Chapter 28: Because I Saw Him
Dong Li was obviously looking forward to it.
He still remembered the kiss from earlier.
It wasn’t that he absolutely had to be kissed again…
But Lufiel had felt completely different then.
It had been the exact opposite of his usual cold restraint. Dong Li had been kissed until he could barely breathe.
He wanted to try it again.
Properly this time, so he could understand exactly what that feeling was like.
And there was another reason.
The system’s restrictions had become an obstacle between them.
Dong Li didn’t like that.
Still, he had learned far too many things all at once, and his head was still a little muddled.
For now, the thought he cared about most was simply—his boyfriend really, really liked him.
Lufiel looked at him, lips parting slightly.
Dong Li was an NPC.
Even if they completed the partnership quest again, they would still only become Level-One Partners, and the system’s restrictions would loosen by only a small amount.
But if Lufiel told him the truth now, Dong Li might be disappointed.
Especially when he looked like this—clearly asking for another kiss.
Fortunately, the truth medicine’s effect had just worn off.
“Yes,” Lufiel said.
Perhaps he still wasn’t completely clear-headed.
Or perhaps he was more clear-headed than ever.
Dong Li was sitting in his arms.
The fact that Lufiel had managed to stop himself from continuing the kiss earlier had already required an extraordinary amount of restraint.
Once they successfully left this place…how much longer could he really hold back?
At worst, he would become wanted again.
As long as he prepared in advance, he could still keep Dong Li safely by his side.
Thinking about it that way, the partnership quest hardly seemed important anymore.
And yet, in this game world, a partnership recognized by the system felt like the only formal proof that existed between them.
Dong Li didn’t notice that the truth medicine had worn off.
His violet eyes lit up even brighter.
With red-tipped ears, he leaned over and kissed Lufiel on the cheek.
Then he asked, “How do we do the quest?”
“I’ll find a Nine-Lotus Herb and give it to you,” Lufiel said. “Once you accept it, the quest is complete.”
“Nine-Lotus Herb?”
Dong Li vaguely remembered it.
A very beautiful medicinal plant.
“Did you… give me one before?”
“Mm.” Lufiel’s voice softened. “I thought you knew what accepting it meant.”
Dong Li thought carefully.
Why did he remember accepting the first Nine-Lotus Herb before Lufiel had agreed to date him?
Was he remembering wrong…?
Dong Li decided not to worry about it.
He tightened his arms around Lufiel.
“I know now.”
He had learned so many things he hadn’t known before.
Everything suddenly felt new and fascinating.
Dong Li even wondered whether one day he might be able to become a player too.
But he had only left the Fuling Region a short while ago.
Thinking that far ahead was still beyond him.
The two remained inside the little wooden house for a while longer.
Only after Dong Li confirmed that Lufiel’s body temperature had returned to normal and the truth medicine had completely worn off did Lufiel finally let him go.
He also returned the little medicine furnace he had been keeping for him.
Rongrong wandered back for the second time and finally found Dong Li emerging from the wooden house.
The Half-Demon Titmouse immediately came over as well and offered Dong Li a cup of freshly squeezed juice.
The pill-making began again.
The half-demons immediately started bringing over fresh medicinal herbs in a steady stream.
Watching handful after handful disappear into the seemingly bottomless little furnace, Dong Li suddenly decided he wanted to try lighting the fire himself.
That morning, Lufiel had said the pills’ special effects might come from Dong Li’s golden fire…
Dong Li held the little medicine furnace in both hands.
He took several deep breaths.
Then concentrated.
And concentrated.
But perhaps he had too many distracting thoughts.
After trying for a long time, he still couldn’t produce even a spark.
Rongrong crouched beside him and gave an impatient little “mm.”
Dong Li had no choice but to put the furnace down again.
The little fox expertly breathed out a burst of golden flame, igniting the medicinal plants inside.
Why could his spirit form do it when he couldn’t…?
Still, Dong Li wasn’t particularly surprised.
It had always been like this.
Either he couldn’t summon the fire at all, or he lost control and produced flames far too intense.
Dong Li rested his chin in his hands and stared blankly for a while.
Then he got up and went to find Lufiel.
Lufiel was standing farther back, leaning against one of the vine stumps while looking down at his system interface.
He was clearing out all the warning notifications.
Now that the truth medicine had worn off, he seemed to have returned to his usual cold, emotionless self in front of others.
Dong Li approached him.
“Lulu…”
Lufiel closed the interface and held out a hand.
Dong Li instinctively leaned into his arms.
Then he looked up.
“Lulu, can I see your sword?”
So the two of them went off alone again, this time to a secluded part of the forest.
Lufiel summoned the Crimson-Gold Sword and laid it on the grass.
Dong Li crouched beside it curiously.
He touched the hilt.
Then cautiously brushed a fingertip against the cold gleam of the blade.
The Crimson-Gold Sword was perfectly quiet.
A faint, gentle glow surrounded it, completely unlike the menacing weapon it became in battle.
Dong Li studied it for a while.
Then he grabbed the hilt and tried to lift it.
He gave up after only a moment.
…
So heavy.
Whenever Lufiel used sword aura, Dong Li could vaguely sense that it was something similar to a spirit form.
But because Lufiel was an “outsider,” his sword aura couldn’t form a proper body.
The Crimson-Gold Sword was more like the vessel for that aura.
Or perhaps a box that stored it.
Dong Li thought for a moment.
“Does your sword ever refuse to listen to you?”
“Usually not,” Lufiel replied. “Only when my emotions fluctuate too much. Then I might temporarily lose control.”
He didn’t tell Dong Li that outside the game, his mental energy was overly aggressive and could easily injure his teammates during training.
Inside the game, players could externalize their mental energy as elemental abilities.
That actually prevented Lufiel’s power from expanding uncontrollably without his awareness.
Dong Li stroked the hilt again.
“Sometimes I feel like Rongrong is stronger than I am…”
Lufiel already knew the little fox occasionally ignored Dong Li’s commands.
He reassured him softly, “That’s because you’re the most special.”
Dong Li was instantly comforted.
He turned and slipped straight into Lufiel’s arms.
“I know. I’m different from everyone else.”
He hugged Lufiel tightly.
“I wonder how Shu Bai is doing…”
Now that Dong Li had left Dragonbone Town with the demonic beasts, Shu Bai was probably still working on schedule every day, just like before…
At that moment, Liufeng happened to send a voice-call request.
Since Dong Li was beside him, Lufiel simply put the call on speaker.
“I heard something happened in Dragonbone Town again,” Liufeng said from some corner outside Maidong City. “Today’s the second day of the arena, right? Some players already came out early, and after taking the spirit medicine they got as a reward, something seems to have gone wrong with their mental energy.”
Dong Li gave a quiet, curious “Huh?”
Lufiel asked, “What kind of problem?”
“Not sure yet.”
Liufeng was scrolling through the Player Forum as he spoke.
“Probably some kind of bug affecting player stats. There are even people claiming it affected them outside the game too…”
Lufiel was busy at the moment, so Liufeng had left the Illusion Forest and come to the outskirts of Maidong City.
He had only just learned about the issue.
There had been far too many strange incidents recently.
And most of them somehow seemed connected to Dong Li…
Liufeng had a bad feeling and was about to ask about it.
Before he could, he heard Dong Li speak.
“The arena…” Dong Li sounded uncertain. “Do you mean the Trial Grounds? I made medicine there before I left Dragonbone Town.”
Liufeng immediately had a terrible feeling.
Then he heard Lufiel ask from the other end,
“What medicine?”
“I don’t know either,” Dong Li answered honestly. “At the time, a Dog Spirit found me, so I knocked him out. Then I found a Trial Grounds plaque on him…”
Dong Li had wanted to leave as quickly as possible.
Instead, two Cat Spirits had mistaken him for that Dog Spirit.
And then…he had somehow been taken into the Trial Grounds and made a giant batch of medicine.
Lufiel remembered it too.
That afternoon, he really had seen Dong Li enter the Trial Grounds.
Dong Li looked troubled.
“I think the Cat Spirits were face-blind. I had a plaque, and somehow I became the supervisor… They wouldn’t let me leave unless I made the medicine.”
Liufeng asked very carefully, “So the spirit medicine being given out at the arena this time… was brewed by you?”
Then he added, “How exactly did you make it?”
“I just lit the fire and boiled it,” Dong Li said as if it were obvious. “All the ingredients were already there, so I put everything in.”
He had used Rongrong’s golden fire too.
If there was any difference between those pills and the medicine he normally brewed, it was probably the size of the furnace—and his mood.
At the time, all Dong Li wanted was to finish as quickly as possible and leave.
He hadn’t cared what the final pills looked like.
As long as something came out of the furnace, that was good enough.
Liufeng sucked in a breath.
He didn’t dare make any conclusions yet.
Instead, he immediately messaged Liuye and told her under no circumstances to eat the spirit medicine from the arena.
“It’s fine. Don’t worry about it.”
Lufiel held Dong Li and stroked his golden hair.
“Were a lot of people affected?”
“Not too many.”
Liufeng continued scrolling.
“There are a little over ten bug-report threads so far.”
The first group of players who had taken the spirit medicine had already posted about the problem.
Once everyone else saw the reports, they naturally stopped eating it.
While the two continued talking, Dong Li took out his own metal plate.
He hadn’t checked it much over the past two days.
The information displayed on it had changed again.
[Species: Fox Spirit]
[Region: Fuling]
[Level: 30]
[HP: Unknown]
[Status: Good]
[View Work Log]
How had he suddenly reached Level 30…?
Dong Li didn’t think much of it.
He casually opened the Player Forum.
[Title: Damn It, I Can’t Use My Mental Energy Anymore!]
[Title: Is This Some Scripted Nerf or an Actual Bug? I’m a Level 98 Assassin and After Taking That Spirit Medicine I Lost to a Level 20 Blood Spider?? Just Kill Me.]
[Title: Another Day Without the Mysterious Demon King Appearing]
[Title: Live Report From a Maidong City Incident Survivor]
[Title: Lufiel’s Pretty Calculating, Huh?]
Dong Li looked through the page.
Then he opened the thread with Lufiel’s name in the title.
[OP: Signs up for the arena and then refuses to show. Psychological warfare against everyone else.]
[Floor 1: Are you kidding me? Now you’re flaming him for not showing up? What rank are you that you’re this pressed?]
[Floor 2: The other top players just aren’t pulling their weight. They still haven’t passed him, and the point gap isn’t even that big.]
[Floor 8: Good thing he didn’t go. Otherwise his mental energy would’ve gotten messed up from the spirit medicine too.]
[Floor 9: With his condition, wouldn’t it be better if something went wrong?]
[Floor 32: Forget it. The future Chief has already skipped training for two days. Man’s playing mind games both inside and outside the game.]
[Floor 33: Is he not allowed to have a personal life?]
Dong Li frowned as he read.
“Why are they always talking about you…?”
Lufiel lowered his head.
The metal plate in Dong Li’s hands was glowing blue.
Dong Li had told him before that the plate he picked up could display the map and Player Forum.
Lufiel rarely read the forum himself.
He had nearly forgotten that Dong Li could use it to learn things.
Even without looking, he could roughly guess what people were saying.
“Just ignore them,” Lufiel said indifferently.
His identity was unusual.
He ranked near the top of multiple leaderboards in the game.
And after becoming red-named and wanted once before, he naturally attracted even more attention.
Dong Li was still unhappy.
“I really want Heidan to eat all of them…”
He stared at the thread.
Then suddenly had an idea.
So he posted beneath it:
[Lufiel is busy hunting the demon king.]
The forum was crowded right now.
Someone replied almost immediately.
[How do you know?]
Dong Li lied without the slightest change in expression.
[Because I saw him.]
[Floor 51: Where? Drop the coordinates.]
