As soon as Li Yedao’s words fell, the dining table fell silent for a split second.
Elysia put down the chicken wing in her hand and wiped her fingers with a napkin, her movements much slower than usual.
“Actually…
not long after you left, Kosma left too.”
Li Yedao nodded without saying anything.
Kosma was his closest chūnibyō gaming buddy, so it was completely expected that Kosma would leave after he did.
“Gone is gone; everyone has their own lives to live.”
“What about the others?
I only saw the few of you today.”
Elysia’s expression grew a bit more aggrieved as she ticked them off one by one on her fingers:
“Kalpas was furious when he found out you left, and he slammed the door and walked out that very day.”
“Kevin found a girlfriend and moved out too.
Su left the same day as Kevin, Aponia went back to the orphanage, Griseo always had her own place, and Griseo went home, only coming over to visit occasionally.”
Her fingers curled inward one by one, leaving only a lonely few still sticking straight up.
The trace of a smile still lingered at the corners of her mouth, but however one looked at it, it was a bit bitter.
“Now it’s just the few of us, along with Sakura, Fu Hua, and Pardo who haven’t arrived yet.”
Li Yedao rubbed his chin, fell silent for two seconds, and then the corners of his mouth curled upward: “Now do you realize my importance?
As the boss of this little group, I still carry quite a bit of authority.”
Elysia and Mobius cast speechless looks at him simultaneously, yet neither of them refuted him.
Even though the remark was cocky, it wasn’t an exaggeration.
The past Li Yedao really had been the darling of the Golden Courtyard, the core who glued all the unrelated people together, holding an even greater pull than Elysia.
Late at night.
Li Yedao sent messages to Kafka and Jingliu to let them know he was safe, then put down his phone and prepared to sleep.
The moment he lay down, Firefly grabbed his arm, forcibly straightened it out, and then contentedly used it as a pillow.
She burrowed her head into the crook of his shoulder, finding the most comfortable angle.
Li Yedao cast a helpless glance at her, but didn’t pull his arm away.
“Yedao, you seem to care a lot about that Eden.” Firefly’s tone was tinged with sourness, though a smile curved her lips.
Usually, the person before her’s brain spun faster than anyone’s, but the moment he stepped into the Golden Courtyard, he turned sluggish—sluggish to a somewhat adorable degree.
Li Yedao sighed: “Can’t help it, considering she’s the person I care about the most.
But I can’t let her off that easily either; I’m going to give her the cold shoulder for a few months first.”
Firefly froze, then raised a hand to lightly tap his chest, her tone full of teasing: “You’re so bad.”
“Hmph, who asked her to treat me like that?” Li Yedao curled his lip, sounding like a child still throwing a temper tantrum.
Suddenly, a very faint sound came from outside the door, as if something had brushed against the door panel and instantly stopped.
The sound was brief and subtle, nearly inaudible amidst the night wind, but Firefly caught it.
She alertly propped up the upper half of her body and looked toward the door: “Is there some movement outside?”
Li Yedao glanced in the direction of her gaze, saw nothing, and after a moment of thought, didn’t pay it much mind: “Probably Pardo and the others coming back.
She keeps a cat named Can, and it loves running around everywhere.”
Firefly felt a bit strange, but on second thought, with her combat skills, she had nothing to fear even if something did happen.
Thus, she shifted her attention back to a much more important matter.
Her heart began to race with a pounding acceleration, and a thin flush dyed her cheeks.
“…Yedao, do you want that?”
This time was different from last time.
Back then, both of them had been dazed, the drug’s effects scattering their rationality to the winds, but tonight, both of them were completely sober.
It was going to be intense!
Li Yedao hesitated: “How about we forget it?
Mobius and the others might not be asleep yet; what if someone walks past this hallway…”
Before he could finish speaking, Firefly flipped herself right on top of him, straddling his waist.
She looked down at him condescendingly, her mouth puckered out enough to hang a oil jug: “Are you saying you don’t love me anymore?!”
Her puffing, angry look resembled an inflated pufferfish, but a wisp of mischievous light hid deep within her eyes.
Li Yedao looked at her helplessly, instantly seeing through this clumsy attempt at reverse psychology.
“Are you trying to play reverse psychology on me right now.”
“I want it, I want it We’re a couple now”
“I don’t care!
You have to fulfill your duties as a boyfriend.”
Refusing to back down, Firefly grabbed his shoulders and shook them gently, her voice softening while her gaze turned all the more stubborn.
She lowered her head.
Disregarding whatever Li Yedao was about to say, she pressed down directly.
Though her movements carried a trace of an inability to completely mask her nervousness, there wasn’t the slightest bit of hesitation.
The lights were turned off.
In the darkness, only fragmented and rather unprintable sounds remained.
3:00 AM.
Li Yedao pulled Firefly into his embrace and drifted off to deep sleep.
In his dream, Eden was acting subserviently toward him—waiting on him hand and foot, serving tea and water, and repenting with a look of utter remorse for all her past actions.
Li Yedao sat on the sofa with his legs crossed, a smug, triumphant smile plastered across his face.
Then the scene shifted abruptly.
Eden suddenly straddled his waist, clamping her hands onto his shoulders with a pathological, blazing intensity, her voice squeezing out through gritted teeth: “Yedao, why did you leave me?!”
Crap!
Li Yedao snapped his eyes wide open, jolting hard as cold sweat drenched his back and his heart slammed painfully against his ribs.
He panted heavily a few times before realizing he was lying in a dark room. You are reading on g.com, the official source.
The ceiling was still the ceiling of the Golden Courtyard, and his arms were wrapped around Firefly’s warm body.
Turned out to be a dream.
Scared the hell out of me.
Wait!
Li Yedao’s body suddenly stiffened.
If Firefly was in his arms, then what was pressing against his back?
“Awake?”
The voice brushed right against his earlobe, thin as gossamer, soft enough to send a tingling numbness shooting from his tailbone straight up to the back of his head.
Li Yedao froze for two seconds.
Eden?
When did she sneak in?
No wait, what if it’s someone else?
He tentatively reached a hand backward, brushing against a waistline, sliding down to hips, and further down to thighs.
Given that waist-to-hip ratio and the curve of those legs, there wasn’t a second person in the Golden Courtyard like this.
It was definitely Eden.
Quality verified without a doubt.
He quietly pulled his hand back, slowly turned over, and lowered his voice to a breathless whisper: “What are you doing here?”
In the darkness, those golden eyes blinked, shining like a pair of amber beads soaked in moonlight: “I heard you planned to give me the cold shoulder?”
She kept her voice extremely soft, every single syllable wrapped in a layer of ambiguous moisture: “I was so heartbroken, I decided to use this warm body of mine to warm up your cold heart.”
Her hand caught Li Yedao’s and guided it straight onto a mass of supreme softness.
His fingers curled instinctively; it was too large for his palm to grasp.
Eden’s voice pressed in closer again, even nearer this time, her lips practically brushing his earlobe: “Yedao, I’m not wearing anything at all, you know.”
“You…”
Li Yedao’s brain exploded into a field of white static.
He uncontrollably gave a squeeze, his palm instinctively verifying whether that sensation was real or not.
Eden let out a low moan, spilling from deep in her throat, light and tender.
Then she smiled down at him, her golden eyes brimming with undisguised delight: “Well?
Do you like it?”
Li Yedao didn’t answer.
His brain had completely shut down; he had no idea how to respond.
Full two minutes passed before he managed to drag his voice back.
“…Get out.”
Li Yedao’s voice suppressed something fierce.
“Yedao, don’t you want to…”
“I said, get out.”
Looking into his eyes, Eden read every single layout of his defensive lines in that very instant.
High attack power, low defense.
He talks a big game, but in reality, he’s the absolute easiest one to seduce.
She had originally intended to push one step further, but out of the corner of her eye, she caught sight of Firefly sleeping soundly beside them.
Pondering for a moment, she quietly backed away.
Tonight’s progress was already enough; walls aren’t torn down in a single day.
Next, she would just have to dismantle his psychological defenses layer by layer.
Sooner or later, the identity of “family” would loosen, and the identity of “lover” would fill its place.
Just wait, Yedao.
You’ll end up right back in my hands.
In the darkness, those golden eyes curved into crescents, flashing with the shrewd, cunning light only a true hunter could understand.
The door closed soundlessly.
join here to read ahead.
Uma Musume, But I Only Have Five Years Left to Live (Chapter 178)
Zenless Zone Zero: I’m a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 230)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League ( 126 )
Yu-Gi-Oh!
— Transmigrated into the White Dragon Girl 355
“Is this chat group even serious?” (Completed)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal!
(Completed)
Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 77
From Kiana, Lord Ravager, Onwa (Completed)
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 265
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass Volume2/20
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 377
Uma Musume: The Dark Trainer (Completed.)
I, a Reincarnation-Loop Player Volume5/8
The Violent Girl Group Is Beat 135
Uma Musume: The Horse Girl Who 67
Uma Musume: From Beginner 170
Becoming a Horse Girl, I Will 85
Uma Musume: I Want All 120 Find the original chapter at g.com.
I Can Copy Unique Skills 135
Supernatural Multiverse 210
My Harem Is Indescribable 120
Jujutsu Kaisen: Heroic Spirit 120
Uma Musume: Today Is Another Romantic Battlefield 130
Still playing traditional Honk 105
The Most Filial Son Under Heav 120
What Should I Do After Switchi 85
Reincarnated as a Demon, Skill 80
Transmigrated as Sukuna 165
Checking In in Demon Slayer 105
The Reincarnating Trainer of Tracen Academy 120
I Refuse to Become a Heroic 115
My Best Friend Into a Slime?
90
A Saiyan Stands Above Marvel (Completed)
What Do You Mean by Using a Lab Mod to Be the Hero?
105
Tanya Starts from Re:Zero 115
Why did they assign me to Uma 100
DanMachi: Emiya the Giant Hero 110
The Gacha Merchant Who Started 160
Honkai’s Otherworld?
Wait—Who Are You People?!
150
Emiya Shirou, Determined to Slay Every Curse and Evil Spirit 75
The Uma Musume Who Became 80
I’m Definitely Not the King of 160
After Maxing Out Every Class 170
Honkai: World Modulation Mode 150
I, the Elden Sword Saint 80
Dio Brando Is Challenging FGO 115
No One Knows Pokémon Better 75
From Trilobites to Titans 70
Chainsaw Man: Contracted with 130
DanMachi: My Party Members Are 150
An Anime Heroine Darkened 70
Yu-Gi-Oh!: Duel Links 100
Honkai: The Fire Devil 145
Honkai Transformation Cards Volume3/15
Age of Heroes, I’m Just a Back 120
Uma Musume Has No Weird Fan Le 100
At age 8, she co-starred with 80
Honkai: Schicksal Media 105
An Extremist in a Slice-of-Lif 85
Chainsaw Man, but I’m Aatrox 75
Honkai Apocrypha: Are the Valk 60
Morgan Shirou’s Journey in Dan 43
DanMachi: Get to Work, Dimensi 95
Honkai: Star Rail—Kiana Cried!
63
Sakiko Togawa: A Blood-Soaked Cards Volume2/32
Detective Conan: My Whole 65
Honkai: Star Rail:Reincarnated 92
In the Nasuverse, but I Practice Scientific Cultivation 53
Honkai: Starting Out as a God of Luoxing 65
33 join here to read ahead.
Uma Musume, But I Only Have Five Years Left to Live (Chapter 178) Zenless Zone Zero: I’m a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 230)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League ( 126 ) Yu-Gi-Oh!
— Transmigrated into the White Dragon Girl 355 “Is this chat group even serious?” (Completed) I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal!
(Completed) Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 77 From Kiana, Lord Ravager, Onwa (Completed) Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 265 From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass Volume2/20 Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 377 Uma Musume: The Dark Trainer (Completed.) I, a Reincarnation-Loop Player Volume5/8 The Violent Girl Group Is Beat 135 Uma Musume: The Horse Girl Who 67 Uma Musume: From Beginner 170 Becoming a Horse Girl, I Will 85 Uma Musume: I Want All 120 I Can Copy Unique Skills 135 Supernatural Multiverse 210 My Harem Is Indescribable 120 Jujutsu Kaisen: Heroic Spirit 120 Uma Musume: Today Is Another Romantic Battlefield 130 Still playing traditional Honk 105 The Most Filial Son Under Heav 120 What Should I Do After Switchi 85 Reincarnated as a Demon, Skill 80 Transmigrated as Sukuna 165 Checking In in Demon Slayer 105 The Reincarnating Trainer of Tracen Academy 120 I Refuse to Become a Heroic 115 My Best Friend Into a Slime?
90 A Saiyan Stands Above Marvel (Completed) What Do You Mean by Using a Lab Mod to Be the Hero?
105 Tanya Starts from Re:Zero 115 Why did they assign me to Uma 100 DanMachi: Emiya the Giant Hero 110 The Gacha Merchant Who Started 160 Honkai’s Otherworld?
Wait—Who Are You People?!
150 Emiya Shirou, Determined to Slay Every Curse and Evil Spirit 75 The Uma Musume Who Became 80 I’m Definitely Not the King of 160 After Maxing Out Every Class 170 Honkai: World Modulation Mode 150 I, the Elden Sword Saint 80 Dio Brando Is Challenging FGO 115 No One Knows Pokémon Better 75 From Trilobites to Titans 70 Chainsaw Man: Contracted with 130 DanMachi: My Party Members Are 150 An Anime Heroine Darkened 70 Yu-Gi-Oh!: Duel Links 100 Honkai: The Fire Devil 145 Honkai Transformation Cards Volume3/15 Age of Heroes, I’m Just a Back 120 Uma Musume Has No Weird Fan Le 100 At age 8, she co-starred with 80 Honkai: Schicksal Media 105 An Extremist in a Slice-of-Lif 85 Chainsaw Man, but I’m Aatrox 75 Honkai Apocrypha: Are the Valk 60 Morgan Shirou’s Journey in Dan 43 DanMachi: Get to Work, Dimensi 95 Honkai: Star Rail—Kiana Cried!
63 Sakiko Togawa: A Blood-Soaked Cards Volume2/32 Detective Conan: My Whole 65 Honkai: Star Rail:Reincarnated 92 In the Nasuverse, but I Practice Scientific Cultivation 53 Honkai: Starting Out as a God of Luoxing 65 Honkai: I Really Never Intended to Start a Harem!
33