The Third Book Appears

The moment Lin Jiandu saw him, he clutched at him as though he were a life-saving straw.

Ling Xian pinned down the struggling person beneath him and looked up at Cen Xia, smiling as he threatened, "Turn around and leave now, and I'll pretend I never saw you."

Cen Xia stood there expressionlessly, his thick bangs concealing half his face.

Lin Jiandu gazed fixedly at Cen Xia a short distance away, his eyes brimming with hope as he silently begged him for help.

That gaze pulled him bodily two steps forward.

As soon as he took the third step, a familiar dull ache spread through his heart.

The World Will noticed his delusion of changing the plot, and a heavy sense of restraint bore down on him. An invisible force gave him its first warning.

It forced him to retreat.

Cen Xia frowned at the pain, which also jolted his rusty brain into motion. All the wavering in his eyes vanished.

In the end, beneath Lin Jiandu's burning, hopeful gaze, he turned away.

Ling Xian watched his departing back and snorted. "And here I thought someone brave had shown up."

He looked down at Lin Jiandu's profile beneath his short hair, his voice carrying a rare note of puzzlement. "What's so bad about being with me? I have money and power, and I wouldn't treat you badly."

Lin Jiandu stopped struggling.

Ling Xian thought he had come around. His lips had only just begun to curve when the person beneath him suddenly raised his head and met his gaze head-on.

Not a trace of moisture remained in his eyes. The watery gleam and softness had faded from his amber pupils, leaving a hint of chill for no apparent reason.

There was usually a pitiable softness about his eyes and brows, but now his face was expressionless, and that meek, fragile air had vanished completely. He seemed like a different person.

Ling Xian noticed nothing amiss. Instead, he found a different kind of appeal in his expression.

His smile deepened, and he was just about to speak when he caught sight of someone returning out of the corner of his eye.

His fun had been interrupted again and again, and Ling Xian wanted to tear the blind fool apart.

Surprise flashed through Lin Jiandu's eyes. He hadn't expected him to come back.

Ling Xian watched the other man approach, his face full of displeasure. He was about to put more pressure on him with a few threats when, after a few steps, the man suddenly began convulsing uncontrollably, as though he were having an epileptic seizure.

His limbs trembled wildly, his face twisted, and his teeth were bared. He scarcely looked human.

Even so, he kept advancing.

Ling Xian's eyes widened in terror.

The sight before him was no less terrifying than aliens walking the earth or zombies besieging a city.

Lin Jiandu stared blankly, his mind also going empty with shock.

After forcing himself through a few more steps, the alien collapsed with a thud, landing face-down with his arms and legs splayed.

The world fell silent for a few seconds before a scream rang out.

"Fuck, he isn't dead, is he?"

After losing consciousness, Cen Xia had a dream.

It was that same familiar place: a vast expanse of white, with only a desk and chair standing there as motionless as if they had been welded in place.

Cen Xia walked over with practiced ease and pulled a novel out of the desk compartment.

On the cover was a short-haired boy in a sailor suit, turned sideways with half his back exposed. Only two ties barely kept the outfit together.

Several hands reached toward him, as if to undo the ties.

The boy's cheeks were faintly pink, and his eyes shimmered.

The title was "Does a Heartthrob Have to Work Hard Too?"

Confusion appeared in Cen Xia's eyes. Why did the cover look so strange?

Its style was completely different from the first two books.

It was far too bold.

Puzzled, he opened the book and began reading from the first chapter.

To avoid missing any important information, he read slowly, savoring every word and sentence.

When he reached the fourth chapter, he first knitted his brows in confusion, then his eyes widened in horror. He leaped to his feet, his face drained of color, and scrambled away from the novel-which, in his eyes, was now no different from a man-eating devil.

He was shaken to the core and couldn't calm down for a long time.

After a while, he finally squeezed a word out between his trembling lips.

"Fuck..."

This was a fucking smut novel!

Cen Xia didn't want to accept reality. He closed his eyes and silently repeated, Go back, go back!

He had to wake up!

After a long while, he opened his eyes again, but there was still nothing but white.

This space wouldn't let him leave until he finished reading.

Resigned to his fate, Cen Xia shuffled back, sat down in the devil's chair, took a deep breath, and gave himself a pep talk.

Highbrow or lowbrow, it's all literature!

For the rest of the book, he couldn't sit still. His face was bright red, and his skin felt as though ants were crawling all over it.

After finally making it through, he let out a long, hot breath.

Fortunately, there was only the first half of the book for now, so it hadn't tormented him for too long.

The thought of the book's sensual descriptions made Cen Xia's face and ears burn.

The author's style changed far too wildly. How could he write in every genre?

On the cover of the closed novel, beneath the title in artistic lettering, was the author's name-Zifeiliyu.

The same author as the first two books.

Cen Xia pulled the other two books out of the desk compartment and laid all three in a row.

From left to right, they were "I'm Done For! I'm Surrounded by Big Shots," "I Became the Real Young Master of a Wealthy Family After Being Switched at Birth," and "Does a Heartthrob Have to Work Hard Too?" All of them were only the first halves.

Three books, three genres, and three parallel storylines.

Just looking at them made Cen Xia tired, because it meant he had to rush between different scenes and be an NPC in all three books.

All he could do was pray inwardly, Let it end with the third book. Author, please don't write any more!

When he finished praying, the scene before Cen Xia swayed like rippling water and blurred out of sight.

Back in reality, Cen Xia slowly opened his eyes.

The ceiling of the infirmary ward came into view.

A conversation reached his ears.

"Is he really all right?" The worried voice belonged to Lin Jiandu. His voice was too distinctive to mistake.

"Don't worry. This is already his third visit to the infirmary this month. He wakes up on his own after being unconscious for a while. He isn't sick."

Was it already three times?

Cen Xia thought hazily.

The first time had been Shi Su, and the second, Lu Mian.

To vent their anger on behalf of their beloved, the suitors of He Qi, the He Family's young master, had tricked Lu Mian into an abandoned classroom and planned to lock him inside for the night. Cen Xia couldn't stand by and watch, so he had secretly gone to pry open the lock.

Then he had collapsed beside a flower bed not far away.

A passing teacher had found him and taken him to the infirmary.

This was the third time.

As he recalled, though the infirmary doctor was young, he had a bad temper and wasn't the least bit gentle with his patients, wearing a stern face every day.

But his voice now was so gentle it could drip water.

"Would you like some water?"

"No, thank you."

"All right... Would you like some snacks?"

Cen Xia couldn't listen anymore. He threw back the covers, and the sound of him getting out of bed alerted the two of them.

Lin Jiandu pulled back the curtain, concern in his eyes. "Are you all right? Do you feel uncomfortable anywhere?"

Now, whenever Cen Xia saw him, he thought of the different people, different scenes, and unseemly descriptions in the book. The tips of his ears reddened slightly, and his gaze darted everywhere except toward him.

But his hair was long, so his reddened ears couldn't be seen.

Lin Jiandu asked cautiously, "Are your eyes bothering you?"

"..." All the suggestive thoughts in Cen Xia's head vanished without a trace.

He coughed lightly twice. "No, I'm practicing my dynamic vision."

Lin Jiandu: "...That's good."

"..."

"..."

The two stared at each other, and the atmosphere grew a little awkward.

Lin Jiandu lowered his thick lashes, a faint blush spreading across his cheeks.

"Thank you for today..."

Cen Xia's heart skipped a beat. He didn't want to get involved with the protagonist, especially not through a favor like this.

"You've got it wrong. I have a condition. It was just acting up, and I was asking you two for help."

Cen Xia rejected his thanks without emotion.

Lin Jiandu hadn't expected him to say that. A watery sheen spread over his eyes, and he bit his pink lips bright red.

Cen Xia floundered. "Don't cry. Why are you crying...?"

Lin Jiandu shook his head, suppressing the moisture in his eyes. "I'm not crying."

"I still have to thank you. If it weren't for you, I don't know what I would have done today..."

He lowered his eyes dejectedly, looking as fragile as a pane of glass.

Then, as though he had composed himself, he forced himself to look strong and smiled at Cen Xia.

What a perfect pitiful yet strong little white flower character.

Cen Xia watched him act, at a loss for words.

Hey, you've mixed up your character settings. That's Shi Su's script. Yours is supposed to be a heartthrob smut script where you're innocent and naïve, seducing people without realizing it, and honest and true to your desires.