Chapter 125
Chapter 125
Given Rong Xi’s original personality, he really should have come on the first day.
But perhaps to prove he’d grown steadier-and also because he had to go up against Zone D on the fourth day-he didn’t come calling until the third, arriving beneath the evening glow of the sunset.
The moment they met, Rong Xi paused with his hand raised to knock. “…Brother Ning, I remember that after entering the System, even the worst physical condition gets restored to normal. So even if someone used to be very fair-skinned, it shouldn’t look strange.”
Looking at the dark circles under Ning Shuo’s eyes, he tactfully asked, “You’ve had three days off. Have you been busy?”
Ning Shuo rubbed between his brows. “Honestly, I’ve never been this busy before.”
Ever since the Knight got a taste of it once, he’d only grown more shameless.
He insisted that the first time had only vented his anger over Ning Shuo running off to the Second Timeline without saying a word to him, and that he still hadn’t gotten over his anger about the place they’d flirted in being used for something else. So as soon as Ning Shuo’s injuries got a little better, he pulled him into bed several more times.
And the thing was, Ning Shuo hadn’t resisted that much either. He’d been indulging him the whole time.
When he heard Rong Xi had come to visit, Ning Shuo searched for quite a while before finding a scarf to cover the kiss marks on his neck.
Just that, while he could ask Song Zhu to heal injuries, when it came to this sort of private matter, it was better to let it heal naturally.
After Rong Xi entered, he pointed toward the doorway of the inner room, where the other one kept poking his head out. “That one over there-you really don’t need to do something about him?”
Ning Shuo poured him a cup of tea. “No need. He’s jealous.”
Rong Xi laughed softly. “You two really are alike. I remember you used to have a dog, right? Every time I came over, it liked me more, and your face would look just as sour as your partner’s does now.”
Jealousy was possessiveness made visible. Ning Shuo glanced over, and Ning Wang immediately put on a show of not caring, then stole a glance or two from time to time.
Had he looked this cute too when he’d been jealous of a puppy before?
Rong Xi added from the side, “See? Exactly that look.”
Ning Shuo sipped his tea and couldn’t help curling his lips into a smile.
That really was pretty cute.
He briefly explained what had happened before Rong Xi died. Rong Xi frowned. “Did my brother and the others make things difficult for you?”
“No. It was just the same old stuff. In one ear and out the other.”
Rong Xi sighed. “My brother’s basically a leftover feudal relic. I’ve told him so many times, and he just won’t listen.”
Idly playing with the Water Moon Mirror Fragment, Ning Shuo said casually, “It’s fine. I’m used to it. Anyway, every time he’s done cursing me out, I curse him to get splashed all over by a car on his way home.”
Rong Xi immediately straightened up. “So it really was you! I was wondering why it suddenly rained on a perfectly sunny day. Next time you curse him, can you let me know first? I never bring an umbrella!”
Ning Shuo played dumb. “Really? I forgot you’re always out having fun, hahaha.”
After about ten minutes of casual chat, another figure suddenly appeared beside them.
Ning Wang set two cups of hot tea on the table, then sat down on the one remaining empty sofa with absolutely no sense of timing, holding a book titled How to Keep Your Wife at a Distance from Male Friends. “Go on,” he said. “You two keep talking. I’m reading.”
Ning Shuo wasn’t going to stop him, and Ning Wang had assumed Rong Xi would at least care a little about appearances-
But Rong Xi kept right on as if he didn’t exist. “And that time you moved for the first time, I went to quite a bit of trouble…”
A page turned loudly.
“…and who would’ve thought you’d move again the moment you saw me…”
Another page flipped, this time with an audible crackle.
“Well, I was worried that sometimes you might get dragged into my problems. Like with the rain just now, wasn’t that…”
With a smack, a book hit the table. Ning Wang swapped it out for Love or Friendship: Which Matters More? and continued making an absurd amount of noise.
Ning Shuo smiled. “Ningning, did your hand break?”
Normally, Ning Wang would have coolly fired back, “Even with one hand, I could still carry you.”
But now, with someone else present-
Ning Wang immediately dropped the book and pounced on him. “Bro, how did you only notice now? Hurry up and kiss it. It’ll heal right away.”
Rong Xi took a sip of tea. “Maybe his eyes are hurt too. That would explain why he’s flipping pages that fast.”
Ning Wang: “…”
Rong Xi set down his cup with a smile. “I only came by to catch up. There’s still a match tomorrow, so I’ll head back first.”
He shot Ning Shuo a look, and Ning Shuo peeled the fully grown man clinging and rubbing all over him off his body. “I’ll walk you out.”
Ning Wang didn’t get mad even after being pushed away. He was just taking the chance to act up a little. After all, the only person his brother could possibly like was him.
Though old friends catching up really shouldn’t be interrupted.
But his brother was sleepy right now. Before Rong Xi arrived, Ning Shuo had just been dragged awake by Ning Wang to eat. He had been about to fall straight back into bed when Rong Xi happened to show up.
For the sake of their friendship, Ning Wang, who had answered the door, hadn’t turned him away.
—
It was already deep into the night. Rong Xi had a cigarette between his lips and moved a little farther away from Ning Shuo. “I’ve imagined countless chances to see an old friend again. I just never thought we’d reunite at the Star Zone Arena.”
“Surely you weren’t imagining I was dead, right?”
“Of course not. I’ve been trying to get out for the past two years.” Rong Xi let out a long breath. Beneath the drifting white smoke, even Ning Shuo’s face became hazy and unreal.
He frowned, waved a hand in front of his eyes, then stubbed out the cigarette. “I’ve really changed a lot in these two years in the System. Back then, I was the one telling you not to smoke.”
Ning Shuo nodded. “You’re so practiced at it I’m starting to wonder if you’re going to get lung disease. You smoke like an old chimney.”
Rong Xi gave a soft laugh. “Brother Ning, your mouth is as sharp as ever.”
He extended a hand, and Ning Shuo thought he was asking for a high five.
The next second, his pupils contracted.
Several vines suddenly sprouted from Rong Xi’s originally fair palm. Ning Shuo vaguely realized something and said with difficulty, “…In the System, did you die before?”
“Almost.” Thinking back on that period, Rong Xi wanted another cigarette. “I was just trapped in an NPC-designed trap, and they planted a little something in my body.”
How could someone change that much in only a year? They were all struggling through Scripts, so how was Rong Xi the only one who could stop seven people on the other side who had also been struggling through them for a year, or even several?
Rong Xi’s voice was calm. “That Script was very unusual. Injuries brought out of it would be restored by the System, but the things planted inside you would keep altering your body.”
“So, Brother Ning, when we face each other, don’t go easy on me for old times’ sake. I’ll be going all out against you too.”
Rong Xi sounded utterly serious, but Ning Shuo suddenly laughed. “Idiot.”
“Rong Xi, don’t you know me? You don’t need to remind me. I’ll go all out too.”
“That’s the respect an opponent deserves.”
…
When Ning Shuo went back, he saw Ning Wang sitting in the living room waiting for him.
He drawled, “Ningning, come quickly and welcome your-”
A shadow suddenly fell over him.
The man picked him up and whispered in his ear, “Go to sleep. I’ll keep watch over you.”