Jing Li arrived at the restaurant in Wu Xiaojun’s car. To avoid being recognized when leaving the restaurant, he didn’t hail a taxi. Instead, he found a secluded corner without people or surveillance cameras and flew directly back to the vicinity of his hotel, then quickly walked back to his room.
Once in his room, he called Wang Lele and Zhang Shuo to confirm that they had both safely returned to their rooms. He made up an excuse for the message he sent earlier, asking them to leave first. After that, he went to the bathroom to freshen up before lying down on the bed.
Tonight, he had used a considerable amount of spiritual power. Although it didn’t leave him feeling weak, he still felt a bit tired.
Reflecting on the night’s events, Jing Li felt even more tense.
Zhang Weixi alone had forced him to use fifty percent of his strength. Not to mention, judging from Zhang Weixi’s tone, there were quite a few people like him.
Although Jing Li might not be entirely without a chance of winning if it came down to a real fight, he didn’t want to put himself in such a situation unless absolutely necessary.
Moreover, the enemy was in the dark while he was exposed. It wasn’t hard to see from his earlier conversation with Zhang Weixi that the other party knew almost everything about his situation, if not all the details. He was determined not to let his brother and Gu Tingshen get involved or even be put in danger.
Especially the one controlling the so-called Dark Forest behind the scenes – Jing Li knew nothing about their situation.
The more uncertainties there were, coupled with the modus operandi of those he had encountered before, the tighter Jing Li’s nerves became.
But ultimately, he was more concerned about the safety of his brother and Gu Tingshen.
Thinking of them, Jing Li suddenly felt restless. He first called his brother to report that he was safe. When he learned that his brother was working overtime at the office again, Jing Li couldn’t help but frown.
“Didn’t I tell you not to stay up so late?” Jing Li disapproved. “No matter how busy you are, you can’t take your health lightly.”
“I know, I’ll go back as soon as I finish the document I’m working on, okay?” Jing Yu always enjoyed his younger brother’s concerned nagging and coaxed him in a gentle voice, “Take care of yourself on set too, don’t overwork yourself.”
Then, as if casually, he asked, “Gu Tingshen hasn’t contacted you?”
Although he still wasn’t too happy about it, he was more concerned about whether that bastard cared about his younger brother’s wellbeing.
They were still in the honeymoon phase of their relationship. If the two of them weren’t being all lovey-dovey at this hour… sending messages to express their affection or something, Jing Yu frowned at the thought that Gu Tingshen might not be attentive enough to his brother.
“He called during dinner, but it wasn’t convenient at the time, so I hung up on him.”
Although Jing Li knew his brother didn’t mean anything else by it, he still subconsciously spoke well of his boyfriend in front of his brother, and then added, “I’ll talk to him after I finish talking to you.”
Hearing that Gu Tingshen had taken the initiative to call his brother, Jing Yu’s brows relaxed a little. And when he heard that his brother prioritized caring for him over Gu Tingshen, a satisfied smile instantly burst onto his face, and he felt completely at ease.
The brothers chatted for a while longer. After Jing Yu repeatedly promised to go home and rest immediately, Jing Li reminded him to be careful when going out, to avoid being alone outside as much as possible, and to tell him immediately if he encountered anything strange or if someone was following him.
Although Jing Yu found his younger brother’s tone of a little adult instructing a child a bit amusing, he knew it came from a place of concern and didn’t feel impatient. Instead, he nodded in agreement with a sincere smile.
Only then did Jing Li feel a little more at ease and end the call.
As soon as he finished talking with his brother, his phone received a notification of an incoming message. Jing Li tapped on it and saw that it was from Gu Tingshen.
[Gu Tingshen: Baby, are you still not done with dinner? [Aggrieved.gif]]
Seeing the little person in the emoji with a big head and teary eyes, on the verge of crying, Jing Li imagined Gu Tingshen’s face with that expression and couldn’t help but burst out laughing, dispelling much of his earlier worries.
Jing Li occasionally sent emojis when chatting with friends. This time, he found a head-patting emoji and sent it over with a smile, then directly sent a video call request.
It was answered almost immediately, and Gu Tingshen’s familiar handsome face appeared on the screen. It was clear that he had been waiting.
The moment the video connected, Gu Tingshen’s lips curled into a smile. His gaze lingered on Jing Li’s face for a moment before he looked at the surroundings behind him. “Baby, are you back at the hotel?”
“Mm.” Jing Li looked at him, subconsciously responding.
However, seeing Gu Tingshen’s unguarded smile on the screen and thinking of the emoji just now, it was as if the little person had tasted sweetness and instantly went from crying to laughing. Jing Li couldn’t help but laugh out loud again.
“What’s so funny?” Gu Tingshen was a little puzzled by his laughter but couldn’t help laughing along.
This reaction amused Jing Li even more, making his laughter grow louder until tears were about to come out, and the corners of his eyes flushed peach-red.
Gu Tingshen didn’t rush him. Instead, seeing his enchanting and lively appearance, his heart was pounding. He wished he could crawl through the screen to kiss that alluring little mouth.
“Nothing, I’m just happy to see you.”
Finally, Jing Li had laughed enough and reined in his emotions a little. Although his eyes still sparkled with mirth, he could at least have a normal conversation now. “Have you gone to bed?”
It was evident from the headboard behind Gu Tingshen that he was on a bed.
“Mm, I promised to listen to you and not stay up late working overtime.” Gu Tingshen acknowledged, his expression gentle. But in the next second, he abruptly changed the subject. “Why did Wu Xiaojun suddenly invite you to dinner?”
And for so long!
No matter how he looked at it, something seemed off.
However, Gu Tingshen’s thoughts had evidently drifted elsewhere.
He had already felt that Wu Xiaojun’s intentions were impure, especially the eyes that held hidden admiration when looking at Jing Li. Could it be that he still hadn’t given up on those inappropriate thoughts?
Gu Tingshen instantly frowned.
“He just wanted to express gratitude for the help and care before.” Jing Li lowered his gaze and casually found an excuse to gloss over it, clearly not intending to let Gu Tingshen know about the shady events of the night.
However, thinking of Zhang Weixi, he was instantly on alert again. He looked up at Gu Tingshen on the screen and said, “Speaking of Wu Xiaojun, he must have seen everything that night, right? Have you felt like someone’s been following you lately?”
With that said, he stared intently at Gu Tingshen’s expression.
He couldn’t directly tell Gu Tingshen about those creatures. For one, he felt these things were too fantastical and didn’t know how to confess to Gu Tingshen. Secondly, he didn’t want to drag Gu Tingshen into it.
Although it wasn’t the first time Gu Tingshen had seen them, there was a completely different concept between that and personally getting involved.
Especially with how well Jing Li knew Gu Tingshen, if he found out about these things, he definitely wouldn’t listen to Jing Li and stand by idly.
Gu Tingshen, however, was unaware of his thoughts. Hearing him say this, his mind went elsewhere.
“What’s wrong? Xiao Jing, are you afraid that someone will expose our relationship?”
He looked up at Jing Li, whose expression was clearly nervous. He thought Jing Li was worried that their relationship would be exposed. He felt a little disappointed, but still comforted him, “Don’t worry, even if someone takes a photo of us, they wouldn’t dare publish it online without my consent.”
“What are you talking about? We’re in a proper relationship and haven’t done anything shameful. So what if it’s exposed?”
Jing Li didn’t expect Gu Tingshen to think in that direction. He found it both amusing and exasperating. Especially when he noticed the hidden disappointment in Gu Tingshen’s eyes, his heart ached a little. “I’m just afraid that some irrational fans might do something bad to you.”
He was even more afraid that those creatures would go and harass Gu Tingshen, using him as leverage to force Jing Li to compromise.
Hearing these words, Gu Tingshen’s eyes instantly lit up, and the smile on the corners of his mouth unconsciously brightened. “Alright, I’ll listen to you, baby, and be more careful in the future.”
At this point, he paused, as if remembering something, and then said, “Speaking of which, now that you mention it, I do recall something.”
“Some time ago, someone did follow me, but when the bodyguard caught him, he didn’t have a camera with him. There was only one photo of you, me, and your brother on his phone.”
“At the time, I thought he was just your fan, so I only warned him and let him go.”
“Speaking of which, fans nowadays are really crazy, pursuing their idols to this extent. And I saw a large clump of black fog gathered on top of that person’s head. He clearly wasn’t a good person.”
With that said, Gu Tingshen frowned at Jing Li. “So my concerns are not unwarranted at all. You should be more careful on set, especially since things aren’t very peaceful there.”
Gu Tingshen spoke calmly, but Jing Li’s heart instantly sank.
Gu Tingshen simply didn’t understand fans well enough. Let alone fans, even stalker fans wouldn’t just have one photo of their idol on their phone.
And even if it was really stalking, they wouldn’t give up on their idol and switch to following someone who, in the eyes of outsiders, didn’t have a close relationship with their idol.
Especially the black fog gathered on top of that person’s head, which instantly reminded Jing Li of Zhang Weixi and that group of foul creatures.
It was a case of fearing the worst and having it come true.
“In the future, if you see someone with black fog on their head, stay away from them and don’t approach them!”
Jing Li rarely spoke to Gu Tingshen in this tone, which made Gu Tingshen stunned for a moment. But Jing Li couldn’t care about that right now. “Don’t forget that there aren’t only ordinary humans in this world. What are you going to do if you encounter something evil?”
Especially since Gu Tingshen had such a rich purple-gold spiritual aura on him, which was most coveted by demons and monsters.
Now that he thought about it, Jing Li even felt that Gu Tingshen was in greater danger than his brother.
If those creatures could investigate things related to him, they might have already set their sights on Gu Tingshen, a fat piece of meat.
Wait!
Jing Li’s mind vaguely recalled what Zhang Weixi had said before.
“Aren’t you also going for this?”
“But how can fighting alone compare to everyone working together in unity?”
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