Chapter 10: Where’s the Promised Old-School Melodramatic Romance?

The lounge on the second floor of the Gu residence seemed to have been converted by knocking several guest rooms together.

To satisfy Old Madam Gu’s preferences, the place had been remodeled into something resplendent and magnificent. Jade pieces of all sizes filled the display shelves, and the fragrance of incense was especially strong.

The outermost area had a semi-open redwood railing design, like an enormous theater balcony.

Leaning against a soft recliner made of tanned calfskin, slowly savoring Phoenix Dancong tea wrapped in honey-orchid fragrance, looking down from above at the figures of guests coming and going…

Even Lin Jingyao’s little white formal suit could be seen clearly. He was no longer embarrassed and had taken the initiative to seek out Gu Jiu’an, who stood in the corner. The two of them were exchanging something back and forth.

To be honest, openly peeping at everything like this was inexplicably a little wickedly amusing.

After drinking several cups of hot water and resting for a while in a firm arm, Lin Jiangye felt his energy gradually return.

He propped himself against the cushion and wanted to sit up, but Yu Wangxiao gently pressed him back down and adjusted the recliner’s backrest higher instead.

“Don’t move around. I don’t trust your stamina.”

Lin Jiangye closed his eyes and forced his gaze away from the man with difficulty. His voice was slightly hoarse. “I’m really fine.”

“I don’t believe you.”

Yu Wangxiao had no intention of withdrawing his hand at all. The perfectly cut custom-made coat on his body had long since been pressed into unpresentable wrinkles, but he did not care in the slightest.

He even voluntarily offered his forearm, steadily placing it under Lin Jiangye’s cold nape. His long fingers circled over, neither too light nor too heavy, landing right on the position of his artery.

Of course, Lin Jiangye did not particularly like this posture of measuring his heart rate.

The combat instinct triggered by the dangerous encounter made agitation spread through his bones. He really wanted to immediately seize Yu Wangxiao’s wrist in return.

With just one fierce backward tug, he could flip over and press the man to the ground, pinning his shoulder joint so tightly that it would be difficult to break free.

However…

Perhaps due to some kind of transference, he found that Yu Wangxiao’s scent was becoming better and better.

It had nothing to do with any chemical fragrance. It was the unique scent of the human himself.

Even more excessive was that the pink light screen above Yu Wangxiao’s head was too close. Truly too close.

Because the progress bar had only just experienced rapid fluctuations, this strange panel of unknown origin was almost more tempting than catnip.

A charming deep red color kept spilling outward, like thick, boiling tomato soup. It covered and corroded the originally clear Arabic numerals, then abruptly vanished the moment it touched the air, hooking his heart until it trembled again and again, making it impossible for him to remain steady.

Yu Wangxiao smiled. His originally somewhat serious brows relaxed, clearly having noticed his overly obvious abnormal heart rate.

“What’s wrong? Are you not used to physical contact like this?”

Before Lin Jiangye had time to answer, the man’s warm fingertips moved away from his carotid artery and lightly brushed past his heated earlobe. His inexplicably lowered voice also vibrated through his chest. “It’s needed for acting. Forgive me.”

Lin Jiangye froze when he heard this, then immediately noticed Yu Wangxiao’s fleeting look of implication. He lowered his eyes as if pretending to be shy.

The polished, glossy floor reflected the complete scene inside the lounge.

He saw… a slightly shriveled old woman wearing a luxurious formal gown unsuitable for her standing behind the half-closed door of their room, revealing half of one cloudy eye.

A cold, deathly aura like that of a water ghost, like wet clumps of seaweed, surged and piled up in that gap, ready to burst through the door at any moment.

Lin Jiangye blinked, almost angered into laughter by the absurd scene in front of him.

No, wait. What kind of book world was this supposed to be? Where was the promised old-school melodramatic romance?

Why exactly was there an extremely unreasonable favorability panel, deadly poison inexplicably appearing in milk, and even a strange old woman straight out of a horror movie?

And also… why was Yu Wangxiao not surprised at all?

The lingering doubt and irritation in his heart suddenly erupted at this moment, turning into a strange impulse.

He raised his hand and groped upward, suddenly grabbing Yu Wangxiao’s silk tie and pulling it down hard.

Yu Wangxiao was leaning sideways against the recliner and happened to be slightly off balance. He was actually pulled forward by him.

“…Hm?”

That usually calm and unruffled face rarely revealed a brief moment of surprise, but it quickly changed into understanding and indulgence.

He supported himself with one hand beside Lin Jiangye’s face, slightly lifted his chin, and allowed the “lover” on the recliner to play with his somewhat messy collar.

Under the cover of his hanging coat, however, his other hand reached deep into the lining of his suit and brushed over the cold, hard firearm inside.

“Ancestor, how did I provoke you this time?” His low, flirtatious murmur perfectly covered the tiny sound of him taking out the weapon.

Lin Jiangye could only cooperate with him. He tightened his grip on the tie in his hand and pretended to complain. “I’m really, really hungry. Don’t just focus on admiring those jade antiques. If you don’t take me to eat soon, I’ll eat you.

“Yu Wangxiao, you don’t love me at all. You don’t even care that I’m hungry. Even Yu Lin cares about me more than you…”

This complaint was half true and half false, but the man’s lowered brows darkened, and a trace of genuine displeasure actually spread through them.

“Don’t mention him.”

The soft silk fabric kept tightening between his fingers. Cold, hard black metal slowly pressed against his chest, its chill piercing straight through the thin shirt.

Behind them, the old woman pushed open the half-closed door and kept stepping forward. The bones throughout her body rubbed against each other, producing a rough, teeth-aching sound.

A surging dampness began to spread, and the effect of the central air-conditioning was continuously affected by that bone-piercing wet cold.

Lin Jiangye listened sideways to the distance between her and the recliner. He looked at the bottomless black muzzle, then raised his eyes with great curiosity toward Yu Wangxiao.

Danger that had never been written into the script was approaching. So what expression would this person, who had also never been written into the story, have now?

Yu Wangxiao, however, did not look at her. He still calmly leaned over Lin Jiangye, indulging him in messing with his tie.

“Tuantuan, did you hear me clearly?”

“Hm?”

Those deep-pool-like eyes narrowed. The muzzle lifted an inch upward, almost pressing against his heart. Yu Wangxiao curved his lips and repeated softly, “Don’t mention his name again. I don’t like it.”

This seemed to be a not-too-heavy, not-too-light death threat, but it also seemed a little like flirting. At least, that was how Lin Jiangye understood it.

Lin Jiangye had always had no interest in investigating mediocre weapons created by humans… until now.

Because he could clearly smell that there was no scent of gunpowder inside this gun.

He was very curious how Yu Wangxiao, as a reliable adult human, would use this pistol with no bullets to handle a dangerous situation.

After all, the blurry-faced old woman was already right beside them. Her facial skin was like a lump of mud casually kneaded by Nüwa. Aside from those two swamp-like chaotic eyeballs, no other facial details could be seen.

She was like an unfinished 3D model that had been forcibly stuffed into the world to make up the numbers. Looking at her for too long even made one dizzy.

The strange wet cold spread through the air, climbing over human skin that was thin and fragile, causing waves of unconscious shivers.

Lin Jiangye noticed the abnormality in his body, so he slowly buried his face against Yu Wangxiao’s neck and even rubbed against it, his attitude extremely natural.

He wanted warmth, and by the way, he wanted to hide the curiosity that was difficult to conceal.

“I can stop mentioning him, but I want to eat. Where’s the promised cocktail shrimp?”

His muffled voice came out, his cold lips moving lightly against Yu Wangxiao’s Adam’s apple. Lin Jiangye did not realize anything was wrong.

“…Someone will bring it. It’ll be here soon.” Yu Wangxiao’s tone was gentle, very much like a lover in the middle of a passionate romance, patiently coaxing him in a hoarse voice. “Making you wait so long was my fault. What compensation do you want?”

“I want a gift. Something especially expensive and especially good.” Suddenly thinking of the black card Yu Lin had thrown at his face, Lin Jiangye said this casually.

“Sure. I’ll give you an island, with a little surprise included.”

Lin Jiangye did not take it seriously and only followed his words. “Really? What surprise?”

“Wait a moment.” Yu Wangxiao smiled, and a dim light abruptly appeared in his deep black eyes. “Three, two, one…”

Lin Jiangye heard the light sound of the trigger being pulled. The movement was small, like a steady gentleman’s hand-kiss, gone in a flash.

The man’s warm lips leaned close to his ear, quietly curving into a beautiful arc.

“Bang.”

Yu Wangxiao murmured softly.

“Bang—!”

“Bang, bang, bang—!!!”

A sky-shaking series of loud sounds followed immediately. Brilliant fireworks filled the sky. A magnificently dressed orchestra stepped onto the stage, mingling with the guests’ applause, chatter, and laughter.

“Welcome, everyone. How does tonight’s Bolkov taste? If it weren’t for my mother’s birthday, I wouldn’t be willing to share it with you drunkards to drink recklessly, hahaha…”

Somewhat unexpectedly, the current “head” of the Gu family, Gu Jiu’an’s biological father, was a rather bold and straightforward bald man.

Even wearing an expensive, custom-tailored suit could not hide the casualness and ruffian air in his bones. Standing at the center of everyone’s attention, he even seemed completely out of place with the extravagant and luxurious Gu residence decor.

The skillful performance began. Guests took their seats one after another. The process of preparing the main meal was also part of the show, and socializing with various motives continued.

It seemed no one cared where the true main character was.

For such a grand birthday banquet, it was indeed unreasonable to require an elderly person in her eighties or nineties to attend the whole time. It would not be too late for her to appear during the important gift-giving segment.

But…

Lin Jiangye sat cross-legged beside the recliner, hugging his arms, silently staring at the lifeless, damp, withered bones on the floor, as well as the formal gown that was clearly custom-made to fit the old madam’s body, and fell into deep thought.

“Say that again?”

“Mm. She is Old Madam Gu. She probably died a long time ago.”

“…Yu Wangxiao, are we really in modern society?”

Yu Wangxiao chuckled and put the gun, which showed no traces of firing, back into his pocket. He requested gently, “Don’t be so fierce with me. Be careful, or our act will be exposed.”

“Fine, dear. When the waiter comes to deliver the food later, how are we supposed to explain this corpse? Let me say this first: I really can’t explain it.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll have He Chen secretly take her away. Climbing over the wall and coming in will be quick.”

“…Hm? Say that again.”

“Rest properly and eat with peace of mind. I’ll have He Chen come steal her corpse.”

Lin Jiangye turned his head and stared at Yu Wangxiao, almost thinking he had heard wrong.

Having his refined, gold-rimmed-glasses-wearing special assistant climb over a wall and sneak into a room under the cover of night did not sound like something a proper boss would do at all.

Even scarier was…

“Openly monitoring me is one thing, but you actually want to steal someone else’s corpse…”

Lin Jiangye rarely felt this shocked.

Even in the world he used to live in, where killing a god did not matter, the corpses and souls of all kinds of creatures still had to be sorted into categories. They absolutely could not be taken and used casually!

“Is it really that strange?” Yu Wangxiao calmly held him and seemed thoughtful.

Almost without needing to think, Lin Jiangye seriously replied, “Mm. I’ve discovered that you look very rule-abiding, but in truth, you really like breaking rules. Stealing corpses is a classic example. It’s like… you’re instinctively seeking some kind of stimulation.”

Yu Wangxiao froze, then tilted his head and looked at him for a long while. Yet there was a smile rising and sinking in the depths of his eyes.

“But didn’t you also steal one?”