The sand on the beach was fine and soft, yielding a footprint with every step taken. Walking step by step toward the shoreline, a small sandcastle suddenly materialized. It was quite short, with the highest rooftop barely reaching mid-calf height, and the structure itself was simple, yet it could certainly be described as exquisite. Linking together into a continuous cluster to form an integrated architectural layout, the visual impact was startlingly breathtaking. Planted right in front of the castle was a dense patch of red roses so thick that the white sand beneath the flower bed was nearly invisible swaying gently in the ocean breeze.
Cheng Yanzhi let out a sound of amazed wonder. “Did you build this?”
“I arrived a bit early and threw it together randomly. I took a similar course back in university,” Ye Yuyao reached out to steady Cheng Yanzhi’s arm. “Careful, there might be rose thorns hidden in the sand nearby, don’t step on them.”
Abandoning any further observation of Ye Yuyao’s intriguing emotional shifts, Cheng Yanzhi circled the perimeter. “It’s gorgeous! Could you help me take a picture?”
“I’d love to, of course, but the wristbands don’t seem to have a camera function,” manipulating the wristband issued by the production crew to confirm the absence of a photo-taking feature, Ye Yuyao offered an expression of genuine regret before offering comfort. “How about we check the recorded footage after logging off?”
“Oh, alright.” Reluctantly pressing his lips together, Cheng Yanzhi took three steps back while looking over his shoulder.
“Let’s board the boat first; there are flowers on board, too,” amused by Cheng Yanzhi’s expression, Ye Yuyao took the lead and stepped onto the vessel. The hull rocked slightly beneath his feet with the motion, and reaching his hand out, he offered, “Come on, give me your hand.”
Cheng Yanzhi complied and took his hand.
His hand was a full size smaller than Ye Yuyao’s, easily swallowed up within a secure grip. A soft, delicate texture transmitted across their palms, hardening Ye Yuyao’s internal speculation. With a slight exertion of force, he hauled Cheng Yanzhi aboard the boat, releasing his grip the instant the other regained his footing.
Stepping into the cabin, Cheng Yanzhi let out an immediate gasp of admiration.
The floor on both sides of the cabin was carpeted entirely with blossoms of every imaginable color, blooming in a riot of brilliant hues. A pathway paved with flower petals ran down the center, flanked by a low table and two floor cushions. Sitting atop the tabletop were several decorative glass vases accompanied by shears and other floral arrangement tools.
“Do you know how to arrange flowers?” Setting the automated cruising distance for the vessel, Ye Yuyao sat cross-legged on a cushion and patted the empty space beside him. “Join me.”
Bending over to step inside, Cheng Yanzhi took a seat opposite Ye Yuyao. The low table was long and narrow, bringing the two bodies into immediate, close proximity whenever their hands moved across its surface. Settled into place, Cheng Yanzhi looked up to meet Ye Yuyao’s refined, scholarly features.
The pruning shears were handed over with the blade carefully angled away. “Have you ever tried this before?”
“Mn…” Scanning the surroundings, Cheng Yanzhi selected a few stems of butterfly orchids and jasmine, neatly trimming them down with decisive snips to establish layering, before selecting a pure white vase.
Noticing Cheng Yanzhi had already dived right in, Ye Yuyao picked out some bellflowers and yellow roses of his own. “I figured you would.”
It was traditionally Cheng Yanzhi who psychoanalyzed others a natural curiosity in childhood that had since evolved into a professional hazard, driving an insatiable urge to probe into people’s personalities and pasts. This marked the very first time he found himself being second-guessed by someone else. “Hm? Why’s that?”
“Your aura is different,” Ye Yuyao’s voice intertwined with the damp, misty sea breeze, carrying an oddly relaxing cadence. “Although we can’t discuss our real lives right now, I’d wager that your profession falls into the realm of artistic creation.”
Lifting his gaze, Cheng Yanzhi met his eyes. “And what about the others?”
“Deng You is likely tied to the entertainment industry, Huo Zheng leans toward athletics, and Ren Xubai is probably involved in creation as well, though entirely detached from art,” Ye Yuyao analyzed, before shifting abruptly. “Yanzhi, pass me two stalks of pink lilies.”
An eyebrow twitched on Cheng Yanzhi’s face.
Ye Yuyao had deliberately omitted a specific name.
Much like how he himself had glossed over the breakfast selection earlier.
Yet omitting Xu Qingnan was a deliberate move on his own part to tease Ye Yuyao.
What, exactly, was Ye Yuyao running away from?
Lowering his gaze, Cheng Yanzhi tossed it out as if casually mentioning the weather: “What about Qingnan?”
A micro-imperceptible stiffening rippled across Ye Yuyao. Lasting less than a single second, he sheared a length of stem off the lilies and slotted them directly into his own vase.
“Xu Qingnan,” repeating the name, Ye Yuyao shook his head after a brief beat. “Can’t guess.”
Judging purely by physique, just as Ren Xubai had remarked during their first encounter, he resembled someone from the athletic sphere; yet Xu Qingnan lacked the rugged, unrefined edges commonly found among professionals in physical fields, radiating instead a purity reminiscent of snow atop a mountain peak.
It wasn’t a naive innocence, but rather an aura of transcendent detachment, as if, having weathered the depths of human experience, ordinary worldly affairs no longer possessed the power to spark his interest.
Time drifted past in silence perhaps brief, perhaps long when a sudden commotion echoed from far away on the shoreline. Just as the two of them prepared to step outside to investigate, the wristbands around their wrists vibrated.
Xu Qingnan and Deng You had arrived first, crossing paths with Ren Xubai and Huo Zheng right at the entrance.
The two of them walked one behind the other, looking… utterly exhausted.
Deng You chimed in with curiosity, “What on earth did you guys go do?”
While Xu Qingnan quietly stepped a pace backward.
The two of them looked like they were drenched in sweat.
“Don’t even ask, it’s all thanks to the brilliant location Huo Zheng picked. Now I finally understand why someone as young as Huo Zheng came looking for a match on a matchmaking show,” Ren Xubai accepted a tissue from Xu Qingnan, flashing a thoroughly corporate smile. “Who in their right mind schedules a date at a gym?”
Upon arrival, when Ren Xubai had looked at Huo Zheng who wore nothing more than a sleeveless tank top and athletic shorts inside the gym he hadn’t realized the severity of the situation.
Huo Zheng accepted his tissue as well, his cheeks flushed a rosy red from expending a massive volume of physical energy, his voice dropping to a breathless softness: “Thank you.”
Xu Qingnan retreated another step back to his original position.
Fixing a glare on Ren Xubai, Huo Zheng retorted in a cold, stiff tone, “I’d say you had a blast playing around, too, even if you couldn’t beat me at pull-ups.”
Gesturing between Huo Zheng and Ren Xubai with a smile dripping with amusement, Deng You asked, “You two didn’t run all the way here, did you?”
Catching his breath, Ren Xubai prepared to shuffle right back over to Xu Qingnan’s side.
Only to watch Xu Qingnan take a step back.
Blinking in wounded, bewildered injury, Ren Xubai offered: “?”
A cold-faced Xu Qingnan drove him off: “Stay back.”
While lacking a literal mysophobia, Xu Qingnan undeniably remained a man who valued cleanliness.
“It’s all Huo Zheng’s fault,” rejected and exasperated to the extreme, Ren Xubai seethed. “He heard there were showers here, so he dragged me into one last-minute competition. And he still lost to me.”
“Only trailed by fifty meters,” Huo Zheng bit his lip, a flash of stubborn unwillingness darting through his eyes. “If it weren’t for, forget it.”
“Let’s head inside first,” seeing that both had recovered their breath, Deng You suggested, “You two need to shower anyway, and Ye Yuyao and Cheng Yanzhi are already inside. Time to rendezvous.”
Ye Yuyao and Cheng Yanzhi had turned back the instant they received the notification, running straight into the arriving group.
Exchanging pleasantries with everyone, Ye Yuyao’s gaze instinctively began scanning the crowd for Xu Qingnan, eventually spotting him standing right beside the sandcastle he had built earlier.
Bending his knees to crouch down, Xu Qingnan reached out to brush a rose petal, turning back to gaze at them with an expression of rare, genuine astonishment. “Can we take pictures?”
Cheng Yanzhi shook his head. “Yanzhi already checked, our wristbands don’t have a camera feature.”
“Pity,” nodding in agreement, Xu Qingnan stood back up, though his gaze remained anchored to the cluster of red roses, firing off a flurry of uncharacteristic questions: “Were these here naturally, or did the staff build them?”
A heavy thud echoed in Ye Yuyao’s chest.
“Cough,” standing frozen in place with a restrained reluctance to take a step forward, Ye Yuyao asked, “You like them?”
Xu Qingnan nodded without an ounce of concealment. “I like them.”
He genuinely did.
Surrounded on all sides by the boundless expanse of desert and sea, those vibrant red roses blooming right beside the castle scaled in a proportion that made the structure look as though it were rising straight out of a colossal sea of roses looked mysterious, lonely, and dazzling all at once.
Had he possessed paper and pen, Xu Qingnan would have sat down to sketch it on the spot.
Such gorgeous raw material.
Those two simple words drifted on the wind straight into Ye Yuyao’s ears, brushing an itch all the way down to the core of his heart.
“If you’d like, we could build one offline after the show wraps up,” Xu Qingnan continued. “I can pay for it.”
A sharp spark lit up in Ren Xubai’s eyes. Knowing how deeply Xu Qingnan valued money, the fact that he was willing to spend it spoke volumes about how fond he was of this setup.
“No need,” brushing aside his wildly out-of-rhythm heartbeat, Ye Yuyao shook his head and cast a glance toward Cheng Yanzhi. “Yanzhi mentioned he liked it, too. I was already planning to replicate one offline if the opportunity arose, and you’re welcome to join us.”
Xu Qingnan didn’t overthink it. “Many thanks.”
While Cheng Yanzhi shot Ye Yuyao multiple sideways glances never in his life had he imagined finding himself cast in the role of a convenient alibi.
The production crew’s designated lunch location was set aboard a cruise ship. Catching sight of it in the distance, Cheng Yanzhi and Ye Yuyao hadn’t anticipated dining there.
The vessel was massive, and flanking the staircase stood a cabinet stocked with brand-new pairs of slippers alongside room cards stamped with everyone’s individual names. A floating holographic display materialized right before them:
“Please collect your respective room cards and proceed to your quarters to rest. Lunch will be followed by a nap (logging off is permitted; must log back online prior to nine tonight). At nine-thirty sharp, the masquerade party commences and runs through dawn.”
Xu Qingnan’s room was located right around the corner a standard suite. If one insisted on pointing out something extraordinary, Xu Qingnan stared at the brushwork on the wall art, whose data signature proved entirely undetectable to the naked eye, leading him to deduce that it was likely exorbitantly expensive.
A gift box sat atop the bed. Unpacking it revealed a suit paired with a half-face mask, alongside an official invitation to the party.
It appeared the evening’s guest list extended well beyond the six of them.
Following a brief rest, a knock rapped against Xu Qingnan’s door. It was Deng You, dropping by to invite Xu Qingnan down to the main deck for dinner.
“Qingnan, did you check your box?” Deng You asked casually. “What color is your formalwear?”
Xu Qingnan hadn’t inspected his closely, though his color sensitivity remained acute. “Black and gold.”
Deng You uttered an “oh,” then dropped another casual question: “What about the mask?”
“Mask?” Xu Qingnan slanted a sidelong glance. “Classified.”
The invitation spelled out the party’s rules with crystalline clarity.
Unfazed by failing to extract any intelligence, Deng You beamed: “Just wanted to find you quicker, that’s all!”
Arriving on the main deck, the central banquet table groaned under the weight of an expansive spread featuring both Chinese and Western cuisine. Equipped with thermal-maintenance technology, the aroma rolling off the dishes remained remarkably potent.
Deng You picked up a dining plate and handed it over to Xu Qingnan. Shortly after, Ren Xubai materialized as well, having cleaned up and changed into the uniform bathrobe provided by the suite.
The trio claimed a spacious table, digging into their meal while Ren Xubai took the opportunity to fish for details regarding today’s dating itineraries.
“I just talked to Huo Zheng; he took me to a gym, and the date itself was literally just working out,” freshened up and relatively composed, Ren Xubai’s tone still retained a trace of lingering speechlessness. “Cheng Yanzhi’s group stayed right around the coastal waters here, and you guys?”
At that query, Deng You instinctively reached up to adjust the inhibitor patch at the back of his neck.
The micro-gesture successfully triggered Ren Xubai’s radar.
In fact, not just Ren Xubai any Alpha or Omega present would have reacted identically to that exact movement from Deng You.
Only a Beta like Xu Qingnan failed to instantly decode the implicit subtext wrapped around the action.
“Did you guys literally go open a hotel room?” Ren Xubai widened his eyes, glaring in absolute fury. “Deng You, you’re going too far—”
Cut off by Xu Qingnan: “No, we just went to a bar.”
Deng You smiled triumphantly, immensely pleased with the reaction he had provoked. Unfortunately, the only audience member present was an outsider like Ren Xubai, prompting him to chime in: “That’s right, just a bar, had a couple of drinks.”
Calling and responding in tandem like a comedy duo, their credibility plummeted to rock bottom.
Ren Xubai was the first to reject the narrative, pressing on: “Then why’d you touch your inhibitor patch?”
Before Ren Xubai could blurt out something even more abrasive, Xu Qingnan cut through with an icy chill: “Ren Xubai.”
Clearly still oblivious to the danger zone, Ren Xubai stared across with wide, pretty peach-blossom eyes filled with incredulity, aggrieved and furious all at once.
Before locking onto the chilling, hyper-familiar coldness radiating from Xu Qingnan’s eyes. Instinctively reigning himself in, he slapped on an obsequious, ingratiating smile.
Ren Xubai’s conversational possessiveness instantly dragged up certain unpleasant memories for Xu Qingnan, icing over his demeanor entirely.
“Am I anything to you?” Ignoring Ren Xubai’s ingratiating smile as he manipulated his knife and fork to slice his steak, Xu Qingnan stated flatly, “Stop crossing the line.”
Deng You, sitting nearby, remained oblivious to the underlying volatility, choosing instead to lean in with a smug smirk. “That’s right, that’s right, Xubai, what’s your rush? Qingnan’s already mad.”
Delighted to watch Ren Xubai get reamed out, Deng You figured he had scored yet another victory in Xu Qingnan’s eyes, happily carving off a piece of lamb chop to transfer straight onto Xu Qingnan’s plate.
Only to be intercepted mid-air by the sharp edge of Xu Qingnan’s knife.
Metal struck metal with a crisp clink.
The succulent, juicy mutton dropped straight onto the table.
“Deng You, you’ve crossed the line, too.”
When Cheng Yanzhi and Ye Yuyao stepped down to the deck, the three individuals who ordinarily couldn’t assemble without fireworks were seated in absolute, eerie silence, quietly picking at their food.
Cheng Yanzhi’s intuition told him something had unquestionably gone down.
Just as he prepared to launch an indirect probe, the central figure among the three finished his meal first, pushed back his chair, and stood up.
Emitting a chilling, freezing aura from head to toe that inexplicably made everyone think twice before speaking.
Returning to his suite, Xu Qingnan hadn’t originally planned to log off. Midday downtime could be spent resting in his room; although the efficiency of recovering spiritual power took a hit during sleep hours, he was scheduled to clock out by dawn anyway, giving him zero incentive to bother logging out.
Just then, a pop-up window materialized before his eyes it was the security system monitoring his physical residence. Possessing highest-level administrative privileges, it bypassed all parameters to flash directly across the owner’s field of vision.
An alert notifying him that an unauthorized entity was attempting a forced breach.