Lanji lost her original calmness and couldn't believe her failure.

It was obvious that everything was going so smoothly, it was obvious that she was almost able to leave here, and it was obvious that she was about to complete the... agreement at that time, how could it become like this?

"Of course I will be poisoned in my normal state. Just now you should have prepared a dagger to chop off my head or pierce my heart when I was weak. But you have no chance now."

After that, Feng Ze let go of Lan Ji's hands and put his thick dragon claws on Lan Ji's neck.

"Remember to say hello to your dad for me!"

"Ugh!!"

The huge force blocked Lan Ji's breathing, and Feng Ze could easily break her neck, but obviously he did not intend to let Lan Ji die so easily.

Just the right amount of power to suffocate Lanji without causing her immediate death.

Lanji opened her mouth and stuck her tongue out, but no matter what she did, she couldn't get any air into her lungs.

Lan Ji, who was already in a desperate situation, still wanted to resist. She put her free hands on Feng Ze's back and scratched her. However, she could only make the clothes tearing sound, and her nails could not penetrate the back that was already full of scales.

back, unable to cause any damage to it.

"Uh...cough!"

There was not much strength left. After realizing that she could not break free at all, Lanji's hands fell on the floor. In order to relieve the pain of lack of oxygen in her brain, she subconsciously embedded the broken nails into the wooden board, and her long fingers were filled with blood.

Sawdust and flesh and blood resolve pain with pain.

"Ah...um..."

Lanji whimpered in pain, her hands leaving bloody scratches on the floor. At the same time, her calves were kicking randomly, making a "dong-dong" sound on the oak floor.

Feng Ze looked at all this indifferently, without any pity or regret in his eyes. The woman's painful expression was reflected in the pair of orange-red beast eyes. When he felt her struggle, the strength of Feng Ze's hands did not change at all.

Slowly, Lan Ji's struggle began to weaken. The useless struggle was just a waste of the little oxygen left in her body.

Lanji's consciousness was fading away, and she knew that she was about to end.

Her thoughts went back to the night a few days ago when she wanted to commit suicide. She prepared a glass of fine wine with too much kukal, intending to leave herself in a world full of beautiful dreams.

And if she had taken it earlier, could she have avoided such a tragic and painful death?

Can......

is that so?

Is this really the case?

Is everything I do really meaningless?

"Are you crazy?!"

A roar like a lion opened up her confused and dark path ahead.

"You obviously still have a lot of things you want to do, right? You obviously still have a lot to bear, right? You still have a lot of people who believe in you and care about you, right?"

"Human life is so short! Why don't you cherish it?! If you don't live on, how will you know there is no dawn? How can you wait until the future you expect?!"

Yes, what the young man said makes sense.

Lan Ji knew very well that what she did was just following her father's example, escaping everything with "death", and becoming a complete loser.

However, "escape" always seems easier than "face".

However, which one of the two will pay the greater price can only be known by trying both.

That's why Lan Ji chose to help the boy who had chosen "face" because she had chosen the option of "escape" countless times, and it was time to make a different choice.

"Na! Lanji."

"Um?"

After the boy obtained the city defense map, Lan Ji thought he was about to leave like this, but the boy suddenly seemed to want to say something.

"I said, if...if you could leave this city and get rid of those shackles on your body, what would you want to do?"

"How do I..."

Lan Ji had never thought about this. Her thinking about the future could never escape "revenge". In the future she imagined, either she would counterattack and kill Feng Ze and eliminate all the rebels in Tieyu City.

To return her father's innocence would mean a period of boundless suffering and darkness. Besides, she didn't even dare to imagine.

"Well! Don't deny it in a hurry!"

The young man scratched the back of his head and said with some embarrassment:

"You can think about it first. For example, I like cooking, so I will become a 'chef' in the future! Anyway, after I think about it this way, I will be motivated to do whatever I do."

"Um......"

Lan Ji began to think seriously, and she found that she quickly got an answer, as if she had already put this goal in front of her subconsciously, but she never stopped her thoughts on it.

"Then I will be a 'pastry chef' from now on!"

"Eh?"

The boy made a surprised sound.

"What? Are you surprised?"

The young man smiled and said: "No, no, if it were you, you would definitely become the best pastry chef, right?"

"Ha ha!"

Lan Ji, who had received countless vain compliments, actually felt that the boy's ordinary compliment was very helpful to her, and she laughed happily.

"I think if you become a cook, you must be the best cook in Pomta."

"Uh? Is that so?"

Faced with Lan Ji's reply, the young man was a little at a loss, but he seemed to have come up with an idea quickly.

"Then let's do this! Let's make an agreement!"

"Um?"

Lanji admitted that she was very interested in the boy's unspoken promise.

The boy cleared his throat and said with high emotion: "I will become the best cook in Pomta in the future, and you will become the best pastry chef in Pomta!"

"Oh? It feels difficult?"

Lan Ji covered her mouth and chuckled. The young man's speech was really childish.

Faced with Lan Ji's teasing, the young man pouted and said, "Difficulties are the only ones that are challenging!"

"Okay...Okay! So what's next?"

Lan Ji was very curious about how this young man would fulfill their agreement.

"Come on, pull the hook!"

The young man stretched out his crooked little finger towards Lan Ji in an imposing manner. Lan Ji looked at the young man's actions in surprise.

How could it be such a childish way of making an agreement?

There was no paper, no pen and ink, no witnesses, and no magnanimous oath.

As long as each other knows each other, no one can use the content of this agreement to punish anyone. It is such a meaningless agreement.

How could she be so childish? This is impossible...

"good!"

However, Lan Ji stretched out her hand inexplicably, bent her little finger, and touched the young man's finger.

The two curved little fingers clasped together and made an agreement without any binding.

However, why does such an agreement occupy such a large weight in my heart?

She even dreamed of being in a kitchen filled with flour, milk, eggs and sugar cubes every night, making sweet pastries that made everyone smile.

Why?

Is this what you really want?

Is this the life I want?

"Well..."

Now she no longer has the strength to do anything, not even the slightest struggle. Her vision is gradually getting darker, and the pain that makes her body convulse is disappearing.

It's too late.

It was too late for me to realize everything.

She actually only figured out what she wanted in the last few days of her life, and then everything came to an end in the first step of implementation.

A miserable loser, she knew very well that without changing the outcome, she was still just a loser like her father.

The young man's face full of disappointment seemed to appear before his eyes.

terribly sorry...

I missed my appointment...
To be continued...