Chapter 82: Entangled Emotions Beneath the Ancient Tree

Shen Yan’s phone screen finally stopped flickering with that stuck loading notice. The battery bar was frozen at seven percent, stubbornly clinging on like the last bit of willpower before a midnight internet outage. His fingers numb, he pressed the power button for three seconds, forcibly terminating the decompilation program still running in the background—it was like a cheat code in a Snake game that refused to quit, stubbornly hogging system resources even after the task had failed.

He took a ragged breath, his chest feeling as if someone had rubbed sandpaper over it repeatedly. Each inhale brought a fiery, dull ache. But the bigger problem was the one in his arms.

Luo Li had shrunk into a palm-sized fox, her violet-red fur stained with blood and dust. Her tail hung limply around his wrist, her nose pressed against the side of his neck. Her warm breaths swept over his skin in waves, making his entire arm tingle slightly.

“Let me absorb a little… just a little,” she whispered, her voice as faint as a mosquito’s hum. Her claws unconsciously scratched just below his collarbone. “Otherwise, I’ll fall asleep, and then you’ll have to carry me while running?”

Shen Yan didn’t reply. He silently unfastened the collar of his silver-thread soft armor, revealing the burnt tear in his shirt beneath, scorched by foxfire. He knew she was searching for a Spiritual Veins node, and he knew how dangerous this method of absorption was—his Source Code Spiritual Root had already started issuing warnings. A full-screen alert automatically popped up in his Consciousness Sea:

【Detected unauthorized Spiritual Energy interaction】

【Intimacy level: High risk】

【Recommend immediate disconnection】

He glanced at the notice and sneered, “You’re overstepping.”

As soon as he spoke, a warm current seeped into the wound. It wasn’t painful; instead, it felt like someone had poured a cup of hot milk tea into his veins, warming him from his fingertips all the way to his heart. His fingers twitched uncontrollably, nearly causing him to drop his phone.

Just then, the roots of the ancient tree trembled slightly, as if something underground had shifted.

“Don’t move,” he gritted his teeth, holding on. One hand still protected the back of her neck, while the other gripped the phone tightly. “Take one more sip, and we’ll both end up in the ICU.”

“Then turn off that noisy system notice,” she flicked her ears, opening a slit of her vertical pupils. “It’s too distracting.”

Shen Yan was taken aback, then realized—she could actually sense the Terminal Interface? That didn’t make sense. The System was an embedded program unique to him; even Ye Zhao’s Sword Qi scans had never detected a trace of it.

But there was no time to dwell on it now. He manually pulled up the settings menu and switched “Security Protocol V1.0” directly to silent mode.

【Warning: Disabling core protection module may cause Emotional Variable overflow】

【Confirm?】

“Confirm my foot!” he muttered under his breath, jabbing the confirm button hard with his fingertip.

The screen went black for a moment. After restarting, a line of crooked text appeared: 【User behavior anomaly, suspected love-addled brain】

“Shut up!” he almost roared, a vein throbbing on his forehead.

Luo Li, however, let out a soft chuckle. Her tiny paw rested on his palm, and her nose nuzzled his pulse point. “You humans are so strange. You’re willing in your heart, but you insist on acting like you’re being forced to work overtime.”

Shen Yan didn’t respond. He merely swallowed, his gaze falling on the tips of her ears—whether it was an illusion or not, they seemed to be tinged with a faint pink.

The wind rustled through the gaps in the forest, making the ancient leaves overhead whisper softly. Sporadic explosions still echoed from the direction of the distant maze ruins, but they were temporarily safe. This area was affected by the residual waves of an ancient formation, with severe space distortion—even the Shadow Erosion Organization’s puppets dared not approach lightly.

Shen Yan leaned against the tree trunk and slowly slid down to sit, his back pressing against the rough bark. Only then did he notice that the inner wall of this ancient tree faintly revealed the outline of a star map, as if someone had etched a route map onto it with light.

He noted the location but didn’t move.

Right now, the most important thing was to let her regain some strength.

“Is that enough?” he asked softly. “If you keep absorbing, I’ll have to rely on drinking talisman water to replenish my Spiritual Power tomorrow.”

Luo Li didn’t answer. Instead, she raised her head, her cat-like eyes fixed intently on him. The next moment, she suddenly shifted back to her half-beast form. Her long hair cascaded over her shoulders, and her face still bore traces of weakness, yet she leaned in extremely close, her nose almost touching his chin.

“What do you think?” Her voice was a bit hoarse. “Do you think it’s enough?”

Shen Yan froze. The distance between them was so close he could count the lashes on her eyelids. He could even smell the lingering scent of Demonic Fire in her hair, mixed with a hint of herbal fragrance—the scent of the healing ointment Pei Yue had given her.

“You… what are you doing?” he stammered, his programmer-like logic instantly crumbling.

Luo Li didn’t answer. Instead, she gently took his hand and slowly traced something on his palm with the tip of her finger. A faint light flashed, leaving behind a strange symbol, like a knot woven from vines.

Shen Yan’s Consciousness Sea trembled violently, and his Terminal automatically initiated a parsing program:

【Translating Foreign Text】

【Match Result: Ancient Demon Clan Language】

【Meaning: Entwined Fate, Oath of Symbiosis】

His breath hitched, his voice so low it was almost inaudible. “Is this… the meaning of ‘love’?”

She didn’t nod or deny it. Instead, she gently rested her head back on his shoulder, her tail quietly shifting up half an inch to hook around his waist.

“You teach me to write code, and I’ll teach you to recognize words,” she said. “A fair trade.”

Shen Yan was stunned for a few seconds before suddenly laughing. The laughter was light, carrying the exhaustion of surviving a tribulation, along with something indescribable swirling in his chest.

“You’re quite the businesswoman,” he said, reaching up to stroke the ends of her hair. “Next time, can we sign a contract in advance? At least specify the warranty period.”

“Do you want to sign a permanent version?” She narrowed her eyes, her vertical pupils shrinking to slits. “I can give you a discount.”

“A discount?” He raised an eyebrow. “What kind of discount? A lifetime membership? Or free repair services included?”

“For example…” She suddenly looked up, brushed her lips quickly against the corner of his mouth, then pulled back just as swiftly, the tips of her ears turning impossibly red. “This right now counts as the down payment.”

Shen Yan froze completely, his brain crashing for three full seconds. His Source Code Spiritual Root frantically sounded alarms, his Interface directly blue-screened, and upon restarting, a line of text popped up:

【System Crash Reason: Emotional Impact Exceeded Threshold】

【Suggestion: Immediately Format Cache】

“You… you just…” He pointed to the corner of his mouth, his tongue stumbling over the words.

“If you regret it, the interest doubles,” she said, lifting her chin in feigned composure, though the tip of her tail trembled uncontrollably.

Shen Yan looked at her outwardly strong but inwardly fragile demeanor and suddenly pulled her closer into his embrace. The motion wasn’t rough, but it was firm enough.

“I don’t regret it,” he said. “Just remind me next time so I can back up important data first.”

Luo Li was taken aback for a moment, then burst into laughter, curling up in his arms like a little fox that had finally found its den.

In the distance, the mountains continued to tremble, and the entrance to the secret passage still lay ahead. Their journey was far from over.

Yet at this moment, Shen Yan felt the chaotic System Notice in his chest quiet down for the first time.

The wind rustled through the treetops, and the faint glow of the Star Map on the ancient tree’s inner wall flickered, reflecting on his glasses like a coordinate leading into the unknown.

He glanced down at the glowing symbol in his palm, then at the person in his arms.

The next second, Code Flow shimmered at the Tip of his Finger as he silently created a new folder in the System Background, naming it—

“Important Client Files · Do Not Delete.”

(End of Chapter)