Shen Chenzhi’s eyes moved slightly and he felt like the tip of his heart was scratched by a feather. He just wanted to speak when a finger was pushed against his lips.

  Xiao Li told him, “I want to hear the truth. I will give you some time to think about it and we’ll talk later.”


  He released the hand that was stopping Shen Chenzhi and turned to walk out of the bathroom and into the next door. Shen Chenzhi stared at his back and followed.

  Next door, Wang Huai had moved a chair and sat at the table, surrounded by a circle of people. This was normal but Xiao Li’s attention was on the wooden box on the table.

  It was like an ancient bride’s dressing box that was used to store some small jewellery. There was a pair of mandarin ducks carved on it and it should isolate the meat from the outside world. However, Xiao Li could smell the fragrant meat the moment he entered the door. The smell of meat was getting stronger.

  Wang Huai saw Xiao Li enter through the door and took the initiative to introduce it. “This is a special item I obtained from a ghost marriage instance. It is an engagement gift given by the groom to the living bride.”


  Xiao Li wondered, “Then?”


  “Its role is storage and isolation.” Wang Huai continued. “As long as you put things inside, the box can block the perception of the outside world. It is just like isolating two worlds. I have tried it and placed a key item from an instance inside. Even the instance’s boss level ghosts can’t find it.”


  His introduction seemed to have no start and end but Xiao Li understood his meaning. “Now it can’t even block the smell of the meat.”


  “Yes, this piece of meat must be very special.”


  Wang Huai reached out and opened the box again. The mucus had almost stuck the black meat to the bottom of the box. Xiao Li stood at the edge of the table and pulled out a scalpel. He cut the outer layer of the black meat with a sharp blade.

  Ye Zeqing leaned over to watch his movements and couldn’t hold back. He gulped and spoke, “Moriarty, do you know? I remember the smell the first time I had met Fujiang but I think this piece of meat is more potent than her. It smells more fragrant……”


  Perhaps if Fujiang heard this then she would jump up and kill him.

  Xiao Li’s hands kept moving. “Do you want to eat it?”


  Looking at him, Ye Zeqing thought that Xiao Li would really hand it over if he said yes. Ye Zeqing immediately refused. “No no no, I want to live.”


  Xiao Li didn’t cut deeply and the inside was still black. The second time, he increased his range of motion and cut down deeper. It was a piece of bright red, raw meat. This piece of meat seemed to be alive. The place where Xiao Li had cut was bleeding like a human wound. It was a small amount of bleeding but it still existed.

  Xiao Li raised his eyebrow, turned the scalpel in his hand and stabbed an area close to the outside of the meat, piercing the meat. The flesh was unresponsive but fresh blood dripped from the blade. Xiao Li pulled out the scalpel. This time, he lifted it and dropped it, cutting off a third of the meat. Blood burst out and splashed on the young man’s hand. He wiped it with a tissue without blinking.

  Gong Mingming, “.……”


  The image was like the horrible scene of a mad scientist torturing a test product. She even had the desire to say, ‘It is just a piece of meat. Let it go.’


  “One of your sentences is right. This piece of meat might be Fujiang’s kind. Do you want me to call her over for a blind date or something?” Before she could speak, Xiao Li turned to Ye Zeqing.

  Wang Huai coughed and interjected. “It is a piece of raw meat but it smells like cooked meat.”


  “Yes, the smell is deceptive. It might be Pseudo-Logoi’s subordinate.”


  Wang Huai, “???”


  He couldn’t keep up with the other person’s thinking.

  Ye Lingshi asked, “Are you serious?”


  “It is a joke to liven up the atmosphere.”


  The others, “&#k2026;&#k2026;”


  It was fine for it to be more solemn.

  Xiao Li picked up the piece of meat and suddenly said, “We can do an experiment. Cut off a piece of meat and bury it in the soil or put it in water. We can see if it grows.”


  “It is fine if we are in an instance.” Wang Huai refused. “However, right now we have no time. In fact, I have started to feel that inviting you to the Sun home is a mistake and you should go to a more valuable place.”


  “The Sun family’s obstruction means we will waste a lot of time. Since the crying has subsided temporarily, we should leave. At present, we need to pay attention to every second. Right now, there are spontaneous reincarnator organizations forming around the world to monitor the mountains. A few minutes ago, I saw on the news that a supernatural phenomenon has occurred on a snowy mountain not far from us. A group of foreigners were wiped out while climbing……”


  “I have been thinking about this since the start of the dinner. If you want, we can leave this place to others. Let’s go to the mountain and seal the well first.”


  Xiao Li listened to him speak while playing with the piece of meat. The moment Wang Huai had finished speaking, Xiao Li abruptly inquired, “Why do you think the well is in the mountain?”


  “The destruction of Atlantis and the clues collected so far……” Wang Huai hesitated when answering.

  “Then if I describe reality as a leaky pot, will you dig at the ground?”


  Wang Huai, “.……”


  “I don’t think it is necessarily the case.” Xiao Li placed the piece of meat back in the box. “I think it is just an adjective and we might end up with the same results in every place.”


  “I will stay a bit longer,” he finally said.

  Wang Huai didn’t agree. He could see more news than Xiao Li due to all the people he knew. However, he understood the other person’s personality and stood up from the chair. “Then I will go to Sun Qilin to ask about the situation. If there is no progress tomorrow then I will leave.”


  Gong Mingming called out to him. “Are you asking about this piece of meat?”


  “I’ll hint at him but the main thing is to ask about Sun Jiarun,” Wang Huai replied.

  ***

  Xiao Li returned to his room. There was indeed a late night snack on the table but due to the smell of the meat, he was temporarily uninterested. He sat on the edge of the hammock and lay back, soft hair scattering on the bed.

  The rope suspending the bed creaked and shook back and forth. Xiao Li closed his eyes but still noticed that someone was sitting next to him on the bed. He didn’t open his eyes and maintained this posture as he asked lazily, “Did you think about it.”


  The young man’s cold, cello-like voice flowed through the window, overwhelming the sound of the wind and rain from the window. “Where do you think I went?”


  “Asking a question?” Xiao Li turned in his direction. “Still, let me guess. Your hometown?”


  He used the words Shen Chenzhi had used but still didn’t open his eyes.

  Shen Chenzhi stared at the young man who had closed eyes. He touched the other person’s smooth forehead and the illusion of being isolated from Xiao Li’s world rose in his heart.

  This thought made him open his mouth. “.……Yes.”


  Xiao Li opened one eye stained with mist, turning the original black a grey colour. The eyelashes outlined the long and narrow end of his eye, bringing out a temperament completely different from his own.

  “I’ve always been curious about what your hometown looks like.” Xiao Li clearly spoke every word. “Now, I want to know more about why you have to go back once in a while.”


  Shen Chenzhi hugged him tightly and sniffed behind Xiao Li’s ears, as if breathing the air he lived on.

  After a long time, he half-closed his eyes. “Don’t be angry. I…… I didn’t deliberately keep it from you. I was just afraid you wouldn’t want me.”


  He was like a big cat who had done something wrong and was afraid of being discarded by his owner.

  Shen Chenzhi hugged Xiao Li and spoke slowly, “I was born with chaos but most of the time, I slept in the abyss.”


  “The abyss is like the adjudication prison. It is neutral and suppresses all pollution.”


  At first, Xiao Li tensed when Shen Chenzhi hugged him. Then he relaxed, placed his head on the other person’s chest and waited for him to speak. “Pollution?”


  “Yes, turbidity, pollution, whatever you want to call it. It isn’t a creature. It is more like a force, sinking into the depths of the abyss. It is a combination of the sources of pollution. It came from a force when the world first opened. It can’t be erased and can only be suppressed. Since I am its companion, I can suppress it.”


  “However, I can’t leave it for too long. I must go back every once in a while or else it will get out of control. It will pollute the gods and reincarnation. In the end, the whole world will be polluted.”


  He was born with filth and had various restrictions. He couldn’t be with Xiao Li all the time. This made Shen Chenzhi extremely afraid of being abandoned by the lover that he had finally caught.

  Humans loved light. Who would want to stay in the darkness forever? Compared with him, any god was more handsome and with no restraints. For example, the god of lies that Xiao Li mentioned most often. Shen Chenzhi grabbed Xiao Li’s hand and held it tighter, as if he wanted to force the other person’s bones and blood into him so they would never separate.

  Then Xiao Li raised a hand and touched his face. “The abyss…… what is it like?”


  This faint touch was like the world he saw when he first came out of the abyss.

  “Darkness,” Shen Chenzhi answered. “There is nothing else.”


  “Is it hard?”


  “It was fine at first. Then the darkness reminded me of your eyes.” Shen Chenzhi replied briefly.

  So it wasn’t that hard.

  Xiao Li was silent for a moment. “How often do you have to go back?”


  “It used to be a long time. Now the balance has reached its peak and I just have to go back for half a day every month.”


  Xiao Li broke away from Shen Chenzhi’s hands and kissed the corner of this person’s lips. He asked softly, “Can I accompany you to the abyss? We can do something over there.”


  He seemed to think this sentence wasn’t powerful enough for Shen Chenzhi. He blinked and added, “Brother Chenzhi?”


  Shen Chenzhi was taken aback for a moment. Then he went crazy imagining such a scene. In the endless darkness of the abyss, there would be no other people. There would only be the two of them. In the short half-day, he could act as he liked because the other person couldn’t escape. However, it couldn’t be too much or his lover would definitely be angry after coming out.

  It was a nightmare he had been dreaming of for years. But……

  Was it really okay?

  Shen Chenzhi took a deep breath and restrained the surging emotions in his chest. “It isn’t a good place over there. As long as you don’t leave me, you don’t need to go there. I will come back on time.”


  He would be good.

  “I’ll accompany you to slowly find a way to completely eradicate the pollution but before that, I want to go to the abyss to accompany you.” Xiao Li wondered, “Will they pollute me?”


  Shen Chenzhi shook his head. “It won’t happen with me there.”


  He knew the pollution couldn’t be erased. This was the balance of heaven and earth. Where there was light, there must be darkness. It used to be a shackle that bound him but at this moment, it became a peace of mind. It was a promise that soothed his restless heart.

  “That’s it.” Xiao Li laughed. “Take me to see it.”


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