Zombie Bodyguard-Chapter 1589 - 1586: A Ceremony of the Mind

"Don’t... don’t joke around, there are cockroaches in the kitchen, I’m scared..." Xiao Manxuan said as she trembled slightly, not looking like she was joking.

Lin Tian helped her up and frowned slightly, "You’re not even afraid of Little Zi, how can you be scared of a cockroach?"

Little Zi is a formidable Zombie Gu, exceptionally destructive, making cockroaches look like trash in comparison. There’s no reason for the little girl to be afraid of cockroaches.

"Little Zi is so pretty, those cockroaches are so disgusting, how can they compare?" The little girl puffed her cheeks, completely disagreeing with Lin Tian comparing Little Zi to cockroaches.

Lin Tian looked at her with a smile in his eyes, "You’re lying, don’t I know you? Last time, during the battle in Japan with Oda Manaka, Li Qingyun and Oda were competing with Gu techniques, with three-headed snakes, toads, and bugs, both gross and terrifying. You weren’t afraid, but scared of a cockroach? You might be pretending to be afraid to take advantage of me."

"You jerk, I don’t want to take advantage of you!" Xiao Manxuan glared at him, but then her eyes dimmed and she spoke softly, "My father passed away when I was very young. I don’t remember the details of the funeral, but I remember there were many cockroaches at the funeral home that day."

"Since then, cockroaches have been linked in my mind to the death of loved ones—it’s bad luck. This fear has stayed with me as I grew up. Although I understand now, the fear cockroaches bring me can’t be erased. It’s a psychological shadow, right? Do you think I’m useless?" Xiao Manxuan looked up at Lin Tian.

Putting away his smile, Lin Tian fell silent. After spending so much time with Xiao Manxuan, this was the first time he learned about the shadow buried deep in her mind.

In the Xiao Mansion, there’s someone cleaning every day without missing a spot, leaving no room for cockroaches to survive. That’s probably why he never discovered Xiao Manxuan’s psychological shadow, and even Miss and Mrs. Xiao might not know.

Lin Tian said nothing but held her hand, smiling softly, "Come on, your hero is here to help you eliminate it!"

Every girl has a dream—in mine, my love rides on Seven-Colored Clouds to rescue me. Xiao Manxuan had said that the first time they met.

Hearing Lin Tian’s words and recalling what she had said, Xiao Manxuan smiled, "Okay, let’s eliminate it together!"

Lin Tian and Xiao Manxuan went to the kitchen just as a cockroach crawled out of the sink. Xiao Manxuan immediately hugged Lin Tian’s arm tightly.

Feeling his arms nestled between soft curves, Lin Tian sighed comfortably but pretended to be indifferent, "Don’t be afraid. It’s good that it’s out; let’s eliminate it."

"How do we eliminate it, by stepping on it?" Xiao Manxuan felt a bit more composed standing next to Lin Tian.

"You shouldn’t just randomly step on cockroaches," Lin Tian spoke intentionally to distract the little girl and redirect her fear towards how to eliminate the cockroach.

Following Lin Tian’s thought, Xiao Manxuan asked curiously, "Why?"

"Elders say stepping on cockroaches makes them multiply, and it’s quite sensible. Many cockroaches reproduce after a single mating. If you crush a cockroach, its eggs might spill out, and if not thoroughly cleaned, these eggs can hatch without fertilization." Lin Tian explained.

Listening, Xiao Manxuan blushed at the mention of mating and fertilization, but thanks to this digression, her fear was greatly reduced.

Seeing it work, Lin Tian continued, "Do you know how many baby cockroaches can come from one batch of eggs? It ranges from dozens to over a hundred, even hundreds. Imagine if you killed a few cockroaches without cleaning up properly, how many Xiao Qiangs that could produce."

"Then how do we eliminate them?" Xiao Manxuan frowned.

Lin Tian chuckled, "Go get some toothpicks from the living room."

Though puzzled, Xiao Manxuan fetched a bunch of toothpicks from the living room, handing them to Lin Tian, who smiled, "Watch what ’perfect aim’ looks like."

Saying that, Lin Tian flicked a slim toothpick, precisely hitting the cockroach’s head. The cockroach struggled briefly before going still.

"Lin Tian, you’re amazing; you can use toothpicks as weapons." Xiao Manxuan’s eyes lit up with admiration.

Lin Tian replied casually, "It’s nothing much. Master Tang Xuan Su’s All Swords Return to the Sect is truly amazing; they can kill with leaves. I’m just taking out a cockroach."

"I still think your toothpick skill is amazing," Xiao Manxuan said, almost making Lin Tian faint.

Darn it, using toothpick to refer to a man’s size; this might be misunderstood. Though Lin Tian knew the little girl didn’t mean that, he still felt uneasy.

"Lin Tian, what’s wrong? Why not use toothpicks?" Xiao Manxuan noticed his peculiar expression and asked curiously.

"Uh, nothing. Next, let me show you the Rain Pear Blossom Needle," Fortunately, Lin Tian was confident in his manly assets, so he wasn’t further discouraged.

He lifted his foot and shook the floor—a clever technique—and the kitchen vibrated with a strange frequency, producing almost inaudible buzzing sounds.

This sound and vibration acted like a repellent. Instantly, dozens of cockroaches, big and small, crawled out from the sewer and cracks as Lin Tian suddenly flicked his hand, releasing a handful of toothpicks.

Perfect aim, each cockroach was embedded with three toothpicks, and they all lay dead, even more effective than the Rain Pear Blossom Needle.

"Wow, you’re awesome!" Xiao Manxuan exclaimed in surprise. Lin Tian breathed a sigh of relief, glad she didn’t say "your toothpick skill is amazing."

Gathering all the dead cockroaches with a dustpan, Lin Tian put it in front of Xiao Manxuan, "Flush them down the toilet. From today onwards, you won’t have to be afraid of cockroaches anymore."

Xiao Manxuan hesitated, apprehensive about grabbing the dustpan, but her gaze quickly hardened as she took it, heading to the toilet to flush the cockroaches down the drain.

The sound of running water washed over Xiao Manxuan’s spirit. Watching the last cockroach get flushed away, a certain fear within her seemed to be washed away.

"Lin Tian, thank you." Xiao Manxuan turned and suddenly stood on tiptoe, lightly kissing Lin Tian’s cheek before scampering away like a startled rabbit, "I’m going to cook for you." Her words overflowed with happiness.

Lin Tian walked out of the bathroom, watching the busy figure of the little girl, Xiao Manxuan dressed in an apron, radiating a different kind of beauty. He felt an indescribable sense of fulfillment in his heart.

The first man to shield a girl from the wind and rain was her father. With her father gone, now it’s my turn to protect you. Lin Tian felt as if he had completed some kind of ritual—taking the hand of a girl that a middle-aged man once held, and now handed to him.