Prev | Table of Contents | Next
Chapter 62: I’ve already restrained myself a lot in front of you.
“Get a room and sleep?”
The neon light of a seductive pink cast a slanted glow on An Wujiu’s face, with a slightly raised eyebrow, giving him both a righteous and wicked appearance.
“Otherwise?” Shen Ti smirked, “Do you want to keep troubling Xiao Zhong?”
This quickly convinced An Wujiu. He had already caused enough trouble for Zhong Yirou.
Shen Ti gestured toward a tall building not far away, shining with golden light. It was in a German style and looked like the most formal hotel in the area.
An Wujiu thought that, in reality, Shen Ti didn’t have to help him with all this; he could have found it on his own. Even though everything went smoothly this time, Gabriel had a gun. If he had made a mistake and touched the opponent’s sore spot, Shen Ti might have really been in danger.
He didn’t want that, especially since Shen Ti had just safely emerged from a long and dangerous game.
The next time, who knows if they could be together?
“Let’s go.” An Wujiu said to Shen Ti, “I’ll treat you to the stay.”
So the two walked along the street toward the hotel Shen Ti had chosen. Many flying vehicles passed overhead, and An Wujiu didn’t look up, keeping his gaze straight. But from the corner of his eye, he couldn’t help but glance at Shen Ti.
Shen Ti must have lied just now. There was probably nothing in the bubblegum; otherwise, it wouldn’t have been taken so easily. Running a nightclub was too costly for that.
Despite analyzing this, he still couldn’t ease his mind. He silently hoped that nothing would happen to Shen Ti.
“What would you do if you couldn’t find your mother?”
Shen Ti, who had just quieted down, suddenly asked this.
An Wujiu was also stunned.
He knew he was a person with no past and no future.
Why he entered the holy altar, he wasn’t sure, only guessing it was for his mother’s illness.
He didn’t know how to leave the arena either. He was just a speck of dust passively swept into the vortex; he might die at some unknown level one day.
“Not finding her isn’t the worst possibility.”
An Wujiu knew that Shen Ti’s question was a subtle way to tell him not to make finding his mother the sole focus.
Otherwise, if disappointed, he would lose everything.
So he added, “When I woke up suddenly in the warm-up match in the ‘Red and Black’ instance, I had actually forgotten a lot of things. But at that time, I heard a voice. She said, I could regain all my memories if I survived.”
“If the first goal isn’t achieved, I’ll change it to regaining all memories.” An Wujiu lowered his eyes.
Shen Ti nodded, “And what after you retrieve them?”
An Wujiu looked at him with a serene smile and said, “If I’m still alive at that time, then we’ll see.”
Shen Ti thought in his heart that An Wujiu was a more cynical person than himself. Although he often showed abnormal kindness in places like the holy altar, fundamentally, he didn’t like this world at all.
He was a person pushed forward, unable to find the mastermind behind his current situation.
So once he achieves all his goals, he might really disappear.
Thinking of this, Shen Ti couldn’t help but feel a bit down.
It seemed like he didn’t want this person to disappear, driven by a strange instinct.
Crossing a bustling street, they arrived at the seemingly decent hotel. The ratio of robot security guards at the entrance seemed a bit off. Along the high marble steps, the two headed up, preparing to enter the revolving door, when a burst of infrared locked onto them.
“Sorry, without a citizen chip, you can’t enter.”
They needed these too?
Shen Ti was surprised, “I don’t have it, but you didn’t immigrate here? You don’t have it either?”
An Wujiu also didn’t know why this was happening. They had hit a wall, so they had no choice but to leave.
“It looks like we’re not lucky enough to stay in a big hotel.” Shen Ti took it lightly. “I should have known to buy a chip on the black market.”
“You can buy it on the black market?” An Wujiu asked.
“Of course, but it’s at a sky-high price. Usually, only people with no way out would sell their chips.” Shen Ti explained while searching for nearby hotels that didn’t require a citizen chip.
In the end, they found a somewhat informal hotel in a corner of the block. It was named after a famous star from the last century, and its neon sign was flashy with cheap Japanese-style decor.
“Let’s go in. Only places like this will take us in.”
Upon hearing Shen Ti’s words, An Wujiu couldn’t argue and followed behind. They stepped on somewhat decayed wooden steps, one by one. The front desk lights were purple-blue, and a not-so-young red-haired woman sat behind the counter, wearing VR gear to watch a movie.
It wasn’t until Shen Ti approached the counter, tapping his fingers on the table, that she turned off the device and looked at the two. “Good evening, handsome guys.”
An Wujiu had an upright expression, “We need two rooms.”
A smile appeared on the woman’s face, a kind that An Wujiu couldn’t decipher,”Two rooms?”
“Yes.”
“Okay.” She seemed a bit disappointed, activating a terminal on the counter. Her fingers swiped on it a few times. “Need any other services?”
An Wujiu thought for a moment, “Send some food up.”
The woman glanced at him, her fingers swiping a few more times: “Sure, male or female?”
An Wujiu didn’t understand, “Are you asking about me?”
“Yeah,” she smiled, “If your tastes match, you can pick together.”
Shen Ti also started to laugh in a peculiar way.
An Wujiu realized something; he had probably unintentionally used some jargon for a certain service here. “No, I just want food, real food.”
“Okay.” The front desk rolled her eyes and aimed the scanning camera at the two.
After a moment, she frowned and said, “Neither of you has a chip.”
An Wujiu nodded.
“In that case, I can only open one room. It’s the eviction period now, and they’re strict. If we get caught, they might revoke our license.”
Shen Ti smiled, “You guys still have a license?”
She glared at him, then patted the counter, “Just one room; take it or leave it.”
“Fine.” An Wujiu compromised, “One double room then.”
“We don’t have standard double rooms here, only queen-sized beds. What are you going to do with two beds?” She didn’t elaborate and confirmed one room, then handed them a card with a smile.
“If you need anything else, just swipe the card for self-service. Have a pleasant night.”
As illegal residents, An Wujiu paid double the price for a room. Following the stairs, they found the room at the end of the second-floor corridor. Everywhere was filled with flashy adult paintings in a ukiyo-e style, combined with pink lighting in the entire corridor, making it dizzying.
The room’s recognition system identified the two, and the door automatically opened. The interior decoration was not much different from the corridor, but it was clean and not spacious. In the center, there was a conspicuous, heart-shaped waterbed.
“We can finally rest for a while.” Shen Ti was quite relaxed, walking in and sprawling on the bed, “It’s quite comfortable.”
An Wujiu closed the door and checked the cabinet, which contained various adult items. He took out a pair of handcuffs and examined them.
“You really like this kind of stuff, huh?” Shen Ti sat on the edge of the bed, watching him.
An Wujiu put them away, saying, “I just feel like these leather handcuffs can’t really restrain someone.”
“They weren’t meant for that in the first place.”
Closing the cabinet door, An Wujiu entered the bathroom. It was so cramped that it was almost impossible to turn around, yet it still had a reasonably sized bathtub that took up almost half of the bathroom space.
Turning around, he faced the mirror on the sink and saw his own face.
An Wujiu was curious about the floral lines on his neck and chest, so he reached out and rubbed them. However, they couldn’t be rubbed off; these lines seemed to grow from deep within his flesh, like real flowers. They just happened to have his own body as their soil.
He took a shower along the way, avoiding his wrists, and the injuries he had suffered were much better than before.
However, he suddenly became puzzled. In the game, injuries wouldn’t carry over to reality. So, were his injuries actually inflicted in reality?
An Wujiu thought for a moment. He didn’t have any enemies. But then he reconsidered; maybe he did have enemies, just like Gabriel seeking revenge against Maguire, but the other party had been hiding in the holy altar.
Could it be that he escaped danger by entering the holy altar?
But in his memories, he was just an ordinary college student on a break at home, without any opportunity to make enemies.
The more he thought about it, the more An Wujiu felt that his memories were contradictory and filled with problems.
Meanwhile, Shen Ti sat cross-legged on the bed, idly doing nothing. The sound of water from the bathroom drifted to him, making his thoughts wander. So, he opened the projection to find something to watch. However, all the videos were of the hotel’s special features.
He was preparing to close it, but the touchscreen in the hotel was unresponsive. He accidentally clicked on one of them, and it happened to be a video of two men getting down to business without much preamble.
In less than a minute, the two men were deeply engrossed in a kiss. Shen Ti found it uninteresting and was about to close it when, at that moment, he heard the sound of the bathroom door opening.
His first reaction was to turn around, only to meet the gaze of An Wujiu, who was tilting his head while drying his hair. An Wujiu had changed into a white flannel robe from the bathroom, wrapped and tied around his slim waist, accentuating his graceful curves.
An Wujiu’s beautiful black eyes glanced upward, looked toward the projection behind Shen Ti, then returned to his face, finally raising his eyebrows.
Shen Ti had no intention of explaining. He turned off the projection, extinguishing the fiery passion into darkness.
“Finished washing?”
“Yeah.” An Wujiu thought he might also want to take a bath, so he reminded him, “The water is a bit cold.”
Shen Ti adjusted the air conditioner temperature, “Do you want to cover yourself with a blanket?”
An Wujiu didn’t respond. He walked barefoot to the bed, and Shen Ti looked down to see a string of wet footprints on the floor—quite cute.
Wrapping himself in the blanket and sitting cross-legged, An Wujiu felt more comfortable. Remembering something, he said to Shen Ti, “There’s only one bathrobe inside, and I’ve already worn it.”
Shen Ti turned his face and smiled, asking, “So what do you mean?”
“It means that after you shower, you can only wear your previous clothes or nothing at all.” Unusually, An Wujiu made a small joke, even though he wasn’t good at it.
Shen Ti looked at him, thinking that something had changed in him again.
In fact, nothing had changed; it was still the same An Wujiu with a soft heart that was easy to manipulate.
A few strands of semi-dried hair were scattered on his cheek, giving him a different look from his usual calm and composed demeanor. Perhaps it was due to just having showered, his skin was translucent, and the thin upper eyelids were slightly reddish, revealing the blue veins.
There was a hint of a smile in the corners of his eyes and eyebrows, causing Shen Ti to be momentarily lost in thought.
In truth, the An Wujiu in front of him was kind and humble, absolutely not related to the four words “cold as ice.” However, for some reason, despite how much he helped others and took on everything like a savior, there was always a strong sense of distance about him.
But at this moment, the An Wujiu in front of him showed more human emotions and less guardedness.
Comparing himself with those who approached him, Shen Ti thought that he should be considered special now, even though he couldn’t understand why he had stooped to compare himself with those guys.
While thinking about this, a finger suddenly pressed against Shen Ti’s brow.
It was An Wujiu’s finger.
“What exactly is this fixed on?” An Wujiu’s fingertip pressed against the small red gem that looked like a drop of blood.
“You really can’t let it go.” Shen Ti naturally grasped his finger and said, “It’s something I was born with. Impressive, right?”
“You’re lying to me again.” An Wujiu’s words were lightly spoken, and only his pale pink lips were slightly parted. He tried to retract his finger, but Shen Ti held onto it.
“I haven’t lied to you many times.” Shen Ti’s smile carried a hint of helplessness, “I’ve already restrained myself a lot in front of you.”
It seemed to be true.
An Wujiu suddenly had a mischievous idea. Feeling somewhat strange, like he had changed, but not really, he succumbed to the subconscious urge and hooked his finger down, catching Shen Ti’s hand and bringing himself closer, close to Shen Ti’s face.
“What are you doing?” Faced with An Wujiu’s initiative, Shen Ti felt a bit uncomfortable. His body even leaned back a bit.
“I want to see if your eyes are fake.”
An Wujiu’s expression was clearly filled with curiosity, yet it gave off a seductive and misleading vibe.
Those black pupils were like mirrors, reflecting Shen Ti’s face.
The red coral bead in his eyes swayed, just like Shen Ti’s heart at the moment.
Too close.
An Wujiu suddenly realized that this distance had exceeded the safety zone.
Shen Ti wasn’t like other people. His eyes didn’t wander, offending him without self-awareness. He would only stare straight into his own eyes. It was as if, from the moment he woke up in the holy altar, those eyes had been watching him.
In their calculations, An Wujiu and Shen Ti had reached some unspoken understanding of being both enemies and friends, forming a bond of trust in times of danger.
But it seemed to go beyond that.
Shen Ti was very indulgent. Touching the gem between his eyebrows didn’t make him angry, and claiming his eyes were fake didn’t make him angry either. He could remain silent for a long time without prompting.
In the prolonged gaze, there always had to be one person who would yield first.
“Why are you helping me?”
Shen Ti was slightly startled, not expecting An Wujiu’s thoughts to jump so abruptly. He thought An Wujiu was still talking about the adult club incident. “Because we need to accomplish something genuine, or else we would be stuck there forever.”
An Wujiu stared at him and said, “I mean everything I said before.”
Shen Ti remained silent.
After a long while, as if genuinely considering it for a long time, he finally spoke again, “Maybe because you are very special. I felt that way from the first moment I saw you.”
Because he was careful enough, this statement didn’t make An Wujiu doubt its authenticity.
“You want to stay alive, find your family, and recover your memories. All the things you want to do are meaningful. If I help you, then my life will also have a bit of meaning.”
After saying this, he gave An Wujiu a smile.
“It’s strange. So many people in the past never gave me this kind of illusion.”
An Wujiu was adept at plotting and understood that he shouldn’t easily develop feelings for people, at least not for those he met in the holy altar. Perhaps, after a dozen hours or so, he and this person might never meet again.
It was probably because he thought of this that he suddenly felt a trace of resoluteness with no future.
“Shen Ti.”
“Hmm?” Shen Ti was quite puzzled. Why was An Wujiu speaking so unpredictably tonight, and why did he suddenly call his name? Everything seemed unusual.
“That wasn’t an illusion.”
An Wujiu’s gaze was clearly pure, yet it carried a compelling beauty.
“Regardless of which level we reach…”
“Can you stay alive for my sake?”
Prev | Table of Contents | Next
