Chapter 135: Hate Meng Shu

Chapter 135: I Hate Meng Shu

Ling Qingjue continued, "Where's the moonstone I gave you? Let me make it into a pair of earrings for you, and enchant it to give you some extra stats, too."

Adventurers' accessories can increase certain stat values, but Meng Shu was too poor to wear jewelry regularly.

However, Ling Qingjue noticed he had ear piercings—meaning he used to wear jewelry.

He really wanted to leave his mark on Meng Shu. The embroidered cat head was too faint, and people kept misunderstanding it, thinking Meng Shu was so poor he couldn't even afford clothes.

Meng Shu was startled at first, then smiled. "Alright."

He had been worrying about how to return the moonstone to Ling Qingjue without having an excuse. Unexpectedly, Ling Qingjue brought it up himself.

That saved them a fight.

Ling Qingjue's eyes were a little red, his brows furrowed. "I'm so hard it hurts."

"..."

"Affection is only at level ninety. For the final gift, you need to kill me at the Demon King Tower. The dropped item is my affection gift."

Meng Shu found this amusing. "If it hurts that much, why are you still touching me? Why don't you get off me? You're so heavy, I can barely breathe."

Ling Qingjue still refused to get up. His eyes were startlingly bright, a bead of sweat on his temple, and his smile was dazzling. "Meng Shu, I'll wear this bracelet forever."

His smile was too beautiful. Meng Shu was momentarily dazed, completely captivated. "...Oh."

Ling Qingjue kept smiling, his eyes curved, like a siren enchanting hearts. "So can you tell me why you lied?"

Meng Shu's face turned pale. "I..."

"Why did you lie to me? Isn't this the moonstone you prepared? This thing isn't a product of our world. If you could bring it here, it means the world's rules accepted it."

Ling Qingjue leaned down to look at him, almost whispering in his ear, so puzzled. "Why did you lie?"

Meng Shu couldn't answer.

He lied instinctively—it was a reflex etched into his bones.

Ling Qingjue continued, "Do you feel that inferior? Is it that stressful being with me? Is it that tiring to like me? Why do you lie?"

A string of questions poured from Ling Qingjue's pale lips, then smashed into Meng Shu's head.

They made his head spin.

Ling Qingjue lifted him up, pinched his cheek, not letting him dodge. "Don't avoid it, Meng Shu. Think clearly before you answer me."

He raised his left hand. His wrist bone was stark and pale against the bracelet. "If you think it's a cheap bead, junk, then I'll think it's junk. If you think it suits me, then I'll think it suits me."

Meng Shu couldn't speak for a long time.

Ling Qingjue's tone turned stern. "Speak."

"...It doesn't suit you." Meng Shu's head was firmly held, unable to escape. His voice was low and hoarse. "It really is just a cheap bead. It doesn't suit you."

Ling Qingjue chuckled twice. "If you think it doesn't suit me, then why give me something like this?"

He smiled meaningfully. "What reaction did you expect from me? Happiness or anger?"

Meng Shu, uncharacteristically, shrank back. His eyes started to dart away. "...I don't know."

Ling Qingjue snorted with laughter. "You don't know?"

He tightened his grip. "Look at me!"

His tone was too fierce. Meng Shu got scared and quickly looked up.

Ling Qingjue's brows were tightly knitted. He always felt that Meng Shu was hiding many things from him. Meng Shu knew him very well, but he knew nothing about Meng Shu.

He didn't know what Meng Shu's life was like now, what his world was like, what friends he had in real life, what job he did.

If "knowledge about Meng Shu" were an exam, Ling Qingjue wouldn't even get a passing grade on it.

This realization frustrated him deeply.

He rubbed Meng Shu's cheek with his fingers, coaxing him. "Don't you like me? Then why can't you tell me? Since you like me, you should tell me everything. Never hide anything from me, okay?"

He hated it when Meng Shu lied.

He hated Meng Shu for being insecure.

He hated how Meng Shu forced a smile.

Hate. Hate. Hate.

"I..." Meng Shu almost cried, but he couldn't manage it. Instead, he forced a laugh. "How do you know everything?"

What Ling Qingjue couldn't stand most was Meng Shu's fake smile. He couldn't even hide his disgust, interrupting him irritably. "Stop smiling. Your fake smile is ugly."

Meng Shu almost blurted out the truth. He started to resent Ling Qingjue—why did he have to become so good at the last moment, making it even harder for him to let go?

He hated Ling Qingjue for being so gentle.

He hated Ling Qingjue for being so straightforward.

He hated Ling Qingjue for being so silly.

Hate. Hate. Hate.

But in the end, he still didn't tell the truth. He laid his head against Ling Qingjue's chest. "I'm sorry. I don't have much money in real life. I could only afford this. If I have the chance later, I'll find a way to give you something else."

"...Poor? Why are you poor everywhere?" Ling Qingjue laughed in exasperation. After a few seconds, "Forget it. Don't buy a new one. This one is fine."

"I'm sorry." Meng Shu's voice was muffled.

"What's your life like back in your world?" Ling Qingjue was very curious, his cat-like eyes wide. "I know nothing about you."

"Well, it's fine." Meng Shu avoided his gaze again. "I'm just ordinary. I don't have much money. Gems in our world are very expensive. You can't get them from fishing or by killing monsters—you have to spend money to buy them. I don't have that much money."

"Then do you have enough money to eat properly?"

Ling Qingjue couldn't understand what kind of poverty meant you couldn't afford a gem. He never had a real grasp of money.

Besides, in this world, gems could be obtained in many ways, and even beggars could find gems in trash cans.

He only cared about one thing. "Do you have money to buy clothes? Do you have a small house to sleep in?"

Meng Shu gritted his teeth. "Yes. I have both. I live well, really. It's just that gems are too expensive for me to afford."

"That's fine then," Ling Qingjue quickly forgave him. "I don't really understand the value of these things. As long as you have food to eat, clothes to wear, and a place to live, that's enough."

He raised his wrist, his eyes curving like a crescent moon. "As for the gems, they make no difference to me. This bracelet is already very beautiful. You don't need to buy me any more gems."

"...I'm sorry." Meng Shu pressed his forehead against his chest, repeating it over and over. "I'm sorry I couldn't give you anything. I'm sorry."

"Do you have any other cats?" Ling Qingjue asked out of the blue. "In your world, you don't have any other cats, right?"

Meng Shu quickly shook his head. "No, you're my only cat."

Ling Qingjue's tail perked up, and he seemed to be in a good mood. "That's good."

He was afraid Meng Shu might be hiding other cats from him.