Chapter 10: “The Diagnosis Is…”

After identifying himself at the police station, Tao Xiu was permitted to take Huo Si.

Before they left, the officer handed over an ID card, saying, “This is your friend’s; keep it safe.”

Tao Xiu took it casually, thanked him, then went up to Huo Si, arms crossed, and looked at the man.

Huo Si sat there, his posture arrogant and elegant. He slightly lifted his exceedingly handsome face to look at Tao Xiu, his red eyes clear and brilliant in the light.

As Tao Xiu watched, he couldn’t help but chuckle: the scene really reminded him of picking up his lost dog from the police station.

Feeling a slight apology for the comparison, he raised an eyebrow at the man and said, “It’s all clear. Let’s go home.”

With that, he started to walk out.

Huo Si tilted his head when he heard the word “home,” a strange mix of pleasure and confusion on his face.

Then, as if it were the most natural thing, he stood up and followed.

…

After leaving the police station, Tao Xiu first took Huo Si to a mall to buy pajamas.

The man would still be staying at his place tonight, and he couldn’t let him sleep in uncomfortable clothes again.

Once they were back home, as he hung up his jacket, Tao Xiu couldn’t help but complain, “I’m not going to lie, your lack of common sense is just too exaggerated.”

He honestly couldn’t imagine how this guy survived in human society.

Huo Si smiled in rebuttal, “You should know I am omniscient and omnipotent.”

Tao Xiu let out a laugh, then turned, arms crossed, and looked at him, raising an eyebrow playfully, “Are you referring to the omniscience and omnipotence that almost got you conned into being a male escort, or the omniscience and omnipotence that made you order a shopping cart to kill a king crab in the supermarket?”

Even kids were watching them earlier!

Of course, Tao Xiu found it too embarrassing, so he secretly slipped away from the crowd while Huo Si wasn’t looking, pretending to pick out canned fruit.

At the mention of the creature called a crab, Huo Si’s face darkened a bit: “That ugly thing was speaking ill of me.”

If he hadn’t had to restrain all his abilities, that eight-legged creature, which didn’t even possess the emotion of fear, would have long since turned to dust.

How dare it call him ugly?

Tao Xiu’s brow twitched, momentarily speechless, before he managed to blurt out, “Anyway, let’s eat dinner first.”

Huo Si scoffed, washed his hands, then picked up a plate and walked towards the bag of dog food in the storage cabinet.

Tao Xiu had already warmed his fragrant hamburger steak bento.

He put a piece of hamburger steak in his mouth, watching the other man approach with a plate of dog food, and couldn’t help but think—considering their bond from the police station, it wouldn’t be too rude if he tried to convince him to change his eating habits, would it…?

After dinner, Tao Xiu let Huo Si use the bathroom first.

He sat on the sofa watching a TV drama, casually taking out Huo Si’s ID card and placing it on the table, intending to return it later.

A commercial came on, and he idly glanced at the ID card on the table, then suddenly widened his eyes.

He quickly picked it up to double-check: it was indeed Huo Si’s mugshot on the ID, and the other information seemed correct.

However, the household registration address listed was Golden Legend Community, Building 6, Unit 2101!

Isn’t that his own home…?

Just then, Huo Si finished showering and came out.

He was already wearing the new pajamas Tao Xiu had bought for him, but his black hair was still completely wet.

He walked over and sat next to Tao Xiu, casually handing him the hairdryer as if expecting to be waited on.

Tao Xiu’s nostrils were filled with a rich, peculiar, cool scent.

Feeling slightly dizzy, he didn’t take the hairdryer.

Instead, he pointed at the words on the ID card, eyes wide, and asked, “What’s going on?!”

Huo Si blinked, put down the hairdryer, and smiled slightly: “Are you going to praise me? He asked me for an ID, so I followed the rules here and made one for him.”

Everything he created had its own cause and effect, with absolutely no loopholes.

Tao Xiu took a deep breath. This must be the other’s ability. He then asked, “So, you don’t have an ID yourself, do you?”

Huo Si tilted his head elegantly: “Of course, I don’t have such a thing.”

If the little fellow didn’t live here, he wouldn’t even be interested in setting foot in this place.

Tao Xiu: “Then how did you—” How did you live before?

Huo Si looked at him, amused: “Don’t you know? I was, of course, in slumber before.”

Didn’t you awaken me?

Tao Xiu’s pupils contracted. So, how long had his kind been in slumber that he had almost no common sense about human society upon waking?

But he still couldn’t understand: “That dog—”

Was that dog with him before he fell into slumber, or did it start accompanying him during his slumber?

Huo Si raised an eyebrow: “That was just something I created casually before I fell into slumber. It’s not what you call a ‘dog.'”

Tao Xiu paused, looking at the utility room door, and quietly said, “Whether you created it or adopted it, once you take on an animal, you should be responsible for it to the end, shouldn’t you?”

It seemed like a very intelligent creature; he wondered if it worried about its owner not coming home.

From the water droplets falling from his black hair, Huo Si quietly watched the young man’s beautiful, serene profile.

An unrecognizable emotion welled up from his heart. He lowered his gaze, gathering the young man’s profile into his scarlet pupils, and said in a soft, deep voice, “Close your eyes.”

Tao Xiu: “What?”

Huo Si patiently repeated: “Ah Xiu, close your eyes.”

As if truly enchanted by that voice, Tao Xiu slowly closed his eyes.

A joyful smile appeared on Huo Si’s face. He reached out and gently touched the young man’s lightly trembling eyelashes, and then his eye sockets gradually filled completely with scarlet.

The next instant.

“Awooo!”

A “Samoyed’ suddenly appeared out of nowhere, affectionately pouncing on the young man on the sofa—”Awooo~” It really hadn’t seen this person in a long time!

Tao Xiu’s eyes widened. He stared blankly at the dog nuzzling his neck, breathing hot air.

A moment later, he suddenly realized something. He looked past the large dog and glared at the man, who was already showing displeasure at the scene: So this man didn’t need that door to go home at all!

Creation, casually bringing the dog from that room here—this guy’s abilities were definitely far stronger than his own!

How could he not be able to go back?!

Huo Si effortlessly lifted the dog off Tao Xiu and said, “If you like it, I’ll allow it to stay here with me.”

Tao Xiu was dumbfounded. He was about to demand, ‘So you’re just shamelessly staying here and don’t want to leave?’, but the words died on his lips.

This was a fellow being who had been in lonely slumber for a very long time.

A long time ago, he, too, was as lonely as Huo Si.

After a long pause, Tao Xiu got up and sighed softly, saying helplessly, “You both can stay. But—”

He emphasized to Huo Si, “You must learn to be self-sufficient.”

“For example,” Tao Xiu snatched the hairdryer from the man’s hand, turned it on, and put it back in his hand: “You must learn to dry your own hair now!”

Huo Si blinked in surprise: No being had ever dared to speak to him like that.

It felt novel, but not bad.

So he curiously played with the hairdryer in his hand, chuckled softly, and said, “Good.”

That deep, pleasant voice made Tao Xiu pause for a moment.

The next moment, he snapped back to reality, shook off the inexplicable thoughts, and went to take a shower.

He quickly finished and returned.

As he entered the living room, his steps suddenly lightened: The man had already dried his hair and was lying on the sofa with his eyes closed. He seemed to have fallen asleep, his broad chest rising and falling slowly, his sleeping face looking even more handsome and elegant in the light.

Huo Si said he had been in slumber for a long time, and even now, he seemed to love sleeping.

The dog was also curled up on the carpet in front of the sofa, quietly sleeping, mimicking its master.

It was truly a tranquil scene.

Tao Xiu couldn’t help but curve his eyes, smiling helplessly. He quietly turned off the living room light, said goodnight in his heart, and returned to his bedroom.

Before falling asleep, hugging the blanket, he thought about how he needed to make a shopping list tomorrow to buy some things for Huo Si and the dog.

In the moonlight, the young man curled up, clutching the blanket tighter: for some reason, he had a strange illusion that the other would be staying here for a long time.

Even though they were of the same kind, they had only known each other for less than two days, yet he felt inexplicably at ease with this illusion.

…

The next day, Tao Xiu went to work as usual.

As he reached the entrance, for some reason, he suddenly felt a strange flutter of panic.

He stopped, turned, and looked at Huo Si and the dog.

The man was still sleeping on the sofa.

The dog was awake but dared not make a sound; it just lay on the floor, wagging its tail happily at him.

Tao Xiu inexplicably felt an urge to hug the man and the dog.

It was truly strange; even though they were of the same kind, they weren’t close enough to hug. He took a deep breath, shook off the inexplicable thought, and left home.

…

Tao Xiu continued to work diligently today.

A group of pre-booked A-city university students were coming to visit and also wanted to see his soil and plant growth data.

He received them conscientiously.

During his lunch break, after eating, he started shopping online for items that the man and the dog would need.

“Knock, knock,” Lin Mei tapped on his office window.

Tao Xiu was startled, then saw the weathered young man outside the window smile at him: “Can we talk?”

Tao Xiu smiled gently: “Of course.”

At noon, there weren’t many guests, only the sounds of children laughing as they picked strawberries from the second floor.

They soon walked to the central area, where a cluster of enchanting white roses still grew.

Lin Mei thoughtfully glanced at the roses and said, “Boss, do you know? You looked very happy just now. Like you were about to embark on a new life.”

Tao Xiu blinked: Was he very happy? Was it a new life?

Then he curved his eyes, “Ah, I guess so.”

It must be a completely different life from before.

Lin Mei sighed softly, smiling helplessly: “But I can’t let you continue to be happy.”

Tao Xiu frowned in confusion, startled: “What?”

Lin Mei seemed to have made up his mind, looking at him with resolute eyes: “This starts with my story.”

“I used to be an accountant, working for a small company in A City.”

He shrugged somewhat self-deprecatingly: “The job of an accountant is quite peculiar. In an unregulated company, you can easily get into trouble.”

“My boss framed me, sent me to prison, and then gave me money. From his perspective, he paid me to take the fall, so he felt he owed me nothing.”

Tao Xiu’s eyes widened abruptly.

Lin Mei, as expected, saw sympathy in those moss-green eyes. He smiled: “Although I hated him, my mother needed money for treatment at that time.”

“I was in prison for three years, and my mother was treated for three years, but some terminal illnesses just can’t be cured. No amount of money helps. My mother was almost at her limit then.”

As he spoke, a cold solemnity suddenly flashed in his eyes: “It was then that I encountered The Game.”

Tao Xiu’s eyebrows slowly furrowed.

Lin Mei continued: “The rules for participating in the game are very simple: you just have to have committed a crime. In other words, for those who want to participate in the game, the entry ticket is to commit a crime. And once you enter, you can make a wish.”

“I happened to have an entry ticket. For an ordinary person, this is quite absurd. I participated with a ‘what have I got to lose’ mindset, just trying it out. I wished for my mother’s recovery. What I didn’t expect was that this wish actually came true, and as the price for the wish, I had to stay in the game as a player and participate in various dungeons.”

“After clearing dungeons of C-grade or higher, players can gain Abilities,” he said, staring intently at Tao Xiu’s shocked face: “Among us players, there’s an ability called Virtual Recapitulation. The affected target will become immersed in one of their memories, and the happier they are, the deeper they drown.”

He enunciated each word: “We call this ability ‘consciousness drowning.’ Boss, since this place was locked down, at least over 30 batches of players have tried to clear you. Their abilities were varied, but none had any effect on you.”

“Only this time, you completely didn’t resist ‘drowning.'”

With a “boom.”

Tao Xiu’s eyes widened, and a colossal roar, like a tsunami, erupted in his mind.

The white roses still swayed gently, and the children’s laughter from the second floor sounded so real.

Lin Mei said, “Boss, do you choose to continue spending your happiest new life here, or end it now?”

Tao Xiu pursed his lips, his hand, which hung by his side, slowly clenched.

After a moment, he lowered his gaze and smiled somewhat sadly.

When he looked up again, his face was clean and resolute, his moss-green pupils as clear as ever, without any hint of gloom.

He looked at Lin Mei, and with eyes as gentle as when they first met, he said, “Thank you for this.”

After a pause, a more complex emotion emerged from the depths of his eyes. He said, “However, I must say, even without you, I would soon have made this choice.”

With that, his gaze slightly chilled.

Before the other could reply, he briskly walked towards the swaying white roses.

Lin Mei was startled, then chuckled wryly. He murmured, “It seems there have been some more reassuring changes during our time apart.”

He looked at the young man in the rose bushes: Tao Xiu’s long, pale hand covered the flower stem, slowly applying pressure, and unhesitatingly pulled it out.

The long roots were pulled from the soil, like a long path of memory…

With a “snap,” the rose bush was pulled entirely from the soil.

Tao Xiu gently closed his eyes.

The entire world collapsed with a crash.

…

“Tao Xiu, Tao Xiu. Wake up, don’t sleep here.”

In the waiting area of a hospital department, the young man in a trench coat leaned back in his chair and slowly opened his moss-green eyes.

Various quiet conversations buzzed around him, and the scent of disinfectant filled his nostrils.

A man in black quickly walked out of the main hall and soon disappeared outside the hospital.

Lin Mei stood at the entrance, glanced in this direction from afar, and also quickly vanished into the crowd.

Tao Xiu slightly lifted his face to look.

Qiao Zhi’an, wearing a white coat, stood before him, a helpless smile on his face. He was about to cover Tao Xiu with the blanket in his hand.

Tao Xiu simply took the blanket and draped it over himself.

As if nothing had happened, he raised an eyebrow and asked, “Are my physical examination results out?”

Qiao Zhi’an looked at his friend with a complex expression, seemingly unsure what to say.

Tao Xiu twitched his lips: “What’s with that expression? I’ve just been a bit sleepy lately; it’s not like it could be some terminal illness, right?”

Qiao Zhi’an’s brow twitched: “Of course not a terminal illness!—Anyway, follow me first. We’ll talk in my office.”

Tao Xiu nodded briskly, draped the blanket, and yawned as he followed behind.