Yu Zhi, I Really Do Like You Too

All Yu Zhi wanted to do now was curse, because his system space had swallowed the storage ring.

He had planned to unbind it and let Zhang Qiling claim it as his own. In Chen Qingyu's hands, it had been a high-grade treasure artifact. Even though it had been damaged and fallen two major grades, it was still a high-grade spirit artifact.

Just now, when he had been about to check his spoils of battle, he had searched his entire body with his spiritual sense and failed to find it. Only when he saw how drastically the system space had changed did he realize that the space had swallowed it.

The system space even had a consumption log in its backend, complete with the exact time: the moment he had won.

The system had swallowed it just like that. Well done. Really well done.

Come to think of it, this system was something he had created by wiping away two systems' consciousnesses with his spiritual sense and mashing them together. If he really had to pin down what it was, he couldn't say for sure.

At that moment, Yu Zhi began spinning conspiracy theories, but there was too little information to make anything of them. For now, he was the one benefiting: the system space had gone from a bare, unfinished room to a living space.

That was right! It was the standard space protagonists got in novels, the kind where they could grow crops. But it hadn't come with a spirit spring or a house, and all the furniture and things he had gathered before were sitting on the ground. One star!

Still, the four Spirit Stones were there. Yu Zhi was so angry he wanted to laugh. What, did this lousy space look down on his Low-Grade Spirit Stones?

"Zhang Qiling, you know I have a secret, right?"

Yu Zhi wanted to come clean. He didn't want to hide anything from him now. After recognizing how he truly felt, he couldn't deceive himself with talk of letting go or waiting from afar. He admitted that his earlier vows had all been bullshit. He couldn't do it. He had always prided himself on having no desire to control anyone, but that was because he hadn't met that person yet!

"I know. You told me."

Zhang Qiling wondered why he had suddenly brought this up. This man had never hidden anything from him.

"Uh, that's not what I mean. I'm talking about something else."

"What is it?"

"Well, actually, I've lived a long time. If you really count it, I'm about the same age as you. And I... how do I put this? I've been to a lot of worlds. I was forced to?"

Yu Zhi was a little embarrassed. He only looked young.

"Who forced you? Were you forced to come here too?"

Zhang Qiling grew nervous. If this man wanted to leave, he wouldn't even know where to look for him.

"Not this time. Coming here was an accident, but I want to stay because of you."

"Then will you..."

For a moment, Zhang Qiling didn't know how to ask. He wanted to ask whether Yu Zhi might leave by accident one day, whether he might leave without saying goodbye, and whether he would stay here for his sake, but that wouldn't be fair to Yu Zhi.

"I'll explain it properly, but let's go into the space first. I'll tell you everything there."

This time, Yu Zhi wanted to test whether he could bring someone in directly. After all, the space had been upgraded. To his surprise, it still didn't work; he entered alone again. But a message surrounded by a pale blue glow popped up before his eyes: visitors must first be registered and their aura recorded before they may enter.

The system space had become much smarter, evolving a little in the direction of a game.

Afraid that Zhang Qiling would get impatient waiting, he hurried back out. Once he recorded Zhang Qiling's information as the system instructed, Zhang Qiling could come and go freely without needing Yu Zhi to bring him in. It was a good upgrade, so the resources hadn't gone to waste.

As soon as Zhang Qiling entered, he noticed the enormous change. The little house had become a vast stretch of black soil.

By his estimate, it was at least several hundred mu in size. Good, they could store a lot of things here.

He quietly took stock of what they could put in it. Before they left, he would have Yu Zhi put the house they had been staying in these past few days straight into the space, then put the storeroom in too.

Those things were no use left here anyway. They might as well serve as a betrothal gift for him to take a spouse. He believed the Zhang Family wouldn't refuse. The clan leader's marriage was a major event. When they had time, he would take Yu Zhi to the Zhang Family Ancient Tower and collect another haul.

"How do I explain this? Your world is a book in the world I originally came from. A really popular book. Lots of people like you."

"Including you?" Zhang Qiling interjected.

"Of course, including me. Don't interrupt!"

"Mm."

The corners of Zhang Qiling's mouth rose in a very gentle smile as he stared straight at Yu Zhi.

At that sudden smile, Yu Zhi forgot everything he had meant to say. His mind was full of Zhang Qiling's smiling face, and he felt something running from his nose, two streams of it. He really was a god descended from a snowy mountain! No one could withstand that!

Zhang Qiling burst out laughing and reached out to wipe away Yu Zhi's nosebleed. He seemed to know how to handle this man now, and his cool, clear voice was as gentle as could be.

"Yu Zhi, come back to your senses."

Yu Zhi's first reaction was to cover his face. It quickly flushed red, the color spreading to his ears and down his neck. He was too ashamed to show his face.

If Zhang Qiling lifted his clothes, he would see that even his body had turned red with embarrassment.

Seeing Yu Zhi like this, Zhang Qiling pulled him into his arms, holding him so tightly it was as if he wanted to knead him into his own body.

Having made a fool of himself in front of the person he loved, Yu Zhi truly wished he could burrow into the ground.

Yu Zhi decided to throw caution to the wind. After mentally steeling himself, he pulled out of Zhang Qiling's embrace and looked at him, only for his thoughts to wander again. That face, that body, and that voice-would he drown in him outright? As he thought about it, the nosebleed that had just stopped began gushing again.

Yu Zhi closed his eyes in resignation. He was already a Qi Refining Eighth Layer cultivator, yet he couldn't control himself. If word got out, people would laugh their teeth out.

"Turn around and don't talk. Let me finish," Yu Zhi demanded forcefully and unreasonably. He was afraid that, at this rate, he would never finish explaining.

Zhang Qiling obediently turned around and fell silent, but where Yu Zhi couldn't see, his eyes were full of determination to have him.

"This world is a book. The whole story unfolds from Wu Xie's point of view. Later, the Cannon Fodder System bound itself to me and sent me to various worlds as cannon fodder to deliver equipment and experience points to the protagonists.

"Cannon fodder means a tool who won't live more than a few years. You can get the general idea of the equipment and experience points. Later, I went through a cultivation world and reached Nascent Soul cultivation.

"Because of that opportunity, I kept working to crack the system during the tasks that followed, and finally I killed it. Before I came here, I killed another system. I fleeced that system for this space too.

"After that, I came here and was assigned to be a test subject at the sanatorium. You know everything that happened after that."

Yu Zhi finished in one breath. Seeing that Zhang Qiling was still facing away from him without moving, he walked around to stand in front of him and quietly looked at him. Now that he had laid everything on the table, he had nothing left to be anxious about. He was waiting for an answer.

"Mm. Then is it true that you like me?"

"Huh? Why would you ask that?"

Yu Zhi was puzzled. Shouldn't he be asking about the tasks, the system, or how Yu Zhi had come here? Instead, he had asked that.

He saw how serious Zhang Qiling was, and he didn't know how to answer. What if he said it was true and Zhang Qiling found him repulsive? He might as well start as a friend, stay by his side, and slowly make his way into his heart, until Zhang Qiling grew used to him and couldn't do without him. He could confess his feelings after that!

Looking at the hesitant Yu Zhi, Zhang Qiling stepped forward and gently turned the face that dared not look at him toward himself. His low, husky voice carried a trace of hurt. "Was what you just said about liking me all a lie?"

"No. It's true that I like you."

Forced to look at that face, with that voice lingering in his ears, all the little plans he had been secretly making dissolved into bubbles. He couldn't go against his heart at all, nor could he say a single word that would make Zhang Qiling unhappy.

Having finally heard the answer he wanted, Zhang Qiling rested his head on Yu Zhi's shoulder and spoke into his ear.

"Yu Zhi, I really do like you too."