174: 4.39 What Have You Done?

4.39 What Have You Done?

[666: He doesn't defeat the dragon, Host. He's raising the fierce corpses to lure the dragon away, then sneaks into the nest to steal the egg before the dragon realizes it. But in the end, the dragon is too fast and it catches him when he's almost out. Heimo gets his injuries from then. Do you want to use the same method? We can recreate the scene and it will definitely succeed!]0

Lu Yizhou rolled his eyes inwardly. Yeah, he could do that if he was in his prime condition. He could think of a few ways to lure the dragon out but then, he needed speed and agility to grab the egg before the dragon returned. Lu Yizhou wouldn't overestimate himself by thinking that he could do it when he had Heimo in his arms. So, making a ruckus wasn't an option. One thing he was relieved of was the fact that Heimo could get out alive in the original plot. There was no way the dragon would so easily give up on its egg so the only possibility left was that the ward around the area had been built to restrain the dragon inside. Lu Yizhou could then focus on getting the egg without worrying about the dragon raining vengeance on him. Lu Yizhou eyed the creature and saw it glancing around a few times before it crawled back to its nest. 

Heimo slowly let go of the breath Lu Yizhou didn't know he was holding. "Goddamnit," he said in a hushed tone but still managed to convey his frustration. "Let me free now, Lu Yizhou. There's something important I have to do!"

"I know."

"What do you know?!"

Lu Yizhou knocked his chin softly atop of Heimo's head in admonishment. "The egg, right?"

Heimo fell silent at that. "...How do you know?" It was right to be suspicious, Lu Yizhou told himself. There was no reason for him to be hurt by the suspicion in Heimo's voice. The man gritted his teeth and spoke in a hushed voice that managed to convey the entirety of his rage and frustration. "Exactly how much do you know about me, Lu Yizhou?!"

Lu Yizhou contemplated his choices. How would Heimo react if he admitted that he knew everything? He would be shocked, for sure. Alarmed, maybe. Going berserk because he suspected that Lu Yizhou was there to foil his plan, this would be unacceptable. Lu Yizhou hated lying to Heimo, not after he had seen how betrayed the man looked when he realized Lu Yizhou had been keeping mum about his identity. "Just a hunch," was what he decided to say in the end. "You definitely aren't coming here with the intent to kill the dragon so the only other possibility is the egg. Am I wrong?"

Heimo huffed out a sigh. "You're too smart for your own good."

"Thank you for the compliment." Lu Yizhou replied flatly.

Heimo bared his teeth and for a split second, Lu Yizhou thought Heimo was going to chomp on his neck and tear out a chunk of flesh but in the end, he only grumbled. "Now that you know my plan, you should be relieved that I am not trying to do anything fishy. I mean, it's not like stealing the dragon's egg isn't fishy to begin with but — you know what I mean." He chuckled, a bit self-deprecatingly. "If you're keeping an eye on me in fear that I will create a disaster, don't worry, I won't. Is that enough for you, oh esteemed Jingxue-Jun?"

Frustration was starting to get into Lu Yizhou. Was it really so difficult to trust him? After everything he had said and done? Where did he not make clear with 'I will help you' this one sentence? He let the irritation bleed to his tone as he snapped. "If you talk again, I will seal your mouth as well."

Heimo shut his jaws so hard that Lu Yizhou could hear the crack. The exhale that fanned across Lu Yizhou's neck was shaky and light. "...You're angry with me," he mumbled with a tone as if he was going to cry.

Lu Yizhou closed his eyes in exasperation and took a deep, deep breath to calm himself. He didn't mean to word it like that. That's it, they couldn't stay here any longer. Lu Yizhou prided himself for his self-restraint and precise control but he, too, felt like the emotions were getting the best out of him surrounded by the thick demonic energy. It would make him go crazy sooner or later. "I'm sorry." He squeezed Heimo tighter and nuzzled his cheek on the man's crown. "I am not angry at you, Lan'er. We will get the egg, then I will bring you out of here, okay?"

Heimo pursed his lips. "How are you going to do that?"

Good question. Lu Yizhou narrowed his eyes as he observed the curling dragon whose eyes were starting to get half-lidded with sleep. Wait a moment — sleep? He quickly opened the panel to the system store and slid through the rows of skills, dubious pills then stopped when he found what he was looking for. The corner of his lips curled upward in triumph. He knew what he was going to do.

[666: …Host?]

[666: Whatever you're thinking of, stop it.]

[666: Host, 666 warns you!!!]

[How effective is the anesthetic gas compared to knockout bomb?]

[666: Well, you can paralyze a huge elephant within a second with anesthetic gas and a group of them with the bomb— but no! Please tell 666 you're not going to knock out a gigantic dragon with that—AAAAHHH!]

[System notifications: Ding! You have purchased one (1) knockout bomb from the store! The remaining points you have is 18. Thank you for your patronage!]

Lu Yizhou leaned down to press his lips right by Heimo's lips and commanded in a tone he knew his lover couldn't deny. "Take a deep breath and hold it as long as you can." Just as he expected, Heimo inhaled deeply by reflex even without him realizing what he had done. Lu Yizhou gave him no time to react as he covered Heimo's mouth with one large palm, shoving the man's face deeper into his neck as he yanked the safety pin off the bomb with his teeth and threw it toward the dragon with as much strength as he could muster.

A sharp whistle resounded through the air before red mists started to spread like tumultuous clouds sweeping across the clear sky, turning it dark and ominous. In his arms, Heimo was making 'hmph-hmph' sounds and Lu Yizhou pulled his palm away only to replace it with his own mouth before Heimo could speak. 

"Hmmm!" Heimo's eyes widened in shock and Lu Yizhou held his gaze, closing his lips perfectly over Heimo's so that not even a sliver of air could get out. He eyed the cliff up front where they fell from and kicked his feet off the ground, flying up before the crimson gas could reach them. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he registered the dragon giving off a low alarmed growl before its head slumped back down to the ground, unconscious. He only let go after he had Heimo lean against the wall, making sure that he was sitting properly. Heimo wheezed, coughing as he allowed air to refill his lungs. "W—What the hell?!" He craned his neck to see where the dragon was sleeping soundly amidst the sea of red mists. "What have you done, Lu Yizhou?!"

Instead of answering, Lu Yizhou busied himself with checking every inch of Heimo's body. It was brighter here than below, enabling him to properly see the man's features for the first time. He paused when he found Heimo's abnormal black nails, the peculiar crimson of his pupils and numerous places where he was bruised from the impact when they were knocked flying by the dragon; but no severe injuries. Lu Yizhou felt the relief so deep in his bones that he almost lost his footing. However, he still asked again just to be sure.  "Are you hurt anywhere?"

Heimo glared. "Maybe I won't if you tell me what you have just done!"

He felt a smile forming on his lips. Heimo was visibly flustered, his eyes darted around as if he wanted to find some place to duck away before realizing that his body was pretty much paralyzed. With three point frustration and seven point embarrassment, he directed another glare at Lu Yizhou. "You kissed me. Again."

"I do." Lu Yizhou's eyes darted to Heimo's lips for a split second before looking up into his eyes.

"Don't—" Heimo gritted out. "Don't look at me with that kind of gaze!"

Lu Yizhou lifted a brow. "What kind of gaze are you talking about?"

"T—That," Heimo spluttered and focused his eyes on Lu Yizhou's collar instead, fixing it the stinkiest eyes he could muster. "That gaze! Like— Like you want to… you want to—" He choked on his breath and hissed. "You are having fun, aren't you?!"

Lu Yizhou suppressed a smile. He reached out, intending to tuck Heimo's hair behind his ear but Heimo flinched and screwed his eyes shut, as if expecting Lu Yizhou to… to hit him, slap him or something. Lu Yizhou caught his breath and pulled his hand back, curling it into a fist. "Don't be afraid." He forced the words out through the lump on his throat. "I won't do anything to harm you."

"I—" Bewilderment painted Heimo's face like he didn't expect himself to react so excessively like that. "I don't—"

"Wait here." Lu Yizhou cut him off. "I will go down and bring the egg to you."

"You will what?!" Heimo's eyes flew open, appalled. "I—I can do it myself! Lu Yizhou—" Whatever argument Heimo was going to throw out died down in his throat when Lu Yizhou stood up and turned halfway. Heimo's eyes instantly zeroed in on the deeply stained garment, soaking the back of Lu Yizhou's light blue robe completely; it was as if he was wearing a crimson robe from the start. It was red everywhere and the same red traveled up Heimo's eyes. He couldn't look away and his lips started to tremble. "Lu… Yizhou?"

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