Although Shen Qi had opened a backdoor for him, Lu Zhi was still worried that the monthly exam might present other issues. After all, Shen Qi's personality was unpredictable and he never followed the usual course of action; being prepared was better than scrambling at the last minute.
Lu Zhi and Lan Yushan decided to go to the library again to look up and memorize more information about the divine systems. Unexpectedly, they saw Luo Shiyu, who had claimed to be busy earlier.
"Hey?" Lan Yushan approached with a playful grin, "Brother Luo said he was busy with something, but it turns out he was coming to the library."
Luo Shiyu grunted, "For tomorrow's monthly exam."
As soon as Lu Zhi heard that the exam was tomorrow, he wished he could stretch every minute into ten. He said, "I'll go find some books, you two chat first."
The school library had three floors. Unlike ordinary schools, the materials on the bookshelves here were all related to ancient civilization, mythology, folklore, and legends.
Lu Zhi asked the librarian, and the materials he needed to consult were about foreign deities, all located on the third floor and were quite limited.
There were hardly any people on the third floor, making it feel deserted. Lu Zhi muttered to himself as he searched for the call number among the dazzling bookshelves: "f-33... Ah, found it."
The bookshelf with the call number f-33 was the second to last shelf in the innermost corner. Lu Zhi was looking for records of foreign divine systems, preferably finding something about Demetra, the God of Lies.
After searching the bookshelf, he found his target. Lu Zhi reached out but found he couldn't reach it, which was a subtle blow to Lu Zhi, who was 1.78 meters tall.
Lu Zhi looked around, seeing no stools, and no one else.
Very well.
He took a deep breath, jumped forcefully, hooked it with his fingers, but it fell with a bang and hit his head. Lu Zhi instinctively crouched down, clutching his head, panting with pain. He quickly looked around, picked up the reference book, and flipped it open, muttering to himself, "Good thing I'm alone. If Shen Qi saw this, he'd definitely laugh at my height, right? He definitely would!"
But fate is always so coincidental.
After Shen Qi finished dealing with Demetra, his mood remained low. He tore open a spatial rift and teleported to Lu Zhi's side, not expecting to witness such a cute and reckless scene from Lu Zhi, which instantly improved his mood significantly.
Upon hearing Lu Zhi murmur that he would laugh at his height, Shen Qi doubted himself for a moment. Yes, that was indeed something he would do.
But what made Shen Qi happiest was that Lu Zhi was thinking of him.
With this thought, Shen Qi did not reveal himself immediately. Instead, from behind a bookshelf, through the gaps between books, he quietly admired his lover without anyone else around.
Lu Zhi stood for a while, then simply sat against the clean wall and began to read attentively. Occasionally, he would frown in confusion, unconsciously bite his thumbnail in a childish manner, or purse his lips in thought. Then he would sit cross-legged, propping his chin on one hand, and mutter something in surprise.
Lu Zhi was reading, and Shen Qi was watching him.
Time passed slowly. The Xihe outside cast a warm light on the page of the document in Lu Zhi's hand. Only then did Lu Zhi realize that several hours had passed.
All the materials and books in the library could not be taken out. Lu Zhi had to put the book back in its place before he could leave. But as he looked up at the bookshelf, Lu Zhi fell into thought.
Suddenly, a hand reached from behind Lu Zhi and took the book, placing it back on the shelf with ease.
Lu Zhi's heart jolted. When he smelled the familiar and unique floral scent, his tense nerves suddenly relaxed. He complained, "Can't you stop appearing and disappearing out of nowhere to scare me?"
Shen Qi pressed Lu Zhi from behind, his chest against Lu Zhi's back. His arms circled Lu Zhi's waist from behind and pulled him closer. His face nestled against Lu Zhi's cheek, rubbing and caressing it intimately. His lips brushed against the corner of Lu Zhi's lips, and he extended his other hand to Lu Zhi, his voice full of grievance, "It's dirty."
Lu Zhi was rendered speechless by Shen Qi's puppy-like nuzzling. His eyes were instinctively half-closed as a few strands of Shen Qi's hair brushed against them. The other eye, which was open, glanced at the hand presented to him.
The shape and proportions of his fingers were perfect, like a pianist's artistic hands, a combination of strength and beauty. In short, it was a very beautiful hand.
"What's dirty? The bookshelf isn't dusty," Lu Zhi flipped Shen Qi's hand back and forth twice, feeling that he was picking a fight.
Hearing this, Shen Qi chuckled twice, his lips brushing against Lu Zhi's ear, "Ah~ it's not dust."
Lu Zhi looked at him with a confused expression.
Following Lu Zhi's movement, Shen Qi rested his forehead against his, his silver-gray irises reflecting Lu Zhi's dark and bright eyes. His voice was as soft as a lover's whisper, "It's stained with blood."
Lu Zhi was surprised and instinctively grabbed Shen Qi's hand, "Blood? What did you do?"
Shen Qi gently stroked Lu Zhi's face, "I got your eyes back for you, but they had been used and were too dirty, so I destroyed them."
Lu Zhi blinked, suddenly enlightened, "You found Demetra? You killed him?"
Shen Qi did not answer, but stared directly into Lu Zhi's eyes. That kind of focused gaze, like an abyss watching you, was suffocating yet eerie, but Lu Zhi felt no fear, not even a single accelerated heartbeat.
Why?
Lu Zhi thought, perhaps it was because no matter what, Shen Qi would never hurt him.
"I destroyed your eyes, aren't you angry?" Shen Qi lowered his gaze, his long eyelashes trembling gently like butterfly wings, almost touching Lu Zhi's eyelashes, making Lu Zhi's eyes feel a little itchy.
Lu Zhi tilted his head back, rubbed his eyes, and asked in confusion, "Didn't you say it was dirty? If it's dirty, you don't want it. If it were clean, you would have brought it back to me, wouldn't you? I'm not angry."
Lu Zhi's nose felt ticklish from Shen Qi's hair. He used his fingers to push away Shen Qi's approaching handsome face. After a moment of thought, he cupped Shen Qi's face with both hands and said earnestly, "My eyes have always been with me. The moment they were stolen, they were no longer mine. Don't dwell on it."
Shen Qi stared blankly at Lu Zhi's eyes. They were no longer the dazzling, brilliant gold he once cherished, but like clear black obsidian washed by water in a stream, like dazzling stars hidden in the dark night, like the dawn that brought him warmth and dispelled darkness.
Lu Zhi tilted his head. Seeing Shen Qi in a daze was rare, so his hands itched to reach out. Fearlessly, he ruffled Shen Qi's hair. It was indeed as soft as silk, and the texture was amazing.
Shen Qi snapped back to attention, his grip on Lu Zhi's hand both amused and exasperated. Under Lu Zhi's guilty and surprised expression, he lightly kissed Lu Zhi's palm, "You're right."
It was his own excessive attachment to everything about the past, his own inadequacy, that caused him to lose and be unable to protect.
He could not repeat the same mistakes. He wanted to protect Lu Zhi, to protect his master.
No one would be able to take him away from his side again.
Not even a god.
Shen Qi suppressed the madly surging emotions and hugged Lu Zhi tightly, whispering in his ear, "Do you remember the one thing I asked you to do?"
Memories were like clips being opened. Lu Zhi muttered, "Slaying gods. Such a crazy thing, I'll definitely remember it clearly."
Shen Qi hummed. His hand suddenly moved from Lu Zhi's waist, slipped under his clothes, and climbed like scaling a mountain to the branded spot on his chest. The heat was like fire, making Lu Zhi's face flush and his mind wander. He grabbed Shen Qi's hand and said, "This, this is the library. Someone could come up at any moment, don't mess around!"
Lu Zhi pressed Shen Qi's hand through his clothes. Shen Qi allowed him to press it there, his palm feeling the warm, smooth touch of the skin. He suddenly laughed ambiguously and enchantingly, saying, "It's just a simple theoretical question, it's too easy. So I've decided to add an extra question for you all – slaying gods."
Lu Zhi: !!!
Why did he suddenly go crazy like this?
"Baby, want to bribe me?"