Ever since the last time he fled in embarrassment, Li Xi hadn’t appeared in front of Duan Zhen for a whole day, which gave Duan Zhen a chance to calm down.
The next day, Dan Zuo came to see Duan Zhen again, hoping to meet Li Xi. Although he came up empty-handed, he still sat down and reported the results and questions of the past few days.
“If this game doesn’t kill people, why don’t the newcomers speak up?” Dan Zuo frowned, asking and answering himself, “Since there are immersive instances, the main system is likely to affect people’s memories.”
“That’s possible,” Duan Zhen nodded. “Even Li Xi seems to have been affected. There’s a high probability that ordinary people have had their memories tampered with by the main system.”
“Should we tell them about this?” Dan Zuo asked again.
“We don’t need to mention Li Xi’s identity as the Demon King for now; he doesn’t seem to want people to know about it,” Duan Zhen pondered for a moment. “But telling them that people won’t die is a good idea, and there are also some things I want to ask Li Xi.”
“Based on the information I stole from the intelligent wristbands of the previous teams, I’ve managed to gather some information about the main system, but it’s difficult to infer its location from this,” Dan Zuo said. “I want to ask Li Xi if there’s a way to make the system broadcast a message to all worlds.”
“Li Xi probably won’t come today,” Duan Zhen said. Mentioning Li Xi made the corners of Duan Zhen’s mouth unconsciously curve upwards. “He ran away so quickly yesterday; he probably needs some time to cool down.”
Dan Zuo looked at him, with a slight raise of his eyebrows. “Brother Duan, do you like Li Xi?”
Duan Zhen was taken aback, seeming somewhat surprised that Dan Zuo would ask such a question.
“Although I don’t have experience, I’m not blind,” Dan Zuo said calmly. “The way you two behave, even Xia Qirong can sense that something’s not right.”
Duan Zhen furrowed his brows. His appearance naturally carried a sharpness, and his brows were often furrowed, giving him a somewhat serious demeanor.
Dan Zuo was used to it. They spent all day looking at Duan Zhen’s face, so they had developed some immunity to it, plus they knew each other’s personalities, so they weren’t afraid of him.
“It’s obvious,” Dan Zuo thought for a moment, then added, “but the people involved are often oblivious.”
When this sentence came out, he saw Duan Zhen visibly relax.
“Li Xi also likes you. Even if his memories are sealed, he still blushes and cares about your opinion,” Dan Zuo continued, “Aren’t you going to give him a response?”
“Our worlds will eventually separate, and we can’t be together forever,” Duan Zhen sighed. “If that’s the case, I might as well not give him hope from the beginning.”
Dan Zuo fell silent for a moment. “But what if Li Xi just wants to have a brief romance with you?”
Duan Zhen also fell silent.
Although he couldn’t accept this emotionally for the time being, what if? After all, Li Xi knew from the beginning that their destiny would separate, so he should have been prepared for a breakup.
Thinking like this, the possibility seemed quite high.
“You should talk to Li Xi,” Dan Zuo said.
Duan Zhen opened his mouth, not knowing what to say for a moment. In the end, he just nodded, still thinking about Li Xi’s situation. He sat on the sofa, propped his head with his hand, and didn’t even realize when Dan Zuo left.
Thinking about this matter, he had not slept well all night, which was almost impossible for Duan Zhen. In the past, when he was on the battlefield, he wouldn’t waste a single moment of rest time; he could immediately fall into a light sleep with his eyes closed. But now, he lay on the bed, stiff as a board, and got up at five in the morning to have a simple breakfast before going to the gym to punch the sandbag.
For the convenience of exercise, he only wore a tank top, exposing large sections of his smoothly sculpted muscles.
He spent the morning in the gym, feeling much calmer afterward. Then, as he opened the door, he found Li Xi standing outside, apparently about to knock.
That hand was raised halfway, almost knocking on his chest.
Li Xi was stunned for a moment, looked up at his appearance, his Adam’s apple bobbing up and down, and his face suddenly blushed.
But soon, that faint blush dissipated from his cheeks, and the young man widened his eyes in disbelief. “You, why did you come out like this to open the door!”
He was full of momentum, and then realized that he hadn’t even knocked on the door yet, which made him even angrier: “Do you want to go out like this?”
Just that tank top, what could it cover!
“I felt like there was someone outside, so I opened the door to take a look,” Duan Zhen explained.
Li Xi didn’t believe him, but reluctantly acknowledged it, reaching out to push him: “Hurry up, go inside and close the door.”
His appearance always made Duan Zhen feel like he wasn’t wearing anything, just like when he met the other party in a bathrobe last time.
“Do you think you’re dressed too much?” Li Xi spoke with conviction, extending his finger and poking Duan Zhen’s shoulder with his fingertip. “Look at you, you’re all exposed here. You can see your collarbone and chest muscles through the tank top, and this, the tank top fits so tightly that you can even vaguely see your abdominal muscles.”
As he spoke, he couldn’t help but swallow saliva quietly, feeling that Duan Zhen was definitely trying to seduce him.
Hearing him swallow saliva, Duan Zhen couldn’t help but find it a bit amusing.
“There are always some people who can’t walk away when they see muscles, and they might take advantage of you when you’re not paying attention,” Li Xi continued, growing angrier because of his excessive involvement.
Duan Zhen lowered his gaze slightly, finally unable to resist grabbing the other’s finger and holding it in his palm, asking softly, “Are you one of those people you’re talking about?”
Li Xi’s face quickly turned red. “You, don’t talk nonsense. I’m just warning you for your own good. How could you slander others like this?”
If his fingers hadn’t been poking and prodding at his muscles just now, Duan Zhen might have believed his words by now.
Feeling that finger twisting in his palm, wanting to break free but not daring to exert force, softened a part of Duan Zhen’s heart first. However, the problem from last night suddenly resurfaced in his mind.
“I have something to ask you,” he said.
Li Xi frowned when he heard him suddenly become serious. “What is it?”
“When you hid your identity to… pursue me, was it to be with me?” Duan Zhen asked bluntly.
Li Xi’s face showed a strange expression. “You’re so direct…”
He thought for a moment. “I pursued you because I wanted to be in a relationship with you. Why else would I pursue you?”
“But we are people from two different worlds, destined to never be together forever,” Duan Zhen said, his voice slightly dry. “Did you just want to have a brief romance with me?”
“You’re not the kind of person who only recognizes one person for a lifetime, right?” Li Xi said strangely. “In a relationship, even without other factors getting in the way, it may not necessarily last till the end. As long as we’re happy together, it should be fine. And besides, we might have broken up before our worlds separated.”
Hearing him speak so casually about breaking up, Duan Zhen’s heart tightened slightly.
“Although I haven’t recovered my memories now and don’t know what I was thinking at the time, but you’re an ordinary person, and your lifespan may not reach a hundred years. What you consider a lifetime is also very short for me,” Li Xi spoke truthfully. “In our country, ordinary people can live for two hundred years, and those with magic can live even longer. The stronger you are, the less restricted you are by lifespan.”
He dropped a bombshell. “Although you probably didn’t notice, Hewlett is actually almost a thousand years old, but he has been sleeping for five or six hundred years.”
Duan Zhen’s pupils dilated for a moment. “A thousand?”
“Hest and Moduna seem to be hundreds of years old, I don’t know how old Clemens is, but they’re all legendary figures anyway,” Li Xi blinked at him, smiling with a hint of mischief. “My real age is also over two hundred. So, in other words, I’m actually robbing the cradle.”
Duan Zhen looked at him in silence.
If Li Xi hadn’t admitted it himself, he really wouldn’t have realized that the other was over two hundred years old. In his eyes, Duan Li Xi was still the young man who liked to stick to him.
…Just looking at his usual actions, he didn’t seem like someone over two hundred years old.
“Why are you suddenly asking this? Do you want to have a relationship with me?” Li Xi tilted his head, his fluffy curls trembling with his movements, looking very soft.
Listen, how could an old man over two hundred years old still use words like ‘have a relationship’? It’s so cute that it makes people want to pick him up and give him a kiss. Duan Zhen thought expressionlessly.
Author’s Note:
Li Xi: After the seal was lifted, I found that I had successfully hooked someone, feeling great.
You shouldn’t feel guilty for something that was above your might1Meaning what happened wasn’t his fault so he might as well enjoy the results anyways
AKJSKJDKSJDSK this was embarrassingly cute!!
Thank you for reading
