Adorable Creature Attacks!

Gu Qingyu finally left the liminal space and returned to the real world. There was someone in front of her face, though her vision was still blurry and she couldn't quite see who it was. 

It wasn't until her eyes finally focused did she recognise who was in front of her. Ye Jin was leaning over her, his eyes were wide open and he was staring right at her-

"Ah!" She yelped, then turned away and glanced out of the window. The sky was still dark, their room was only lit by moonlight. But tension hung in the air in the gloomy night. 

"What are you doing? Why are you awake? It's in the middle of the night." She frowned.

Ye Jin raised his eyebrows instead. "Xiao Yu'er, I could ask you the same thing, why are you awake?" 

It took her some time to process that Ye Jin had found out that she was talking to Yan Zun and Wish. "Hmm..." Gu Qingyu nibbled on her bottom lip as she tried to think of a response. "Can you get off me first?"

"Don't change the subject. Why are you still awake? What, do you have something you want to do?" Ye Jin curled his lips with a mischievous glint in his eyes. 

"Stop it." Her face flushed slightly, and she pushed him away, "I'm actually going to sleep now. You should too, your wounds have not healed." 

Ye Jin's eyes clearly lit up. "Oh? Then what about after I get better?" Gu Qingyu avoided his gaze and something clicked in her head. She then pulled the quilt over her head and went to sleep. Ye Jin laughed, reached over and covered her properly before laying back down. It was late at night, and dawn came quietly.

Next Morning

Gu Qingyu yawned, sat up, but was pushed back onto the bed.

"Xiao Zhezhe? What are you doing..." She was still half-asleep and swatted his arm weakly.

Ye Jin rolled over and pinned her down. "Sleep. Now." She twisted around to look at him, his eyes were still closed and she had to suppress a chuckle. He seemed to still be asleep. 

Gu Qingyu tried her best to make her voice appear as gentle as possible. "Xiao Zhezhe, it's morning, get up~"

"No." Ye Jin smacked his lips and continued to sleep.

"Xiao Zhezhe~ Oh, come on, get up~" Gu Qingyu continued her efforts. Silence, he ignored her. 

Gu Qingyu finally lost her patience. After trying and failing to pry off the person that was stuck to her like an octopus, she shouted in his ear. "Dammit! If you want to sleep so bad, can you let go of me first!" 

Ye Jin opened his eyes and looked at her with bleary eyes. "Huh? When did you wake up, Xiao Yu'er?" Gu Qingyu stared at him flatly. 

Ye Jin yawned lazily before letting go of her. Gu Qingyu sat up and said, "Okay, it's time to get up. If you haven't got enough sleep, you can sleep a little more. I have to go already."

"Don't." Ye Jin also sat up and leaned against her as he whimpered with a pout, "Xiao Yu'er, I'm still sleepy..."

His voice was practically dripping with honey, that she had to turn back and check if it was really Ye Jin. His eyes were slightly closed, and it seemed that he really didn't sleep well as he pouted.

"Okay, then you can sleep more." Gu Qingyu couldn't help but soften her tone. She did not expect Ye Jin to have such an adorable, child-like side to him. 

"Stay here with me." Ye Jin is still reluctant. 

Gu Qingyu looked out the window hesitantly. Qi Wan was still badly injured, not to mention she had no idea if Murong Zuoyu and Xie Zang were well. So she turned back to Ye Jin. "Xiao Zhezhe, I can't sleep anymore. I have other things to do."

Ye Jin's face sank and he released her with a hmph before straightening out his clothes. Gu Qingyu blinked a few times and looked at Ye Jin, it felt like he was angry again. She asked carefully. "Xiao Zhezhe, are you angry?"

"No." Ye Jin hmphed again. 

Gu Qingyu was convinced that he was most definitely angry, and she felt bad. "Hey, if you're tired, you can continue to sleep, it's okay..." 

"I can't sleep if you're not around." Ye Jin climbed out of the bed, "Xiao Yu'er, you tossed and turned for the whole night." Then, he walked out of the room without looking back. The guilt in her heart grew stronger, and she immediately straightened her clothes and chased after him.

But Ye Jin was gone. Gu Qingyu looked around and checked and she spotted Murong Zuoyu instead, who was walking towards her. Since she came out of Ye Jin's room, Gu Qingyu smiled awkwardly. "Morning, Brother Murong."

Murong Zuoyu nodded slightly. "Good morning, Brother Zhu. Have you slept well? Your injuries haven't healed yet, so it's better to not move about too much."

"Got it, thank you Brother Murong." Gu Qingyu also smiled. Getting along with Murong Zuoyu didn't feel as restrained as when they first met. "Where is Qi Yichen?" Qi Yichen did not have any powers, so she had been worried about him throughout the battle, and she had not seen him around since yesterday. 

"Oh, Brother Zhu~ Did you miss me?" A familiar, albeit slightly annoying voice came from the end of the corridor. 

She looked at Qi Yichen kindly. "No, you got the wrong idea, I just want to see if you’re dead."

Qi Yichen gently dabbed the corner of his eyes. "Ever since Brother Qi Wan fell ill because of you, I knew I was the next target!" 

"Very self-aware." Gu Qingyu nodded, "It's worth considering." Qi Yichen froze as he wondered if he had said the wrong thing.

Gu Qingyu turned sideways slightly and looked at Murong Zuoyu. "Right, where's Xie Zang?" 

"Oh, kitten, did you miss me already?" 

Gu Qingyu cringed, but Qi Yichen was staring at her with an expectant look, so she answered sweetly, "Yes!" 

Qi Yichen collapsed to the ground and Xie Zang smiled happily. "Kitten, I have missed you too."

"Well, you all have fun, I'm gonna go check on Qi Wan." She was relieved that they were all fine and the weight on her heart had lessened. She turned around and walked towards Qi Wan's room.

Qi Yichen caught up to her with a short jog. "Brother Zhu, wait for me~ I want to prank him too!" Gu Qingyu narrowed her eyes at him, was her performance that obvious?

They stopped by the dining room and Gu Qingyu took a bowl of porridge. She and Qi Yichen came to Qi Wan's room and gently opened the door. Qi Wan was still asleep as his chest rose and fell in a slow, smooth rhythm. The sunlight danced through his hair and landed between his brows. 

"Land to Brother Zhu?" Qi Yichen stood behind Gu Qingyu, with his chin resting on her shoulder. "He's beautiful, isn't he?" 

Gu Qingyu was taken aback, then turned to look at Qi Yichen in disbelief. "You..."

"Me?" Qi Yichen squinted his eyes and smiled, his face very close to her. "What is it?"

"You...are you actually interested in Qi Wan?" Gu Qingyu swallowed nervously. She knew that Qi Yichen was gay, but if he was going to make a move on Qi Wan against Qi Wan's feelings, she would side with Qi Wan and talk sense into Qi Yichen. But, for all the teasing she had made, she had not considered that it might actually be real.

Qi Yichen moved his lips. "I……"

"Ah, ah, Boss, what are you doing!" An earth-shattering scream sounded in front of them, followed by a coughing fit. 

Gu Qingyu was startled, and immediately pushed Qi Yichen away and ran to Qi Wan. "Qi Wan! Are you okay?" 

Qi Wan continued to cough, and as he did so, he pointed a shaky finger at Qi Yichen. "You...you..." He was coughing so much that he became breathless. 

Gu Qingyu helped him sit up and patted his back gently. "Slow down, don't get so agitated. "

After Qi Wan finally calmed down, he pointed at Qi Yichen again. "Don't think that you can take advantage of my boss when I'm injured! No way I'll let you!" 

Qi Yichen looked at Qi Wan with innocent eyes. "Me? We did nothing. During the time you were in a coma, nothing happened between us." 

Yet that seemed to have agitated Qi Wan even more. "You're dead! Come here so that I can slap you!"

"Pff!" Gu Qingyu held in her laughter as much as she could, but she snorted when she heard this sentence.

"What are you laughing at?" Qi Wan looked at Gu Qingyu, holding her hand. "Boss, did this bastard bully you? Don't worry, I'll beat him up for you!" 

"Hmph, come on, it'll be great if she doesn't bully me instead." Qi Yichen curled his lips. "Man, this sucks."

"Oh this sucks for you? I don't care! Keep it to yourself!" Qi Wan glared at Qi Yichen again.

Qi Yichen glared back at him. "I..."

"Can't hold it in? What to do, huh? Easy, don't let me do the work and just slap yourself instead, ha!" Qi Wan shot daggers at Qi Yichen, then turned and looked at Gu Qingyu tenderly. "Boss, tell me, what horrible things did he do? Don't worry, I'll avenge you!" 

Gu Qingyu winced. "Thank you Qi Wan, but Qi Yichen really didn't do anything."

"Didn't do what?" Qi Wan shot another glare at Qi Yichen.

After Qi Yichen saw the extent of Qi Wan's injuries, he lost interest in teasing or pranking him, so he nodded. "Did you hear that? Brother Zhu said that I didn't do anything."

"Didn't do nothing? You could have just said so! You idiot, you made me worry over nothing!" QI Wan coughed a few times again. 

"Alright, enough, both of you. Here, your breakfast." Gu Qingyu rolled her eyes and picked up the bowl of porridge.

Qi Wan twisted his lips, then opened his mouth. "Ah—"

Qi Yichen turned his face away and opened the fan to cover his face. "Oh! I can't look!"

Considering that Qi Wan was a patient and that he was injured because of her, Gu Qingyu patiently brought a spoonful of porridge to his lips. Just when Qi Wan was about to eat the porridge, Qi Yichen put down his fan and declared with an innocent face, "I didn't put poison in this porridge just now!"

Qi Wan paused with his mouth still hanging open. Gu Qingyu froze, her hand remained stationary in mid-air. She rolled her eyes and stuffed the porridge into Qi Wan's mouth before he could react. Qi Wan choked and swallowed everything. "Boss, you... I didn't offend you, right...?!"

"No." She calmly threw the spoon back onto the nearby table. Then she pinched Qi Wan's nose with one hand and poured the remaining porridge into his mouth in one fell swoop. After the bowl of porridge had been emptied, Gu Qingyu set the bowl on the table and clapped her hands clean as she looked at Qi Wan, who was wheezing as he laid on the bed. Then she turned and looked at Qi Yichen with a bright smile. "Well, are you ready?" Qi Yichen took two steps back.