Ark Simulator, Am I Not Without a Physical Form?

Su Rui looked around curiously—this was Xi's private residence, a space he had never set foot in before. The room was small but extremely exquisite, with unfinished paintings hanging on the walls and various paint cans and brushes scattered on the floor. A large painting table occupied the central position, on which a landscape scroll, half-finished, was spread out.

Xi snorted softly, casually hanging her outer robe on the wooden rack by the door. "Didn't you say you wanted to experience 'real life'?" She stepped barefoot across the soft carpet, her dragon tail swaying gently behind her. "With those noisy ghosts outside, there's nothing we can do."

Su Rui noticed the slight blush on her ear tips when she said "we." This discovery warmed his heart. He tentatively took a few steps forward, and his newly grown dragon horns accidentally knocked over a stack of picture books by the door.

"Oh, sorry!" He hurriedly squatted down to tidy up, but his tail accidentally brushed against the teacup on the coffee table again.

Xi watched his flustered movements, and the corners of her mouth unconsciously turned up. Once upon a time, this consciousness in her mind always seemed so at ease, but now that it had a physical form, it looked like a clumsy little dragon.

"Don't move." Xi sighed, flicking her fingers, and the scattered items automatically returned to their places. "You're not used to this body yet."

Su Rui stood there awkwardly, unsure of what to do with her hands and feet. "The entity is more complex than I imagined... especially with the addition of a tail and horns."

Xi walked up to him and unexpectedly reached out to straighten his dragon horns. "Keep your horns like this, unless you want to tear down my room." She gently pressed her fingertips against the base of the horns, and Su Rui immediately felt them become much lighter. "This is a basic Dragonkin technique; I'll teach you later."

"Teacher Xi?" Su Rui winked mischievously.

"Shut up," Xi retorted habitually, but her movements remained gentle. She moved behind Su Rui and grabbed the restless tail. "As for this... don't always try to control it. Just treat it as a third hand."

Su Rui felt Xi's fingers travel down his tailbone, gently pinching a certain spot. Surprisingly, his tail immediately became obedient, able to move at will.

"Wow!" he exclaimed excitedly, using his tail to curl up the teacup on the table. "This is so convenient!"

Xi was about to warn him to be careful when the teacup shattered with a "crack".

"... That's a very rare type of ice-crack porcelain from Yan," Xi said expressionlessly.

Su Rui's tail immediately wilted. "I'll compensate you..."

"Never mind." Xi turned and walked towards the inner room. "Anyway, it was a gift from someone else."

Su Rui followed behind her and found that the room was much more homely than she had imagined—in the corner there was a low couch covered with cushions, and on the small table next to it were a half-cup of cold tea and an open book of poems; in the vase by the window were a few plum blossoms that were about to wither; there was even a small stove with a teapot that was obviously used often.

"Have you always lived here?" Su Rui couldn't help but ask.

Xi was squatting in front of the cabinet, rummaging through something, and replied without turning her head, "Hmm. Quieter than outside."

This answer brought a pang of sadness to Su Rui's heart. He recalled those long years when Xi would paint, drink tea, and fall asleep alone in this small space... day after day, year after year.

"Now that there's another person, will you feel uncomfortable?" he asked softly.

Xi paused for a moment. She turned around, holding a plain white tea set in her hand. "It's so noisy. But..." she pursed her lips, "... it's barely tolerable."

Coming from the reclusive artist, these words were almost tantamount to a warm welcome. Su Rui suddenly felt something swell in his chest, making him want to hug this stubborn but soft-hearted guy in front of him.

But as soon as he took a step, he tripped over his own tail and stumbled.

Xi burst out laughing. This was the first time Su Rui had ever heard her laugh so openly, clear and bright like a mountain stream. He was stunned, even forgetting that he was about to fall—until Xi reached out and grabbed him.

Volume 9, Chapter 548: I'm Hungry

"Idiot," Xi's voice held an undisguised amusement, "Come here, let me teach you how to make tea."

The time that followed unfolded like a slowly unfurling ink painting scroll.

Xi demonstrates how to control the heat, but Su Rui's tail accidentally knocks over the tea canister; Xi teaches him the correct way to hold a pen, but he deliberately uses his tail to dip in ink and draws a cute little version of Xi in the corner; Xi brews a new pot of tea, and the two touch fingers as they reach for it at the same time...

As night fell in the Painted World outside the window, Su Rui had basically mastered control of her tail and horns, at the cost of breaking two teacups, crumpling three sheets of drawing paper, and mistaking Xi's most commonly used vermilion pigment for rouge and applying it to her face.

"I really thought it was..." Su Rui tried to explain, wiping her face with her sleeve, but only made the redness spread even more.

Xi sighed, picked up a damp towel, and personally wiped his eyes. "Close your eyes."

Su Rui obediently closed his eyes. Xi's hand gently stroked his cheek through the damp towel, the movement incredibly gentle. He could smell the unique scent of ink on her body, mixed with the coolness of tea, and a faint hint of plum blossom fragrance.

"It's done." Xi's voice was very close.

Su Rui opened his eyes and found that Xi's face was only inches away from his. Moonlight streamed in from the window, gilding her long eyelashes with a silver edge. Their dragon horns had somehow touched together, producing a soft, resonant sound.

"... Thank you," Su Rui said softly, unsure whether she was thanking the person wiping her face, the space, or the person allowing her into their world.

Xi did not answer, nor did she back down. The two stood quietly in the moonlight, their corners touching, their breaths mingling.

In the distance, from a corner of the Painted World, the sound of firecrackers suddenly crackled, followed by Kroos's excited cheers and the Ink Fiend's panicked squeaking. Xi's lips curled up slightly.

"They seemed to be having a lot of fun," Su Rui commented.

"Hmm." Xi surprisingly didn't object. "Let them out tomorrow..."

The implication behind those words made Su Rui's heart race. He tentatively touched Xi's tail with the tip of his own. "Then tonight..."

"I'm finishing that landscape scroll tonight," Xi said quickly, but her tail tangled around Su Rui's. "You... can watch from the side. Don't cause any trouble."

"Yes, Master Artist."

Under the moonlight, the shadows of two dragons were cast on the unfinished painting, their tails still tightly intertwined, like two inseparable bamboo stalks in the painting. The occasional sounds of firecrackers and laughter in the distance seemed to be the background music composed for this special night.

The moonlight shifted by three degrees.

When Xi noticed this detail, her brush had been lingering on the rice paper for too long, spreading an inappropriate ink stain. But she couldn't look away— Su Rui was sitting opposite her at the painting table, her hands supporting her chin as she watched her paint, the newly grown dragon horns gleaming warmly in the candlelight.

He was too quiet, quiet unlike Su Rui. There were no incessant questions, no sudden bursts of inspiration; he simply watched her every stroke of the pen as if it were the most worthwhile thing in the world to focus on.

Occasionally, when he paints something exquisite, his tail will unconsciously tap the ground gently, as if silently applauding.

This focused posture inexplicably made Xi Xin's hair stand on end. She looked at Su Rui's eyelashes reflected in the candlelight, at his lips slightly pursed in concentration, at the faint, dark scales visible beneath his loose collar...

The pen slipped from my fingers.

"Hmm?" Su Rui looked up, just in time to meet Xi's gaze, which was now almost touching his. He blinked. "Tired of drawing? Need a break—"

Words were cut off between their touching lips.

Xi herself didn't understand what drove her to do this. Perhaps it was the soft moonlight, perhaps the intoxicating aroma of tea, or perhaps it was just the small mole at the corner of Su Rui's eye that was exactly the same as her own.

Before she could react, she had already grabbed Su Rui by the back of the neck across the painting table, the dragon's tail already wrapped around him.

The kiss was awkward and urgent, like a sudden summer rain. Xi could taste the lingering tea flavor on Su Rui's lips, mixed with the scent of sun-dried grass—strange, he was clearly born from a painting, yet he carried a warmth that only the outside world possessed.

Su Rui paused for a moment, then responded without reservation. His fingers ran through Xi's loose hair, gently stroking the base of her sensitive dragon horns. This action made Xi tremble involuntarily, and a soft moan, unfamiliar even to herself, escaped her throat.

The paper on the drawing table rustled, and several brushes rolled to the floor. Xi's knees pressed against the table, and ink splattered onto her white socks like a string of irregular stars. The two of them touched, producing a clear and melodious sound that was particularly distinct in the quiet room.

"Xi..." Su Rui called softly between breaths, her fingers tracing the lines of her scales, "Are these patterns... really just decorations?"

Xi didn't answer, but instead bit his collarbone in retaliation—there was a scale there that matched hers. Su Rui gasped, his tail snapping straight up, the force of the coiling grip making Xi tremble as well.

"So that's how it is." Xi suddenly realized that these patterns she had drawn by hand had unknowingly become Su Rui's erogenous zones. This realization filled her chest with a strange sense of satisfaction.

The candlelight crackled and popped. In that brief moment of light, Xi could see Su Rui clearly—his eyes were red-rimmed, his lips were moist, and his collar was ripped open, revealing large patches of blue-glowing scales. He looked... incredibly delicious.

"Get to the couch," Xi commanded, her voice hoarser than expected.

Su Rui nodded obediently, but as she stood up, she deliberately nudged Xi's neck with her horn. Xi's legs went weak, and she almost knocked over the inkstone. She glared at her angrily, only to see Su Rui grinning like a little mouse that had stolen some oil.

"Didn't the artist say he was going to teach me Dragonkin magic?" He blinked innocently, his fingers lingering suggestively along his open collar. "Like... the purpose of these patterns?"

Xi's response was to push him directly onto the low couch. The tea set was swept aside, and the poetry collection slipped to the ground, its open pages revealing a poem about "intertwined ink plum blossoms."

Moonlight streamed through the window, casting their intertwined shadows on the wall. Sometimes they overlapped, sometimes they separated, like two ink bamboos entwined in the wind. Su Rui's panting and Xi's soft murmurs mingled, occasionally interspersed with the clear sound of dragon horns colliding, forming a private nocturnal symphony.

As the intense exploration gradually turned into a tender embrace, Xi found her fingers unconsciously tracing the scales on Su Rui's chest. Those lines she had drawn herself now rose and fell with his breath, warm and real.

"What are you thinking about?" Su Rui asked softly, her fingertips stroking her disheveled long hair.

Xi didn't answer, but simply pressed her ear against his chest. There came a steady, strong heartbeat—a gift she had given him, which had now become a balm for her own comfort.

Outside the window, the moon in the Painted World reached its zenith. The distant sounds of firecrackers had long since ceased, and even the Ink Fiend had returned to their lairs. The entire world seemed to consist only of this small house and the two dragons embracing inside.

Xi doesn't remember how she fell asleep. She only vaguely feels Su Rui pull the quilt over them and cover them both up. His tail is still intertwined with hers, like the most intimate vow.

As dawn broke, Su Rui was the first to wake. He gazed at Xi, the painter who had created countless worlds, sleeping soundly in his arms, curled up defenselessly with a satisfied smile on her lips. He gently kissed her forehead, unaware of the slight upturn at the corners of her mouth.

On the painting table, the unfinished landscape scroll was stirred by the night breeze, revealing a small, cartoonish doodle in the corner—two simple line drawings of dragons tightly intertwined, with the words "Su Rui and Xi, merging together in this night" written beside them.

Volume 9, Page 549: Let's see how you perform.

Kroos blinked, the fuse of the firecracker in her hand still emitting wisps of smoke. One second she was dealing with the Ink Fiend horde in the Poshan Town, the next second a blinding white light engulfed the entire world.

Now, the familiar ceiling of the Rhodes Island corridor gradually comes into view, and the smell of disinfectant replaces the ink fragrance of the Painted World.

"We... got out?" She sat up blankly and found Lava and Saga lying nearby. Their clothes were still covered with firecracker debris and faint ink stains left by Ink Fiend.

Saga was the first to react, slamming his staff on the ground with a clang. "Interesting! He was forcibly 'awakened'."

Lava rubbed his temples and sat up. "Was it Nian Gan? Didn't she say she wouldn't interfere—"

A loud crash interrupted her. The wall at the end of the corridor suddenly bulged, as if pushed from the other side by an invisible hand. The metal twisted and groaned, then the entire wall was torn open by some immense force, revealing what lay behind it—

Two dragons facing off.

Xi had her back to them, her wide sleeves fluttering even without wind, and her long, dark hair dancing like a living thing.

Her tail wrapped tightly around Su Rui's waist, keeping him two feet behind her—a distance that provided protection without hindering his movement.

On the other side, Nian remained in the posture of breaking through the wall, his right hand still in the shape of a dragon claw forged from metal, its crimson scales gleaming metallically under the corridor lights.

The strangest thing was Su Rui's reaction. Instead of being nervous while wrapped in Xi's tail, he curiously poked his head out and even waved at Nian: "Hey, Director Nian! Are you short of Dragonkin actors for your new movie?"

Nian's gaze shifted from his sister, and his pupils contracted slightly the moment he saw Su Rui —especially when he noticed the dragon horns and scales on Su Rui's head that were almost identical to Xi's.

"Ha!" Nian suddenly burst into laughter, her dragon claws reverting to human hand form. "I knew Xiao Xi had suddenly learned how to 'keep a mistress hidden away'!" She winked mischievously. "So, are you satisfied with the gift your sister gave you?"

Xi's dragon scales all bristled, and her tail involuntarily tightened, causing Su Rui to cough lightly. "Cough, Xi... breathe..."

"Shut up!" Xi snapped without turning her head, though her tail loosened slightly. Her eyes, practically spitting fire, stared at Nian: "You're spying on my Painted World?"

"Need to keep an eye on him?" Nian shrugged, the copper coin bracelet on her wrist jingling. "You've drawn the 'progress bar' all over his face." She mimicked Xi's brushstrokes, drawing a 99% pattern in the air. "By the way, the last 1% breakthrough was spectacular!"

Kroos gasped, and Lava quickly covered her mouth. Saga, on the other hand, sat down cross-legged with great interest and pulled out a handful of melon seeds from somewhere.

Xi's face flushed crimson instantly. She understood perfectly what Nian meant—everything in the Painted World was transparent to the creator, or to Nian, the stowaway, including that night...

"Get out." Xi's voice was terrifyingly low, and the corridor lights began to flicker. "Now."

Instead of retreating, Nian took a step forward. The two sisters' dragon might clashed in the confined space, causing the ventilation ducts to hum. Kroos shrank her neck, suddenly feeling fortunate that she wasn't the target of this confrontation.

"Don't be so fierce~" Nian easily deflated her sister's intimidating aura, but her gaze fell on Su Rui. "I'm just here to confirm whether this 'new member' understands our family's... rules."

Su Rui, whose name was called, raised her hand from behind Xi's tail. "If it's a rule like 'no spoilers in my sister's movies,' I've heard Xi say it three hundred times already."

"Oh?" Nian raised an eyebrow. "Did she tell you about our lineage of Dragonkin— "

"Nian!" Xi interrupted sharply, slapping the ground with the tip of his tail in warning. "He is the dragon I created, and has nothing to do with those things."

These words caused Nian's expression to subtly change. She put away her playful smile and, for the first time, seriously examined Su Rui —from the curve of his dragon horns to the arrangement of the scales on his tail, and then to the ink-black patterns on his arms that were exactly the same as Xi's.

"Is it really just 'creation'?" the young voice asked, his gaze sharp as a knife. "Are you sure you didn't use 'that'?"

Xi's jaw tightened. A terrifying silence suddenly fell between them; even the sound of Saga sunflower seeds stopped.

Su Rui keenly sensed the change in atmosphere. He gently grasped the tip of Xi's tail—a move that should have been dangerous, Dragonkin's tail was not to be touched lightly—but Xi only trembled slightly and did not shake him off.

"Miss Nian," Su Rui broke the silence, her voice gentle yet firm, "Whatever method Xi used, I am grateful for her existence. As for the danger you mentioned..." He smiled, "I think I won't be affected."

Nian's gaze swept back and forth between the two, finally settling on Xi's still furrowed brows. Surprisingly, she suddenly burst into laughter, slapping her thigh. "Good! Much better than that taciturn guy who's too afraid to admit his feelings!"

"You—" Xi was about to explode when Nian turned and walked toward the hole in the wall that she had smashed through.

"Oh, right," Nian turned around at the cave entrance, seemingly saying something, but Xi didn't react.

Nian seemed to have anticipated this reaction, smiling and waving before disappearing into the depths of the corridor. As she left, the damaged wall miraculously repaired itself, returning to its original state in the blink of an eye.

The corridor was silent. Xi's tail finally released Su Rui, but her fingers still gripped his sleeve tightly, as if afraid that he would suddenly disappear as well.

Kroos cautiously broke the silence. "Um... should we report to the Doctor...?"

"No!" Xi glared at her immediately. "Not a single word of what happened today is to be told to anyone."

"Including the matter of Young Master Su Rui turning into a dragon?" Kroos asked innocently.

"Especially this one!"

Saga dusted off his clothes and stood up, the copper ring on his staff ringing crisply. "This humble monk thinks that secrets can't be kept forever—especially such a 'passionate' Dragonkin romance..."

A dangerous glint flashed in Xi's eyes. Su Rui quickly smoothed things over, "Thank you all for your hard work! Many thanks for your help with the things in the Painted World. I'll treat you to dinner another day!"

"I want to eat spicy hot pot!" Kroos immediately raised her hand.

"I want to drink!" Saga added.

Lava dragged the two away quickly. "Let's go report the mission to the Doctor... no, I mean let's go rest!"

When only the two of them remained in the corridor, Xi's shoulders relaxed slightly. Su Rui gently touched her dragon horns—a newly discovered way to soothe her.