Chapter 24

Chapter 24

Meng Shijiu pressed a hand to the ground as his ability vanished. He pulled Cui Suifu along, nimbly bleeding off their momentum as they tumbled into a roll.

His long hair swung through the air, cutting a sharp arc.

This spot looked like someone's private lawn in the lower city. The house was empty and alarm-free, so it was quiet all around.

The two of them lay side by side, settling lightly into the soft grass.

After the rustling of fabric faded, there were a few seconds of silence.

Meng Shijiu lifted an elbow and nudged the red-haired Alpha playing dead beside him.

"Move away from me," the silver-haired Alpha said lightly, slowly blinking as he gazed at the clear blue sky. Sunlight fell into his light-colored pupils, casting a gentle halo. "I like being alive."

See: "...Really?"

Meng Shijiu: "^^"

Meng Shijiu: "Wanna get checked out?"

Meng Shijiu: "Still sleepy..."

Although he often felt drowsy due to constant insomnia, this sleepiness had been amplified severalfold since boarding the aircraft, as if he could conk out any second.

See: "I ran checks. Didn't find anything. Could it be because your rut is different from a typical Alpha's, and sleepiness is one of the symptoms?"

See said worriedly: "Should we go home first?"

See added: "I'll have ice cream with you next time."

Meng Shijiu: "Tomorrow."

See: "..."

See sighed helplessly: "Fine... tomorrow."

The silver-haired Alpha turned his head, meeting a deep gaze. Cui Suifu had been watching him for a while.

The Alpha was laughing silently but wildly, baring his canines. Sunlight edged the corners of his lips in gold. He paid no mind to the wind tousling his red hair, his gaze burning as he looked sideways at the person lying beside him.

Meng Shijiu: "What are you laughing at?"

"Toothache?" the silver-haired Alpha mocked.

Cui Suifu's gaze followed his movement. The Alpha lay lazily with his head tilted on the grass, feeling the blades of grass brush gently against his fair cheek, like a silver-white divine bird descending into the earthly soil.

So close, so unguarded, as if claiming a plot of land in his heart.

"You seem to trust me a lot, too," Cui Suifu said slowly, his tone meaningful. "Is this the kind of ability you can just tell me about?"

He didn't know how Meng Shijiu managed to let them drop from high up without a scratch, but this ability was definitely not ordinary. It was normal for someone with ill intentions to take notice.

Meng Shijiu understood but didn't care, turning his face back and closing his eyes:

"So, I should kill you to silence you, huh?"

Lying on the grass, basking in the warm sun—it had been a long time since the last time he experienced such a scene.

Meng Shijiu lifted the hand resting between them, intending to get his thing back: "My knife."

For a moment, there was no response. The handsome Mr. Meng was quite dissatisfied and slapped Cui Suifu's chest with a "thwack": "Are you deaf?"

The slap wasn't hard, but it somehow pulled a muffled grunt from Cui Suifu, a half-laugh rolling in his throat.

Feeling the touch on his chest about to leave, Cui Suifu immediately clamped down on that retreating hand.

The red-haired Alpha's strong fingers firmly gripped Meng Shijiu's hand, his closing palm pressing against that cool, delicate sensation.

A shiver crawled up his spine, a tingling itch spreading through his limbs and bones. Cui Suifu's heart began its traitorous, frantic beating again.

He thought to himself: *This time, it was you who 'actively' threw it over.*

He nudged his head closer, stuffing Dan Yue into Meng Shijiu's palm but didn't let go, seizing the opportunity to climb the proverbial pole.

The red-haired Alpha deliberately lowered his voice, as if trying to seduce, his scorching breath spraying against Meng Shijiu's ear.

"Can't you give it to me as a token of love?"

"We've been through life and death together, in a way."

Meng Shijiu hadn't intended to respond, but hearing "life and death," he suddenly smiled.

He glanced over, a flash of vivid color at the corner of his eye. He maliciously withdrew his hand, turning his palm.

The sharp tip of Dan Yue tapped against the Alpha's pounding heart, his tone playful:

"—What if this was someone else's token of love for me?"

Cui Suifu's breath hitched.

He instinctively felt Meng Shijiu was teasing him, but it still felt like a needle had suddenly pricked his heart, his expression stiffening.

"I'm leaving," Meng Shijiu said, sheathing the knife.

As the sharp pressure against his skin moved away, a thread of disappointment crossed Cui Suifu's heart, along with an impulse to follow the movement and press closer to the blade tip.

Cui Suifu frowned, pursing his lips.

*Am I crazy?*

"Next time you look at me with that dog-seeing-a-bone expression," Meng Shijiu said with a smile, "the one trying to assassinate you won't be someone else, it'll be me. Okay?"

Cui Suifu: "...Mm."

This was dangerous, but the danger also made his scalp tingle, spawning a parched thirst.

He told himself he should calm down, investigate whether this attractive Alpha had cast some spell on him. But his mind, struggling to stay clear, was only thinking of what excuse to use to keep him:

"Do you know there's an underground fighting arena beneath NO3?"

"Fighting arena?" Meng Shijiu poked See.

Meng Shijiu was gradually realizing something was off.

...This NO3 didn't seem to be an ice cream shop.

See: "Found it. NO3 is a competitive training arena."

Meng Shijiu recalled his chat with Yue Xuanli on the terminal.

Indeed, given Yue Xuanli's personality, if he simply wanted to treat him to ice cream, he would probably have the entire shop delivered to Frost without even a heads-up.

...A training ground?

He thought his good younger brother wanted to bond with him, but it turns out it's—

Meng Shijiu frowned: "He wants to pick a fight with me?"

See: "?"

See: "...Who?"

Meng Shijiu remarked: "The 'player1' who spends 25 out of 24 hours a day in the training grounds."

See: "Actually..."

Meng Shijiu interrupted: "No."

See: "I think..." he probably doesn't want to fight you.

Meng Shijiu interrupted again: "Can't beat up my dear younger brother."

See fell silent.

Since Meng Shijiu hadn't gotten up from the grass yet, he didn't move, just looked down in the direction Cui Suifu indicated.

Above the two of them, the half-wrecked platinum-white aircraft "Xuan Yi" was still linked to Yue Xuanli's mental power. Controlled by Cui Suifu, it was slowly, agonizingly descending.

Meng Shijiu: "What do you mean?"

Cui Suifu: "See that? The building below 'Xuan Yi' is NO3. From this height, if 'Xuan Yi' crashes down, no material could withstand it. It'll definitely smash through to the underground levels."

"It has emergency charges inside. If I detonate them with my mental power, it could probably level half the arena."

Meng Shijiu thought for a moment but still couldn't figure out what this impulsive second prince was planning. His voice was flat:

"What about the people inside?"

Cui Suifu scoffed: "What kind of good people would hang around an arena? Just junkies who get off on bloodshed."

"..."

Meng Shijiu repeated: "Get off on bloodshed..."

Cui Suifu: "Yeah, just like Qian Chunyan, who gets off on toying with people's minds. Utterly boring."

"I hate that too..." Meng Shijiu murmured.

"Right?" Cui Suifu moved closer to Meng Shijiu again. This shoulder-to-shoulder intimacy gave Cui Suifu a long-lost sense of peace. "So, do you want to wait a bit longer..."

"—But I'm also that kind of person."

Meng Shijiu's voice, light but clear, reached the red-haired Alpha's ears.

Cui Suifu turned his face in surprise, his gaze sweeping over the silver-haired Alpha's unchanged expression: "...Huh?"

Meng Shijiu ignored him and continued: "What about the others? The people in the ground-level training area, the innocent bystanders caught up in the underground..."

Cui Suifu looked at Meng Shijiu without speaking. He sat up, sunlight falling on him, casting part of his shadow over Meng Shijiu, whose face sank into the shade.

Meng Shijiu didn't expect an answer anyway.

The plot from the original story had gone off the rails so much even its creator wouldn't recognize it. The protagonist Ye Lingxi and the antagonist Zong Geman's personalities were worlds apart from their original descriptions. Yet, eerily, the original descriptions of the F4's personalities were oddly accurate—especially regarding their nasty dispositions.

There's a kind of malice worse than Qian Chunyan's self-aware manipulation of people as playthings: it's when self-righteous people hold power—and these four just happened to be exactly that.

"Do whatever you want, just don't hit the ice cream." Meng Shijiu wanted to soak up the sun and shifted to the side.

The Alpha, who had been silent, closed the distance without a moment's delay. Cui Suifu leaned in, bending down to whisper softly by his ear: "...If you don't like it, I won't do it."

This time, the sun wasn't blocked. Meng Shijiu looked up and scrutinized him carefully.

The red-haired Alpha spoke softly, playing meek, watching him cautiously.

Like a vicious dog pretending to be good, putting a collar around its own neck and offering him the other end.

—But this suggestion was just his own offhand remark, his momentary whim. Meng Shijiu didn't need to think hard to guess what this guy was thinking.

Meng Shijiu: "Not interested in keeping a dog."

Cui Suifu: "Who said anything about wanting to be a dog?"

Meng Shijiu: "Then go ahead and blow it up."

Cui Suifu didn't speak.

The red-haired Alpha, as if throwing a tantrum, punched the ground a few times. But there was nothing around except grass, so he could only vent by pulling up a few blades.

Meng Shijiu thought it best to stay away from violent people. He rolled over a few times casually, turning his back to the sun and lying face down on the grass to continue sunbathing.

See chuckled: "A skewer, Meng Shijiu flavor."

Meng Shijiu: "Hmph."

After a few seconds, Cui Suifu deflated. He glanced at the snow-like figure and raised his voice: "So, will you keep me or not?"

Meng Shijiu mimicked his tone and called back: "No."

Cui Suifu stomped over angrily, but his actions were unusually gentle, as if afraid of crushing a handful of snow. He pulled the person into his arms with a lack of force.

"Woof..." Cui Suifu nudged him with his head, his low, hoarse voice worming its way into the silver-haired Alpha's ear. "Keep me or not...?" "Woof... keep me keep me keep me..." "Woof woof... keep me or not."

Meng Shijiu's neck tickled from the hair rubbing against it, making him giggle: "That tickles."

See: "Why aren't you dodging?"

Usually, if someone touched Meng Shijiu from behind, especially his neck, he would reflexively dodge immediately.

Meng Shijiu: "Yeah."

Why wasn't he dodging?

He responded like that, but he knew perfectly well.

Probably those two seconds of memory from the high-altitude fall had briefly lowered some of his defenses against this world.

—Or maybe it wasn't so brief after all.

See snapped, "You're just gonna let me watch you flirt like this!"

Meng Shijiu said, "I can't beat him."

See asked skeptically, "...Really?"

Meng Shijiu held back a laugh, "Mhm!"

Ever-gullible See redirected her anger, "It really is Cui Suifu's fault!"

Meng Shijiu's gaze fell on Cui Suifu's hand resting on his shoulder.

As soon as Meng Shijiu looked at him, Cui Suifu grew nervous, "What's wrong?"

Meng Shijiu said, "Alphas shouldn't be so intimate."

Cui Suifu, "..."

Cui Suifu, "I already confessed to you!"

He had a wild, untamable face, and when he raised his eyebrows, there was a defiant edge to him.

Meng Shijiu, "I never said yes."

Cui Suifu gritted his teeth and leaned in close to his ear, "It's my first time ever confessing!"

Meng Shijiu, "It's also my first time receiving a confession without even a flower."

Cui Suifu, "?"

Cui Suifu, "No..."

Cui Suifu, "I..."

Cui Suifu, "..."

Cui Suifu started to panic, his mind racing, "I'll make it up to you, I'll get—"

Meng Shijiu impatiently grabbed his collar, "—You've got ten seconds to find the way to NO3. I want ice cream."

See blinked, "?"

See, "I thought we weren't going anymore?"

Meng Shijiu, now wide awake from the commotion, "Don't put off till tomorrow what you can do today."

See, "Is that even how you use that saying?"

A "boom" sounded in the distance.

As if remembering something they'd forgotten, the two turned their heads toward the noise.

—While its owner was immersed in the fun of playing dog, the *Xuan Yi* diligently followed its course and crashed into NO3.

The two sitting on the lawn exchanged a glance.

Meng Shijiu, "..."

The tall, red-haired Alpha rubbed his nose, "This doesn't count as blowing it up."

Before the words had fully left his mouth, Meng Shijiu's terminal lit up repeatedly.