CH 45.2

Why do you do this to yourself? Why put yourself into a situation where people do not resemble people, and ghosts do not resemble ghosts1? Isn’t it hard? 

It must have been hard. Not to mention how he was able to live after becoming like this, it’s difficult to imagine how painful the process of becoming like this must have been …….

Lu Li was definitely not born like this.

Something happened to him, that’s why he is in this state.

Xie Jianwei’s heart ached as he thought about  Lu Li’s circumstances…

The little skeleton remained motionless as couldn’t bear to get up even though his bones were already stiff.

Xie Jianwei finally touched his cold bones, and as expected, it felt icy like the snow, and it was also hard, rigid, and lifeless.

Skeleton Lu Li didn’t hide this time, but he also didn’t dare to look at Xie Jianwei, since there was only darkness in his empty, hollow eyes socket.  He was worried that if he met Xie Jianwei’s eyes, the latter would hate him even more.

But then,  Xie Jianwei did something that made Little Skeleton almost fall apart.

Xie Jianwei kissed him.

On the side of his mouth, where there was only nothing but teeth, Xie Jianwei kissed him with those lips as soft as the petals.

Skeleton Lu Li was completely stunned. He saw Xie Jianwei closed his eyes, and he didn’t shed a single tear, but he felt like he was crying.

This realization caused stabbing pain in Little Skeleton’s empty chest cavity.

He couldn’t say any words, so he reached out his hand to comfort Xie Jianwei, but his pointy, hard finger accidentally scraped at Xie Jianwei’s skin, bringing out a trail of blood.

Such fair and delicate skin was… actually hurt by me.

Little Skeleton became so flustered and he didn’t know what to do.

Xie Jianwei wiped away the blood on his face and smiled.

A smile that overflowed from the corner of his mouth, reaching the bottom of his eyes– a smile as warm as the early winter sun that could melt all ice and snow.

Skeleton Lu Li wrote on the ground: <I’m sorry.>

Xie Jianwei said, “It’s okay.”

Skeleton Lu Li didn’t feel relieved at all; he secretly made up his mind not to touch him, not even once, in the future.

But Xie Jianwei took his hand and placed his pale bone fingers in his palm.

“So thin.” Xie Jianwei said.

Little Skeleton curled his fingers in and he tried to quickly draw back his hand, but to no avail, because Xie Jianwei held onto him tightly: “But I can tell that it’s you.”

Skeleton Lu Li obviously didn’t understand what he said.

Xie Jianwei lowered his head slightly, and kissed him on the back of his hand as he asked: “Would you like to touch me?”

Little Skeleton: “…”

Xie Jianwei spread out Skeleton Lu Li’s bony hands and put the latter’s palm on his  face: “It’s fine like this.”

Little Skeleton remained stiff. He could neither express what he was feeling nor could he describe the feeling in his palm.

The softest fruit under the heavens was no match for his tender skin, and the perfect summer weather couldn’t compare to his warmth.  Even the rising sun behind him was reduced to a foil at this moment.

Can he really touch him? 

As the skeleton’s palm moved, Xie Jianwei smiled at him, “Yes, doing it this way won’t hurt me.”

If Little Skeleton had a face, it would definitely be redder than the red berries lying beside them.

Xie Jianwei changed his previous indifferent demeanor. Although he was indeed angry, he couldn’t stay angry for too long. In fact, as early as the time when Lu Li brought him water to drink, his anger had already slowly subsided.

What else could I do? This is Lu Li, and whatever he becomes or turns into is still the Lu Li I love. Since he feels uneasy, then the least I should do is put his mind at ease.

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Xie Jianwei finally felt a little hungry when he relaxed.

Reapers also need food, but their diet is slightly different from that of humans. They basically do not eat living creatures—they only consume fruits, moreover, they don’t eat the fruit of plants that die when their fruits are gone.

Xie Jianwei let the clucking chicken go, but the other beasts were all killed by the Skeleton Lu Li because of their violent resistance, so there was no need to let them go.

The remaining ones were all fruits. He picked one, washed it, took a bite….. then paused.

The little skeleton scribbled on the ground: <Is it good?>

Military Advisor Xie, who felt that his teeth were about to fall apart because of the extreme sourness,  said without changing his expression: “Sweet, really sweet.”

Naturally, Mr. Skeleton had no expression, but the eerie atmosphere around him significantly reduced, a clear indication that he was happy.

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Xie Jianwei carefully looked at the other fruits,  trying to pick out a truly sweet one.

As a result, Mr. Skeleton handed him another piece of fruit that looked exactly like the sour thing he had just eaten.

Xie Jianwei: “…”

Yan Ke let out a laugh unkindly.

The corner of Xie Jianwei’s mouth twitched and he said, “I want to taste the other one.”

Mr. Skeleton withdrew his claws with a feeling of loss.

Xie Jianwei couldn’t bear to see him like this, so his heart softened, “Give it to me.”

Little Skeleton quickly raised his head and gave him the fruit. Forget about the gloomy atmosphere around him, it seemed like a whole garden of flowers bloomed in his surroundings!

Xie Jianwei braved himself and took a bite.

The sour taste in his mouth, and the sweet feeling in his heart were both unparalleled.

Fortunately, there were only two of these sour fruit, so since he had eaten them both, then all of it was already gone.

Little Skeleton wrote on the ground again: <Since you love this, I’ll get you a few more of it! I saw earlier that there’s a big one over there.>

In face of such a dilemma, Military Advisor Xie still managed to find a way out: “Don’t bother. I’d like to try some of the others too. Besides, you’re the one who picked them, so all of  them must be delicious.”

Little Skeleton was happy again.

Looking at Lu Li acting like this,  Xie Jianwei couldn’t help but silently think to himself: It’s over.  No need to hold any competition since my family’s Lu Li is no doubt, the most lovely and cutest skeleton in the whole galaxy!

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After finally filling their bellies, they were ready to depart and go back to the Middle Realm.

After carrying Lorren for a while, Xie Jianwei, who was still weak,  was already out of breath.

Mr. Skeleton followed Xie Jianwei, and when they passed by a huge tree, he raised his hand and cut it down.

Xie Jianwei was taken aback by his actions, but the little skeleton was busy waving his hands in front of the log.

Xie Jianwei asked: “What are you doing?”

Skeleton Lu Li’s fingertips were quite sharp like it’s made of iron. After swishing his hands a few more times, he was able to cut out a neat square board out of the tree log.

Xie Jianwei still wasn’t sure what’s going on: What is he going to do with that?

The board was 20 centimeters square, it’s not that big, and it wasn’t that small either.

He then soon found out what it was for.

Mr. Skeleton smeared a pile of red berries, then wrote on the board with his sharp fingertip: <I’ll carry him.>

Xie Jianwei: “…”

Yan Ke: [Oh my mother, Skeleton Marshal is so smart bah.]

Xie Jianwei thought: Oh, he is “smart”, alright… All the effort just to make a writing pad….

Skeleton Lu Li: <I’m strong>

Xie Jianwei said, “Are you sure? Aside from being heavy, he’s still injured.”

Skeleton Lu Li: <I’ll be careful not to hurt him.>

Xie Jianwei was indeed already tired of carrying Lorren on his back, so he simply said, “Okay. I’ll leave it to you.”

Skeleton Lu Li does look thin, but he really is powerful. With just a hook of his finger, he lifted Lorren easily.

With that, they were able to travel much faster, and after half a day, they finally arrived at the Middle Realm.

Now that they had returned to the grim reaper’s territory, they were already safe and there was no need to worry about demons coming after them.