Chapter 83
Chapter 83
Lu Zhi opened his eyes and met Xiao Huai’s. His lashes were so thick that each blink made his red eyes seem to exert a captivating magic.
Lu Zhi’s face reddened further.
“What’s wrong? Do you still have a fever?”
Xiao Huai examined him seriously.
His current symptoms might all be related to the soulbug.
Lu Zhi hurriedly shook his head. “N-no! I’m fine.”
As though remembering something, he quickly bowed. “Um, A-Zhuolang, thank you. I heard you saved me.”
His gaze dropped to Xiao Huai’s left hand.
Xiao Huai hid it and shook his head. “It’s nothing.”
He stepped closer and bent toward Lu Zhi. “Can you tell me about the hallucinations you saw?”
At the question, Lu Zhi immediately rallied and recounted everything from the previous night, no longer caring whether Xiao Huai was an evil final boss.
He was merely a naive college student. Whoever saved him was a good person.
His teachers had taught him to repay a drop of kindness with a spring, even if his benefactor was not human.
Lu Zhi explained everything, from building the device to drinking his own blood in desperation and finally losing his memory for no apparent reason.
Only a few vague fragments remained.
He seemed to have dreamed of beautiful scenery.
Countless fantastical birds and beasts flew through the sky. What impressed him most was a three-legged crow.
Its body was pitch-black, and from a distance it resembled an ordinary crow. Only careful inspection revealed its three legs.
He remembered nothing after that, but Xiao Huai considered the information sufficient.
“Do you… do you have any other questions?” Lu Zhi asked softly.
Xiao Huai shook his head, patted his shoulder, and said:
“That’s all. Don’t drink your own blood again. Stay alive.”
He turned away, his gaze settling on the flock at the horizon.
Lu Zhi stared at Xiao Huai’s back, his heart pounding. Clutching his chest, he murmured:
“Mom, how can an NPC be this handsome? Once I get out, I have to tell my brother.”
This was Lu Zhi’s first time entering a horror-game instance alone. He had hidden it from everyone.
Including his powerful older brother.
If his brother discovered he had entered an instance alone…
He would probably skin him alive.
Xiao Huai looked up. Crows circled and cried, their wings threatening to dye the heavens black.
He sensed someone beside him. Without turning, he knew who it was.
No one else dared linger near him.
Lu Yuanshi was the exception.
He seemed to want nothing more than to remain at Xiao Huai’s side.
The flock covered the sky and blocked the sun, briefly plunging the desert into night.
The players shouted, gazing at the crows with excitement, murmuring and yearning.
Drenched in sweat, Cheng Shan used his supernatural ability. Other players with abilities also tried to capture as many crows as possible.
But Xiao Huai and Lu Yuanshi stood as though by prior agreement, neither speaking.
The deeper the silence, the harder an unseen current struck the heart.
Xiao Huai could not resist glancing at Lu Yuanshi from the corner of his eye.
The flock receded. Sunlight spilled across the earth and Lu Yuanshi’s lashes, while his features remained shadowed against the light.
Only his eyes caught the sun, taking on a layer of secret desire.
His gaze was deep and unreadable as a bottomless pool.
Lu Yuanshi turned and met Xiao Huai’s eyes.
“You’re finally willing to look at me?” Lu Yuanshi asked with a smile.
Xiao Huai admitted that Lu Yuanshi was beautiful. Once their eyes met, looking away was difficult.
“Lu Yuanshi.” He spoke the name softly.
Despite the surrounding noise, his voice was perfectly clear.
“Mm?”
“Has anyone ever told you you’re strange?”
Xiao Huai turned slightly. From Lu Yuanshi’s angle, he could see his raised lashes and the cunning smile at his lips.
It was the smile of absolute confidence, calm yet playfully vivid.
His lips moved. Though he stood within reach, Lu Yuanshi felt he could never grasp him.
Lu Yuanshi’s fingers curled as if he wanted to touch him.
Then he recovered. His mouth tightened like a drawn string before settling into a mild smile.
“Am I strange?” He lowered his eyes.
After a long pause, Xiao Huai deliberately bent and looked up at him from below.
The angle resembled an adult checking whether a child was crying.
Even though Lu Yuanshi stood half a head taller.
“Yes. No one else wants to cling to me.”
He suddenly laughed, warm as an April breeze.
For a moment, Lu Yuanshi lost himself.
Xiao Huai stepped closer, straightened, and raised his chin. His voice carried a warning.
Yet it seemed to hold another meaning.
“Lu Yuanshi, if I meet you again next time, I’ll accept your challenge.”
The air beside Lu Yuanshi’s ear took on the warmth of Xiao Huai’s lips.
Lu Yuanshi froze. When their eyes met, he felt as though his breath had been locked away.
A gentle, elegant smile flowed through the red-eyed young man’s features.
If I meet you every time, does that mean you are the challenge destined for me?
If so, I accept.
Xiao Huai continued, “But let me warn you first. Keep your word. I want to see which is harder: Your challenge, or the horror game.”
You said you had never fallen for anyone.
He narrowed his eyes. “Don’t end up losing everything.”
Challenges usually came with wagers.
But this time, Xiao Huai did not want to bet.
The wise did not fall in love.
Victory and defeat were meaningless.
Lu Yuanshi remained silent for a long time.
As Xiao Huai turned away, Lu Yuanshi seized his wrist. Xiao Huai instinctively tried to shake him off.
But Lu Yuanshi stepped forward and pulled him toward his chest.
Only a dozen centimeters remained between them.
One palm pressed against the back of Xiao Huai’s hand.
Lu Yuanshi covered Xiao Huai’s hand with his own and held it firmly against his chest.
Thump. Thump.
Xiao Huai could clearly hear Lu Yuanshi’s heartbeat.
Steady and powerful.
Lu Yuanshi lowered his head. “Xiao Huai, you can’t steal it.”
He smiled carelessly.
But they stood so close that Xiao Huai saw a trace of loneliness within that smile.
Xiao Huai watched him silently, sunlight falling across his lashes.
Like a faint light shining from an endless abyss.
He did not withdraw his hand. Perhaps that glimmer had drawn his thoughts back.
He studied Lu Yuanshi again, listening to his heart and feeling his breath.
His thin lips parted. “Want to bet?”
In the end, he still took that step.