Chapter 136

Chapter 136

—It’s so hot.

The enclosed flower bud space felt like a giant steamer, filled with rising vapor that made every breath scorching and sticky.

Drops of water pattered onto his face. Shen Yi’s eyes were half-lidded, his gaze unfocused. A vivid red tongue lazily slipped out, catching the droplets near his lips and drawing them into his mouth.

Like a flower battered by rain, absorbing nourishment, his eyes grew even brighter.

Dazed and jostled, he thought: Xi Ye’s sweat is sweet too, just like a Flower Fairy.

“The Dream Illusion buff countdown: 10, 9, 8, 7…”

Shen Yi couldn’t see the countdown in the status bar. He was being lifted high by Xi Ye, then pulled back again and again, screaming until he couldn't take it in the scorching steam. Amid his screams of collapse, a bright electric light struck his brain.

His vision turned completely white, the world became a blank white expanse, then countless tiny black and white specks flickered before his eyes. A buzzing sound drowned out all external noise, pounding against his eardrums. Everything paused.

Shen Yi was thrown to the highest point, but this time no one caught him. Limbs splayed, he landed heavily on the ground. Threads of electricity slowly coursed and twined through his body. Feeling the solid sensation beneath him, he actually felt a sense of profound comfort and relief, as if he had survived a close call.

After all, dying like that would have been truly undignified.

After recovering for a while, he slowly turned over. Before he could say anything, a warm breath pressed close behind him.

Again?

Shen Yi immediately covered his head and tried to burrow under the covers: “Enough, enough, please consider sustainable development…”

“Shen Yi,” Xi Ye stared fixedly at the [Dream Illusion buff] countdown, pulling the head-covered, squirming Shen Yi into his arms, “What’s wrong? Are you awake?”

Shen Yi: Huh?

Shen Yi: (⊙o⊙)

Shen Yi: (⊙x⊙;)

Like waking from a long dream, all his memories flooded back into his mind. The boundary between dream and reality suddenly became clear.

Thunder rumbled in Shen Yi’s mental world. A scalding blush spread from his forehead all the way down to his neck, making him overheat and nearly shut down.

Ahhhh—!

What the hell!

So it was just a dream!

Help, why did I have such a dream!

His usually lively and agile antennae curled up tightly, trying to hide in his hair. Shen Yi felt as if he could hear his own head steaming, his face hot enough to fry an egg.

He was so embarrassed and annoyed that he wished he could faint on the spot. But his mind had a will of its own, replaying and carefully savoring the intense scenes from the dream. That touch, that temperature, those bursts of little fireworks… was it really just a dream?

Shen Yi glanced sideways at Xi Ye’s outline, lowering his eyes, too afraid to look at his face, just wanting to find a crack to crawl into.

#Always preaching to my good brother about setting boundaries in friendship, but ended up hitting a home run in my dream—what should I do?#

System: “This is mutual feelings. Don’t hesitate.”

Shen Yi: [Don’t want to talk, let me sort this out].jpg

“You’re finally awake.”

“If you hadn’t woken up soon, I would’ve strung up the Tang Yuan as decoration in [Firefly Valley]…”

Unaware of Shen Yi’s desperate wish to vanish, Xi Ye, seeing him finally open his eyes, eagerly pulled him into a tight embrace, whispering close to his ear and urgently asking, “What did you dream about?” Was I in your dream?

“N-nothing much.” Shen Yi bolted upright, flying out of Xi Ye’s arms, fanning his forehead with both hands. “Your Destiny Flower is a bit hot, huh? I Slept too long, my arms are stiff. I’ll go out and move around first.”

System: “Host, your topic-changing skills are very clumsy.”

“Shut up.”

Shen Yi fled from Xi Ye’s Destiny Flower like a streak of sparks and lightning. He snatched a Tang Yuan clone on the way, escaping with his mind as if running for his life from the Queen Bee’s nest. He found a large tree with dense foliage, slipped in among the leaves, hung the Tang Yuan on a branch, and began questioning it.

Shen Yi: “This time you upgraded, did the Dream Illusion effect evolve?”

Shen Yi hinted desperately: “Like, can it guide the content of dreams or something?”

Tang Yuan’s black-bean eyes shone with inspiration: “Huh? Guide dream content? Maybe we can try evolving in that direction next rank-up…”

If it really evolved successfully, wouldn’t its Dream Illusion experience hall be able to offer customized dreams for customers in the future?

“This evolution only enhanced the Dream Illusion effect, making targets more easily immersed, blurring the line between reality and dream, and also set a buff duration. The players in the experience hall loved it…” Tang Yuan’s soft, bouncy body stretched into a strip, its head leaning close to Shen Yi, sniffing around. “Boss, what wonderful dream did you have? Your scent is off… Is it your mating season?”

Shen Yi: !

Shen Yi immediately extended a psychic tentacle to push Tang Yuan away: “What nonsense are you spouting? Bees don’t have a mating season.”

System: “Right, Her Majesty the Queen Bee has transcended such low-level interests; she can be in the mood anytime, anywhere.”

Shen Yi wasn’t in the mood to banter with the system. He flicked the Tang Yuan clone back to the Queen Bee’s nest, leaned against the tree branch with crossed legs, his expression serious and hesitant, as if talking to himself: “Dream Illusion, Dream Illusion… Are the dreams under its effect truly what the heart desires?”

He had always prided himself on treating Xi Ye as a good brother. Although when Xi Ye evolved a gender and stuck close, studying the ‘little bird,’ he’d get aroused too, but wasn’t that just a normal physiological reaction?

Even if he didn’t understand love, he knew men, right?

So, did he actually develop feelings for Xi Ye, or was he just seduced by the stimulation and pleasure?

System: “Host, while you were asleep these past few days, Hong Rui has been asking players about Xi Ye.”

Shen Yi frowned: “Why is he asking about Xi Ye?”

System: “After drifting to [Frozen Sea Region], Xi Ye is his only kin. It’s only natural for him to feel dependent and affectionate towards Xi Ye.”

Shen Yi stood up: “Affectionate? What affection? He bullied Xi Ye before.”

System: “This kind of fated rivalry, in human terms, is quite ‘worth shipping’?”

“Worth shipping my ass!” Shen Yi cursed, clenching his fists. “Huh? Xi Ye and Hong Rui? How could that be?”

He could no longer focus on analyzing his own feelings. He couldn’t stand the system pairing Xi Ye with someone else. A stifling feeling pressed on his chest, making him uncomfortable: “What’s wrong with you today? Got a virus? Why are you randomly matching people up? Hong Rui doesn’t even have a gender! Flower Fairies don’t have love!”

System: “But Xi Ye evolved a gender, meaning other Flower Fairies can too. And Xi Ye has love—he loves you.”

“He…” Shen Yi felt as if choked. He realized the system was saying this on purpose. Lowering his eyes, he said after a long pause, “He doesn’t understand what love is at all.”

System: “I see, Host. Actually, you’ve already understood your own heart.”

Shen Yi said faintly: “I’m all confused, and you understand?”

A message from the system appeared: "Even if you feel uncertain about your own feelings, you can't stand the idea of Xi Ye loving someone else. You only accept the option of him loving you."

Shen Yi wanted to retort, but the words wouldn't come out. He could only weakly say, "Don't make it sound so harsh. It makes me seem like a player playing hard to get."

Distracted by the system, Shen Yi's thoughts suddenly became clearer than ever before. Life is unpredictable—you never know when you'll realize you're gay.

Yes, he was certain: he couldn't accept anyone else standing by Xi Ye's side. The mere thought made his heart ache unbearably.

He couldn't even bear to see Xi Ye smiling more warmly at someone else than at him. He couldn't accept any scenario where Xi Ye’s choice wasn't him.

Even when he regarded Xi Ye as a brother, all the futures he imagined included Xi Ye—with 100% involvement.

He had never fantasized about meeting a beautiful, gentle female elf and experiencing a passionate or enduring love. Instead, he had repeatedly envisioned becoming a legendary-level elf alongside Xi Ye.

If possessiveness is the beginning of love, and physical desire is the spark of love, then envisioning and longing for a shared future must be the fruit that love bears.

He and Xi Ye had long since borne that fruit.

Shen Yi took a deep, satisfying breath. "ATong, your knowledge is really expanding."

Last time, in the [Frozen Sea], he had shared part of the [Evolution Source] feedback from Little Stone with the system, and the system's sentience had noticeably increased.

The system replied, "While you were asleep, Host, I watched many romance films from the Earth dimension. I learned a lot."

"Even so... I still have to give it a try..."

Shen Yi muttered these seemingly random words and hurriedly made his way back to the Queen Bee's nest. A group of Tangyuan clones were bouncing around inside, Little Seven was napping in a flower bud, and Second Sister and the others were busy expanding their territories and managing the bee colony. Shen Yi didn't see Xi Ye anywhere.

He went straight into Xi Ye's Destiny Flower. As soon as he entered, he was wrapped tightly by swarming vines around his waist, which dragged him insistently forward and lifted him to face Xi Ye.

"I thought you weren't coming back."

Xi Ye's eyes were dark and intense. Shen Yi vaguely caught a glimpse of a deep red hue but had no time to ponder it before hearing Xi Ye's cold, accusing voice: "Why are you avoiding me? Wasn't I the one in your dream?"

After developing a gender, Xi Ye had also had such dreams. He knew what Shen Yi was doing in his dream—how could it not be him? How could it be anyone else?

Xi Ye clenched his fists, his knuckles turning white from the force. The rising aggression in his heart made him want to destroy something.

Maybe he shouldn’t have listened to the system after all...

"Never mind that for now. Look at me." Shen Yi reached out and cupped Xi Ye's face, gazing directly into his eyes. Golden pupils reflected a sea of green stars.

Miraculously, Xi Ye's raging temper and hostility were soothed. Held by Shen Yi, he looked into the other's eyes as everything around them blurred into the background. Time seemed to freeze. In the silent gaze, the noisy sounds faded away, and their heartbeats slowly intertwined in the quiet, gradually syncing.

Warm breaths brushed their faces, thickening the air around them with an indescribable, sweet tension.

It was unclear who moved first. Shen Yi held Xi Ye's face, their noses touching, not allowing him to get any closer. "Do you still want to be my partner now?"

Xi Ye didn't hesitate. "Yes."

Shen Yi: "Do you love me?"

Xi Ye: "I love you."

Shen Yi tilted his head and chuckled. "You don't even know what love is."

Xi Ye: "Then teach me how to love you. I'll learn well."

Xi Ye pressed his nose against Shen Yi's, his green eyes reflecting Shen Yi's image—deep and focused. He raised his hand to cover Shen Yi's, clasping it in his palm, and tilted his head to adjust the angle, moving to kiss his lips.

Shen Yi felt the warm breath on his face. Before Xi Ye could get closer, he instinctively licked his lips.

If asked later what heart-pounding moments felt like, Shen Yi might say it was the moment Xi Ye leaned in—when he didn’t think to pull away but secretly moistened his lips, hoping the kiss would be wet, soft, and more intoxicating than Xi Ye could imagine.

Xi Ye finally kissed Shen Yi.

The movies the system had shown him featured many such scenes. He had learned how to kiss beautifully—tilting heads, lips fitting together perfectly, sucking and intertwining.

He had imagined kissing Shen Yi like this countless times, but none of those fantasies compared to this moment.

Shen Yi had once heard that when two people in love gaze into each other's eyes, they can’t help but kiss. He thought now that it might be true.

...

Untamed spirits knew nothing of restraint, only following their instincts. Shen Yi wasn’t one for pretenses either, so the kiss quickly spiraled out of control.

The system voluntarily shut itself away. With Xi Ye’s extensive theoretical knowledge, everything flowed naturally—until Shen Yi’s eyelid suddenly twitched.

"Wait," he pushed Xi Ye away, pressing a hand to his chest. "I have a feeling..." He couldn’t tell if it was good or bad.

A system notification rang out abruptly:

"Side Quest: Slay the Frenzied Giant Tree. The awakening of the ancient giant tree will destroy the entire [Mistveil Forest]. Please defeat the Frenzied Giant Tree and protect the Life Spark of [Mistveil Forest]."

"Quest Reward: Luck’s Favor +10"