Chapter 58 Take Off Your Clothes

Chapter 58: Take Off the Clothes

The vine stretched diligently, its round, flat leaves swaying in the air.

It slowly crawled onto Meng Shu's finger, winding and pulling, as if guiding him.

Meng Shu tilted his head, his finger being led by the vine toward Ling Qingjue, "What is this?"

The vine wound around both of their fingers, forcibly tying them together.

Ling Qingjue felt a surge of annoyance at having his thoughts exposed. He tried to pull his finger out, but the mindless plant had wrapped too tightly; pulling too hard might snap the vine. He had to snap, "Mind your own business, or I'll uproot you."

Meng Shu was puzzled, "Your plant has self-awareness? But what does it mean by clinging to me?"

Of course, it had sensed Ling Qingjue's emotions, assuming he wanted to be with Meng Shu, so it took the liberty of tying them together.

But Ling Qingjue scoffed, "It has no eyes and can't see who it's tying up. It's just a plant; what meaning could it have?"

He didn't need a plant to play matchmaker for him.

"Let go. I won't say it a third time."

The vine wrapped around his finger retreated.

The vine felt wronged but said nothing.

"Is that so?" Meng Shu, knowing too little about these magical plants, smiled and pulled his finger away. His whole face brimmed with vitality. "By the way, I've retrieved the Silver Ore."

Ling Qingjue's expression turned slightly cold, "You got it two days ago. Why did you only come back today?"

His tone was accusatory, as if Meng Shu had committed some unforgivable crime.

Meng Shu paused a moment, then explained softly, "I had something to deal with in reality, so I went home for a bit. In my world, one hour equals a day in yours."

Ling Qingjue instinctively wanted to ask him, what did you have to deal with?

What could be more important than pursuing me?

But he was too proud. If he pressed further, it would seem he cared too much about Meng Shu, which didn't fit his persona.

After a moment of inner conflict, Ling Qingjue pretended not to care, "You need to inform me before you go back. You're my chef; if you don't come back, there's no one to cook for me."

Meng Shu was a bit flattered, "You actually acknowledge my cooking that much?"

"That's your one and only redeeming quality."

The vine wrapped around Ling Qingjue's finger again.

He felt quite helpless.

Meng Shu said, "It's clinging to you again."

Ling Qingjue looked down, stubbornly unresponsive, "Stop bossing me around."

The vine shrank back and went completely still.

The vine was furious. This cat had no idea it was trying to help!

Meng Shu chuckled softly, "Alright, don't be mad at it anymore. I won't disappear suddenly from now on."

He turned away awkwardly, his profile sharp, features strikingly handsome, "Sorry for the wait. I won't do it again."

Ling Qingjue was the type to soften with kindness, not harden with force.

Faced with someone like Meng Shu, who unconditionally gives in and is always ready to apologize, all his bad temper had no outlet.

He calmed down and said sulkily, "I wasn't waiting for you. I was just waiting for my dinner."

Meng Shu didn't argue. He took out the Silver Ore from his inventory, a heavy lump, "For you."

At the same time, the system prompted: "Affinity increased. Current affinity: 40"

But Ling Qingjue refused to take it, lifting his chin, "This heavy thing, you want me to carry it myself?"

Meng Shu gave a wry smile—what a spoiled cat.

He was the one who asked for the gift, and now he's complaining it's heavy?

"Then where should I put it?"

"Take it to the blacksmith's. Let the smith refine it."

So he really is going to make gear!

Meng Shu agreed, but worried he might be reading too much into it, "When I went to the Beast Forest, I accidentally broke my sword..."

"Oh," Ling Qingjue had no reaction.

"And uh, I used up all the potions you gave me."

Ling Qingjue still didn't care much, "Oh."

Meng Shu said dejectedly, "I'm sorry. Those potions were so precious, and I used them all at once. That monster was too strong, and the forced plot made it impossible to beat."

"What monster?"

"Evil Cloud King."

"Evil Cloud King?" Ling Qingjue thought for a moment, "I think I remember. I once tamed a two-winged tiger as a mount in the forest. Later, I got annoyed because it was too crazy, always yelling about conquering the world. Annoyed the hell out of me, so I dumped it."

Meng Shu's eyes widened. So he had killed Ling Qingjue's mount?

Feeling even more awkward, he said, "I already killed it... Only the core is left. Should I return it to you?"

"No," Ling Qingjue said, "It was too noisy. Time for it to shut up."

"Oh..."

Ling Qingjue pondered for a moment, "But it's a miracle you could defeat it. Even if it wasn't the brightest, it's still a powerful monster."

"But I used up all the potions. That was the first gift you gave me, so precious..." Meng Shu felt crestfallen. The gift from his beloved was used up before he even had a chance to enjoy it.

At ten million a bottle, he wanted to keep it as a family heirloom!

His brows drooped, his face showing a rare expression of dejection.

If he had a tail, it would definitely be drooping.

It looks like losing six potion bottles and a sword really got to him.

Ling Qingjue remained expressionless, raising an eyebrow: "I just remembered that my basement hasn’t been cleaned in a long time. Can you clean it up for me?"

Meng Shu hadn't taken any gigs lately and was free. "Sure, I'll get to it in a bit."

"There's some trash in the basement. Get rid of all of it," Ling Qingjue said. "I don't want any of that stuff in there. Take what you need and throw the rest out."

Meng Shu nodded without hesitation: "Then I'll cook for you first, go to the blacksmith's, and come back later to clean the basement."

What a reliable workhorse.

Ling Qingjue lowered his eyes, then suddenly reached out and tapped the skin behind his ear. "There's blood here."

The spot he touched felt like an electric shock—tingling and burning hot.

Meng Shu flinched back reflexively, like a startled turtle, yanking his neck back abruptly.

His reaction was way over the top. Ling Qingjue looked down at him with a scrutinizing gaze.

Meng Shu touched his earlobe, which was scorching hot, "Sorry… I didn't clean my face properly earlier. Got some blood on it while fighting monsters."

"Your clothes are torn too." Ling Qingjue didn't let him save face, "There's a hole in your lower back."

Meng Shu hesitated for a long time. "Can you… not call me out like that next time?"

"Why?"

"Because I wanna save some face."

Ling Qingjue said, "So what if your clothes are ripped? What's the big deal?"

His clothes were enchanted—soft to the touch but incredibly tough, hard for even blades to tear.

But clothes like that were expensive. Moon Bay only had low-level monsters, and Meng Shu had been fighting them for ages but still couldn't afford two enchanted outfits.

Once damaged, they were extremely difficult to repair.

He got even more dejected. "And now I've lost a shirt too…"

Now he was really broke.

All he had left was his underwear.

Ling Qingjue was strangely amused by him. He pursed his lips and said simply, "Take off your clothes."