“Did I upset you?” Wei Xicheng carefully asked, looking at Si Yongyi, who was sitting on the sofa with a dark expression.
What he didn’t know was that outside the glass, Yi Chengze’s face was even darker than Si Yongyi’s inside.
Although Si Yongyi often couldn’t move past the emotional wounds left by Yang Yuan, he wasn’t a fool. After all, he’d been mixing in the business world for years. No matter how sweetly the young boy in front of him spoke or how much his temperament resembled Yang Yuan, he wouldn’t make a move until the investigation results were out.
“You can go now.” Si Yongyi paused, then added, “I’ll have my assistant escort you out. No need to climb out of windows—it’s dangerous.”
“Okay!” The noticeably cheerful tone and uplifted voice revealed how delighted the speaker was.
Wei Xicheng ran out of Si Yongyi’s lounge with a spring in his step. His mission to make his presence felt by the scumbag today was complete, and now he could go back and rest. Next, he’d disappear for a while. The more Si Yongyi couldn’t find him, the less he’d trust him, and the more he’d think about him.
“Where are you running off to?”
Yi Chengze’s gaze fell on the youthful face that was still faintly flushed, his eyes gleaming with excitement, and an unexplainable surge of anger rose in his chest.
Taking two steps forward, he grabbed Wei Xicheng’s wrist and half-dragged him to the public restroom at the end of the hallway. Slamming the door shut and locking it, he turned back to glare at the boy standing to the side.
Wei Xicheng couldn’t make sense of the situation. What was with this guy? Why was he always acting crazy and messing up his plans?
“What are you looking at?”
Obviously, I’m looking at how dumb you are.
Wei Xicheng didn’t say the words out loud. Right now, Yi Chengze’s eyes were practically burning, as if he’d caught him cheating or something.
What does that have to do with… him…
As he thought about it, Wei Xicheng began to feel a little guilty. It seemed like in every world, his lover was the one who inexplicably fell for him first.
He glanced again at Yi Chengze: the height, the build, the handsome face—everything fit the criteria for his lover more and more the longer he looked.
Opening the energy panel in the system, Wei Xicheng took two steps forward and grabbed Yi Chengze’s hand.
Sure enough, the energy level rose slightly… This system was so strange! Why hadn’t it reacted earlier when this guy was grabbing him by the nape of his neck? Did this mean that in every world, he’d have to keep the energy panel open and constantly monitor it?
Now that he’d confirmed Yi Chengze’s identity as his lover, the fire in Yi Chengze’s eyes no longer made him feel like saying, What’s it to you?
“What are you doing here?” he asked.
“Just passing by.” Yi Chengze glanced at the hand still holding his, then looked away nonchalantly.
“Oh.” Wei Xicheng skimmed through the script again. Sure enough, this guy wasn’t mentioned at all, which meant that in this world, Yi Chengze was even less than a side character.
But the first time they met, he hadn’t liked cats, right? He’d even thrown him out. The moment he appeared in human form, though, he came running over. Thinking of this, Wei Xicheng quickly withdrew his hand. It was better to limit their contact for now until he was sure Yi Chengze could accept him being a cat.
Yi Chengze, puzzled, glanced at the boy, who was now lost in thought. What was going on? Why had he let go?
“What are you thinking about?” Yi Chengze poked Wei Xicheng’s cheek. It was soft and squishy, just like the rest of him. He thought maybe they should call him Ruan Ruan (soft) instead of Mao Mao (furry).
“Were you invited to this banquet?”
“No.”
“…Then how were you ‘passing by?’”
“Let’s go.”
“…Go where? We’re not even headed in the same direction.”
As soon as the restroom door opened, they bumped into Si Yongyi’s assistant pacing back and forth in the hallway.
“Ah! Mr. Mao, I’ve been looking for you.” The assistant jogged over to Wei Xicheng. This assistant, who was usually a smooth talker, now had an attitude that was entirely different from earlier. “Mr. Si asked me to escort you home. Shall we go now?”
Though the command was to send him away immediately, the assistant managed to phrase it so respectfully that it made one feel valued.
Wei Xicheng glanced curiously at the person beside him. Why was the assistant ignoring this man entirely? Yi Chengze’s presence wasn’t weak, after all.
Of course, he wouldn’t ask this question in front of both of them. Following the assistant, he walked to the hotel entrance. Smiling, he politely declined the assistant’s offer to send him home.
This assistant would probably have to look into “Mao Rong’s” background later, and Wei Xicheng didn’t want to give him extra work.
Watching the assistant step back into the hotel, Wei Xicheng turned to Yi Chengze. “Let’s go.”
“Go where?” Yi Chengze raised an eyebrow.
Wei Xicheng was stumped. Right, they weren’t going in the same direction. They weren’t even close enough to be going home together.
“Then I’ll head home. You should get home soon, too.” Wei Xicheng turned and walked away. He needed to think about what to do next. Did Yi Chengze hear his conversation with Si Yongyi? Did he misunderstand?
If he’d known he’d meet his lover this early, he wouldn’t have chosen such a dumb way to save Lin Yang.
“Wait.”
Wei Xicheng stopped and turned around. Behind Yi Chengze was the brightly lit hotel. His face was hidden in shadows, making his expression unreadable.
“Take a walk with me?” Yi Chengze asked casually, his hands in his pockets. He’d only just met this person today, yet he felt like he didn’t know him enough. That realization annoyed him.
Besides, as a senior in the demon world, he ought to show some concern for the younger one who had just taken on human form.
“Alright.”
The light from behind illuminated the boy’s face clearly.
The night was deep, shrouded in heavy mist. The sky, like a black curtain, hung high above, with only a few faint stars as its sole adornment. Wei Xicheng and Yi Chengze walked along the dimly lit street, exchanging a few words here and there.
“It seems like today is the first time we’ve met?” Yi Chengze looked at the boy beside him, whose light steps seemed to float, as if he were walking on soft cushions.
“Yes, though it feels like we’ve met somewhere before,” Wei Xicheng replied.
He could say he knew this person very well, or not at all. His memories of three different worlds had gradually merged, forming a clearer picture of this man. But no one could tell if this world’s version of him would have any new traits.
However, this statement took on a different meaning for Yi Chengze. He smiled and said, “Maybe we really have met before but just forgot.”
“You said you’re interested in painting?” Wei Xicheng remembered what Yi Chengze had mentioned that afternoon and decided to reconsider his earlier judgment of him.
“Yeah.” Actually, it wasn’t painting he was interested in—it was you.
“We must have some kind of connection, then. How about I teach you?” Wei Xicheng tilted his head slightly, squinting his eyes as a flicker of emotion crossed his face.
“Alright.” Yi Chengze nodded. “How did you end up at that hotel?”
“Well, you’ll have to pay tuition. As for the hotel, I sneaked in to check out the scene.” Wei Xicheng kicked a pebble at his feet, thinking that his business with Si Yongyi needed to be resolved quickly.
Tuition? Yi Chengze glanced at the boy in the waiter’s uniform. Was this little cat so poor that he couldn’t stick to the straight path?
“So, when are you free to teach me?”
“Anytime.” Wei Xicheng spotted the tree where he had hidden his art supplies.
“How about tonight?” Yi Chengze checked his watch. It wasn’t too late yet. “I’ll pay tuition too. Eighty yuan an hour—how does that sound?”
He had thought about offering more, like a senior giving his junior some pocket money, but then reconsidered. With money, who knows what kind of mischief this little demon might get into.
“Deal, deal.” Wei Xicheng’s brain was still sharp, even if he had turned into a cat. Although his skills were top-notch, eighty yuan an hour wasn’t a bad rate for a cat. It was enough to live on.
“Wait for me for a moment.”
The little cat rolled up his sleeves and started climbing the tree with surprising agility.
“Let’s go! To your place!”
As Wei Xicheng lightly leaped down from the tree, Yi Chengze instinctively stepped forward to catch him but suddenly remembered—he’s a cat. He can fly…
The familiar scent, the familiar setup—it was the same neighborhood, the same villa. The living room was neat and clean, so simple that it could be described as “barely furnished.” Aside from a coffee table and a sofa set, there was nothing else. The place felt cold and empty.
As Wei Xicheng stepped into the place for the second time, he felt a mix of emotions. The first time, he had been thrown out by the owner, this time, he had been invited in. What would Yi Chengze do if he discovered that he was the very cat he used to dislike?
“Aren’t you afraid I might be a bad person?” Yi Chengze suddenly asked, staring at Wei Xicheng, who was changing his shoes. Twice now, this little one had stepped into another demon’s territory without realizing it. Such a lack of vigilance was dangerous. How much harm could a baby cat possibly inflict? If Yi Chengze wanted to eat him today, the cat wouldn’t even have time to run. Still, this little cat seemed to remember he had claws.
“Pfft, care for a spar?” Wei Xicheng glanced around. The living room was so empty it could easily serve as a fighting ring. Even though he knew he couldn’t win against this man, he still wanted to prove that he wasn’t entirely helpless.
Yi Chengze set down the art supplies, his interest piqued. This would be his first lesson for the little cat demon. “Follow me.”
Wei Xicheng followed him into the “sparring room.” The room was peculiar: the floor was covered with a thin layer of soft padding, cluttered with random objects, while several humidifiers mounted on the walls worked continuously. When stepping onto the mat, Wei Xicheng could feel its slightly damp warmth.
“Didn’t you say you wanted to spar? Go ahead.”
Yi Chengze cleared a small area and stood there, beckoning to Wei Xicheng. He then saw the little kitten take two steps forward and swipe a paw at him. Yi Chengze raised his hand and easily blocked the attack.
After his first strike was blocked, Wei Xicheng quickly withdrew, turned, and leaped, one leg aiming for Yi Chengze’s face while his hand attacked at a sharp angle toward his opponent’s ribs.
This kind of move against a regular person would typically force them to defend one area and leave another vulnerable. But Wei Xicheng hadn’t expected Yi Chengze to not only be stronger than him but also more flexible and faster. By the second move, Wei Xicheng was mercilessly overpowered.
His face was pressed against the damp mat, and this time, he caught a faint smell in the air—it was slightly fishy.
