Chapter 30: Kitty Feels Uncomfortable

“I didn’t mean to.” Li You lowered his head to look at the other’s leg. The angle was too tricky, and his current body size was a whole circle smaller than Li Ye’s now, so he couldn’t see the other’s thigh at all.

The arm he had around Li Ye’s neck moved a little as he reminded, “It’s fine now. Put me down.”

Li Ye glanced at the two “severed bodies” twisted on the ground, carried Li You back to the bedside, and placed him back on the bed.

Li You tried to get up, but his brother pressed his shoulders and made him sit back down. He saw Li Ye squat down; cool hands gently pinched and touched his knee, and his ankle was also gripped.

Li Ye half-squatted and looked at the knee that Li You had kicked red earlier. “This is what you call fine?”

“It’s just a little red spot.” Li You looked away. “Anyway, this is the Illusion Realm. There won’t be any real harm in reality.”

“You sure there won’t be injuries in reality?” Li Ye looked at him.

This question really stumped Li You. His mind blanked for a moment, and he frowned. “Probably not.”

“You don’t know about the Illusion Realm you created?” Li Ye played along with him. “Why did you help me deal with that monster? Didn’t you create it?”

Li You had no way to explain and could only make things up. “It wasn’t me. My Illusion Realm was invaded.”

He took a deep breath. “Anyway, you won’t die in reality. If you get hurt, then just bear it.”

Li Ye’s brows furrowed tightly. The fingers pressing on Li You’s knee covered a small red mole.

Li You had quite a few moles on his body: at the corner of his right eye, on his neck, on the back inner side of his right thigh root, and on his left knee. His moles weren’t grayish-brown; most were faint red, standing out uniquely on his fair skin.

Li Ye’s fingertip rubbed the mole on his knee silently for a moment before letting go and standing up. But his wrist was pulled.

“Your leg is really fine?” Li You looked at Li Ye. “I couldn’t control my strength. If it really hurts, it might hurt in reality too.”

“So?” Li Ye lowered his gaze at him. “What can you do about it?”

“I…” Li You let go of his hand. “I can’t do anything.”

Li You had also practiced martial arts for several years. He wouldn’t say his strength was huge, but it definitely wasn’t small, especially the power in his legs and wrists.

He looked toward his brother’s leg and stared for a while. Suddenly, he remembered something, and his face abruptly became unnatural. He quickly looked away, not daring to look anymore.

But the temperature on his face inexplicably rose. He rubbed his face with both hands, trying to cover it up, but his ears betrayed him—they had turned bright red in an instant.

What the hell…

Why did he suddenly think of those two things about his brother…

Li Ye watched Li You frantically rub his face with both hands. His gaze fell on the other’s red ears, and he narrowed his eyes.

The body temperature and breathing from when they had embraced earlier seemed to still linger on him. Li Ye turned his head away, giving himself a moment to calm down. His gaze fell on the two segments of “severed body” on the ground.

It came again.

That familiar yet strange feeling.

This red giant python was a product of the Abyss, same kind as him.

The creator of the Illusion Realm might not be this monster. Perhaps this guy had just barged in. So what exactly was going on with the Illusion Realm?

Li Ye was certain that the previous “Li You” was fake, and the one in front of him was real.

And Li You had just mentioned there was a fake “Li Ye” too.

Li Ye didn’t like this loss of control. He walked to the red giant python and applied a little pressure. The two segments of “severed body” instantly twisted into a puddle of blood.

He turned back to Li You, who sat on the bed staring dazedly at the pool of blood. “Scared?”

Li You looked up and nodded honestly. “Scared.”

His voice even trembled a little.

Li Ye lowered his gaze, a flash of loneliness in his eyes.

“But you didn’t kill me, so I’m not that scared.” Li You carefully finished his words. “And I can choose not to be scared.”

Li Ye lifted his eyes.

He actually really wanted to ask Li You, what about more than ten years ago? Back then, when he knew he was a monster, were you scared?

In the end, he didn’t ask. He just stood at a distance, quietly gazing at Li You, until the space began to disintegrate and all the scenery vanished instantly.

Li Ye returned to the fog. All around him were white Termite Mutants with blood-red eyes and ferocious faces.

His eyes moved slightly. He lowered his head to look at the leg that Li You had kicked in the Illusion Realm; a slight pain came from there.

His strength really wasn’t small.

He lifted his eyelids. As the Termite Mutant horde surged toward him, he merely twitched his fingertip. Twisted black energy erupted abruptly, bloodwashing the ant horde.

In the lab, the cat sprawled out on its back suddenly kicked its legs hard. It dreamed of falling from a great height and jolted awake in fright. It stood up with legs splayed, looking around in panic, and discovered a cluster of A-187X Crystals placed by its nest.

Little Black squatted on the other side guarding him. Seeing him awake, it quickly came over and licked him.

“…” Li You stretched out a paw to push it away. With just a little movement, intense pain suddenly shot through his hind leg. He flopped back into the nest and stared blankly down at his leg. Everything that happened in the Illusion Realm finally came back to him.

No way. It really hurt in reality?

This was too bad!

Li You buried his head and licked his hind leg.

It really hurt!!

At that moment, the room door opened. Qi Yu, who had returned long ago, saw the cat awake and came over to pick up the crystals he had placed here earlier. He greeted, “Did you sleep well, little cutie?”

The cat lifted its head and rubbed against him. “Meow!”

He twisted his head and didn’t see Li Ye, so his heart skipped a beat.

“Don’t worry. Your Highness Li Ye should be back soon.” Qi Yu held the crystals and turned to leave. “Dinner is still a while away. You and Little Black play for a bit.”

Li You watched Qi Yu’s departing figure and tried to get up to follow, but his leg hurt too much, so he sat back down. He had no choice but to turn his head to Little Black. “Meow!”

Little Black came over and licked him again.

“…”

Silly little thing.

Couldn’t count on it.

Li You lowered his head and carefully moved his hind leg. At that moment, steady footsteps came from outside the door. The room door was pushed open again, and Li Ye returned.

Li You’s eyes lit up. “Meow!”

Li Ye strode over. Seeing the cat sitting motionless in the nest, he sighed silently, picked up the cat, and headed to the kitchen.

He still boiled the stored meat broth, then took out liquid extracted from the Pack Beast’s storage sac, poured it into a small dish, and handed it to the cat.

Li You wasn’t thirsty. He lifted his head and looked at Li Ye.

Li Ye looked at him too and didn’t take the small dish of liquid away.

“Mew?”

The kitty was puzzled but still slowly lapped it up from Li Ye’s hand. As it drank, water droplets flicked from its curled tongue, splashing all over Li Ye.

Cat-made little fountain.

Li You diligently finished the small dish of extract. When he looked up, he discovered that Li Ye’s clothes were soaked over a large area.

His heart jolted in shock. He stretched out a paw to paw at the other twice and looked up at Li Ye.

Li Ye put the empty dish back, held the cat in one arm, and used the other hand to lift the pot lid to check the meat inside before covering it again.

He placed the cat on the chair and came back to cut the meat.

As usual, he cut a pile of messy meat chunks, an eyesore.

Halfway through cutting, he set down the knife, put on gloves, and tore it into strips by hand.

After simply preparing dinner and delivering a portion to Qi Yu, Li Ye prepared to leave the lab.

The cat anxiously chased after him and suddenly discovered that his hind leg no longer hurt.

He had no time to think more and hurriedly continued chasing.

Passing by the experimental area, Qi Yu came out from inside and called to the man and cat, one after the other. “Your Highness Li Ye, wait. And…”

He lowered his head to look at the cat trailing behind Li Ye, dragging its tail as it chased. He couldn’t help but chuckle. “And the little cutie.”

Li Ye glanced at the cat and asked, “What is it?”

“I think you should try not leaving the lab.” Qi Yu handed the liquid just extracted from the crystal stone to Li Ye. “The purification power of A-Grade Crystals is very strong. It should be able to suppress the bad experiences night brings you.”

Li Ye looked at the extract in his palm and then down at the cat endlessly scratching at his pant leg.

【Try it, try it.】

【What if it really works? Then you won’t have to go out adventuring.】

Li Ye gripped the extract tightly and asked, “What’s the success rate?”

“Seventy to eighty percent.” Qi Yu said. “I’ve used this method before to calm violent mutants at night and avoided danger multiple times. The effect was very good.”

Li Ye thought for a moment and chose to try. “Then let’s try it.”

Night fell. Li Ye handed the cat to Qi Yu and went to another room by himself. After closing the door, he drank all the extract, leaned against the bedhead with eyes closed, but didn’t really sleep.

In the other room, Qi Yu, who had stayed up too long, was truly sleepy. But to stay vigilant in case something happened to Your Highness Li Ye, he set an hourly alarm for himself.

The cat was in the nest beside him, propping up its head with bright, alert eyes.

Li You originally had no intention of sleeping.

But later, he suddenly lost consciousness without even knowing how he fell asleep.

In the dead of night, Li You grew hotter and hotter as he slept, his whole body burning up, as if something was roasting him from inside out.

He opened his eyes. In the pitch-black environment, he could hear Qi Yu’s light breathing. It was so quiet around him that even a drop of water falling in the kitchen could be heard.

Li You felt a bit uncomfortable but couldn’t pinpoint exactly where. His body was both hot and itchy, his head dizzy and floating.

The cat’s eyes narrowed hazily, his gaze unfocused. He slowly and rhythmically kneaded in the soft nest, paw pads spreading open, gripping the soft pad before clenching, front and back legs pedaling together.

Li You’s teeth itched a bit; he really wanted to chew on something. He probably needed to grind his teeth.

Shouldn’t cats grind their teeth regularly?

Li You wasn’t sure. It was his first time being a cat.

His mind was a mess, and he let out a purring sound from his mouth. Afraid of waking Qi Yu, he simply bit a small blanket in his mouth, left the little nest, and walked to the door.

Li You was a smart little cat; opening the door wasn’t hard for him.

The door handle here wasn’t high; he could reach it.

He leaped up, grabbed the door handle, and with a “click,” the door opened.

Qi Yu on the bed woke up at the same time, opened his eyes, and turned his head. Seeing the cat carrying a small blanket out, he was startled and quickly chased after. Just as he stepped out, he saw the cat pawing and meowing at the door of the adjacent room.

Qi Yu went forward, but the door of that room opened first. Li Ye appeared in the doorway.

“Sorry, Your Highness. I dozed off for a bit and didn’t notice; it came out on its own.” Qi Yu looked at the cat.

Li Ye bent down and picked up the cat. “The extract worked well. You go back to sleep.”

“That’s great.” Qi Yu smiled and waved to the cat. “Good night, little cutie.”

Li You’s voice was soft and mushy. “Meow.”

He watched Qi Yu leave, then flipped over and leaped up. His paws hugged Li Ye’s neck, and he rubbed and nibbled on his brother’s earlobe and face to grind his teeth, letting out low “mewrs” the whole time, looking extremely restless.

Li Ye quickly noticed something wrong with the cat. Sticky, mushy inner voice came to his ear from Li You.

【Bro, I don’t feel well.】

【I don’t feel well…】