Chapter 35: Brush My Tail Too
Dong Li wasn’t really biting him. It was more like the way some small animals showed affection.
Lufiel let him do it.
Not only did he make no attempt to stop him, he even stroked Dong Li’s back encouragingly.
Dong Li kept his teeth there for quite a while before finally letting go. His tail swayed slowly behind him, but he still felt strangely restless, so after a moment he leaned in and bit Lufiel again.
That helped.
Dazedly, Dong Li wondered when he had suddenly become so fond of biting people.
He had already bitten Lufiel once earlier.
Could it be that now he had grown ears and a tail—now that he really had become something like a half-demon—his behavior was becoming more foxlike too…?
But the Titmouse and Illusion Snakes never did anything particularly strange.
At most, the Titmouse groomed their feathers and the Illusion Snakes polished their scales.
Besides, Rongrong had never bitten people before either…
Wait.
When Dong Li and Lufiel had first started dating, Rongrong actually had bitten him a few times.
A spirit form was part of its owner.
Dong Li liked Lufiel, so naturally Rongrong liked him too.
Whenever the little fox was happy, it even wagged its tail at Lufiel.
Wagged its tail…
Dong Li turned his head.
Sure enough, his own tail had perked right up again.
He hurriedly grabbed it, trying to stuff it under his robe and pin it down so it would stop moving.
Lufiel caught his hand and gently stopped him.
“It’s okay,” he coaxed. “I’m the only one who can see it.”
Dong Li kept one hand protectively over his tail.
“Then you’re not allowed to touch it again… You can touch my ears, but not my tail.”
“All right.”
Lufiel agreed immediately.
“I won’t.”
He pulled Dong Li back into his arms, then took out some snacks he had stored earlier.
Dong Li still hadn’t fully recovered from how much golden fire he had used, and he wasn’t quite full yet.
He leaned into Lufiel and took a bite of a fried meatball from his hand.
Only after finishing it did Dong Li remember what they had been talking about before.
Curiously, he asked, “Can Liufeng really take me out of here?”
“Not yet. He needs to find the game terminal first, or finish building the extraction device,” Lufiel explained. “He’s preparing for both.”
Terminal.
Extraction device.
Dong Li didn’t understand either term.
But the idea still made him faintly excited, almost as if he were about to travel somewhere he had never been before.
“Then I’ll be able to go to your world someday!” he said. “What’s your world like? Are there demonic beasts there too?”
“Not in the star system where I live,” Lufiel said. “Other star systems have had similar species, but I’ve never seen one myself.”
Dong Li only half understood.
“Star systems…”
“But, Rongrong…”
Lufiel paused.
“If you leave this world, you might not be able to come back.”
Dong Li froze for a moment.
He didn’t seem particularly resistant to the idea.
Instead, he immediately pulled the two little beasts from his pockets.
“What about Yuanbao and Heidan?”
His first thought was simple.
If he could never return, then he would never see the two little beasts or the half-demons again.
Lufiel looked down at them.
Yuanbao opened its sleepy eyes.
Heidan yawned.
Neither of them ever interfered when Dong Li and Lufiel were being affectionate, so they had simply been sleeping through everything.
Lufiel hesitated.
“I’ll ask Liufeng.”
If Dong Li had things in the game he couldn’t bear to leave behind, then they could try to take those with them too.
In Lufiel’s plan, once Dong Li successfully escaped the game, they would first build him a virtual world similar to this one.
After that, they would create a new physical body for him.
That part would be extremely difficult.
At first, the best they might manage was something like a basic robot—cold to the touch, stiff, and clumsy.
If Dong Li disliked the new body, he could simply remain in the virtual world.
Lufiel looked at the beautiful boy in front of him, with golden hair and violet eyes, and felt a faint pressure settle over his chest.
He tightened his arms around Dong Li and kissed his cheek.
“No matter what happens, I won’t leave you.”
There were too many strange things about this game.
There was almost no visible operation or promotion behind it, and even the company’s address couldn’t be traced.
At first, Liufeng had said finding the terminal shouldn’t be difficult.
Several days had passed, and he still had nothing.
If they ultimately failed—if Dong Li couldn’t leave the game, and the people behind it discovered how abnormal he was…
During the six months Dong Li had been asleep, Lufiel had cleared every dungeon in the game.
During the thirty days of his first wanted period, he had even entered NPC-only regions that ordinary players couldn’t access.
He knew practically every location in Otherworld.
If he still couldn’t find the people behind the game…Lufiel might end up tearing the entire game apart.
His sword aura was metal-aligned.
Inside the game, it was less destructive than fire.
But only because Lufiel could control it.
And because he chose to.
Dong Li had no idea what he was thinking.
He only sensed that Lufiel’s mood had suddenly become heavier.
“Lulu?”
Dong Li cupped his face.
“I won’t leave you either…”
A faint smile appeared on Lufiel’s lips.
“Okay.”
—
They stayed in the side cavern for another ten minutes or so before it was time to move again.
The group set out.
Liufeng walked at the front this time, responsible for checking their route.
After another twenty or thirty meters, they encountered a third magma monster.
This time, Liufeng immediately stepped back and left it to Dong Li.
The monster charged straight toward them with a roar, only to be blocked by Lufiel’s sword aura.
Dong Li hurriedly took the small cluster of golden fire from his sleeve and threw it.
Just before the flame struck, the magma monster seemed to sense danger.
It actually turned and tried to flee.
Too late.
The instant the golden fire touched it, the flames spread.
The magma monster shrieked as it fled deeper into the tunnel, only to collapse halfway and crumble into debris.
Unfortunately, the passage ahead was narrow.
The golden fire rapidly spread across the surrounding stone walls and blocked the way.
Which meant Dong Li had to deal with that too.
He eagerly hurried forward, picked up one of the golden flames, then used it to smother the others.
A path gradually opened through the wall of fire.
Lufiel and several Titmouse followed closely behind.
Sword aura and iron feathers could push the flames back a little farther, allowing Liufeng to guide the Illusion Snakes safely through.
Dong Li remained at the very front.
He extinguished the final layer of fire—and revealed the tunnel ahead.
There were two players standing not far away.
Dong Li froze.
The two players froze too.
Mysterious golden fire had suddenly appeared in the mine, and so far no protective item had been found that could withstand it…
Yet someone had just walked straight out of the flames!
Wait.
Golden hair.
Violet eyes.
And ridiculously pretty…
Dong Li wasn’t wearing a mask.
His fox ears were hidden beneath his hood, but he had taken off his hat, so several strands of golden hair were clearly visible.
One of the players hesitantly spoke.
“You…”
Before he could finish, several streaks of sword aura and a barrage of iron feathers shot past Dong Li and struck at the two players.
Lufiel deliberately didn’t use lethal force.
If a player died, they could see who had killed them after respawning.
Compared with his sword aura, the Titmouse’s iron feathers were much more visually obvious—and more damaging.
The two players scrambled to dodge.
“Half-demons?!”
The half-demons really had escaped into the underground mine…
Then a gigantic black head suddenly appeared, filling almost the entire tunnel.
It swallowed both players in one bite.
Heidan finished eating, turned around, and trotted happily back.
Dong Li bent down, picked it up, and hid behind Lufiel.
Liufeng stepped forward and used his mental energy to scan the area.
“I think it was just those two… They probably used some kind of concealment item so the magma monsters wouldn’t detect them.”
That was likely how they had accidentally run into Dong Li.
And seen the half-demons.
Liufeng looked at Lufiel.
“They didn’t notice you were here too, right?”
“Probably not.”
Lufiel withdrew his sword aura.
“We should move immediately.”
Just to be safe, they needed to get far away from these coordinates.
Liufeng nodded and took the lead again.
The encounter had been unexpected enough to worry him for a moment.
He even wondered whether Liuye could come help once her class ended.
Then he reconsidered.
They had more than twenty half-demons.
A wanted Lufiel who no longer had any reason to care about restrictions.
And Dong Li, who could unleash mysterious golden fire.
The Ice Qilin and Bronze-Armored Taotie might be limited inside the mine, but they certainly weren’t helpless.
Looking at it that way…it was everyone else—players and NPCs alike—who should be praying they didn’t run into this group.
Liufeng immediately relaxed and kept walking.
Meanwhile, the two dead players were waiting at the respawn point.
One of them opened the forum and excitedly made a post.
[Title: You Will NOT Believe What I Just Saw in the Underground Mine!]
[OP: My friend and I went into the mine as a duo. We found a magma monster and were about to use an item to go around it when suddenly GOLDEN FIRE started burning everywhere, and then!!
A really pretty blond, violet-eyed person walked out of the fire. Couldn’t tell if they were a player or an NPC. They were leading a whole group of half-demons, and then!!
The Taotie ate us.]
[Floor 1: ??? That is a LOT of information.]
[Floor 2: The Taotie was near Illusion Forest before the maintenance. This actually lines up!]
[Floor 3: So the mysterious fox spirit from before took the half-demons who successfully raided the city into the mine?]
[Floor 4: Wait, the Taotie can still eat people inside the mine?]
[Floor 5: Drop the coordinates.]
The forum was already unusually active.
Most players were still discussing the several major events that had happened that day.
The new post immediately caused another uproar.
In a much less noticeable corner, another new thread had also appeared.
[Title: There’s a New Bug Query Option After Maintenance. Anyone Know What It Means?]
—
At three in the afternoon, the group finally crossed the entire mine and reached the outer edge.
Asura City lay beyond.
If they exited directly from here, they would probably emerge somewhere near Asura Forest.
There weren’t many people in this area.
Liufeng stood below the exit and projected his mental energy outward, confirming that no one was nearby.
The two players had encountered them in the central section of the mine.
As long as no one managed to track them, there was no way to know where they were headed.
Once Liufeng climbed out and sent word that the coast was clear, Lufiel carried Dong Li up to the surface as well.
Dong Li pulled his robe tightly around himself and looked around.
A vast forest stretched nearby.
Farther away, he could see part of a city wall.
“Is that Asura City?”
“Yes,” Lufiel said. “But I’m wanted, so I can’t use my entry pass to go through the gate.”
Dong Li answered without thinking,
“Then we can sneak over the wall!”
“That actually works,” Liufeng said while counting the half-demons. “Asura City’s defenses aren’t very strict. There are only a few patrol guards at the gates.”
He glanced at the half-demons.
“But their appearance is too obvious. They probably shouldn’t go inside.”
The Titmouse had wings.
The Illusion Snakes had tails.
Neither could be easily hidden beneath an ordinary robe.
And with so many half-demons together, they would draw far too much attention.
Dong Li hesitated.
Before he could decide anything, the leading Titmouse stepped forward.
“My Lord Fox Spirit.”
He held out a small bone whistle.
“We can stay here in the forest. You’ve already done far too much for us.”
Titmouse and Illusion Snakes had always lived in forests anyway.
Entering player-controlled areas would only make things harder for them.
The bone whistle had been specially made by the Titmouse the day before.
He had simply never had a chance to give it to Dong Li until now.
As long as Dong Li blew it, the Titmouse would immediately sense his location and lead the flock to him.
Dong Li accepted the whistle.
Then he took several pills from his medicine furnace.
“You have to be careful too. Take these.”
Without Rongrong to light the furnace, Dong Li didn’t know whether he could still make medicine properly.
And the two little beasts still needed pills for food.
This was all he could spare.
The Titmouse hurriedly accepted them.
“Thank you, My Lord Fox Spirit.”
Liufeng added, “There are plenty of dangerous creatures in Asura Forest. You’ll be safer staying near the outer edge.”
The Titmouse bowed to both him and Lufiel.
“Thank you as well.”
And with that, the two groups parted.
Dong Li watched the Titmouse lead the half-demons into the forest.
After a moment, he lowered his gaze to the bone whistle in his hand.
Liufeng looked fascinated.
“Does this count as a hidden storyline? A half-demon actually gave you a special item like that…”
“Hidden storyline?”
Dong Li only half understood.
He hung the bone whistle from his medicine furnace.
Then the three of them continued toward Asura City.
They reached a side wall and climbed over it with ease.
The wall here was three times taller than the one around Dragonbone Town.
Lufiel simply carried Dong Li over.
Once they landed, Dong Li carefully rearranged his robe to make sure his tail wasn’t showing.
All three of them put on masks.
Lufiel also took out Dong Li’s old black hat.
Using sword aura, he cut two holes into it before placing it on Dong Li’s head.
His fox ears fit neatly through the openings.
With the hood over the hat, his golden hair was hidden too.
Dong Li reached under the hood and felt around nervously.
“You really can’t tell, right?”
“You can’t.”
Lufiel took his hand.
“Stay close to me.”
Liufeng had been waiting at the street entrance for quite a while before the two finally emerged.
“Let’s get something to eat first,” he said. “Then we should book rooms at an inn.”
Liufeng and Lufiel were players.
They could use items to clean their clothes instantly.
Dong Li couldn’t.
He also needed somewhere proper to rest.
Dong Li stayed close to Lufiel as he cautiously looked around.
There weren’t many players in Asura City.
Most of them had probably gone to Maidong City because of everything happening there.
Various shops lined both sides of the street.
In that sense, it resembled Dragonbone Town.
But the architecture was completely different.
The walls were covered in strange decorations, and some rooftops displayed bizarre wooden carvings.
There was an inexplicably eerie atmosphere everywhere.
Dong Li secretly observed the NPCs.
They all seemed to be Bear Spirits.
The spirit forms following them were at least two meters tall, with coarse black fur and sharp brown eyes.
They looked rather intimidating.
Dong Li edged closer to Lufiel again.
Whenever an unfamiliar player approached, he lowered his head to hide his violet eyes.
Asura City had shops selling ordinary noodles and pastries.
The food wasn’t as good as the things Liufeng had bought for them before, but there wasn’t much room to be picky right now.
After buying food, they went to an inn.
Lufiel still couldn’t show his face to the innkeeper NPC.
If he was recognized, his coordinates would be reported again.
So Liufeng rented two rooms.
One for himself.
And one for Lufiel and Dong Li.
The moment they entered their room, Dong Li finally relaxed completely.
He explored the whole place, ate something, then decided he wanted a bath.
Fortunately, Lufiel had bought him several sets of new clothes earlier.
The black player robe didn’t need washing either.
The bathroom was spacious.
There was even a wooden bathtub in one corner.
Dong Li sat inside and carefully washed his tail too.
After being reassured by Lufiel, he no longer feared or rejected his new appearance.
He was beginning to accept it.
Once he finished bathing, Dong Li concentrated hard and managed to squeeze out a small cluster of golden fire in his palm.
He used it to dry his hair, fox ears, and tail.
He had brought some fire out of the mine, but there wasn’t enough to use.
Golden fire couldn’t hurt him anyway.
And after fusing with Rongrong, this was the first time Dong Li had deliberately summoned it himself.
Surprisingly, it went quite smoothly.
He simply hadn’t fully recovered yet.
There wasn’t much fire, so it took more than ten minutes to dry everything.
Then Dong Li ran into a new problem while getting dressed.
Now that he had a tail, his old pants had automatically torn open a hole for it.
But his new clothes didn’t have one…
Dong Li pressed down on his tail and stared at the pants.
Maybe he could just stuff it inside.
That should be fine…
He had barely finished pulling them on when—
Snap.
The fabric tore.
Dong Li stood frozen.
Then he slowly reached behind himself, felt the new hole, and silently pulled his tail through it.
By the time he finally emerged from the bathroom, he was exhausted.
Lufiel was waiting outside.
He took Dong Li’s hand and led him to the sofa.
Dong Li yawned twice on the way, eyes misting with sleep, before Lufiel simply picked him up and settled him into his arms.
They ended up in the same position as when they had been alone in the mine.
It kept Dong Li from sitting on his tail.
Lufiel had somehow found a small comb as well.
He began combing Dong Li’s hair.
Dong Li had washed and dried it himself, so his golden hair was slightly messy.
His tail was too.
Lufiel moved very gently, sometimes using his fingers to smooth out stubborn tangles one by one.
The repetitive motion was almost hypnotic.
Dong Li buried himself against Lufiel and gradually grew drowsy.
Once his hair was neat, Lufiel kissed one of his fox ears.
“Want me to brush your tail too?”
Half-asleep, Dong Li rubbed his face against him.
“Mm…”
