19: Do you think I'm a fool?

Although he wasn't sure of the other party's intentions, Lin Luo had to admit that the rooftop was indeed a good place for a "talk." It was usually locked, and students without a key couldn't get up there at all—though, of course, such physical restrictions were non-existent to him.

He put away his phone and turned toward the stairwell.

Looking out from the railing, the bustling vitality of the playground below formed a sharp contrast with the impending storm on the rooftop. The school bell suddenly rang out like a signal, and he keenly sensed Kirisu Mafuyu's presence appearing at the rooftop entrance.

He had just turned around and hadn't even had a chance to speak when he saw Kirisu Mafuyu already raising her hand, the ruby of that ring pointed directly at him. Her lips curled into a wicked smirk, one tinged with a hint of malice that was completely different from her usual cold image.

“You bad guy,” her voice carried a strange quality, as if mixed with a dual timbre, “Now, I am your master. You must obey my every word!”

The moment her words fell, a controlling force far more overbearing and direct than the probe in class—like an invisible tidal wave—slammed into Lin Luo's mind and will! This power carried a sense of absolute command, arrogantly trying to twist his cognition and strip away his autonomy, forcing him to submit.

Caught off guard, Lin Luo felt his knees buckle. A powerful will pressed down on him, nearly making him lose control and drop to one knee, and that humiliating word "Master" almost escaped his lips!

(Such strong power!)

Lin Luo was deeply shaken. He immediately guarded his mind, and the spiritual energy in his body circulated frantically at an unprecedented speed, acting like the sturdiest of dams to deathly resist the erosion of this bizarre power. He forced his body to steady, raised his head, and looked sharply at the Kirisu Mafuyu before him, who was clearly under the deep control of the ring.

Seeing Lin Luo actually begin to meticulously execute those ridiculous commands after her single order—standard push-ups, leaping an astonishing long-jump distance, and even cleanly performing a backflip—Kirisu Mafuyu (or rather, her mind clouded by the ring's power) showed a wicked smirk on her face as if a prank had succeeded, as if she were toying with the most interesting toy.

(As expected, this bad guy completely listens to me now!)

Her playfulness surged. With a trace of emotion she hadn't even noticed herself—a mix of shyness and excitement—she said in a tiny, commanding voice: "P-Princess carry me!"

Hearing this, a trace of an imperceptible smile flashed in the depths of Lin Luo's eyes. He compliantly stepped forward and easily picked her up by the waist. With the warm and soft beauty in his arms, he adjusted his posture to make her lean more comfortably, then leisurely looked down at his "master" in his arms, whose cheeks were flushed but whose eyes held a desire for control, wanting to see what other tricks she could play.

Being held so intimately in his arms, the delusions amplified by the ring intertwined with the girl's own shyness, making Kirisu Mafuyu feel as if her heart was beating so fast it would jump out. Her eyes were hazy as she slightly tilted her head up and, in a voice as faint as a mosquito's buzz that was almost scattered by the wind, issued the next command:

“K...Kiss...”

Lin Luo almost didn't hear her clearly. Once he understood, his movements paused slightly, and then he compliantly lowered his head slowly, his face gradually approaching hers.

Feeling that handsome face getting closer and closer with its warm breath, Kirisu Mafuyu's pure state of mind was like a lake surface with a stone thrown into it, completely thrown into chaos. Her long eyelashes trembled violently, and finally, she closed her eyes tightly, preparing for the moment the "command" was fulfilled with tension and anticipation.

However, the expected soft touch did not fall on her lips. Instead, a warm finger lightly tapped against her cherry lips.

(!)

This sudden touch made the delusion-filled Kirisu Mafuyu mistakenly believe the kiss had already happened. Her mind instantly rippled violently, and her consciousness experienced a momentary blankness and lapse!

Now!

A sharp light flashed in Lin Luo's eyes. The spiritual energy he had been quietly preparing, like the finest surgical scalpel, erupted instantly. It transformed into countless tough white light filaments that followed the point of their contact, accurately entangling that ring and fiercely piercing into the depths of Kirisu Mafuyu's consciousness, attempting to forcibly sever the ring's connection with her Soul!

“Buzz—!”

The ring clearly wouldn't sit still and wait for death. Sensing a fatal threat, the ruby embedded in it suddenly erupted with a piercing blood-light! A mental fluctuation far more violent and bizarre than before, like an out-of-control Vicious Beast, slammed into Lin Luo's spiritual energy with the force of a landslide, counter-attacking his mind in an attempt to completely control him in the crudest way possible!

The two forces collided violently on the rooftop, and an invisible shockwave scattered, causing the nearby clutter to shake slightly.

In the instant Lin Luo's spiritual energy and the ring's power fiercely clashed, the eerie ring suddenly changed its strategy.

A faint whisper rang directly in Lin Luo's ear, the voice lingering and pathetic, trying to stir his heartstrings. However, Lin Luo's Dao Heart was firm, and he was not moved in the slightest.

Seeing the temptation was ineffective, the ring immediately turned to influence the target it could more easily control—

"Mm..."

A soft moan came from Lin Luo's arms. Kirisu Mafuyu's eyes were filled with hazy water, her cheeks flushed like a sunset, and her originally cold voice now carried a hint of sweet hoarseness: "So hot..."

She writhed restlessly in Lin Luo's arms, her slender fingers unconsciously tugging at her collar, revealing a patch of delicate, lustrous skin at her neck that shimmered like pearls in the sunlight.

"This damn thing..." Lin Luo couldn't help but curse under his breath, "Why is the Japan region full of these improper Magical Artifacts?" Two hundred years of governance, it seemed, hadn't completely purified these unorthodox paths.

He acted decisively, condensing spiritual energy at his fingertips into a fine wisp of lightning, accurately striking the ruby in the center of the ring!

"Zheng—!"

The gemstone let out a sharp wail, and the power of charm surrounding Kirisu Mafuyu instantly stalled. The hazy spring colors in her eyes receded like a tide, replaced by a moment of clarity and immense confusion. She blinked and clearly saw Lin Luo's face close at hand, felt her ambiguous posture almost hanging off him, and... the slight chill coming from her collar.

(What did I... just do?!)

A massive sense of shame instantly submerged her like a tsunami.

Seeing her eyes regain clarity, Lin Luo immediately whispered in a gentle voice carrying the power of comfort and suggestion: "It's okay, Mafuyu-sensei. This was just a dream. Go to sleep, you'll be fine when you wake up..."

This familiar voice and suggestion made her tense consciousness instinctively want to comply. Her eyelids began to grow heavy, and her body relaxed slightly.

But in the next second, those blushing images from just now uncontrollably replayed frantically in her mind—how she had commanded him in that shameful tone, how she had actively sought a kiss, how she had writhed in his arms... "No!" Kirisu Mafuyu suddenly struggled, using all her strength to break free from Lin Luo's arms. She stumbled back two steps, her cheeks so red they almost dripped blood, her voice trembling with extreme shame and indignation, "Do you take me for a fool?! How... how could those possibly be a dream!"

She pointed at Lin Luo, both angry and anxious, almost on the verge of tears; everything that had just happened was too real, too clear!

Looking at her state of extreme shame and indignation, on the brink of social death, Lin Luo knew that simple hypnotic suggestion was no longer working. He sighed helplessly, his gaze falling on the ring on her finger which, though damaged, still emitted an ominous aura.

The root of the problem was still there.

Following Lin Luo's gaze, Kirisu Mafuyu suddenly looked at the ring on her finger that was still emitting an ominous aura. Intense lingering fear and disgust made her pull at it with all her might—and this time, the ring was actually pulled off with ease!

She looked at the dark red ring lying quietly in her palm. A flash of joy at escaping control first crossed her face, but immediately after, a deeper fear swept over her. She recalled the uncontrollable thoughts and behaviors she'd had after putting on the ring, and her body trembled slightly.

She raised her head and looked at Lin Luo with a gaze mixed with suspicion, lingering fear, and scrutiny, her voice still carrying an un-settled tremble:

“This thing... is too sinister...”

She paused and asked a question that had been circling in her mind for a long time:

“You... what exactly are you... a Daoist?”

(Japan's Onmyouji had long been suppressed, and the localized forces of Dragon Country were assimilating them.)

In her limited knowledge, it seemed only those legendary existences could handle such common-sense-defying matters so easily.

Lin Luo looked at her pale hand tightly gripping the ring, and those eyes filled with confusion and the search for answers, knowing he had to give an explanation today. He stepped forward, not answering her question directly, but instead holding out his palm toward her, his tone calm:

“Let me handle this thing first; it's not safe to hold in your hand.”

Kirisu Mafuyu hesitated for a moment but finally placed that ring, which felt like a hot potato, into Lin Luo's palm.

The moment the ring left her fingertips, the ruby flickered extremely faintly, like a silent sigh, carrying unwillingness and resentment as it quietly went dormant.

spiritual energy flowed in Lin Luo's palm, and a silver-white light filament wrapped around it like a veil, gently but firmly sealing the ring within. He looked up at Kirisu Mafuyu—her face was still somewhat pale, and traces of alarm and confusion remained in her eyes, like a small deer that had just escaped a storm.

His tone slowed as he decided to lift a corner of the world's curtain: "A Daoist? Not quite." A gentle spiritual light leaped from his fingertip, flowing lightly in the night like a firefly, "I am... a Fangshi in training."

Seeing her blink with a face full of confusion, he continued: "The world we live in is the daily 'present world' on the surface, but beneath it hides an 'inner world'—some also call it the 'Hidden World,' the other side where supernatural existences reside."

He paused, his gaze falling seriously on her face to observe her reaction: "Actually, the government has specialized agencies to handle these kinds of events. I happen to know people inside. After this incident, someone might come to you for some follow-up records; don't be nervous, it's just a routine procedure."

Kirisu Mafuyu was dazed for a moment, then suddenly remembered something, her voice so soft it was almost scattered by the wind: "Then... that time I was sick..."

“You were invaded by Yin Qi then.” Lin Luo nodded frankly, his tone calm but carrying a trace of imperceptible concern, “While you were asleep, I helped you disperse the cold Qi in your body.”

The tips of her ears suddenly turned red as she finally connected those blurred memories, the inexplicable recovery, and his occasional presence outside the classroom window... piece by piece. It turned out he had been protecting her from the shadows all along.

She looked at the ring in his hand, gently wrapped in spiritual light, and asked in a low voice: "Then now... what should I do?"

Lin Luo tucked the sealed ring into his sleeve, his movements efficient but not cold. He looked at her, his eyes gentle but carrying an undeniable seriousness:

“Just live your life as usual. Remember three things—”

He held up one finger: “First, don't touch antiques of unknown origin, especially those carrying strong obsessions or blood energy.”

Second finger: “Second, if you encounter any more abnormalities—even if you just feel 'not right'—contact me immediately.”

He paused, his gaze lingering on her face for a moment, the corners of his mouth curving slightly with a hint of helplessness and teasing: “Third... be more proper. You almost pulled your uniform open just now, did you know?”

Kirisu Mafuyu: “...!”

She suddenly covered her collar, her cheeks instantly burning bright red, even her neck dyed with a pink haze. She wanted to retort, but meeting his smiling eyes, she couldn't say a word, only able to lower her head and mumble softly: “W-who asked you to suddenly say that...”