Chapter 30: Are My Lips Red?
Dong Li tilted his face up, breathing in short, hurried gasps.
His mind was completely blank. He had forgotten all about the half-demons, the players—everything. For a moment, he could barely even remember what he had been doing before this.
They had shared one brief kiss at the dungeon entrance.
Then after entering the forest, they had kissed for much, much longer.
Lufiel was still holding him now, kissing from the corner of his lips to his flushed cheek, again and again.
Dong Li’s tightly curled fingers were taken in Lufiel’s hand as well. Under his gentle guidance, they slowly relaxed until their palms were rubbing together intimately.
“I’m sorry, Rongrong,” Lufiel murmured. “Even if we complete the partnership quest, I still won’t be allowed to kiss you. I couldn’t hold back anymore.”
As he spoke, he kissed the tip of Dong Li’s nose.
Dong Li felt boneless in his arms.
It took him quite a while to recover enough to think.
So Lufiel hadn’t told him the truth yesterday…
The truth medicine must have already worn off by then.
Even if they completed the partnership quest, the system restrictions would still remain.
If Dong Li had found that out yesterday, he probably would have been a little disappointed.
But now…
Lufiel was still kissing him, gently brushing his lips against the corner of Dong Li’s mouth.
Dong Li struggled to keep his thoughts straight.
“B-But you’ll…”
Then he realized something else.
Lufiel had also conveniently turned himself into the “bait.”
A first severe warning remained active for thirty days. During that period, the player couldn’t commit another boundary violation.
Lufiel had just received his second warning.
That meant he had been placed on the wanted list, and his coordinates had immediately been broadcast to the entire server.
Lufiel already attracted enormous attention.
And after Dong Li had casually mentioned the “demon king” on the forum, plenty of players would definitely rush over to investigate.
That would draw some of Maidong City’s fighting strength away from the half-demons.
“It’s fine,” Lufiel coaxed softly. “They can’t kill me.”
The first time Lufiel ended up on the wanted list, half the server had spent the entire thirty days speculating about what exactly he had done in the Fuling Region.
Once a player became wanted, they couldn’t clear their inventory, which meant any item they carried could potentially drop upon death.
Plenty of players had hunted Lufiel relentlessly, hoping to get their hands on the Crimson-Gold Sword.
Unfortunately for them, not a single person succeeded during the entire thirty-day period.
Dong Li was still worried.
“Then… will they know we’re in here?”
“No.”
A wanted player’s real-time coordinates were only broadcast once.
After that, new coordinates were only sent if a patrol NPC in any region spotted them, or if they died and respawned.
Players who weren’t strong enough were often found immediately by people who had accepted the bounty quest.
Once they died and revived, some couldn’t even make it ten meters from the respawn point before being killed again and again until their level plummeted.
And the thirty-day wanted period referred to in-game time.
There was no avoiding it by simply staying offline.
Lufiel hadn’t acted on impulse.
He had known the consequences from the beginning.
Being wanted meant he no longer had to worry about the system’s intimacy restrictions either.
And he had waited for so long.
Finally, Dong Li had woken up.
Not only that, after leaving the Fuling Region, Dong Li’s awareness and behavior had changed from before.
He had more thoughts of his own.
He understood Lufiel better.
And now they could kiss.
Dong Li finally relaxed a little.
His head was still dizzy, but he tightened his arms around Lufiel anyway.
“I’ll protect you too…”
Lufiel seemed to smile.
He stroked the tip of Dong Li’s chin.
“One more kiss?”
Dong Li hadn’t even had time to react before Lufiel kissed him again.
This time, Lufiel was much gentler.
He guided him slowly.
Neither of them had much experience, but compared to Lufiel, Dong Li was a complete blank slate—and somehow the one with the stronger desire to learn.
Dong Li instinctively began responding, clumsily imitating what Lufiel did.
The game was almost too realistic.
Every sensation was perfectly simulated—the wet warmth of their tongues, the gradual rise in body temperature, everything.
By the time Lufiel had kissed him until his legs felt weak, Dong Li had accidentally bitten him several times.
Each time, after a dazed pause, he would lick the spot as though making up for it.
Somewhere in his muddled thoughts, Dong Li wondered whether this was really the right time for any of this.
The half-demons were still out there…
Who knew how things were going for them?
Halfway through another kiss, Dong Li managed to say brokenly, “Outside… Heidan…”
He could hear something now.
It sounded like players had already reached the area.
“Don’t worry.”
Lufiel held his chin.
“They can’t get in.”
—
At the entrance to the dungeon, Heidan and Yuanbao were crouched inside the grass.
Rongrong was hidden even farther away, its tail tucked completely out of sight as its violet eyes watched the path ahead.
Behind them, the Crimson-Gold Sword floated silently in the shadows, waiting to strike.
The vague information on the forum, combined with the new wanted-list announcement, brought the first wave of players rushing over almost immediately.
Most of them, however, had only come to watch the excitement.
They happened to be nearby and wanted to see what was going on.
This was Lufiel’s second time on the wanted list.
Last time, countless players had hunted him, including plenty of people high on the rankings.
Yet not one of them had managed to kill him.
“There aren’t many NPCs around here, right?” someone wondered aloud. “So did he piss someone off?”
There were only so many ways to get wanted in the game.
Lufiel normally played perfectly straightforwardly.
He either ran dungeons or went to the arena to kill people.
Even the last time he became wanted, nobody ever figured out exactly what he had done.
“Where’s the demon king? Wasn’t he supposed to be hunting the demon king?”
“Maybe he attacked the demon-king boss before its HP bar even activated and the system flagged him for breaking the rules?”
“You’ve got quite the imagination… Maybe he’s hacking. You really think every top-ranked player is naturally that insane?”
“Think he’s hiding inside the dungeon?”
The coordinates that had been broadcast pointed directly to the Illusion Forest entrance.
There weren’t many other places to hide in the surrounding area.
Eventually, some players became too curious and entered the dungeon.
For some reason, the forest was far darker than usual.
The moment they stepped inside, it was almost as though day had abruptly turned into night.
Even the multicolored mist that normally floated through the air was gone.
With the last traces of light missing, one player stopped and took out an illumination orb.
The instant it lit up—a gigantic black head appeared from nowhere.
Gulp.
Three players vanished into its mouth.
Then the head disappeared just as quickly.
Heidan burst out of the grass, crimson eyes blazing with excitement.
Ha!
Finally!
Time to eat!
The players entering the dungeon were completely unprepared.
Heidan opened its mouth wide again and swallowed several more in one go.
Then it reached the entrance and activated its ability on the crowd.
[Bronze-Armored Taotie] — [Domain]
An ancient formation appeared beneath their feet.
Everyone froze.
A hemispherical barrier of black gauze rose around them, while enormous armor plates began slicing back and forth through the crowd.
“Holy shit! Why is the Taotie here?!”
“What the hell?! Don’t tell me the Ice Qilin’s here too!”
“Wait—where’s the Taotie?!”
There was no gigantic beast anywhere inside the Domain.
Heidan was still hiding in the grass, watching everyone scramble in confusion.
It crept forward a few steps.
While armor plates flew everywhere and blocked everyone’s line of sight, Heidan quietly ate two more people.
Hehe…
Dong Li had taught it this.
Activate the Domain, but don’t transform.
Don’t fight anyone head-on.
And if things got dangerous, cancel the Domain and run.
Heidan’s level was high and its combat strength was formidable, but its HP was relatively low.
Once surrounded and focused down, it could easily lose.
Dong Li worried about it too and didn’t want it taking unnecessary risks.
Besides—doing it this way seemed to make the Domain cover an even larger area.
Heidan swallowed another player.
Then it licked the corner of its mouth and crouched behind the weeds, waiting for another opening.
Not far away, Rongrong and Yuanbao had entered the Domain as well.
They hid in another corner and quietly watched the crowd.
The Taotie’s Domain had suddenly appeared, but the Taotie itself was nowhere to be found, as if the dungeon had bugged out.
And unless they beat the Taotie into a weakened state, the Domain wouldn’t disappear…
The players were thoroughly confused and had no idea what to do.
—
At the same time, the half-demons began their attack.
Outside Maidong City’s exit, more than a dozen patrol NPCs were stationed along the wall.
Without warning, an enormous flock of Titmouse appeared overhead.
The guards immediately sounded the alarm.
“Half-demons spotted! Prepare to defend!”
But the next moment, a Half-Demon Titmouse flew in carrying an Illusion Snake.
Shielded by the flock, they rapidly closed the distance.
The Illusion Snake exhaled a cloud of multicolored smoke.
Every patrol guard collapsed almost instantly.
The last one still standing was slapped unconscious by Liuye.
Liufeng failed to stop her and could only follow her into the city.
At the same moment, every player in Maidong City received the warning.
“Huh? The half-demons are back?”
“They’re attacking in broad daylight? That’s bold…”
“Holy shit, why are there so many?!”
“What are they trying to do?!”
High above the city, the flock surrounded more than twenty half-demons as they raced toward the dungeon where their companions were being held.
Titmouse and Illusion Snakes were specialties of the Illusion Forest.
At most, only two half-demons normally appeared in the dungeon per week.
Now more than twenty had suddenly appeared at once.
Nearly everyone was stunned.
“The beast arena dungeon! They’re going to the dungeon!”
One player realized it first and immediately gave chase.
By the time Liufeng and Liuye reached the dungeon area, the half-demons were already fighting the players stationed there.
Multicolored smoke blanketed the surroundings.
No one knew how many people had been dragged into illusions.
A large number of NPCs were already lying unconscious on the ground.
A heavily armored player confidently stepped forward.
Within a few exchanges, the Titmouse hammered him backward again and again.
“This half-demon’s attack and defense are insane!” he shouted in disbelief. “When the hell did it get buffed?!”
A teammate nearby was equally shocked.
“Is this even a half-demon anymore? I almost got one-shotted!”
Liufeng stayed hidden nearby.
There were plenty of players, but they were completely outmatched.
Every one of the half-demons was fighting with terrifying ferocity.
They took hit after hit without losing much HP, while the Illusion Snakes’ colored smoke constantly disrupted the battlefield.
The players hadn’t prepared for anything like this.
The dungeon doors were broken open with almost embarrassing ease.
Liufeng scanned the crowd.
“None of the really strong ones are here… Haven’t they left Dragonbone Town yet?”
“Even if they were here, I’m not sure they could stop this,” Liuye said, adjusting her mask. “These half-demons look at least five times stronger than normal.”
More than twenty half-demons had never gathered together like this before.
Illusion Snakes were already difficult enough to handle on their own.
And plenty of players had been lured away by Lufiel’s wanted announcement.
Liufeng sucked in a breath.
“Five times?”
Just because they had eaten Dong Li’s pills…?
Then he suddenly asked, “You didn’t throw away the spirit medicine you got from the arena, did you? Give me one.”
—
Meanwhile, Dong Li finally emerged from the forest.
He stood at the dungeon entrance and saw that Heidan’s Domain had already shrunk considerably.
Most of the players had successfully ended up in Heidan’s stomach.
The remaining section of the Domain barrier still covered the entrance, blocking the view from outside.
Lufiel received a message from Liufeng.
“The half-demons are doing well so far,” he told Dong Li. “But once they rescue their companions, they need to retreat immediately.”
The players who died would rush back from the respawn point.
And the situation here would attract even more attention.
The more players arrived, the more dangerous it would become for the half-demons.
Lufiel was still speaking when Dong Li looked up at him.
Ever since they came out of the forest, Lufiel had gone right back to his usual expression, as though the two of them hadn’t done anything at all.
But now whenever Dong Li looked at him…his legs felt a little weak.
Lufiel quickly noticed his distraction.
He bent closer.
“What’s wrong?”
Dong Li’s cheeks were still flushed.
“Lulu…”
Lufiel pulled him into his arms with a quiet, “Mm?”
Dong Li took a moment to savor the feeling of Lufiel hugging him first.
Then he touched his own lips.
Looking up, he asked softly, “Did you kiss them red?”
Author’s Note:
More than just red. [shy]
