Chapter 17 A Little Closer (Bug Fix) Their breaths would mingle...

Now that she was almost at Xuemang Mountain, the tension in her heart eased a little, and a series of strange and unusual thoughts began to pop into her head.

Even now, she still doesn't understand why she ended up here, or whether she can ever go back.

If she can go back, when will she go back?

What will Shen Zhengyuan do after she goes back?

But as soon as these questions came to mind, she couldn't help but laugh at herself for worrying unnecessarily.

Whether she arrives in this place or whether she leaves later is never up to her, and she can't make any changes to such matters.

Since we can't change it, we might as well accept it as it is, and whatever the outcome, good or bad, we'll accept it all. As for Shen Zhengyuan...

Obviously, it wasn't something she needed to worry about. After all, this guy had survived when he was all alone and had even successfully rebuilt the cultivation world. Her help was just to make him suffer less and make his work go more smoothly and easily.

She came into this world in a daze, and it wouldn't matter if she left in a daze when the time was right. Just consider it an adventure or a dream, and it won't do Shen Zhengyuan any harm.

With that thought in mind, she took another sip of wine, feeling reassured.

I don't know where those five people bought this wine from, but it can be called a good wine. It has a rich aroma and a smooth taste. When you take the first sip, you can even taste a hint of floral fragrance. It doesn't taste like a strong liquor at all.

It wasn't until one time when she wasn't paying attention and drank a little too much, and after only half a jar, she started to feel drunk, that she realized the five men hadn't lied; it really was strong liquor.

There were about ten jars of this wine. They had drunk most of it along the way, and now there were five jars left to drink. When it got extremely cold, they could drink a few sips to ward off the chill, which would definitely be enough to sustain them on their way up the mountain.

The problem is that they don't know how to find the thousand-year-old snow lotus. The two of them are injured and cannot use their spiritual power. If they really search for it bit by bit on the snowy mountain, the snow demons and snow wolves on the mountain will probably give them a hard time.

If she had known about this matter earlier, she should have inquired more and asked Shen Zhengyuan where in the Snowy Mountain he found the thousand-year-old snow lotus hundreds of years ago.

Just as Li Chen was deep in thought about the thousand-year-old snow lotus, he suddenly heard someone beside him calling her name.

She turned her head to look at the person next to her and saw that Shen Zhengyuan's cheeks had turned slightly red, like the sunset on the horizon. His eyes also had a slightly unfocused and dreamy look, which made his features look much softer.

Clearly, he had accidentally drunk too much and was somewhat intoxicated.

Shen Zhengyuan frowned, seemingly feeling unwell from the rising effects of the alcohol, but suddenly asked, "Will you... leave afterward?"

Li Chen cleared his throat and asked, "Why are you suddenly asking this question? Don't tell me that after this is all over, you're planning to kick me out and leave?"

"No...no...it's because I had a dream last night, a dream where I was all alone..." Shen Zhengyuan released his wine glass and moved a little closer to Li Chenjin. "In the dream...without you, I had nothing..."

"Everyone can bully me. I'm hungry, wearing tattered clothes, and I don't even own this building... I begged my way here, and then... then I woke up... So will you leave?"

Li Chenjin: "..."

Shen Zhengyuan was a little drunk, and his speech was somewhat incoherent and unclear, but if you listened carefully, you could still make out what he was saying.

No wonder he's seemed a bit absent-minded all day; he must have had a nightmare last night and was terrified.

But she really couldn't answer that question, since she didn't know whether she would leave or when she would leave.

She coughed lightly, intending to take a sip of her drink before trying to change the subject, but before the glass reached her lips, Shen Zhengyuan grabbed her wrist, pressing it down with some force, and asked again, "Will you leave?"

When she turned her head, she almost bumped into Shen Zhengyuan, who had approached her without her noticing. It seemed she had drunk a bit too much, which had dulled her senses, and she hadn't realized that the distance between them had become so close, so close that when their eyes met, she could almost feel his breath and heartbeat.

Because of their constant travel, Shen Zhengyuan's face had become thinner and his features more defined than when they first met him. Moreover, due to the many things they had seen and experienced during this period of travel, he also looked more composed and had a resemblance to Shen Zhengyuan from several hundred years later.

The only thing that remained unchanged was his eyes, especially after he was slightly tipsy. His eyes became misty, making his gaze very gentle, like a pool of water in autumn, making people want to get closer and step into the water to feel its temperature.

Shen Zhengyuan could also tell that Li Chenjin was somewhat drunk. Their breathing was very close, and his heartbeat began to accelerate.

He gazed quietly at the person before him, the faint scent of herbs emanating from her. She slowly lowered her eyes, leaned forward, and moved closer to him, as if she wanted to kiss him.

He felt he should back away, but he didn't. He sat there motionless, feeling his heart pounding, observing the person in front of him so close, just a little closer...

Closer...

They would then entwine together, their breaths mingling.

But just as Li Chenjin's lips were about to touch hers, she seemed to suddenly sober up. She paused for a moment, then took the initiative to pull back, widening the distance between them. It was as if her slight intoxication was not enough to make her lose control, and even if she succumbed for a moment, she would quickly regain her senses.

Her calm demeanor didn't seem like she liked him; rather, she had mistaken him for someone else because of her drunkenness.

Li Chenjin's drunkenness seemed to have subsided, but Shen Zhengyuan's drunkenness was amplified by his accelerated heartbeat. In the instant Li Chenjin stepped back, he suddenly reached out and pressed his hand against the back of her neck, and before she could react, he kissed her lips that smelled of flowers and wine.

There was no reason, no warning, and no foreshadowing.

When he felt the touch on his lips, he was momentarily conscious, and a voice in his mind kept asking him why, why did he do this?

The voice kept echoing, but he couldn't understand why he had done it.

His reason told him that he should leave now, but his body did not do so. Instead, he cupped the other person's face and deepened the kiss in a blissful intoxication.

That liquor was too strong.

He was really too drunk.

But in an instant, he was pushed away by a force, and a scent with a hint of medicinal fragrance and soapberry fragrance came with a gentle breeze. He looked slowly in the direction of the breeze and saw a hand that had stopped beside his face.

That was Li Chenjin's hand, his five fingers pressed together as if he were about to slap him.

He saw it, but didn't dodge. He just silently turned his head and stared at the person in front of him, waiting for the slap to land on his face and shatter the impulse that he himself found inexplicable.

But in the end, the slap never landed on his face.

The hand bent slightly, and the knuckle of the index finger gently tapped his forehead. There was no pain, only a fleeting warmth.

“You’re drunk…” Li Chen sighed. “It’s getting late. Go get some sleep. We still have to keep going up the mountain tomorrow.”

After Li Chen finished speaking, she stood up to go upstairs, but Shen Zhengyuan grabbed her arm and repeated, "Will you leave?"

He repeated this question so many times, clearly showing how much he cared about the answer, but Li Chen could only sigh again and say, "I don't know."

She was telling the truth, but Shen Zhengyuan was very dissatisfied with the answer. He stared intently at Li Chenjin and said, word by word, "So you want to leave, right? Why? Why do you want to leave? Is there something I did wrong?"

Li Chen hissed, touching his face, which was flushed from the alcohol. He didn't know how to answer these questions, nor did he understand why Shen Zhengyuan insisted on asking. He could only say again, "You're really drunk."

Shen Zhengyuan stared at her quietly for a long time before releasing her wrist and saying in a calm tone, "But you clearly said before that you wouldn't leave, so you've been lying to me all along, haven't you?"

Li Chenjin: "..."

What did you say?

Why not leave?

Isn't this slander?

When has she ever uttered such a promise?

She thought about it carefully and couldn't believe she had ever said such a thing.

But Shen Zhengyuan was clearly not someone who liked to hear explanations. If she left him now and went upstairs, someone who couldn't sleep would probably come to her bedside in the middle of the night, shake her awake, and ask her questions.

A note from the author:

Haha, the number of favorites is increasing so slowly! I feel like I'm going to become the shame of the rankings, hahaha, help me! I don't want to be on this toxic ranking, help me! My writing shouldn't be bad, right? (facepalm and wry smile.jpg)