Chapter 34: Can I Go to Your World?
Dong Li nodded almost instinctively, a hint of dependence showing in his violet eyes.
He didn’t think much of it. He simply assumed Lufiel was in a bad mood and wanted to hold him.
Liufeng had mentioned Lufiel’s relationship with his grandfather earlier, and Dong Li did remember a little about it.
From what he recalled, whenever Lufiel’s mood changed in the past, his grandfather was usually the reason.
But Dong Li had never pressed him for details back then, so he didn’t know exactly what had happened.
Thinking about it now, the version of himself who had lived in the Fuling Region had been even more naive and simple than he was now. There had been so many things he simply couldn’t think deeply about.
Whenever he noticed that his boyfriend was unhappy, all he knew was how to comfort him in his own way.
Like giving him a hug.
Liufeng and the half-demons soon caught up from behind.
Dong Li lowered his head and tucked the tiny cluster of golden fire into his sleeve, then continued forward beside Lufiel.
The mine tunnels twisted and turned, forcing Liufeng to check their direction from time to time so they wouldn’t stray off course.
Judging by how far they had traveled since entering the underground mine, they had probably already passed beyond Maidong City’s territory and entered the outskirts.
They still had some distance to go before reaching the area near Asura City.
Dong Li occasionally took out the metal plate to check the map.
When he glanced back and saw that all the half-demons seemed perfectly fine, he finally relaxed completely.
Most of them had probably been like Yuanbao before, forced to remain inside dungeons.
But now they had left Maidong City.
They didn’t have to go back.
Dong Li casually opened the Player Forum again and discovered that it had exploded into chaos once more.
[Title: Logged in the second the servers came back and the Level 3 White Phoenix Bird I’d been camping was waking up too. Gotta hand it to this game!]
[Title: Did the half-demons from Maidong City hide in the underground mine? Anyone see them?]
[Title: Bronze-Armored Taotie Is Using Tactics While Eating People Now. Did the Demon King Put Points Into Its Intelligence?]
[Title: Mysterious Golden Fire Erupts in Maidong Underground Mine! New Storyline Again?]
[Title: Where Did Lufiel Go? Anyone Know Why He Got Wanted?]
[Title: Just Logged Back In. Why Is Something Happening Again?]
When Dong Li had first woken up alone, the metal plate hadn’t worked either.
It had only returned to normal after Liufeng appeared.
He skimmed through the forum.
The half-demon attack.
The Taotie eating players.
The game suddenly shutting down for two hours.
And now mysterious golden fire inside the mine…
Normally, Lufiel ending up on the wanted list should have been huge news.
But there was so much else happening that the players hardly had time to care. His bounty had somehow become a secondary issue, and almost no one seemed interested in hunting him anymore.
As for the mysterious golden fire—that was obviously the fire Dong Li had released.
The remaining flames were probably still burning.
And this nonsense about the Taotie using tactics…
Dong Li thought indignantly, I taught Heidan that. The demon king didn’t give him intelligence points.
But then he paused.
He quietly reached under his robe and touched his tail.
His expression turned thoughtful.
If he looked like this now, did that mean he counted as a half-demon?
Then…
No.
There was no way he was the demon king.
He had never done anything bad.
Dong Li thought about it for another moment.
His confidence wavered.
Well…
Maybe a tiny bit.
He put away the metal plate and tightened his hold on Lufiel’s hand.
After traveling a little farther, the group reached a relatively spacious and quiet section of the mine.
Lufiel suggested stopping to rest.
The half-demons had no objections.
They even volunteered to scout and stand guard nearby so they could immediately detect any approaching magma monsters or players.
Liufeng had nothing better to do.
When he saw Lufiel take Dong Li into a small side cavern for some privacy, he tactfully moved farther away.
He still wanted to investigate whether the Energy Stone actually existed.
He sent his mental energy seeping into the stone walls, trying to probe the game data hidden inside.
—
The small side cavern was narrow.
Dong Li sat in Lufiel’s arms and shifted uncomfortably.
He had suddenly gained a tail, and just like Rongrong, it didn’t seem to listen to him very well.
He kept reaching behind himself to adjust it, but no matter how he moved, he couldn’t get comfortable.
In the end, Lufiel helped him.
He lifted the back of Dong Li’s robe slightly, wrapped an arm around his waist, and settled Dong Li astride his lap.
The position was far too intimate.
Dong Li’s ears immediately turned red.
But…
it really was much more comfortable.
He quickly relaxed, wrapped his arms around Lufiel, and buried his face against him with a little nuzzle.
Lufiel slowly stroked down his back.
“Did your golden fire cause the server to disconnect?”
“My fire?” Dong Li looked confused. “I don’t know…”
He had no idea how long he had been unconscious.
But judging by Lufiel and Liufeng’s timeline, they really had been forcibly logged out right after Dong Li released the golden fire.
“Am I really that powerful?” Dong Li muttered. “Why would it affect all of you? Though… I passed out too…”
Now that they were alone, his words gradually trailed off.
He tugged at his hood.
“I don’t know why I turned into this either,” Dong Li murmured, almost to himself. “I was really scared. I felt like I’d become something strange… But when I look at the Titmouse and the others, I don’t think they’re strange at all…”
Lufiel understood what he meant.
“Maybe that fear comes from the way the system programmed you, not from what you truly think.”
“Programmed me?”
Dong Li repeated the words, only half understanding.
With his current understanding of the world, it was still difficult for him to grasp how some of his own traits could have been “set” by something else.
“Don’t be afraid.”
Lufiel leaned closer.
“Let me see your ears.”
Then he released a sword-aura barrier.
Golden light sealed off nearly both sides of the cavern, creating an enclosed space.
The light inside dimmed slightly.
Dong Li looked around.
After hesitating for a moment, he nodded.
He pulled down his hood himself.
A pair of fox ears emerged.
They were the same golden color as his hair, with a faint blush of pink on the inner side.
They weren’t quite the same as real animal ears.
They were more like an additional physical feature atop his head, similar to horns—a trait that marked his species.
Dong Li lowered his head beneath Lufiel’s gaze, resisting the urge to hide them again.
He was only looking.
Lufiel was still holding him.
He didn’t dislike him…
But then Lufiel slowly raised a hand and gently touched one.
Dong Li immediately stiffened.
His fox ears were extremely sensitive.
At the soft stroke, he didn’t know what to do and quickly buried himself against Lufiel.
“Don’t be afraid,” Lufiel coaxed. “Does it hurt?”
Dong Li’s muffled voice came from his chest.
“No…”
It actually felt rather nice.
Like someone gently stroking the ears of a cat or dog, soothing in a strange way.
Seeing that Dong Li wasn’t resisting, Lufiel continued touching the fox ear.
Then he couldn’t resist giving it a soft rub.
Dong Li’s breathing instantly went uneven.
He stared at Lufiel with wide violet eyes, looking as though he wanted to stop him but couldn’t get the words out.
A blush slowly spread across his cheeks.
Lufiel leaned in and kissed him.
First his cheek.
Then his lips.
The kiss was relatively brief, but the intimacy helped Dong Li relax further.
Only belatedly did he realize that Lufiel had rubbed his ears several more times during it.
“Rongrong is so cute,” Lufiel coaxed softly. “You’re beautiful like this too.”
There were no mirrors in the mine and no water clear enough to reflect his image.
After waking up, Dong Li had felt himself all over.
As far as he could tell, only his ears and tail had changed.
Everything else was the same.
But he had never actually seen himself with fox ears and a tail.
He had been too frightened even to imagine it.
Now, hearing Lufiel say that, Dong Li felt both shy and happy.
He tightened his arms around Lufiel’s neck.
“Really?”
“Really.”
So even like this—Lufiel still liked him.
The final traces of anxiety in Dong Li’s heart disappeared.
Behind him, his tail unconsciously perked up.
His robe had already been lifted slightly, so it was no longer covering it.
The fluffy golden tail was ridiculously full, almost like a squirrel’s.
Dong Li didn’t notice.
It swayed gently from side to side, betraying his excellent mood.
Then he noticed Lufiel’s gaze shifting behind him.
Dong Li realized something was wrong—but too late.
Lufiel reached out and easily caught the tip of his tail.
Then, just as he had with Dong Li’s ears, he gently stroked it.
The tail turned out to be even more sensitive.
Dong Li went completely rigid.
It took him several seconds to react.
Then he hurriedly grabbed his tail and yanked it out of Lufiel’s hand.
“Don’t…” His words tangled together. “You’re not allowed to touch my tail…”
Lufiel’s hand was left empty.
He didn’t insist.
Instead, he wrapped both arms around Dong Li again.
“All right. I won’t touch your tail.”
He kissed Dong Li’s cheek and, as usual, asked, “Did it hurt?”
Dong Li was terrible at lying.
He stammered, “N-No…”
His heart was pounding.
His legs felt a little weak too—almost like after Lufiel kissed him.
But when Dong Li touched his own tail, it didn’t feel like anything special…
He was thoroughly confused.
He hurriedly pulled his robe back into place and tried his hardest to stop his tail from moving around.
Lufiel continued kissing him.
When Dong Li lowered his head, Lufiel even kissed one of his fox ears.
The fluffy tip twitched.
Dong Li’s face was still flushed.
This time, he didn’t stop him.
Once he gradually calmed down, Lufiel asked, “Feeling better? Don’t be afraid. It’s only a pair of ears and a tail. Maybe they’ll disappear again in a few days.”
Dong Li nodded obediently.
Only then did he realize that Lufiel had stopped halfway through their journey and said he wanted to hold him because he had been trying to comfort him.
But Lufiel’s actions—and the things he said—were real too.
The way his gaze had frozen when he touched Dong Li’s tail.
The change in his breathing.
Those couldn’t be faked.
Dong Li became even happier.
He clung to Lufiel again, all soft and sticky.
“Lulu…”
The shiver from having his tail touched still seemed to linger.
Dong Li kissed the side of Lufiel’s face and suddenly had the urge to bite him.
The thought had barely surfaced before he had already sunk his teeth in.
Not hard.
Just a tiny nibble.
It didn’t even leave a mark.
The moment Dong Li realized what he had done, he hurriedly licked the spot in apology.
Lufiel touched the tip of his chin and smoothly turned it into another kiss.
Dong Li’s tail perked up again.
This time, Lufiel restrained himself and didn’t touch it.
When the kiss ended, Dong Li slowly swished his tail and remembered what Liufeng had told him earlier.
Dong Li had been thoroughly comforted.
But he still didn’t know what had happened between Lufiel and his grandfather.
After thinking about it, he asked, “Lulu… are you feeling better now?”
Lufiel stroked his golden hair.
“Liufeng told you?”
“Mm.” Dong Li nodded. “He said your grandfather called you away, and…”
“We don’t get along.”
Lufiel smiled faintly.
“It’s fine. I don’t like him either.”
Doing this much for an NPC in a game was probably something Lu Zenuo would never understand.
But now that things had already reached this point, Lufiel actually felt much lighter.
Dong Li studied him carefully.
Once he was sure Lufiel genuinely wasn’t upset, he rested his head against Lufiel’s chest.
“Anyway, I really like Lulu. Lulu is the best.”
The sword-aura barrier still surrounded them.
Inside the small, safe space, Dong Li’s voice gradually grew quieter.
Almost as though talking to himself, he continued,
“Lulu stays with me, and I want to stay with Lulu forever too. But…”
Confusion slowly appeared in his violet eyes.
“But before you came back, I couldn’t find you. You always know where to find me, but I never know where to find you.”
Lufiel’s breathing caught.
“Rongrong…”
Dong Li lifted his head.
Then, very seriously, he asked, “Can I go to your world?”
Since discovering that Dong Li had left the Fuling Region, too many things had happened in far too little time.
Lufiel hadn’t yet had the chance to tell him what Liufeng was working on.
And Liufeng had warned him, indirectly, that if an NPC was taken away from the game world it had always known, it might react with fear or rejection.
Being lovers wouldn’t magically solve everything.
But now—Dong Li had asked on his own.
Because he liked Lufiel.
Because he wanted to stay with him forever.
Lufiel looked into Dong Li’s violet eyes.
He was silent for a moment.
Then suddenly leaned in and kissed him.
Dong Li was caught completely off guard.
Lufiel’s arm tightened around his waist.
Dong Li instinctively pushed at him, but couldn’t move him.
Then his tail was touched again.
All the strength immediately left Dong Li’s body.
He let out a small, dissatisfied whine.
He said he wouldn’t touch it…
Only after the kiss finally ended did Lufiel stroke Dong Li’s back and explain,
“Liufeng is already trying. He’s good at this kind of thing. If everything works, he’ll be able to take you out of this world…”
Dong Li listened in a daze.
He didn’t seem to fully understand.
While he was distracted, his tail continued swaying behind him, one slow sweep after another.
It looked almost like an invitation.
Impossible to ignore.
Lufiel hesitated for exactly one second.
Then he caught Dong Li’s fluffy fox tail and gently rubbed it.
This time, his touch was firmer than before.
It didn’t hurt.
But the sensation was strangely unbearable.
Dong Li let out a muffled sound, his breathing turning rapid.
Then he lunged forward and bit down on Lufiel’s Adam’s apple, grinding his teeth against it lightly.
