Chapter 124

Chapter 124

Wang Qianjiao moved closer to Chen Zui, his gaze filled with inquiry.

Ao Tian remained vigilant. Although he sensed Wang Qianjiao wouldn't harm Chen Zui, it was always wise to be cautious. At this critical moment, Chen Zui was completely oblivious to his surroundings, making it Ao Tian's duty, as his best companion, to protect him.

He would rouse Chen Zui the instant Wang Qianjiao made a move.

That is, if Wang Qianjiao truly intended to act.

However, Ao Tian hoped Wang Qianjiao wouldn’t, as such an action would erase all goodwill and might even provoke disgust.

Hmph!

Losing Ao Tian’s favor would be a grave mistake.

Wang Qianjiao could sense spiritual energy coursing through Chen Zui’s body. Watching Chen Zui’s face contort in discomfort, he knew that ingesting such a potent pill without preparation was akin to a small, unfortified village suddenly facing a colossal tidal wave—there could only be one outcome.

The village would be utterly destroyed, submerged, and torn asunder.

Chen Zui’s body trembled faintly. He felt as though he had become a furnace, with the flames inside burning so fiercely they threatened to erupt and reduce him to ashes.

The pain was acutely real.

He attempted to circulate the spiritual energy according to Wang Qianjiao’s instructions, but the energy was so dense it had almost solidified, rendering it impossible for him to control. It was like a tiny ant trying to move a towering mountain.

Just as he was on the verge of being overwhelmed by the backlash, a cooling current of spiritual energy suddenly infused him. In that moment, Chen Zui’s very soul felt rescued.

The energy was powerful yet meticulously controlled, guiding the immense spiritual power through his body without causing him harm.

The first minor cycle was arduous, but as the energy circulated, Chen Zui began to feel a slight improvement.

A single minor cycle took a full seven days. Chen Zui was completely oblivious to the passage of time. Wang Qianjiao sat cross-legged opposite him, their palms pressed together, assisting Chen Zui in circulating the energy while monitoring their surroundings.

Black Bat remained clinging to the cliff face, dozing repeatedly. The two humans showed no change, so it stayed, greedily absorbing the spiritual energy drifting in the air.

Ao Tian: "Excellent, Comrade Wang! You’ve passed the test! You are a commendable comrade—consider this a verbal commendation."

The sun rose and the moon set.

After the first minor cycle, the speed gradually increased. Another seven days passed before Wang Qianjiao withdrew his hand. Chen Zui’s hand also fell back, naturally settling into position as he began to circulate the energy on his own.

Wang Qianjiao observed him for another day and night, confirming all was well before standing up to stretch.

He looked up at Black Bat on the cliff face. "You may go hunt for food."

Black Bat fluttered its wings.

Wang Qianjiao: "I hope you choose the right path."

As he spoke, he tossed a spiritual pill toward it.

Black Bat caught the pill with its mouth and swallowed it directly. After a glance at Chen Zui, it flapped its wings and flew away. How could it submit to mere humans and become a mount? From now on, the skies and seas were vast, and it was free to roam.

But the spiritual pill was absolutely delicious.

Chen Zui continued circulating the energy, over and over. He had no idea how long it had been, but eventually, the golden core inside him began to melt away.

He panicked for a moment.

But with Wang Qianjiao there, he figured it would be fine.

So he let nature take its course and continued circulating the energy. Besides, he didn’t feel any discomfort.

Wang Qianjiao stood with his hands behind his back, watching as Black Bat returned and perched on the cliff face. He casually tossed a bottle of spiritual pills toward it. Black Bat caught the bottle with its mouth, crushed it with its sharp teeth, and swallowed the shards along with the dozen or so pills inside.

So delicious.

None of the food it had found outside these past days compared to the taste of these pills.

It would leave once it had eaten its fill.

It glanced at Chen Zui, estimating it would still be a long wait, then closed its eyes and began to snore loudly.

—

Ao Tian: "How much longer...?"

He never thought it would take this long!

Wang Qianjiao raised his hand and caught a falling snowflake. Winter had arrived.

He then cast a protective spell on Chen Zui to prevent him from turning into a snowman after sitting for so long. Afterward, he went to the resting area he had prepared and immersed himself in tinkering with his machinery.

Time flew by.

On a snowy winter night, Wang Qianjiao drank from a flask of cold wine, watching the meditating figure.

He missed the lively eyes of his puppet.

The wine tasted bland tonight.

He tossed the flask to Black Bat, who eagerly drank it. A few breaths later, it fell from the cliff face, its tongue lolling out, looking utterly drunk and foolish.

Wang Qianjiao chuckled softly and turned his gaze back to his puppet.

He still preferred his puppet when it was lively, mischievous, and causing trouble. Why was that?

Wang Qianjiao sank into contemplation. Even though the puppet was still by his side, why did he feel lonely? Why this sense of solitude? It was an emotion he had never experienced before. He enjoyed being alone, never feeling isolated or lonely.

It had always been that way.

So why did the days now feel so hard to endure?

Another flask of wine appeared in his hand—a strong liquor. As Wang Qianjiao pondered, the answer eluded him, and the wine kept disappearing, flask after flask. When the ground around him was littered with empty flasks and there was no place to stand, he rose, his face flushed with drunkenness, and staggered through the falling snow to stand before Chen Zui.

Looking at Chen Zui now, it was as if he had returned to the time before he had awakened him, when he was still just a puppet.

What if, when he opened his eyes again, he wasn’t the same as before?

"I don’t want that..."

Wang Qianjiao rarely spoke so petulantly.

He stared at Chen Zui. It wasn’t just about the face—he wanted his puppet back, the one with a mischievous heart, the one who loved to act coy, the one who occasionally revealed his true nature.

Thick snowflakes fell silently. Wang Qianjiao hadn’t cast any protective spell on himself, and snow accumulated on his head and shoulders.

With drunken, bleary eyes, he gazed at Chen Zui, then slowly leaned closer. His hand rose, gently cupping Chen Zui’s cheek, and his kiss landed softly, not daring to press too firmly, afraid of disturbing the cultivator in his meditation.

"Wake up."

"I think I miss you..."

Taking advantage of the fact that no one would notice, no one would hear, and emboldened by drunkenness, this supposedly cold Eldest Brother was being uncharacteristically vulnerable and needy.

Ao Tian: "Hey! Guess what, I heard it!"

Wang Qianjiao walked back, his body warm from the alcohol. He looked at Chen Zui, at Chen Zui's hands, and suddenly remembered that time in the hot spring—how skilled those hands were, how they brought him bliss.

As he thought about it, his own hands unconsciously twitched...

Ao Tian shut off its visual perception, though after a while, it heard a hum of mixed pleasure and frustration escape through someone's nose.

——

Chen Zui finished his cultivation session when spring arrived and flowers bloomed.

His eyelashes fluttered before he slowly opened his eyes. His originally pitch-black eyes had grown even deeper, as if capable of mesmerizing one's soul. He saw wild grass and flowers swaying around him, and the sunlight was still bright.

He thought it was still summer.

"You're finally awake, my host! I have something huge to tell you! You have no idea how much I've been dying to tell you!"

Ao Tian was beyond excited.

Chen Zui looked around, searching for Wang Qianjiao, while Ao Tian in his mind chattered nonstop: "The author of this book has gone crazy!"

He didn’t see Wang Qianjiao and wondered if he was temporarily absent or still in stealth.

He asked Ao Tian, "What did you say?"

Wang Qianjiao, still invisible, watched intently as Chen Zui stood up.

He rushed over but stopped just short, only the hem of his clothes brushing against Chen Zui’s pant leg.

After a few breaths, he reined in his intense emotions and stared into those pitch-black eyes. His intuition told him it was still the same person inside.

He felt relieved.

Chen Zui stretched his limbs, and Wang Qianjiao stepped back. It was true—better to see him up and about.

Ao Tian: "The author was provoked and totally lost it!"

Chen Zui: "Tell me more."

Ao Tian: "Well, this book is a *buy-stocks novel*, right? So everyone started fighting, arguing in the comments every day. One side would say another isn't worthy, the other would retort that their pick is ugly and delusional, and they’d say things like if the protagonist doesn’t choose their recommended character, he has no taste. Basically, they argued about everything, each convinced their recommended lead should be the main love interest."

Ao Tian: "It even got to the point where they attacked the author."

Chen Zui hadn’t expected writing a book could stir up such a storm.

Ao Tian: "But what none of the readers anticipated was that this author isn’t just tough—she’s downright insane. She..."

Chen Zui’s curiosity was piqued: "What did she do?"

Ao Tian took a deep breath: "To retaliate, she directly made the protagonist—that is, Wang Qianjiao—the top!"

Ao Tian: "She turned it from a *buy-stocks novel* straight into a harem story, having Wang Qianjiao 'plow' all the original prospective leads!"

Chen Zui: ...

Ao Tian: "The comments section exploded!"

Ao Tian: "But the author is already so immersed in her artistic creation she’s lost touch with reality."

Chen Zui raised an eyebrow, surprised by such a move. He glanced at the Black Bat clinging to the cliff face.

It seemed... beefier.

Wang Qianjiao was circling him, looking him over carefully. Thanks to the spell he’d cast, Chen Zui was still clean, without even a speck of dust.

Ao Tian: "But that’s not the main point. The crucial thing is—"

Chen Zui: "If you quit being a system and took up suspense-building, you’d make a fortune."

Ao Tian: "Oh? Okay, I’ll note that down."

Chen Zui: ...Sometimes it really is frustrating.

Ao Tian: "The main point is, now the top in this book is Wang Qianjiao!"

Chen Zui’s mind went "ding!" Having meditated for so long, his brain was finally booting up properly. He understood what Ao Tian meant.

Which meant...

"My mission target has changed to Wang Qianjiao."

"Your mission target has changed to Wang Qianjiao!"

Host and system spoke in unison.

Chen Zui’s expression brightened slightly, a subtle change noticed by Wang Qianjiao beside him.

So happy about improving his cultivation.

Ao Tian: "Start plowing him hard!"

Ao Tian: "Heaven helps us!"

Who could have predicted such a twist? The thought that his mission target was now Wang Qianjiao filled Chen Zui with a surge of motivation.

He glanced around.

He could faintly sense slight spiritual energy fluctuations to his left—a testament to his improved cultivation. He was now at the mid-stage Nascent Soul realm.

And Wang Qianjiao was at the early-stage Spirit Transformation realm.

Though he was still inferior in cultivation, it was no longer a situation where Wang Qianjiao could easily control him with a casual move. If he fought all out, he might even achieve a narrow victory against a higher realm.

Wang Qianjiao narrowed his eyes. Could Chen Zui see him now?

He took a few steps to the side.

Chen Zui’s gaze didn’t follow. He looked away and walked toward the Black Bat.

The Black Bat thought, *Finally, you’re awake. I’ve been sick of this damn valley for ages. If it weren’t for the tasty spirit pills, I’d have left long ago.*

Chen Zui patted its large head.

The Black Bat carried Chen Zui and Wang Qianjiao out of the valley. Ao Tian was still chattering, and Chen Zui could sense its enthusiasm about teasing Wang Qianjiao.

"You seem quite satisfied with Wang Qianjiao."

"Of course! He treats you so well, so why not give yourself to him? Hehehe~"

—

Night fell.

The Black Bat carried them high in the sky when Chen Zui suddenly moved.

Wang Qianjiao, sitting beside him, glanced over, his expression shifting subtly.

Chen Zui took out the "gift" Wang Qianjiao had provided for him.

Then he began to handle it.

Wang Qianjiao was a moment late, waving his hand to cast a barrier so those outside couldn't see what was happening.

Though they were high above, it wasn’t completely inaccessible for others to reach such heights.

Better safe than sorry.

Chen Zui leaned back with one hand while the other gently gathered, slowly twisted, stroked, and lifted the gift.

Wang Qianjiao’s attention was quickly captured by that hand. Even though he had crafted it himself and knew it inside out, he felt an unfamiliar emotion looking at it now.

If only he could have it on himself like last time…

He thought.

Then again, it wasn’t the real thing—no matter how it was played with, it shouldn't produce any feeling.

Just as this thought crossed his mind, the gift he had personally made and installed began to change.

Wang Qianjiao was first surprised then puzzled.

Ao Tian: "Phew~ How about it? Isn’t this gift I gave you great? How could the L8 of our Top be controlled by the Bottom!"

Chen Zui: "I’m really lucky to have a System as good as you. I’ll work hard to complete the mission."

Hearing this, Ao Tian felt it was all worth it—this was a conscientious host, one who knew how to be grateful!

From now on, Chen Zui was now his favorite host.

Ao Tian: "I believe in you. Let’s work hard together, and we’ll definitely become famous in the Dark Transmigration Bureau—role models, superstars!"

Chen Zui: "Absolutely."

He pinched the gift, his thumb tracing circles over its tip.

When he lifted his finger, the gift seemed to have been squeezed too hard—it began to leak fluid, forming thin strands between his thumb and the object.

Ao Tian’s gift was extremely thoughtful; even this detail had been taken into account.

Now, Chen Zui’s gift was virtually identical to the real thing.

Wang Qianjiao watched the thin strands, his Adam's apple bobbed. Was it because of the elixir?

He couldn’t think of any other reason.

It seemed this one couldn’t be replaced again—a little disappointed, since he wouldn’t be able to play "costume-changing" with it anymore.

He wondered if the designs he’d made would still be of any use.

But his hand is so nimble.

His focus returned once more to Chen Zui’s hand. He knew that hand too well—every ridge of its fingerprints. If held long enough, those prints would surely be imprinted on it.

Moreover, the "gift" in the puppet’s hand felt… warm, giving him a steaming sensation.

He wanted both to take control of Chen Zui’s hand for himself and to inspect the gift.

Thoroughly.

Wang Qianjiao stared, involuntarily leaning closer to Chen Zui until their shoulders touched and their hair tangled together, inextricably mingled.

Chen Zui became aware of Wang Qianjiao moving closer.

The Black Bat flew onward.

Wang Qianjiao was astonished—was the puppet’s hand being too rough? He worried it might damage the gift.

As this thought crossed his mind, the other suddenly collapsed forward—but the positioning…

Before he could process what was happening, he was splattered across the face.