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墨書 Inktalez
The moment Xu Nuan leaned into that embrace, she wasn't thinking about how to question Gu Ze's actions; instead, she was focused on avoiding his injured hand.
It wasn't until she was fully nestled in Gu Ze's arms that Xu Nuan finally spoke up.
"Have you lost your mind? Trying to be romantic in a situation like this?"
Gu Ze didn't respond; he just kept smiling, a satisfied grin as if he had been allowed to indulge in a lot of candy.
Xu Nuan repeated with irritation, "Are you really that foolish?"
Gu Ze continued to smile without saying a word.
Xu Nuan felt exasperated. When she tried to get up, she realized Gu Ze was still holding onto her hand and had no intention of letting go. Half-sitting in a man's embrace made Xu Nuan uncomfortable, and her words turned sharp.
"Are you hungry for a slap or something?"
This time, Gu Ze finally spoke up, still holding her hand with a pitiful expression.
"Am I supposed to get hit while I'm injured?"
"Those two things have nothing to do with each other," Xu Nuan emphasized heavily, subtly glancing at Gu Ze's injured right hand hanging by his side.
"They have everything to do with each other," Gu Ze explained cheerfully. "I'm the injured one; you need to accommodate the injured."
Xu Nuan gritted her teeth, knowing Gu Ze's thick-skinned nature was acting up again. She decided that this time, she would put an end to his shamelessness to show her determination.
However, when she tried to rise again, Gu Ze pulled her back forcefully. In the process of leaning towards him, she inadvertently brushed against his right hand.
Gu Ze frowned slightly but didn't take the opportunity to feign injury for attention.
Xu Nuan thought that she might have aggravated Gu Ze's injury, so she hesitated to stand up. Instead, she used her left hand to lift Gu Ze's right hand, trying to assess the extent of his injury.
"It would be fine if it stayed like this," Gu Ze said softly as Xu Nuan awkwardly examined his wound with one hand.
Her heart skipped a beat, but she maintained a calm expression, pretending she hadn’t heard him.
Seeing that Gu Ze's injury wasn't too serious, Xu Nuan decided it was time to negotiate. Staying in this stalemate wasn’t a solution; they still needed to find their other companions.
"Don't you think it's dangerous here?" Xu Nuan chose to take a roundabout approach.
"If the ground shakes again, we might not be able to escape," she added.
"You have a nice necklace," Gu Ze said, nonchalantly changing the subject.
Xu Nuan's brows twitched slightly, but considering Gu Ze was injured, she decided to let it slide.
"The locator is really useful. Let's go find Xu Hang and the others. This situation is bizarre; we should leave quickly."
"Actually, this necklace belonged to my mother. It was a meeting gift for my future daughter-in-law, and I've kept it with me ever since. I even brought it into the game," Gu Ze said suddenly, his tone serious.
"Wow," Xu Nuan exclaimed in surprise, successfully following along with his change of topic.
"This important thing, I’ll return it to you."
Xu Nuan reached out to untie the necklace, only to hear Gu Ze's teasing laughter.
"I'm just kidding. How could I possibly carry a women's necklace around? You really are gullible to believe that!"
Xu Nuan felt that Gu Ze's laughter was particularly malicious, and his words were quite irritating.
"And besides, this isn't the feudal era anymore. Who still practices giving gifts to daughters-in-law or passing down family heirlooms? You're getting more and more backward... Ouch."
With a gentle smile, Xu Nuan playfully twisted Gu Ze's face several times with her left hand, successfully silencing him.
However, as she twisted Gu Ze's face, he just smiled at her with a smirk, not saying a word or stopping her. After a few seconds, she felt embarrassed and released her grip, only to find Gu Ze's face flushed red. A tiny bit of guilt crept into her heart.
Just as she let go, Gu Ze suddenly reached out his injured hand and placed it on Xu Nuan's face. The warm touch made Xu Nuan freeze.
"Although I don't hit women, I can't help but want to hit her when I see this."
Xu Nuan felt a slight itch where Gu Ze touched her; it was the red mark left by Rao Tingxue, which would probably take a while to fade.
"I have to say, you did well breaking both of her hands."
Xu Nuan indicated that she didn't need such praise because the technique for breaking Rao Tingxue's hands was learned from Zhang Xiao. Her own arm had once been dislocated by Zhang Xiao. But what mattered more at the moment was—
"Are you done touching?"
The little bit of warmth in her heart was tossed aside by Gu Ze's increasingly bold actions.
"Ahem."
Gu Ze calmly withdrew his hand and explained lightly, "It felt nice, I couldn't help myself."
Xu Nuan gritted her teeth. "You said the same thing when you touched my hair back then, didn't you?"
Although her memory was a bit hazy, it didn't mean she couldn't recall recent events.
"Are you feeling any better now?"
As Xu Nuan couldn't resist reaching out to touch Gu Ze's face, he asked her this question again.
How could she possibly feel better? After recalling such memories, realizing she had fallen into a trap with no way to escape, and feeling despair about the future—how could she feel good?
Yet it wasn't all bad. She had someone to confide in, someone who cared about her; she was no longer alone in bearing everything. In truth, she felt quite fortunate. But how could she express such feelings?
"Do we need a change?"
She thought she was eloquent, yet what came out were insincere words. Then she noticed the obvious change in the man's expression across from her. She couldn't bear to look at that expression, fearing she would fall into it and lose everything.
"Of course we need a change because it affects my mood."
Listen to him; this man was practically a master of sweet talk, and yet she found herself falling for it.
"Be honest. How many naive girls have you deceived?"
Xu Nuan's lips curled into a wicked smile as if enjoying the show.
Gu Ze played along perfectly.
"Can you still consider yourself an ignorant girl? You're already twenty-six this year."
Holding her throbbing forehead, Xu Nuan decided to retract her earlier thought that 'this man is simply a master of sweet talk,' though she couldn't help but let the corners of her lips rise slightly.
The tranquil moments amidst the chaos of rocks were always so precious.
As another wave of tremors hit, Gu Ze finally stopped being stubborn and stood up gracefully, walking out with Xu Nuan to search for other companions. He noticed how carefully she tucked the necklace back into her clothing, and the smile on his face became even more pronounced.
With the help of the locator device, they no longer felt like headless chickens running around aimlessly; instead, they moved forward with purpose and direction, discussing the strange vibrations along the way.
"I can't shake the feeling that this vibration is unnatural. It doesn't seem like something the Designers would come up with," Xu Nuan honestly shared her thoughts. "Given their mindset, they wouldn't bother using so-called natural forces to hinder the Players' progress."
In conclusion, Xu Nuan added, "I actually think there's something wrong with the Game Base. What do you think?"
Gu Ze listened quietly to Xu Nuan's analysis until she turned to him for his opinion.
"I remember there weren't any obstacles like these," Gu Ze began, recalling information he had seen long ago with his exceptional memory.
"In my impression, the challenges in this level were the Special Tree and the Supply Station. Logically speaking, the Designers designed mechanisms at these two locations. Since we've solved the first one, there should only be the second left."
"Then my hypothesis has a strong possibility."
Xu Nuan admired Gu Ze's memory while feeling puzzled about the game.
"The Game Base having issues seems unbelievable. But in the end, it's still the Players who suffer."
Gu Ze nodded in agreement. "However, those maintaining the Game Base are outside; we have no way of knowing what has happened to them. But Nuan, for you, this is a signal."
While Xu Nuan was still deep in thought, she heard Gu Ze say this and paused for a moment before smiling faintly.
"Yes, we can find a breakthrough signal."
The two exchanged knowing smiles, but suddenly they heard Xu Hang's shout from not far away.
"Ze, you two come over here!"
From Xu Hang's tone, they both knew something bad had happened again.
The tremors on the ground had already subsided, leaving only scattered rubble and collapsed stone peaks that were no longer impressive. The shallow waters were in disarray, and the only place unaffected was the distant Gobi shore.
Xu Nuan and Gu Ze hurried over to the three who were anxiously pacing back and forth. Before they could ask what was wrong, they noticed something was off.
The Special Tree was gone.
Deng Yinyin had always believed that the appearance of the Special Tree was due to her being thrown into the river. She had narrowly escaped death, which brought about the emergence of the Special Tree. Now, after a seismic event that wasn't quite an earthquake, the Special Tree had vanished, and she was the one who found it hardest to accept this reality.
According to Xu Hang's instructions, Xie Huai's main task at this stage was to calm down Deng Yinyin, who could explode at any moment. This task was both painful and rewarding for him.
"Look here," Xu Hang pointed at the ground covered in rubble. "This used to be a row of Special Trees. I thought that even if the Special Tree sank back down, we could follow the traces in the soil."
The deep frowned between Xu Hang's brows was already quite pronounced.
Xu Nuan knew what Xu Hang's unfinished sentence implied; the obvious traces left by the Special Tree emerging from the ground had been buried under rubble, and with stones surrounding them, it was impossible to distinguish any traces in the soil now.
When it rains, it pours. Xu Nuan turned to look at Gu Ze and found that he still wore a gentle smile on his face, seemingly unbothered by the situation at hand.
"Have you thought of a solution?"
Xu Nuan blurted out, secretly envying Gu Ze's brilliant mind.
Gu Ze chuckled lightly, calming his increasingly agitated Buddy.
"Don't worry, I've already memorized the trajectory of the Special Tree."
Gu Ze tapped his head and directed his gaze towards a tall stone peak in the distance.
Following his line of sight, Xu Nuan suddenly had a thought. Could it be that the agile Gu Ze was crushed by the rocks because he climbed up the peak to memorize the trajectory of the Special Tree and lost his footing?
Noticing that Gu Ze dared not meet her gaze, Xu Nuan became more convinced of her guess. While secretly cursing Gu Ze for being so reckless, she also felt pleased with his extraordinary abilities, after all, he was helping everyone, wasn't he?
As soon as Gu Ze finished speaking, Xu Hang's frown relaxed, and Deng Yinyin, who had been sulking despite Xie Huai's attempts to comfort her, broke into a smile.
"Gu Ze, you're amazing!"
Xu Nuan noticed that Xie Huai's expression darkened instantly beside Deng Yinyin. She sighed inwardly and looked back at Gu Ze, silently conveying that he was quite the charmer.
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