Editor and proofreader: Oceanblue

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Ye Qingyun opened a crack in the door to observe the situation outside but didn’t expect Gu Shenyuan to walk over, stand behind him, and reach out a hand to close the door again.

Ye Qingyun was taken aback, turning to glare at Gu Shenyuan. “What are you doing?”

Gu Shenyuan replied softly, “Let’s talk.”

Ye Qingyun: “???”

“Talk? About what?” He remembered Gu Shenyuan was usually quiet and didn’t like to waste words, so how could he want to chat at such a critical moment for escape?

“Who was this imposter daring to impersonate Gu Shenyuan to deceive him?”

Ye Qingyun turned back and glared at the person. That person leaned against the door, forming a semi-closed enclosure around him.

Gu Shenyuan gently reassured him, “Don’t be afraid; it’s me. I just want to ask you a few questions.”

This person felt very familiar, and the way he spoke was just like Gu Shenyuan’s. Ye Qingyun couldn’t help but ask anxiously, “Is it really you? Why do you have to ask now? Do you know how dangerous it is here?”

Gu Shenyuan knew this wasn’t a good place for a conversation, but he couldn’t hold back any longer.

He was eager to know why Ye Qingyun was willing to give up such a tempting opportunity to follow him, someone Ye Qingyun deemed as having nothing to offer.

Emotions churned within Gu Shenyuan, but he maintained a calm facade, extending his other hand to rest on Ye Qingyun’s shoulder. Leaning closer, he slightly lowered his head and looked into Ye Qingyun’s eyes, which still sparkled in the night. He gently asked, “You saw that paper? It revealed that man’s secret. If you can make him fall in love with you twice, you’ll gain his power. Don’t you want to try?”

Ye Qingyun was taken aback.

“How did Gu Shenyuan know about this?”

Ye Qingyun couldn’t spare a thought for anything else; his instinctive reaction was that Gu Shenyuan wanted to give it a try, which was why he wasn’t in a hurry to leave.

Although Gu Shenyuan’s character was set to never develop feelings for anyone, getting someone else to fall in love with him without Gu Shenyuan having feelings was entirely feasible.

“What do you want?” Ye Qingyun’s tone unintentionally became stern. “Even though he’s just a child, inexperienced in love and easy to deceive, you shouldn’t do this. Aren’t you strong enough? Why do you want his power?”

Gu Shenyuan understood that Ye Qingyun had misunderstood him, but as he listened to the reproach, he felt no sadness; instead, he wanted to smile.

“You don’t want to deceive others’ feelings, so even with so many temptations, you still wouldn’t want to lie?”

“How foolish.”

Gu Shenyuan felt the turmoil within him settle, but it wasn’t a complete calm. Something was breaking through the soil, beginning to sprout.

“I don’t want to,” Gu Shenyuan replied. “I’m afraid you want it.”

“I don’t care; I have a smart brain that you all can’t match. I wouldn’t be interested in your abilities,” Ye Qingyun muttered, pushing Gu Shenyuan’s hand away. “This small temple can’t accommodate a great Buddha like me, so I have to leave. Have you finished asking?”

“Hmm.” Gu Shenyuan smiled as he released his grip on the door. At that moment, Ye Qingyun couldn’t see Gu Shenyuan’s expression, so he was unaware of the softness in Gu Shenyuan’s gaze, which was almost terrifying.

“We’re not going through the door; we’re jumping out the window.” Gu Shenyuan pointed to the window.

“Jump out the window?”

Ye Qingyun walked to the window and looked down. His room was on the fourth or fifth floor; if he jumped, he would probably say goodbye to this world or end up seriously injured.

“I can’t jump down,” Ye Qingyun said truthfully. “If you don’t like me, just say so; you don’t need to be so indirect about it.”

Gu Shenyuan didn’t say anything. He walked to the window and directly opened it.

Watching Gu Shenyuan’s actions, Ye Qingyun realized he was determined to leave this way. He crossed his arms in frustration and scanned the room for anything useful.

“If he tied the curtains and bed sheets together to make a rope, it should work, right?”

“Y-You wait for me a moment; don’t go too fast,” Ye Qingyun said. “I’ll go tear the sheets off.”

The next second, Ye Qingyun felt himself lift off the ground, held in strong arms. He was pressed against Gu Shenyuan’s chest.

“Gu Shenyuan was princess-carrying him?”

The thought made Ye Qingyun panic and almost jump out of Gu Shenyuan’s arms. But the strong grip didn’t let him escape.

“Hold onto my neck,” Gu Shenyuan said.

Ye Qingyun didn’t want to. He knew why Gu Shenyuan was holding him this way—it was to facilitate jumping out the window.

He had never dared to imagine that Gu Shenyuan would help him like this. If the plot of this world was similar to what he knew, this might be Gu Shenyuan’s first embrace.

“Oh dear, how embarrassing.”

But to be honest, Gu Shenyuan had a great physique; Ye Qingyun could feel the muscles under Gu Shenyuan’s clothes, which was exactly his type!

He thought he might as well enjoy this while he could; once they landed, he wouldn’t get this kind of treatment anymore.

Seeing Ye Qingyun refusing to hold his neck, Gu Shenyuan pressed his lips together, stopped talking, and jumped out the window while still holding Ye Qingyun.

Gu Shenyuan landed softly, and Ye Qingyun didn’t feel a strong impact.

Ye Qingyun wasn’t put down; he remained in Gu Shenyuan’s arms as the scenery around them quickly flew past.

“Gu Shenyuan was carrying him back! “

“Oh my, what kind of imperial treatment was this?”

“No, no, no; this was more like the treatment of a genuine top!”

If he weren’t truly unable to win Gu Shenyuan over and didn’t want to be the top himself, he would think that Gu Shenyuan had developed feelings for him.

Ye Qingyun was shocked and looked up at Gu Shenyuan’s face.

The light outside was better than inside the room, allowing him to finally see Gu Shenyuan’s expression in the moonlight—Gu Shenyuan wasn’t looking ahead but was instead gazing down at him.

Gu Shenyuan’s eyes were darker than the night, but without the chill that night brought, they held a rare warmth.

Ye Qingyun unexpectedly met that gaze and instinctively felt embarrassed. “Look at the road; why are you staring at me?”

As Ye Qingyun suggested, Gu Shenyuan turned his gaze forward. However, his arms tightened around Ye Qingyun, feeling his warmth more intensely.

Ye Qingyun wasn’t heavy; in fact, he felt a bit too light for his height. But being held by Gu Shenyuan felt both incredibly light and incredibly heavy.

“From now on, this was the weight of his entire world.”

This was his whole world; he had to protect it in his arms. Protect him completely, ensure his safety, and help him obtain everything he wants.

He couldn’t continue to be as carefree as before, but he was willing and felt no grievance or resentment.

Gu Shenyuan’s embrace was so comfortable—steady and warm—that Ye Qingyun had nothing else to do, and his eyes slowly closed as he drifted off to sleep.

Gu Shenyuan adjusted his position, allowing Ye Qingyun’s head to rest on his shoulder for a more comfortable sleep.

While Gu Shenyuan was halfway back, he suddenly saw a figure ahead blocking their path.

Gu Shenyuan frowned.

He recognized this figure; it was the person who lived in the same house as Ye Qingyun.

In other words, this was the one who had taken Ye Qingyun away.

Gu Shenyuan’s expression darkened as he stopped in his tracks.

“You’re quite bold, daring to take my person right under my nose,” the young man said with a smile, sizing up Gu Shenyuan’s simple attire. Disdain gradually appeared in his eyes. “With just your looks, you think you can compete with me for him? What do you have besides that?”

Gu Shenyuan remained silent.

The young man noticed the sleeping Ye Qingyun and raised his voice, infusing it with some spiritual energy to ensure it would wake him. He shouted, “I have money, power, and authority. I’m the only king on this planet! With me, he can live a life of luxury; what can you give him?”

The young man still bore a grudge over being rejected by Ye Qingyun. Now, seeing Gu Shenyuan, who had gotten Ye Qingyun to voluntarily follow him, he felt the urge to compete, wanting Ye Qingyun to understand how good he was and return to him willingly.

Hearing the commotion, Ye Qingyun frowned, his eyelashes fluttering as he began to awaken.

A small wisp of black mist appeared, covering Ye Qingyun’s eyes and ears, blocking out the noise and light, allowing him to drift back into a deep sleep.

“Your voice is too loud; you’re disturbing his rest,” Gu Shenyuan said coldly. “You’re suited for eternal silence.”

The young man scoffed disdainfully, mocking Gu Shenyuan for his ignorance.

On this planet, no one could defeat him; he was the strongest!

Gu Shenyuan gently placed Ye Qingyun down against a tree so he could continue sleeping, then created a shroud of black mist around the small area to prevent external disturbances.

After doing all this, Gu Shenyuan stood up and looked at the young man.

“The little you can offer him isn’t worth mentioning in front of me,” Gu Shenyuan said, extending a hand. A wisp of black energy appeared above his palm. “Including the abilities you can provide… it’s nothing compared to what I can give him, not even one ten-thousandth of it.”

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When Ye Qingyun woke up, he found himself in a new place, everything feeling unfamiliar.

He quickly sat up in bed and glanced around, spotting Gu Shenyuan sleeping beside him.

Having not seen Gu Shenyuan for a few days, Ye Qingyun couldn’t help but marvel at how much better-looking he had become.

Truly the charming protagonist, his looks were exceptional.

As Ye Qingyun stared, Gu Shenyuan opened his eyes and turned to look back at him.

It dawned on Ye Qingyun that Gu Shenyuan had stealthily attacked the enemy camp the night before and rescued him.

In this situation, regardless of how he might want to maintain his persona, Ye Qingyun felt he needed to express his gratitude.

He awkwardly thanked Gu Shenyuan and then remembered his previous injuries. “How’s your injury? Is it better? Are you still coughing up blood?”

Gu Shenyuan shook his head and sat up, sitting side by side with Ye Qingyun on the bed. He asked, “What about you? Do you feel unwell?”

“I feel fine,” Ye Qingyun replied, puzzled. “I wasn’t injured or anything, so why would I feel unwell?”

Gu Shenyuan looked at him meaningfully, a faint smile on his lips.

Ye Qingyun: “…?”

“What was he smiling about?”

It was quite a charming smile.

“It’s nothing, I just heard that this planet has a special kind of plant. If it jumps onto someone, that person will randomly get a tattoo, so the locals use it for tattoos,” Gu Shenyuan said casually, yet there was a strange trustworthiness in his tone. “When we returned yesterday, one jumped onto you.”

Ye Qingyun: “???”

“Such a thing existed?”

“What about the tattoos? Would they look ugly? He hoped it wouldn’t be something ridiculous like a little Peppa Pig on his face.”

Ye Qingyun hurriedly dashed out of the room, away from Gu Shenyuan’s line of sight, and began inspecting his skin.

The places he could see were just as they had always been; he didn’t see any tattoos.

His worry intensified. He seriously suspected that the tattoo was on his face.

Ye Qingyun scoured the room and finally found a mirror.

He tremblingly held the mirror up to his face and was relieved to see that there was nothing strange or unusual on his face.

“But if Gu Shenyuan was telling the truth, where could the tattoo be?”

After thinking for a moment, Ye Qingyun propped the mirror on the table and turned to look at his back.

At the base of his tailbone, there was a sudden red mark, extending downwards and disappearing from view.