Deviant: No Longer Human

Hiss...

Inhaling deeply, Wang Xiao was enveloped by her scent, a complex bouquet that was becoming increasingly familiar.

He nodded, his interest piqued. "Who are you?" he echoed, his gaze locked at back of her head.

Aurora\'s lips curled into a smile, one that hinted at the seismic impact her next words would carry.

Yet, her expression remained impassive as she delivered the bombshell, "Your wife."

Booom!

The declaration detonated like a bomb in Wang Xiao\'s mind, leaving him momentarily shell-shocked.

Aurora, seemingly amused by his reaction, snuggled closer deliberately, barely suppressing her amusement.

Yin Yue\'s commentary floated through his stunned silence. [Genius! This one wants the largest piece of the pie!]

Wang Xiao\'s expression darkened with confusion and a hint of indignation.

He didn\'t recall any matrimonial commitments, let alone to someone whose existence was as baffling as Aurora\'s.

"Are you not going to take responsibility for me?" Aurora prodded, her tone playful yet probing. Though she couldn\'t see his face, she seemed to delight in the turmoil her question stirred within him.

"What responsibility? I don\'t remember marrying anyone," Wang Xiao retorted, his frustration evident.

Aurora nudged him gently, a gesture that sought to lighten the mood. "Hey, no need to be so stiff and formal. I don\'t like it."

\'Then don\'t like it,\' Wang Xiao thought almost instantly, a flash of irritation coursing through him.

If not for the fact that a colossal dragon slumbered behind them, he might have been tempted to push her off the nearest cliff.

"You are terrible at jokes," he finally adapted a more diplomatic approach, definitely not wanting anyone to take advantage of him, although he had been the one to push her down first.

Aurora raised her brows, a challenge glinting in her eyes. "And you are also terrible at surviving." she retorted, challenging his self-assessment.

Wang Xiao, undeterred, shot back, "I have survived so far, so clearly, you\'re mistaken."

"You wouldn\'t have this time if I didn\'t come," Aurora countered, her voice laced with a hint of smugness.

Wang Xiao\'s expression remained impassive. "I could have retreated."

"And what of those two women? They would have perished, or worse," Aurora pointed out, her voice sharpening.

"That\'s not my concern," Wang Xiao replied coldly, his focus narrowed to his own survival.

Aurora was taken aback, her expression a mix of shock and disbelief. "!!"

Wang Xiao continued, unfazed by her reaction, "If they were important, I could find a way in the future to bring them back to life. As long as I survive, I can do things. If I am dead, nothing else matters."

Aurora fell silent, the audacity of his words rendering her speechless.

His willingness to prioritize his own life so starkly, to speak so casually of reviving the dead as if it were a mere inconvenience, stirred an anger within her she hadn\'t expected to feel.

Her breathing became erratic, a physical manifestation of her turmoil.

"Do you think you can do anything? Reviving the dead is not possible!" Aurora finally snapped, her voice a mixture of disbelief and anger.

She questioned whether Wang Xiao truly grasped the laws of their existence?

Wang Xiao, pragmatist, responded with calm certainty, "I can find that out. At least I trust myself more in bringing them back to life than expecting them to resurrect me should I fall."

"..."

Aurora\'s mouth opened, then closed, her words failing her as she found herself at a loss to counter his unwavering conviction.

"Now, would you bother to tell me about yourself?" Wang Xiao inquired, a sly, triumphant smile playing across his face, sensing he had gained some ground in their verbal sparring.

"..."

Aurora fell silent, caught off guard by the turn of their conversation.

She had not anticipated being cornered so skillfully.

After a moment, she pressed her lips tightly together, her arms folding defensively as she averted her gaze. "I won\'t tell. When I tried, did you even bother to listen?" she retorted, her voice tinged with a mix of resentment and accusation.

"Huh? When did you try?" Wang Xiao pressed, genuinely puzzled. From his perspective, this was the first real conversation they were having.

Aurora\'s expression softened, a smile flickering at the edges of her lips. "In April, when you were so eager for flesh, you didn\'t even give me a chance to speak. I merely wanted to explain things to you, but you—" Her voice trailed off, choked by the memory of her frustration and the futility of attempting communication that day.

??

Wang Xiao\'s eyes narrowed, a mix of confusion and realization dawning on him.

His life, filled with moments of destruction and forgetfulness, made it hard to recall every detail, especially one as seemingly mundane as that day\'s events.

"That\'s different. Today is different," he countered, unwilling to dwell on past mistakes.

"Heh, you didn\'t even enjoy your meal properly that day. You must have been quite upset, weren\'t you?" Aurora couldn\'t resist teasing him, recalling how she had deliberately escaped from him since he seemed utterly uninterested in anything she had to say.

!!

Wang Xiao\'s irritation grew, the reminder grating on him.

He entertained the brief, wish to instill in her a lesson in decorum.

But there were more pressing matters to address.

"If you\'re not going to share anything, then I\'ll take my leave," he announced, rising to his feet with a resolve to end the standoff, his patience with indirect methods wearing thin.

!?

Aurora, who had half-expected Wang Xiao to press further or attempt to coax the information out of her, was taken aback by his readiness to walk away.

She hadn\'t anticipated his indifference, nor his apparent willingness to leave without the answers he sought.

"Wait, come back!" she called out, her tone laced with urgency.

The sudden shift in her approach, from defensiveness to an almost desperate need to keep him there, revealed the depth of her own conflicted needs.

For a moment, Wang Xiao skillfully reversed the roles, with Aurora now seeking to hold onto the conversation she had initially resisted.