Chapter 21: The Ring Activates the Defense System
Gu Yunsheng remained silent. Xue Chenxi’s words were like sharp knives, ruthlessly tearing open his last disguise, exposing him nakedly to this cruel deep sea.
Indeed, where could he run to?
Back to his own world? The System had already explicitly told him that having changed the plot direction, unless he died, it would be difficult to return to his own world.
Seeing him silent, Xue Chenxi thought his offensive had worked, so he stood up and walked in front of him, looking down at him.
He didn’t touch Gu Yunsheng frivolously like before, but just quietly scrutinized him. His sharp gaze seemed to want to see through Gu Yunsheng.
“You see, little friend, you have nowhere to go.” His tone was still dominant, but he retracted the previous frivolity, adding a trace of imperceptible scrutiny and inquiry. “Stay by my side. I can give you everything you want: wealth, status, even… spiritual comfort…” He paused deliberately. “…In short, you will see something different.”
Disgust welled up like a tide. Gu Yunsheng turned his head violently, dodging Xue Chenxi’s suffocating pressure.
He had enough of this charity-like pity, and enough of this condescending control.
“Mr. Xue, what makes you think I would need your charity?” Gu Yunsheng sneered, his tone carrying undisguised mockery. He thought to himself: This bastard really thinks everyone is like him, coveting glory and wealth? I’m not that fool of an original owner!
Hearing this, Xue Chenxi’s pupils contracted slightly, obviously surprised by Gu Yunsheng’s unappreciative attitude.
He narrowed his eyes slightly, like a provoked cheetah, scrutinizing the prey before him.
However, Gu Yunsheng ignored the astonishment in Xue Chenxi’s eyes. He just lowered his eyes and steadily turned the simple ring on his right index finger. With a soft click, a silver-white light flashed from the setting. The setting slowly opened, revealing a fish scale emitting a ghostly blue light inside.
“Mr. Xue, you seem to have forgotten where this is.” Gu Yunsheng rubbed the fish scale in his hand nonchalantly, his tone calm but hiding a sharp edge. “This boundless deep sea is not something just anyone can control.”
He paused, observing Xue Chenxi’s expression imperceptibly, then put the fish scale back into the ring, saying meaningfully, “Some things might be too dangerous for both you and me for the time being.”
He didn’t reveal more information, but made Xue Chenxi realize that this seemingly cute and soft Omega before him was far more complex than he imagined.
The corner of Xue Chenxi’s mouth turned up, revealing a playful smile.
He turned and sat back on the sofa, pulling out a cigar nonchalantly, but his deep gaze remained on Gu Yunsheng.
Originally, he really just wanted to probe this little guy’s background to see what ability he had to take away his merman experimental subject from the hospital.
However, the magic emitted by the ring in Gu Yunsheng’s hand, especially that fish scale belonging uniquely to the Deep Sea Dragon King Ling Xi, set off waves in his heart.
Ling Xi—that was an existence even he hadn’t fully controlled yet. Where exactly did this little guy come from?
Really interesting!
Xue Chenxi narrowed his eyes, a raging fire of battle igniting in his heart. He decided to hold back and observe further. He wanted to see just what tricks this seemingly harmless little Omega could play.
Gu Yunsheng rubbed the ring imperceptibly, but his gaze never left Xue Chenxi.
His finger gently slid over the cold patterns on the ring surface, feeling the tactile sensation from his fingertips.
He knew that taking out Ling Xi’s fish scale was too risky; a slight carelessness would invite trouble.
But right now, for Xue Chenxi, a deep-sea biologist, this fish scale was undoubtedly a highly attractive puzzle.
He knew very well that Xue Chenxi would never easily let go of any clue related to deep-sea creatures.
He also wanted to see, faced with this thing that everyone unexpectedly wanted to possess, what Xue Chenxi’s next move would be.
Immediately after, Gu Yunsheng mustered his courage, leaned close to Xue Chenxi’s ear, and whispered a few words.
Unexpectedly, Xue Chenxi actually pressed the cigar out in the ashtray. Leaning forward slightly, his deep gaze seemed to want to see through Gu Yunsheng. “Communication? This claim is fresh. You aren’t going to tell me you can chat with those creatures that only exist in myths, are you?”
Gu Yunsheng covered his mouth in feigned surprise. “Mr. Xue really knows how to joke. How can myths and legends be true?” He lowered his eyes, his tone carrying a trace of loneliness. “If I really had that kind of earth-shattering ability, how would I have drifted here, unable to return home?”
He always liked challenges; the more mysterious something was, the more he wanted to conquer it.
This Omega before him clearly possessed the ability to contact that deep-sea overlord, yet deliberately pretended to be harmless. It was really… too interesting.
“Home?” Xue Chenxi raised an eyebrow, catching the keyword in Gu Yunsheng’s words. “The ‘home’ you speak of, where is it?”
Gu Yunsheng’s eyes flashed slightly, avoiding Xue Chenxi’s probing gaze, and said with feigned sadness, “That is a very, very distant place. So far that… I no longer remember the way back.”
He reached out to pick up the glass of milk on the table, brought it to his lips for a sip, then put down the glass, putting on a look of grievance.
“Don’t remember the way?” Xue Chenxi chuckled lightly, clearly not believing Gu Yunsheng’s story. “In that case, why not stay by my side, and I’ll help you look for it?”
He reached out, pulled Gu Yunsheng to sit beside him, and reached out to tidy Gu Yunsheng’s slightly messy bangs.
Gu Yunsheng wanted to get up and leave, but his wrist was grabbed by Xue Chenxi.
“Don’t be afraid.” Xue Chenxi’s voice was low and hoarse. “I have no malice toward you. I was wondering how many secrets you have that I don’t know? I want to get to know you properly.”
He rubbed Gu Yunsheng’s cheek, his thumb gliding intentionally or unintentionally over the Omega’s sensitive neck, his tone carrying a trace of bewitchment. “Stay by my side. I can give you everything you want, including… helping you find the way home.”
Gu Yunsheng’s body trembled slightly. Xue Chenxi’s touch was like an electric current, provoking a wave of numbness.
…
Meanwhile, in the deep seabed, a magnificent palace built of coral and shells stood quietly.
Deep in the palace, a figure lay on a huge shell bed, turning over uneasily.
“Mmh…”
Ling Xi opened his eyes violently, a trace of pain and confusion flashing in his deep blue eyes.
He felt his body was being torn apart; the severe pain made it impossible for him to breathe.
Struggling to sit up, he found himself completely powerless, unable to do even the simplest gathering of seawater.
“Damn it…”
He cursed through gritted teeth. A picture suddenly flashed in his mind—
It was a strange yet familiar face, wearing a smile, reaching out to him…
“Who are you?!”
Ling Xi roared, but found his voice incredibly hoarse, as if he had undergone centuries of torture.
He tried hard to see that face clearly, but found the image getting more and more blurred, finally disappearing…
“Gu Yunsheng…” Ling Xi woke from the nightmare, panting painfully.
He tightly grasped the ‘amulet’ on his chest. Back when Gu Yunsheng helped him pull out the fish arrow, he had specially given him his own ‘amulet’ to bless his safety. Now, however, he wanted to tear it apart.
He dreamed of that Omega, that Gu Yunsheng who messed up his mind.
In the dream, Gu Yunsheng smiled at him, but that smile stung his eyes, because he saw another man standing beside Gu Yunsheng—elegant, noble, the complete opposite of him.
“Damn it…” Ling Xi growled low, his deep blue eyes full of pain and confusion.
He tried hard to see the face of the man in the dream, but the image blurred and vanished…
He clutched his chest, where waves of tearing pain came, as if something was being ripped apart alive.
“This feeling… what is it?” Ling Xi had never felt such intense emotion. It was like a sharp knife repeatedly cutting his heart, driving him to the verge of collapse.
Ling Xi struggled to get up, wanting to grab something, but found himself powerless.
He could only watch helplessly as that smile dissipated before his eyes, powerless to do anything.
“No…” Ling Xi groaned in pain. He wanted to keep Gu Yunsheng, wanted to imprison him by his side, never to separate.
But this strong possessiveness made him feel strange and fearful.
He didn’t know what was wrong with him, nor why he would have such strong feelings for an Omega he had only met a few times.
“Who exactly… am I?” Ling Xi murmured to himself, feeling unprecedented confusion and fear.
Xue Chenxi’s fingers gently rubbed Gu Yunsheng’s cheek. His gaze wandered greedily over Gu Yunsheng’s face, finally stopping on his lips, but then, as if remembering something, abruptly withdrew.
“Did you know? You really look like… someone I once loved deeply.” Xue Chenxi’s voice was low and hoarse, carrying indescribable sadness as he falsely told a beautiful love story.
Gu Yunsheng sneered in his heart. Loved deeply? What does that have to do with me? But his face remained impassive; instead, he revealed a pitiful expression. “Is that so? Then he was really honored.”
Xue Chenxi chuckled lightly, but that laugh made Gu Yunsheng feel a chill.
“Yes, he was indeed very ‘honored’… but that’s all in the past.” Xue Chenxi’s tone carried a trace of self-mockery.
He stood up, walked to the window, and gazed at the distant sea horizon.
“It took me a long time to understand that some things, once lost, never come back.” His voice was filled with loneliness and sorrow.
Gu Yunsheng rolled his eyes in his mind, thinking: You talk as if you’re so deeply devoted, but aren’t you just a scumbag who loves the new and loathes the old! But on the surface, he still maintained that weak and helpless appearance, even gently biting his lower lip, seemingly moved by Xue Chenxi’s “deep affection.”
Xue Chenxi turned around and walked in front of Gu Yunsheng with aggressive steps. He leaned over slightly, his slender fingers gently stroking Gu Yunsheng’s cheek.
“You really look like him. If it’s really you who came back, let me compensate for that lost love.” After speaking, Xue Chenxi’s gaze fell on Gu Yunsheng’s ring again. It was a simply styled silver ring, glowing with a cold light, carved with strange patterns that seemed to attract him to explore constantly.
“This ring,” Xue Chenxi’s eyes darkened. The moment his fingertip swiped across the edge of the ring, it was as if he was scalded by fire, and he shrank back violently. “So special… what high technology?”
His tone was forcedly relaxed, but the astonishment in his eyes couldn’t be hidden.
Gu Yunsheng sneered in his heart. This familiar scene—a scumbag confessing with such a clichéd trope. Does he really take me for a substitute?
Luckily, luckily I still have the last line of defense given by the System.
This ring can not only store weapons and equipment but is also an amulet protecting him from harm!
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