In the darkness.

Yu Zhizhi tried to back away, but the cramped storage closet made it difficult to even turn around.

Worse, the strange young man before her was gripping her wrist, his hand trembling as he pulled it toward his own body.

She used her other hand to block him. "No... you can’t."

Louis saw the little Rabbit Clan female’s eyelashes flutter. She averted her gaze, her voice soft and sweet. "I don’t know you."

"My name is Louis."

"..."

"Well, you know me now." The young man felt a burning heat surge through him, and reason began to fade from his dark eyes. "Help me... please, help me..."

He leaned in, his lips brushing against her soft rabbit ears. He wanted to be closer to her, closer still.

Yu Zhizhi’s rabbit ears twitched uncontrollably.

A tingling sensation spread through her.

There was nowhere left to retreat.

It seemed the strange Beast Clan male before her was in heat...

"Are you a Mermaid?" Yu Zhizhi suddenly asked, as if remembering something.

Louis braced one hand against the door behind the little female. His forehead was beaded with sweat, and his eyes were so clouded with a feverish haze he could barely see her face. "...No."

’Does this little Rabbit female like Mermaid Clan males...?’

"Oh."

Yu Zhizhi pressed her lips together. She looked up and saw the man’s glistening eyes. He looked as fragile as shattering glass, the flush at the corners of his eyes growing more pronounced as he desperately tried to suppress something.

"Let me think of something..."

Yu Zhizhi glanced to the side and recited inwardly—

’Is there a medicine that can suppress a male’s heat?’

System: Yes. 150 Points per dose. Does the host wish to exchange?

’Can I get a discount?’

System: No.

Yu Zhizhi had spent 100 Points on teleporting, and she had chosen the cheapest location, Paradise.

One dose of medicine was 150 points...

So expensive.

She was reluctant to spend it.

Yu Zhizhi rarely used her points to buy things. She just wanted to level up quickly—once she reached Level 10, she could go home...!

Just as she was hesitating, she heard a "CLICK" from behind her. The strange male had unlocked the door.

Using his last shred of reason, Louis pushed the door open. "Quick... go..."

"Hah..."

He felt like he was about to die.

The fire inside him was about to burn him to ash. 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

A faint sliver of Light seeped in.

It came from a remote hallway. The faint sound of soft music and the laughter of female guests drifted from the distance.

But it all felt a world away.

As if separated by two different worlds.

Yu Zhizhi took a step back, and then another.

She slowly returned to the light.

But the strange male, his face contorted in agony, seemed permanently trapped in the darkness.

—Light and dark, facing each other from opposite sides of a single door.

Louis took one last look at the little female, who was bathed in the soft, dim light. She stared at him blankly, her rabbit-like eyes reflecting countless stars.

His head began to throb...

Yu Zhizhi saw that beneath his sweat-drenched bangs, the young man named Louis’s hazy, dark eyes suddenly shifted to a deep, inky green the moment the door was pulled slightly shut.

Her pupils dilated involuntarily—

A second later, however, the deep green eyes turned black again.

Louis knew he was about to lose control.

Before that happened, pushing the little rabbit female back into the light was his last act of kindness.

Suddenly, the closing door was pulled open from the outside.

The door was only open a crack. Yu Zhizhi was timid, but she still held her hand out for the young man to see.

This was the medicine she had finally decided to exchange for.

In the young woman’s palm lay a slender glass vial filled with a pale blue liquid that looked just like seawater.

"Louis, this is for you. If you drink it, you shouldn’t feel so bad."

One of Lou’s eyes was hidden by his bangs. His other dark eye stared blankly at the slender glass vial.

His hand trembled as he reached out. As he took the medicine, his damp fingers brushed against the girl’s delicate palm.

"Thank you."

BANG!

He slammed the door shut.

The medicine flowed down his throat, and Louis’s gasps gradually subsided. He clutched the empty glass bottle in his left hand and swept his bangs aside with his right, revealing his other eye. It glowed faintly in the darkness, like a precious green gemstone.

His black left eye was cold. "A pity. Your plan failed."

His green right eye smiled. "I’ll kill her sooner or later."

—That little Rabbit Clan female, who came from who-knows-where, actually carried a Calm Potion on her and ruined his fun.

Louis clenched the glass bottle. "Get out!"

In an instant, his right eye turned black again.

He leaned back against the storage cabinet, recalling the sweet scent of the little female. It was like jasmine soaked in milk—utterly bewitching.

’...I forgot to ask her name.’

Louis suddenly felt a pang of regret.

Yu Zhizhi found the restroom and washed her hands thoroughly with cold water. She looked at her reflection in the mirror. Her hair was a mess, and her ears were slightly red, as if she had just been bullied.

She gently wiped her ears with a damp paper towel.

After tidying herself up, she returned to the second-floor lounge area and grabbed a glass of vegetable juice.

’I wonder what clan that Beast Clan male named Louis belongs to? Even in that much pain, his body didn’t show any signs of Beastification.’

’Showing up in the Lost Tower at this hour... ’

’Could he be one of the Lost Tower’s Artists, too?’

Yu Zhizhi recalled the glass rooms lining the first-floor hallway, where the Artists available for the female guests to choose were displayed. Although they were all handsome, they paled in comparison to Louis.

’Louis is so incredibly handsome. Maybe he’s the Lost Tower’s Oiran...’

Returning from his errand, Luther immediately spotted the Rabbit Clan female sitting alone on a sofa amidst the crowd of beasts.

He hurried over. "My apologies. I’m five minutes late."

Luther had been given a last-minute task and thought he could return within thirty minutes.

But it had taken him thirty-five.

Luther said softly, "Let’s head to the auction hall. It should be starting soon."

At the mention of the auction hall, Yu Zhizhi immediately stood up and gulped down the last of her vegetable juice.

’I’m finally going to see the Mermaid.’

This was the only Mermaid in the entire Moon Rising Empire.

He was her conquest target.

They went to the third-floor auction hall and, like the other females in line, received an entry paddle. Luther dutifully stayed by Yu Zhizhi’s side the entire time.

They found seats near the very front.

Before them was the auction stage, brightly lit to ensure that every seat in the house had a clear view of the items up for bid.

Over thirty seats had been reserved for tonight, and they were all filled in less than five minutes.

Latecoming females could still enter and stand in the back to watch the excitement, but they had no bidding rights.

On the stage.

A half-beastified Deer Clan male took the stage. He held a microphone and began his impassioned introduction:

"Welcome, ladies, to the Lost Tower’s monthly auction! The item up for auction tonight is an extremely Rare and precious member of the Mermaid Clan!"

As the music swelled, two Beastmen emerged from behind a red curtain, pushing a cage made from a glass water tank.

Yu Zhizhi’s eyes widened slightly.

’So... so beautiful!’