Small props (two-in-one)

"Why are you talking about him suddenly?" Ji Peiyan said with surprise, "Do you like him?"

Wei Shao immediately denied it: "I didn't!"

"Don't like him? I thought this character was well-developed," Ji Peiyan took a sip of tea, "Most readers of this book like him very much."

“……”So this is what I like.

"Not really," Wei Shao said with his eyes downcast, "I just feel unfair for him. He is a very good person, kind, responsible, and capable. The plot in the book is too cruel for him."

"No, have you finished reading it?" Ji Peiyan said, "Actually, he is quite nice to be with her after attacking."

Wei Shao shook his head: "I only know that the character's behavior in the early stage was very bad."

"Then it's over, the scumbag becomes a good man," Ji Peiyan said without comment, "Readers will like it if the contrast between the beginning and the end is big enough, and it's just a story, don't take it too seriously."

Wei Shao frowned: "But Fei Luo is a living person..."

Ji Peiyan looked at him in surprise, without making any comment, and changed the subject: "Come to think of it, the male insect that got into trouble in the library last time seemed to be you, and Fei Luo arrived faster than the police. How did you two know each other?"

Wei Shao said briefly: "I got into some trouble when I first came here, and he helped me and provided me with a place to stay."

Ji Peiyan thought thoughtfully: "You live together?"

"No," Wei Shao shook his head, "I rented a property under his name."

Although Wei Shao spoke very objectively and calmly, Ji Peiyan still noticed something unusual.

"He's not such a warm-hearted person," Ji Peiyan joked, "Maybe he's attracted to you."

"Impossible," Wei Shao answered simply, "He helped me because he is a good person. He doesn't like people like me."

Ji Peiyan raised his eyebrows and did not deny: "Are you disappointed?"

"...No." Wei Shao looked at the food on the plate and said calmly, "He has helped me many times. I am very grateful, and also..."

He paused, then continued: "I hope he can live well too."

Ji Peiyan sighed softly: "That might be difficult."

Wei Shao was stunned and asked: "...What?"

Ji Peiyan looked into his eyes and said, "I don't know why, but he hasn't been with Keweiyi yet. According to the original plot, he should have crossed paths with Keweiyi last year because of the first blood rampage."

"I'm curious how he managed to survive until today."

"Could it be postponed?"

Ji Peiyan shook his head: "It's unlikely. This is an important plot point. Without this plot advancement, how could Fei Luo be with Keweiyi?"

You know that too? !

Wei Shao held back his anger and asked in a deep voice, "Then what do you think happened?"

Ji Peiyan pondered for a moment: "Well... When I was writing the outline, I designed a small prop to promote the development of the relationship line. You know the inhibitor, right? It's the kind of small thing that appears in ABO and some Zerg novels..."

Wei Shao interrupted him: "Don't keep me in suspense. Just tell me what it is used for."

Ji Peiyan coughed lightly: "To suppress the violent blood of the female insect."

Wei Shao immediately said, "Is there such a thing? Then how can this empire be so stable?"

He is not a fool. Of course he can see that Satyad's greatest support is not military, but the natural suppression of male insects over female insects.

The royal family controls male insects from all walks of life through various favorable measures, and then uses the male insects to control the female insects of the entire society.

Ji Peiyan nodded: "So of course this thing has side effects. If the blood rage is compared to a flood, then the male insect's soothing is "draining", and the inhibitor's restraint is "blocking". It won't take long for the female insect's body and mind to be washed away like a dam that blocks the water. Therefore, this kind of inhibitor is not allowed to circulate in the country and can only be obtained in some underground markets, but even if it can be obtained, no female insect will use it."

Wei Shao's expression was extremely ugly.

Ji Peiyan glanced at him and said, "When I set up the plot, I didn't intend to use it for any character. I just wanted Philo to have an idea, and then arranged for Kweiyi to discover it... Well, then..."

Of course, the main characters' CP gained points crazily afterwards. What inhibitors are they? They are basically sex toys.

Even though he knew that nothing had happened, Wei Shao still felt an indescribable bitterness in his heart.

But more of it is fear.

In the original plot, Kweiyi stopped Philo from using the inhibitor that was comparable to poison, but since Wei Shao traveled through time and space, Kweiyi has never appeared once.

What about inhibitors?

-

Night falls.

Wei Shao stood at the door of Feiluo's house, but did not move.

Ji Peiyan's words were still echoing in his mind. He tried hard to recall the memories since he met Fei Luo, but he could not find any clues.

The only thing is...

When Philo first met him, he took the initiative to look for a suitable male insect as a marriage partner, but he was no longer so active afterwards.

A vague guess emerged in Wei Shao's mind, but he quickly suppressed it.

He took a deep breath and thought that the three major misconceptions in life were not deceiving him.

The building where Philo lived had one apartment per floor, and the entire corridor was quiet. He did not knock on the door immediately, but opened the terminal and stared at Philo's account for a while.

Ever since he had the evil idea, he felt inexplicably guilty every time he wanted to send a message to Philo.

Before, his chat box with Philo was filled with several pages every day.

Most of them are his daily life shared by him actively. Philo doesn’t talk much, but he will reply to every message.

Wei Shao asked himself, had he been so active in chatting with his brothers and roommates before?

I dare not think about it.

After that, he never took the initiative to look for Philo, and Philo didn't look for him either. The only thing left in the chat box was the greetings that were automatically sent at meal times every day.

Speaking of scheduled delivery, it was a mandatory requirement made by Philo after he discovered that Wei Shao often skipped meals due to various reasons such as forgetfulness, picky eating, laziness, etc., which led to a recurrence of his stomach problems.

"I set up a timer to automatically send you a message on the terminal," Philo said casually at the time, "Remember to reply when you see it, so that I know you have eaten."

Wei Shao actually replied to every one of them.

This kind of meaningless reply came to an abrupt end a few days ago. He didn't know why he stopped this behavior, but Philo didn't seem to notice it at all, and the daily scheduled messages were still delivered automatically.

Yes, who would take the automatically sent messages seriously...

There were still three minutes left for tonight’s scheduled delivery. Wei Shao shook his head in self-mockery and turned off the terminal.

He stood up and knocked on Philo's door.

There was no sound inside.

His terminal actually recorded the key to Philo's front door, but he didn't open it randomly. Instead, he knocked again.

Still no response.

He used the terminal to edit a message to Philo: [Are you home? I have something to ask you. 】

Before I could even send it out, the elevator opened with a ding.

The two people in the elevator hadn't seen Wei Shao yet, and were still talking. Ludel said sharply: "What you are doing is like drinking poison to quench thirst."

Finally, he added: "Do you understand what I mean - what do you open the terminal for?"

"I want to send a message." Philo's voice was a little hoarse.

The footsteps stopped abruptly, and Philo stopped a few steps away from Wei Shao.

The terminal on his wrist was still on, but he didn't have time to open any software.

When Ludel saw Wei Shao standing at the door with a gloomy look on his face, his heart tightened and he thought to himself, could this guy know about the substitute?

He coughed lightly and asked tentatively: "Mr. Wei Shao? Why are you standing here?"

Wei Shao did not answer, but looked at Philo silently. Ludel felt that the look was very unusual, so he became even more nervous.

He estimated in his mind that if Wei Shao attacked directly, even though their general was weak, he would not be defeated. If it really didn't work, he would help. At most, he would stay in the Male Insect Protection Association for a few months...

Fei Luo took two steps forward: "Why didn't you tell me you were coming... ahem..."

His voice is badly hoarse.

Ludel was suddenly surprised to find that the gloom between Wei Shao's eyebrows disappeared instantly with Philo's cough.

Even hurriedly asked: "What's going on?"

Philo shook his head gently: "It's okay."

"How can you be okay? Did you hurt yourself during training again?" Wei Shao stopped talking because he suddenly remembered the inhibitor he had talked about with Ji Peiyan before.

side effect……

Is this happening to Philo because of the side effects of the inhibitors? As Wei Shao thought about it, he looked down at Filo's pale face.

He knew that his expression must be very uneasy, but he didn't want Philo to notice the clues, so he could only look at Ludel on the other side to cover up: "Ludel, what happened to your admiral?"

Ludel didn't know the real situation, and was suddenly called out, so he could only play dumb: "Ah? Um... I don't know either."

The shadows of the two people on the ground overlapped and entangled. Ludel was in a complicated mood. He looked at Wei Shao and said, "Sir, please talk to the general slowly. I will go back first."

Ludel entered the elevator in a hurry, not at all like his usual nonchalant self. Wei Shao frowned slightly, thinking that Ludel was a little strange too.

He didn't know if it was his illusion, but the look in Ludel's eyes just now seemed to be filled with pity.

At the same time, Ludel in the elevator thought silently: Their admiral is really a piece of shit.

Only Feiluo and Wei Shao were left at the door. Feiluo opened the door and said, "Why don't you come in yourself? Don't you have the key?"

Wei Shao pursed his lips and said, “That’s impolite.

Fei Luo paused and pulled his lip: "I've never seen you so polite before."

Wei Shao felt that it was not right to answer, but it was not good to remain silent either, so he had to change the subject: "Is your door lock not working properly? Why is the welcome voice message gone again?"

He still had it last time he came.

Philo: “…”

Philo: "Maybe. I'll change it when I have time."

However, after not coming up for a few days, Philo's house became cold again. The sofa was covered with a dust cover, and it was obvious that the owner almost never used it.

Fei Luo tore off the dust cover and went to the refrigerator to get a bottle of drink for Wei Shao: "What's the matter?"

Wei Shao looked at the drink in his hand and muttered softly: "I thought you threw these out too."

Philo said nothing, but threw the Shadow Pool controller into his arms expressionlessly.

Wei Shao smiled unconsciously, but after a while, he remembered the purpose of his visit and the corners of his mouth slowly drooped.

"Philo, I want to ask you something—" He suddenly stopped talking halfway, tapping his hands on his knees gently, as if he was choosing his words, "When did your blood start to go berserk?"

After considering for a long time, I chose the most direct one.

After Wei Shao finished speaking, he immediately raised his eyes and stared at Fei Luo's face, not missing any subtle expression.

Fei Luo's eyelashes trembled slightly because of Wei Shao's question, and then he looked away and frowned, "That situation has never happened before."

If Wei Shao had not communicated with Ji Peiyan, he might have believed it. Generally, the violent blood flow of female insects occurs after the age of thirty-five.

But Philo is an S-level female insect.

Behind higher mental power and more powerful flesh and blood, there is also a more terrifying and earlier onset period of violence.

Wei Shao stared at him for two seconds, and his tone suddenly became serious: "Really?"

"Well," Philo said calmly and casually, "it's still early, you don't have to—"

Wei Shao suddenly raised his hand and grabbed his arm.

The forearm muscles under the palm tensed up for a moment, and I subconsciously wanted to pull back.

This reaction further confirmed Wei Shao's guess. He held Fei Luo's wrist tightly, not allowing him to dodge.

Ji Peiyan said that the inhibitor would block the normal functioning of the female insect's body, so the pinholes would disappear slowly. If Philo really used it... there would always be traces left.

Wei Shao suddenly discovered that although it was summer, Philo was always wearing long sleeves. He never thought much about it before and even teased Philo about how his body temperature was always lower than that of ordinary people.

The more he thought about it, the more frightened he became, and he roughly pulled up Philo's sleeve.

There was a small, glaring scarlet spot on that white, thin arm.

The pinholes are of different colors, some new and some old.

…

There was a long silence.

The living room was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop.

"Hand it over." Wei Shao heard his own voice trembling with anger.

Philo did not move.

"You won't?" Wei Shao pulled the corner of his mouth and said in a cold voice, "If you don't want to, then we'll end our friendship today."

Fei Luo still didn't move, so Wei Shao stood up directly, but his hand was grabbed the moment he took a step.

It's not quite right to say "pulling" because Philo's grip on his hand was so strong that it could almost be called a clamp.

Wei Shao closed his eyes, trying to put aside the inappropriate thoughts in his mind, and turned his head to look down at Fei Luo: "Have you thought it through?"

Philo lowered his eyes slightly: "Wait for me for a moment."

He got up and went into the bedroom.

Two minutes later, he took an unopened inhibitor package and gently placed it into Wei Shao's palm.

"Sit there and don't move."

Wei Shao's tone wasn't particularly fierce, but his voice was chillingly cold, and one could tell at a glance that he was genuinely angry.

Philo rubbed his fingertips lightly on the sofa, then hung his head and remained motionless, looking extremely obedient.

Wei Shao couldn't bring himself to curse, so he turned the thing over and over with a cold face, but there was not even an instruction manual on the box.

I took a photo and searched online, but there was no such thing. It was clearly a three-no product.

He sent the photo to Ji Peiyan: [Look at this. 】

Fei Yi Xing Shui: [Fuck, this is it. The color scheme is exactly the same as what I had in mind when I was typing this. 】

Wei Shao: ...

He closed his eyes and patiently typed: [I am asking you about the specific effects of this thing, the time it takes to take effect, the expiration date, and the specific damage of each course of treatment. 】

Feiyi Xingshui: [……]

Fei Yi Xing Shui: [Is it possible that its role in the story is just a small prop of fun...]

Fei Yi Xing Shui: [I didn’t think that much. 】

He turned off the terminal and pulled Philo's wrist: "Come with me to the hospital."

Philo: “No…”

Wei Shao said nothing and just looked at him quietly.

Philo's voice gradually faded away: "...Okay."

-

While waiting for the test results, Fei Luo tried to take the initiative to talk several times, but was blocked by Wei Shao's cold face.

After that, Philo sat quietly on the chair in the waiting room, like a sculpture, without making a sound or moving.

Wei Shao felt uncomfortable, but the anger and annoyance in his heart prevented him from responding properly.

Angry that Filo didn't say anything, and annoyed that I didn't notice anything.

He had thought that, regardless of anything else, he and Philo were at least close friends, but now it seemed that was not the case at all.

"Family member of the patient," the doctor poked his head out and looked at Wei Shao, "Yes, that's you, sir. Come here."

Wei Shao glanced at Fei Luo, whispered "Don't run around", and followed the doctor in.

The doctor sat in front of the computer, the cursor clicking non-stop. Wei Shao was worried: "Doctor, his health..."

The doctor glanced at him and said, "Are you worried now?"

Wei Shao: “…Ah?”

"If you come later, you will have to wait to collect his insect corpses!" The doctor slammed the table, his gray hair shaking with the movement, "You are married and yet you force your own female insect to use this kind of thing. Mr. Xiongzi, don't you feel heartbroken?"

Although he kept calling you, it was obvious that he was not saying anything nice.

Wei Shao was confused and anxious, his mind full of what the doctor said about "retracting the worm corpse": "Doctor, what do you mean...how is he?"

Perhaps seeing Wei Shao's good attitude in admitting his mistake, the doctor's expression eased a little, he took a sip of tea, and slowly said: "Xiongzi has a new love and neglected his old love. We doctors can understand this-"

The doctor changed the subject: "But there has to be a limit. Even if you don't like it, you have to comfort your partner at the most basic level. How can you just abandon your violent partner and let him find this illegal inhibitor by himself?"

Wei Shao finally figured out what was going on. He had been wondering why the doctor's attitude suddenly changed after he asked about his gender. It turned out that he mistook him for Philo's partner.

He stammered, "No, you misunderstood. He and I are not in a relationship..."

The doctor raised his eyebrows and said, "Speaking of this, sir, don't blame me, an old man, for being nosy. How long have you been with him? Not only did you not appease him, but you didn't even give him a lifetime mark. If you had given him a lifetime mark, he would have felt safe and wouldn't have gone for inhibitors just because he couldn't be appeased in the short term."

“……”Wei Shao’s brain crashed.

"Do you understand?"

"I..." Wei Shao rubbed his brows and gave up struggling, "I understand - Doctor, so how is his health?"

"You discovered it early, and the damage can still be reversed." The doctor looked at him deeply, "Let me prescribe some medicine for you. Go home and take a dose every morning. Take good care of yourself, and never touch that inhibitor again."

Wei Shao nodded repeatedly: "I will definitely keep an eye on him and won't let him use it again."

The doctor sighed with relief and showed a teachable look.

He lowered his head and quickly wrote a list, tore it off and handed it to Wei Shao: "Get the medicine and take him back."

Wei Shao took the prescription and said gratefully: "Thank you, doctor. We'll leave first."

Pushing open the door, he saw Philo still sitting in a chair outside in a daze. Wei Shao walked over lightly and rubbed his head hard.

Philo looked up in surprise.

"Fortunately, it's nothing serious, otherwise you would have been prepared to be punished by me today." Wei Shao deliberately put on a stern face.

Philo pursed his lips: "Are you still angry?"

Wei Shao snorted: "It depends on whether a certain general dares to use things indiscriminately and ruin himself."

Philo said nothing.

Wei Shao narrowed his eyes and said in a dangerous tone: "Don't tell me, you still want to..."

"Wei Shao," Fei Luo interrupted him softly, "Have you ever thought about what I should do if I don't use inhibitors?"

Wei Shao certainly thought about it.

He even thought...

"I……"

Wei Shao's palms were sweating, he took a deep breath, and was about to say those words when the terminal started vibrating violently.

It’s Ji Peiyan’s communication.

Wei Shao: “…”

He raised his hand to cut off the call, but within half a second, Ji Peiyan's call popped up again.

I had no choice but to say to Philo, "Wait for me."

He walked to the outer room of the bathroom, and then said to Ji Peiyan on the other end of the phone: "What?"

"How is he?"

Wei Shao told him the doctor's diagnosis in a few words.

Ji Peiyan said: "This is easy to solve. Just let him go meet Keweiyi."

Wei Shao: "No!"

Ji Peiyan was silent for two seconds, then slowly repeated: "No?"

Wei Shao said irritably, "Don't you know what your protagonist is? And can he be content to be with Philo after just one meeting?"

"Listen to what you said," Ji Peiyan laughed with an ambiguous tone, "It's not very objective."

Wei Shao: "I..."

Ji Peiyan interrupted him: "They are the protagonists. As long as they meet, the situation will definitely develop faster than you think, and - if not, what do you want to do?"

Wei Shao was silent.

Ji Peiyan asked: "Do you still remember my short article?"

Wei Shao frowned and recalled: "The article about the male insect being possessed by a soul?"

"Yes," Ji Peiyan said with a smile, "The protagonist traveled through time and space to become a male insect, allowing the female monarch who lived in darkness to see the light for the first time."

"Then..." Ji Peiyan snapped his fingers lightly on the other end, "He left. The poor female monarch didn't know she was abandoned. Or maybe she knew, but there was nothing she could do."

Ji Peiyan's light tone made Wei Shao feel a little creepy.

The article only leaves such a tragic ending, without explaining the reason.

Wei Shao frowned deeply: "...Did he choose to leave on his own?"

"I don't know - the author doesn't know everything either," Ji Peiyan said with a hint of meaning, "but what's the difference between taking the initiative and being forced? He didn't deprive the female monarch of the chance to survive, but his appearance and his compassion meant that the female monarch was destined to die for him."

Cold sweat broke out on Wei Shao's palms.

Perhaps in the eyes of the male insect, he did not do anything of great impact. He just showed kindness for a period of time, which could even be called kindness.

But it was this brief tenderness that led the female monarch to self-destruction.

Just like a butterfly never knows what consequences will arise from a single flap of its wings.

——Ji Peiyan was using that story to warn him.