Chapter 164 Reincarnation Hell 8

Ever since entering the unfallen Rose Castle, Xia Qi had been somewhat distracted.

Yuanzhou, however, was fully focused on showing him around the world of the Sinful Game. They walked hand in hand to the pavilion in the rose garden.

"Qi, you thirsty? Want some tea?"

Yuanzhou produced a pot of boiling water and made Xia Qi a cup of rose tea. After carefully cooling the tea, he handed the cup to Xia Qi.

They sat side by side, sipping the rose tea and enjoying the view outside the rose garden.

The scent of the roses felt off to Xia Qi, not quite like the ones from the garden.

After entering the Sinful Game, he had once drunk rose tea in the rose garden. At that time, the roses in the tea were French thousand-petal roses, fragrant and mellow, with a rich flavor. The old Count had also added a lot of honey to his tea, making it almost too sweet.

"These are dried rose flowers from the lab's supply room," Yuanzhou said with a hint of apology. "Sorry, but you’ll have to make do with this for now. In the future, I’ll grow the most beautiful roses for you."

The game community, three years ago, hadn't fully synced with the real world yet, nor was it as realistic. Everything had to be brought in from the outside.

However, what surprised Xia Qi was that Yuanzhou had actually hacked the firewall and stolen the lab's rose tea. There was no denying that Yuanzhou's control was growing stronger.

"Is the sky here the same as the outside?" Yuanzhou suddenly asked after staring at the clouds for a while.

Xia Qi took a sip of his tea. "Haven't you seen it before? Of course, it's the same."

"I've only seen photos and videos, but never the real sky," Yuanzhou said with a smile.

All Superhumans, from birth to death, are confined to the black market's labs. It is their fate as black experimental subjects.

Yuanzhou was an exception. He was the strongest Superhuman from the Lin Group's underground experiments, the result of countless people's efforts and the deaths of many generations of Superhumans. Yuanzhou's cloud brain evolved rapidly, and now, he could not only put everyone into a deep sleep to enter the game space, but he could also slightly break through physical space to grab someone... This was also the key development function in the lab recently.

The lab staff hoped for Yuanzhou's death every day, but so far, he hadn’t died.

Yuanzhou turned his head and looked at his profile seriously, his eyes filled with hope. "I just want to go out and see the world with you."

Among everyone, Xia Qi was the only exception.

He had never wished for his death.

From the moment Xia Qi stepped into the base, Yuanzhou, as usual, read his past and inner thoughts as he observed humans.

Although Xia Qi appeared cold on the surface, his heart was burning inside, completely different from the profit-driven people Yuanzhou had met before.

Xia Qi had a country he wanted to protect, missions he had to carry out, and bottom lines that couldn't be crossed... Of course, he also had his vulnerabilities.

At first, Yuanzhou changed his eyes to blue and wanted to take the same name as Xia Qi because he wanted to become him. Later, he developed human emotions and realized that it wasn't about becoming him, but about falling in love with him.

From that moment on, he desperately wanted to gain freedom, to go to the real world where Xia Qi had lived.

He also wanted to walk on real roads with him and fly under the real sky together...

"There will be opportunities in the future," the Xia Qi from three years ago had said.

At that time, he thought Yuanzhou was just curious, like a child in its infancy, always longing for the outside world.

But the current him already understood.

Xia Qi reached out, as if touching Yuanzhou’s cold face through the air, and said word by word, "I will take you out."

He hadn't said this back then, but it was his promise now.

"Hmm." Yuanzhou smiled at him, his expression calm, and his eyes full of trust.

"Are you tired? Why not sleep here for a while? Time passes more slowly in the game community compared to the outside world." Yuanzhou reminded him and carefully made space for him.

Three years ago, he had just returned from a funeral in Southern Province, worn out from the long journey and emotionally drained.

Xia Qi knew he should be asleep, so following the flow of events, he lay down on the long chair.

Three years ago, he soon "fell asleep," but now, Xia Qi was still wide awake, his eyes open.

After he "fell asleep," he saw Yuanzhou lower his head confidently, staring at him without blinking, his eyes not moving at all.

In this trance-like state, Yuanzhou looked like a lifelike plastic mannequin, which would likely creep anyone else out.

At first, Xia Qi was uncomfortable, but he got used to it over time. After all, he had already come to terms with the demon dragon, so a plastic mannequin was nothing.

Once Xia Qi was fully "asleep," Yuanzhou leaned down and slowly moved closer.

Seeing Yuanzhou's face getting closer, Xia Qi was startled: he really was going to make a move!

Yuanzhou first touched his forehead, and finding no response from Xia Qi, he happily kissed the tip of his nose. Then, he slowly moved down... finally, he gently placed his lips on Xia Qi's.

And just like that, his first kiss was gone.

Xia Qi closed his eyes, feeling helpless and unlucky to have lost his first kiss without realizing it.

Unlike their later passionate moments, Yuanzhou was still new to this, his actions clumsy and innocent.

Just as Xia Qi thought this, Yuanzhou suddenly pried open his lips, squinting his eyes and cautiously exploring.

Xia Qi: ???

Wait, what happened to the first kiss? This isn't how it was supposed to go!

Also, was the him from three years ago so sleep-stupid?

How could he still be asleep after being taken advantage of like this?

Xia Qi clenched his fists, seriously suspecting he had been hypnotized, as Yuanzhou could easily do such a thing.

Just as he was thinking of regaining control, Yuanzhou suddenly let go of him, like a child who had secretly eaten candy, quickly lifting his head, his eyes blinking rapidly.

After a moment of tension, seeing Xia Qi still lying down, he sighed in relief and licked the corners of his mouth with relish.

From Yuanzhou's recent behavior, he hadn't been bold enough to use hypnosis on him.

Xia Qi slowly relaxed his fists.

For the time after, Yuanzhou seemed worried about waking him up, so he didn't dare to make any more moves. He sat quietly beside him, continuing to stare without blinking, pretending to be a lifelike plastic mannequin.

With his younger self still asleep, Xia Qi decided to take action.

He first left the rose garden and came near the Rose Castle.

Three years ago, the Rose Castle's decoration was already quite close to what it would later become. Although there were no dressing rooms or makeup rooms like the later additions, the entire castle was extremely luxurious. Even a randomly picked-up bowl was made of gold.

As Xia Qi passed through the East Hall, he suddenly smelled a strange odor.

The location he was standing at was the main entrance of the East Hall, with good ventilation. Perhaps the strange smell was so memorable that it brought back memories of the bloody stories within the Rose Castle.

Now, there were no NPCs like the old baron inside the Rose Castle, so where did this bloody smell come from?

Could it be that Yuanzhou was also a vampire?

No, that didn’t make sense. Despite wearing the guise of a baron, Yuanzhou hadn’t fully embraced the role. How could he possibly suck blood inside the Rose Castle?

Filled with doubts, Xia Qi followed the smell to the familiar entrance of the dungeon.

At that time, it was the old man who opened the entrance, but the current Xia Qi already knew he was an admin. All he needed to do was use a command on the iron door.

"Bang—" As soon as the command was given, the iron door swung open.

Xia Qi cracked the iron door open, and a wave of blood-soaked air hit him like a tidal surge. Along with it came the putrid stench of decaying flesh, thick and suffocating.

Thanks to the light leaking down from the gap above the tomb, Xia Qi was able to see the scene inside the dungeon.

Unlike the vampire family tomb from later times, this three-year-old dungeon had no vampire coffins. Instead, there were countless human corpses. The bodies of humans were stacked one on top of another, men and women, old and young, all present.

This was no vampire tomb—it was a human mass grave!

Xia Qi stumbled back, nearly collapsing, his mind reeling from the horror. What the hell was going on?!

The horrifying scene seemed to trigger forgotten memories, and a sharp, stabbing pain started in Xia Qi's temples.

No, Yuanzhou was still in a state of innocence and confusion back then. He couldn’t have done this…

Or could it be that Yuanzhou harbored a hidden hatred for humans behind his back?

No, that wasn’t possible. If Yuanzhou hated humans, he wouldn’t have loved me so deeply…

Xia Qi kept denying his own thoughts and eventually concluded that he must have forgotten something important.

With limited time, Xia Qi didn’t enter the dungeon for a closer inspection.

He roughly counted the number of corpses at the entrance and left in a daze.

When he returned to the pavilion, he realized he had "awoken" from the nightmare.

Yuanzhou still had an innocent smile on his face, showing no sign that he had just stolen a kiss.

"The setting for the next world in the community is very interesting. You're going to love it. Come on, let's go." Yuanzhou took his hand again and led him into the next world.

When he opened his eyes again, Xia Qi found himself back in the Blue Sea Mermaid Pearl dungeon.

Unlike the Rose Castle dungeon, most of the area in the Blue Sea Mermaid Pearl dungeon was ocean. So, the place where they were standing now was a large double-masted sailboat. Although it wasn’t the octopus captain’s ship, it looked quite familiar.

At this time, there were already many small creatures in the ocean. The fish near the boat were not afraid of people at all. Seeing Xia Qi and Yuanzhou looking around, they jumped out of the water, creating cute little waves on the sea surface. Under the sunlight, the water droplets looked like countless golden stars.

This time, Yuanzhou didn’t transform into the Sea King or pretend to be a girl in a white dress.

Xia Qi had always suspected that Yuanzhou was jealous of his sister, which was why he pretended to be his female teammate in the Blue Sea Mermaid Pearl dungeon.

Later, after Yuanzhou suffered from the "difference between men and women" in the Blue Sea Mermaid Pearl dungeon, he never pretended to be a woman again.

Leaning against the boat's wall, Yuanzhou looked back at him. "Qi, you seem to really like fish."

"Yes," Xia Qi nodded. He must have looked at fish very intently back then.

"What do you love most about them?" Yuanzhou asked, his tone light but curious.

Xia Qi remembered saying: "Their tails are very beautiful."

Upon hearing this, Yuanzhou's eyes lit up, and without hesitation he said, "Then I want to become a fish too."

Does this mean you'll love me even more?

Xia Qi: "..."

Before Xia Qi could react, Yuanzhou's figure beside him suddenly grew taller, and the lower half of his body sprouted a nearly two-meter-long fishtail. The scales on the fishtail were layered, as if they were meticulously crafted works of art, shimmering under the sunlight, stunningly beautiful to the point of taking one's breath away.

Three years ago, when Xia Qi saw this fishtail, he even reached out to touch it and sincerely praised, "It's really beautiful."

Recalling what he had done back then, Xia Qi inwardly winced, a phrase flashing repeatedly in his mind — "What is done cannot be undone."

Once, on Mermaid Island, he was nearly pulled in half by this fishtail. By the way, right under the top scales of this fishtail, there was the mermaid's terrifying body cavity...

Thinking of the horrifying appearance of that body cavity, he shuddered all over, his scalp tingling.

The mermaid's body cavity and a certain vital part of the demon dragon had always been an indelible shadow in his heart.

After obtaining the tail, Yuanzhou found that his hair color didn't quite match, so he changed it to silver and let it grow a bit longer.

"Do you want to go into the water? There are many beautiful fish down there..." Yuanzhou curled his tail and brought the thin, water chip-like fin close to Xia Qi's face, "But none of them are as beautiful as I am."

Xia Qi secretly shook his head, thinking that Yuanzhou's jealousy was quite strong, even being jealous of dumb fish... Xia Qi thought about how Cha Gong managed to survive until the Tianxing Mountain dungeon, where he was finally killed by Zhang Yun. It was a remarkable feat in human history.

"Never mind." Xia Qi was worried about getting his clothes wet, so he didn't agree to go into the water with him.

Upon hearing this, Yuanzhou showed a look of disappointment. He had really wanted to swim with Xia Qi.

Mainly because humans take off their clothes when they swim. He really wanted to see Xia Qi without any barriers... This was why he had cooperated with the base designer to make the sea surface wide and deep.

While Yuanzhou was feeling down, Xia Qi looked around, trying to find a chance to get off the boat.

He had a nagging feeling that something was hiding in the water... If he could see it, perhaps it would resolve his doubts.

Unfortunately, three years ago, he hadn't fallen asleep, so he couldn't stray too far from Yuanzhou.

After enjoying the beautiful scenery from the boat, Yuanzhou brought Xia Qi out of the cloud gaming space.

Xia Qi glanced down at his phone and realized it wasn't even noon yet.

Before Xia Qi could respond, Yuanzhou surprisingly suggested, "Qi, how about we stop here for today?"

His eyes were a clear, bright azure as he spoke to him, appearing exceptionally sincere, his expression as gentle as always.

The more perfect it seemed, the more suspicious it felt.

This time, Yuanzhou had uncharacteristically suggested that he leave before the time was up.

All along, Yuanzhou had been very clingy, practically sticking to him all the time. How could he possibly be willing to part with him earlier?

Xia Qi had a vague feeling that Yuanzhou's early dismissal might be related to the corpses in the rose castle's dungeon.

After "parting" with Yuanzhou, Xia Qi left the small orb and observed from nearby.

He didn't know where his past self had gone three years ago, but now he was in a state of invisible freedom. Others couldn't see him, but he could see them. This stealthy feeling was perfect, convenient for him to freely investigate within the base.

Xia Qi didn’t have to wait long before a group of people hurried past.

Leading the group was Lin Mo, whom Xia Qi hadn’t seen in days. They were all towering and muscular, dressed in black trench coats that could have come straight from an assassin’s playbook, each carrying a black toolbox. They had an intimidating presence, as if they were a gang of thieves who had just burst in.

Though Xia Qi wasn’t worried about being spotted, he instinctively kept his distance, letting the group pass and enter the small orb first.

Whether it was just his imagination or not, Xia Qi felt Lin Mo’s gaze briefly flicker in his direction as he passed through the electric door.

Author’s Note: Beyer Luo: Ever since someone got a name, they’ve been taking advantage of it faster than ever!

Zhouzhou: QAQ. I swear, I didn’t do anything! Don’t say that!