Chapter 936: Chapter 143 - Perfecting The Plan (2)
"Say, Su?" I called out to her while she was stuffing her face with food like there was no tomorrow. Her cheeks were so puffed out, she honestly looked like a damn pufferfish on the verge of exploding. The sight was almost comical—her little hands clutching at the food, her jaw working desperately as if she couldn’t swallow fast enough.
"Hmm?" She looked up at me at last, her big eyes blinking as she tried to process my voice through her overstuffed mouth. That tiny, muffled sound and the way she tilted her head... it was ridiculously cute. But that cuteness hit me with a bitter edge, because I knew what it meant. She wasn’t just eating greedily because she loved the food—she was cramming it down like someone afraid it would be taken away at any second. Her whole posture screamed it. Even when her gaze met mine, there was this flicker of wariness in her eyes, like she was guarding her plate against me, shielding what little she had managed to claim for herself.
It was clear enough that her life in the slave market must have been pure hell. I couldn’t even begin to imagine what she’d been through. Still, I had the feeling that the only reason Su hadn’t completely shattered by now was because of Han. Han seemed like her anchor and the thing keeping her from slipping over the edge. But Su... Su had already been close. She was so close to breaking down entirely.
"Do you have no idea where you came from?" I asked gently.
Her chewing slowed, and after a moment she swallowed. The tension in her shoulders eased a little when she realized I wasn’t asking her to hand over her food or scolding her for wolfing it down. It was just a harmless question, nothing threatening. That was enough for her to lower her guard.
"I don’t know," she said finally, her voice small but steady, "but I remember the dirt is redder there."
Redder dirt, huh? That clicked in my head immediately. That had to be the demon continent.
"Do you know exactly where it is?" I pressed.
She shook her head side to side, slow and deliberate. "No." Her voice carried no hesitation as well as no hints of pretending to know more. She really didn’t know. Well, that was about what I expected.
But what I really wanted to ask her... was something different.
"Do you know..." I paused, watching her carefully, "that you have somebody else inside you? Someone else living beside you in that body?" I leaned in slightly. "Han. Do you know her?"
The effect was immediate. The hand that had been lifting food to her mouth froze midair. For a second, she just stared at me, unmoving, her eyes sharp and focused in a way that Su’s never were.
And then... a smirk crept across her face. It was subtle, but unmistakable. I blinked once—and just like that, Su was gone. Han was the one sitting in front of me now, her presence completely different, her energy filling the air with something sharp and confident.
"You really are quite the busybody, Leon," Han said smoothly, her lips curling. "You’re walking into dangerous territory with questions like that."
"It’s baffling," I admitted, staring at her. "There isn’t the slightest change in your body when the two of you switch. One blink, and it’s you. I can’t even begin to tell how it happens."
It was uncanny, almost unsettling. Too fast to follow. Too seamless to grasp.
Han chuckled softly, waving it off. "That’s just your brain messing with you. Don’t overthink it." Then, as if to dismiss the tension altogether, she glanced at the table with a smile. "By the way, this food is excellent. We’re absolutely satisfied."
"Well, you said you weren’t easily satisfied," I replied, leaning back, "so I went with the best professionals I could find to prepare it."
"Really now?" Her eyes glittered as she leaned forward slightly. "So you actually took my request to heart. Hah... I think I’m starting to take a liking to you, Leon." She let out a small sigh of contentment. "Phew, that was a damn good meal. If Su had kept control, she would’ve stuffed herself until she couldn’t even move."
Han plucked a toothpick from the side of the plate and lazily began picking at her teeth, like she hadn’t a care in the world.
"And now," she said, her gaze locking onto mine, "what is it you want? You called me out on purpose, didn’t you? You’ve got my full attention now. So, tell me—what do you really want from me?"
"You catch on fast," I admitted with a thin smile.
That had been my intention from the start—bring Han to the surface. She was the one I needed to talk to.
"Do you know who Lilith is?" I asked her.
Her expression shifted slightly, a trace of recognition flashing across her face. "Ah... the mother," she said with a faint laugh. "Of course. Who doesn’t know her? I don’t think there’s a soul on the demon continent who wouldn’t. She was famous or well... too famous. Bards sang her name endlessly, over and over again. Honestly, it got irritating after a while."
"For someone who ended up as a slave, you sure know a lot," I pointed out.
Her smirk widened. "You’re quick to notice things, Leon. Always searching for faults." She leaned back slightly. "But it’s simple. I just have good ears. That’s all. Not that you’d believe me if I said that, right?"
"You could’ve escaped the slave market, but you stayed there," I said, narrowing my eyes. "Why?"
Han let out a soft chuckle, resting her elbow on the table. "I was curious, that’s all. I wanted to see the world outside the demon continent. To someone like me, the human lands were... captivating. I found them fascinating. But fate’s cruel, isn’t it? I got caught by bandits instead."
"Is that really all?" I pressed again.
She tilted her head, smiling faintly. "What more can I say? There’s nothing else for you to learn."
"Then, can I ask you something else?"
Her eyes narrowed just slightly, though she kept her smile. "Go ahead. While I’m still willing to indulge you."
I leaned in closer, lowering my voice. "That body... it isn’t your original one, is it? It’s nothing more than a vessel keeping you alive. Isn’t that right, Han?"
For a moment, the room went still. Then she spat the toothpick from her mouth with such sharp force it shot across the floor and embedded itself in the wooden planks with a solid thunk.
Her smile faded into something darker. "You really are a damn nosy bastard, Leon," she said coldly. "I’m starting to think I might just end up hating you from here on out."