Chapter 59
Gu Xiyu followed Wen Yu in his tiger rabbit form back to the admiral’s mansion. Outside the mansion stood a row of guards with uniforms different from those of the admiral’s mansion.
It was Second Prince Lu Yan’s men.
The pet ring had been removed, and he could have left without Wen Yu noticing if he wanted to. He was such a small tiger rabbit, it would not be easy for Wen Yu to find him again.
Thinking of this, he looked up at the man walking in front of him, but still bit his tail and followed him.
What he told the system previously was a lie. How could the mission be done at this point? He was just angry when he said that.
Now that he’d come to his senses, he couldn’t help but think back to the moment his emotions were influenced by the Great Demon. He was a little out of control and childish, and he wished he could slap himself.
That was not like him at all. He had accidentally fallen into the path the soul fragments in the previous two worlds had carved out, and he thanked Wen Yu for making him think clearly again.
Gu Xiyu’s eyes still fell on Wen Yu’s back as he walked into the hall. Lu Yan, who had been sitting on the sofa with his legs crossed, immediately got up and walked in their direction.
“You’re finally back. Isn’t it just a matter of dealing with a wave of zergs? What took you so long?” As soon as Lu Yan saw Wen Yu, he began to complain to him, “You said you would help me deal with Lu Feng, how did it go? You should know all about what’s going on in the Empire, so think about how you can help me out.”
Wen Yu took off his hat, revealing his black ink-like hair, and avoided answering the previous question, saying in a less than concerned tone, “I’ve seen the news; public opinion is pretty well controlled, what else do you need to worry about?”
“It’s not!” Lu Yan gritted his teeth and said, “He’s not in the empire, but the people underneath are making a lot of noise, and now they’re planning to dump the pot back on me, and are throwing dirty water on me online!”
The dirty water Lu Yan was talking about, was actually everything Lu Yan had done privately and illegally. Lu Yan clearly wanted to use this opportunity to get rid of the pot and, at the same time, bring down Lu Yan’s image and step on him to get to the top. But he overestimated his own and Lu Feng’s popularity among the public. Lu Feng’s achievements so far were the result of his step-by-step approach.
“I want you to kill Lu Feng before this matter is completely reversed, I’ll see how he’s going to prove his innocence when he’s a dead man!”
Wen Yu agreed with alacrity, “Sure, no problem.”
Probably because his attitude was too frank, Lu Yan did not doubt it in the slightest: “I’m giving you a week. Bring me his head!”
Only after saying this did he proudly fling his cloak behind him and leave with confidence.
Wen Yu sent Lu Yan away and turned around to see his little tiger rabbit sitting lazily on the sofa like an overlord. His tail was hanging over the edge of the chair and waving leisurely, his one golden and one purple eye staring at him motionlessly.
But he thought the tiger rabbit still looked cute.
In his opinion, only those close to each other would get angry with each other. The fact that Gu Xiyu would get angry with him meant that he cared about him.
Wen Yu thought this logic was fine and just reached over to pet the fluffy tiger rabbit, but to his surprise, the little fat rabbit’s body tilted to the side and dodged.
At the same time, Gu Xiyu’s voice rang in his mind, saying, “We tiger rabbits are very conservative, unlike other domestic pets that can be touched whenever. This kind of intimate contact can only be reserved for future companions.”
“……?” Wen Yu’s hand stayed awkwardly in mid-air like that.
The little tiger rabbit jumped off the sofa, and instead of bouncing away, he took one small step at a time and headed out the door. Halfway there, he remembered something else, stopped, and turned back to him: “By the way, if you want me to stay, can you prepare a guest room for me?”
“I’m not asking for much; it doesn’t have to be too big, just enough for me to sleep and rest, thanks.”
Wen Yu sent him off down the hall with a gloomy gaze, his heart inexplicably a little clogged.
In fact, the ability to hear people’s thoughts was false; he could only hear Gu Xiyu’s thoughts because of the system’s connection. Gu Xiyu talking in his heart was the same as talking to the intelligent system, and as the ‘system’, he could naturally communicate with his tiger rabbit form without barriers.
He opened the system panel with depression, only to see a small red pop-up window suddenly appear in the center of the panel. It looked like the signal was unstable, and a few words loomed above it.
{Fool……!}
Wen Yu: “?”
A system that came from nowhere dared to scold him.
On the other hand, he really couldn’t do anything to this thing, so he could only narrow his eyes and say, “You don’t want him to find out about this, do you?”
“What do you think would happen if I told him that I could see you and even control the amount of information flowing out?”
Yet the other side seemed indifferent to his threat and replied after a long time in a broken voice: {It’s okay if you want to tell him, I don’t mind if you dare to make the bet.}
Wen Yu had never desired anything in his life, so he had never had anything to fear: “Bet on what?”
{Bet that you never have the chance to see Gu Xiyu again.}
Wen Yu laughed, he wanted to ask the system if it had overestimated the weight of Gu Xiyu in his heart and tell it he didn’t care at all.
But he found himself unable to say it with the same panache as expected. It was as if there was an invisible hand around his throat, jamming his voice.
The system on the other side sent a mocking laugh: {See.}
Wen Yu gazed at the panel with obscure eyes and did not reply, only to see another sentence sent over the panel.
{No one knows you better than me.}
Wen Yu asked, “Who exactly are you?”
Unfortunately, the other side didn’t answer again, and the strange red pop-up window disappeared. Everything went back to the way it was, as if the conversation earlier was just an illusion.
Wen Yu arranged a new guest room for Gu Xi Yu as he had wanted, but he chose one opposite his room.
Back in his room, Gu Xiyu returned to his human form. At this moment, he was staring at his system panel, his face tense.
Just a short while ago, the main system issued a new mission for him.
[[Detecting an unstable fluctuation in the target’s mood. Based on the background data, an urgent special task has been issued: please act coquettish with the target until the risk value drops to 20.]]
Goodness, even the mission reward was removed this time.
Gu Xiyu asked with a stern face, “Why should I act coquettish toward him? I won’t.”
[[Because you’re not the target of the mission, he is.]]
Gu Xiyu: “……” There was really no way to refute that.
He flicked on the communicator on his wrist, adjusted the frequency, and managed to contact Lu Feng, who was far away on a private planet.
He first confirmed their safety and received Lu Feng’s reply: [So far, so good; everyone here is quite friendly; I haven’t seen Caesar make a move yet].
In fact, it would have been smoother if Wen Ruo had been here, but he had to keep Wen Ruo there to ensure Lu Feng and Xie Mingan’s safety.
[The admiral has temporarily removed the tracker from my body, so I will go to the royal palace tonight and scout it out. I’ll try to help you once I’ve determined His Majesty’s location.]
Because of his previous investigation, Lu Feng suspected that his father was under Lu Yan and SSH011’s control. He found his old friend, who was also a scientist, to research the drug that might force out the 011 group buried in the old king’s body. In his current situation, he is unable to enter the palace, and with Lu Yan’s men all over the old king’s mansion, he can only hope that Gu Xiyu can help deliver the drug to the old king.
He and Lu Feng chatted casually for a few minutes before cutting off their communication. With the main planet under Lu Yan’s surveillance, there was no guarantee that their frequency would not be detected.
Not long after he finished communicating with Lu Feng, Wen Yu came in. He didn’t knock on the door, which was something Gu Xiyu had tacitly agreed to. Only Wen Yu knew his identity in the admiral’s mansion, and in order to distinguish whether he needed to change back into his tiger-rabbit form, he allowed him to barge in unannounced.
As soon as he saw Wen Yu, he remembered the sappy task issued by the main system.
He was a little skeptical—would the great demon of this world really eat this?
As soon as Wen Yu entered, he saw Gu Xiyu sitting at the coffee table, wearing a white shirt with a few of the top buttons undone. It was slightly open at the collar, so the line of his neck to his collarbone was exposed to the light. He was sitting there quietly, his eyes still calm and unruffled, and with his golden hair, he looked like a noble and indifferent prince.
But for some reason, this indifferent look created a visual impact that made his blood boil.
He wanted to undo a few more buttons and see a deeper picture.
Wen Yu’s fingers under the serving tray curled up, but eventually relented, gently and elegantly placing the food on the coffee table, “I had the kitchen make your usual favorites for you.”
In addition to the grilled chicken, there was a bottle of red wine and two wine glasses.
Gu Xiyu gathered his thoughts and tilted his head to meet his gaze, a silence under his eyes. When Wen Yu met his eyes, he found a hint of familiarity whose origins were unknown, followed by a burst of depression from the bottom of his heart.
There it was again—that sense of panic as if something important were far away from him and would soon be gone.
Standing in front of Gu Xiyu, he was able to see the expanse of his open collar more clearly. Gu Xiyu’s skin was so white that a gentle pinch would leave a clear red mark on it. He couldn’t help but remember the little videos he had watched when he was trying to understand what could be done between partners.
In fact, he watched them with boredom; none of the actors in them were better looking than Gu Xiyu, making it impossible to stir up his desire. At one point, he wondered if he didn’t need that aspect, only thinking that if Gu Xiyu needed it in the future, he would be willing to satisfy him as a qualified partner.
But now, it was as if he was starting to catch that desire.
It was only when his wrist was grasped by another hand that he realized that he had reached out and touched Gu Xiyu’s neck, and even habitually caressed his face, his thumb brushing against his lips with a bit of force.
Gu Xiyu didn’t show an offended expression, and after he pushed his hand away nonchalantly, he said softly, “Admiral, we are no longer an engaged couple, so please don’t act in such a way that will cause misunderstandings.”
Wen Yu’s mouth pursed into a line, and for the first time, he felt a bit at a loss.
He had felt nothing when he first had him, and had only seen it as a mechanical process that he was willing to go along with out of boredom and curiosity. Now that he’d lost the qualification, why was he so upset?
He didn’t show any emotions on his face, simply smiling and saying, “Sorry, I just happened to see something on your face and wanted to wipe it off for you.”
“You can just tell me directly next time.” Gu Xiyu replied.
Wen Yu looked down and added some red wine to the two glasses, thinking about things in a depressed manner. He handed one of the glasses to Gu Xiyu, but accidentally collided with his hand that was raised and spilled all the wine in the glass on him.
Wen Yu looked at his hand with some dismay.
“Sorry—” he put down the glass and apologized to the man in the chair. His gaze fell on him and he couldn’t move away.
Part of the red wine had spilled on Gu Xiyu’s collarbone, and the dark red liquid could be seen slowly dripping down into the shadows underneath his shirt. The white shirt turned a translucent color as it became wet with the wine, clinging to the skin of its owner.
Wen Yu’s gaze accidentally locked onto a pink spot, and his entire body instantly stiffened. The messy images that he had never bothered to recall suddenly jumped into his head. The actors that he had originally spurned had all turned into Gu Xiyu.
When his eyes shifted uncomfortably, they accidentally met Gu Xiyu’s gaze.
The person on the chair seemed to mistake his action for a deliberate one, and his expression looked a little furious. He stared at him incredulously for a few moments. Perhaps it was because he was furious, but the color of his neck was tinged with a scarlet hue.
Gu Xiyu took a few deep breaths and said, after trying to calm himself down, “Lord Admiral, please don’t look at me with such offensive eyes.”
The tone of these words should have been harsh, but perhaps the hungry look in Wen Yu’s eyes was too frightening, or perhaps it was the first time Gu Xiyu had encountered such a rude situation; when he spoke in that low, embarrassed, and angry voice, the flavor it gave off was very different.
It was clear that Gu Xiyu looked angry, yet he had to use that tone of voice to tell him “no.”
Wen Yu was silent, realizing that something in his body had become so active for the first time.
[[Target’s risk value is -5; the current risk value is 48.]]
As soon as Gu Xiyu heard the system prompt, he naturally shifted his eyes downward and landed on a particular spot on Wen Yu’s body.
He was silent for a few seconds and let out a single tone to the intelligent system.
“Heh.”
Wen Yu: “……”