The ribbon wound around Ning Ke's hand, glimmering.
He was voluntarily revealing his identity to Lou Yunxiao.
Or rather... acknowledging all his previous identities.
In Lou Yunxiao's eyes, their surroundings suddenly became unreal and indistinct.
Only the man crouching before him remained especially clear.
The young man bit his lower lip hard, tears welling embarrassingly in his eyes.
Yet he no longer wanted to lower his head to hide them.
He simply stared fixedly at Ning Ke's face, terrified that he had misheard.
Terrified... that all of this was merely an illusion.
Ning Ke twitched his fox ears. Watching the man who had gone completely dumbstruck, he repeated with a smile, "Eldest Senior Brother, I'll count to three. If you don't answer, I'm leaving."
"Three, two..."
The final "one" was swallowed by Lou Yunxiao's embrace.
Beneath the scattered glimmers of light, Lou Yunxiao abandoned his usual forced composure. Like an impulsive boy, he threw himself forward and wrapped his arms around Ning Ke.
The impact sent Ning Ke stumbling, and he fell onto the ground.
Lou Yunxiao's hoarse, choked voice sounded beside his ear. "Tie me up and take me away. As long as I'm with you, I'll go anywhere."
Ning Ke let out a soft breath.
After stumbling along for so long, this was the first time he had accepted Lou Yunxiao without any reservations.
So... this was how it felt.
A wondrous sense of peace.
He said, "All right. Then I'll take you with me."
"Huh? Lou Yunxiao! Are you crying?"
"Good heavens! Let me see!"
Zhuang Yusheng had just returned with Qing Ru, Ning Xiaoxiao, and the others. Hearing a commotion in the Dungeon, he hurried over to join the fun.
He arrived just in time to see Lou Yunxiao sprawled on the ground, crying.
Oh, now