“Are you still feeling uncomfortable anywhere?”
Lu Zhixing shook his head.
Xi Yu nodded. He had just raised his hand, wanting to touch him, but his hand stopped halfway.
Lu Zhixing blinked and proactively pressed his face against Xi Yu’s hand. “Were you going to touch me?”
“I wasn’t going to touch you,” Xi Yu explained. “I was just checking the spiritual power in your body.”
It wasn’t touching him. The way he said it made it sound so strange, as if he were some kind of improper person.
While throwing punches just now, Xi Yu had thought about it. The reason he had been so flustered yesterday, his heart racing like popping candy for no reason, was definitely because of that damn demonic breath.
The demonic breath had already tried to drive him away during the variety show, but at that time, it had been suppressed by his spiritual power, so his heart palpitations had not been severe.
Yesterday, when the demonic breath lost control, that was why his heart had been thrown into such a panic.
What vicious demonic breath.
It actually wanted to use this to make him unable to face Lu Zhixing.
Lu Zhixing’s demonic breath really had been growing stronger recently.
And…
Xi Yu unconsciously rubbed his fingertips twice over Lu Zhixing’s face.
“Your offerings are getting fewer and fewer.”
They had been decreasing before, but never to the extent that they had now. Almost one-third of them were gone.
“Have you lost followers?”
Lu Zhixing’s face remained pressed against Xi Yu’s palm. His eyelashes trembled, and he shook his head. “I don’t know. I haven’t had time to go online recently.”
Xi Yu frowned and turned around, wanting to find his phone and see what was happening online, but Lu Zhixing grabbed his wrist.
“That’s not important. It’s more important to find that wisp of aura first.”
He had to get his Master to Wutong Village as soon as possible.
He couldn’t go alone. In his current condition, even setting aside the fact that his Master would never feel comfortable letting him go somewhere alone, even if he found an excuse to leave, his Master would soon go there to obtain Zhuohua.
By then, his Master would definitely sense his aura, which would only cause trouble.
It would be better to use this opportunity to go there together with his Master.
Lu Zhixing knew why his offerings had decreased.
He had lost a large number of fans recently.
And it was something he himself had orchestrated.
At first, he actually had not lost any fans. The public opinion beneath Luo Cheng’an’s Weibo post had been deliberately stirred up by Luo Cheng’an himself. He had wanted to imitate Lu Zhixing and gain CP fans with Xi Yu, wanting his and Xi Yu’s names to be associated with each other.
Later, as the controversy grew and large numbers of paid accounts attacked him, causing him to lose fans, Lu Zhixing himself had secretly pushed things along.
All for the sake of…
But none of that mattered anymore.
What mattered was Wutong Village.
Lu Zhixing looked completely unconcerned, but Xi Yu disagreed.
“Those offerings can strengthen the spiritual power in your body and help suppress the demonic breath. They’re important.”
He couldn’t possibly stay with Lu Zhixing twenty-four hours a day. Although these offerings weren’t absolutely essential, they could still give Lu Zhixing some assistance.
He didn’t want to see the little cub in pain again.
Xi Yu pulled Lu Zhixing’s hand away, took out his own phone, and opened Weibo.
There were still several trending searches related to Lu Zhixing, just not as many as there had been that day.
But they were much nastier.
#LuZhixing_GreenTea
#LuZhixing_XiYu_SellingTheirBLImage
#LuZhixing_XiYu
#LuZhixingFramedLuoChengan
#LuZhixing_TheSecondLuoShujing
When Xi Yu saw the last trending topic, a surge of anger shot straight to his head.
What did they mean, Lu Zhixing was the second Luo Shujing?!
How could someone like Luo Shujing possibly be compared with his disciple?!
Xi Yu’s expression turned cold, and he clicked directly into the topic.
Inside were all kinds of discussions about Lu Zhixing’s behavior on the variety show.
In particular, the scene where Lu Zhixing fell into the water and the scene where he put mud into Xi Yu’s palm had been slowed down. The comments beneath them had already piled up by the hundreds of thousands.
“Lu Zhixing had already gotten his footing, right? Then he saw Xi Yu looking over and deliberately fell into the water to frame Luo Cheng’an. I seriously can’t.”
“It’s pretty obvious, isn’t it? You can tell when you slow it down. And Lu Zhixing’s arm strength is famous even within the entertainment industry. How could he possibly have been unable to pull Luo Cheng’an up?”
“That mud thing was pretty telling too. And there are still a lot of Xing fans trying to defend him. Isn’t it just because they saw him touch Luo Cheng’an’s face? Xi Yu told him to wash his hands, and Xi Yu didn’t go.”
“Luo Cheng’an is seriously unlucky. First Luo Shujing framed him, then Lu Zhixing used him several times to get Xi Yu’s attention. He’s officially the biggest sucker here.”
“If that’s really what happened, Lu Zhixing is terrifying. Look at how many fans he has… So many people were already cursing Luo Cheng’an when he fell into the water. If Lu Zhixing did it deliberately, then that’s really… the more you think about it, the scarier it gets.”
“A second-tier celebrity like Luo Shujing could already frame Luo Cheng’an and make him as black as coal. Lu Zhixing even deliberately made it look like he had fallen into the water because of Luo Cheng’an… Luo Cheng’an really took the blame for nothing back then.”
“Exactly. Right after the variety show ended, the Sui Xing Suo Yu CP fans were so aggressive that even the tiniest number of fake-heir CP fans couldn’t get a word in. Those of us who shipped the fake heirs didn’t even dare say anything. Fine, fine, the Movie Emperor really knows how to play. He’s really good at acting.”
“Lu Zhixing definitely fell on purpose. After grabbing Luo Cheng’an, he paused for two seconds. If it had been momentum, there’s no way he could have stopped like that.”
“The Movie Emperor Lu and Xi Yu clearly knew each other at the beginning, right? But Xi Yu had only just returned to the Luo family, so they shouldn’t have known each other for long. Yet Xi Yu was already able to publicly cheer him on. It’s really strange. And then he deliberately threw the mud into Xi Yu’s hand. Xi Yu had just touched Luo Cheng’an, and the next second Lu Zhixing was telling Xi Yu to wash his hands. No offense, but that says a lot about his character.”
“Lu Zhixing and Xi Yu obviously aren’t a couple, right? But the moment they came online, they started saying such explosive things. Like, ‘I was too rough last night.’ It really feels like they’re deliberately selling a BL image.”
“Hard agree with the person above. With Lu Zhixing’s status, he normally doesn’t even appear on variety shows. Yet he suddenly went on one that supposedly had no script and relied entirely on the guests’ natural reactions. Does that sound possible? I think Lu Zhixing and Xi Yu already knew each other… They really do seem like they’re deliberately selling their BL image.”
……………………….
“Lu Zhixing’s behavior on the variety show inexplicably felt very green-tea-like. It was either this was uncomfortable or that was uncomfortable. LOL, the variety show specifically said that artists with poor health couldn’t participate. What a faker.”
“Luo Cheng’an is the most miserable person in the whole incident. Luo Shujing wanted to harm him, and Lu Zhixing stepped on him too.”
“I really don’t know what Movie Emperor Lu was thinking. He sold a round of BL content and then retired from the industry. Does he think his fans are dogs he can walk around? Unfollowed.”
“The two of them were so intimate, but after the variety show ended, they had zero interaction. Meanwhile, Luo Cheng’an and Xi Yu have been together constantly. It’s obvious that Lu Zhixing tried to seduce Xi Yu and failed, right?”
“Lu Zhixing was blatantly trying to seduce Xi Yu. Xi Yu went on the variety show to save Luo Cheng’an, while Lu Zhixing was bouncing around all over the place. I’m done. Unfollowed.”
“Unfollowing too. With such a huge fanbase, thank goodness Luo Cheng’an cleared his name. Otherwise, who knows how badly his fans would have attacked him.”
“Lu Zhixing is pure darkness incarnate. Xi Yu is a straight man, so don’t drag him into this. Please stay away from those two brothers!”
“Unfollow! Unfollow!”
…
The comments were filled with people saying they were unfollowing him.
Some time had already passed since the incident. Lu Zhixing had previously said that if he did not respond, the attacks would eventually stop and his fans would come back.
But not only had things failed to improve, they had gotten even worse.
Xi Yu was so furious at the comments that the anger shot straight to his head.
“What kind of nonsense is all this?!”
Lu Zhixing, however, did not react much. He removed Xi Yu’s hand and gave a somewhat helpless smile.
“It’s fine. I’ve already retired from the entertainment industry. Even if they curse me, it won’t last much longer.”
“It’s just…” Lu Zhixing looked somewhat guilty. “The family’s stock has been affected a little recently.”
“You knew?” Xi Yu said. “Then why didn’t you tell me? I could have posted something on Weibo to explain.”
“You’re too busy, and…” Lu Zhixing stroked Xi Yu’s back, helping him calm down, his voice somewhat low. “I was afraid you’d be affected by what the antis were saying too.”
“Affected by what?”
“Just… those speculations. I was afraid you’d believe them.”
“Believe what? What would I believe?” Xi Yu said helplessly. “I know your body, don’t I?”
“Although I did just watch the slowed-down footage, and the way you fell into the river really does look deliberate.”
After saying that, Xi Yu waved his hand before Lu Zhixing could speak and immediately rejected the idea himself.
“But your constitution is special. Being able to use spiritual power to cushion the impact is perfectly normal. Antis just love making something out of nothing. They can take the tiniest little detail and interpret it in dozens of different ways.”
Lu Zhixing looked at Xi Yu, seemingly unable to believe that Xi Yu did not suspect him in the slightest.
That made all the explanations he had prepared seem especially unnecessary.
“You’re always like this. You don’t say anything when you’re in pain, and you don’t say anything when you’ve been wronged.”
This was what Xi Yu found hardest to tolerate about Zhiyi.
It had been the same back in the Heavenly Realm.
At first, when Zhiyi had been brought to the Lanxing Palace by him, he could not even maintain a human form. He could not hide the scales at the corners of his eyes or along his waist.
Xi Yu was afraid Zhiyi would feel bored staying with him, so he often let him go out by himself to play with other little gods.
But after a few trips, the little cub stopped wanting to go out.
At first, Xi Yu did not know why.
It was only later that, one time, the little cub came back looking listless. Xi Yu did not pay much attention at the time. He simply thought that since the little cub had returned early, he might as well teach him some techniques to help pass the time.
He had not expected that the moment he touched the little cub, Zhiyi’s face would turn deathly pale.
“It hurts.”
Xi Yu asked him repeatedly what had happened, but could not get an answer.
In the end, he simply stripped off the boy’s clothes.
Only then did he see the injuries covering Zhiyi’s body, old and new wounds layered over each other.
He had brought the person home, healed his entire body, and then sent his disciple out to play again.
Yet under his very nose, someone had beaten him like this.
At first, Zhiyi absolutely refused to explain why.
It was only when Xi Yu pressed him too hard that he told him that if he still refused to say anything, he would not be allowed to stay at Lanxing Palace anymore.
Only then did Zhiyi finally speak.
It was because his status was lowly, and many of the gods were unwilling to play with him.
Xi Yu still remembered Zhiyi’s expression at the time.
The little one, who only came up to his waist, wrapped his arms around Xi Yu’s waist. The scales at the corners of his eyes had not yet faded, and his purple pupils were filled with watery tears, his expression unbearably aggrieved.
“They’re jealous that Master took me as his disciple. They said I’m just a lowly spirit beast and don’t deserve to play with them. They even hit me.”
Xi Yu had been both furious and heartbroken at the time.
He asked Zhiyi why he had not told him.