Chapter 16 Sleeping in the Same Bed "I want to sleep with you."...
Shen Zhou lowered his head and asked, "What?"
"that is……"
The bright lights were too embarrassing to mention.
It's so embarrassing to say something like "let's sleep together"!
The system encouraged her: "Host, keep it up, think about your twenty-year lifespan."
Hua Deng took a deep breath and looked at Chen Zhou hesitantly: "I told you, you can't hit me."
Shen Zhou neither agreed nor disagreed, but simply said, "Speak."
Hua Deng patted the bed next to her: "Do you think this bed is big?"
Shen Zhou's brow twitched slightly, and then she asked cautiously, "If you slept on top of me, would you like it?"
Shen Zhou understood: "Okay."
Hua Deng: "Huh?" She hadn't said anything yet!
Shen Zhou: "You want to switch beds with me?"
Hua Deng subconsciously replied, "I want to sleep with you."
Oops.
I said it.
She dared not look at Shen Zhou's expression, and became like an ostrich burying its head in the sand.
A moment later, his emotionless voice rang out above her: "Is this all you think about all day long, these meaningless questions?"
Hua Deng was displeased by his suggestion and looked up at him, saying, "Can't you even consider it?"
"I'm not considering it." Shen Zhou pulled out his sleeve, but not with much force so as not to knock her over, and surprisingly, he couldn't pull it out.
"Let go."
"I won't let go!" Hua Deng closed his eyes, looking like a rogue. "Just chop my hand off."
Shen Zhou said coldly, "You think I can't do it?"
The somber words made Hua Deng instinctively want to pull her hand away, but the next second, she puffed out her chest and let out a snort.
Having spent some time together, she had come to know Shen Zhou somewhat. She knew that when he was actually killing someone, he would never say anything unnecessary; once he did, it meant he wouldn't do it.
As if to confirm her guess, she got up, looked him straight in the eye, and said, "I won't let go."
"...You've gotten bolder." Shen Zhou looked down at her, his voice so cold it was almost chilling. "I can break the counter-killing curse within the time it takes for an incense stick to burn. I advise you not to take it too seriously."
"Thank you, I almost forgot about the counter-kill spell." Hua Deng breathed a sigh of relief, feeling much more at ease.
Shen Zhou stared at her expression for a while, then grabbed her wrist with a stern face, easily closing it with just two fingers.
Destroying this wrist is no different for him than breaking off a flower by the roadside.
He slowly increased the force.
Hua Deng seemed a little scared then, and tried to pull back a little, but she still didn't let go of the fingers that were gripping his sleeve. Shen Zhou also pressed her down so she didn't move.
The two stared at each other in a stalemate. Hua Deng blinked and gave a habitually innocent look.
Her eyes were almost like peach blossom eyes, but the corners of her eyes were not sharp; instead, they had a slightly rounded curve. When she opened her eyes wide to look at people, they were like apricot blossoms after being soaked in spring rain, gentle and harmless.
For some inexplicable reason, Shen Zhou suddenly remembered the puppy he had adopted when he was a child.
He picked it up from the foot of a mountain and took it home, bandaged its wounds, and fed it by hand. The puppy gradually grew into a majestic creature, but it would still always come to the table at mealtimes, resting its head against the table leg, its dark eyes looking at him with wet eyes.
He could never resist such a gaze, and every time he would give half of his meal to it, regardless of his parents' objections.
Later... Shen Zhou couldn't quite remember.
It was probably after his father died that he gave it to a reliable family when he left his hometown with his mother.
When he left, it still leaned against the tree, quietly watching him. But he never went back.
A dull pain came from between his brows; this was a restriction he had set up, which would forcibly stop him whenever he unconsciously recalled those past events.
The sharp pain intensified, and he mocked himself inwardly, but his face remained expressionless as he slowly pulled his sleeve out.
The streetlights let go.
This must mean she doesn't want to, she thought.
She suppressed her disappointment and comforted herself optimistically, reminding herself that twenty years was not a long time for a cultivator.
But unexpectedly, after pulling away his sleeve, Shen Zhou did not leave.
He stood in the moonlight, looking at her, and asked as if it were just a casual question: "Why?"
Hua Deng suddenly realized what he was talking about, and her expression became even more innocent: "I think so."
He paused, emphasizing his words and trying to sound sincere: "Just for tonight, I promise I won't bother you tomorrow!"
Shen Zhou lowered his eyes, his tone unfathomable: "Is this also a bodyguard's duty?"
Hua Deng suddenly became more self-righteous: "It's the duty of a Daoist partner!"
Seeing that Shen Zhou remained silent, she used her trump card: "I can also give you a raise!"
"Oh?" Shen Zhou said, "How much will it rise?"
Hua Deng felt a pang of heartache and tentatively asked, "One hundred and one thousand?"
"Can."
"!" Hua Deng was stunned for a moment, then, realizing he wasn't joking, she couldn't help but put her hand to her forehead: "Don't agree so quickly next time, or you'll feel like I'm getting the short end of the stick."
A soft laugh came from above.
Hua Deng looked up in shock, but the face he looked down at was still as cold as frost, his brows furrowed and his eyes lowered, as if he could be impatient at any moment.
...It must be an illusion.
It seems like I've never seen him smile once since I met him.
This person probably has facial paralysis.
The streetlights regained some strength and slowly shifted to make room for Chen Zhou.
This person was quite unceremonious, taking up most of the space right away and lying down without a blanket.
Hua Deng rolled inwards, kicked off the blankets, and turned her back to Shen Zhou, her fingers digging into the wall.
“System, I’m a little nervous,” she said.
Although Shen Zhou would never hear their internal communication, she still unconsciously lowered her voice.
"Don't worry, host, I will monitor your condition at all times and will not give him a chance to harm you," the system said seriously.
“No, it’s not that…” Hua Deng covered her face and said sullenly, “I feel like he has a very strong presence.”
As he approached, the light no longer carried the scent of the incense burner in the room, but was filled with his presence.
"That can't be right, host." The system activated its maximum power scan of Chen Zhou. "His aura has been completely concealed. If you weren't this close, you wouldn't even be able to detect him... Ah!"
After a short, sharp cry, the system exclaimed in alarm, "Host, has he discovered me?"
"Um???"
Hua Deng turned his head in alarm as well.
Under the pale moonlight, Shen Zhou had risen at some point, one hand resting on his raised knee, and was quietly gazing at her.
His eyes were dark and deep, as if they could penetrate her soul and see through everything about her.
In an instant, her hair stood on end, and the system seemed to crash; she dared not utter a sound.
Hua Deng forced a smile and asked, "Hi?"
Shen Zhou stared at her again, so intently that her blood seemed to freeze, before withdrawing his strange gaze and returning to a calm and composed expression.
He bent his long, slender fingers and tapped them lightly twice on his knee, then stopped moving.
Shen Zhou was certain that there was something inside her.
Was it used to kill him?
It didn't matter; he leaned against the headboard and closed his eyes.
Being able to kill him is a skill in itself.
Hua Deng remained motionless in that position, not understanding why he had stopped talking.
Shen Zhou asked, "Can't you sleep?"
Hua Deng honestly replied, "A little."
His mind was in turmoil. Had he really discovered the system? It didn't seem likely.
Let's try again later.
But as she waited, she noticed that Shen Zhou had stopped talking again.
The people in the city were dumbfounded. So whether I sleep or not has nothing to do with you? Then why did you ask such an unnecessary question?
She inexplicably lay back down, burrowed back into the covers, and cautiously scrutinized Chen Zhou.
Whether it was because the night was too late or the daytime too quiet, in this tense atmosphere, she...
I fell asleep successfully.
The sound of even breathing came from beside him. Shen Zhou suddenly opened his eyes and silently propped himself up.
As the moon sank in the west, the room grew increasingly dark, and Chen Zhou's features were completely submerged in darkness as he stretched out a hand toward the streetlights.
That hand touched the throat of the streetlight, its index finger and thumb gently spreading, locking her lifeline.
She remained asleep, lost in her dreams. So fragile, so innocent.
Shen Zhou couldn't understand it.
How could such a weak cultivator have a heart stronger than anyone else's, and dare to sleep peacefully beside him?
He was a little annoyed, and had other subtle feelings. His fingers unconsciously tightened, and Hua Deng frowned and snorted softly.
Is he about to wake up?
Shen Zhou stared at her, wanting to see how she would react after she woke up.
However, Hua Deng simply patted his arm and mumbled soothingly, "Mimi, stop fooling around."
Mimi, mimi.
Shen Zhou's expression shifted unpredictably before he silently withdrew his hand.
He must be crazy to bother with this sleepyhead.
...
The city lights shone brightly that night, and I slept soundly.
Not only did she sleep well, but she also successfully completed the side quests given by the system. More importantly, she broke through the bottleneck in her cultivation. She only meditated for a quarter of an hour after waking up in the morning and jumped to the late stage of Foundation Establishment.
Shen Zhou's true energy is far more effective than any elixirs or miraculous medicines; no wonder everyone in the world wants to hunt him down.
Thinking of Shen Zhou, she tied her hair up, pushed open the door, and went out. Sure enough, she saw him practicing his sword in the courtyard.
She stood there admiring the view for a while before walking over and asking, "Did you sleep last night?"
Shen Zhou turned his back to her and wiped the blade of his sword: "Never."
He lost the habit of sleeping a long time ago, let alone falling asleep in front of others.
Hua Deng nodded, having already made a deduction in his mind.
It seems that the system's judgment criteria are very broad, and the assessment is more targeted at the female protagonist herself, rather than other characters in the book.
This makes the task much easier to complete.
Hua Deng was in a good mood, so he sat under a tree to drink tea and casually brought up the system images in his mind.
The system was quite frightened last night, and Hua Deng had to handle the situation with caution, instructing the system to record everything that happened that night so that she could review it the next day.
At this moment, the system's video feed, viewed from a third-person perspective directly in front of them, clearly presented everything that happened last night.
Seeing Shen Zhou choking her, Hua Deng angrily turned her head, glared at Shen Zhou who was still practicing his sword, and silently made a mental note that she would deduct half a month's salary from his salary sooner or later.
However, the next scene showed her wrapping her arm around Shen Zhou's and turning over, burying her head in his shoulder and rubbing against him affectionately.
Hua Deng: "…………"
She apologized and took back what she had just said.
For someone as ruthless as Shen Zhou, who treats others like viruses, it's a real mercy not to kill her.
He merely flicked her arm lightly, not even hard enough to wake her up, then grabbed her by the back of her collar and pulled her backward.
As I was about to withdraw my hand, for some reason, I pressed down on the back of her neck twice.
Hua Deng held her breath, feeling the spot where he had touched her burning hot.
Then she heard him say, "Why are you so weak?"
The doubt in her voice was so sincere that it reminded Hua Deng of when she was very young, when a bird landed by her window and she reached out to touch it, but the housekeeper stopped her.
The housekeeper said it's an endangered bird species, and touching it carelessly can cause stress.
She expressed the same confusion at the time: "What kind of bird is this? Why is it so weak?"
Hua Deng laughed at his own associations.
She stood up, intending to confront Shen Zhou, when just then a bird called out overhead, feathers fluttered down, and a piece of paper resembling an invitation fell to the ground.
The paper fell towards Chen Zhou, but he didn't even look at it, let alone reach out to catch it. In the end, Hua Deng took it away.
The first thing you see is the three large characters "Dragon and Phoenix in Flight"—
"A request to join the fight."
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