Stared at by the eager eyes of two sales assistants, Lu Zhi felt his skin crawl. He directly stated Shen Qi's sizes and casually picked out ten sets of clothes, instructing them to be delivered to the hotel where they were staying. He swiped his black card and left with Shen Qi.
He had originally planned to visit some nearby attractions in City I, but it had started snowing heavily, and Lu Zhi was hungry. Checking the time, he found it was still an hour before noon, so he chose a restaurant nearby to dine.
On the way, many men and women cast glances at the two of them. Lu Zhi noticed that nine out of ten girls were looking at the person beside him. Not knowing how he felt, he chose a private room, preferring not to see it.
Lu Zhi flipped through the menu and asked, "What do you want to eat?"
Shen Qi propped his chin on his hand, staring intently at him, and said, "I like whatever you choose."
Lu Zhi glanced at him sideways, then lowered his head and selected three dishes and one soup, along with two bowls of white rice. He then instructed the waiter to bring another bottle of red wine, the best one, "You might not like the food, but you should like red wine, right?"
Recalling the times he had spent with Shen Qi, this seemed to be the only occasion he had seen him drink red wine.
"Wine is a good thing," Shen Qi took the red wine poured by the waiter, raising it to eye level, and looking at Lu Zhi through the red wine, his silver-gray eyes slowly said, "It can make one intoxicated and achieve their desires."
Lu Zhi: "?"
He always felt there was more to Shen Qi's words.
"You still haven't answered me about Saint Island Number Seven," Lu Zhi said while waiting for the food, wanting to use this time to understand. Judging by Shen Qi's attitude, he must know about Saint Island.
"What do you want to know?" Shen Qi swirled the red wine in his hand.
"The Divine Pagoda," Lu Zhi knew that if Saint Island were divided into a cultivation world for a novel, all the plants and animals on Saint Island would contain powerful energy within their bodies, which could be absorbed by humans, granting them immense power.
Shen Qi put down his wine glass, suddenly reached out and placed his hand on the back of Lu Zhi's chair, leaning in. His silver-gray eyes were as deep as the sea. "What if I said Saint Island was created by you?"
Lu Zhi's heart skipped a beat, and his pupils widened. "Me?"
Shen Qi nodded. "Yes, you."
The information was a bit overwhelming. Lu Zhi took a sip of tea to calm himself before asking dryly, "So, what was the relationship between us before?"
Shen Qi's eyes held nostalgia, sorrow, and a heavier emotion that could crush Lu Zhi. After a long pause, he said, "I don't know why you lost your memory. If you want to recover it, you must enter the Divine Pagoda yourself."
Lu Zhi's gaze flickered, and he couldn't help but ask, "Shen Qi, do you like me now, or do you like me with my memories?"
Upon hearing this, Shen Qi's chest trembled, and he let out a short laugh. Teasingly, he asked, "Ah~ you've put me in a difficult position with that question."
Lu Zhi also felt the question was a bit unreasonable. If he was indeed the person Shen Qi was looking for, then he was him regardless of whether his memories were intact.
"Alright, I asked a foolish question," Lu Zhi shrugged, admitting his foolishness decisively. "But you told me everything. How can you be so sure that I am the person you're looking for?"
Shen Qi unexpectedly reached out and touched his neck, sliding slowly over his inconspicuous Adam's apple and stopping at the mark on him. "In this world, only you can awaken me."
Lu Zhi suddenly understood. "So, from the moment I signed the agreement with you and became your follower, you've been testing me? Even when you hadn't recovered your memory and were just the ordinary human Shen Qi, you were suspicious of me?"
Shen Qi, however, shook his head. "I told you, even if I lost my memory, I would still be special to you alone."
Therefore, even without recognizing Lu Zhi, Shen Qi had always paid attention to him and recognized him at a glance.
Lu Zhi looked at him quietly. It was impossible not to be moved, but he couldn't reciprocate Shen Qi's feelings for now. He didn't want to deceive him and said, "I'm sorry, I can't remember anything."
Shen Qi stroked his face. "I like your honesty. But you don't dislike me, do you?"
Lu Zhi nodded without hesitation. He truly didn't dislike Shen Qi; he never had from the beginning. With prolonged interaction, he would surely develop friendly feelings for him, but not romantic love.
"Is it difficult to try to like me, to love me?" When Shen Qi said this, the sadness in his eyes felt like a mountain pressing down on Lu Zhi, making him breathless and causing a dull ache in his chest.
Lu Zhi lowered his eyes and replied after a long pause, "Shen Qi, I really don't dislike you, and I don't want to lie to you. Your affection for me is something I cannot reciprocate at this moment."
Shen Qi fell silent, his silver-gray eyes gazing at him. The atmosphere in the private room suddenly turned cold and somber.
"However..." Lu Zhi raised his hand and covered the back of Shen Qi's hand on his face. "I do have good feelings for you. Otherwise, I wouldn't have agreed to try dating you."
Shen Qi froze for a moment, his dim, deep eyes slowly lighting up.
"I will try to like you. I hope... it won't make you wait too long," Lu Zhi said, feeling a bit embarrassed after saying it.
In any case, he couldn't bear to see the light in his eyes dim; it felt as if the world around him had also lost its color.
Shen Qi closed his eyes, then slowly opened them. He leaned forward and embraced Lu Zhi, holding him tightly. He buried his head in Lu Zhi's shoulder, nuzzling him like a child, and chuckled in a low, husky voice, "Why are you still so easily soft-hearted..."
Since Lu Zhi had decided to try with Shen Qi, he didn't avoid the embrace. Following his inner feelings, he gently hugged back, his tone cheerful, "Ah, perhaps my soft heart is only for you?"
"I like that you say that," Shen Qi reluctantly let go of him, a smile lingering on his lips. "That you're soft-hearted only for me."
Lu Zhi stared at his upturned lips and, for some reason, suddenly thought of the kiss in the elevator. The feeling seemed to linger.
The waiter then brought the dishes, interrupting the growing ambiguous atmosphere between the two.
"Eat," Shen Qi scooped a bowl of soup for Lu Zhi and quietly drank his red wine.
Lu Zhi was indeed hungry. He hadn't eaten anything that morning. Shen Qi was a deity, so hunger was non-existent for him.
After Lu Zhi finished eating, they left the restaurant, and it was already 12:30 AM. Lu Zhi frowned and said, "Will we be late?"
"The gathering time of 11 AM to 1 PM was when the barrier was opened before Saint Island was unsealed. Now that the seal is broken, there is no time limit. The Divine Pagoda is recovering, and the climate in cities closer to Saint Island Number Seven has changed drastically. I can roughly guess which deity is within the Divine Pagoda of Saint Island Number Seven," Shen Qi said, holding Lu Zhi's hand as they walked on the snow-covered street.
The wind and snow were blocked by an invisible force, unable to reach them.
"Are there twelve deities, one for each of the twelve Saint Islands?" Lu Zhi mused, then suddenly asked, "Is the number twelve special?"
Shen Qi stopped and looked at him. "Guess?"
Lu Zhi understood. What divine legends were related to the number twelve?