The God of Love's Memory

"What is this?" Liu Erlong approached Deng Tianxin and asked curiously.

She gazed at the fragment in Deng Tianxin's hand, becoming entranced before she even realized it.

In Liu Erlong's fantasy, she was running hand-in-hand with a man through a sea of flowers.

The two of them were laughing joyfully, but the man's face was incredibly blurred.

As Liu Erlong looked toward the man, his face began to sharpen.

It was... Deng Tianxin?!

Liu Erlong snapped back to reality instantly.

She stumbled half a step backward, her heel crushing a loose roof tile and emitting a crisp crack.

She shook her head vigorously, the black hair tied behind her head whipping from side to side with the motion, the red ribbon nearly coming undone.

She even raised her hand and slapped her own forehead with a sharp smack; the force was not light, and a faint red mark immediately bloomed on her fair skin.

What was she doing?

What had she just been thinking about?

Deng Tianxin?

That seven-year-old brat?

That little boy who was full of hot air?

How could she have imagined herself running hand-in-hand with him through a sea of flowers?

That was ten thousand times more absurd than the Sea God and the Asura God being gay!

Deng Tianxin did not notice Liu Erlong's state as he absorbed the God of Love fragment.

Because the fragment was small, Deng Tianxin refined it in an instant.

The moment it was refined, a flood of memories emerged in Deng Tianxin's mind.

The abandoned village before him vanished instantly, replaced by an endless void.

Deep within the void floated a magnificent throne condensed from pink-gold light, upon which a woman reclined.

Her features were shrouded in a flowing halo, making them impossible to see clearly, but the six-winged light feathers drooping from the throne and the scepter entwined with countless red threads in her hand all signaled her identity.

The aura radiating from the woman was gentle to the extreme, yet powerful to the extreme; it was the aura of a deity, a realm that mortals could never reach in their entire lives.

She was the God of Love, the supreme master of all emotional bonds.

Deng Tianxin's consciousness floated in the void, watching it all from the perspective of a bystander.

Seeing the appearance of the God of Love, Deng Tianxin thought she was quite beautiful—even more beautiful than Bibi Dong and Liu Erlong.

Thinking that she was dead, Deng Tianxin felt it was quite a pity.

A rift tore silently through the void, and a mysterious man stepped out from it.

The man looked at the God of Love and said, "God of Love, you have overstepped. You have touched something you should not have touched. Even the Dragon God would not dare to touch that thing."

The God of Love replied disdainfully, "What of it? As long as I do not touch the core, He will not care. As long as I can advance further, any sacrifice is worth it."

As soon as the God of Love finished speaking, Deng Tianxin felt the entire world tremble, and the next second, the world shattered.

Deng Tianxin snapped his eyes open, his back already soaked in cold sweat.

He gasped for air, his small chest heaving violently, and the dragon horns on his forehead were still slightly burning.

The scene before him had returned to the dilapidated village; the overgrown weeds swayed in the afternoon sun, and the wisteria cast mottled light and shadows on the old walls. Everything was exactly as it had been before he entered the illusion.

But the final image in his mind burned in the depths of his consciousness like a branding iron: the mysterious man saying the God of Love had overstepped, the God of Love's disdainful retort that any sacrifice was worth it to advance further, and then the world shattering like a smashed mirror.

He hadn't even managed to see the mysterious man's face clearly, only remembering his voice—low and majestic.

And that line: Even the Dragon God would not dare to touch that thing.

Something even the Dragon God wouldn't dare touch?

Deng Tianxin became curious. What on earth could it be?

The ceiling of the Douluo Continent consisted of the twin Creation Gods, followed by the Dragon God.

For something to be off-limits even to the Dragon God, Deng Tianxin felt it must be related to the Creation Gods.

"What's wrong?" Liu Erlong asked with concern.

Deng Tianxin came back to his senses, shook his head, and said, "It's nothing. Let's go."

He naturally wouldn't speak of such things.

More importantly, there was no point in saying it; Liu Erlong couldn't help him with this.

This harvest wasn't huge, but it wasn't small either; the amount of memory data attached to the fragment was astonishing.

The God of Love had likely touched some taboo and was subsequently sanctioned by a mysterious existence.

Her godhood had collapsed, and the fragments had scattered across the Douluo Continent.

This meant that not only did he have to collect these fragments, but he might also have to face the existence that had sanctioned the God of Love one day in the future.

"Are you really alright?" Liu Erlong bent down, reached out to pinch Deng Tianxin's chin, and turned his small face toward the sunlight to examine him closely.

Deng Tianxin's complexion was a shade paler than before, and his bangs were plastered to his forehead by cold sweat, but his eyes were still darting around, showing he still had plenty of spirit.

Liu Erlong stared for several seconds, confirming he wasn't just putting on a brave face, before letting go and giving his head a light pat. "If you feel unwell next time, speak up early. Don't try to tough it out alone, do you hear me?"

"Heard you, heard you." Deng Tianxin rubbed the spot where he'd been patted, his words perfunctory, though a subtle warmth stirred in his heart.

Whether it was Bibi Dong or Liu Erlong, these two women—one who loved to spank him and the other who loved to kiss his cheeks—reacted with surprising consistency whenever they sensed something was wrong with him.

They both prioritized checking if he was okay before expressing their concern in their own unique ways.

Deng Tianxin shook his head to clear away these messy thoughts and planted a kiss on Liu Erlong.

"Consider that a reward for you."

Liu Erlong froze.

She subconsciously reached up to touch her face, the sensation of his lips seemingly still lingering on her skin.

Liu Erlong looked down at Deng Tianxin, only to find the little guy had already nonchalantly climbed onto the back of the One-Eyed Violent Bear, his short legs swinging as he kicked the bear's belly as if nothing had just happened.

"What's wrong?" Sitting on the bear's back, Deng Tianxin tilted his head to look at her, his round eyes as innocent as two peeled longans. "You kiss me so many times, what's wrong with me kissing you once? It's just common courtesy."

"...Who taught you to practice 'common courtesy' like that?" Liu Erlong finally found her voice.

Her tone carried a hint of teeth-gritting frustration, but a faint flush of red uncontrollably spread from her earlobes down to her neck.

Liu Erlong took two quick strides forward, reaching out to grab Deng Tianxin's ear.

Deng Tianxin had been prepared; he flattened himself against the bear's broad back, grabbed a handful of fur, and let out a crisp command: "Big Dragon, let's go!"

The One-Eyed Violent Bear immediately bolted forward, Liu Erlong's fingers narrowly brushing past the back of Deng Tianxin's collar as she missed her mark.

She stood where she was, watching the figure and the bear disappear into the distance, gritting her teeth in a mix of annoyance and amusement before finally giving chase.