LABMY CH150

The boy was indeed very beautiful—his eyelashes curled, his nose delicate and straight, and his gaze as clear as that of a young beast.

No matter how beautiful he was, it did not stop Jian Yuanbai from coldly rejecting him: “No, you can’t. Who are you?”

“Did you kill Lu Yongye?”

Ding-dong! A crisp electronic notification sound rang in Jian Yuanbai’s mind, followed by a cold, robotic voice: “The Long Aotian Support System is now at your service.”

Jian Yuanbai’s heart tightened, and his voice grew stern: “Who’s there?!”

He was conversing with the sudden voice in his head, which startled the boy in front of him. The boy pouted in grievance and muttered, “So fierce.”

Lowering his head, he pinched his own chin as if he were seriously pondering something. “I am Shen Tingyue.”

Then, as if confirming it for himself, he nodded. “Mm, that should be right.”

After Jian Yuanbai blurted out his question, his entire conversation with the Long Aotian Support System took place within his mind. It was quick, but to Shen Tingyue, it seemed like he had simply stood there in a daze for a moment.

Shen Tingyue waved a hand in front of the man’s eyes, hesitated, then repeated in a pitiful tone, “Can I have just one bite?”

“I’m really hungry.”

Seeing that the man remained unmoved, Shen Tingyue leaned toward him, his soft body falling against Jian Yuanbai. His voice was weak and pleading: “I’m really, really hungry. Please.”

Just as Jian Yuanbai finished his conversation with the system, he subconsciously reached out to support him. What he touched was smooth, tender skin, which startled him so much that he immediately pushed the boy away and stepped back several paces.

“You—!”

As a pure-hearted man, Jian Yuanbai felt as if the hand that had just touched that small patch of skin was burning. He scolded, “Why aren’t you wearing clothes?”

Shen Tingyue blinked his large eyes, looking completely innocent. “Why would I wear clothes to sleep?”

“I like sleeping naked.”

Jian Yuanbai threw his suit jacket at him, laughing angrily. “Then you’re practically streaking.”

From what the so-called system had told him, the boy in front of him—Shen Tingyue—was a future Long Aotian, the fated protagonist of this world.

The system did not seem very reliable. It had only told him the boy’s name, briefly explained the situation, and then left him with a vague instruction: when the time came, he would receive mission prompts on what to do next. Beyond that, nothing else was explained.

The boy’s identity, origins, and parents? The system claimed it didn’t know.

Of course, even if it had given answers, Jian Yuanbai wouldn’t have believed them.

But for something to invade his mind and read his thoughts—such technology was something he had never seen before. It was impossible for it to exist in this era.

According to the system, Jian Yuanbai needed to stay by Shen Tingyue’s side and wait for mission prompts.

For now, he had to follow the system’s instructions and figure out what it was trying to do.

However, staying by Shen Tingyue’s side didn’t necessarily mean he had to follow him around—if anything, he could make Shen Tingyue follow him instead. That way, they wouldn’t be together every second of the day.

As Jian Yuanbai was lost in thought, Shen Tingyue had already put on the suit jacket. However, his bare legs—smooth, white, and long—were still completely exposed, making Jian Yuanbai’s eyes ache just looking at them.

Glancing at Shen Tingyue, Jian Yuanbai rubbed his fingertips, remembering the warmth from the boy’s touch just moments ago. He felt a slight heat and coughed lightly before asking, “How did you end up here?”

Shen Tingyue looked dazed, his actions oddly deliberate.

It was as if the habit of pinching his own chin when thinking was hardwired into his brain. With his head lowered, he pinched his chin again, swaying slightly as he thought.

Jian Yuanbai watched his series of small gestures. After a long moment, Shen Tingyue finally looked up and answered in his soft voice, “I climbed out of the coffin and followed the scent here.”

“Coffin?”

Jian Yuanbai was shocked. “Why were you in a coffin?”

Shen Tingyue lowered his head again, pinched his chin, and swayed as he pondered. After a long pause, he looked up and honestly shook his head. “I don’t remember.”

He spread his hands. “The coffin was nailed shut. It took me a lot of effort to twist my way out.”

His slender, pale fingers bore small wounds, tiny cuts where beads of blood had surfaced.

Jian Yuanbai frowned slightly, inexplicably finding those injuries unpleasant to look at.

He attributed this feeling to the simple fact that such beautiful hands were now covered in wounds—it was a shame.

Shen Tingyue held his hands out, looking up at Jian Yuanbai pitifully, his voice full of grievance. “It really hurts, so… can you let me have a bite?”

Hurts?

Jian Yuanbai automatically ignored the latter half of his sentence and held his wrist, checking the injury on his hand. It wasn’t serious, but Shen Tingyue was exceptionally fair-skinned, making it look a bit frightening.

Just as he was about to let go, Shen Tingyue suddenly tightened his grip, reversing their hold. Jian Yuanbai raised an eyebrow but didn’t move, waiting to see what he intended to do.

Shen Tingyue even used both hands, cupping Jian Yuanbai’s hand and sliding his fingers along until he reached the fingertips. Then, he gently squeezed Jian Yuanbai’s fingertips.

After that, Shen Tingyue withdrew one hand while keeping the other in place. He extended a finger, looking at Jian Yuanbai with eager eyes.

“It’s not okay?”

“I answered so many of your questions. Just let me bite one of your fingers.”

Jian Yuanbai let out a short laugh, then coldly and mercilessly replied, “No.”

Shen Tingyue’s expression instantly fell, as if all the light in his eyes had vanished. He muttered in dissatisfaction, “That’s not fair.”

Jian Yuanbai naturally understood what he meant by “not fair.” He tilted his chin slightly toward the bed where Lu Yongye lay. “Lu Yongye is dead. You appearing here means I naturally have to ask who you are.”

Shen Tingyue, who had gone to that woman, tilted his head in confusion. “You didn’t want her to die?”

As if suddenly realizing something, his eyes lit up. “I can become her. I can pretend she never died. Then can I bite you?”

“Become her?”

Shen Tingyue pointed at Lu Yongye’s face, then at his own. “The face. My face can look exactly like hers.”

He took a few quick steps forward, closing in on Jian Yuanbai. Pinching his own cheeks, he said, “Look, isn’t it exactly the same?”

Shen Tingyue was too close, and it happened so suddenly that Jian Yuanbai instinctively held his breath. Their noses were almost touching, their gazes interlocked. Jian Yuanbai saw his own reflection in Shen Tingyue’s eyes.

Jian Yuanbai stepped back to widen the distance and reached out to touch Shen Tingyue’s forehead. “No fever. What nonsense are you talking about?”

But Shen Tingyue was relentless, insisting that his face looked identical to Lu Yongye’s.

Seeing that he was about to jump onto him with his bare legs, Jian Yuanbai had no choice but to drag him to the bathroom mirror. “See for yourself. Do you look the same?”

Shen Tingyue huffed, crossed his arms, and stubbornly declared, “Exactly the same!”

Jian Yuanbai lifted his gaze and froze in place. The person in the mirror was indeed Lu Yongye. He swiftly turned his head to look at Shen Tingyue beside him.

Short hair. A young man.

Then he turned back to the mirror. Long hair. A woman.

What was going on?

“I can’t tell you.”

Hearing the voice, Jian Yuanbai realized he had spoken his question aloud.

Shen Tingyue nervously fidgeted with his fingers and repeated, “I can’t tell you.”

“Now can I bite you?”

Jian Yuanbai pinched the bridge of his nose, unable to understand why this person was so fixated on biting him. “No.”

Shen Tingyue became anxious. “Then—then if I tell you what’s going on, can I bite you?”

Jian Yuanbai: “Fine. Tell me what’s going on.”

It was obvious that Shen Tingyue didn’t really want to say it. His small gestures gave him away—his emotions were always written on his face and reflected in his actions. He clasped his hands behind his back, hesitating before finally mumbling, “It’s just… an illusion.”

“It seems like you can see through my illusion, but mirrors can’t reflect my real body, so they only show the illusion I cast.”

Shen Tingyue quickly glossed over the explanation, then looked at Jian Yuanbai expectantly. “Now you have to let me bite you.”

A stranger who appeared out of nowhere, a bizarre system that could communicate with his thoughts—Jian Yuanbai suspected that Shen Tingyue was related to it. Naturally, he wouldn’t let him bite him so easily.

Without hesitation, he rejected him again. “Your answer isn’t complete. Still no.”

Shen Tingyue’s eyes widened in disbelief. “This isn’t okay, that isn’t okay—”

“You clearly promised—still no?”

Tears welled up in his eyes, like beads about to spill from a broken thread. Choking back a sob, he muttered, “You’re such a scoundrel.”

The next second, tears rolled down his cheeks, falling like pearls. His skin was pale, and when he cried, his eyes and nose turned red, making him look pitiful.

Jian Yuanbai remained silent, watching him cry with an expressionless face.

His mind was running through everything: this person had appeared suddenly, his background was a mystery, he had a strange system, an inexplicable illusion technique—

He was obsessed with biting him.

He looked harmless, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t dangerous.

Jian Yuanbai needed to keep a close watch on him in case he suddenly turned hostile.

…

A short while later, Jian Yuanbai, face darkened, held out his hand in front of Shen Tingyue, surrendering. “Fine. Bite me. Just stop crying.”

Tears still clung to Shen Tingyue’s eyes, but his face lit up with a radiant smile. He grabbed Jian Yuanbai’s hand, pinching one of his fingers as if in a dream. Carefully, he asked, “Really? I can really bite?”

Jian Yuanbai snapped, “Ask again and the answer will be no.”

Shen Tingyue didn’t ask again. He immediately took the finger into his mouth, pressing his sharp teeth against the skin before sinking them in.

The warmth and wetness of another’s mouth wrapped around his fingertip, making Jian Yuanbai clench his jaw. Then, a slight pain pricked his finger—

It was light, like the sting of a needle.

Shen Tingyue drank his blood, then cherished the moment, hesitantly licking the fingertip before withdrawing.

“No licking!”

Jian Yuanbai caught sight of the soft pink tongue, but his words came a second too late.

Or maybe not. Just as Shen Tingyue was about to sneak in another lick, he was startled into stopping. Looking up at Jian Yuanbai with teary eyes, he asked, “Can I bite you next time?”

Jian Yuanbai took a deep breath and firmly declared, “Absolutely not.”

He had principles and limits. This was his bottom line.

Rejected so decisively, Shen Tingyue almost wanted to cry again.

But having just drunk blood, he found that he couldn’t.

Jian Yuanbai needed to do something to pull him out of this strange state. From Lu Yongye’s luggage, he retrieved a set of spare clothes.

It was a dress—long, white, and Lolita-style, complete with lace stockings. After a moment of thought, he only handed Shen Tingyue the dress. “Didn’t you say you wanted to pretend to be her? Put this on.”

Jian Yuanbai hesitated, then removed his shirt and handed it to him as well. “Wear this underneath.”

Lu Yongye was a woman, and they weren’t partners or relatives. Wearing her undergarments wouldn’t be appropriate. That was why Jian Yuanbai didn’t give him the lace stockings.

Shen Tingyue nodded obediently and changed right then and there. Jian Yuanbai’s eyelid twitched, but in the end, he didn’t tell him to change in the bathroom.

When Shen Tingyue was done, he twirled around.

“Are we going to meet the others now? Can I bite them?”

Jian Yuanbai’s face darkened completely. “No.”

In his mind: Bite others? Might as well just bite me.