CH 64

Being disturbed was not entirely true, but Duan Zhen still calmly discussed the matters of the main system with them.

“For the next month, I’ll start by investigating the small worlds under my jurisdiction,” Li Xi said. “But, the main system’s comprehensive broadcasts are very rare… Besides initially integrating into the world, it seems it hasn’t broadcast since.”

“That could be troublesome,” Dan Zuo furrowed his brow slightly, pushing his glasses up. “If there’s no comprehensive broadcast, we’ll have to continue gathering information at the current pace and investigate each world one by one.”

Li Xi waved his hand. “At least there’s hope, which is better than being completely clueless about what to do.”

Suddenly, his eyes lit up. “If we want to force the main system to broadcast comprehensively, there might be a way.”

“Force?” Duan Zhen frowned.

“If I destroy the system shop, the main system will definitely have to rebuild it. It took a day for it to build the shop initially, so a day without the shop is not a small matter. It might choose to broadcast this to everyone,” Li Xi pointed out. “Although I haven’t tried it, but that shop is just a collection of energy, so it should be destructible.”

“And then?” Duan Zhen asked, his brow furrowing deeply. “If it’s really that easy, the shop wouldn’t still be there.”

Realizing he was caught, Li Xi blinked innocently, attempting to play it off. “Why would I destroy the shop when I have nothing to do? The main system is already integrated into the game, and one shop less won’t make much difference.”

Duan Zhen looked at him seriously.

Li Xi met his gaze, looking confused. “Why are you looking at me like that? I’m telling the truth, the main system can’t harm me.”

“So it will retaliate,” Duan Zhen pointed out the underlying implication in his words.

“…Ah,” Li Xi belatedly realized he had let something slip.

Duan Zhen looked at him with a face full of innocence, reaching out to pinch his cheek. “Little trickster.”

Li Xi tried to play it off.

“Cough cough.” Dan Zuo coughed a few times from the side, indicating there was still another person present.

“Anyway, don’t act rashly,” Duan Zhen said, releasing Li Xi’s cheek and holding his hand instead, speaking seriously. “Destroying the system shop might trigger a significant retaliation from the main system, and it could also alert it.”

“The main system probably knew from the moment you started gathering information,” Li Xi muttered, feeling like he hadn’t lived up to his value. But investigating the small worlds still required his involvement, so he perked up. “How should I go about finding the main system?”

“This is the smartwatch I modified,” Dan Zuo showed him his wrist, and although the watch looked similar to before on the surface, there was now a polygonal frame in the bottom left corner of the screen.

“This frame will display signals, and the closer you are, the stronger the signal,” Dan Zuo explained. “We still can’t pinpoint the location precisely, so once you find the general location, bring me to the small world.”

“No problem,” Li Xi agreed readily.

Then he remembered his smartwatch was left on the table at home.

Thinking of this, Li Xi suddenly said, “Duan Zhen, do you want to visit my world?”

Duan Zhen was taken aback.

“Since we’re together now, it’s normal to bring you home,” Li Xi reasoned, feeling more convinced of his own argument. “And it’s just me at home, so you don’t have to worry about meeting my parents.”

As he spoke, he pushed Duan Zhen to change clothes, and took the opportunity to say to Dan Zuo, “My smartwatch was left at home. I’ll go back and find you in your room later.”

Dan Zuo remained silent for a moment, tactfully exiting the scene.

Duan Zhen prepared to change clothes. If he didn’t leave soon, he might be thrown out by Li Xi.

While changing clothes, Duan Zhen noticed Li Xi covering his eyes, peeking at him through his fingers, which made him feel uncomfortable. Moreover, he could sense that Li Xi’s gaze was filled with appreciation and fondness, without any desire. It was like looking at a valuable piece of artwork, wanting to touch it.

But Duan Zhen on the other hand wasn’t that calm, he felt his skin heating up under Li Xi’s gaze, yet he couldn’t do anything about it.

In the end, he had to hasten his pace and quickly put on his clothes.

Li Xi seemed disappointed, “Why did you get dressed so quickly?”

Duan Zhen ruffled his hair before saying, “Let’s go, do I need to prepare anything?”

“No, we just need to go and get the smartwatch,” Li Xi said, tidying his hair and blinking at Duan Zhen. “And I’ll show you around the magical world while we’re at it.”

At his words, Duan Zhen felt a hint of anticipation rising from within.

Li Xi took his hand, and after counting down from three, the two of them vanished from the room together.

Duan Zhen felt a moment of dizziness, but his strong sense of balance kept him steady on his feet, just swaying slightly.

Seeing that his plan to catch Duan Zhen off guard and have him fall into his arms failed, Li Xi sighed and lowered his open arms.

Within a few breaths, Duan Zhen adjusted himself and snapped out of the dizziness. He found himself inside a building. The furnishings inside had a mix of Eastern and Western flavors, with rosewood tables, screens embroidered with dragons, and a painting on the wall depicting a dusk sky painted in varying shades of deep and light red.

“Feel free to look around,” Li Xi said, seeing Duan Zhen just standing there, looking around. He tugged at his hand. “I used to stay in the house all the time. It may look a bit messy, but it’s definitely comfortable.”

They were in the foyer, and Duan Zhen followed Li Xi as they walked towards the bedroom, noticing many paintings on the walls, all depicting landscapes without any people.

“Normally, there would be family portraits hanging here,” Li Xi said as he noticed Duan Zhen looking at the paintings. He scratched the back of his head. “But after the Duke’s mansion was destroyed, I couldn’t find portraits of my parents anymore, and no one dared to paint the Demon King in the mainland, so I just hung landscape paintings instead.”

He glanced at Duan Zhen and suddenly smiled. “But nobody here knows you. Maybe they can paint one for you, and I’ll hang it up. Consider it giving you a status.”

Duan Zhen’s slightly sad mood from glimpsing Li Xi’s past was disrupted by this remark. He chuckled and ruffled Li Xi’s soft hair. “Stop kidding.”

He had a status now too.

“I’m serious,” Li Xi pouted. He decided to use a magic sphere to record Duan Zhen’s appearance later and commission the best painter in the land to paint a portrait.

The relaxed atmosphere continued until Li Xi opened the bedroom door. He saw the stack of books on the bedside table and his expression changed. With a deep breath, he quickly extended his arm to block Duan Zhen’s view.

“Wait, you can’t go in yet,” he said, trying to calm himself down. “It’s too messy inside. Let me tidy up first.”

Although he tried to block Duan Zhen’s line of sight, Duan Zhen’s height advantage allowed him to see several books hastily flying into the bookshelf.

Oh, not just several books, but over a dozen.

The pink, green, and flowery covers made it impossible for him to deceive himself that they were anything but magic books.

The sight of these books made Duan Zhen’s mind wander, thinking that Li Xi was reading naughty books under the covers every day.

It wasn’t a big deal, something most men did, but Duan Zhen couldn’t help feeling a bit uncomfortable deep down.

Li Xi didn’t notice his discomfort. After making sure he had stuffed all the strange things into the bookshelf, he moved away from Duan Zhen with dignity. “It’s all cleaned up now. Let’s go in.”

Thankfully, Duan Zhen didn’t see his collection of love strategy books, or else even the face of a demon king would be lost!

Lol they are on two different wave lengths

Thank you for reading