Night deepened, swallowing the clamor of the day along with the dark red daylight.
Luo Li had just taken Castorice back to her room, her eyes a little red from the romance movie as she gave cute little yawns. He then sprawled on the living room sofa, ready to enjoy his last chance of the day to switch off.
The lingering warmth of that intimate, almost-embrace at the end of the movie seemed to remain on his arm, carrying the faint fragrance of Castorice's hair and the soft touch of her body. It felt as though he held a little furnace in his heart, warm and satisfying.
He sighed contentedly and was about to close his eyes to meditate or simply fall asleep...
"Knock, knock, knock!"
A thoroughly unceremonious, even slightly impatient knock exploded through the quiet night like thunder.
Luo Li startled, nearly rolling off the sofa.
At this hour? Who could it be?
An ominous feeling flashed through him. Instinctively, he first glanced at Castorice's closed door. Only after confirming there was no movement inside did he tiptoe over to the front door and ask warily in a lowered voice, "Who is it?"
"Me! Shan Zai! Open up, Li Zi, I'm freezing my ass off!"
Yang Shan's familiar booming voice came from outside, carrying the exhaustion of late-night duty and the air of someone who had just come in from a long outing.
Luo Li's heart lurched.
Shan Zai? Why was he here at this hour? Wasn't the patrol on night duty tonight?
Silently groaning, he quickly scanned his surroundings-fortunately, although the living room wasn't especially tidy, at least there were no obviously feminine belongings.
Castorice always took her tablet and cup back to her room.
He drew a deep breath, composed his expression, and opened the door.
Sure enough, Yang Shan stood outside in a dark blue patrol combat uniform with a windbreaker thrown casually over it. His face was oily from staying up late and showed a trace of fatigue, but his eyes were still bright.
He also carried a plastic bag giving off the aroma of food, through which skewers and beer were faintly visible.
"Whoa! What's with that face? Seen a ghost?"
Yang Shan raised an eyebrow at the panic Luo Li hadn't quite managed to hide. Without waiting for an invitation, he squeezed inside and shut the door behind him, keeping out the cold.
"No, nothing!"
Luo Li hurriedly denied it, forcing himself to calm down as he took the bag from him and set it on the table.
"What brings you over this late? Aren't you supposed to be out there making yourself useful at your post?"
"Ugh, don't even ask!"
Yang Shan flopped onto the sofa, sighed comfortably, and tugged at the collar of his combat uniform.
"Just got off shift, and I'm starving. One look at the pig slop in the patrol canteen killed my appetite.
"Figured your place was close, so I'd borrow somewhere to eat and... heh, slack off a little."
He waggled his eyebrows at Luo Li. "What? Not welcome? Am I interrupting your date with your wife Yuan Ge?"
"Oh, screw you!"
Luo Li cursed with a laugh, but inwardly breathed a sigh of relief.
So he'd only come to slack off and eat, not because he'd discovered anything.
He went to the kitchen for bowls, chopsticks, and glasses, taking another quick look at Castorice's door along the way. It remained firmly shut and silent.
"Why've you got two glasses?"
Sharp-eyed Yang Shan spotted the two glasses Luo Li had brought out and asked casually.
Luo Li tensed, but kept his expression neutral. "No kidding. You expect us to share one glass now that you're here? Can't I have a drink too?"
"Tch. So fussy."
Yang Shan suspected nothing. Already distracted by the aroma of grilled skewers, he eagerly opened the bag and started gnawing on a lamb skewer, mumbling, "Now this hits the spot! All that nutrient paste at work has practically left my mouth forgetting what flavor is!"
Luo Li poured him some beer, opened a can for himself, and sat opposite him, trying to distract him with food and small talk. "Slow down. Nobody's fighting you for it.
"How was patrol today? No trouble?"
"How else would it be? Same old."
Yang Shan took a long swig of beer and burped contentedly.
"Cleared out two nests of D-rank scum that didn't know better. Nearly got ambushed by a C-rank playing dead, but luckily, yours truly reacted fast..."
He launched into a vivid account of tonight's "glorious achievements," his tone carrying the devil-may-care attitude peculiar to patrol members who had seen their fill of life and death.
Luo Li listened and chimed in, but half his mind remained on edge.
He didn't dare relax completely, afraid Castorice might suddenly come out or make some noise in her room.
Xiao Hong seemed to sense the outsider's presence and Luo Li's tension too, keeping utterly quiet in his mental space and only occasionally sending out a curious ripple.
"(⊙ˍ⊙) Master, who's this boisterous guy? His energy feels... pretty strong."
Luo Li had no time to respond.
Fortunately, Yang Shan seemed completely immersed in the pleasures of food, beer, and bragging, paying little attention to Luo Li's slight distraction or any subtle irregularities that might exist in the apartment.
After several skewers and glasses of beer, Yang Shan's conversational floodgates opened completely. He went from amusing patrol stories to which girl on the team seemed interested in him, then complained about his superiors being old-fashioned.
Luo Li gradually relaxed and began joking around with him too, as though they were back in the days when they used to hang out together.
Just as the atmosphere grew livelier and Luo Li thought he might safely survive this surprise inspection-
"Click."
An extremely faint sound of a lock turning reached Luo Li's ears clearly during a pause in Yang Shan's chatter.
It was Castorice's door.
Luo Li's blood instantly ran cold.
He jerked his head up toward the door, his heart stopping.
The door eased open a crack, and a sleepy-eyed Castorice leaned halfway out.
Apparently woken by the noise in the living room and the aroma of food, she wore soft bunny pajamas. Her long silver-purple hair was slightly tousled, and red pillow marks still lingered on her fair little face. She looked over with hazy violet eyes, her voice husky and soft from sleep:
"Luo Li... that smells so good... what is..."
Before she finished, her gaze met Yang Shan's as he stared at her, dumbfounded, a skewer held between his teeth.
The air froze at that moment.
Yang Shan's mouth hung open, the bamboo skewer nearly falling out. His eyes wide as saucers, he looked from Castorice, who wore pajamas and had clearly just woken up, to the pale, sweating Luo Li beside him. His brain seemed to crash for several seconds.
Then he abruptly swallowed the meat in his mouth, an outrageously exaggerated expression spreading across his face-a mixture of shock, realization, suggestiveness, and "you sly dog."
"Holy... shit!!!"
He pointed at Castorice, then at Luo Li, his voice shooting several pitches higher in excitement:
"Li Zi!!! You fucking!!! You're hiding a beauty in your house?! You actually are?! And she's this... this much of a knockout?!"
As though he had discovered a new continent, he nearly leaped off the sofa in excitement.
"No wonder! No wonder you looked like that when you opened the door! All that stammering! And two glasses! A distant cousin?! Like hell I believe you!"
Luo Li felt as though he was about to suffer social death. He opened his mouth to explain, only to find that any words seemed pale and powerless now.
It was over. Completely over.
Castorice, still standing in her doorway, also seemed startled by Yang Shan's excessive excitement and woke up fully.
She looked at the unfamiliar, uniformed, highly excited man before her, then at the despairing Luo Li. A trace of confusion flickered through her violet eyes, along with... a barely perceptible wariness.
She instinctively drew back a little and gently pulled her pajama collar tighter.
Yang Shan noticed none of these details. Leaning close to Luo Li, he jabbed him hard with an elbow and lowered his voice, his face filled with irrepressible mischievous delight and curiosity:
"Not bad, Li Zi! You've been hiding your talents! When did this happen? How far have you gotten? Those looks, that elegance... what kind of dumb luck did you stumble into? Come on! Spill everything!"
Luo Li grimaced under his jabs, his mind racing for an excuse that could get him through this. But faced with the undeniable fact before them-a stunningly beautiful girl in pajamas emerging from the room beside his bedroom late at night-any explanation seemed futile.
He could only steel himself and try to steer the conversation in a less "dangerous" direction. "Shan Zai, k-keep your voice down! Don't scare her! She... she scares easily!"
As he spoke, he frantically signaled Castorice with his eyes, hoping she would cooperate and return to her room for now.
However, Castorice didn't seem to fully understand the complicated meaning in Luo Li's gaze.
She looked at his anxious expression, then at the stranger who was still staring at her excitedly. After a moment's hesitation, instead of retreating into her room, she spoke softly, asking the very question that made Luo Li's vision go dark:
"Luo Li... is this noisy gentleman... a friend of yours?"
Her voice was ethereal and soft with lingering sleep, and she used an Amphoreus honorific. In this tense atmosphere, it sounded particularly incongruous and... lethal.
Yang Shan's grin instantly grew even brighter. He slapped his thigh. "Oh, wow! She even says 'gentleman'! Li Zi, you two really get creative! Role-playing?"
Luo Li felt as though he was about to have a heart attack.
He hurriedly stood between Castorice and Yang Shan, trying to force this nightmare to an end. "Well... Shan Zai, it's late. Don't you have patrol tomorrow? Hurry home and get some rest! I'll clean all this up!"
As he spoke, he reached for the beer can in Yang Shan's hand.
"Hey, don't!"
Yang Shan nimbly dodged him, looking every bit the shameless nuisance who wouldn't leave without an explanation.
"The night is young! Perfect for a heart-to-heart! Li Zi, that's not very brotherly of you! Hiding such a gorgeous girlfriend? Afraid I'll steal her?"
He moved around Luo Li and tried to strike up a conversation with Castorice. "So... sis-in-law? What's your name? How'd you meet our Li Zi?"
Castorice frowned slightly, seemingly uncomfortable with both the address "sis-in-law" and Yang Shan's excessive enthusiasm. She instinctively looked at Luo Li, a question in her eyes.
Luo Li's head was pounding. He wished he could knock Yang Shan unconscious on the spot and throw him out.
Just as he racked his brains for a way out, the patrol's internal communicator hanging at Yang Shan's waist suddenly began beeping urgently.
The sound was heavenly, instantly breaking the strange atmosphere in the living room.
The joking expression vanished from Yang Shan's face, replaced by seriousness.
He quickly picked up the communicator and pressed the answer button.
"...Speaking... Location?... Understood! I'll be right there!"
After a few brief responses, he ended the call, the efficiency and gravity of a patrol member already restored to his face.
He glanced at Luo Li, then at Castorice, who remained in her doorway looking wary and confused, and clicked his tongue helplessly. "Well, break's over. Got an assignment."
He quickly drained the remaining beer in one gulp, grabbed his jacket, and patted Luo Li's shoulder, his tone tinged with regret and an unsatisfied appetite for gossip. "Well played, Li Zi. You really are something! Lucky escape this time! But this isn't over. Once I've got time, I'm giving you a proper interrogation!"
He then gave Castorice what he considered a friendly smile (though it might have looked a little strange to her). "Anyway... sis-in-law, we'll talk next time! I'm off!"
Without waiting for Luo Li to reply, he hurriedly opened the door and vanished down the corridor.
"Bang!"
The door shut, closing off the outside world once more.
Only Luo Li, Castorice standing in her doorway, and a table littered with skewers and empty beer cans remained in the living room.
The silence was terrifying.
Luo Li let out a long, long breath, feeling that his back was completely soaked in cold sweat.
Holding his forehead, he slowly sank onto the sofa, feeling as though he had just survived a life-or-death race against time.
"Luo Li..." Castorice called softly, walking over to him, her violet eyes filled with worry and bewilderment. "Just now... that person... he seemed very excited? Did I... say something wrong?"
Looking into her pure, innocent eyes, filled with concern, all Luo Li's lingering fear and embarrassment melted into helplessness and a little tenderness.
He shook his head and gave her a tired but reassuring smile. "No, you didn't say anything wrong. He's just... too loud."
He took Castorice's hand and had her sit beside him. Only as he felt the warmth and softness of her palm did his racing heart gradually settle.
"He's a very good friend of mine. His name is Yang Shan. He's just... a bit boisterous. He's not a bad person," he explained softly.
Castorice nodded, only half understanding, and quietly leaned against him.
[Ding! The host has successfully resolved an "identity exposure" crisis. Although the process was perilous, it ended safely, and the target's dependence on the host was demonstrated during the unexpected incident.] [(The host maintained a steady mindset and did not grow impatient over the unexpected incident, in accordance with the principle of "letting things take their natural course.")]
Listening to the system's notifications, Luo Li looked at Castorice quietly keeping him company and smiled helplessly.
It looked like he would have to keep treading carefully through these days of "hiding a beauty."
Still, with her beside him, even if Yang Shan sprang ten more surprise inspections on him, he could... just about handle them, right?
Probably.