Master of Masters 105

Chapter 105: Here?

“You don’t need to come in, I want to talk to Mr. He Yue alone.” Basque refused the female insects’ support and walked into the studio with his cane.

He Yue observed Mr. Basque’s works up close for the first time. The hard stone was carved with a soft and realistic texture, and the drapes on the carved body were lifelike.

This was Basque’s unique skill, and also the technique the child Jote dreamed of.

“Mr. Basque’s works are truly exquisite.” He Yue praised.

Basque was humble and polite, and he politely exchanged commercial compliments. Although his words of praise were exaggerated, it could be heard that they all came from the heart.

“There’s a big difference between your carving style and Jote’s.” He Yue said.

Basque’s usual composed expression changed a little, and he smiled awkwardly. “His technique was learned from me, but the soul of his works should come from you. If you also knew how to carve, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that Jote is your student.” For some reason, He Yue heard a faint sourness, a pure teacher’s jealousy over a good student.

The facts were indeed as Basque had said.

Basque’s works were elegant, with dynamic expressions and delicate carvings of drapery. On the contrary, Jote’s works were full of violence and restraint, very similar to He Yue’s usual style.

Compared to inheriting Basque’s ultimate carving technique, He Yue was more like the mentor of the core of Jote’s works.

So, Jote followed He Yue to the Castle club and presented the club’s games in his carvings, and enjoyed it.

“Am I the reason he started learning to carve?” He Yue asked.

Basque didn’t answer this question, but led the way, trembling. “I’ll show you something.” After several turns, He Yue stopped in a collection room.

The exquisite works in the showcases were praiseworthy, but a small glass cabinet with a clumsy, unrecognizable clay figure was particularly eye-catching.

It was more like a triangular mound of earth, its lumpy outline unrecognizable.

“I first met Jote outside your art gallery. At that time, you were sitting on a high stool, mixing various colors with the three primary colors. He, a male insect, was squatting outside the glass window, without a single female insect beside him, carefully sculpting a clay figure of you.” He Yue looked at the pile of clay, his lips twitching.

He really didn’t want to admit that the thing that didn’t even have a shape was himself.

“Although I really don’t want to admit it, but that obsessed look in his eyes, I’ve never seen it in any other insect, whether female or male.” Basque said.

The rest was a matter of course. Jote sought out Basque and asked him to teach him his skills.

He Yue thought of something and asked, “He said you only teach your skills to male insects.” Basque chuckled and replied, “Not at all. It’s just that female insects have their own imprints, and most of them are not looking for me to learn art, but to bond with me and find a master.” He Yue suddenly understood why Basque had so many female insects around him.

“On the contrary, Jote,” Basque said, “he only has the most primitive yearning for art. I once thought that only male insects in this world would have this kind of pure love.”

“Did you notice that Jote isn’t very much like a male insect?” He Yue asked.

“I have a feeling. The fact that he doesn’t have a female insect around him is already very strange.”

The two major “male insect” freaks of the insect race were concentrated around He Yue. One was his brother Mo Lfei, who had transmigrated with him, and the other was Jote, who had been forced to become a male insect.

Basque looked at the rough clay figure under the glass cover, shook his head and chuckled softly, like an old man who had been through a lot, facing a naive but sincere child.

“He’s just one of the thousands of insects in the insect race who stepped into the field of art because of your deeds, a small corner illuminated by your light of resistance against authority and monopoly.”

The sculptor Basque always spoke with a dramatic tone, and He Yue was so praised that his eyes felt a little hot.

“You’re too kind, Mr. Basque.”

Basque smiled, turned around, and said seriously, “Mr. He Yue, my hands can no longer hold the carving tools.”

A serious illness had made Basque terminally ill, and he couldn’t even stand in front of He Yue with his cane, his legs trembling. In a few days, he might no longer have the strength to stand, until he completely collapsed.

He was silent for a long time, and after taking a few deep breaths, he finally said, “What I mean is… I really need such an apprentice, please leave him to me.”

He Yue was a bit surprised by his words. “I didn’t want to take Jote away, on the contrary, he’s the one who’s been nagging all day about becoming a real male insect so he can learn all the carving techniques.”

Basque breathed a sigh of relief, and the high-pitched tone made his throat sore and itchy, and he coughed for a long time, leaning on his cane. His pale face had a sickly flush from the coughing, making him look like he was having a final burst of energy before death.

“Don’t worry, Mr. Basque, this world is missing an outstanding sculptor.”

He Yue remembered what Jote had just said, and that sincere heart, which had been ignited by his yearning for art, now shone with the light of saying “you can create an outstanding sculptor,” such naive and sincere words.

“He’s very talented and hardworking. I’m always worried that he’ll be like the female insects around me, running around for a bond, so I told him that only when he becomes a real male insect will I teach him all my techniques.” Basque explained.

In the eyes of this elderly artist, there was only sincere hope for talent.

He Yue sensed that Basque was implying something and replied with a smile, “Don’t worry, I won’t make him my dog.”

He didn’t tell Basque the truth.

As long as he wanted, even a male insect would submit at his feet, and Jote’s admiration for his idol was the easiest to exploit.

But He Yue didn’t want to, and he also felt that this world needed a sculptor to inherit Basque’s mantle.

He Yue left the exhibition hall alone.

The small clay figure, placed among many exquisite and outstanding sculptures, was so out of place. Basque stood before it for a long, long time, his sickly, trembling body supported by his cane, his gaze fixed on the shapeless clay figure.

The door to Jote’s studio downstairs was ajar, and He Yue stood at the entrance, peeking inside.

“See, here, it’s obviously not supposed to be like this.” Mo Lfei held a red pen and drew a circle on the arm of the sculpture.

The red rope tied to the sculpture was untied, and Mo Lfei drew a cross on the carved mark under the red rope.

“Look here, if the skin is tightened by a rope, it shouldn’t look like this.”

He Yue pushed open the door and was amused by the unexpected scene.

He thought the two insects downstairs would be fighting, but his brother was sitting in front of the sculpture, seriously critiquing Jote’s work, and the other was completely convinced.

He Yue saw a hint of admiration in Jote’s eyes and found it a bit funny.

“Bro, what are you two doing?” He Yue walked to his brother’s side.

When Jote saw He Yue coming, that admiring gaze immediately shifted to He Yue.

“So amazing, so amazing, Mr. He Yue is so amazing, and Mr. Mo Lfei is also so amazing…”

He Yue couldn’t help but silently mutter “little brat” in his heart.

The last insect who had made him feel this playful was his fox, Knasch.

“Bro, let’s go.”

“Wait a minute!” Jote directly bypassed Mo Lfei and crawled to He Yue’s feet on all fours. He looked up, his face pleading. “You haven’t agreed to have sex with me yet, to make me a real male insect.”

“Mr. Basque said that even if you stay as you are, he will still teach you carving, so can you just stop thinking about 3.?”

“No, I can’t!”

Jote grabbed He Yue’s hand. He was anxiously looking for another argument, his eyes darting around, trying to persuade He Yue.

His personality was simple, and all his thoughts were on his face, his guilty look not escaping He Yue’s eyes.

Mo Lfei pushed his hand away, the gentle teacher’s filter shattering, his eyes threatening. “Didn’t we agree?”

“I didn’t agree with you!” Jote shouted.

He Yue’s scrutinizing gaze shifted between them, his dangerous gaze fixed on his brother, making him take a step back.

“What did you agree on?”

His cold tone was steady, and even Jote, who had never been under He Yue’s hand, was so scared he shrank back. The powerful aura was so oppressive that he felt fear, and he couldn’t say a single word in his defense.

The stalemate made no insect answer He Yue’s words, and the entire studio was strangely quiet.

“Brother, I’ll ask one last time, what did you agree on?”

He Yue’s tense cheeks clearly showed his displeasure.

He didn’t get an answer, and his pursed lips curled into a smile. He picked up the scattered red rope from the floor.

“Bro, what am I to you?” The red rope in He Yue’s hand was wrapped around Mo Lfei’s neck, and he casually tied a knot.

“I’m a dog, Master, I’m your dog.”

He Yue raised an eyebrow in acknowledgment and said, “If you don’t want me to lead you out like this, then just say what you should say. You have no right to hide anything from me.”

“I told Jote…”

The tightening red rope on his neck brought a slight suffocating sensation, a constant reminder of Mo Lfei’s identity. He finally chose to submit to his master and tell him everything.

“We should just maintain the status quo, just like now.”

He opened his mouth, and finally let out a heavy sigh. “The system will drive me away, Master…”

“But I’ll die like this!” Jote said sharply. No longer looking for other excuses, he tore open his clothes, revealing the purple-black bruise on the back of his neck.

Jote grabbed He Yue’s wrist and pleaded softly, “I still have many techniques I haven’t learned… I haven’t completed a successful masterpiece yet… I don’t want to die…”

The grassy scent in the air was very strong, so strong that He Yue felt a little dizzy.

[…#&*te, *￥#zhiqi&…]

Suddenly, the system made his ears ring, and a string of garbled characters appeared above Jote’s head.

He Yue frowned and stumbled to the side.

His body was slowly heating up, like a high-speed machine that couldn’t handle the overload of information, and he was forced to show a high temperature.

Mo Lfei stood up, his sore knees forcing him to grit his teeth to fight the numbness. He stood up and caught He Yue’s swaying body, wrapping his arms around his waist.

“I was wrong from the beginning, Master…”

He felt the skin on his palm gradually heat up.

Whether it was accompanying He Yue as a brother, breaking moral norms to have corrupted feelings for him, or forcibly following He Yue and transmigrating, and then tampering with his own system mission after coming to this world.

He had always been on the wrong path, with the wrong identity, deeply loving someone he shouldn’t love.

He had never regretted it. Even when System 02 forcibly changed his body structure, making his body accept electric shocks and roasting, without a single patch of normal skin, making him cry in pain day and night, he had never regretted it.

The taboo always followed him, and Mo Lfei had always been trying to make He Yue feel the excitement of breaking this taboo.

But just now, he saw his beloved wince in discomfort from the system’s momentary confusion, seeing He Yue face choices and struggles, and he began to regret it.

[Mo Lfei, ???%.]

Mo Lfei’s value, far exceeding Jote’s, replaced this value.

The two constantly changing values were a torment for He Yue. His heart pounded irregularly from the system’s disorder, and the chaotic pheromones quickly spread in the studio.

The scent of flowers and grass intertwined, forming a strange smell.

He Yue felt something was very wrong with his body.

He pulled at his suit jacket, and the collar fell to one side, revealing his faint collarbones.

A strong impulse almost disrupted He Yue’s reason.

He wanted to question the system, why the system’s disorder would cause him to have this abnormal reaction, but the crashed system couldn’t be called out no matter how much he called.

“Brother, don’t just feel sorry for yourself, I think we really have to have sex…”

He Yue’s voice was like it was soaked in a potion, with a seductive quality.

Mo Lfei’s mind went blank for a moment, and the familiar floral scent in his nose made his breathing chaotic.

He was so aroused by He Yue’s a single sentence that his voice was hoarse as he asked, “Here, here? Or should I take you back?”

He Yue glanced at the dazed Jote at the side and gave him a charming, dangerous smile.

“Little fellow, the trouble you caused yourself, don’t you plan to solve it?”