Chapter 81

Chapter 81

"He is my—dog!"

The player's crisp, lively shout brought the room to a dead silence. Only the machine kept beeping away, doing its job.

Luo Qingyue on the hospital bed stopped thrashing around in panic, his trembling body freezing as a wobbly, noodle-like question mark popped up crooked over his head.

He seemed to be racking his brain trying to figure out what that meant. But with his injuries and low energy, his brain was struggling to spin.

Bai Fuling gave his hand a reassuring squeeze, tucking Luo Qingyue's hand back under the covers: "Don't think about it. Anyway, that's how it is." He shot Luo Qingyue a smiley-face emoji. "Don't you trust me? So just relax, okay?"

He said it with total certainty, just to shut down the NPC's thinking.

Luo Qingyue's health bar was way too low right now; thinking too much might kill off brain cells and drain his health, so better to keep his brain on low power.

In Luo Qingyue's blurry-but-clear vision, the warm smile reflected back at him, and he couldn't help but go along with it, slowly easing up and stopped overthinking.

Once his brain relaxed, the stabbing pain faded away. Turns out, an empty head really does bring happiness.

But catching a glimpse of that shadowy masked figure out of the corner of his eye, Luo Qingyue still couldn't fully relax. His body instinctively tensed up, and the green +1 numbers above his head popped up way slower.

The player figured out the healing effect also depended on the NPC's mental state. Mr. Finch in his mask was keeping Luo Qingyue from relaxing.

So Bai Fuling made his character stretch out a leg and kick Olbert next to him: "Hey, quit being cool. Take that mask off already."

The kick missed—Olbert dodged with a super nimble sidestep.

The player, not giving up, tried a few more kicks, but Olbert dodged every single one, keeping that smirk under his half-mask the whole time, looking totally chill.

No way! Was this some kind of system auto-dodge?

Bai Fuling's competitive gamer spirit suddenly kicked in. This felt like a weird version of whack-a-mole... maybe it was!

So, dead set on winning, the player raised his seat, dangling his feet, and kicked back and forth with both feet at top speed, like a cat frantically kicking at a snake.

But Olbert somehow pulled off that 'walk through flowers without a leaf touching you' move, dodging Kitten King's flurry of invisible kicks, still striding gracefully and mysteriously toward the hospital bed.

Bai Fuling got a little antsy. He figured this mini-game would end once Olbert got to the bed. But there was no way the player was losing!

In his rush, the player swiped harder on the screen, and saw his character jump up from the chair—Oh, right! As a player, he could totally cheat! Why was he sitting there kicking like a good boy?

With that sudden clarity, Bai Fuling just made his character lunge forward.

They were pretty close now. Bai Fuling's move caught him off guard, and Olbert's attention was still down low, so Bai Fuling jumping up caught him right in a hug.

Even with the sudden bump, Olbert stayed rock steady, his footing solid, no stumble, but the hit to his old waist injury made the corner of his eye twitch just barely.

He looked down at the black-haired kid buried against his chest. The guy lifted his face, cheeks a little red from all the action, but his eyes were still super clear and bright, really standing out.

Olbert was speechless.

Something in his heart seemed to be gently scratched by a kitten's paw.

Before any extraneous thoughts could surface, he first felt a dull pain in his left foot.

Bai Fuling had finally succeeded in stepping on Olbert by cheating and hugging him. His brows were filled with triumph: "I win!"

Hmph, the player is always the victor!

This wasn't cheating; it was flexibly using the system mechanics.

Stepped on, Olbert paused, then calmly pulled his left foot out from under Bai Fuling's shoe.

Just then, Bai Fuling suddenly started reaching his hand into the gap between Olbert's shirt and waistband—Olbert's eyelid twitched, and he swiftly grabbed the other's wrist! His eyes narrowed behind the mask, staring straight at him.

"Hey, let me see!" Bai Fuling's tone was full of curiosity. "I saw something glowing in your clothes. What good stuff is in there?"

As everyone knew, glowing things in pixel games were treasure indicators.

In the close scuffle, catching a glimpse of light shining from the other's shirt and waistband, the player's first instinct was to feel for it, to see if they could snag something to fatten their own wallet.

Olbert was silent for a long moment.

He had been startled a moment ago by the sudden hand reaching for his belt.

Only when Bai Fuling mentioned something glowing did he realize the other was referring to the flame bandage he had given him, which was wrapped around his wound.

This magical bandage flowed with a flame effect but wasn't hot at all. When tied around the waist, it stopped bleeding excellently.

After returning that day, Olbert found that the wound wrapped with the flame bandage healed much better than his own previous treatment. This thing seemed to have a healing function.

Although Olbert wasn't the type to trust and use something given to him, he needed to recover quickly now, so he had re-wrapped the strange glowing flame bandage.

So... was the person in front of him trying to take back this magical bandage? Olbert thought.

He still needed it now. He had been seriously injured underground, and the subsequent events hadn't allowed him to rest and heal. Injuries would hinder his actions, and Olbert had to recover as soon as possible.

So Olbert moved Bai Fuling's hand away and said in a low voice: "...You can, but not now."

Not now? Bai Fuling tilted his head. What did that mean? Was the treasure not at the right plot point yet, so the player couldn't see it? Maybe next time.

"Alright." Bai Fuling withdrew his hand, not forcing the NPC to pull down his pants.

But he was still curious: What good thing was at the waistband? Could it be glowing underwear??

—Wow, what a flashy fox, even his underwear was fluorescent! But wouldn't that make him shine brightly when he took off his pants in the bathroom, attracting attention?

Bai Fuling was amused by the image in his mind and decided to follow the other to the restroom next time to observe.

A rustling sound came from the hospital bed. Luo Qingyue stirred. Bai Fuling immediately controlled his character to return to the bedside.

Luo Qingyue's lips moved beneath the breathing mask: "...You... don't fight with the dog..."

A trembling dialog box floated up on the screen.

Bai Fuling couldn't help but smile. Good, it seemed Luo Qingyue had given up thinking and trusted the player's words, so he wouldn't overuse his brain and lose health!

"I won't fight anymore." Bai Fuling took Luo Qingyue's hand again. "A magnanimous person doesn't fight with dogs."

Olbert had excellent eyesight and could read lips. Even though Luo Qingyue was too weak to make a sound, he could roughly understand his meaning. So he naturally knew what had been said.

"..." After a moment of faint speechlessness, Olbert's rationality kicked in with alertness.

Luo Qingyue had barely made a sound loud enough to be heard, yet Fresh Cabbage had understood him too. This meant the other could also read lips? That wasn't a skill an ordinary person should have.

Olbert's gaze shifted to Bai Fuling by the bed.

The black-haired youth, for some reason, was in a good mood, his brows curved like a crescent moon, exuding a lighthearted air. Seeming to notice the stare, he turned his head and gestured with a hand: "Don't wear that to scare people. Take it off, quick."

"...I didn't get the sense you were all that scared either," Olbert said, but eventually he raised a hand and took off the Chickadee Mask from his face.

After going through a series of events like [Third Batch Ceremony], [The Unloved One Is the Third Party], [This Is My Dog], [Going All Out Just to Step on Someone's Shoes], [Bro, What's in Your Pants? Let Me See], [Don't Fight with Dogs], and so on, Olbert found his mindset had been ground down to a flatline—no ripples left.

Had he always been this easygoing? Olbert wondered. Had he, without realizing it, become too lenient with someone?

Then, Olbert felt a tug at his sleeve.

He looked down to see Bai Fuling sitting by the hospital bed, looking up at him. The black-haired youth smiled and said, "Now that you've taken it off, come sit down, don't just stand there. You've got something to ask, right?"

Yes. Olbert did have something to ask. That was why he'd come looking in the first place.

He'd originally planned to use Mr. Finch's intimidating presence to force out the most honest answers. But now... forget it, this is fine.

Olbert, revealing his mixed-race features, walked over to the hospital bed. He didn't deliberately put on the mysterious, cold demeanor he had while wearing the mask, but neither did he wear the usual flirtatious smile of the Fox Man.

With calm, scrutiny, and indifference, he said to Luo Qingyue, "I've got a few questions—just nod or shake your head. You can do that."

"I believe you're a sensible person. The truth will only help you."

Olbert paused, then spoke: "First question. The [Cat] experiment—you volunteered for it back then, right?"

Luo Qingyue on the bed stiffened for a moment, but under the gazes of Bai Fuling and Olbert, he gave a slight nod.

Bai Fuling was a bit surprised: Volunteered? It was voluntary?! He'd been wondering why Luo Qingyue was experimented on and then let go.

The storyline involving Luo Qingyue, the Liao family, and the white-haired kid had never been clearly revealed.

"Good." Olbert nodded, squinting his eyes, then slowly continued, "Second question—you're one of them, right? Or rather, you used to be?"

One of them? Bai Fuling tilted his head, not understanding at first.

But considering all the sides that had shown up so far, what could be called "them"... Was it the mysterious organization behind the white-haired kid???

Huh?!

Thinking this, Bai Fuling couldn't help but be stunned.

He widened his eyes and looked at Luo Qingyue beside him.

On the hospital bed, Luo Qingyue remained motionless.

His slow breaths fogged the translucent oxygen mask, forming a faint layer of white mist.

Olbert stood there, not pressing further, just waiting with exceptional patience.

The hospital room fell silent for a few seconds... or maybe minutes, or even longer. No one spoke.

Lying on his back, Luo Qingyue turned his face slightly, avoiding the gazes of Bai Fuling and Olbert. At some point, a glistening tear seemed to slide from the corner of his eye onto the pillow.

In the end, he slowly nodded.