Chapter 90 Shall we have dinner together? How many people?
The gaze from the man opposite him slowly shifted from Shen Mi to Jing Yuan. The two, standing so close together, needed no words; even an observer could discern a close relationship.
With a half-smile, Ren turned his head and looked at Dan Heng, just in time to catch a glimpse of barely perceptible forbearance and restraint on that usually cold and stern face.
He suddenly chuckled softly, the smile reaching his eyes.
This complex relationship between the three was all too familiar to him, a former "short-lived" individual. Emotions gradually formed bonds, selfish desires brought conflicts, and ultimately, like a tightening net, they trapped people within, from which there was no escape.
Ren narrowed his eyes slightly, and in the beam of light, his gaze held undisguised mockery and malice. He seemed to be watching a play from afar, yet he felt a strange sense of immersion in it. A stirring of interest within him lingered, like the flicking tongue of a venomous snake.
Such a wonderful performance should be performed for a long, long time to come. The thought that Danheng would be so engrossed in it that he couldn't extricate himself filled him with an uncontrollable joy, like tens of thousands of snakes and insects surging out and tearing at his flesh, yet also bringing him exhilaration.
This strange sense of pleasure was enough to make him feel a little more attached to this filthy world.
"Heh—" Blade chuckled softly, threw away the rough wooden stick he had picked up, and deliberately gave up. His last gaze fell on the little girl he had once looked down on.
You'd better handle your relationship with them well, Shen Mi.
He murmured to himself, a smile playing on his lips, becoming the happiest person present. "Let me see how many more unexpected surprises you can bring me."
If Shen Mi could hear what he was thinking at this moment, he would probably only think of one sentence: "Dan Heng is in pain, and A Ren is excited."
But Shen Mi was in no mood to pay attention to any of that. She subconsciously looked up and met Ren's meaningful gaze. There was no hostility in it, but it was like a mirror, reflecting the stalemate between the remaining three people, naked and uncompromising.
Seeing that Ren was deliberately avoiding showing hostility towards Shen Mi, Dan Heng naturally put away Ji Yun. Rather than getting rid of this persistent troublesome person at this moment, he was more concerned about not letting Shen Mi see him out of control and in a wretched state.
The air seemed to freeze. The four people's gazes met, and the tense silence stretched on and on, as if even the sound of rain had been suppressed into the distance.
In the end, Jing Yuan spoke first. He slowly released his grip on Chen Mi's forearm, lowered the beam of the flashlight slightly, and stopped shining it directly at the other person: "Long time no see, Dan Heng."
He paused, then turned to look at Ren, his voice still calm, but with a hint of subtle probing: "Yingxing, it's you too, long time no see."
Compared to Danheng's iron-willed silence, Ren seemed unusually "giving him face" tonight. After listening, he squeezed out a low, indistinct syllable, a half-smile, as if responding, or perhaps just a nasal sound he couldn't be bothered to distinguish.
Seeing the awkward atmosphere, Shen Mi had no choice but to bite the bullet and try to smooth things over: "Hahaha, looks like we're all on the same side! We're all on the same side!"
Who knew that these words would hit the nail on the head for the two people opposite?
Dan Heng's eyes darkened, and a coldness suddenly appeared between his brows. In just a few seconds, he completed a series of actions, turning his head away in denial.
"Who's on his side?"
Danheng's voice was as cold as hail in a rainy night.
“He is the enemy I will draw my sword against in this lifetime.” Uncharacteristically, perhaps due to a good mood, Ren added this sentence for the first time ever.
One denied it, the other explained why. Shen Mi forced a bitter smile, inwardly lamenting: At least give me some face!
But she knew in her heart that it was already a blessing from heaven that they hadn't drawn their swords against each other. If a fight really broke out, she had no ability to stop them, let alone the life to stop them.
As soon as the words were spoken, the scene fell silent again. The four of them stood like four corners, forming a rigid polygon, none of them willing to look away first, nor to move an inch. The air was so tense it almost solidified, and the sound of rain became the only background noise.
Just then, an untimely "gurgling" sound suddenly rang out. The sound was clear and particularly jarring among the four silent people.
Shen Mi froze, her cheeks flushed red, and she hurriedly covered her stomach, stammering, "I...I haven't eaten much all day."
Her voice was as soft as a drop of water in the rain, yet it still broke the tense atmosphere.
Dan Heng's brows twitched, and his cold expression relaxed slightly. He seemed to want to say something, but he withdrew his gaze when it fell on Shen Mi's flushed face. He hesitated for a moment before speaking, but was interrupted by Jing Yuan standing next to Shen Mi.
He swallowed the words back, and Xiaolong listened with a slightly displeased frown.
Shen Mi looked at Dan Heng, who was standing opposite her without any rain shelter, and felt a mix of emotions. She wanted to comfort him but was also worried that it would lower the other two's favorability.
Unable to find a solution, Chen Mi stood there, stunned.
As Shen Mi was secretly worrying, she suddenly felt a lightness on her shoulder. Jing Yuan had taken a step forward and perfectly shielded her behind him.
Jing Yuan, however, seemed completely oblivious to the tension simmering in the air. He smiled as usual, his tone gentle and leisurely: "The night rain cuts spring chives, and new rice is cooked with millet. To meet like this on a rainy night is fate. Why not let Chen Mi have a good meal first?"
His eyes shifted slightly, and his tone changed with a hint of a smile. His words were gentle, but his true intentions were clear: "If you really want to take action, you might as well wait until a sunny day. It's better than letting this thunderstorm clean up the mess for you all."
The implication is that we should not fight.
"Yes, yes!" Shen Mi, always quick to agree, immediately nodded in agreement, fully supporting Jing Yuan's suggestion. Thinking that she could finally escape this tense standoff, she felt a surge of relief, her eyebrows and eyes crinkling with a smile. In a moment of overconfidence, she blurted out, "Why don't you... join us for a meal?"
The moment the words left his mouth, the air froze again.
Dan Heng's brows furrowed, his thin lips pressed tightly together, remaining noncommittal. His cold eyes, however, stared intently at Chen Mi, as if silently questioning—Would it be appropriate for me to go?
Shen Mi's heart tightened, and she could only return a reassuring look, secretly groaning. She had only said it casually, never expecting it to turn out like this. If she could go back a few seconds, she would definitely cover her mouth tightly.
Ren tilted his head slightly, a half-smile playing on his lips. His crimson eyes, like mirrors of truth, seemed to be pondering whether she was being sincere or harboring some other scheme.
Jing Yuan remained calm and composed, as if deliberately ignoring the undercurrents surging beneath the surface of his composure. He clapped his hands lightly and smiled gently, "Excellent. When old friends reunite, they should sit together at the same table, and a few more pairs of chopsticks would make it truly lively."
Shen Mi's lips twitched, and she sighed inwardly: It's over, it's over. If this isn't handled properly, she'll be the one who's going to die.
The three remained silent, yet a subtle understanding seemed to have been reached in their silence. Ultimately, led by Ren in a seemingly indistinct manner, the group walked forward, stepping through the splashing water droplets.
The rain continued, and the night grew even darker. The light and shadow in the woods stretched and intertwined beneath their feet, like a silent net being cast.
As they passed through the last gap in the trees, the thunderous roar of the waterfall suddenly filled their ears. Jingyuan held up his flashlight, the beam piercing through the rain and mist, illuminating a white expanse ahead. The waterfall cascaded down like a stampede of horses, the spray splashing everywhere, the lake surface slapped against it like countless silver fish leaping and frolicking in the darkness.
Amidst the swirling mist, a starship hovered silently in mid-air. Its lights, embedded in the wood, shone like miniature suns over a five-meter radius. The wooden hull was smooth and lustrous, its surface shimmering with light, as if time itself had been compressed into a single moment. The tranquility of time stood juxtaposed with the roar of the waterfall, creating an almost unreal scene.
Suddenly, accompanied by a low mechanical hum, the hatch slowly opened amidst the mist and rain. A heavy gangway descended from above, the chains and buckles clanging softly in the night wind. The gangway swayed a few times before finally settling firmly under the pull of gravity, like a silent beckoning, inviting one to board.
Jing Yuan stepped forward first, reaching out to grab the end of the gangway and using it to steady its sway. He then skillfully took out his flashlight and secured it firmly to the side rail of the gangway with Velcro, the steady beam illuminating the way up.
He freed one hand, his expression calm and composed, and slightly raised his chin, asking the other three, "Who wants to go first?"
As soon as he finished speaking, the rain roared, and it seemed as if even the air itself paused.
Seeing that the others remained motionless for a long time, as if they were all silently waiting for someone to speak, Chen Mi looked at the atmosphere that had frozen again and suddenly felt a tightness in his heart—wait, are they all... waiting for me to speak?
She quickly raised her hand, her posture much like a student eagerly answering a question in class to help the teacher out of an awkward situation, just to break the silence: "How about I go up first?"
The words had barely left his mouth when he was interrupted by two voices at the same time.
"--no!"
Jing Yuan's tone was gentle, yet carried an undeniable firmness. Dan Heng beside him spoke even more urgently, his cold expression mixed with barely concealed anxiety: "Chen Mi won't do, she can't be the first one to go."
His gaze fell on Shen Mi's tightly bandaged hands, and the rejection in his eyes was almost an instinctive reaction.
If I don't go, and you don't go, then who will? Shen Mi was thinking to himself when he caught a glimpse of Ren, who had been silently observing from the sidelines the whole time.
The other two also turned their heads in unison, following Shen Mi's gaze, and their eyes fell on Ren.
Feeling helpless under the three gazes, Ren raised a hand to his forehead, a cold smile playing on his lips: "Heh... do I have a choice? Fine. If no one else goes, I'll go first. But—"
He paused deliberately, his tone carrying a hint of mockery: "Are you all pushing and shoving each other to get ahead of Chen Mi in line, or are you scrambling to follow behind her?"
Jing Yuan narrowed his eyes slightly, concealing his emotions, but a gentle smile appeared on his lips as he explained, "Chen Mi's hand is injured, and he needs someone to take care of him down here."
Dan Heng, who was standing to the side, nodded in agreement, which was considered as acknowledging his statement.
Upon hearing this, Ren snorted inwardly, secretly mocking these two fools. Then he raised his hand to hold onto the gangway and casually said, "Then you two continue, I'll go up first."
After saying that, he quickly reached the Star Chariot and even turned around with great interest to shout to those below, "Hurry up and line up, I'm a little hungry."
The three people at the center of the vortex were left standing on the ground, looking at each other in bewilderment.
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Author's Note: Here I am!!! After a long time, I'm on the list again!!! Daily updates for the next few days!!! Lots of intense action awaits!!! [Go for it][Go for it][Go for it]
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