Stepping on the Demoness to become the strongest

After dinner, everyone returned to the villa to rest.

Yan Yu wanted to take a nap on the sofa, but then he suddenly heard Su Yunjin's voice transmission:

"Shall we go for a walk?"

Chen's mother was in the living room at the time, making the reason for using voice transmission crystal clear: she didn't want to be overheard by Chen's mother.

To be honest, Yan Yu was a little resistant to the idea of going for a walk with Secretary Su after dinner. After all, during their last walk, out of nowhere a flagpole had suddenly come flying at him, and it was only thanks to his quick wit and deft response that he managed to remove the pole just in time.

If Secretary Su had actually confessed: to accept would seem like a loss; to refuse might make her cry. Discover more content at My Virtual Library Empire

Yan Yu was kind-hearted and couldn't bear to see a girl cry over liking him too much, after all, I'm not some jerk.

Of course, despite his reluctance, he still had to agree. Otherwise, she might think he was scared of her, which wouldn't be befitting of his status as the strongest of this world.

"Alright," Yan Yu responded, "Let's just take a short walk and come back, okay? There are guests at home, we can't be absent for too long."

"Mhm," Su Yunjin agreed, appearing very easy to talk to.

The two of them left the house one after the other, and outside was a straight main road. The lights cast circles of illumination along the roadside, creating a hazy beauty akin to twilight.

"My parents go for a walk after dinner every day for about an hour to aid digestion," Su Yunjin said with a light smile. "I think we could give it a try too."

And there it was, that heavy feeling again!

Yan Yu thought to himself that he wasn't opposed to a post-dinner walk; in fact, the habit was quite scientific and healthy. But with her starting off with "my parents go for a walk after dinner," and then "we could try it," isn't the implication of that comparison a bit too obvious?

We haven't even established a relationship yet, Miss Yun Jin! Are you starting off with such a heavy atmosphere?

"Isn't that a bit much?" he declined tactfully, "A lone man and a single woman walking together. If it happens too often, I'm worried it might affect your reputation."

"Eh?" Su Yunjin asked in surprise, "The 'we' I mentioned was referring to the entire team~"

Yan Yu:.........

"So, captain, you'd prefer to go for a walk with me after dinner?" Su Yunjin looked at him with wide, innocent eyes, her gaze pure and untainted.

No wonder she's a literary girl! Quite the player with words, aren't you?

Yan Yu felt like he was losing ground, but with his reputation as the strongest in this world hanging in the balance, he couldn't easily admit defeat on either the battlefield or the field of love, so he just smiled lightly and steered the conversation back:

"Did you specifically ask me out for a walk because there's something on your mind?"

"Can't I ask the captain out for a walk without a particular reason?"

"If you keep being mysterious, I might just turn around and go back, you know?"

"I'm not quite sure how to put it into words," Su Yunjin said as she played with a strand of hair by her cheek, her eyes fixed on the little pebbles on the ground. "Give me a moment to organize my thoughts."

Yan Yu didn't rush her, simply watching her profile quietly.

If Chen Lingyun's beauty could be likened to a delicate little dress adorned with lace, then Su Yunjin's beauty was like an elegant long dress. Beautiful as it was, her style was relatively plain, with more focus on character than outward appearance.

Her eyes weren't particularly large, but the gentle expression when she looked around gave off a demure charm that Chen Lingyun could never achieve—not to say that Princess Jiang Hai's eyes lacked luster, but her watery gaze always carried a seductive, captivating charm, unlike Secretary Su's girl-like clarity and purity.

Yes, if there was one word to describe Su Yunjin, it would probably be "clean."

Su Yunjin was indeed a person who cherished cleanliness. Sweeping, mopping, and wiping the tables were daily tasks for her. She took care of washing and drying everyone's clothes, handling almost all household chores herself without the need for a maid—because she was the type who found satisfaction in seeing things become clean by her own hand.

Extending from that habit, her sartorial choices were mostly understated and monochromatic as well, like the white cinched-waist long dress she wore now... When had she changed into it?

It must have been right after dinner when she had returned home and went straight to her room to change.

"Do you think this dress looks good on me?" Noticing Yan Yu's gaze, Su Yunjin suddenly asked.

"Quite nice," Yan Yu responded truthfully, "It complements your aura."

"Thank you," Su Yunjin suppressed the joy in her heart, calmly replying, "But it's easily dirtied, and it's rather troublesome to wash."

Yan Yu's heart suddenly clenched.

Memories of Su Yunjin's body, battered and lifeless after dying in battle, being frantically retrieved by her teammates, surfaced—The ceremony at Linyin Pavilion Memorial Hall where she was commemorated was deemed grand.

But to be honest, seeing her pallid face in the coffin on TV, who cared about the level of the farewell ceremony? She was just in her twenties, so young...

"Yun Jin today, indeed, looks very beautiful," he lifted his head, gazing at the night sky that was gradually darkening. A few particularly bright stars appeared before the night fully descended.

"It's rare to hear the captain compliment me on looking good twice," Su Yunjin quipped with her lips pursed, her brows arching into crescent moons of delight, "It seems I can't return this dress, I bought it less than seven days ago."

"No need to return it," Yan Yu maintained his sky-gazing pose and slowly said, "It's quite good as it is."

Right, what happened to The Four Great Demon Kings who were involved in killing her in the past life?

Shenyuan Simie self-immolated within his family estate; Xiandao Jingyin was outmaneuvered and slain by Chen Lingyun; the stars of the Great I died in rebellion; and living the longest was Weizong Yilang, who was killed by Yan Yu seven years after Su Yunjin's sacrifice...

Yes, I remembered, I killed a Demon King.

But it couldn't be counted as avenging Su Yunjin. Weizong Yilang was the only pacifist among The Four Great Demon Kings, and he had intentionally held back during the fight that led to her death, making it difficult to consider him a murderer, at most an accessory to the crime.

For true vengeance, it had to be in this life.

"I've figured out how to say it," Su Yunjin finally spoke, "The reason I asked the captain to go for a walk is because I'm unhappy."

"What's gotten you unhappy?" asked Yan Yu.

"Ling Yun's mom is too enthusiastic about you, wanting to scoop you up as the Chen Family's son-in-law, and so I've become unhappy," Su Yunjin turned around, her face a mix of embarrassment and earnest calm as she continued, "Captain, if I'm unhappy, it will affect my training condition for the next couple of days..."

"Then I'll tell her to leave," Yan Yu couldn't help but laugh.

"You don't have to chase her away," Su Yunjin thought for a moment, correcting him, "Is it possible to have Auntie suggest leaving on her own without offending her? Or maybe get her to go out more, so she's not always hovering around you."

"You can't expect me to play the villain and yet want me to do the dirty work, that's too much to ask," Yan Yu said with a detached laugh, "I'm not an omnipotent deity."

"But I believe the captain surely has a way," Su Yunjin insisted.

"Why do you trust me so much?"

"Because doesn't the captain always say 'I want to become the strongest in this world'?" Su Yunjin placed her hands behind her back and playfully blinked at him, "If you want to be the strongest, then you can't let anyone trip you up, right? Because of Auntie's visit today, we didn't even train this afternoon."

"That's true," Yan Yu pondered in mock-seriousness for a moment, then said, "Alright, I'll think of something."

"I'm confident there's nothing the captain can't overcome," seeing Yan Yu agree, Su Yunjin breathed a sigh of relief and clasped her hands together, smiling graciously.

Yes, in this life, there's nothing that can stump me.

...including, saving you.