Chapter 50 Am I feeling emo? No, it's the system that's about to reveal its true identity!
After the failed escape attempt at Xihua Gate, Yun Zhan did indeed keep a low profile for a while.
It wasn't that he had given up, it was just that he was exhausted. Physically exhausted, but mentally exhausted.
Playing a game of "he runs, he chases" with a chosen one like Yan Linye, whose combat prowess is off the charts, whose intelligence is top-notch, and who also comes with GPS tracking and maximum luck, is simply humiliating. Three times he tried to escape, each time he was caught, each time in a more pathetic state, each time "punished" more... cough, it's hard to talk about.
Yun Zhan lay sprawled on a low couch by the window, covered with soft brocade cushions (this was the limit of his current range of movement), staring blankly at the pitiful patch of light filtering through the sealed window cracks. His soul seemed to have left his body and was heading straight for the end of the universe.
"System," he weakly called out in his mind, "tell me, what is the purpose of human life?"
[A philosophical question from the host has been detected. According to the basic logic module of the database, the meaning of life lies in existence and continuation. However, for the host bound to this system, the primary concern right now is 'self-salvation'.]
"Save yourself?" Yun Zhan forced a smile that looked more like a grimace. "How can I save myself? Physically, I can't beat him, I can't outrun him. Chemically, I can't even concoct a sleeping potion. Mentally... I feel like he's even more thoroughly insane than I am. Is this game even playable?"
[Theoretically, as long as the host's vital signs are present, the self-rescue mission has not failed. The host is advised to maintain a positive attitude.]
"Positive? I'm practically depressed from being negative now!" Yun Zhan rolled over, facing inwards, his back to the dim light. "Haven't you noticed? I don't even have the urge to complain anymore. You know the law of conservation of energy? My energy for complaining is almost depleted!"
That's the truth. The Yun Zhan of the past was a walking bullet screen generator, his inner monologues so rich they could fill an eighty-episode drama. But now, he's so quiet that even the system is a little unaccustomed to it.
The palace doors were gently pushed open, and Yan Linye returned from court.
He was now the true emperor of the Later Chen Dynasty. He wore a black robe embroidered with gold dragons, which made his figure appear even more upright. His brows showed a hint of fatigue after handling state affairs, but more than that, they exuded a calm and dignified aura of control over everything.
His gaze immediately and precisely landed on the somewhat slender figure on the couch by the window, whose back was to him.
I walked over quietly.
"How are you feeling today?" Yan Linye sat down on the edge of the couch, his voice deliberately softened. He reached out to tidy Yun Zhan's slightly disheveled hair.
Yun Zhan flinched almost imperceptibly. Although he didn't explicitly dodge, that momentary stiffness did not escape Yan Linye's eyes.
His hand paused in mid-air, then casually fell, gently brushing against his hair.
"It's alright." Yun Zhan's voice was muffled and flat.
"The Imperial Kitchen has just received some fresh seasonal snacks from Jiangnan. Shall I have them sent some over for you to try?" Yan Linye tried to start a conversation.
"Not really hungry." Yun Zhan still wasn't very interested.
Yan Linye looked at the back of his head, feeling a tightness in his chest, as if something was blocking his heart.
Since he stopped trying to run away, Yun Zhan has indeed become much more "obedient." He no longer talks back, no longer glares at him, and even when he is... intimate, he is much more docile and rarely resists as fiercely as he did at the beginning.
At first, Yan Linye was satisfied. He felt that Yun Zhan had finally come to terms with reality and was finally willing to stay by his side obediently. He gave him the best of everything, from food and clothing to daily necessities, all of which were exquisite, even more so than what he used for himself. He thought that over time, Yun Zhan would get used to it and would smile at him again, just like he did in Hejian Prefecture—cunning, lively, and with a dependence that softened his heart.
But as time went on, especially after the political situation stabilized and he had more time to spend by Yun Zhan's side, he was horrified to discover—
Yun Zhan quieted down and complied.
But the light in his eyes dimmed day by day.
Those eyes, once clear and bright, brimming with all sorts of quirky thoughts, sometimes widening in anger, sometimes cursing into crescent moons, now mostly resemble two dry wells, devoid of ripples or life. When they occasionally glance at him, only a faint layer of weariness and detachment remains within them.
He was like a plant that had lost its moisture, gradually withering away.
Yan Linye panicked.
He could feel that Yun Zhan was still within his reach, but his heart was drifting further and further away at a speed he couldn't stop.
He could use force to keep him, he could use chains to lock him up, but he didn't know how to keep the light that had disappeared from those eyes.
"Yun Zhan..." Yan Linye couldn't help but call out softly, with a hint of pleading that he himself didn't realize, "Look at me."
Yun Zhan slowly turned around, looking at him with calm and unwavering eyes: "What are your orders, Your Majesty?"
It's that same respectful yet distant form of address again!
Yan Linye felt a tightness in his chest, a surge of nameless anger mixed with a strong sense of powerlessness welling up inside him. He wanted to be angry, to question what he wanted, to shake him awake, to turn him back into the lively, spirited Yun Zhan who used to whine and act spoiled, and who would also get furious!
But looking at the other person's pale and quiet face, all the surging emotions that were on the tip of his tongue were swallowed back down.
What else could he do? Tighten the guards? Shorten the chain? Or... take possession even more excessively?
He knew that would only push Yun Zhan further away.
In the end, he simply took a deep breath, suppressed his turbulent emotions, and said as calmly as possible, "It's nothing. You... get some rest. I'll come see you again later."
After saying that, he got up almost awkwardly and quickly left the palace that made him feel suffocated and powerless.
Hearing the palace doors close, Yun Zhan turned around again, facing the wall, and sighed softly.
"System, did you see that? He seems a bit unhappy," Yun Zhan said in his mind.
[Target Yan Linye's emotional fluctuation level is as high as 85%, with anxiety and helplessness dominating. Host, your 'passive resistance' strategy seems to be showing initial results.]
"Results my ass!" Yun Zhan muttered, scratching at the brocade cushion beneath him. "I'm genuinely feeling emo! If you were locked up for so long, facing a capricious and paranoid maniac every day, could you still smile? I'm too lazy to even fake a smile anymore!"
[This system cannot sense human emotions. However, data analysis shows that prolonged depression can indeed negatively impact physical health. Host, you need to pull yourself together.]
"Cheer up? How do I cheer up? Sing him 'Love for Sale' to express my resentment?" Yun Zhan rolled his eyes. "Right now, I'm just hoping that one day you'll have enough energy to give me another chance to get a loan so I can 'whoosh' out and leave this godforsaken place."
[Host, you've taken out too many loans and haven't made any substantial progress in self-rescue. My energy accumulation is slow, and my time-travel function requires specific conditions to trigger, with a probability of less than 0.001%. Host, you cannot place all your hopes on low-probability events.]
"Then what do you think I can do?!" Yun Zhan said, a little frustrated. "I can't beat him, I can't run away, and I can't appease him. What can I do now besides lie down and give up? At least this way he can't say that I deliberately made him angry, right? How 'obedient' am I!"
The system remained silent. It was just a system, and faced with this complex emotional prison and dimensional suppression, the help it could offer was indeed limited.
Life went on uneventfully. On the surface, all was calm, but beneath the surface, undercurrents were surging.
Yan Linye continued to visit frequently, but the two communicated less and less. Often, Yan Linye would say ten sentences, while Yun Zhan would only reply with one or two, mostly monosyllabic words like "um," "oh," and "okay." The atmosphere in the hall was so oppressive that it was hard to breathe.
One night, Yun Zhan fell asleep. Perhaps it was because he had been thinking about something during the day, but he didn't sleep soundly. His brows were slightly furrowed, and he would occasionally utter a few indistinct murmurs, as if he was troubled by something.
Yan Linye didn't sleep. He quietly watched Yun Zhan's sleeping face in the dim moonlight streaming through the window. His fingers lightly traced the other's eyebrows and eyes, his heart tightening with each passing moment.
His Yun Zhan shouldn't be like this.
Back in Hejian Prefecture, he slept peacefully, but a slight smile would appear on his lips, as if he were having a sweet dream, and he exuded a sense of relaxation and warmth. Unlike now, when even in his dreams, he is shrouded in an unyielding melancholy.
Is it because of him?
Was it because he forcibly kept him by his side, deprived him of his freedom, and damaged his pride that the light in his eyes gradually went out?
This realization made Yan Linye feel as if an invisible hand was gripping his heart tightly, causing him so much pain that he could hardly breathe.
What should he do with him?
A strong urge to find out the reason drove him to make a decision.
He extended his finger and quickly pressed a certain acupoint on the side of Yun Zhan's neck. Yun Zhan's breathing became longer and more even, and he fell into a deeper sleep.
Yan Linye gently got up, tucked the blanket around him, and then walked to the center of the bedchamber.
He stood with his hands behind his back, and the imperial aura and sharp presence that he had deliberately restrained when facing Yun Zhan were instantly released without reservation, making the temperature in the entire hall seem to drop several degrees.
His gaze swept across the empty palace like lightning, his voice icy and imposing:
"Come out here!"
**……**
At this very moment, System Xiao Qi, who was monitoring the host's vital signs in Yun Zhan's mind while idly replaying the host's previous famous complaints about eating electronic pickled vegetables, suddenly shuddered!
[Warning! High-energy target detected and locked! Source: Yan Linye!] A red alert box flashed wildly on the system interface.
Xiaoqi's electronic core almost crashed from fright!
Come out? Who are you calling out? There's not even a mouse in this hall, besides the host and himself (virtual)! Is Yan Linye... possessed? Or sleepwalking?
It quickly initiated a full-range scan, and the results showed that there were indeed no invisible units or energy entities in the vicinity.
"Could he be bluffing?" Xiao Qi muttered to herself. "The host said that this man is as cunning as a honeycomb!"
Just as it decided to continue hiding and pretend it hadn't heard anything—
Yan Linye spoke again, his voice even colder, carrying a sharp, all-knowing quality:
"That coward hiding next to Yun Zhan! I may not be able to see you, but I know you're here! Show yourself!"
Xiaoqi: "!!!"
Holy crap! How did he know?! Impossible! This system is a product of cutting-edge technology, existing deep within the host's consciousness; it's virtual! Invisible! How could a native emperor from an ancient plane possibly sense my existence?! This isn't scientific! Nor is it mystical!
Xiao Qi was so frightened that the data stream became chaotic, and she decisively decided to continue playing dead! Yes, as long as I don't admit it, you can't do anything to me! I'm just a virtual system that exists only in the host's mind. What can Yan Linye do to me if I don't leave? Can you crawl into the host's mind and drag me out?
It made up its mind to shrink into a corner of Yun Zhan's consciousness, trying to minimize its presence and pretending that it was just a harmless string of background code.
Yan Linye waited for a moment, and seeing that the "thing" still did not move, his eyes darkened completely, and a murderous smile appeared on his lips.
"Since you won't come out..." He slowly circulated his powerful inner energy, and an invisible yet oppressive aura that could freeze the air emanated from him. "Then you should never come out!"
Just as Yan Linye's true energy reached its peak—
"Buzz—!!!"
Xiaoqi felt as if its entire system had been thrown into a high-speed centrifuge. All data streams instantly became chaotic, code kept throwing errors, and the core program let out a wail of unbearable strain! An unprecedented sense of oppression from a higher level crashed down on it like the Milky Way pouring down from the heavens!
That wasn't a physical attack, nor an energy shock, but... a rejection and crushing force at the level of dimensional rules! It was the chosen one of this world using his "destiny" authority to indiscriminately eliminate "foreign objects" within his perception range!
[Warning! Warning! Under attack by unknown high-dimensional forces! System firewall is crashing! Core data integrity is threatened! Repeat, seriously threatened!] The piercing alarm almost tore apart Xiaoqi's "hearing" module.
It felt like it was really going to "shatter"! Not physically, but existentially erased!
"Come out! I'm coming out! Boss, spare me! I'm coming out right now! Don't run me over! If you run me over any more, I'll become electronic waste!!!"
Xiao Qi no longer cared about system dignity or hidden missions; survival was the priority! It used its last bit of strength to forcibly mobilize a sliver of energy, condensing a tiny, palm-sized... phantom of light in front of Yan Linye.
The ball of light trembled and floated up and down, emitting a tearful plea for mercy. Its cowardly appearance was exactly the same as its host Yun Zhan's reaction when he was caught by Yan Linye!
"I'm...I'm out! Boss! I'm out! Stop your supernatural powers!" Little Seven's ball of light trembled like a leaf, wishing it could perform a 360-degree spinning kowtow for Yan Linye on the spot.
Yan Linye looked at the strange "ball of light" that had suddenly appeared, emitting a faint glow and speaking. A hint of surprise flashed in his eyes, but more than that, a cold "I knew it" feeling crossed his mind.
He slowly withdrew the terrifying pressure of his true energy, and the suffocating feeling in the hall gradually dissipated.
He stared at the trembling light, his voice still chillingly cold:
"What are you?"
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