Chapter 26: Do You Really Like Me That Much?
Two stalks of Mind-Bewitching Herb produced only a single dose of truth medicine.
The tiny pill had a golden shell and gave off a rich medicinal fragrance.
Dong Li put it away for the time being. Now that his little medicine furnace was empty, he planned to brew a batch of medicine for the half-demons first.
That was all they had asked of him—some specially made pills. They didn’t need anything else.
According to the Titmouse, Dong Li’s pills were incredibly effective. Not only could they heal injuries quickly, they could also greatly increase combat strength.
It was precisely because the Titmouse had eaten the pills Dong Li gave him in Northern Dark Forest that he had been able to break into the beast arena and rescue his brother and the other Illusion Snake.
Dong Li was a little bewildered.
Were the medicines he made really that amazing?
In the past, he had occasionally brewed all kinds of strange concoctions, casually throwing whatever happened to be nearby into his little furnace.
If he wasn’t sure what something did, he would take it up the mountain and feed it to Yuanbao.
Yuanbao could eat practically anything anyway.
Some of those pills had also been stolen by the annoying Supervisor Ba.
Still, Yuanbao and Heidan had both recovered thanks to his medicine.
Maybe Dong Li really was amazing.
The more he thought about it, the more excited he became.
He almost wished he could see the half-demons attack Maidong City right now.
If they didn’t have enough people, he could even consider lending them Heidan and Yuanbao…
Fortunately, there were plenty of medicinal plants in this area.
Most were common varieties that no one usually bothered harvesting, but Dong Li wasn’t picky.
As long as it was a medicinal herb, he could use it.
The half-demons began gathering fresh plants for him.
The medicine furnace sat on the table, with Rongrong stationed beside it. Whenever someone brought herbs over, the little fox would inspect them and add another burst of golden fire whenever necessary.
Dong Li looked as though he had nothing to do.
In reality, the golden fire Rongrong consumed came from him.
Before long, he started getting hungry again and ate quite a lot of fruit.
Lufiel still had another serving of date-paste pastries in his inventory, so he took them out and fed Dong Li some of those too.
They still hadn’t used the truth medicine yet.
But ever since entering the dungeon, the two of them had unconsciously grown close again.
Just like before, Dong Li leaned halfway into Lufiel’s arms and took a bite of the date-paste pastry from his hand.
A familiar-looking Illusion Snake approached and brought over a freshly made serving of sweet vegetable-root jelly.
“We only have this kind of food,” he said apologetically. “I hope My Lord Fox Spirit won’t mind.”
Dong Li shook his head quickly.
“I don’t mind at all.”
After the Illusion Snake left, Lufiel watched his retreating figure and asked, “Did he eat one of your pills too?”
It was the same Illusion Snake that had escaped from the beast arena the night before.
Before they entered the settlement, he had also mentioned receiving Dong Li’s help.
But Dong Li had said that was probably Rongrong’s doing.
“No.” Dong Li thought carefully. “After we got out of the illusion, I noticed Rongrong had breathed fire a few times. He probably happened to help then.”
Lufiel immediately caught the important point.
“The effect of your medicine comes from your fire?”
In this game world, a player’s projected mental energy and the abilities used by NPCs or their spirit forms all manifested with different elemental traits.
Lufiel’s sword aura, for example, was hard and sharp. It belonged to the metal element and was extremely aggressive.
Liufeng possessed both wind and water attributes. His mental energy could infiltrate and pass through things easily, which was how he managed to create bugged items that could circumvent the system.
Dong Li’s attribute was fire.
Lufiel had seen it before.
Its brilliant golden color was exactly the same as Rongrong’s fur.
“I don’t know,” Dong Li admitted. “I’ve never tried it myself…”
He wasn’t very skilled at controlling the golden fire and rarely used it.
So whenever he made medicine, Rongrong was always the one who supplied the flames.
But even though Rongrong was his spirit form, the little fox had often ignored him in the past and refused to behave.
Seeing Dong Li’s confused expression, Lufiel stopped questioning him.
Instead, he said, “If you feel unwell, tell me immediately. And don’t force yourself to keep making medicine.”
Dong Li nodded obediently.
“I know.”
Fresh herbs continued arriving.
With Rongrong guarding the furnace, Dong Li filled his stomach, then dragged Lufiel off to wander around, admire the scenery, and bask in the sun.
By then, Liufeng had already reached the entrance to the Illusion Forest dungeon.
A message came through.
[Liufeng: Should I go in now?]
Not long ago, a team of players had captured two half-demons alive inside the dungeon and escorted them to Maidong City.
That meant new half-demons wouldn’t respawn in the Illusion Forest for another seven days.
The number of players entering the dungeon had dropped sharply as a result.
In a way, Lufiel and Dong Li had simply been unlucky enough to fall into the dungeon’s hidden area right when the half-demons were being captured.
[Lufiel: Not yet.]
[Lufiel: Rongrong is helping the half-demons here make medicine.]
Liufeng: “?”
What did that mean?
Who was making medicine for whom?
And what kind of medicine?
Liufeng didn’t ask for more details.
When Lufiel told him the hidden area’s exit would only open together with the center of the dungeon, Liufeng had assumed Lufiel had already killed every half-demon inside while he was there.
Then another message arrived.
[Lufiel: The half-demons are planning to gather their forces and raid Maidong City to rescue the rest of their companions. They need Rongrong’s help.]
That one sentence contained so much information that Liufeng sat at the dungeon entrance staring at it for a long time.
Half-demons breaking into the beast arena last night had already been something unprecedented in the game.
And now they were going to do it again so soon…?
Still, NPCs in the game didn’t have especially high combat strength.
They relied on players for practically everything.
Which meant if the half-demons attacked Maidong City, the people they would actually be fighting were the players—just like the ones who had died in the beast arena last night.
And after the arena event in Dragonbone Town ended, Maidong City’s underground mine was scheduled to open next, with players searching for weapon stones…
Hadn’t Lufiel been insisting on taking Dong Li back to the Fuling Region during their call that morning?
How had he already compromised?
Liufeng thought it over for a while, then sent Liuye a message telling her not to come to Maidong City anytime soon.
And if she absolutely had to, she should be careful.
As for the other players?
Not his problem.
—
By nearly noon, the little medicine furnace had successfully produced two batches of pills.
There were just enough for every half-demon to receive one.
Dong Li didn’t think that was enough.
One pill each was far too little.
Three or four would be better.
But Lufiel refused to let him continue brewing.
He wanted Dong Li to rest first and temporarily took possession of the little medicine furnace.
Dong Li really was getting sleepy.
Sitting on the grass, he yawned.
He had eaten plenty of fruit and sweet jelly all morning, yet after continuously supplying golden fire, he still felt tired.
The Titmouse guarding nearby immediately came over and led Dong Li to a wooden house they had prepared for him to rest in.
As usual, Lufiel went with him.
Rongrong and the two little beasts stayed outside to play.
The half-demons’ wooden houses were built on top of the vine stumps.
There was no furniture inside.
Only a mattress woven from green cotton covered the floor.
It felt thick and soft to the touch.
Dong Li lay down and closed his eyes beneath Lufiel’s outer robe.
The wooden house was small.
Lufiel sat beside him, quietly watching his sleeping face.
When Dong Li woke up, bright sunlight was pouring through the window.
It was probably around one in the afternoon.
He sat up groggily.
Seeing Lufiel right beside him, Dong Li hugged the robe around himself and slowly scooted into his arms.
Lufiel wrapped an arm around him and smoothed his sleep-mussed golden hair.
“Still tired?”
Dong Li shook his head.
Then he wrapped his arms around Lufiel’s waist, closed his eyes, and dozed for a little longer.
Rongrong and the two little beasts were nowhere around.
The half-demons hadn’t come to disturb them either.
Now that the two of them were alone, Dong Li remembered the truth medicine he had made.
He lifted his head and pulled the pill from his pocket.
“Lulu, this…”
He hesitated.
Did Lufiel still need to take it?
Truthfully, Dong Li had never doubted Lufiel all that much to begin with.
And after overhearing Lufiel’s conversation with his friend that morning, he trusted him even more.
So whether Lufiel took the truth medicine or not…maybe it didn’t really matter.
Dong Li was still debating when Lufiel took the pill from his hand and swallowed it.
Dong Li froze.
Then he sat up straighter, suddenly nervous.
Lufiel felt the pill’s energy spread rapidly through his body and frowned slightly.
Dong Li leaned closer and watched him carefully.
“How does it feel? Does it hurt anywhere?”
He wasn’t actually sure what the truth medicine’s exact effects were.
He simply knew he had successfully made it.
Dong Li had always brewed medicine by instinct.
He hadn’t used much Mind-Bewitching Herb either.
At a guess, the effect would probably last around an hour.
“I’m fine,” Lufiel said quietly. “It doesn’t hurt.”
Like he used to, Dong Li first touched Lufiel’s palm, checking his pulse and body temperature to make sure nothing else seemed wrong.
After a while, Dong Li cautiously tested him.
“What’s your name?”
“Lufiel.”
Everything about him seemed normal.
His speech was clear.
The only difference was that his body temperature felt slightly warmer than before.
Dong Li thought for a moment.
“How old are you?”
“Twenty.”
Then he asked, “Everything you told me inside the illusion… was it true?”
“Yes.”
That seemed to settle the matter.
The answer was exactly what Dong Li had expected.
Lufiel really hadn’t lied.
He had never wanted to break up with Dong Li.
Everything had simply been a misunderstanding.
Dong Li looked at Lufiel sitting in front of him.
Then leaned a little closer and quietly asked, “Who do you like most?”
Lufiel stared at his fair face.
“Rongrong.”
Dong Li deliberately pressed, “Who’s Rongrong?”
“You are.”
As he spoke, Lufiel’s Adam’s apple shifted.
“You’re Rongrong.”
The answer came so easily that Dong Li wanted to test it further.
“Have you always liked Rongrong, or did you start liking him again?”
“I’ve always liked him.”
Dong Li’s ears turned red.
His heartbeat quickened too.
Without realizing it, he edged even closer.
So his boyfriend had always been his boyfriend.
He had never wanted to break up with him.
All the heartbreak Dong Li had suffered suddenly felt soothed.
Then he remembered the day he first saw Lufiel again after leaving the Fuling Region.
They had passed each other on the street.
Dong Li had pretended not to know him and lowered his head as he walked away.
And the next day…
Still puzzled, Dong Li asked, “When I went to the herb field in Dragonbone Town, were you following me on purpose?”
“Mm.”
“Why?”
“I wanted to see you. I wanted to stay close and watch over you.”
Dong Li asked again, “Then when you saw me, why didn’t you talk to me?”
“I thought you were still asleep,” Lufiel replied. “Just like before. I thought you didn’t recognize me.”
His speech remained slow and measured.
But his breathing had grown heavier.
Dong Li didn’t notice.
He stared blankly for a second.
“Before… Did you used to watch over me like that too?”
He tried to remember what Lufiel had done that day.
However long Dong Li had stayed in the herb field, Lufiel had stayed too.
“Mm.”
That answer also confirmed what Lufiel had told him inside the illusion.
He really had been in the Fuling Region all along.
Dong Li simply hadn’t been able to see or know about him.
“When I… when I was asleep,” Dong Li continued, “did you go see me every day?”
“Mm.”
“How long was I asleep?”
“Six months.”
Dong Li truly froze this time.
He hadn’t expected it to be that long.
In his own memory, there had certainly been a stretch after their “breakup” when he felt dazed and barely remembered the passing days.
But it had seemed like only around three months…
For Lufiel, it had been half a year.
He had waited for Dong Li for six months.
Dong Li’s heart began pounding.
Unable to help himself, he crawled into Lufiel’s arms and buried his face against him, rubbing affectionately.
His boyfriend seemed to like him much more than he had ever imagined…
Dong Li asked softly, “Then are you still going to send me back to the Fuling Region?”
That morning, Lufiel had said he would think about it.
Dong Li had assumed that meant he was willing to compromise.
If Lufiel loved him, surely he wouldn’t force him back to somewhere he hated…
“Yes.”
Dong Li’s head shot up.
His expression immediately turned unhappy.
“Why…?”
Lufiel lowered his eyes.
Slowly, he answered,
“I want to hide you away where no one else can see you.”
His tone was perfectly calm.
The possessiveness in his words was anything but.
Dong Li froze.
Heat crept all the way to the roots of his ears.
“Y-You…”
Back when they were dating, Dong Li had never once realized Lufiel had thoughts like that.
Suddenly nervous, he lowered his lashes and asked in a tiny voice,
“Do you really like me that much?”
“Yes,” Lufiel answered at once. “Very much.”
But that answer only gave Dong Li another question.
“Then why were you always…” His words slowed as he spoke. “So cold to me before…?”
Lufiel stared at him.
“Cold?”
His breathing had already grown unstable.
His dark eyes deepened.
“Weren’t you?” Dong Li looked up at him with faint reproach in his violet eyes. “You never kissed me first, and you never hugged me—”
Before he could finish—
Lufiel lowered his head and kissed him.
Dong Li was completely unprepared.
One arm locked firmly around his waist, while Lufiel lifted his chin and kissed him almost forcefully.
Their lips met.
Then their tongues.
Closer than they had ever been before.
[You have severely invaded an NPC’s private space. First red warning!]
[You have severely invaded an NPC’s private space. First red warning!]
…
The system alerts shrieked in Lufiel’s ears, barely managing to pull him back to his senses.
Before a second warning could be issued, he forced himself to stop and ended the kiss.
Fortunately, Dong Li had barely resisted at all.
The system’s judgment was lenient enough that Lufiel avoided receiving two red warnings at once and being placed directly on the wanted list.
Lufiel lowered his head.
Dong Li’s cheeks were flushed scarlet in his arms, his wet violet eyes completely bewildered.
When they had dated before, the most they had ever done was exchange simple kisses.
Their relationship had been innocent to the extreme.
They had never kissed like this.
Dong Li had been thoroughly kissed senseless.
His breathing was uneven.
His fingers clutched tightly at one corner of Lufiel’s robe.
Still dazed, he licked his lips.
Author’s Note:
Pure little Dong Li: o(/// – ///)o
