his hand even tighter, shaking his head.

For some reason, Zhou Ci didn’t pull away.

It actually felt… kind of nice, holding him like this.

When the smoke finally cleared, the little tail that had followed Li Cheng all this way hesitated before creeping out from behind the wreckage.

Li Cheng glanced back. The boy had no demonic form now, and Li Cheng’s divine aura masked any trace of his own.

These humans would likely think the kid was just ordinary.

When the little tail clutched the hem of his shirt, afraid to look at Zhou Ci, Li Cheng frowned slightly and sent a message through divine sense: “You’re scared of him?”

The little tail gripped his clothes tighter. “Yes.”

Zhou Ci, seeing the boy who’d suddenly appeared from the spiritual web, finally realized how recklessly he’d acted earlier—dragging Li Cheng out of danger without thinking.

And when he saw the boy, it hit him. Li Cheng had risked his life running into that fox demon’s den just to save this kid.

“Who is he?” Zhou Ci’s tone dipped low.

The fact that Li Cheng had gone charging in without hesitation made him suspicious of the boy’s identity—and something about his face looked faintly familiar.

Li Cheng’s eyes flickered. The little tail had been hunted relentlessly here.

But without his demonic form, his appearance had changed so much no one would recognize him now.

Thinking quickly, Li Cheng gestured:

“He’s a boy I met at the beast bar. He doesn’t have any family. He’s really pitiful.”

He paused, then signed again:

“Can I take him home? He doesn’t have anywhere to stay. Please?”

“Take him home?” Zhou Ci’s voice sharpened immediately.

Seeing how close the two were, he tugged Li Cheng toward him.

“Do you think my place is a shelter?”

“You ran headfirst toward that monster just to save him!”

“Didn’t you see the bodies lying all around that demon?”

At the mention of the demon, Li Cheng snapped to attention, turning toward where the fox demon had been. The smoke hadn’t fully cleared yet.

It wasn’t the right time to capture it. Li Cheng’s gaze chilled; he released a surge of divine energy.

At once, the fox demon grew restless—sensing the divine presence.

It would instinctively flee in the opposite direction.

Before the smoke had even dispersed, the fox demon took its chance and vanished.

Li Cheng turned back, startled, looking at Zhou Ci and then at the thinning mist.

He quickly signed: “The fox demon ran away?”

Zhou Ci followed his gaze.

The demon really had escaped.

What the hell? That fox demon had always been a special case within the Illusory Realm.

Every time it caused chaos, the Weapon Research Center could only drive it off to remote areas with fewer humans.

But this time, the demon had fled on its own.

That wasn’t normal.

“Boss, that monster really ran off!” one of the officers said in astonishment.

That demon had injured countless researchers—no one had ever come back unscathed.

It had even injured two more today.

So while its retreat brought relief, there was something unsettling about it.

Zhou Ci’s eyes narrowed, his thoughts too tangled to name.

Li Cheng glanced at his AI assistant.

【‘Confused’ doesn’t even begin to cover it.】

Then he looked back at the little tail.

If Zhou Ci refused to take him in, it’d be a real problem until the boy recovered.

He started signing again, pulling Zhou Ci’s attention back.

“Sir, can’t we please keep him?”

The more Li Cheng cared about the boy, the less Zhou Ci wanted to agree.

“If you’re that concerned, you can send him to an orphanage.”

Li Cheng froze completely.

An orphanage?

Are you kidding me? That’s my kid!

He pressed his lips together, unwilling to argue.

Fine. I’ll take care of him myself.

Without another word, he yanked off the black vest Zhou Ci had put on him and threw it right back at him.

Zhou Ci caught it, staring down at it with a strange look.

He’s mad?

Why is that… kind of adorable?