After the initial panic subsided, An Luo belatedly felt a wave of embarrassment.
He was currently sitting in Meieruita’s lap, his arms wrapped tightly around the other’s neck. Their faces were extremely close, with An Luo’s elbows brushing against Meieruita’s shoulders and their chests almost pressed together. He could feel the steady rise and fall of Meieruita’s breathing.
Meieruita looked down at him, his gray-green eyes barely showing a hint of green in the dim light.
An Luo’s skin crawled with goosebumps, and he immediately jumped up, retreating two steps.
It wasn’t that he disliked Meieruita—honestly, his worry was the opposite.
What he was mainly nervous about was Meieruita disliking him.
Yes, although Meieruita showed no signs of it and had even proactively grabbed An Luo to flee earlier, that had been a special circumstance.
Meieruita inherently despised physical contact with others.
On one hand, after entering the Wizard Tower, close contact with people could lead to body information being stolen and used against him. On the other hand, it stemmed from Meieruita’s own insecurities and defenses.
An Luo had given Meieruita a rather unfortunate childhood—one of the standard setups for a shuangwen protagonist.
Heaven sends great responsibilities to a man only after first battering his mind and temperament, toiling his sinews and bones, and exposing him to hunger and poverty.
The ancients had long summarized the pattern.
Adversity forged character upward.
Meieruita had rarely received any kind gestures of touch from others since childhood.
As an orphaned servant from a young age, he had never experienced hugs, handshakes, or gentle caresses. His skin contact with others was almost always malicious.
Mobs of little slaves with parents ganging up on him, frustrated adult servants punching and kicking him—anything miserable, it happened.
In short, the more tragic, the better.
Thus, close proximity to others instinctively triggered Meieruita’s repulsion and disgust.
An Luo hadn’t written this to deliberately torment his protagonist; it wasn’t an abuse-the-protagonist story. He simply used this childhood experience to explain Meieruita’s cold ruthlessness, paranoia, precociousness, and other strengths.
After all, plum blossoms come from bitter cold—without the freezing snow and ice, how could there be their intoxicating fragrance?
Creating characters required basic logic. You couldn’t have someone from a pampered family, doted on by parents and carefree from youth, suddenly turn cold, cruel, suspicious, and cautious upon entering the Wizard Tower.
That wouldn’t make sense.
Everything An Luo set up was to help Meieruita quickly adapt to the Wizard Tower’s brutality.
And soon after, he arranged swift revenge to let the protagonist vent his anger—like with the cannon fodder Lan Lian.
Therefore, even though Meieruita appeared not to mind An Luo, as the author, An Luo guessed that deep down, Meieruita must have been extremely disgusted. His favorability might have even dropped a few points.
The reason it didn’t show was only because An Luo still had utility value, and Meieruita was employing a softening strategy, not wanting to break ties yet.
An Luo very tactfully backed up several steps, leaving plenty of personal space for Meieruita to calm his mood.
There was nothing to complain about; An Luo couldn’t in good conscience shift the blame onto Meieruita.
After all, these were all his own settings.
Sigh, karma’s a boomerang.
Meieruita calmly stood up, and An Luo carefully observed him, detecting no signs of disgust on his face.
Of course, he might have just hidden it well.
“Is this your secret laboratory?” An Luo glanced around, changing the subject.
It was an artificially carved underground cave, with walls of black rock rather than soil, and torches hanging on them. Only one was lit at the moment, illuminating the area where An Luo and Meieruita stood.
Deep underground, aside from the entrance overhead, there were no other ways in or out.
“Yes.” Meieruita rose and lit all the torches on the walls.
Under the firelight, the full layout of the secret laboratory revealed itself.
It wasn’t very large overall. A wide desk stood against one wall, piled with books and notebooks. On the other side was a row of storage cabinets holding specimens, lab supplies, and some food.
Farther away stood a simple cooking setup with a pot.
In another corner, a narrow wooden bed leaned against the wall.
If one didn’t suffer from claustrophobia, this little hideout actually felt quite secure.
Clearly, this was Meieruita’s secret base.
He had probably spent the past month or so here.
An Luo didn’t ask too many questions, as this was part of the plot too.
It was a minor adventure: Meieruita had stumbled upon this underground cavern by chance, found its furnishings covered in dust, cleaned it up, and turned it into his secret lab.
The insecure Meieruita loved this secret laboratory.
An Luo had deliberately arranged it as a place for the protagonist to fully relax and unwind, without constantly being on edge.
He must have truly been at the end of his rope this time, An Luo thought. Meieruita had no other choice and was desperate before bringing An Luo inside.
If he had any alternative, Meieruita absolutely, absolutely wouldn’t have let An Luo into his secret base.
“The Thorn Beasts won’t give up easily.” Meieruita walked to the desk and lit the candelabras embedded in the wall.
“They’ll linger for at least three days.”
He leaned forward with one hand on the wooden desk, his face illuminated by the flickering flames. “We’ll stay here for that time.”
“Sorry about this.” An Luo immediately stated his position. “I don’t know why, but those Thorn Beasts seem to hate me in particular. I didn’t mean to drag you down.”
Meieruita turned his back to An Luo, lips curving up. “It’s fine. I know.”
“But I still need to check you out.” Meieruita turned around, his gaze quickly sweeping over An Luo’s face. “Man-Eating Flower, Thorn Beasts… there might be more in the future. I want to know what’s causing all this.”
“It could give me useful knowledge, and it’s beneficial for you too.”
His gray-green eyes fixed on An Luo. “You’ll cooperate, right?”
The ending note rose subtly.
An Luo: “…H-How do I cooperate?”
Slicing? Dissection?
Oh god, I’m doomed!
“Ah.” Meieruita seemed to read An Luo’s mind. “Not that rough.”
“I just need your blood and your cooperation in some tests that won’t harm you.”
“W-Well, alright then.”
An Luo sighed, knowing this was probably the “lodging fee.”
“Then now, if you don’t mind, I need to continue studying witchcraft knowledge.” Meieruita sat at the desk. “I’ve already lost too much time.”
Suddenly, he pulled a dusty knight novel from the bottom of a nearby bookshelf, dusted it off lightly, and handed it to An Luo. “You can use this to pass the time.”
An Luo took it.
It was a hardcover edition, and from the dust, it seemed to be a relic from the previous owner of this underground laboratory.
An Luo hadn’t expected to find leisure reading like this here.
Such a coincidence?
But on second thought, it made sense. He was just writing a novel; he couldn’t list every single item in the room like an inventory. This was probably auto-filled by the world.
A hardcover knight novel, though…
An Luo cautiously asked, “Meieruita, have you read this book before?”
“No, I haven’t.” Meieruita’s reply was straightforward. “I’m not interested in that kind of book. Is there a problem?”
An Luo immediately answered, “No.”
Good thing he hadn’t read it!
Hardcover knight novels like this were usually… uh… rather indecent.
An Luo wasn’t some prudish moralist. Back on Earth, he was a pro at surfing the net and knew plenty of kinks, but this stuff wasn’t for public discussion!
I keep the lights off!
If Meieruita learned the contents and still gave it to him, it’d be pretty awkward.
He wasn’t sure if he should read it—mainly worried that if Meieruita found out, even without comment, it’d make his toes curl in embarrassment.
Soon, Meieruita immersed himself in his studies. The not-so-spacious underground laboratory grew extremely quiet, save for faint noises from overhead.
Those stubborn Thorn Beasts.
An Luo hesitated for a bit, but sitting idle was boring. After some internal struggle, he flipped open the pages.
After a few pages, An Luo discovered that the protagonist in this knight novel was like those in the hardcovers he’d seen before: a seemingly sacred, inviolable knight of justice, but always witnessing lascivious scenes through legends, letters, or eyewitness accounts.
It was a standard trope, skirting the edges.
An Luo skipped the lengthy explicit descriptions, trying to focus on the plot.
But in flipping pages, a few lines inevitably caught his eye.
Truth be told, if he were alone, An Luo would have zero mental pressure.
Modern guy—broad-minded and well-versed in theory.
But Meieruita was right there, studying profound witchcraft.
With someone else present, An Luo felt uneasy.
Even knowing Meieruita wouldn’t look back, An Luo couldn’t help sneaking glances furtively.
Keep it quiet; it’s embarrassing.
Soon, it was noon. Meieruita set down his pen and stood.
At his movement, An Luo snapped the book shut alertly, striving to look nonchalant.
Meieruita built a fire, and lunch was roasted meat.
No seasonings, but the meat quality was good—not the magic beast scraps An Luo had scavenged from the cart—so a simple roast made it delicious.
“I remember you have a habit of napping?”
After clearing the remnants, Meieruita gestured for An Luo to follow.
Around a subtle bend, he said, “This is the bathroom. I set up a heating witch array in advance.”
The bathroom had basic toiletries.
Unlike real-world toothbrushes, cleaning teeth here used fruit from a specially cultivated magic plant. Pop it in your mouth, and it attacked everywhere, releasing venom. But its attacks were too weak to harm humans; the venom couldn’t kill but kept teeth strong and white.
Once it stopped moving, bite it up and spit it out, rinse a few times.
An Luo couldn’t quite describe it—felt like pop rocks.
In effect, better than his five minutes of serious brushing back in modern times.
“You can use my bed, but you must bathe and change clothes first.” Meieruita’s voice was flat. “I changed the bedding yesterday; it’s very clean.”
An Luo looked at Meieruita in surprise.
Wow, the protagonist’s sacrifices were huge.
Even willing to give up his bed.
Going all out to pretend and gain trust—truly dedicated.
Meieruita, with this endurance, you’ll succeed at anything!
