Editor and proofreader: Oceanblue

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Faced with such a threat, even Ye Qingyun couldn’t remain calm.

He asked in disbelief, “Are you serious?”

Gu Shenyuan remained silent, staring at him.

“I…” Ye Qingyun didn’t dare guarantee that he would answer correctly. He questioned, “If I get the answer wrong, are you going to take someone’s life? How is that reasonable?”

“There’s no such reasoning. In this matter, I don’t care about reason. Since you can solve those problems, you should be able to solve this one.” Gu Shenyuan said coldly.

Ye Qingyun couldn’t understand how this person was so stubborn. Who said that just because you can answer multiple-choice questions, you can also solve short-answer questions? Moreover, the difficulty of these questions was completely different!

Ye Qingyun felt extremely wronged. He confessed, “How can you do this? Those problems, I was just guessing. I passed because I got lucky. Those people said you wanted to exchange knowledge with me, that’s why you invited me here. Nonsense! I think you can’t stand someone else being better than you at knowledge, so as soon as someone passes, you pull them in and kill them!”

The more Ye Qingyun spoke, the more reasonable it seemed, and the more he felt wronged. He directly sat down in his chair, leaned on the table, and buried his face so that others couldn’t see his expression.

Actually, he shouldn’t be doing this. He should calmly argue with the leader and fight for his life, instead of feeling uselessly wronged.

But Ye Qingyun couldn’t control his emotions. Perhaps because the leader’s appearance matched his preferences, now that this leader was being so cruel to him, it made him feel incredibly upset.

So unfair! Just because he’s good-looking, does he get to be unreasonable?

His first love… was cut short!

Gu Shenyuan couldn’t see Ye Qingyun’s expression. All he could see was the back of his familiar head.

He made Qingyun cry.

That thought flashed through Gu Shenyuan’s mind, making him uncontrollably anxious.

Up until now, he still hadn’t caught any flaws in Ye Qingyun.

His reactions were sometimes different from what he had imagined for Ye Qingyun, but this difference made him feel even more real.

It was as if he was the real Ye Qingyun, and the image Ye Qingyun was fragile and unreal in front of this person.

But now, he had made Ye Qingyun cry.

“Don’t cry,” Gu Shenyuan’s tone involuntarily softened. “Just… write whatever you can, don’t cry.”

Ye Qingyun wasn’t crying. He lifted his head, shot Gu Shenyuan a glare, and with a resigned attitude, picked up the pen.

The pen tip moved across the paper, writing down the steps for solving the problem.

As soon as the writing appeared, Gu Shenyuan clenched his fists.

Ye Qingyun had shown him so many problems before, and of course, Gu Shenyuan had seen Ye Qingyun’s handwriting. It was neat and orderly, exactly reflecting Ye Qingyun’s usual approach to research.

Just like the handwriting of the person before him.

Ye Qingyun’s data was top-level encrypted, and many things only he could see.

If this was a disguise, could someone sneak behind his back, gather so much information, and disguise it so perfectly?

Is this person…Ye Qingyun?

Has Ye Qingyun… completely forgotten him?

Gu Shenyuan’s gaze shifted to Ye Qingyun’s face, almost greedily looking at his profile.

“I’m done!” Ye Qingyun placed his pen down. “If you have something to say, just say it. Stop making excuses and beating around the bush.”

Gu Shenyuan reluctantly pulled his gaze away from Ye Qingyun’s face and shifted it to the paper.

The steps were incomplete, but the overall logic and answer were correct.

“It’s correct.” Gu Shenyuan whispered.

Ye Qingyun: “Hmph!”

He just wrote randomly, and still got it right? His luck was incredible!

“You…” Gu Shenyuan felt lost, immense joy rolling inside him. He wanted to hold him, embrace him, kiss him, but accompanying these feelings was a lingering doubt.

Gu Shenyuan tried to act normal. “I was wrong in how I treated you earlier. I apologize. Congratulations on passing the quiz. What reward would you like?”

“Hmph!” Ye Qingyun turned his face away, not looking at Gu Shenyuan. He kind of wanted the reward but feared complications. After thinking for a moment, he decided to give it up for his safety. “I don’t want anything. Just send me back, thank you.”

“…You want to leave?” Gu Shenyuan’s tone suddenly became dangerous.

Ye Qingyun recognized the tone—it was very familiar, as though someone had asked him this many times before. Without thinking, he reflexively denied it, “I don’t want to leave. I’m staying here just fine, aren’t I?”

Ye Qingyun: ‘…..’

What was he saying? No, that wasn’t what he meant!

Ye Qingyun wanted to explain again, but when he looked up, he froze.

The leader was looking at him, his eyes soft, as if he was about to cry. His originally emotionless, cold face now held a very complex smile—some sadness, some nostalgia, and most of all, deep affection.

Ye Qingyun looked at him, his heart racing.

He didn’t even know that his type was like this, and this person’s appearance perfectly hit all the points he liked.

So this is the power of good looks? Just looking at this person, he didn’t even feel that angry anymore!

Ye Qingyun didn’t want to be someone who was dazed by good looks. He struggled to continue rejecting him, “Of course, I want to leave. Leader, please don’t make things difficult for me. If you don’t want to see me, I swear I’ll never appear before you again.”

Gu Shenyuan pursed his lips, lowering his gaze.

He couldn’t let this person go until he truly confirmed their identity.

Gu Shenyuan knew the real Ye Qingyun’s character and how to make Ye Qingyun soften and agree to something.

So he said, “I was extreme before. I apologize. When I was young, I was pushed out of opportunities many times because of cheating, so I’ve always been suspicious of others’ true abilities… I’m sorry, I hope you can forgive me.”

—

Ye Qingyun: “Is… is that so?”

Gu Shenyuan nodded.

Ye Qingyun didn’t expect the leader to have such a tragic past. Now, understanding this, it wasn’t hard to comprehend why he treated him this way.

How could those people treat the leader like that? The leader is so pitiful!

“Could you stay a little longer?” Gu Shenyuan’s gaze was sincere and sad. “I want to learn knowledge seriously, could you teach me?”

Ye Qingyun was so moved by his expression that he forgot that he didn’t understand anything at all. Impulsively, he agreed: “Okay, no problem!”

—

That night.

It was around the time when most people were preparing to sleep. Gu Shenyuan wasn’t sleeping; he lay in bed, eyes wide open, staring expressionlessly at the ceiling.

… He couldn’t help it. The thought that Ye Qingyun might be sleeping near him made it impossible for him to fall asleep.

He wanted to stay by Ye Qingyun’s side every minute, every second. Even if they did nothing, just quietly watching Ye Qingyun’s sleeping face would make him incredibly satisfied.

Ye Qingyun had been away from him for too long, far too long.

Would Ye Qingyun leave again? Would he suddenly disappear from his life?

Was everything that happened today real, not just a dream?

Gu Shenyuan was overwhelmed by a great sense of fear. He immediately got out of bed and walked out of the room.

The room he had arranged for Ye Qingyun was right next to his.

When he made this arrangement, everyone was shocked. Ye Qingyun even tried to stop him, saying it was too close, that he had just arrived and it wasn’t proper.

How laughable—proper? If that person was his Ye Qingyun, they should sleep in the same bed. He should hold Ye Qingyun and sleep with him, with no gaps between them. That would be proper.

Gu Shenyuan reached the door of Ye Qingyun’s room. He didn’t enter but stood outside, leaning against the wall, closing his eyes to listen to the sounds from inside.

As long as he could hear Ye Qingyun’s breathing and know that Ye Qingyun was still inside, he would feel at ease.

Although he could use his powers to check on Ye Qingyun, it was only by coming here in person and shortening the distance between them that he could feel truly reassured.

The room had good soundproofing, but if he wanted, he could still hear every sound from inside.

Gu Shenyuan heard the sound of water—Ye Qingyun was taking a shower.

Gu Shenyuan remembered something that had happened before. Back then, Ye Qingyun had also been taking a shower and slipped, falling. He had rushed in, worried about him, and saw the tattoo on Ye Qingyun’s body.

That was the first time he saw Ye Qingyun’s tattoo.

… Tattoo.

Gu Shenyuan’s breath caught as he thought of something.

Too many things had happened today, and it hadn’t occurred to him earlier that he could use this method to verify the truth.

Only he and Ye Qingyun knew what that tattoo looked like. Perhaps even Ye Qingyun himself didn’t remember clearly.

Also, the tattoo that he could manipulate was unique to Ye Qingyun—it couldn’t be faked.

… But this wasn’t guaranteed to be accurate. The bloodline seal on him had been lifted, and whether he could still control the tattoo was unknown.

And even if this was the real Ye Qingyun, having been resurrected once, would the tattoo still exist?

No one could guarantee either of these things.

Gu Shenyuan lowered his head, the excitement he had felt when thinking of the tattoo was now mostly gone. He let out a light breath and summoned the power he hadn’t used in a long time.

The chances of success this time were probably slim. He would have to use other methods to slowly discern whether this was truly his Ye Qingyun.

..Crash!

From the bathroom in the room, there was the sound of something falling, followed by a subtle gasp from Ye Qingyun, mixed with both pain and other implied feelings.

Gu Shenyuan froze for a moment, then raised his hand, using his powers to break the door lock and enter.

As he entered the room, Ye Qingyun’s voice grew clearer, filled with a familiar feeling that made Gu Shenyuan tremble uncontrollably, his heart pounding wildly.

The bathroom door wasn’t locked; it was just ajar. Gu Shenyuan gently pushed it open completely.

Ye Qingyun had fallen on the floor, facing away from him, revealing his entire back to Gu Shenyuan.

On the fair skin, the tattoo twisted and spread, outlining a shape he was familiar with and fond of.

Ye Qingyun turned around, startled by his sudden appearance. He shivered and, ignoring the pain, tried to get up. “How… how could you come in without knocking? I’m still showering!”

Familiar words seemed to transcend time and space, overlapping in this moment. Gu Shenyuan could no longer hold himself back. He stepped forward and pulled him into his arms.

“…Ye Qingyun.” Gu Shenyuan hoarsely called his name.

His Ye Qingyun had come back.