Chapter 125 - Li Ling Looks Cute

Zhihao looked at Li Ling and seemed to be lost in his thoughts for a minute before snapping out of it and deciding to open his mouth, "You look... really cute." 

Li Ling suddenly felt as if Zhihao had somehow changed and the change was really a bit drastic. Before this, he had always flirted with Li Ling without being aware of it but ever since they had kissed, this man was flirting with him on another level and it hadn't even been a complete day since they had kissed. 

Where did all this confidence and flirting nature in Zhihao come from?!

Li Ling simply looked at Zhihao and smiled as he repeated a small chant in his mind a countless number of times. 

Don't melt.

Don't melt.

Don't melt!

Don't freaking melt.

"On that note, you should date me," Zhihao beamed as he looked back at Li Ling 

[Cough~ Cough~] 

[Did you two forget that there is an underaged kid here?]

[At least try acting like you're interested in the game.] 

Little Alvi sounded pretty annoyed as if she was eating dog food because of these two. 

Li Ling looked down at the little girl and smiled mischievously as he advised, "Underaged kids should look away when adults are talking." 

[...]

Zhihao chuckled as he saw the exchange between them.

These two were always fighting against each other like real siblings and it came off as so natural that it really made Zhihao wonder if his initial suspicions were right. Was Li Ying really the inspiration for this bot? 

Zhihao looked at the table placed inside the shed again. This was the only thing in the room that could be called a decent piece of furniture and in front of the table was a single chair that looked so frail that Zhihao wondered if it would break the moment someone sat on top of it. He looked around a bit more to see if there was a bed in this room and there was indeed something that looked like it was used to sleep on. 

It was a few stacks of hay that were stacked up in a manner that made it look like a bed and on top of the hay were dry leaves that seemed to be acting as a bedsheet for the hay mattress.

Zhihao suddenly came to the conclusion that whoever lived here was probably poor and was barely surviving. Since they had woken up here, it meant, Zhihao's character was the poor one and if it wasn't him, it was probably the character Li Ling was given to play in this level. It was also possible that both of their characters lived here. 

He turned his eyes towards the table once again and this time, he wasn't going to just watch it. 

On top of the table was a single piece of paper kept under an ink box that acted like a paperweight. This was probably a clue of some sort so Zhihao immediately picked it up and read through the contents inside. 

Li Ling looked at Zhihao's facial expressions that seemed to be going down as he read further. 

"What's written?" Li Ling asked. 

Zhihao had a frown on his face as he completed reading the contents and once he was done, he looked at Li Ling and was getting ready to tell him but the words he was about to speak were never able to leave his mouth as Li Ling's eyes went past Zhihao and the smile on his face was extinguished as well. 

Zhihao naturally noticed this change in expressions and turned his head to look out the window that had made Li Ling frown like this.

"What's that?" Zhihao asked as he looked at the faraway light that was approaching them, coming closer and closer to them but it was still not quite visible what the source of the light was, but when Zhihao heard the slight sound of shouting growing louder and louder till the sounds could be recognized as human voices, Zhihao was able to guess what the light was all about. 

"People. Marching towards us." Li Ling spoke 

"With torches..." Zhihao completed the sentence. 

"And is that a pitchfork?"

[Good luck, lovebirds!]

[I hope you stub your toe and burn hahaha]

"..."

[Just kidding]

"..." 

It really didn't seem like she was kidding but since she was still a child, Zhihao was not going to be offended by anything she says. 

Zhihao turned his head down and glanced at the table once again as he spoke, "Try finding something." 

Li Ling didn't say anything as he moved over and started going through the drawers of the table that were filled with a bunch of useless stuff, "We're not gonna run?" 

Zhihao shook his head as he flipped through the makeshift hay bed, "Not now." 

[What are you looking for?]

Zhihao pointed his finger at the floor as he spoke, "Try helping us this time. See if there are any secret passages or storage." 

[...]

[Who am I? Your personal maid?]

Zhihao glared at the little girl who actually seemed to be a bit scared to receive such a glare. She would be lying if she said that she wasn't intimidated. She was indeed affected enough to do exactly what she was asked to do. 

To intimidate a mere bot like this with a single glare, only Mastermo could gain such a feat. Even Li Ling who was still flipping through the garbage collected inside the desk had noticed this conversation between the two and was shocked to see that Alvi had actually listened to him. 

Zhihao had dismantled the hay bed completely but he still could not find what he was looking for. By the time, he was done, Li Ling was also done looking through the drawers but he came out empty-handed as well, "What are we looking for?" 

Alvi smiled as she looked at the two. 

Zhihao looked outside the window once again and the crowd had got pretty close. Just a few more minutes and they would be able to burn this small shed to ashes. 

[You guys should worship me]

Both Zhihao and Li Ling focused their eyes on Alvi as they heard this. 

The little girl tapped her right foot twice and moved a step back as she tapped her foot twice again. 

The difference in the sound emitted was noticeable. 

Zhihao was so happy to see the bot finally being of some use that he wanted to hug her and give her candy as a reward for being such a good obedient kid. 

Li Ling glanced outside the window again and then looked back at Zhihao as he spoke, "I'll try to control them."

Zhihao nodded his head as he moved towards the area where Alvi had tapped her leg. He did the same thing as her, tapped his leg and tried to open the wooden floor piece that let out a hollow type of sound. 

The wood was easy to remove and once it was out of the way, Zhihao could now see a narrow staircase going down. 

He wasn't sure where this staircase was going to get him but he didn't have any second thoughts before he directly climbed down from it. Alvi also followed behind the player while Li Ling went to the main door of the shed and waited for the angry mob to arrive. 

Under the stairs was a room, or to be more precise, it was a whole house with different rooms connected together. Its appearance was worlds different from the wooden shed above. The walls were white and the room was fully furnished, maybe even better than Zhihao's old apartment. 

[Wow]

Zhihao's eyes trailed around the room trying to find a certain object that he was still unable to find. 

[How did you know there was a house below the shed?]

Zhihao ignored the bot as he went from one room to the other and flipped it upside down in search of the thing he was so desperately looking for. 

"Where the hell is it?" Zhihao muttered as he opened all the desks and drawers he could find. 

"Where the hell is he?!" One of the men who was leading the angry mob shouted as he saw Li Ling. 

Li Ling straightened his back and stood in front of the door as if he were guarding it against these people. 

The woman stomped her wooden pitchfork on the ground as she glared at Li Ling, "Young man, who are you?!" 

Li Ling ignored the question once again since he really was unable to give her an answer. 

They weren't given their character profiles yet so he really didn't have an idea about who he was. 

"Are you the monster?!" Another man yelled at Li Ling as he looked him up and down. 

Li Ling chuckled as he pointed at himself and asked, "Who? Me? A monster?" 

The man also seemed to question himself as he looked at the young man. There was no way this was the blood-sucking monster they were after. 

This young man was too handsome to be a monster. 

Right at this moment, Zhihao finally found the thing he was looking for. 

It was a painting.