Feeling uncomfortable inside?
Why would he feel uncomfortable?
Because he was injured, and since Ning Jue found out, he was worried about losing face in front of the team captain?
Yu Jiu blinked his eyes, casting a careful glance at Lu Shiyue.
The red-haired man kept his head lowered, the smooth lines of his arms taut, and his bulging muscles faintly revealing pulsing veins as if he were suppressing something intensely. A heavy, gloomy look hung over his face.
His dark pupils stared toward the magician nearby, hostility churning within them.
The magician spread his hands, looking profoundly innocent.
“Captain Lu has no need to be angry. I was merely speaking aloud the thoughts hidden in your heart.”
What thoughts? Yu Jiu felt as though he were lost in a thick fog, unable to make sense of anything.
Ignoring Gu Xun’s provocative remark, Lu Shiyue strode directly toward Yu Jiu instead.
Someone caught his slender wrist, pulling him forward with a forceful jerk. Unsteady on his feet, Yu Jiu stumbled and nearly fell.
“Let’s go.”
Keeping his head down, Lu Shiyue caught sight of the faint red marks he had accidentally squeezed onto Yu Jiu’s snowy-white wrist.
A wave of frustration washed over him. He relaxed the strength in his fingers, gently looping his hand around Yu Jiu’s wrist instead.
He hadn’t even exerted any real force, so why did a mark form so easily?
Such a delicate, pampered creature.
Why is he pulling my hand?
Yu Jiu muttered complaints to 091. The man didn’t know his own strength, gripping his wrist tight enough to ache.
“Baby, just treat him as having a flare-up of some illness.”
091 couldn’t be bothered to expose Lu Shiyue. It was obvious the man had been completely captivated by its host and was now driven out of his mind with jealousy by a few taunting remarks from someone else.
Yu Jiu trotted to keep up with Lu Shiyue’s pace. As they left the museum, he suddenly recalled the dark, unfathomable look Ling Xixi had given them back during the assembly.
That gaze had made him extremely uncomfortable, as though he had been locked onto by something predatory.
Regardless, Ling Xixi had helped him before.
He glanced back. The young man was completely swallowed by the darkness, standing as motionless as a stone statue. Even though he couldn’t see the expression on Ling Xixi’s face, Yu Jiu still inexplicably felt the haunting illusion of being watched.
Back in the hotel lobby, the players hurried off to rest in their respective rooms.
Perhaps due to the heavy mountain moisture, a thick fog had rolled in by nightfall.
Looking through the window, the outside world was blanketed in dense mist, leaving nothing in the field of vision except a vast expanse of blank whiteness.
Yu Jiu curled up beneath the covers, his slender, white fingers clutching the blanket as his eyes grew too heavy to keep open.
After dropping Yu Jiu off at his room, Lu Shiyue had gone back out, leaving him all alone.
It was deathly quiet; even the chirping of insects had vanished, leaving a stillness so profound that the dropping of a pin could be heard.
Yu Jiu felt a little frightened. He was timid by nature and terrified that some dirty, terrifying entity would suddenly crawl out once he fell asleep.
Crouched in the center of the bed, the bedding formed a tiny mound. He hid deep under the covers, leaving only a fluffy tuft of hair exposed.
“Go to sleep, baby. I’ll keep watch for you.”
Chatting intermittently with 091, Yu Jiu sank into the warm blankets and drifted into a heavy sleep.
His slumber was far from peaceful, his delicate brows furrowed as if he were being disturbed.
Trapped in a nightmare, he tried desperately to open his eyes, but a force kept pulling him downward into an ever-deeper dreamscape.
Even with someone standing right before him, he remained completely oblivious, breathing softly in his sleep.
Yu Jiu dreamt. He was back in the red-candle instance where he had first met Ning Jue.
During that red-candle instance, Yu Jiu was executing a cannon-fodder task for the very first time. Although 091 had assured him the mission was simple, he couldn’t help feeling a bit nervous.
Consequently, he made the mistake of crossing paths with the protagonist ahead of schedule, getting forcefully kept by the protagonist’s side all the way until the final task.
The final task of the instance game: the night of the ghost bride’s wedding chamber consummation.
In the original plotline, Ning Jue was supposed to skip this step entirely, using brute force to trigger a mutation in the instance boss and fighting a cataclysmic battle against a horde of monsters to violently break the game’s loop.
What Yu Jiu hadn’t expected was that on the day of their wedding chamber ceremony, Ning Jue allowed the mutated villagers to dress and groom him, donning the bridegroom’s vibrant red wedding robes.
Taking Yu Jiu’s hand, under the watchful gazes of a crowd of bizarre monsters, he obediently completed the formal wedding bows.
He had no idea how the traditionally cold, ruthless protagonist in the original plotline had ended up like this.
At that time, they hadn’t known each other for long.
The way Ning Jue looked at him was completely different from their initial encounter. When they first met, Yu Jiu felt as though he were staring into a moving humanoid iceberg.
Right now, however, the cold iceberg in the protagonist’s eyes had melted into a puddle of water, overflowing with tenderness.
His gaze churned with an intense possessiveness. Yu Jiu’s sharp, animal-like intuition caused him to shrink back instinctively.
The wedding bed was draped with a red quilt stamped with double-happiness characters, scattered with a layer of peanuts and candies.
Ning Jue wrapped an arm around Yu Jiu’s waist, lifting him onto the bed.
The peanuts beneath the bedding felt uncomfortable against Yu Jiu’s back. To avoid being poked by them, he wriggled his body, pressing closer into Ning Jue’s embrace.
“Don’t move around.”
The man’s low, hoarse voice sounded from directly above him. He seemed to be exercising immense restraint, his icy-blue eyes blazing with an unfathomable lust that Yu Jiu couldn’t decipher.
A scorching palm clamped tightly around Yu Jiu’s waist.
His waist was slender, the grip even brushing against the soft flesh of his abdomen.
The belt on his bright red wedding robe was forcefully torn open, exposing a large expanse of powdery-white undergarments and jade-smooth, lustrous skin.
Yu Jiu’s abdomen was flat and smooth, with a tiny patch of soft flesh right near his belly. A finger pressing against it would leave behind a shallow indentation.
He smelled wonderful—intensely sweet.
With his clothes spread open, waves of rich, sweet fragrance poured out. Ning Jue’s nasal passages were completely filled with the scent that had left him intoxicated and mesmerized.
He looked like a little sweet pastry, tempting even a passing dog like him to lean in and take a lick.
From head to toe, drenched entirely in his scent…
The candlelight flickered dimly while the dragon-and-phoenix candles at the head of the bed burned steadily. Ning Jue leaned in close, their breaths mingling together.
Hot air puffed out, a damp, sultry atmosphere spreading unbidden.
His pampered skin glowed brilliantly white. Ning Jue cupped his palm around that waist, applying a slight pressure that caused plump, soft flesh to spill out between his fingers.
Rough fingertips rubbed against the delicate skin. Feeling as though he were being controlled and hurt, Yu Jiu tried to pull away.
Yet Ning Jue’s strength far exceeded his own; all of his struggling was utterly futile in the eyes of the man.
With effortless ease, he was dragged right back into that embrace.
Warm breath brushed against his earlobe, leaving Yu Jiu with a numb, tingling sensation. His body softened entirely, going limp in Ning Jue’s arms like a creature without bones.
Long, delicate eyelashes fluttered lightly, moisture steaming up within his eyes as damp black hair draped across his neck, gazing up at him with a pitiful, adorable expression.
With just a single glance, Ning Jue caught sight of the area exposed beneath Yu Jiu’s half-spread collar.
He lowered his head, pressing closer toward the little bride.
The outer corners of Yu Jiu’s eyes were flushed red, his thin eyelids shut tight to avoid looking at the man holding him so fiercely.
By the time he was finally released, he had completely lost consciousness, looking utterly pitiful.
The friction of fabric against skin still left a strange, lingering sense of discomfort.
Feeling deeply aggrieved and ignoring the lingering discomfort all over his body, Yu Jiu reached out to push away the hand Ning Jue had pressed against his waist.
He turned onto his side, facing the inner depths of the bed, refusing to acknowledge Ning Jue at all.
Why did he have to bite me…
The corners of Ning Jue’s lips curved upward as he lowered his gaze to watch Yu Jiu, who was stubbornly giving him the cold shoulder.
The little bride’s wedding robes were spread wide, one fair arm resting atop the festive quilt.
The striking color contrast between his skin tone and the bedding struck Ning Jue’s eyes with blinding clarity. However, Yu Jiu was currently fuming, presenting his small face toward the wall so that gorgeous countenance remained hidden from view.
Without needing to guess, his eyelashes were certainly damp with tears, his green eyes watery and misty as he glared through a blur of haze.
His mouth remained parted slightly, unable to make a sound, reduced to whimpering in soft, interrupted hitches.
“Baby, I won’t touch you anymore…”
Ning Jue leaned forward, looping a long arm around Yu Jiu to pull him into his embrace while pressing a light kiss to the crown of his head.
“Let me hold you.”
Half-doubtful, Yu Jiu allowed himself to be coaxed into relaxing his body. True to his word, Ning Jue made no further moves, resting a large, calloused palm against Yu Jiu’s back.
Just like petting a cat, he stroked smoothly along his spine.
Terrified that the man might start kissing him again, Yu Jiu deliberately pulled the collar of his garments together over his chest. Enduring the itching sensation caused by the friction, he curled up into a tiny ball.
Behind him, Ning Jue let out a soft chuckle. Yu Jiu’s attempts at defense looked full of holes in his eyes; as long as he wanted to…
The hunter kept his gaze fixed intently on the prey that believed itself secure through its own clumsy defenses, making no attempt to conceal the blatant plundering in his eyes.
Yet it was still too early for that right now…
He reached out, sliding his palm down Yu Jiu’s drooping arm to clasp that slender hand, intertwining his fingers firmly within the spaces between Yu Jiu’s.
Yu Jiu’s sleep remained restless; the itchy sensations from the torments in his dream felt exceptionally vivid, as though that patch of skin had genuinely been rubbed against by someone.
A puff of breath grazed the air. The figure standing beside the bed halted their movements.
A small patch of fabric over his chest was already damp with moisture. The person sleeping in the bed seemed to feel chilled, constantly shuffling closer toward the source of warmth.
His brows furrowed in unease, his eyelashes fluttering slightly as he wore the expression of someone about to jolt awake at any second.
The figure by the bed stood up, tucked Yu Jiu securely back beneath the covers, rearranged the blankets to ensure he wouldn’t catch a cold, and silently slipped away into the dark room.
Having slept poorly last night and dreamed of those absurd actions by Ning Jue, Yu Jiu woke up feeling lethargic and out of sorts.
Whether due to the dream or not, his chest area ached faintly.
Barefoot, Yu Jiu walked over to the mirror in the room and lifted the hem of his shirt, wanting to check what was going on with his chest.
It felt both numb and itchy…
The sound of a door opening echoed from the bathroom. Yu Jiu realized belatedly that he wasn’t the only person in the room.
It was already too late. He found himself locked in a direct line of sight with Lu Shiyue, who had just finished washing up.
His shirt remained lifted, exposing a vast expanse of snowy-white skin to the open air. His slender, white fingers tugged at the fabric while the pink, delicate tips of his fingers trembled by a microscopic margin.
His lustrous green eyes brimmed with panic and astonishment, freezing him in place right where he stood.
Barefoot, his tender, fair feet pressed directly against the floor, the tips of his toes tinged a rosy pink.
He seemed entirely oblivious to his state, displaying a complete lack of guard toward the other person in the room.
His abdomen was flat and smooth, and just a fraction higher up, the skin bore a tender, watery flush of pink for some inexplicable reason.
Lu Shiyue’s dark eyes deepened. He averted his gaze, pretending he hadn’t seen a thing.
He placed his hands behind his back, forcefully stamping down the surging desire to step closer.
Seeing that Lu Shiyue acted as though he had seen nothing and remained entirely unfazed, Yu Jiu let out a breath of relief. Dropping his shirt in a flurry, he scrambled back onto the bed in a flash.
“091, did someone come in last night?”
091 fell silent for a moment. The thick fog last night had interfered with the system’s signal; it had clearly seen someone enter, yet it was unable to wake the host up, nor could it clearly make out the intruder’s face.
“I’m sorry, baby. I didn’t notice who it was.”
Filled with self-reproach, 091 left Yu Jiu startled. He had only asked out of casual curiosity, but to think someone had actually broken into his room.
“Did he do anything to me?”
Yu Jiu asked hesitantly.
“I only saw that person standing by the bed. I couldn’t see what happened afterward.”
Blaming itself endlessly, 091 wished it could immediately file a complaint against the main system for garbage signal quality.
“Then I suppose nothing happened.” Yu Jiu softly consoled 091. He didn’t want to dwell on the thought of someone standing by his bedside in the middle of the night acting all hands-on.
With a mentality akin to self-deception, he concluded: if the system didn’t see it, then it didn’t happen.
As for the person who had broken in, Yu Jiu instinctively assumed it wasn’t Lu Shiyue.
Lu Shiyue had always shown a strong aversion toward him; surely he wouldn’t do anything so out of line…
Yu Jiu peeked half his head out from beneath the covers to look outside. Lu Shiyue had already opened the door and walked out.
He looked entirely eager to escape sharing a room with him.
“091, what time did Lu Shiyue come back last night?”