Eaten, Struck, and Burned

"What!" Ryan Lu's mouth dropped so wide you could fit an egg in it. "Involved—with a man? Did I hear that right? That 'involved' can't possibly mean what I'm thinking, can it?"

Adrian Drake grinned wickedly. "It means exactly what you think. Some people will do anything to smear him! They even made up rumors that he likes men—can you believe it?"

"Hahahaha!" Ryan Lu burst out laughing.

Luna Lian laughed too.

But Lucia Lu just couldn't laugh.

Likes men?

Last time we did a mission together, Jumin Jing also called him a 'broken sleeve.'

He and Skye...

"Senior Sister, why do you look so serious?" Adrian asked.

Lucia glanced at Sean Shaw and asked, "Is it all made up?"

"Huh? Senior Sister, what do you mean by that?" Adrian asked.

"Fifth Highness and Skye... they're really similar," Lucia said, studying him closely.

So what if they're similar? Just because they're alike doesn't mean they're involved!

Sean didn't say a word, but his eyes looked a little hurt, a little aggrieved.

"Alright..." Lucia laughed. "Of course it's all made up."

"Obviously it's made up! Since when did you get so gullible, letting rumors get to you?" Adrian teased.

Lucia tugged at her own ear. "Alright, alright! My bad!"

Sean finally seemed to cheer up.

"Oh! By the way," Ryan Lu said, "I've been having nightmares lately."

"Nightmares? What's going on?" Lucia asked.

"When I was infected with demonic qi, I looked up some ancient texts. They said that even if the demonic qi is removed, it doesn't disappear right away—it just lingers in your room," Ryan Lu explained. "So I think the demonic qi is still hanging around in my room! It's making me have nightmares every night."

"Really?" Lucia frowned.

"I don't know if it's true or not, but I even put a Clarity Charm in my room! Just in case the demonic qi gathers at night to mess with me again—but the Clarity Charm hasn't shown anything at all."

"It's probably just psychological," Adrian said. "I've never heard of demonic qi sticking around like that."

"Fifth Highness," Ryan Lu said, "when that Demon Beast attacked His Majesty, nobody else noticed, but you did. Can you see demonic qi?"

"What are you trying to say?" Sean asked, face darkening.

"How about you sleep in my room for a couple nights and help me check?"

Sean: "No."

"So heartless?"

Sean said, "Demonic qi is just like spiritual qi—it can't stick around forever. It's long gone!"

"Then why do I keep having nightmares?"

"What do you dream about?"

"All sorts of nightmares! Sometimes it's huge Elder Beasts, sometimes Genesis Bolts striking ancient ruins, sometimes it's the Hell of Blazing Flames!" Ryan Lu looked utterly fragile.

Everything he dreamed about was, to the Divine Race, the scariest stuff in the world.

Luna Lian looked at him sympathetically. "So every night you dream about being eaten, struck, and burned?"

"Not exactly. I just dream about those things. Sometimes it's someone else being eaten, struck, or burned, and I get all panicky and scared... One night I even cried..."

Adrian: "Pfft!"

Ryan Lu: "Is that funny to you?!"

Adrian: "Did I laugh? I'm not laughing!"

"You totally laughed!" Ryan threatened to hit Adrian.

Adrian scrambled up and ran off.

Ryan Lu chased after him...

Lucia frowned slightly.

Having constant nightmares really isn’t normal.

But Ryan Lu’s pulse was perfectly fine...

After they got back, Lucia checked Ryan Lu over again. He was bouncing around, healthy as could be.