I was wrong

Gu Tinglan closed the door gently, his fingertips lingering on the doorknob for a second before releasing it. The light from the corridor stretched his shadow very long. He took a deep breath and turned to walk towards the living room.

Ji Yunbai was sitting on the sofa reading an old book. When he heard footsteps, he said without looking up, "Are you done talking? Where's the child?"

"She's resting. The seal has caused her a lot of damage." Gu Tinglan sat down opposite her, raised his eyes, and cast his gaze towards the kitchen. Then he looked at the woman lying comfortably on the sofa. He felt helpless but also understood that it was just as it should be. "Aren't you going to cook?"

"Ah, son, you know that the food your mother cooks is simply unpalatable." Ji Yunbai didn't care at all about his son's teasing. He said in a frivolous tone, "It's no big deal if it tastes bad. What if she gets sick from eating it? Wouldn't you still be worried?"

"...Then why were you showing off at that time?" Gu Tinglan was speechless.

"I just want to leave a good impression on her. Besides—" Ji Yunbai smiled, with a look of pride that he still had a backup plan, "Don't I still have you?"

She pulled out a hand and pointed to the kitchen, meaning for him to do it, and then she sat back and waited to receive Xixi's praise.

“…”

"I knew it." Gu Tinglan had guessed her motive long ago. Otherwise, how could someone who had never done housework take the initiative to offer to cook?

Besides, Ji Yunbai is a dangerous person who can easily blow up the kitchen. Usually, he and his father cook, and she is responsible for enjoying the food.

"Then tell me first, how can you tell that Xixi is a pure-blooded succubus." Gu Tinglan had a serious expression and his lips were tightly pursed, showing his nervousness.

He was afraid that if there were too many people involved and he was just an unarmed human being, would he be unable to protect her?

Ji Yunbai closed the book, put it on the coffee table, folded his hands on his knees, and his expression suddenly became serious.

"Tinglan, do you know what the dark-patterned devil horns mean to the demons?"

Gu Tinglan frowned: "In the information I checked, there is no mention of information about succubus."

"Sissy once said—"

"It's not just pure blood." Ji Yunbai interrupted him, "Demons with these horns are either royal descendants or..." She paused, "carrying some ancient curse."

Gu Tinglan paused: "You mean Xixi..."

"I'm not sure." Ji Yunbai shook his head. "But her horn pattern is very special. I saw a similar record in one of your grandfather's forbidden books. That book said that this pattern is called the 'Moon Eclipse Mark' and only appears on demons born on the night of the blood moon that only occurs once every thousand years."

Hearing this, Gu Tinglan frowned. "I can probably guess a little." His voice was low, but not very friendly, and he exuded a faint sense of low pressure. "Xixi said she was cursed. It should be said that all succubi were born from a curse, which is the second situation you mentioned."

The living room fell silent. Gu Tinglan recalled the delicate dark patterns on Xixi's horns, which glowed a faint purple hue under the light. He had assumed they were merely the symbol of a succubus, but he hadn't imagined they might conceal a more complex secret.

"But no matter who she is," Gu Tinglan finally spoke, his voice low and firm, "she needs protection now. Lin Mo will not let this go."

Ji Yunbai gave his son a meaningful look and asked, "Are you sure this is just out of responsibility?"

Gu Tinglan didn't answer, but stood up and prepared to go cook. "I'm going to take a day off tomorrow. I need to rearrange and strengthen the defense formation at home."

"etc!"

"I just told you the hiding place of the ancient books at home yesterday, and today you've already learned the defensive formation?" Ji Yunbai looked at him in surprise, acting exaggerated. "Even the enhanced version?!"

Although he knew she always liked to make a fuss, Gu Tinglan couldn't help but be impressed by the compliment. He suppressed the corners of his mouth that showed joy, and said as if it was a matter of course, "Isn't this very simple?"

He was a gifted student with a photographic memory.

Knowing what kind of person he was, Ji Yunbai didn't expose him, but she couldn't help teasing him. She couldn't suppress the smile in her voice. "Okay, I agree with you. After all, I didn't learn it for long at the beginning. It's really quite simple now."

Facing her teasing, Gu Tinglan just stopped there, stared at her for a few more seconds, and finally said nothing. However, Ji Yunbai understood what he meant and said, "Why don't you ask about your father?"

"I see you're not ready to talk, so there's no need to waste words." Gu Tinglan replied coldly, his voice growing farther and farther away.

Ji Yunbai smiled with relief.

"Okay, go ahead." Ji Yunbai picked up the book again. "Remember, this matter is far from as simple as you think. You must protect Xixi."

After reading the book, Ji Yunbai curled up the corners of his mouth into a bitter smile, thinking: After all, we owe her that.

Not long after, Gu Tinglan finished cooking and went upstairs. His room was at the end of the corridor, and as he passed Xixi's room, he couldn't help but lighten his steps. A ray of light shone through the crack of the door. He hesitated for a moment, then raised his hand and gently knocked on the door.

"Sissy? Still not awake?"

There was a rustling sound from inside the door, followed by Xixi's somewhat panicked voice: "Ah, wake up soon!"

Once you wake up, you wake up. What does it mean to wake up immediately?

Gu Tinglan frowned and pushed open the door, seeing Xixi frantically stuffing something under her pillow. Her horns shimmered in the light of the bedside lamp, and her expression resembled that of a child caught stealing candy.

"What are you hiding?" Gu Tinglan walked into the room.

"No, nothing!" Xixi's face flushed red. In her excitement, her tail inevitably wrapped around Gu Tinglan's hand, trying to stop him, "I'm just... looking at something..."

Gu Tinglan raised an eyebrow and reached out from under his pillow to pull out a magazine - "The Human Love Guide: How to Make Him Notice You". The pink heart on the cover was so dazzling that he was speechless for a moment.

Xixi let out a small cry and covered her head with the quilt: "Ahhh, I've been discovered!"

Gu Tinglan suppressed his laughter and put the magazine on the bedside table: "If you are injured, just rest well and don't study these useless things."

"I'm not useless..." Xixi peeked out from under the quilt, looking at him aggrievedly, "Your mother calls me her daughter-in-law, so I have to learn a little bit."

Gu Tinglan's ears suddenly felt hot. He cleared his throat and reached out to pull her out from under the quilt. He had never seen her like this before, and Gu Tinglan couldn't help but chuckle, "Where did you get that magazine?"

"I asked Xi Yin for it not long ago."

"Why would she give you this out of the blue?"

"Because she said it would deepen our relationship." At this point, Xixi was no longer embarrassed and said frankly, "I just want you to like me a little more, what's wrong with that?"

"It's not against the law!"

"Yeah, that's right. It's not illegal." Gu Tinglan stood up and moved a little further away from her. If he stayed any longer, she would notice his red ears.

"But it's time to eat now." He clumsily changed the subject and added, "I like you very much, so there's no need to waste time on this."

A normal person would have had a huge reaction upon hearing the latter sentence, but when Xixi heard that it was time to eat, her eyes lit up, she threw back the quilt and was about to get out of bed, completely forgetting what they had just discussed and not paying attention to what Gu Tinglan said next.

But this was exactly what Gu Tinglan wanted. If she insisted on asking, he would not be able to resist.

"I'm going to change my clothes, you go out first."

Gu Tinglan raised her eyebrows. This was the first time she acted like a human. Although her horns and tail were still often exposed, it was much better than before.

"Hurry up, or I'll eat all the meat." There was a hint of laughter in his voice, and it sounded like a joke, but Xixi took it seriously.

He heard Xixi's small "hmm", and then the sound of fabric rubbing against each other. She actually took off her clothes right in front of him.

"Sissy!"

"Huh?" Xixi lifted up half of her clothes, turned her head disapprovingly, and looked at him puzzledly.

"Forget it." Seeing her confused eyes, Gu Tinglan found that he could no longer say the words of accusation. He just turned around and quickened his pace towards the door. "You can go slower. I won't compete with you for the meat."

Gu Tinglan closed the door and left. Returning to his room, he picked up his phone and dialed the office number.

"Teacher, it's me. I'm taking a leave of absence tomorrow. No, not because of illness, but for personal matters... Yes, it may last for a few days... Um..."

After hanging up the phone, Gu Tinglan began to draw a complex array pattern on the floor with chalk, each stroke precise and accurate. When he was finished, he took seven copper coins from the wooden box and placed them around the array according to the orientation of the Big Dipper.

"Tianshu, Tianxuan, Tianji..." He chanted in a low voice. Every time he put a copper coin in, the magic weapon would inject a trace of spiritual power into it.

After setting up the defense array in the master bedroom, Gu Tinglan then set up hidden warning symbols in Xixi's room, the corridor, and even the bathroom. Finally, just as he was about to go downstairs, Xixi's figure suddenly appeared before him.

"Why aren't you eating?" Xixi looked at him aggrievedly, "My food doesn't taste good when you're not around."

Besides, it's so stressful for her to be left alone with her mother.

Seeing that she seemed to have suffered a great injustice, Gu Tinglan couldn't help laughing, "So I'm so important? You can't eat without me?"

"You know you didn't go downstairs to eat quickly," Xixi pouted, her face falling. "You did it on purpose, didn't you?"

"I was wrong."

To express his apology, Gu Tinglan took out a small silver pendant from his pocket.

This is the amulet his grandfather gave him on his eighteenth birthday. He just found out not long ago that it can resist attacks from some high-level magical weapons.

"You're smart." Xixi looked at the beautiful, sparkling gem in front of her, and without caring about being angry, she lowered her head and asked him to put it on her.

After putting it on, he said mercifully, "I reluctantly forgive you." Then he took Gu Tinglan's hand and said, "Let's go eat without further ado."

These words sounded a bit provocative, but what he received was indeed an extremely doting "OK."

You can even hear how happy the owner's tone is.