Chapter 242 - Enjoy It Before It Ends

"Didn't Li Ling say that this was not something done by Omelas?" Zhou Xinyi sighed as he spoke up and shared his thoughts, "If it's not something done by the original company then you can sue the ones who did it. We can sue them for putting our lives in danger and we can also sue them for hacking Alvi." 

Zhihao's eyes widened slightly as he heard this, "That's right! There is still this possibility!" 

"I wonder who was stupid enough to do something like this," Wang GuiYing clicked his tongue as he showed his clear dislike for the unknown person. 

"Me too," Li Ling's voice interrupted them as the man approached Zhihao, "I wonder who was gutsy enough to mess with my game." 

Wang GuiYing scoffed as he heard the man, "Your game? The way you say it makes it sound as if you are the gamemaster or something." 

Li Ling chuckled as he hooked his arm around Zhihao, "That's nonsense." 

Zhihao sighed as he said nothing to that. 

"Why are you guys wasting time here?" It was Li Ying who questioned with clear annoyance laced along with her words..   

"It's nothing," Zhihao shrugged it off as he turned to look around. 

The first time, it was an office building, the second time it was an arcade, the third time it was a stadium and the fourth time it was the pink house. They were all really different from each other but there was only one thing that connected them all and it was the distance between them. 

Since Zhihao kinda knew the area around, it wasn't hard for him to guess what their next arena was going to be. 

The fifth competition arena was a shopping complex. 

Tian Xifeng's eyes seemed to have come to life as soon as she got out of the car and entered the building, "The system has good taste! I love this!" 

Li Ying frowned as she rolled her eyes at the woman, "You don't even know what the mission is going to be. How can you love it just like that?" 

Tian Xifeng chuckled as she hooked her arm around Li Ying's shoulder and annoyed the girl even more, "Yingying, since this is our arena, the mission should be clear to you, should it not?" 

"Eh?" Li Ying's eyes twitched as she glanced at the woman, "What nonsense are you spouting now?" 

"Such a big shopping complex!" Tian Xifeng exclaimed happily, "Our mission must be to buy as much stuff as we can in the shortest period possible!" 

Li Ying looked to be unimpressed by the woman but she didn't bother saying anything in turn as she shrugged Tian Xifeng's arm off of her shoulder. 

Zhihao frowned as he looked around the empty mall. 

He had certainly been here before a couple of times but this was definitely the first time that he had seen this place be so empty. 

Normally, unless the mall was closed, it was usually filled with people so this sight of the empty mall was certainly rare. 

"A-Zhi, any ideas?" Li Ling leaned in closer to Zhihao's ear as he asked in a whisper.

Zhihao side-glanced at the man as he questioned, "Why are you whispering in my ear?" 

Li Ling chuckled as he leaned in closer and blew air into Zhihao's ear, "Would you prefer I do this instead?" 

Zhihao frowned and his face showed that he clearly didn't enjoy it, however, like always, his ears had managed to betray him by turning bright red. 

Li Ling couldn't help but raise his hand to rub Zhihao's red ears as he noticed it, "A-Zhi is such a tsundere sometimes." 

Zhihao sighed as he grabbed Li Ling's wrist and stopped him from rubbing Zhihao's ear, "Gege, now is really not the time to be playing around." 

Li Ling frowned as he heard this but eventually sighed as he gave up on rubbing Zhihao's ear and instead, encircled his arms around Zhihao as he hugged him from behind. 

"What are you trying to do?" Zhihao asked with a frown as he noticed that there was a sudden change in Li Ling's behavior from the previous competition. 

"It's nothing," Li Ling refused to explain his thoughts to Zhihao as he sighed and muttered in a low volume, "I just feel like I should enjoy it while I still can. Who knows what might happen in the next few hours." 

In the next few hours, they would surely have completed the final level and after that, who knows if Li Ling would still be alive or not. 

Zhihao had certainly answered the final question by saying that he would find another way to protect both Li Ling and the world but even though the man was determined, it would still not be something possible. 

Finding another way was impossible and of course, Li Ling knew this best. 

Zhihao's frown deepened as he noticed that Li Ling sounded a bit sad as if there was something he knew that Zhihao didn't. 

Li Ling tightened his hold around Zhihao and for some reason, Zhihao couldn't help but get the feeling that the man was trying to hold onto Zhihao for the last time. 

"Li Ling, you know I love you, right?" Zhihao suddenly asked in a volume that could only be heard by Li Ling who was the closest to him. 

Li Ling almost felt his breath get caught in his throat as he heard this sudden confession. 

He gulped as he questioned, "A-Zhi, what are you trying to say?" 

Zhihao held Li Ling's hand that was wrapped around his torso as he smiled and turned his face sideways to look at Li Ling who was leaning on his back, "I just wanted you to know that I love you. So I don't care what you're thinking or worrying about because, at the end of the day, I would always be there with you. Even if you decide to run away, I would still follow you." 

Li Ling bit his bottom lip as tears started brimming in his eyes, "Mastermo... Who taught you such cheesy lines?" 

Zhihao chuckled as he responded playfully, "Who knows? Maybe it just comes naturally to me whenever I see the lovely face of my dear boyfriend." 

Li Ling's cheeks blushed a bright shade of red as he buried his face on Zhihao's back, not daring to let anyone else see his flushed expression. 

Zhihao couldn't help but want to turn around and pat the man's head as he teased him a bit more, "Do I make you that shy?" 

Li Ling said nothing as he wondered if everything would be the same even after a few hours. 

Zhihao rubbed Li Ling's head lovingly as he waited for the man to say something. 

"A-Zhi," Li Ling finally lifted his head to face Zhihao, and Zhihao was certainly stunned for a second as he looked at Li Ling's face that was not only flushed red but the man's eyes looked to be a bit too moist as if he was on the verge of crying. 

"Are you okay?" Zhihao asked in worry as he cupped Li Ling's face. 

Li Ling smiled brightly as he nodded his head, "I'm okay, A-Zhi. You don't need to worry about me." 

"How could I not?" Zhihao sighed as he kissed the man's forehead, "You always go hiding things from me and making me worry." 

"Then... If I hide nothing from you and be completely honest, would you not worry about me?" Li Ling questioned back to which Zhihao chuckled. 

"That's silly. Even if you are honest to the point that you tell me which color of underwear you are wearing, I would still be worried about you." 

"Grey." 

"Eh?" 

Li Ling blinked as he simply didn't explain and waited for Zhihao to understand that Li Ling had just been honest enough to give him the color of his underwear. 

Zhihao took a few seconds to understand and just as he did, he broke out laughing. 

"You're really unpredictable," Zhihao commented and Li Ling smiled brightly as if Zhihao had just given him a compliment. 

"Yah! Xinyi, what color of underwear are you wearing?" Wang GuiYing questioned as he turned to face the man. 

"Nonsense," Zhou Xinyi sighed as he walked faster. 

"You're not honest enough!" Wang GuiYing complained as he raised his speed to catch up with the man, "Tell me~" 

"I never knew your brother was such a romantic," Li Ying commented as she walked beside Jiangshi. 

"And I never knew they were both so bold and shameless," Jiangshi responded with a tone that sounded as if he was suffering through second-hand embarrassment. 

Li Ying chuckled as she hooked her arm around the boy's neck, "Aiya~ With just this much affection, you are already so embarrassed? I wonder what would happen when you see them kissing each other." 

Huang Zhen was suddenly reminded of unpleasant memories that dated back to when he was innocently heading home and walked in upon his brother kissing Li Ling in the car. 

Li Ying's eyes widened ever so slightly as she exclaimed, "You just shuddered! You saw it, didn't you?! Oh my~"