Lin Zhiji was completely stunned.
This… what kind of question was this?
No, Xie Yi, why aren’t you following normal logic!
For a moment, Lin Zhiji even hallucinated the scene of a couple arguing and breaking up.
But very quickly, he violently shook his head, shaking away this absurd and horrifying guess.
Because of his silence, the smile at the corner of Xie Yi’s lips faded a bit.
The temperature inside the room sharply dropped.
Lin Zhiji shivered.
The answers he had prepared before could no longer be used; his mind went completely blank, and he almost instinctively said:
【You are my host! How could I possibly leave you!】
Not to mention that all his missions revolved around Xie Yi, even the monthly upkeep of that body required Xie Yi.
He simply couldn’t leave Xie Yi.
Listening to the urgency and certainty in his words, Xie Yi’s heart softened for a moment, but very quickly hardened again.
However, the atmosphere in the room was no longer as tense as before.
Lin Zhiji’s stiff body gradually relaxed.
Xie Yi let out a faint “tsk”: 【Since you know that, why didn’t you tell me directly?】
Before Lin Zhiji could answer, he tapped his knuckles lightly on the table and deliberately slowed his voice: 【Or rather, is what you said… really the whole truth?】
Lin Zhiji’s just-settled heart began to race again.
The oppressive aura of the top-tier villain was as if tangible, enveloping him.
That suffocating psychological pressure swallowed his will, almost making him blurt out everything.
But when the words reached his lips, the last shred of reason stopped him.
03 was his final trump card; he could not say it.
【Of course.】 Lin Zhiji gritted his teeth and said, 【This matter doesn’t benefit you anyway. I was afraid you wouldn’t agree…】
Maybe it was because these days he had been directly facing Xie Yi’s pressure, giving him some resistance.
As he spoke, Lin Zhiji felt the pressure ease, and his mouth also became less restrained, muttering:
【…Aren’t you just using this to scare me right now?】
Hearing his resentful complaint, Xie Yi didn’t get angry; instead, he gave a very soft laugh: 【You’ve gotten quite good at talking back.】
Lin Zhiji was alarmed and uncertain, uneasy.
For a moment, he couldn’t tell whether Xie Yi was truly laughing, or laughing out of extreme anger.
Xie Yi: 【Weren’t you talking a lot just now? Why have you gone mute now?】
Lin Zhiji: …
He really wanted to retort, but there was still a trace of fear left in his heart.
And since he still needed Xie Yi to obtain his body, he became even less daring, and could only hum twice:
【I’m not completely doing it for myself.】
Xie Yi: 【Oh?】
Lin Zhiji said softly: 【Mainly it’s not very convenient…】
He and Xie Yi shared five senses; what Xie Yi saw, heard, touched… he also could.
Sometimes, before he even reacted, he would see things he shouldn’t see, so much so that even now he still wanted to gouge out his own eyes.
Although they were both men, this was still too much.
The only thing he was relieved about was that Xie Yi was relatively ascetic, which at least reduced much of the awkwardness between them.
He carefully chose his words and said in a tone considering the other party:
【Host, think about it. You wouldn’t want me watching you when you’re bathing or using the toilet, right?】
Xie Yi raised an eyebrow: 【I don’t mind.】
Lin Zhiji: …!
Although later Xie Yi did become somewhat more tolerant, he hadn’t forgotten that right after binding, just because he accidentally glanced at his abs a few extra times, Xie Yi nearly killed him with killing intent.
He clenched his fists, but thinking of Xie Yi’s methods and his own body, he could only suppress his anger in the end.
With a fake smile, he said: 【Even if you don’t mind this kind of thing, there must be other things you’d mind, right?】
【Oh.】 Xie Yi suddenly sounded interested. 【What else do you want to see?】
Lin Zhiji was confused: 【Huh?】
【Besides bathing and using the toilet.】 Xie Yi supported his chin, smiling in his voice, 【What else do you want to see? I’ll think about whether I should mind.】
Lin Zhiji: …!
It was clearly meant for his consideration, but coming out of Xie Yi’s mouth, it sounded like he was the pervert staring at his body!
Angrily, Lin Zhiji blurted out without thinking: 【Then in the future, when you’re having sex with someone, I can watch too?】
Only after speaking did he realize and almost wanted to slap himself.
Sigh, he was really flustered.
How could he even say something like that.
Truly his mouth ran ahead while his brain chased after it.
He quickly tried to fix it: 【Host, I, I, I was just talking nonsense, don’t take it seriously…】
Xie Yi thoughtfully said: 【So you like watching this kind of thing.】
Lin Zhiji: !!!
I am not! I don’t!!
He was truly afraid that with Xie Yi’s bizarre brain circuit, just to prove he didn’t mind, he would actually do it for real.
He wouldn’t mind, but he would be the one afraid of going blind.
Lin Zhiji quickly changed the topic: 【In short, it’s not a matter of minding or not minding. It’s just very inconvenient like this right now, and also…】
He hesitated, but still spoke it out:
【I also want my own body.】
Although his past life as a human wasn’t very good, if he had to choose, he still wanted to be human again.
He had never told this to 03, but for some reason, he subconsciously said it to Xie Yi.
Xie Yi suddenly fell silent.
Lin Zhiji waited a while, then couldn’t help asking: 【Host?】
At least give a response.
But Xie Yi suddenly asked: 【What does your body look like?】
Lin Zhiji: ???
He cautiously asked: 【Why are you asking this?】
Xie Yi said casually: 【I’m afraid that after you get your body you’ll run away, so I can have someone issue a wanted notice.】
Lin Zhiji: …
In the end, he couldn’t help retorting: 【I already said I wouldn’t leave.】
Xie Yi “tsk”ed: 【You didn’t only say one thing.】
When the little liar got emotional, he would say anything.
But over time, he would forget it all completely.
Lin Zhiji lowered his head awkwardly.
Xie Yi then acted as if conceding: 【If you don’t want to say it, forget it.】
【I’ll say it, I’ll say it.】
Lin Zhiji quickly replied.
Anyway, he would still be following Xie Yi later, so telling him wouldn’t matter.
The body in the system mall was about seventeen or eighteen years old—roughly the age he had been when he died.
It looked almost exactly like him; to be precise, if he had not been ill and had grown normally to that age, he would have looked like that.
But in reality, at that time he had been so sickly thin that he was almost unrecognizable.
In the last months of his life, he didn’t even dare look at his reflection in the mirror.
That healthy body in the mall was the thing he had wanted most in his previous life.
For that, he would do anything.
Lin Zhiji pressed his lips together, feeling a pang of melancholy.
While he was lost in thought, he noticed Xie Yi taking out drawing paper.
His eyes widened: 【What are you taking drawing paper for?】
【Can’t you tell?】 Xie Yi moistened his brush, 【Naturally to draw it down.】
Lin Zhiji: !!!
No way! You’re really planning to make a wanted poster!
The faint melancholy in his mind instantly vanished, replaced by speechlessness toward Xie Yi.
He asked suspiciously: 【Can you even draw?】
Since binding Xie Yi, all he had seen was killing and manipulation of people’s hearts; not a single thing related to cultivating the arts.
He deeply doubted whether he could draw at all—what if he described everything and it turned into an ugly mess?
【Don’t believe me?】 Xie Yi said lightly, 【Fine, then I’ll find a painter outside, kill them after they finish drawing—much simpler.】
Lin Zhiji: !!!
Lin Zhiji: 【I believe you! I believe you!】
Ahhh, you damn ruthless bastard!
After being threatened like this, he didn’t dare question his drawing skills anymore and began obediently describing.
Unexpectedly, Xie Yi’s painting skills were actually not bad.
Relying only on Lin Zhiji’s verbal description, he managed to draw something very close, with only minor details needing adjustment.
【Make the eyes a bit bigger, eyebrows lighter…】
After hearing Lin Zhiji’s words, an image gradually formed in Xie Yi’s mind. He took out another sheet of paper and almost without hesitation began drawing again.
Under his brush, a face both familiar and unfamiliar to Lin Zhiji gradually appeared.
A seventeen- or eighteen-year-old youth, skin as white as warm jade.
He had a face very suitable for smiling. Naturally smiling eyes, double eyelids with gentle curves, full under-eye cushions, a slightly upturned nose tip with a single brown mole, like accidentally sprinkled sugar frosting, and even the dimples on his cheeks seemed filled with honey.
Just looking at it was enough to instantly lift one’s mood.
Xie Yi looked at the person in the painting without speaking.
Yet Lin Zhiji inexplicably felt a little embarrassed.
He had somewhat of a baby face, and because he loved smiling, even though he was almost an adult and wasn’t short at all, people still always called him “little brother.”
Clearly he and Xie Yi were about the same age, but when the two stood together, he looked like an undergrown child.
Now that this portrait was placed in front of Xie Yi, it felt like a public execution.
Lin Zhiji muttered gloomily, 【…You don’t have to keep staring at it, do you?】
Xie Yi chuckled softly. 【Your appearance is somewhat different from what I imagined.】
【Eh!】 Lin Zhiji asked curiously, 【What kind of difference?】
Xie Yi paused. 【Do you really want to know?】
Lin Zhiji immediately changed his tune. 【No. Not at all!】
Who knew what kind of nonsense could come out of this bastard’s mouth.
As if guessing that he was cursing him internally, Xie Yi didn’t get angry. He merely picked up the brush again.
Lin Zhiji was puzzled. 【Wasn’t it already finished?】
【Who said it was finished?】 Xie Yi spoke while smoothly continuing to sketch out the body. 【Do you have any birthmarks on your body?】
Lin Zhiji’s eyes widened. 【Y-you-you… why are you drawing that?!】
Xie Yi felt absolutely no psychological burden over this and replied matter-of-factly, 【If you were disguised, I would naturally need other markers to confirm your identity. Of course, if you’re unwilling, then…】
Threatening him again!!
【I’m! Not! Unwilling!】 Lin Zhiji gritted out through clenched teeth.
Xie Yi held the brush suspended, leisurely waiting for him.
Even though this wasn’t his real body, only a portrait, with Xie Yi’s gaze resting on it, Lin Zhiji still felt ashamed. His eyes drifted away. 【It’s… on my shoulder…】
Xie Yi slowly asked, 【Left shoulder or right shoulder? What shape is it?】
Lin Zhiji bit his lip. 【Left shoulder. A droplet shape…】
He had been born during the rainy season. The moment he was born, the drizzling rain that had continued for over half a month suddenly stopped.
The rain ceased, the clouds dispersed, and the skies cleared.
At the time, his parents joked that he had waited for the rain to stop before coming out. Combined with the raindrop-shaped birthmark on his shoulder, they gave him the name Zhiji.
Lin Zhiji had never expected that 03 wouldn’t even overlook this kind of detail.
There was really no need to make it this realistic!!
But Xie Yi still wasn’t done after asking about the birthmark. He continued asking about every mark on his body until Lin Zhiji’s head felt so hot it was practically steaming before finally putting the brush down in satisfaction.
Lin Zhiji had just breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that Xie Yi had no intention of destroying the painting. Instead, he even took out a scroll, seemingly intending to mount it.
【Y-you-you…】 Lin Zhiji’s vision went black as he cried out indignantly, 【Don’t go too far!】
Xie Yi asked in confusion, 【How have I gone too far?】
Lin Zhiji’s voice trembled with anger. 【You didn’t even paint clothes on me! If… if someone saw it…】
Just imagining his “nude” portrait being spread around made Lin Zhiji want to die all over again.
Xie Yi glanced at the painting again. Although there truly were no clothes, in his eyes this wasn’t Lin Zhiji’s body anyway. It was no different from those acupuncture diagrams.
Still, seeing Lin Zhiji mortified with shame, Xie Yi could only pick up the brush again and add clothes to the person in the painting.
Though his skin was this thin—even a mere painting was too much for him to bear.
In the future, when he compared the painting against the markings on his body, wouldn’t he faint from embarrassment?
As Xie Yi pondered this, the tip of his brush swept casually, and ink instantly covered the bright red birthmark on the shoulder.
Lin Zhiji suddenly felt a little cold and subconsciously shrank in on himself.
Only after seeing Xie Yi finally dress the painted figure properly from head to toe did Lin Zhiji relax. Then he remembered the important matter. 【Host, now that the painting is done, can you finally agree to it?】
This time Xie Yi was refreshingly straightforward. 【Fine. How many points do you need?】
Lin Zhiji confessed honestly, 【The initial exchange costs ten thousand points, and after that there’s a monthly payment of two thousand…】
At this point, he wanted to curse that damned 03 again.
Xie Yi didn’t even blink. 【Fine.】
Lin Zhiji was incredulous. 【You really agreed?】
Xie Yi replied, 【What? You don’t trust me?】
Lin Zhiji spoke quietly. 【That’s not it…】
After all, there was no need for Xie Yi to deceive him. If he refused, Lin Zhiji had no way to force him anyway.
After thinking it through, he simply said, 【Host, then I’ll leave everything to you.】
Xie Yi acknowledged him and lowered his eyes to the still-wet painting on the table.
Xie Yi knew that Lin Zhiji was still hiding things from him.
But so what?
He could never escape from the palm of his hand.
The youth in the painting smiled without a trace of gloom as that image fell into his dark eyes.