Chapter 79: Keep the Secret

"Should I be calling you Lu Ye instead?" Mo Shiyan asked with a calm voice. Jiang Zihan couldn’t understand his true emotions hidden within his tone, though his words still caused him to stare at him stiffly.

The atmosphere seemed to suddenly freeze. Jiang Zihan lowered his eyes and fell silent, unsure of how he should answer that question.

Oh no... Shiyan definitely heard what the monster said before! I tried to erase that scene from my memories, persuading myself that nothing had happened, but Shiyan is definitely not thinking that way!

How am I supposed to explain to him about my identity?!

AHHHH! My head hurts!

At last, Jiang Zihan forced a smile on his face and asked, "Shiyan, what are you even saying?" He backed up a little, his eyes looking away in guilt.

"Didn’t that monster just call you a different name? Don’t you think you need to give me an explanation on why it was calling you that way?" Mo Shiyan asked as he crossed his arms in front of him. A light smile appeared on his face, though that smile looked even more scary to Jiang Zihan right now than the C-Rank monster that he had killed before.

"Is there a possibility... that you heard wrong?" Jiang Zihan asked tentatively in a low voice. His tone sounded a bit hopeless at the same time.

"Oh? Did I?" Mo Shiyan asked back as he raised an eyebrow.

Jiang Zihan: "..."

In Mo Shiyan’s mind, the little "Jiang Zihan" was already kneeling on the ground thoughtfully. He lowered his eyes as tears were rolling down his cheeks.

No matter what, Jiang Zihan knew that he definitely could not admit that he was Lu Ye, or else he wouldn’t be able to explain who he is exactly. If he tells Mo Shiyan that he had transmigrated from a different world, Mo Shiyan is definitely gonna think that he’s crazy.

Just as he was deep in his thoughts and trying to think of a good excuse to somehow muddle his way out, Mo Shiyan suddenly walked forward, one step at a time.

With every step Mo Shiyan took forward, Jiang Zihan instinctively took a step back, until his back had leaned against the wall, with no other way to go. Just as Mo Shiyan was nearly in front of him, Jiang Zihan subconsciously closed his eyes shut, waiting for his fate to unfold, when Mo Shiyan directly walked past him without speaking a word.

Jiang Zihan: "...?"

The little "Jiang Zihan" immediately widened his eyes in Mo Shiyan’s mind, tilting his head to the side, not understanding what was happening. Then he twirled around in circles with a panic expression, not sure of what his next steps were.

Seeing this, Mo Shiyan’s steps unconsciously slowed down, giving Jiang Zihan the chance to hurry forward and catch up to him. "Wait—!!"

Jiang Zihan walked beside him as he stared at the side of Mo Shiyan’s face with hesitation. His mouth opened a little, wanting to say something, though he closed his mouth at last. After hesitating for a while, he tentatively reached his hand out and pulled gently on Mo Shiyan’s sleeve, though Mo Shiyan just ignored his actions.

"Shiyan... are you angry?" he asked in a soft voice, observing his expression.

Mo Shiyan did not answer his question. Jiang Zihan tugged on his sleeve a little harder in order to catch his attention.

After a moment, Mo Shiyan seemed to be a little helpless and finally stood in place. He let out a sigh before turning around to look at his face, meeting his eyes. Jiang Zihan subconsciously released his sleeve.

Then suddenly, his eyes widened as he felt a sensation above his head. It was Mo Shiyan ruffling his hair just as he usually did.

"Shiyan..." Jiang Zihan whispered gently.

"I understand now," Mo Shiyan suddenly said. "I’m not angry that you are trying to hide something from me. I’m angry that you didn’t care about your own safety."

"What...?"

"That black mist... is very dangerous. I don’t want you to get so close to it, because of how dangerous it is," Mo Shiyan slowly explained.

Jiang Zihan lifted his head and quickly asked, "Then, about my name—"

Before he could even finish his sentence, Mo Shiyan suddenly leaned forward and replied, "If you don’t want to talk about it, then just keep it as a secret for yourself. I believe in your judgement... always."

"But—"

He wanted to explain, but the moment he met Mo Shiyan’s gaze, he stopped his words mid-way. Why do I feel like Shiyan already knows who I am? Is it my illusion again?

——

"Brother, are you okay?" Shen Qingyi asked as she bent down beside Shen Qingci, her eyes filled with worry as she stared at his wounds.

"I’m fine; there’s no need to worry," Shen Qingci said when he suddenly coughed out a mouthful of blood.

"Brother!" Shen Qingyi called out, and her pupils shrank immediately. Her hands trembled as she touched the wounds on her brother’s body. However, there’s nothing she could do about it because in this competition, they were not allowed to bring any kind of potions with them.

Shen Qingci gently took her hand and shook his head. He swallowed the blood rising in his throat before saying, "Qingyi, cover me. I need your help in order to find a chance to close the distance between the monster and eliminate it."

Shen Qingyi quickly shook her head as tears rolled down her cheeks. "Brother, I can’t. Your injuries are so severe; you need to rest," she cried out.

"Qingyi, listen to me! If we don’t take it down, it will find us any time soon. Rather than sitting here waiting for death, it’s better for us to fight back right now," Shen Qingci said as he gripped a little tighter on her hand.

"But—"

"There’s no other way," Shen Qingci continued, his voice sounding a bit cold.

Shen Qingyi lowered her head, falling silent.