QT: LAC Chapter 54: Fourth World (13)

Chapter 54: Fourth World (13)
Translated by Shiya of Exiled Rebels Scanlations
Editor: Sulo

Logically, Luo Xi’s words were quite reasonable. After all, the coincidences between the two were simply too big judging from their appearances and their encounter with Xie Yan. In addition, the emergence of Bai Duan happened right around the time when Xie Yan was separated from Luo Xi, causing him to sink into depression. It was inevitable that he would see Bai Duan as a sort of substitute when encountering Bai Duan who was somewhat similar to Luo Xi.

In this regard, if Bai Duan said that he didn’t mind at all, that would obviously be deceitful. However, in the depths of his heart, he didn’t doubt Xie Yan’s feelings for him.

Maybe it was because Xie Yan first met him in reality but not in the game?

At that time, he didn’t have the skin of a white fox, nor was he ‘saved by the hero’. However, even without any of those, Xie Yan still expressed his hopes to know Bai Duan, he even made him good food. At that time, Bai Duan had no special feelings for Xie Yan’s actions, but after he understood Xie Yan’s past and looked back on it now, Bai Duan thought that was truly rare.

Xie Yan was an extremely introverted and self-abased person. Not to mention, he almost never took the initiative to talk to strangers, he seldom even talked to people he knew, making it extremely rare. What’s more, Xie Yan must have been especially disappointed in reality, and in great despair at that time. Even so, he still carefully took the first step to interact with Bai Duan, trying to express his mind.

To be honest, Bai Duan didn’t know why Xie Yan chose to be close to him. Was it because he was the first to talk with him with a friendly attitude? Or was it because he was good looking?

Bai Duan felt that it may be both, and the latter part was probably larger. After all, even as early as when Bai Duan was at the starting point of the [Ten Thousand Realms], Xie Yan looked at him frequently and seemed to be shy but wanting to talk — which was why Bai Duan decided to talk to him and hence they met.

Although his sweetheart’s first concern was his appearance, which made Bai Duan a little gloomy, he could understand that, ‘everyone has an eye for beautiful things’. At first, didn’t Bai Duan doubt his own judge of aesthetics since Xie Yan was not ‘beautiful’, making him hesitate accepting his own feelings?

In such a way, he and Xie Yan were even. What’s more, appearance only affected the first impression, to deepen each other’s feelings for each other, one can only rely on interactions.

As Bai Duan was thinking that he got to know Xie Yan because of his own appearance, he couldn’t help but praise his own looks. Bai Duan then detailedly looked at Luo Xi, after comparing, Bai Duan raised his eyebrows.

Although Bai Duan didn’t usually care about his own appearances, he even used to think that the excellent appearance caused him a certain degree of trouble. After all, he didn’t want to be pursued by all the playboys who only cared about looks. At this moment, after comparing his appearance with that of Luo Xi, Bai Duan’s fox tail couldn’t help but sway proudly.

Because he found that he was much better looking than Luo Xi, and there were no similarities between their looks, no matter the proportion of their facial features or the details on their faces, they were completely different. Even if Xie Yan’s eyes were blind, he would never mistake the two.

What’s more, aside from their looks, their temperaments were also very different. Luo Xi was pitiful, fragile and delicate, while Bai Duan was confident, cheerful and stern. Luo Xi was used to relying on others, while Bai Duan was independent because his parents had been away from home for many years, so no matter what, they were completely different.

Apart from the little details in the game, they had nothing in common. If Bai Duan and Xie Yan really did meet in the game, then Bai Duan would have hesitated for a moment and suspected the possibility that he was just a substitute. But as that was not true, Bai Duan was only displeased with one thing, which was the amount of insults people were throwing Xie Yan’s way.

However, Bai Duan did not intend to refute Luo Xi’s words, because he was not willing to disclose the details of his relationship with Xie Yan to these two people. If there was no evidence to support it, then the refutations would not be persuasive, and it would be impossible to make Luo Xi agree.

What’s more, there was no reason for Bai Duan to have to make Luo Xi agree with him. If Luo Xi wanted to break his relationship with Xie Yan, then he definitely wouldn’t let Luo Xi get in his way. What could be more intolerable than the ‘substitute’ using the ‘ex-white moonlight ¹’ as a stepping stone?

As long as Xie Yan liked Bai Duan, he didn’t care whether people saw him as a ‘substitute’ or the ‘new ‘white moonlight’. In the face of Luo Xi, who broke Xie Yan’s heart, Bai Duan’s urge to protect him grew stronger than ever. He was eager to take a stand for Xie Yan, he wanted to make Luo Xi feel sad and suffocating.

“Is that so? You may have a point,” Bai Duan curved his eyes, his wagging white fox tail seemed to have been dyed black. “Then I would like to say thank you.”

“What?” Luo Xi didn’t quite follow.

“If you didn’t break Qian LinFeng’s heart, then he wouldn’t be with me just because I’m similar to you. If that was the case, I would never have known Qian LinFeng and we would have not come to love each other.” Bai Duan’s face was serious and sincere. “I was able to find such a thoughtful lover thanks to you! However, you can rest assured that although my encounter with Qian LingFeng may have been due to you, we did truly fall in love with each other later, there were no concealments or suspicion between us.”

Was there anything more intolerable than the ‘substitute’ using the ‘ex-white moonlight’ as a stepping stone? There is. Which is, after the ‘substitute’ banished the ‘ex-white moonlight’, the ‘substitute’ won, then worse yet, the ‘substitute’ thanked the ‘ex-white moonlight’ for its ‘selfless sacrifice’ ~

Sure enough, even the usually weak Luo Xi couldn’t stop his face from turning red after hearing Bai Duan’s words. There was an uncontrollable anger in his heart, which was also normal after being provoked.

Originally, Luo Xi had positive feelings towards Bai Duan due to pity and sympathy. He regarded him as a ‘companion’ who was deceived, plus he also felt pity for Bai Duan, thinking he was used as a ‘substitute’ for him. But now, looking at Bai Duan bragging, he couldn’t feel any of those emotions any more. Instead, he felt that the other side was disgusting — he was so concerned about Bai Duan, but it was all in vain!

People were always like this. They would always make a fuss about what they couldn’t obtain, but when they actually got it, they would abandon it as easily if they were throwing away a pair of old shoes. No matter what the object was, whenever someone began to fuss over it, its value would multiply. If the object originally belonged to them, but was robbed by others, it became even more precious and haunting.

Possessiveness could sway people’s ideas and attitudes. Obviously, Luo Xi didn’t want to get back with Xie Yan before, but after Bai Duan, who was a strong competitor, appeared in front of him. He even proceeded to show off his kind and considerate boyfriend to Luo Xi. The memory of Luo Xi’s time with Xie Yan surfaced, becoming more and more vivid and sparkling, making him filled with regret and jealousy.

However, even if he was angry, Luo Xi had never argued with people, he wasn’t as nearly as good at talking as Bai Duan was. Luo Xi did not know how to refute back. He was so angry that his tongue tied up for a long time, then his eyes suddenly turned red.

Luo Xi looked like he was about to cry, and that look even made Bai Duan stutter. God knows that Bai Duan was only a little mean, he was trying to make Luo Xi feel bad, but he never thought that he would make Luo Xi cry!

Cheng Hong, on the other hand, couldn’t take this any more. It was really eye-nourishing to see two beautiful young men fighting out of jealousy, but when he thought about how they were fighting for Xie Yan, who was ugly, self abased, and gloomy, Cheng Hong felt like a thorn was stuck in his throat. It was as if the whole world had lost reason!

If it was just Bai Duan, then Cheng Hong would still accept it, maybe that was Bai Duan’s kink? But why did Luo Xi, who wasn’t able to accept Xie Yan’s appearance before and even broke up with him, want to get back together with Xie Yan all of a sudden?! Was Luo Xi’s head damaged by this weird Bai Duan?!

“Enough already!” Suddenly slamming the table, Cheng Hong impatiently interrupted the two’s love squabble. His expression was full of wonder, “Are you both crazy?!”

Cheng Hong was a self-centered person who did things based solely on his whims. He got close to Luo Xi because he thought Luo Xi was pleasant on the eyes, and having Luo Xi follow him gave Cheng Hong face. Moreover, he wanted to see Xie Yan’s in despair and pain. To be honest, he didn’t really like Luo Xi’s weak character and how he always needed others to take care of him. Now that Cheng Hong was completely infuriated by Bai Duan, he had no thoughts to cherish the ‘jade’ beside him at all. Even the timidity he initially showed from being shocked by Bai Duan’s aura was gone.

Staring at Bai Duan, Cheng Hong’s eyes were filled with malice, “Ha, if you could be so devoted to that fatso Xie Yan, maybe you’re the same as him. Are you tricking everyone with a fake face too? I know, that face of yours was probably made by Xie Yan too!?”

Bai Duan scolded Luo Xi so much that he almost cried, so naturally, he didn’t dare add more efforts into that. At that exact moment, Cheng Hong jumped out to find his own death, attracting all of Bai Duan’s anger to him.

When facing Luo Xi, who was ‘deceived’ by Xie Yan’s avatar’s appearance and hence wasn’t able to accept the truth, Bai Duan still had some sympathy towards. However, when it came to this Cheng Hong, who just didn’t like seeing someone else happy, and went so far as to destroy said person’s life, Bai Duan had nothing but disgust.

He directly ignored Luo Xi, who was going to cry but not yet. Bai Duan turned to Cheng Hong and slightly raised his chin up, “Are you a psychopath? Why do you pay so much attention to others’ looks? What’s it to you?! Whether my appearance is real or not, you have no rights to tell me what to do!”

The spiritual strength of Bai Duan had became stronger after going through several worlds. Once he was serious, in this virtual game world that was constructed with spiritual power, his mental strength was especially evident. Moreover, although Bai Duan had no memories of the other worlds, in the previous world, he was still an important official in the imperial court, one who could just wave his hand and make the whole country shiver. His spiritual strength, which had accumulated over the years, had always been integrated into his soul. He usually didn’t show it, but when he was really unhappy, all of it would burst out at once.

Cheng Hong was a thug. After graduating from college, he couldn’t do anything, so he just found entertainment in the game. How could he possibly bear the sudden outbreak of Bai Duan’s strong aura? As Bai Duan approached him step by step, he subconsciously shook his legs and moved backwards. Obviously, he was at least half a head taller than Bai Duan, but he fell short when it came to willpower, making Bai Duan look even more powerful.

It was usual for a pair of lovers to have a stronger one and a weaker one. Due to Xie Yan’s ‘weak’ character in this world, Bai Duan would naturally have to strengthen up and protect his lover. His nature was completely exposed, Bai Duan would do everything in power to keep Xie Yan under his wing and to drive away everything that would hurt him. Cheng Hong was something that would hurt Xie Yan.

“I didn’t know before, so you were allowed to bully Xie Yan for such a long time, but now — he’s my lover, he’s protected by me, you are not allowed to do harm to him any more!” Bai Duan stared at Cheng Hong, his eyes were cold and sharp and his words were not any less sharp.

Cheng Hong was suppressed by Bai Duan’s aura, and his mind was in a mess. Cheng Hong was not a strong person. At this moment, the only thing he wanted to do was to escape from Bai Duan’s scary aura — as such, he subconsciously launched an attack.

Bai Duan had long guessed that Cheng Hong was a bully and a coward. Only a failure of a person would get pleasure from seeing others suffer. Therefore, when Cheng Hong attacked him, he wasn’t shocked — that was to say, Bai Duan deliberately forced Cheng Hong’s hand by overwhelming him with his own mental strength. Bai Duan deliberately made him feel cornered and confused.

With his advanced equipment, Bai Duan took Cheng Hong’s first hit, then dodged the following ones. At the same time, he quickly gulped down a bottle of high-grade healing potion, which he had prepared beforehand. In an instant, all the lost HP was restored.

After successfully placing himself in the ‘innocent’ side of ‘being suddenly attacked by others and having to fight back to protect himself’, Bai Duan raised his lips up coldly.

For Luo Xi who had ‘pitiful’ combat strength, it was fine with Bai Duan to just verbally attack him, but for Cheng Hong, who had no shame and was a selfish bastard, Bai Duan must teach him a lesson physically!