The red-haired man’s pupils were as dark as ink, his expression no longer bearing its usual clarity.
The illusion constructed by the mist magnified the unspeakable, dirty cravings in his heart. At this moment, he was like a beast driven by desire, clamping down tightly on the prey in his palm.
Ending the predatory kiss, the sweet scent still lingered between Lu Shiyue’s teeth and lips.
Even his mouth is sweet.
He lowered his head, staring at Yu Jiu’s face.
The person in his arms had messed up his hair while struggling. Sweat beaded on his forehead, sticking dark strands to his skin. His green eyes were watery and shimmering, like a fawn caught in a snare.
Perhaps because he couldn’t breathe properly during the kiss, a wet, crimson flush had bloomed at the corners of his eyes, like a dot of cinnabar pigment, outlining an appearance that stirred pity and affection.
His red lips were swollen, especially the cupid’s bow, which looked plump and engorged from the contact with Lu Shiyue’s tongue. It was like a perfectly ripe peach, overflowing with rich juice at the slightest touch.
He looked thoroughly bullied.
Yu Jiu’s slender, white fingers pressed against Lu Shiyue’s chest. He appeared completely unable to bear it, despite only having his mouth kissed.
If he had done anything more excessive, those delicate wrists would have long since lost their strength, clinging to Lu Shiyue’s shoulders as if begging for mercy before finally dropping uselessly away.
He would probably cry, Lu Shiyue thought. Right now, he had that expression of wanting to cry but being unable to, and he couldn’t even speak.
When that time came, he would only be able to sob silently, tears rolling down his cheeks to leave wet, glistening trails that dampened the black hair at his temples.
The little mute would raise those eyes, reddened from crying, and look at him with a gaze of supplication—pitiful and adorable, passively enduring everything he did.
He was so delicate. He left striking marks on his body without even trying, was afraid of pain, and resisted the touch of others.
The swamp of illusions in Lu Shiyue’s mind pulled him deeper. Those terrible images made him despise himself, yet he couldn’t stop imagining them. He was like a boy who hadn’t yet finished puberty, restless and with nowhere to vent, his mind filled with fantasies about his beloved—fantasizing about every single inch of him.
Yu Jiu watched the red-haired man before him, who seemed trapped in a nightmare. The shirt outlined a well-trained physique, the muscle lines elegant without appearing overly exaggerated. With broad shoulders and a narrow waist, the man’s Adam’s apple bobbed up and down, and his eyes were dark and profound.
An aggressive, predatory gaze of desire looked at him without any concealment.
Yu Jiu couldn’t understand why Lu Shiyue had suddenly changed, especially after being so indifferent toward him before.
The look in his eyes now was exactly the same as the one Ning Jue had, full of the desire to tear him apart and devour him.
It gave Yu Jiu the illusion of being targeted, of being stared at.
Yu Jiu was a bit slow when it comes to matters of the heart, but his natural vigilance made him want to stay as far away as possible from the man whose state was clearly abnormal.
Perhaps the illusion amplified Lu Shiyue’s hatred for me; otherwise, why would he have that expression, as if he wanted to swallow me whole?
“091, the protagonists of these missions are all so strange. Can we change to a normal mission next time?” Yu Jiu observed Lu Shiyue’s movements, distracted, and whispered to the system.
He was sensitive and rarely liked to trouble others, so he asked tentatively.
“If it’s too much trouble, then don’t worry about it. I can actually handle it.”
His small, delicate voice echoed in the system space. Hearing it, 091 felt its heart melt into a puddle, and bubbles bubbled up above its spherical form.
“Baby…”
091 cursed the main system and the perverted protagonist: “Baby, don’t worry, it’s not troublesome at all.”
In the system space, 091 quickly filtered data, its light ball shaking so fast it created afterimages as it searched for missions. If the system didn’t work hard, how could it benefit its host? 091 was full of motivation; it would rather wrong anyone else than wrong its baby.
Yu Jiu’s drifting gaze was captured by Lu Shiyue.
The man trapped in the illusion had an exceptionally active mind; every tiny fluctuation in his brain was grasped and magnified infinitely. The illusion didn’t care about subtle evil thoughts, but Lu Shiyue had suppressed too much desire in his heart, and it was about to overflow.
At this moment, all it took was a little push to open a tiny crack, and desire would surge forth, swallowing him whole.
Lu Shiyue wanted to know why Yu Jiu was distracted; his green eyes were blank and unfocused, clearly not paying attention to him.
His fingers, pressed against the shoulder of the person in his arms, tightened. Fire, mixed with an inexplicable jealousy, made him want Yu Jiu to look at him.
He wanted to be the only one watched by those pure, clear eyes filled with trust and reliance.
Instead of now, where Yu Jiu’s eyes were always on someone else.
The mysterious magician, the key NPC of unknown origin, and Ning Jue—Ning Jue, with whom Yu Jiu had such a deep and affectionate bond.
Deep malice surged in his brows. Lu Shiyue naturally had an aggressive look—arched brows and upturned eyes—giving him a face that was difficult to approach. When he looked at people with a cold face, it was even more oppressive.
Does the little mute get his chin held and kissed by Ning Jue, too?
He trusts Ning Jue so much; they’ve probably already done everything.
Thinking of the two of them being intimate, an intense and strange emotion churned in Lu Shiyue’s gut until he nearly broke down, his expression turning ferocious and almost out of control.
I could clearly do better than Ning Jue.
A wave of pain came from his shoulders. Yu Jiu wanted to avoid it, but his resistive movements only annoyed Lu Shiyue, who grabbed him by the back of his pale neck and pressed him into his chest.
Warm, dry breath wrapped around his entire body. Yu Jiu’s whole person was pressed against the man’s rock-hard chest.
A soft, pinkish flush appeared on his forehead from the impact, and the fingertips resting on his neck were scorching hot, leaving striking finger marks on his delicate nape.
It was both decadent and pitiful.
His ears were filled with the sound of Lu Shiyue’s powerful heartbeat, thumping one after another, as if it were about to burst out of his chest.
What on earth is he doing?
Now it was Yu Jiu’s turn to be confused. The way he was held tightly really didn’t look like he wanted to hurt him.
The skin his palms touched was very hot, turning the petals of his fingertips a soft pink.
Yu Jiu retracted his fingers as if burned. He felt suffocated and hot, twisting his body to try and break free from the man’s hard, confining embrace.
Just as Yu Jiu thought he was going to be crushed into Lu Shiyue’s chest, he faintly heard footsteps approaching.
Looking up, the thick fog that had been swirling around them seemed to gradually dissipate. The surface of the lake became clear, and he could even see the shimmering light on the water.
The silhouette of Dragon Breath Mountain appeared in his vision, tall and majestic, with lush, green trees.
The sound of the wind startled the birds in the mountains, and they flapped their wings, flying toward the round moon that was looming in the clouds not far away.
The moon had appeared at some unknown point, spilling its brilliance across the ground. Even Dragon Breath Lake reflected the moon’s vague shadow, the ripples of the water shimmering with layers of light.
The fog had cleared.
Yu Jiu also saw the person slowly approaching.
He had a tall, straight figure, like a sharp knife that had been through a thousand refinements upright, slender, and with a sharp edge.
Those iconic icy-blue eyes and a naturally elegant face revealed an undisguised wildness because of those eyes. Just like the alpha wolf on the ice field, it was the gaze exclusive to a hunter.
At first, Yu Jiu didn’t recognize who it was, only realizing who it was when he saw the man holding a blade.
Didn’t they say to separate to execute the sub-quests? Why is Ning Jue here?
The temperament Ning Jue projected while performing missions in the game was so different from when he was with him that Yu Jiu often felt a sense of disconnect.
In the game, Ning Jue was cold and murderous toward everyone, like a precise, heartless instrument; his mission was the only focus of his attention.
When he was with Yu Jiu, the iceberg would melt, and he would be stuck to him at every moment, not wanting Yu Jiu to leave his sight.
Given the protagonist’s current identity as a weapon, Yu Jiu thought that, out of politeness, he should at least greet the protagonist he hadn’t seen for a long time.
But he was still trapped in Lu Shiyue’s arms, unable to move.
At this moment, the Sharp Knife vice-captain was still lingering in the illusion, his mind unclear, holding his captain’s little boyfriend tightly in his arms, completely unaware of Ning Jue’s approach.
The movement Yu Jiu made to try and stand up appeared as a struggle in Ning Jue’s eyes.
The lover Ning Jue thought about day and night, the one he wished he could violently push through the sub-quest to see, was being held in another’s arms, appearing intimate.
And the one holding his lover wasn’t just anyone; it was his trusted teammate, his capable assistant—the Sharp Knife vice-captain known for being ruthless, irritable, and not to be messed with.
Yu Jiu was being held entirely in the man’s arms. From the outside, only a pair of beautiful, lustrous eyes were visible. They were shimmering with moisture, as if he had been crying; his long, dense eyelashes fluttered, and his thin wrists were pressed against another man.
There were also two different types of jewelry on his wrists.
Ning Jue gripped his long blade tightly. Before the fog had cleared, his necklace item had already alerted him that Yu Jiu was nearby.
Missing him and excitement had caused this Sharp Knife captain, who was usually unreadable, to reveal his anticipation. He wanted to see Yu Jiu; he wanted to kiss and hold his petite, cute lover.
It was an absurd scene. His beloved, whom he thought about day and night, was held in someone else’s arms.
He should admit that this was his own oversight.
“091, is my identity to the outside world Ning Jue’s boyfriend?”
“Lu Shiyue holding me, it feels weird.”
091 looked at the deeply self-reflecting Ning Jue, who was blaming himself for not watching over his wife well enough, allowing his brother to take advantage of the situation.
It wasn’t his wife who made the mistake; it was his own oversight and those who coveted Yu Jiu.
“Um… he’s here to fight the other man.”
“Fight what?”
Yu Jiu didn’t hear the second half of 091’s sentence clearly and asked again.
091 realized it had been too engrossed in watching the catfight and laughed it off: “Nothing, baby. Remember to stay far away in a moment.”
With a loud boom, a silvery light from a weapon swept past.
Yu Jiu’s waist was scooped up by someone. After a brief dizziness, he landed steadily on the ground.
Ning Jue had taken him out of Lu Shiyue’s arms. A familiar cold aura dissolved like ice and snow against the tip of his nose.
Short, prickly hair brushed against Yu Jiu’s pink-white cheek as if unintentionally, feeling tingling and itchy.
He could only see Ning Jue’s side profile. The icy blue eyes were cold and solemn, the anger hidden within them exposed completely toward Lu Shiyue.
In Yu Jiu’s impression, Ning Jue rarely got angry. He maintained an unchanging expression toward everything, showing neither joy nor anger.
Players on the forum said he was good at hiding his emotions, deep-thinking, and left people no leverage.
But now, toward his trusted teammate, he revealed vivid, undisguised emotions, just like a wolf defending its territory.
When did Lu Shiyue provoke Ning Jue?
Being held by the waist, Yu Jiu struggled to recall the original plot. In the original plot, the two had a very harmonious relationship as teammates and rarely had conflicts or disputes.
The mist cleared, the illusion vanished, and Lu Shiyue gradually regained his reason.
It felt as if a soft sensation and a lingering sweet fragrance remained on his lips, winding around his beating heart like silk threads.
The decadent and ambiguous fantasies still lingered deep in his mind, and the cravings clamoring within him made him unsatisfied with mere contact.
Feeling the emptiness in his arms, Lu Shiyue subconsciously looked for Yu Jiu’s figure.
As he looked up, he saw Yu Jiu leaning against the person he would never be able to replace.