Chapter 46

Just as Leo and Perila had predicted, by the time Blackstone Town—now renamed Silver Moon Holy City—hosted the banquet for the Heroic Spirits, Qin Lang and Xia Xifeng had already reconciled.

Well… maybe “reconciled” wasn’t quite the right word. Qin Lang’s face still looked decidedly sour.

It was just that, as always, he and Xia Xifeng remained inseparable, constantly together. So to any outside observer, they were essentially “made up.”

At that moment, Xia Xifeng was in the middle of the banquet hall, dancing joyfully with Cat One and Cat Two.

Cat One was in front of him, Cat Two behind him. One human and two Cat Lizardmen, arms raised high, hopping right and left—hop, hop, hop. According to them, this was a traditional Cat Lizardman folk dance for praying for good fortune.

Qin Lang sat in a chair not far away, leisurely sampling the regional delicacies. He made sure Xia Xifeng was always within range of his Mage Hand skill.

If anything unexpected happened, he could instantly “snatch” Xia Xifeng right back to his side.

Leo, a man with a particularly mischievous and merciless nature, made a special trip over just to mock Qin Lang about it.

Shielding half his face with his drinking cup, Qin Lang pointedly ignored him.

Things hadn’t always been like this between him and Xia Xifeng.

Back then, Qin Lang and Xia Xifeng had their own separate lives. Whenever they didn’t get along, they could simply close a door and shut out the other’s incessant noise.

Xia Xifeng had many friends. If Qin Lang gave him a cold shoulder, Xia Xifeng would happily go play with his other friends, completely forgetting Qin Lang’s existence.

Qin Lang had many hobbies. He enjoyed gaming alone, reading, watching movies—immersing himself in his own inner world.

After they’d started university, aside from interacting more often in-game, they’d had less and less to talk about in real life. Whenever they did talk, it often devolved into mutual sarcasm and bickering.

Their personalities and interests were just too different. There was no need to force themselves to stick together.

The world was so vast; they each had their own sky. Rather than argue constantly, keeping some distance might actually preserve at least a baseline of friendship.

But after crossing over, everything had changed.

The world was too dangerous. No matter how angry Qin Lang got, he couldn’t just abandon Xia Xifeng.

It wasn’t that he hated his troublesome childhood friend. He simply didn’t want to watch his death-seeking childhood friend actually die.

So now, no matter how furious Qin Lang was, he could only “explode in anger for a bit,” puff up his fur, wander a short circle, and then wander right back.

And now, what had once been a two-sided “mutual nemesis” situation had somehow warped into a one-sided “natural predator” scenario.

Propping his forehead on his hand, Qin Lang endured Leo’s insufferable mocking in sullen silence.

Xia Xifeng was still dancing over there.

Happy (hop left), Happy (hop right), Meow (hop and spin in a circle)!

That utterly idiotic dance was so painful to watch it left Qin Lang with a bellyful of gripes he couldn’t even voice.

“If you’re truly unhappy, just say it a little more harshly,” Perila advised Qin Lang, after casting a Silence Spell on the overly-gloating Leo. “Given Feng’s personality, he’d definitely change.”

Qin Lang’s lips moved slightly, as if about to speak, but all that came out was a heavy sigh. “It’s useless.”

Perila countered, “You haven’t even tried. How would you know?”

Qin Lang replied flatly, “I have tried. He can always tell whether I’m genuinely angry or not. My tone doesn’t fool him.”

For a long moment, Perila said nothing. Then he lifted the Silence Spell on Leo. “Go ahead. Keep laughing.”

If you’re not genuinely angry, THEN WHAT THE HELL IS THE POINT?!

Even someone as refined and cultured as Perila found himself mentally swearing.

Leo clutched his stomach, howling with laughter that was starting to hurt.

Qin Lang knew his answer was deeply exasperating. But the truth was, Xia Xifeng never crossed his true bottom lines. So, by Qin Lang’s nature, he’d never become genuinely enraged enough to consider cutting ties.

He just found Xia Xifeng incredibly annoying and wanted to avoid him.

But in their current situation, where avoiding Xia Xifeng was impossible, all he could do was endure.

Actually, it was probably the same for Xia Xifeng.

Before, when Xia Xifeng would chatter at him and he’d simply ignore him, after a few attempts, Xia Xifeng would stop trying to talk to him altogether and would just go find someone else to bother.

Now, Xia Xifeng could only buzz around him, endlessly. Whether Qin Lang responded or not, Xia Xifeng’s overflowing thoughts had nowhere else to go but toward Qin Lang alone.

Come to think of it, they were both pretty miserable.

And… come to think of it, that thought actually restored Qin Lang’s psychological equilibrium. Even the food in his mouth finally started tasting flavorful again.

Xia Xifeng had finally finished his “happy” dancing and collapsed, breathless, into the chair beside Qin Lang, chugging iced juice frantically.

Once he’d cooled down a bit, he asked curiously, “Leo, what are you laughing at?”

Unsympathetically, Perila said, “Laughing at how you bully Qin Lang and he can’t do anything about it.”

“Huh?” Xia Xifeng’s face scrunched with embarrassment. “Do I?”

He racked his brain but couldn’t figure out where his actions last night had crossed a line.

As his oldest friend, was it so unreasonable to keep him company when he was scared?

As for Qin Lang’s body reacting, and him offering to help with a handjob… Xia Xifeng hadn’t even registered that as something worth getting angry over.

They were young, healthy men. Even just rolling around in bed could sometimes set things off.

Once the fire was lit, you extinguished it. Big deal.

He and his dorm buddies might not have engaged in mutual assistance, but they’d openly shared resources and had no problem handling things themselves in each other’s presence. That was completely normal.

He and Qin Lang had bathed together as kids. They’d had their first wet dreams sleeping in the same bed. Was he somehow supposed to be less close with Qin Lang than with some random dorm roommate?

So, no, Xia Xifeng categorically did not believe Qin Lang was angry about that.

Seeing Xia Xifeng’s genuinely baffled expression, Perila stopped Leo from adding fuel to the fire. He bound Leo’s mouth shut with vines and physically dragged him away.

Maybe it was that whenever Qin Lang and Xia Xifeng sat together, the atmosphere always turned so uniquely strange that others felt instinctively unwelcome to intrude.

So the two of them sat there in silence, quietly drinking their drinks, while everyone else conveniently ignored their existence.

As always, Xia Xifeng was the first to crack.

“Qin Lang, if you think my apology wasn’t sincere, then just tell me straight how I should apologize, okay? You do this every single time. Something bothers you, and you just bottle it up, like a mute clam. How am I supposed to guess what made you angry?”

Qin Lang replied, “I’m not angry.”

Xia Xifeng’s face, however, did turn red with anger. “There it is! That line again! You always do this! Fine, so you’re not angry now. But you were angry before! What about?! If you won’t tell me, how can I change?! And next time, you’ll just get mad all over again about the exact same thing!”

Qin Lang remained silent for a long, long time.

Under Xia Xifeng’s relentless pressure, he finally spoke. “Xia Xifeng… sometimes, your sense of boundaries is just too weak. Not everyone is comfortable with that level of… porousness.”

Xia Xifeng looked lost. “What do you mean?”

Qin Lang said, “I need a little bit of privacy. Some personal space.”

Through Qin Lang’s vague hints, Xia Xifeng managed to grasp a fuzzy outline of the core issue.

Even when directly asked, Qin Lang always did this—circling around for ages, still forcing him to guess.

A sudden surge of hurt welled up in Xia Xifeng. “Qin Lang, we grew up together!”

What possible privacy was there that they didn’t already know about each other?

“Yeah,” Qin Lang said. “But we’re not kids anymore.”

Xia Xifeng opened his mouth to argue.

After a moment’s hesitation, he closed it again.

Head hanging low, he admitted, “I understand. I’ll be more mindful from now on.”

Qin Lang gave another quiet “Mhm.”

He knew perfectly well Xia Xifeng didn’t agree with him. Their personalities were just too different. That was precisely why he’d always been too tired to bother explaining.

But now, with the System forcibly strapping them together, some things couldn’t just be avoided and left unsaid anymore. Even if Xia Xifeng looked hurt by it, he had to tell the truth.

After all, Xia Xifeng had been the one asking.

Slumping listlessly, Xia Xifeng asked in a small voice, “So… can we still share a bed tonight? I’ll sleep on the floor if you’re uncomfortable. I’m… I’m just really scared.”

Qin Lang said, “Just don’t use me as a body pillow.”

Muttering, Xia Xifeng said, “I don’t normally treat you like a body pillow.”

Qin Lang shot back, “No. Normally you treat me like a punching bag.”

Defensively, Xia Xifeng said, “It’s not like my sleeping posture is always awful! It’s way better now!”

Qin Lang replied, “Yes. Before, when your posture was awful, you’d kick and elbow me. Now that your posture is awful, you just wrap yourself around me like an octopus.”

Xia Xifeng: “…”

What could he do?! He was asleep!

With clear disdain, Qin Lang sighed. “Forget it. As long as you’re not doing it on purpose, it’s fine.”

Now stung and defensive, Xia Xifeng protested, “Of course I’m not doing it on purpose! Last night was an exception! What’s the big deal between guys? You think I like clinging to some rock-hard man? If there was literally a single other person from our world here, I wouldn’t be sleeping in the same bed as you! What’s wrong with a soft, sweet-smelling girl?!”

Qin Lang just let his childhood friend—who had clearly never even held a girl’s hand—keep running his mouth with empty boasts.

Sure, Xia Xifeng wasn’t bad-looking. But his personality was far too carelessly casual. He’d never seriously considered anything as troublesome as romance; he just wanted to goof off with his buddies.

Still, Qin Lang was fully aware that Xia Xifeng was indeed straight. Otherwise, his hands wouldn’t be quite so unconsciously and obnoxiously tactile.

“Alright. Issue resolved.” Qin Lang shifted his gaze toward Leo and Perila. “Shouldn’t we teach Leo a lesson now? His gloating was a bit too obnoxious.”

Xia Xifeng’s mood was still drooping heavily.

He had always believed that even when he and Qin Lang drifted apart a little, it was only physical distance.

They were childhood friends, damn it. Even if they argued the moment they met and shared zero interests or personality traits, being friends who’d shared a cradle since infancy had to mean something special, right? Right?!

And now Qin Lang was saying he had no sense of boundaries. _(:з”∠)_

What kind of boundaries were you supposed to have with someone you’d literally shared a crib with since birth?! _(:з”∠)_

But no matter how low his mood, that was a private matter between him and Qin Lang. Outsiders had absolutely no right to laugh at it.

Xia Xifeng declared, “I’ll go curse the Sun God again. Get Him to burn Leo’s hair off!”

Qin Lang’s original plan had been something far simpler, like slipping laxatives into the snacks Xia Xifeng made for Leo.

But upon hearing Xia Xifeng’s “revenge plan,” he just stared at his childhood friend as if he’d grown a second head.

Xia Xifeng: “What?”

You’re asking ‘what’?! This kind of thing deserves escalating to divine punishment?! In a world where gods are objectively, provably real, can you—for the love of everything—stop waking up every morning with the sole purpose of figuring out new ways to court death?!

Qin Lang suddenly felt a deep, gnawing sense of dread: even if he did reach the level cap, would that even be enough to protect this disaster-prone childhood friend who courted death constantly yet had absolutely zero self-awareness about it?

“Show the Sun god a little more respect,” Qin Lang warned grimly. “I can’t beat Him.”

Xia Xifeng countered, “You will later.”

Qin Lang said, “Even later, I probably can’t beat the Twin Suns if they fight together.”

Xia Xifeng considered this. Oh. Right. Hope’s Sun hadn’t actually fallen. He definitely wouldn’t fight them one-on-one.

With profound self-reflection, Xia Xifeng declared, “I’ll do my best to find a way to trap one of Them, then we can pick Them off one by one!”

Qin Lang: “…” Why are you so determined to fight the Twin Suns?! There’s no need for us to fight the Sun gods at all!

It took great effort, but Qin Lang eventually managed to talk Xia Xifeng down from blaspheming the Twin Suns—who were literally the power behind the Silver Moon—while standing in their brand-new, freshly consecrated Silver Moon Holy City.

Ultimately, they downgraded their “revenge operation” to simply dosing Leo with a potent, industrial-grade laxative.

Nevertheless, Leo’s hair still ended up getting burnt off during the Silver Moon’s consecration ceremony.

Xia Xifeng had spoken so many disrespectful things about the Sun. Even if Xia Xifeng claimed he was now “reflecting and repenting,” Hope’s Sun absolutely refused to swallow that insult.

Leo rubbed his now perfectly smooth, gleaming bald scalp.

Ah, well. He was used to it by now.