After sitting on the tree for a whole hour last night, watching the moon, Gu WenCheng’s feelings towards Li ZouXing became even more urgent.
He was captivated, yes, captivated.
He was captivated by the feelings Li ZouXing brought to him, whether it was the previous exhilarating excitement or simply sitting and chatting last night. A single sentence from the other person could soothe his homesickness. Who else could it be if not him?
Unbelievable.
Li ZouXing’s presence was unbelievable to him.
He had to make Li ZouXing belong to him completely, from body to soul, imprinting his mark on every ounce of his mental energy, so that no one else could come near him except for himself.
But Gu WenCheng didn’t know how to make one man fall in love with another man.
The whole world knew that men could only love women. Women had breasts, but he was flat. At best, he had pomegranate seeds that couldn’t be touched. Women had hips, but what good was a man’s butt?
The more he thought about it, the more helpless he felt, and in the end, a hint of determination flashed in his eyes.
If there was no way, he could only resort to force.
Suddenly, Li ZouXing felt a chill running up his spine, and he subconsciously glanced at the protagonist, meeting Gu WenCheng’s smiling eyes.
The anger that others couldn’t see or understand, he could read it all from Gu WenCheng’s eyes.
Who could have imagined that they had only gone without a kiss for one night?
Just one night and the protagonist was on the brink of turning dark.
Clingy.
Li ZouXing smoothed the strands of hair that hung down and soothingly pinched Gu WenCheng’s earlobe. “The competition will be over soon.”
“But time won’t stand still,” Gu WenCheng lowered his gaze, focusing all his sensitivity on his earlobe, gripping his hand tightly to keep himself from startling his little sunshine. His expression carried a hint of pitifulness. “Wounds itch when they heal.”
The only “wound” Li ZouXing knew of was the place he had applied medicine to himself last time.
How could it possibly itch? It had healed long ago!
“Don’t pinch,” he whispered, afraid that someone would see his hand on the livestream.
“I know,” the protective tone in his words made Gu WenCheng’s lips curl. He started thinking about how to deal with the annoying rules of the competition. With the live stream running, they had to maintain distance at all times. Distance, distance, distance. “Rules are rules. You can choose to postpone it for three days if you want. I don’t mind.”
With a measured tone, Li ZouXing resisted laughter and said, “It’s unfair to you. How about we forget about it this time?”
“What’s this about postponing for three days?” Ji Yu, who was listening nearby, asked curiously.
In the live stream chat, more and more viewers perked up their ears, curious about what was happening.
“Treat ZouXing to some delicious food,” Gu WenCheng said with a faint smile, “He really enjoys eating.”
So shameless. Li ZouXing touched his nose in resignation. “Um, it’s really delicious. Once I start eating, I can’t stop.”
Clearly, it was Gu WenCheng who initiated the topic, but after Li ZouXing finished speaking, he became even more uncomfortable. His ears turned slightly red, and his smile took on a deeper meaning.
If he liked it so much, why didn’t he just say it directly?
Being with him meant eating whenever he wanted. Gu WenCheng would spoil him.
Today was the second day, and the competition would end at six in the morning tomorrow. They were still missing fewer than 10 cards at the moment. A few of them held their breath and completed the task, and now it was already three in the afternoon.
At this moment, they encountered a familiar face in the jungle.
The girl with long hair next to Ren Qingying, the one Ren Qingying called Ying Ying, had red and swollen eyes and ankles the size of fists. She was looking in terror at the approaching wild beasts.
They immediately rushed forward to kill the beasts. After ensuring their safety, the girl cried out, “Thank you, thank you all.”
“Where’s your team?” Li ZouXing looked at her ankle and frowned. “Did they abandon you here?”
“We got separated,” the girl said. “You can call me Ying Ying… my last name is Ren.”
She explained the situation in detail. Ren Qingying’s team had wasted a lot of time due to their overconfidence in their abilities. After being raided by the Dream Team, they had to start collecting cards again. But with only 100 participants, they thought they were among the top ten, and now they couldn’t find anyone to collect cards with.
With her sprained ankle, Ren Yingying could only be temporarily placed here. However, she didn’t expect that the person who created the mental protection barrier for her could only maintain it for a little over two hours. When the mental protection barrier dissipated, she became the most delicious and vulnerable prey in the entire forest.
Li ZouXing furrowed his brows in contemplation, unable to discern whether this was Ren Qingying’s trap or the truth. The other party’s actions were so puzzling that he couldn’t tell.
“Then you can only come with us for now,” Xi Nan said, “or if you want to stay here and wait for your teammates, we can create a protective barrier for you.”
“I want to go with you!” Ren Yingying said quickly, as if afraid of being too slow, then added anxiously, “I… sprained my ankle. Is that okay?”
Several people nodded. They had already completed their task and were not in a hurry.
Ren Yingying wiped away her tears, declined any assistance, and stood up on her own. After taking a few steps, she suddenly lurched forward, as if afraid of colliding with the guy that Ren Qingying liked. She did her best to fall into the arms of someone else nearby.
As luck would have it, she fell into Li ZouXing’s arms.
The girl let out a sigh of relief. “Thank you.”
A sense of danger overwhelmed Ren Yingying, and she trembled all over. She abruptly stood up, instinctively moving behind the tall and sturdy figure of Li ZouXing.
Gu WenCheng smiled gently. “Miss, be careful.”
But the gaze of Ren Yingying, who was being looked at by him, was filled with fear. She retreated with her sprained foot, covering her mouth as she looked at Gu WenCheng, as if he were some kind of monster.
Gu WenCheng sighed, and turned his face away, looking despondent, which tugged at people’s hearts.
The atmosphere became tense.
The Dream Team members didn’t want to argue with a young girl, but her attitude towards Gu WenCheng was unacceptable to them.
“I’m sorry,” a few seconds later, Gu WenCheng took the initiative with a wry smile, “It was probably my attitude that scared her.”
He glanced at Li ZouXing several times with the corner of his eye. “I apologize.”
As expected, Li ZouXing came over as he had hoped and shared a brotherly hug with him.
Gu WenCheng pulled up the corners of his mouth in Li ZouXing’s neck, and his deep eyes stared directly at Ren Yingying. The malice within them was as deep as a black hole, more terrifying than the pupils of a wild beast.
Large tears rolled down Ren Yingying’s face, and her terrified expression seemed overly dramatic in this atmosphere.
The comments in the live stream were exploding. They couldn’t understand what this young girl was so afraid of. Was she afraid of Gu WenCheng? Just because Gu WenCheng smiled at her?
…
They were more inclined to think that this was an attempt to sow discord, a calculated seduction.
These malicious attempts to sow discord in other people’s relationships are really in poor taste!
Li ZouXing wanted to let go after holding him for a few seconds, but Gu WenCheng held on tightly, his voice muffled. “I’m very insecure.”
“…” Li ZouXing’s expression was hard to describe, a mix of sympathy and suppressed laughter.
They were getting addicted to this act.
But those watching the live stream were completely sympathetic towards him.
“Insecure about what?” Li ZouXing played along perfectly, praising him, “You’re so handsome, so capable, and your legs are so long. Where would you find room for insecurity?”
Gu WenCheng, in a somewhat twisted manner, deeply inhaled his scent several times, “See, even girls cry when they see me.”
He glanced at Ren Yingying with a smirk, and she remained frozen under his gaze, whispering, “So scary… so scary…”
The faint murmurs were heard by everyone present.
This girl’s sensitivity to danger is way too heightened.
At this moment, Gu WenCheng seemed to have completely buried his face in Li ZouXing’s neck, looking like he was utterly heartbroken from the outside.
But in reality…
Li ZouXing felt a moist tongue brushing against his neck.
The protagonist clumsily explained, “I’m crying,” not taking advantage of the situation.
Sigh.
Li ZouXing patted his head with a pampering tone and pretended to be silly, “Cry as much as you want.”
The commotion didn’t calm down until half an hour later. Ren Yingying followed behind them shakily, always dodging when her gaze landed on Gu WenCheng.
But Gu WenCheng was in a good mood and didn’t mind the two seconds when she had occupied Li ZouXing’s embrace.
Because he had come up with a brilliant idea.
Since it was a live broadcast to the entire internet, they couldn’t waste this opportunity.
He wanted everyone, whether they were women, men, or enemies trying to use Li ZouXing to force Walter to reveal himself, to know that Li ZouXing belonged to someone else.
Don’t touch him casually, and anyone who did had to be prepared to face the consequences.
This wouldn’t be a waste of the two days and one night they had been delayed and punished.
Xi Nan, while comforting Ren Yingying, sounded displeased. “Why did you say WenCheng is scary?”
Ren Yingying realized that her previous reaction had gone too far. She knew that the audience in the Dream Team’s livestream chat was probably scolding her now, but she didn’t dare to explain. She was even afraid of Gu WenCheng’s gaze falling on her again.
Clearly, the last time she saw this person, everything was normal…
What was with that look just now…
As if knowing what he was thinking, Gu WenCheng turned his face slightly, forming a perfect and charming curve on his lips, a smile that was handsome and friendly.
This smile would only make women’s hearts flutter, not frighten them.
But paradoxically, the more charming he appeared, the more mysterious he seemed.
“Qingying and the others said,” Ren Yingying swallowed hard and said in fragments, “they headed north.”
Li ZouXing replied, “Then let’s go north.”
Their actions were relaxed, changing direction as they pleased.
With a stranger suddenly joining the team, their conversations became somewhat restrained. Xi Nan was still grumbling, determined to figure out why Ren Yingying had “bullied” Gu WenCheng.
“It’s probably because I’m not likable to girls,” Gu WenCheng suddenly sighed, “I don’t even have any experience kissing a girl.”
Ling Nian said quietly, “Who does?”
Everyone was in the same unfortunate boat.
Li ZouXing even wanted to dive into Gu WenCheng’s mind to see what he was up to. ‘Saying you’re not likable to girls isn’t quite honest.’
Leaving aside previous relationships, just considering yesterday with Ren Qingying, one infatuation followed another, enough to fill the entire mountain hollow.
“But I’ve heard,” Gu WenCheng calmly steered the conversation in the direction he wanted, “that even the famous star pirate, Walter, hasn’t had any romantic relationships.”
“Over all these years, the only one rumored to have any connection with Walter is ZouXing,” Ling Nian instinctively added, his expression not pleasant as he teetered on the edge of becoming an ex-fan. “I don’t believe every version of the rumors on the StarNet and the word ‘rival’ from Walter’s own mouth.”
He went on passionately, providing various reasons to support his viewpoint, completely shattering the cool and aloof image of their ice-cold handsome guy. They still didn’t realize they were live-streaming, and Li ZouXing and Gu WenCheng had forgotten to tell their teammates that this was a live broadcast to the entire internet.
“So…” Ling Nian concluded seriously, “I have a reasonable suspicion that this is just a diversion Walter is using ZouXing to distract our attention. He has bigger plans in the works.”
A majority of the StarNet audience was actually convinced by this speech!
[That makes sense…]
[I get it now! No wonder I always felt something was off. This explanation clears things up!]
Li ZouXing rubbed his chin in thought. “So, I’m just a decoy?”
Ling Nian nodded, and his teammates had always placed great trust in his intelligence. Right now, he looked righteously indignant and exclaimed, “I knew he wasn’t a good guy!”
“Not a good person!”
“Extremely corrupt!”
“Trash, trash, trash!”
Gu WenCheng’s temples pulsed. “Is there no possibility that Walter is sincere?”
[Gu WenCheng is still too young. Ling Nian’s argument makes sense. Can Walter, someone so famous and powerful, genuinely consider a newcomer as a future rival?]
[Saying that Walter is sincere is even less believable than saying the Emperor won’t face an assassination attempt in a year.]
Their teammates vehemently shook their heads. “Absolutely not! WenCheng, don’t be deceived by Walter’s sweet words!”
Alright, very good.
Initially, Gu WenCheng had only intended to make the public acknowledge the evolving rivalry between Walter and Li ZouXing, to make it clear to others that Walter had a special interest in Li ZouXing, so that those who needed to know would know, and those who needed to stop would stop.
But now it seemed that mere words weren’t enough.
Li ZouXing looked at Gu WenCheng’s rapidly calming expression and sensed something was amiss. He tentatively asked, “Do you have a good opinion of Walter?”
“Of course not,” Gu WenCheng replied with a smile. “I’m just worried about you.”
At this moment, Li ZouXing suddenly understood how Ren Yingying had felt before.
This person had ulterior motives.
Of course, he was looking forward to this kind of ulterior motive.
Li ZouXing smiled nonchalantly. “Don’t worry, Walter is a busy person. He can’t possibly appear wherever I do, right?”
“How could that be?” Gu WenCheng chuckled. “If it were that easy, wouldn’t everyone just follow you to track Walter’s whereabouts?”
Not appearing in person?
The flirtatious Walter not appearing in person?
Wow.
That was unexpected.
Undoubtedly, Li ZouXing was even more intrigued.
The author has something to say:
“Walter, blablabla… not a good person, blabla… using Li ZouXing as a decoy…”
Gu WenCheng: You have to endure it! (Veins bulging on his forehead)
