Chapter 108

Chapter 108

The night outside the window was so tranquil and peaceful.

But the world inside the room was in upheaval—a violent storm raging.

Another wave of rain splashed over his face.

Shen Lian collapsed from exhaustion, his eyes finally settling back down, reflecting Xie Yuan's face.

He still remembered that first night of intimacy.

Because he had been too nervous to perform, he could only repay his debt with his hardworking hands.

Again and again, Shen Lian never grew tired of it, just to see every expression and glance in Xie Yuan's eyes.

Most of that night, Xie Yuan had kept his brows furrowed, with a hint of unsatisfied restraint, even angrily avoiding Shen Lian's gaze, as if he feared losing control.

Even so, Shen Lian had been so intoxicated that he forgot the world around him.

But only now did he see, for the first time, what Xie Yuan really looked like when fully satisfied.

Those narrow amber eyes fixed on him like a wolf eyeing its prey, ravenously devouring every breath, every expression, every whimper Shen Lian let out.

Only now, with his strength gone, did Shen Lian belatedly realize how wanton he must have looked. Shame washed over him, and he let go of the arm around Xie Yuan's neck, frantically covering his face with both hands.

Xie Yuan, who was holding his waist, pulled his hands away in the middle of it all, not letting the little cat hide his face.

Shen Lian turned his head away, trembling: "No... don't look at me... Dian Xia~ I'm a little tired, why don't you go rest for a bit?"

The moment he finished speaking, he felt a surge of dominance from the other man.

Shen Lian's whole body trembled, that embarrassed expression appearing again. "Dian Xia! Dian Xia~~~"

"Go back?" The dragon-pride man, experiencing intimacy for the first time, revealed a greedy, overbearing aura. "Go back where? This is my home."

Shen Lian panted and whispered, "You've got so many courtyards in your estate, go rest somewhere else for a bit. I think I've been bewitched—just seeing you makes me lose it. If we keep going, I'm not going to make it!"

"The spell you cast on me never came with an antidote. I can't stand not seeing you either."

"Mm!" Just as he was about to lose it and make that face again, Shen Lian frantically pushed against his chest: "I never cast a spell on you! This must be your real face—the pitiful little male concubine who clung to me begging and pleading was all an act! Dian Xia is really a wolf!"

"Caught me, huh?" Xie Yuan lifted the little cat higher. "And you still want to chase me away? How could a wolf let go of delicious prey? The prey can choose to love him or not, but it can't chase him away."

Those unreasonable, domineering words inexplicably hit home for Shen Lian.

A terrifying numbness shot straight to his head.

He arched his chest once more, gazing dazedly at the bed canopy, utterly content.

Dian Xia said he couldn't be chased off.

He wouldn't leave.

Such an unreasonable, domineering, unhealthy... sense of security.

His heightened senses couldn't take it anymore. From the dazzling clouds, he plummeted into a dark void of unconsciousness.

Not even dreams came to him.

When he vaguely came to, it was already the afternoon of the second day.

Birds perched on the windowsill chirped, pulling Shen Lian's soul back from its half-drowning daze into his body.

"Mm... mm..." He groaned with his eyes closed, his limbs weak, unable to even turn over.

"You awake?"

Shen Lian was startled and struggled to sit up, but the soreness and numbness from his lower abdomen down sent him collapsing back onto the pillow.

The man beside him immediately wrapped his arms around him: "Don't move. The military doctor said you need to stay in bed for two days, but it's nothing serious."

Shen Lian reached down tearfully to touch the sore spot. "Hiss!"

"Don't move, Shen Lian, do you hear me? Don't move."

"It hurts even when I'm not moving!" Now that the medicine had worn off, even Shen Lian's thighs ached: "You were too rough! I've never done anything like this before—how am I supposed to handle you like that?"

"I was a first-timer too, no experience, didn't know my own strength." Xie Yuan hugged the furious little cat tightly, his voice hoarse as he gave in: "I'll be more careful next time."

Shen Lian looked up, aggrieved, and complained: "Didn't you say last time that you'd listen to me? That if I told you to leave, you'd leave, not taking even a second more?"

Xie Yuan looked away, fussing with the blanket over his waist, and muttered in protest: "That was a different time. You hadn't agreed then, had you? Last night only counts as last night. We made a deal, remember? One touch on the chest is one shichen, two shichen for the abdomen. You rubbed me up and down, and I counted it all as one session—after all, we're old friends. I only counted the next one after you let go. Right now, you still owe me thirty-four shichen in total."

Shen Lian was furious. He raised his hand and started pounding Xie Yuan's shoulder, but he had no strength at all—couldn't even manage the force of a back rub.

Worried that collecting the remaining thirty-four shichen might be delayed even more, Xie Yuan quickly caught the little cat's paw: "Don't move around, or you might need even longer to recover."

At this point, Shen Lian had already noticed the subtle change in the young male concubine's mood.

He looked up at him, incredulous: "Dian Xia? Are you in a good mood? Just because you got to... have a good time last night?"

Xie Yuan squinted, showing his little fangs in a smile, staring at the little cat's face with lingering satisfaction: "Actually, it was more than once. Forgot already? Judging by your face, I'd have thought you'd remember it clearly."

"Don't say stuff like that!" Shen Lian's ears turned red. "What I mean is... ever since we met, you've been all bitter and gloomy. Just because of something like this, you're this happy? Isn't that a bit... lacking in principles?"

Xie Yuan retorted: "What principles are you talking about? I'll still collect everything you owe me, but who said collecting debts requires a bad mood?"

Shen Lian had nothing to say to that.

He suddenly realized that this dragon-pride man was actually an incredibly optimistic guy.

No wonder he had pretended to be a male favorite just to amuse him, and adapted quickly even when treated like a workhorse.

In short, as long as the dragon-pride man was satisfied and happy, his mood would change quickly.

But this was way too fast...

Shen Lian refused to believe it and silently opened the system panel in his mind.

Sure enough, the dragon-pride man's darkening value had changed for the first time in months: 973.

Holy crap.

One night of work actually lowered his darkening value by 26?

If that's the math, then just a little over a month more and he'd...

Huh?

That's not right!

Last time I worked with my hands all night, why didn't the darkening value drop even one point?

Is it discrimination against body parts?

He closed the interface and looked at the young male concubine: "Then how come when I helped you out all night the day before yesterday, you didn't look this happy?"

"That's a world of difference." Xie Yuan, still basking in the afterglow of last night, said: "Last night you were like a suction cup, just..."

Shen Lian clamped his hand over Xie Yuan's mouth: "Okay, I don't want to know the difference!"

Xie Yuan grabbed his hand, "Are you hungry? I can have someone bring food to the bed."

Shen Lian was actually past the point of hunger, so he didn't feel hungry at all. He wanted to take advantage of the young male concubine's good mood to try to untangle his emotional knot again: "Not hungry. Are you really feeling better now? That... that letter... are you still angry about it?"

Xie Yuan's gaze flickered. He let go of Shen Lian's lower back, pushed himself up to sit, leaned against a soft pillow, and stared blankly out the window.

"I've already come to terms with it." He suddenly said: "The way you looked at me last night, it was as if you deeply loved me. What does it matter if it was real or fake? As long as my skills are refined, I can see you loving me anytime I want."

Shen Lian: "..."

So he's finally unlocked the correct logic for a male-protagonist power fantasy opening a harem, huh?

"Crown Prince," Shen Lian looked at him darkly: "To be honest, you have no skill to speak of. Last night's achievements were mostly thanks to the help of medicine. The reason I look at you with such deep affection is because I originally..."

Xie Yuan lowered his gaze to the little cat on the bed. "Are you trying to seduce me into believing you like me again? There's no need for that anymore, Shen Lian. I am now the Crown Prince you wanted. I'll help you spread the Nine-Turn Water Mill across the four seas and elevate you to the ranks of the nobility. All you need to do is satisfy my demands whenever I ask. You don't need to play along with my fantasy of a devoted wife."

Shen Lian frowned.

The young male concubine had truly given up on him completely. He was going to go be his own power-fantasy protagonist.

He struggled to prop himself up on his arms, trying to sit up and talk to him.

"What are you doing?" Xie Yuan immediately leaned forward, lifted the man onto his left thigh, and sat him there. His raised right leg pressed against Shen Lian's back, and with practiced ease, he settled the little cat into his embrace.

Last night had left Shen Lian's body extremely weak. After catching his breath for a moment, he turned his head to meet Xie Yuan's gaze: "I told you before, if you're not my Dian Xia, then I'm not paying back the debt. This isn't me throwing a tantrum."

Xie Yuan's phoenix eyes widened in shock, and he nearly laughed in anger: "I'm not holding this against you, and yet you're the one making demands of me?"

Shen Lian swallowed hard, gathered his courage, and said softly: "With all due respect, it's the people of Great Wei who need my water mill, not me who needs you to promote it for me.

I don't really care much about fame or wealth. Back then, I was desperate to earn money and beg for tips only because my family was in debt and our situation was dire.

Now that my White Immortal Powder has become a success, I have no worries about food or clothing. That's enough for me.

If I can find someone to spend my life with in the future, that person must love me wholeheartedly, just as I love him.

I'd rather you be Dian Xia, because Dian Xia is a good brother I can look at eye-to-eye. If you're the lofty Crown Prince, then I'm just a proper, rule-abiding subject of Great Wei."

Xie Yuan looked at him, his eyes turning dejected again. "Speaking so righteously, you don't actually think that just because I'm happy, I've forgotten what was written in that letter, do you? When I was still Prince Qi, why wasn't Lord Shen so indifferent to fame and fortune?"

"That letter was meant to motivate you to seize the throne!" Shen Lian frowned: "But it's not that I need you to become the Crown Prince. I already told you that! You might not be able to believe it, but it's like... it's as if... I was sent by the gods to assist you in becoming the next emperor. If I can't complete this mission, I'll be expelled from this body, which means... I'll die. If you don't seize the throne, I'll die."

A dead silence.

Xie Yuan stared into his eyes for a long moment. "Can you make up something even more absurd? Even if you said you were acting on the emperor's orders, that would be better than the gods, wouldn't it?"

Shen Lian pursed his lips, closed his eyes, and took a deep breath. "I know this is hard to believe. Watch this—I'll show you how I can retrieve objects from the heavenly court across space."

Shen Lian opened the system interface, mentally selected a cheap medicine, tapped the plus sign twice, then tapped purchase.

However, the item didn't randomly drop around him. Instead, the system popped up a huge warning box:

"Host may redeem humanitarian medicine for free at the bottom right corner"

Shen Lian jolted.

This medicine had appeared before when the system was about to expel him.

The customer service had said that other hosts in this timeline would receive missions to assassinate Shen Lian.

To easily return to the Administration Bureau, one could take this medicine that numbs all pain, with effects lasting seven days.

Hadn't this redemption entry disappeared when the male lead's darkening value hit 999?

Why was it back?

Why couldn't he redeem other items?

His gaze shifted to the top left corner—

Male-protagonist popularity points: -28121 (frozen)

Female-protagonist popularity points: 929881 (reached the frequency-switch requirement "Switch Entry")

Shen Lian urgently tried to tap the switch, but found the link was also gray and frozen, completely unclickable.

"Shen Lian?"

"Wait! Give me a moment! Contacting the heavenly court takes some time!"

Xie Yuan didn't know whether to laugh or cry, rubbing his forehead. He was a bit curious how this foolish imperial physician who couldn't lie was going to talk his way out of this one, so he actually waited patiently in silence.

Shen Lian urgently tapped the customer service connection interface in the top right corner, spending a fortune to contact the Administration Bureau for the first time on his own initiative.

After a few seconds, the signal connected.

That gentle male voice sounded again—the same customer service representative.

"Hello, Professor Shen. This is the Time-Space Administration Bureau. How may I assist you?"

Shen Lian communicated with the representative telepathically: "I suddenly can't redeem items in my shop anymore, but I have plenty of points."

"One moment, please." After a dozen seconds, the representative replied: "Your points composition has met the frequency-switch requirement. After switching, you can redeem normally, but the system interface is currently frozen."

"Why is it frozen?"

"The system calculated a dangerous main plot development four hours ago: the male lead's life trajectory has a high risk of losing his heir. If the heir changes, the system would need to invest massive resources to recalculate the direction of this timeline. To avoid unnecessary losses, the system urgently triggered an erasure mission."

Shen Lian was stunned, nearly crying out: "Your crappy Administration Bureau is way too reckless! The system decides I should die and that's it, huh?! What does whether the male lead has an heir have to do with me?"

Customer service: "Please don't be upset. You're not a true resident of this timeline, but a contracted employee of the Bureau. You've already completed two important missions—securing the position of Crown Prince and using the water mill to reduce costs and reverse the trade deficit. You can return at any time to collect a substantial bonus."

Shen Lian was furious: "But when you transmitted me here, there was data loss! I completely forgot who I was. I'm basically a native of this timeline now. All my family and loved ones are here. I don't want to die!"

Customer service: "I'm sorry, but we cannot interfere with system allocations."

Shen Lian: "Last time there was at least a chance for me to survive. Is there nothing this time?"

Customer service: "This time, the system's estimation is that as long as you remain in this time-space, there is a very high probability that Xie Yuan will remain childless, so an urgent recall is necessary."

Shen Lian: "What if I don't redeem that medicine? What are you gonna do about it?"

Customer service: "There is an SS-level host in this time-space who has already gained significant ability enhancements by completing system tasks. Once he accepts the elimination mission, your chances of survival are nearly zero."

Shen Lian was silent for a moment, clenching his fists and snapping back with a threat: "What if I take him down instead? Are you going to travel across time and space to deal with me?"

Customer service: "Transporting a large number of personnel to your time-space would incur even greater costs, and the system's execution probability is 0. If you can take down the SS-level host, the system will have no way to fight back, accept reality, spend resources to recalculate the timeline's development. You can then continue to accept new tasks and redeem rewards."

Shen Lian: "What level host am I currently?"

Customer service: "You have now been upgraded to an E-level host."

Shen Lian: "..."

Is the ranking like SABCDE or what?

After a quiet dozen or so seconds, the customer service reminded: "Your one-way call is burning through a lot of points. Please ask questions promptly if you have any."

Shen Lian glanced at his remaining points and hastily followed up: "So you mean, as long as I can take care of the SS-level host in this time-space, your system can't do anything to me? Then in the future, can I choose which tasks to do and not be forced to leave the time-space?"

Customer service: "You could understand it that way, but your chances of taking down the SS-level host are also 0. Please redeem the painless medicine promptly—it requires no points. Click to redeem, and the medicine will be directly injected into your body, ready for your return at any time."

Shen Lian hurriedly hung up the call.

He looked at his hard-earned popularity points with a pang of heartache, gritting his teeth and complaining, "How much per minute is this..."

Seeing the little cat's gaze finally regain focus, Xie Yuan squinted and asked, "Well? Did you manage to summon the gods, fortune-teller Shen?"