It wasn't clear if Shen Qi had done it on purpose, but Lu Zhi had calculated the timing of their return to the hotel, only for Shen Qi to drag him into an accessory shop mid-way.
By the time they got back to the hotel, it was already much later than planned.
"It's all your fault!" Lu Zhi rushed into the hotel restaurant, glaring at Shen Qi, his demeanor aggressive.
Shen Qi surrendered, raising his hands and saying with a doting tone, "Alright, alright, it's all my fault. I shouldn't have forced you into the accessory shop to pick out wedding rings~"
At this time, there were still quite a few people coming and going in the restaurant, many of whom were superpowered individuals with keen hearing. Because both of them were exceptionally good-looking and possessed an extraordinary aura, many people cast curious glances their way.
Upon hearing Shen Qi's mention of "picking out wedding rings," many people revealed looks that suggested they understood their relationship.
"Shut up!" Lu Zhi's face flushed, and he reprimanded in a low voice, "Don't talk nonsense. Who went with you to pick out wedding rings?"
Was he deliberately speaking so loudly to make sure everyone around them could hear?
"Alright, alright, we didn't go to pick out wedding rings." Shen Qi looked helpless, the affection in his eyes intoxicating.
Lu Zhi stopped paying attention to him and hurried to push open the private room door, then suddenly stopped abruptly and turned to look at Shen Qi, "Wait, you're coming in with me?"
Shen Qi tilted his head, "Is there a problem?"
"Wait, come with me." Lu Zhi grabbed his hand and pulled him to a corner, saying, "You disappeared inexplicably back then and then reappeared in the Cage Labyrinth Abyssal Layer. Your dad... the Principal asked if I knew your whereabouts. Now that you're going in the private room with me, people will definitely suspect me of 'harboring a criminal', right?"
Shen Qi crossed his arms and leaned against the wall, "Hmm? So what do you suggest we do?"
"How do you plan to explain what happened in the Cage Labyrinth?" Lu Zhi frowned.
Seeing his deeply worried and troubled expression, Shen Qi couldn't help but reach out and rub his head, "Do you know why the school council members desperately wanted to find me and even wanted me to take the blame?"
Lu Zhi's tone was languid, "Take the blame? Isn't that the truth?"
The rules of the Cage Labyrinth had been broken, and it was Shen Qi's deliberate act. They weren't exactly slandering him.
"Heh, you're not wrong," Shen Qi slowly spun the ring on his index finger. "They were so eager to find me to confirm if I was still alive. Only if I were dead would they have a chance to change the school rules."
Lu Zhi looked confused, "You mean, when you disappeared, they all thought you were dead? That's why they made those moves? As long as you come back, everything will be resolved? Why?"
Even though Shen Qi was Shen Lu's adopted son, he shouldn't have had enough authority to make everyone believe him, right?
Was there something else he didn't know about this?
"Don't overcomplicate things," Shen Qi half-closed his eyes, his fingertip gently caressing Lu Zhi's chin. He loved seeing Lu Zhi worry and ponder for him, his body and mind only focused on him. "Currently, in Huaguo, I am the only one who can enter and exit the Divine Ruins and bring back what they want. Moreover... strength is everything."
Lu Zhi suddenly understood. Yes, in this world, no matter how influential the national council members were, faced with Shen Qi's overwhelming power, they could only try their best to maintain a good relationship. In a world where strength reigned supreme, the strong were everything.
"Let's go in." Shen Qi didn't give Lu Zhi any more time to think and pulled him by the wrist, directly pushing open the private room door.
Around the round table inside were the members of Lu Zhi's team for this mission. The moment they saw Shen Qi pulling Lu Zhi in, everyone was stunned.
"Teacher Shen!" Lan Yushan stood up in surprise.
Luo Shiyu's expression was strange, "Te-Teacher Shen."
Wang Caotian snapped back to reality and excitedly slapped the table, standing up, "Aow aow aow, male god Shen!!!"
"Calm down," Xia Zhi pulled Wang Caotian back, afraid he would shamelessly go and hug Shen Qi's leg.
Jiang Yue, who had been arrogantly resting her long legs on the chair beside her, suddenly fell to the floor with a thud. She quickly stood up, her voice tense, "Senior Shen."
Shen Qi nodded, "No need to be nervous, everyone sit down."
Lu Zhi looked at their restrained attitudes with curiosity, and at this moment, he felt a surreal sense that Shen Qi was a true powerhouse.
If they knew that their admired Shen Qi, Teacher Shen, Male God Shen, was actually a god, they probably wouldn't even be able to stand steadily.
Thinking about it this way, Lu Zhi suddenly felt a sense of secret delight.
"Se-Senior Shen, what wind blew you here? Have some tea, have some tea." Jiang Yue servilely poured tea and offered water to Shen Qi.
However, Shen Qi very naturally poured tea for Lu Zhi, who was sitting beside him, and said, "Take a sip, warm yourself up."
*Shring—*
Five people, five pairs of eyes shone like thousand-watt light bulbs, staring intensely and eagerly at Lu Zhi.
"Cough—" Lu Zhi secretly kicked Shen Qi's shin and said with a forced smile, "Thank you, Teacher Shen, I can do it myself."
Although he didn't intend to keep it a secret, there was no need to flaunt it so brazenly, right? He needed some time to slowly adapt.
Shen Qi curled his lips, no longer teasing him, and looked at the others, saying, "Let's get down to business."
Only then did they withdraw their gossiping eyes. For superpowered individuals, whether their romantic partner was a man or a woman didn't matter at all. They were just particularly curious if Shen Qi and Lu Zhi's current relationship was what they thought it was.
"On Saint Island Seven, the currently known information is that there is indeed a deity about to awaken in the divine tower. According to the information gathered from various sources, it can currently be defined as not hostile to humans."
Jiang Yue projected the information onto the center of the round table, allowing everyone to see the images of the divine tower taken by the drone entering Saint Island.
Lu Zhi felt that the appearance of the divine tower was somewhat familiar, but he couldn't recall it for a moment.
"If a deity awakens and is not hostile to humans, our first priority is to try to communicate," Xia Zhi mused. "However, the most important thing now is to determine if this deity has any historical records or stories passed down."
Lu Zhi's expression shifted slightly. He glanced at the expressionless Shen Qi and slowly said, "I remember there are a total of twelve Saint Islands in our Huaguo, right? Could it be related to a deity's story involving the number twelve?"
The others looked at each other. Wang Caotian said, "There are actually quite a few."
"We can try to investigate in this direction." Jiang Yue's expression was serious as she pointed to images of other Saint Islands that appeared in the projection, saying, "Even with drones before, we couldn't capture images of Saint Islands, let alone enter them. Everyone knows there's a barrier outside the Saint Islands, and entry and exit are only allowed at specified times."
"But three days ago, all these barriers disappeared. We were very afraid that the nightmare beasts on the Saint Islands would leave the islands and attack the surrounding cities." Jiang Yue took a breath. "Fortunately, they only operate within the Saint Island area and don't come out easily, although we still don't know why."
Lan Yushan suddenly realized, "So, besides investigating the divine tower, we also need to investigate whether the nightmare beasts in the Saint Islands will leave the islands and attack our human towns?"
Lu Zhi pondered, then glanced at the calm and composed Shen Qi again.
Suddenly, Lu Zhi's body stiffened. He slowly looked down at the hand that had climbed onto his thigh to steal a taste of his flesh, which had appeared there at some unknown time.
Lu Zhi: ... Can you be a human being, please?