Chapter 56: Are You Done Kissing?

Huang Wei was stunned for a moment, then shook her head. “It’s nothing. I just slept too much this afternoon and haven’t fully woken up yet.” She quickly finished stir-frying two vegetable dishes, carelessly placed them on the players’ dining table, and then left the guesthouse ahead of time.

When she came out, the lights in the houses outside were already out. Only the glow of a television faintly leaked from the second floor, where someone was still watching. There was nothing else besides that faint TV light. No sounds of living people—no laughter, no noise. The silence was so profound it didn’t feel like there were any living people at all.

A moment ago, Huang Wei had desperately wanted to tell Auntie Wang, “Don’t wander around at night. Stay alive.” But she couldn’t say it. She was just an ordinary Guide; how could she say that to players? The System’s prompt box would still pop up occasionally in front of players, warning Huang Wei to stick to her duties as a Guide.

Back home, Huang Wei hugged Huang Chengcheng. Huang Chengcheng bounced, showing her that she had just taken a bath and was now all sweet-smelling.

This lively, cheerful Huang Chengcheng was a far cry from the little boss who could directly kill her own playmates that afternoon. Huang Wei smiled as if nothing had happened and held her in her arms.

After a short while, Huang Wei placed Huang Chengcheng on the bed and said softly, “I’m going to take a shower first. Cooking made me all sweaty.”

She had already showered once today, but after another round of sweating, a shower was a good choice.

After entering the bathroom, Huang Wei didn’t rush to shower. Instead, she examined herself in the mirror. She pushed her bangs up, tucking them to the sides, revealing her whole face. She wasn’t admiring the beautiful reflection; she was looking for the evidence of fatigue Auntie Wang had mentioned.

She reached out, gently pressing her fingertip to the corner of her eye.

Auntie Wang was indeed a very observant person. As she said, even though Huang Wei tried to hide it, she still looked tired. Auntie Wang didn’t know why Huang Wei was tired, but Huang Wei knew very well. She raised her hands and buried her face in her palms, then slid her palms down her cheeks.

There was no denying it—Huang Wei was truly exhausted.

Physically and mentally. Ever since entering this instance, she hadn’t had a proper rest. Every day, she was either working in the fields or busy with something else, spinning like a top. Even with sufficient sleep, high-intensity physical labor easily led to fatigue.

Not to mention, her mind was constantly strung tight as a bowstring.

Cheng Luyun and Huang Chengcheng kept plucking at this string. A little more force, and it would snap.

Huang Wei sighed and turned to enter the shower area. After rinsing off, she started filling the wooden tub with water. Once there was enough, she got in. Sitting in the tub, just like before, she let the water cover her mouth and nose. The slight suffocation actually helped her relax a little. Only in this environment would other things stop appearing in Huang Wei’s mind.

Right now, thinking about anything was difficult. Whenever she was alone, various images from these past few days would easily surface. Sometimes it was the scene of Wang Ling pleading for help before she died. Sometimes it was the image of Big Ya and Little Ya’s father lying dead in a pool of blood. And now, the picture of Big Ya and Little Ya’s heads falling into the feed trough was added to the mix.

Each scene, when she looked closely, ended with the person dying turning into herself.

Would she die now? Would she die next?

Even if Cheng Luyun and Huang Chengcheng didn’t harm her, could she guarantee she wouldn’t go mad in this situation? If she were playing some Cthulhu-type game and had to make a direct Sanity check, she was afraid she wouldn’t pass.

Auntie Wang was right. She was so exhausted. She was so tired.

Huang Wei also felt a bit of self-loathing. She was clearly so terrified of Cheng Luyun, so scared of this world, yet she still blushed and felt her heart race because of Cheng Luyun. She discovered she truly liked her. Unable to hold her breath any longer, she still didn’t surface. Instead, she sank a little deeper, closing her eyes underwater.

She sometimes hated that she was the type of person who, just because someone showed her a little kindness, couldn’t wait to offer her whole heart. Even knowing that Cheng Luyun’s kindness might just be the occasional attention a cat gives a fish it’s toying with—it didn’t matter. She would still bite the bait. Even knowing there was a problem, that her current state was deeply abnormal… she still really liked her.

Huang Wei’s hair drifted gently in the wooden tub. She was already feeling uncomfortable, but she kept holding her breath, seeming determined to reach her limit before surfacing.

But she didn’t last that long. While she was still holding her breath, a hand reached into the tub and pulled her out of the water.

“Ah…”

She saw the person before her—it was Cheng Luyun. She had pulled Huang Wei from the water, her face a picture of fury. Seeing Huang Wei’s somewhat dazed expression, she couldn’t help but speak. Gone was her usual gentle smile; her voice was tinged with obvious anger. “What are you doing?! Do you want to die?!”

Cheng Luyun’s expression looked quite anxious, and Huang Wei couldn’t quite understand why she was so worried. But seeing her like this, Huang Wei still wanted to explain. “No… I…”

Before she could finish, Cheng Luyun cut her off. “No? If you want to die, I’ll grant your wish!” Her eyes were exceptionally black, like whirlpools, threatening to pull in and drown any passing ships. Her words were terrifying, the kind that would make anyone else shiver uncontrollably.

If Cheng Luyun truly wanted to “grant her wish,” Huang Wei didn’t doubt her ability. To be honest, Huang Wei couldn’t handle anyone. If someone wanted to attack her, she could easily demonstrate an on-the-spot death. But Cheng Luyun looked so frantic that Huang Wei wasn’t frightened by her words at all.

Huang Wei was completely unclothed. Water droplets from her hair slid down her neck, but no one was watching this alluring scene, especially since Cheng Luyun was tightly gripping Huang Wei’s raised hand.

Huang Wei looked at Cheng Luyun for a moment, realizing she had no intention of actually doing what she said. Water dripped from her hair, slightly obscuring her vision. Using her free hand, the one Cheng Luyun wasn’t holding, she wiped her eyes. Once her sight cleared, Huang Wei leaned forward. Cheng Luyun instinctively let go of her hand. Without the support, Huang Wei stumbled in the tub and then collapsed onto Cheng Luyun.

The bottom of the tub was quite slippery, but Huang Wei admitted there was a deliberate element. Otherwise, she should have just fallen in the bathtub. How could she have tumbled out and landed on Cheng Luyun? Cheng Luyun cushioned her fall. It was also fortunate the bathroom was truly large; in a smaller one, she might have hit her head on the wall.

Their current position was somewhat precarious, Huang Wei truly felt so.

Cheng Luyun had fallen to the ground, her usually side-tied hair sprawled on the tiles, soaked and sticking to the floor. Even worse, Huang Wei, completely unclothed, was braced on her elbows above Cheng Luyun’s head, her entire body pressing down on her. Only by propping herself up on her hands had she lifted off slightly. Water droplets from her hair and body fell one by one, landing inevitably on Cheng Luyun.

They were extremely close, noses almost touching, but Cheng Luyun didn’t seem to notice.

Cheng Luyun stared at her, anger still burning in her eyes.

She was still upset about the foolish thing Huang Wei had done earlier, thinking she was trying to commit suicide. But Huang Wei had no such intention. Although her current life pushed her to the brink of madness, and she indeed feared death, it was also because… she now had a desire to live. Seeing Cheng Luyun like this, how could she not understand? At least with Cheng Luyun, she was safe. Truly safe.

Huang Wei had no sense of security, none at all, but Cheng Luyun was slowly, bit by bit, reinforcing her sense of safety.

At this moment, Huang Wei brought up the old question. “Can I kiss you?”

Cheng Luyun froze. The anger in her eyes turned to disbelief, completely unable to comprehend how Huang Wei could say something like that in this situation.

—Was this really a normal person’s train of thought?

But Huang Wei ignored her reaction. Her sanity was already teetering on the edge of a cliff. If she didn’t do something, Huang Wei felt she would truly go mad. She desperately needed to take something from Cheng Luyun, to test her limits, to tell herself she was absolutely safe. So Huang Wei lifted one hand and gently held Cheng Luyun’s chin.

As Cheng Luyun’s eyes widened, she leaned down and kissed her.

This was Huang Wei’s first kiss. She closed her eyes, sensing Cheng Luyun’s lips with her own. She didn’t know what other people’s lips felt like; she could only describe the sensation of Cheng Luyun’s.

Cheng Luyun’s lips were very soft, like cotton candy, sinking slightly at the slightest touch. They were also very sweet. For the first time, Huang Wei understood that a person’s lips could be sweet. The sweetness wasn’t strong, just light, like eating rice cakes as a child when the owner was reluctant to add much sugar, but the natural sweetness of the rice cake was just right. Faintly, she could smell a hint of floral fragrance. Huang Wei didn’t know what flower it was, only that it smelled like walking on a field ridge in spring—a clear, light scent carried by the wind, mingled with just a trace of fragrance.

Kissing was truly comfortable.

At this moment, Huang Wei understood why people loved kissing so much. A kiss alone could give a person great strength.

The various scenes that should have been flashing through her mind all vanished with the kiss. She gently opened her eyes and saw Cheng Luyun’s face, now completely red.

“Drip.” A strand of Huang Wei’s hair, stuck to her temple, let a water droplet slide down her cheek to the tip of her nose, then drip down, landing on the beautifully shaped curve of Cheng Luyun’s lips. Right in the little dip between her upper and lower lip.

At that moment, Huang Wei felt thirsty. She wanted to touch that water droplet with her lips, to gently lick it away with the tip of her tongue.

Her gaze moved upward. She saw many more droplets scattered on Cheng Luyun’s cheeks. Finally, Huang Wei met Cheng Luyun’s eyes. The usual deepest coldness in their depths was gone, replaced by something like a clear spring. Her brows were furrowed slightly inward, and her water-flecked eyes looked exceptionally gentle and beautiful.

Then came Cheng Luyun’s exasperated voice. “Are you done kissing?!”

As soon as the words fell, Huang Wei fainted again.

Knocked unconscious by Cheng Luyun, yet again.