"You talk a lot,” Gu Zhan said.
He kicked Mo Tuo’s fish tail and asked, “Can you put that thing away?”
Mo Tuo fiddled with his fish tail; he wasn’t really used to it either. He hadn’t needed it and had brought it out from the instance.
"Isn't this something you bestowed upon me? If you want to take it back, it should be you who does so."
Mo Tuo lay on the bed as he spoke.
The air in the Chun Bai Cheng seemed especially dry; within just a few minutes, Mo Tuo's fish tail began to lose moisture and shine.
He appeared genuinely uncomfortable, his brows knitted tightly together, unable to relax.
"Give me some water," he said.
Gu Zhan remained motionless, prompting Mo Tuo to lose patience. His fish tail flicked a couple of times as he said, "This body of mine should be considered your tool; if it breaks, the loss is yours."
This reasoning was quite peculiar, and Gu Zhan glanced at Mo Tuo.
In fact, there was nothing stranger than a chained monster mermaid lying on his bed. Gu Zhan slowly got out of bed and walked toward the bathroom.
He grabbed a few towels, wet them, and laid them over Mo Tuo.
As he was doing this, there was a knock at the door. Gu Zhan stood up to open it.
At the door were Sang Yue and Yu Yezhou, who came to check if Gu Zhan was still alive.
After all, Gu Zhan rarely showed up at the guild when he wasn’t running dungeons.
He hardly paid attention to communications from the system either.
They had developed a habit of taking turns visiting Gu Zhan every few days to eat together or go for a walk.
Gu Zhan had not finished laying out the towels when he opened the door for them and then returned to the room to continue.
Sang Yue and Yu Yezhou had brought ingredients with them, planning to cook hotpot at Gu Zhan's place today.
As soon as they entered, Sang Yue said to Gu Zhan, "Yang Lin and the others have something to deal with; they'll come over once they finish."
However, Gu Zhan didn’t seem to hear. He turned and went into the bedroom.
Sang Yue put the groceries down and curiously followed him.
When she reached the bedroom door, she found it slightly ajar, allowing her to catch a glimpse inside.
To her shock, she saw Gu Zhan kneeling on the bed next to an incredibly pale and seemingly delicate… naked??? man??
Gu Zhan had his back to the doorway, obscuring the man's lower half.
She was confused about what they were doing, but suddenly the man shivered, his long eyelashes fluttering slightly as he complained to Gu Zhan, “It hurts, be gentler.”
Sang Yue: “………………”
Sang Yue was bewildered and utterly shocked!
---
Twenty minutes later, Gu Zhan sat in the living room, enduring everyone’s criticisms.
“How could you bring a monster into Chun Bai Cheng?!”
“He’s still lying on your bed! He’s a monster; who knows what unhealthy things are on his diet? What if he brings some germs with him?”
“You’re too bold!”
Gu Zhan spent ten minutes explaining that he hadn’t done anything weird and that the person on his bed was just one of the monsters he owned.
Those who had already encountered Xiao Xiu were quick to understand Mo Tuo’s presence.
However, the criticisms directed at Gu Zhan didn’t lessen.
Doing strange things with a man in bed and bringing a monster home to do strange things…
In any case, the former was somehow a bit better!
Sang Yue said in exasperation, “I thought you were just joking; I didn’t realize you were love-struck!”
Gu Zhan tried to defend himself: “...This has nothing to do with being love-struck; we haven’t even started dating.”
“...You still want to date?!” Sang Yue’s voice suddenly rose, looking at Gu Zhan as if she were witnessing her son go astray. “I won’t allow it!”
“Though he is quite good-looking,” Yang Lin, who had just arrived and was eating up the gossip, whispered.
As soon as she finished speaking, she was shot a glare by Sang Yue.
Yang Lin quickly corrected herself, “No, no, I mean, while he’s good-looking, you still can’t have him in bed!”
Gu Zhan wanted to correct the wording of the two ladies.
Their choice of words was worse than what he had just done.
Clearly, he was no match for them.
He could only cast a pleading look at Yu Yezhou and Xu Yu.
Xu Yu didn’t care at all, while Yu Yezhou shrugged helplessly—sorry, they couldn’t help with these two incredibly strong ladies.
Gu Zhan sighed and explained, “I just wanted to see if monsters really can appear in Chun Bai Cheng.”
Sang Yue sighed as well: “So, what’s your conclusion?”
Gu Zhan shook his head.
He was unsure whether it was just Mo Tuo who was special or if all monsters could do this.
“Should I try summoning others...”
Before Gu Zhan could finish, Sang Yue interrupted, “You’re banned from summoning when you’re home alone. If you’re going to summon, do it now when we’re all together; if anything goes wrong, it’ll be easier to handle.”
Gu Zhan paused, glancing at the table full of ingredients before slowly saying, “Let’s eat first. After dinner, I’ll try again.”
Sang Yue knew he wouldn’t give up.
Their teammate was strong, but he was too independent.
He always tried to handle things on his own at home.
After dinner, they all gathered to watch Gu Zhan summon a monster.
It turned out he really could bring monsters to Chun Bai Cheng.
However, the air here seemed unsuitable for them.
From the moment she appeared, Xiao Xiu's expression was off.
Gu Zhan asked her a few questions; she couldn’t act independently, and her time here was limited, feeling quite similar to being in a dungeon.
Seeing her surrounded by a crowd of players and looking uncomfortable, Gu Zhan let her go.
Before leaving, Xiao Xiu hesitated for a moment and looked at Gu Zhan, saying, “Um... that person hasn’t left yet; do you want to come see him?”
Her words drew everyone’s attention.
Sang Yue asked, “He still wants you to go see him yourself?”
Gu Zhan: “…”
He could already imagine Mo Tuo prancing around like a black cat in his space.
He gazed quietly at Sang Yue.
Sang Yue: "..."
Alright, their little light bulb is starting to shine a bit!
Everyone was just worried about Gu Zhan. After confirming that he had absolute control over those monsters and wouldn’t cause any trouble, they decided not to linger at his house any longer.
After clearing the leftovers from the table, they took their leave.
Before leaving, Sang Yue patted Gu Zhan's shoulder and earnestly reminded him, "Boys need to protect themselves at home, too."
This left Gu Zhan feeling both amused and helpless.
Being constantly teased and admonished like this was quite a new experience for him.
And it didn’t feel bad.
---
After seeing off Yu Yezhou and the others, Gu Zhan returned to the space.
As soon as he landed, he saw Xiao Xiu and Sun Jingqiu propping up the table… cooking hot pot?
Next to them, a fish was demanding this and that.
Sun Jingqiu was so exasperated that she could only laugh and didn’t dare to retort. Meanwhile, Xiao Ling, standing nearby, said brightly, "Uncle, you’re asking for too many things. Why don’t you do it yourself?"
Mo Tuo flicked his fish tail, while not far away, a little black cat was staring intently at the tip of his tail, its yellow glassy eyes swaying back and forth, mimicking a hunting posture—it seemed to be treating his tail like a cat toy.
Mo Tuo justified himself, "Call me brother... Don’t you see, I can’t move?"
Gu Zhan noticed he seemed quite able to move; without the black chains binding him, he appeared free to roam within the star plate space.
Gu Zhan reached out again, pulling at the void, and those black chains appeared in his hand once more.
Mo Tuo wasn’t prepared for this force and was nearly pulled off balance.
After steadying himself, he looked at Gu Zhan with a grievance: "Do you really enjoy binding and restricting me this much?"
Gu Zhan thought that he and Sang Yue should both take some time to refine their wording.
He wasn’t feeling soft-hearted and coldly said, "You should go back to your place."
Mo Tuo looked even more forlorn: "The hot pot is already cooking, and you want me to leave now?!"
As he complained loudly, a slight, almost imperceptible smile flickered in Gu Zhan's eyes. He still maintained an expression of cold indifference as he emphasized, "Go back now."
With the chains in Gu Zhan's hand, Mo Tuo had no choice but to comply.
He dawdled, turning back three times as he crawled back to the fountain pool, his beautiful fish tail dragging along the ground and leaving behind traces of dust.
Even Xiao Xiu felt a bit reluctant and turned to look at Gu Zhan.
Gu Zhan remained unmoved.
Under his gaze, Mo Tuo returned to the original position of the sculpture, and the vibrant figure gradually faded back into a plaster statue.
He left.
At the moment the plaster set completely, Gu Zhan heard Xiao Xiu and Sun Jingqiu breathe a sigh of relief.
Xiao Xiu said, "You could have let him finish this meal before sending him off."
Gu Zhan replied, "Aren’t you all very afraid of him? Don’t let him lead you around by the nose."
"Alright," Xiao Xiu had to admit that this human's mental resilience was better than that of her kind.
She then became happy again: "Although he can be quite a nuisance, he did offer a good suggestion. I learned for the first time that food can be eaten like this. Would you like to stay and eat with us?"
Gu Zhan glanced at the bright red hot pot and said, "No, I’ve already eaten."
He then handed them several pounds of beef and lamb rolls and said, "Raise some livestock later."
Xiao Xiu was quite surprised.
Raise livestock?
The hospital had been completely transformed by them, with the playground filled with various vegetables. Sun Jingqiu had even transplanted a few fruit trees. Although she had laughed when planting, saying that fruit trees take years to bear fruit and they didn’t know how long they would be living in this place.
But she still helped Sun Jingqiu.
If they were to raise livestock, wouldn’t that mean their lives would be similar to those of living people?
"Well, then let’s raise a few," Xiao Xiu said.
---
In the following days, Gu Zhan rested at home.
He originally planned to take some time to recover before heading to Mo Tuo’s instance.
Unexpectedly, halfway through, there was an unexpected development.
News came from Yu Yezhou that Qin Yue was missing.
This guy was a bit lucky; when he ventured into a low-level instance, he obtained an item called a mother-son Token(Zimu Pai).
Carrying the son Token with him while leaving the mother at the guild allowed the guild to know his status.
However, now this son Token had been activated, and the mother’s light had dimmed.
Sang Yue said, "If he’s dead, the mother token will shatter, but now it has merely lost its luster. Doesn’t that mean he’s only encountered danger?"
"We cannot ascertain his situation, but the mother token does reveal one piece of information: it tells us which instance he is in."
Yang Lin continued, "Coincidentally, I and Yu Yezhou have both been to this instance before; it’s a very simple B-level instance, and it shouldn’t be in this kind of situation..."
The rest of her words seemed quite difficult to say, and Yang Lin hesitated, trying to speak several times but couldn’t continue.
Gu Zhan understood her meaning, saying, "You want me to check on that instance?"
"Yes." Yang Lin nodded, feeling troubled as she added, "The main issue is... We’ve heard some bad rumors recently."
"Strange occurrences are happening in the instance, and more people are being transformed into monsters. I’m worried that Qin Yue might be facing the same situation."
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