Chapter 165

Chapter 165

Ji Mian caught his reflection in the shop window along the street.

Beneath the light brown short hair was a face he hadn't seen in a long time. It was his own face, the one he had before becoming 017, but it felt oddly unfamiliar.

Zero Eight had restored the memories stored at the service point and returned this body to him.

Back then, to see Lou Sheng sooner, he had asked Zero Eight to make him a Tasker. But as a former system, he knew the virtual world's rules and loopholes inside out. Zero Eight sealed his memories as a condition, promising to return them all once the task was done.

After living through five worlds in the virtual realm, nearly three years had gone by in reality.

He'd promised Lou Sheng he'd return, but it felt like he was a little too late.

The owner of the clothing store inside the window saw Ji Mian and came out.

Her voice was slightly strained: "Uh, it's cold out. If you see anything you like, feel free to come in and take a look."

The young owner, usually smooth-talking and great with customers, seemed a little shy talking to Ji Mian.

It was winter, and the weather was indeed a bit cold.

Ji Mian offered her a faint smile and said, "Thanks, but I'm good."

He was pretty much broke.

"Oh..." The owner gave him a regretful look.

What a gorgeous guy...

A model? Or an actor? Never seen him on TV, though.

Ji Mian sat on a bench by the street, checking the only things in his pocket: an ID card and a bank card Zero Eight had tossed in for him.

The service point couldn't exchange currency, and the card only had ten yuan in it—who knows where Zero Eight scrounged up this pocket money for him.

Ji Mian was grateful for Zero Eight's thoughtfulness, but he knew getting human-world currency must've been a hassle for her. But ten yuan in this world was definitely... tight.

Zero Eight had meant to drop him near Lou Sheng's place, but there must've been a slight miscalculation.

Ji Mian ended up on this street. He remembered it was the route Lou Sheng used to take from work to home—and the same street where he'd been injured that night.

Ji Mian let out a sigh of relief, thankful Zero Eight hadn't dropped him right in front of Lou Sheng. He realized he wasn't quite ready... for some reason, the idea of seeing Lou Sheng again made him inexplicably nervous.

Even the system had left.

After settling up, Ji Mian gave his leftover points to the system, leaving him with just enough to trade for a resurrection card.

"System?" he called out, not expecting much.

System: "Yeah?"

Ji Mian froze.

"System, why are you still here?"

"Zero Eight let me pick a world to resurrect in, but my old planet was a dump, so I tagged along with you to check this one out. If it's decent, I might stick around."

"Oh. This world is very good." Ji Mian also hoped the system would stay, "What kind of climate do you like? I can take you to see."

The system: "...Weren't you in a hurry to find your brother?" Why are you suddenly talking about the climate?

"Yes... but I'm a bit nervous."

"There's nothing to be nervous about," the system said coldly. "Would he really look down on you?"

If any of his hosts had used up 100,000 points of his own, forcing him to work on credit, the system would have long blacklisted that person.

Ji Mian smiled, feeling inexplicably reassured with the system by his side.

He remembered the way to Lou Sheng's residence, but he wasn't sure if his host had changed residences in the past few years.

Suddenly, light snow started to fall.

Ji Mian didn't dare to delay any longer. He got up and followed the route he remembered, all the way to the nearby Xianyuan Bridge.

There were steps by the lake, covered by the water. During the rainy season, if you walked down the stone steps, the water would rise above your ankles before you reached the bottom step.

Lou Sheng used to sit there, gazing at the lake and talking to him.

Ji Mian stepped down the stairs, stopping at the stone steps covered by the water, and watched the snowy scene on the lake for a while.

"Hey," a slightly cold voice called from behind.

The voice was very familiar.

Ji Mian's back tensed instantly.

The man's tone was indifferent, "What are you doing there? Thinking of jumping into the river?"

"No," Ji Mian lowered his head and said, "There are steps beneath my feet."

Lou Sheng stood at the top of the steps, the wound on the back of his neck from years ago had healed, leaving faint scars.

He said indifferently, "Just a few days ago, someone fell from here and drowned."

Ji Mian smiled helplessly.

Host, don't lie so easily.

He could have simply warned him about the danger by the water, but instead, he chose to spin a roundabout lie.

Lou Sheng looked down at the person on the steps, his gaze fixed and unwavering.

A snowflake clung to his eyelashes, but he paid it no mind. He had just caught a glimpse of this person on the bridge, and somehow, he couldn't walk away.

Light-colored hair... there are plenty of people with light-colored hair in the world, not everyone is 017.

Ji Mian's fingers unconsciously tightened, clutching the fabric of his trousers slightly.

The person he wanted to see was right behind him, but for some reason, he couldn't bring himself to turn around.

He wanted to see him...

"I... I'll come up now." His body refusing to obey, Ji Mian forced himself to turn around and climbed the steps one by one.

Until he came face to face with Lou Sheng, the person blocking his path made no move to step aside.

Ji Mian raised his eyes.

Those pale, amber-like eyes, clear and translucent, mirrored in Lou Sheng's gaze.

"...Where are you going?" Lou Sheng's usual stream of nonsense suddenly stopped.

Ji Mian stayed silent.

He studied Lou Sheng's face, noticing subtle changes since he last saw him—he looked a bit thinner.

"How old are you?"

"..."

"What about your family?" Lou Sheng's questions came one after another. Asking a stranger so many personal questions on the street would surely be considered harassment.

Ji Mian's lips twitched, uncertain which question to address first.

"Do you have a phone?"

Ji Mian shook his head.

He wondered if Lou Sheng thought he’d run away from home.

Before Ji Mian could respond, Lou Sheng was already offering his own phone.

Ji Mian paused briefly before reaching out to take it.

As Ji Mian raised his arm, Lou Sheng slipped his hand beneath it and pulled him into a tight embrace.

Lou Sheng’s body trembled uncontrollably.

Ji Mian froze, his throat tightening with emotion.

His left hand, still raised, clutched at Lou Sheng's open coat.

The cords of his neck stood out as Ji Mian strained to hold Lou Sheng tighter.

"Zero-one-seven, zero-one-seven..."

"...I'm here. I'm here."

Even through their clothes, they could feel the pounding of each other's hearts.

Lou Sheng had waited a decade for this embrace.

It was even warmer than he'd imagined.

He didn’t know how to let go, so he wished it could last forever.

Their breath turned to white mist in the cold air as the snowfall grew heavier.

Snow settled on Ji Mian's hair, and Lou Sheng gently brushed it away with a kiss.

He took Ji Mian's hand—it was freezing.

Lou Sheng’s grip loosened slowly as he looked down, meeting Ji Mian’s eyes.

His dark eyes brimmed with unspoken longing, as though he might pull Ji Mian back into his arms at any second.

"...Master."

"Yeah."

Ji Mian looked at him with those brown eyes, "...Bro?"

Hearing that, Lou Sheng's throat tightened.

"It's me, bro."

When Zero Eight came to him, Lou Sheng had never imagined falling for Ji Mian in a small world.

Those different lives felt like one beautiful dream after another to him.

All he had ever dared to hope for was this one embrace.

He used to think that if 017 could just come see him, even as a friend...

But now, just being friends wasn't enough for him.

But what about Ji Mian? What did he think?

Lou Sheng didn't dare to make any promises to himself.

"Wanna see Chang Sheng?"

"Yeah."

Lou Sheng took Ji Mian's hand and led him across the Immortal Fate Bridge, taking him home.

After 017 left, he never moved, afraid that the human 017 wouldn't be able to find him.

As soon as the door opened, Chang Sheng came bounding over to greet them.

Before he could get close, seeing someone behind Lou Sheng, Chang Sheng's fur bristled, and he skidded to a stop, letting out a "meow" before darting into a corner.

Ji Mian was surprised, "Why is Chang Sheng so freaked out?"

He'd seen Chang Sheng through Lou Sheng's eyes for seven years and hadn't seen him this scared in a long time.

Lou Sheng thought for a moment, "Probably because no one else has ever been here. He's never seen a stranger before."

"Oh..."

Ji Mian thought about it and it clicked.

Lou Sheng had always lived alone. Ji Mian had lived in Lou Sheng's mind, seeing Chang Sheng from a different angle, so he thought he knew him too.

But Chang Sheng had never actually seen him before.

Chang Sheng hid under the sofa, eyeing Ji Mian warily, just like he had with Lou Sheng ten years ago.

Lou Sheng frowned, still holding Ji Mian's hand.

This dumb cat, no sense of tact.

"He's eaten so much of your cat food."

This fat cat, nearly twenty pounds, with half of it from the cat food Ji Mian had gotten for him since he was a kitten.

Ji Mian smiled, "Chang Sheng's never seen me before."

Chang Sheng had been pretending to be the boss cat in front of Lou Sheng for many years, but the act crumbled the moment Ji Mian arrived. It hid under the sofa, not even making a sound.

Ji Mian looked down at it.

Lou Sheng tilted his head, also quietly observing Ji Mian.

From his eyebrows to his lips, his face was stunning, almost too beautiful to look at. Yet, his expression was exactly as Lou Sheng had imagined.

Lou Sheng's fingers curled slightly. He longed to hold him again.

The snow outside the window was falling heavier and heavier. Thankfully, they had returned early.

Lou Sheng didn’t know now where Ji Mian lived...

He couldn’t bring himself to let Ji Mian leave.

"Where do you live?"

Ji Mian turned back, pursed his lips, "I guess I’ll have to stay here."

He fumbled in his pocket and pulled out the debit card.

"I only have... ten bucks."