Chapter 21: Banter

Half-naked and covered in blood, Xia Yan thanked Sister Mei and Lü Yang once again. She bowed to them, then quickly ran to her door. She unlocked it, went inside, and immediately closed the security iron gate.

“How ungrateful! You risked your life to save her despite past disagreements, and she didn’t even invite us inside to sit,” Sister Mei said, feeling displeased with Xia Yan again. Sister Mei’s own duplex apartment was like a construction site, with no electricity, making it hard to even get a hot drink.

“Then let’s go to your place and sit for a while,” Lü Yang chuckled. He didn’t mind it at all; he just wanted to wash the blood off his body as soon as possible.

“Yeah, let’s go to my place and sit,” Sister Mei glanced at Lü Yang and didn’t say more. She took out her keys, opened the door, and they both went inside.

After closing the security iron gate of the duplex apartment, Sister Mei let out a deep sigh, as if she instantly felt much safer.

But Lü Yang didn’t think so. He felt that the iron gate of the apartment building and the security door might keep out the two porters, but if there were other non-human dangers in the Mysterious Domain, these iron gates wouldn’t hold up at all.

Lü Yang didn’t say this out loud, because it would only make Sister Mei more nervous and wouldn’t help end this Mysterious Domain.

Luckily, although the residential area had no power, the water was still running. The two washed their hands and faces in the dark, and Lü Yang also wiped his upper body clean. Then they found small stools in the first-floor living room and sat down against the wall.

“What’s happening to the world? Is the Apocalypse really coming? Where did everyone in the residential area go? What’s going on outside?” Sister Mei, feeling a bit calmer, finally started thinking about the strange events around her.

“Maybe…” Lü Yang answered casually. Although he knew this was all caused by the Mysterious Domain of the Eerie Computer, he himself didn’t fully understand what the Mysterious Domain was. With his limited knowledge, explaining it wouldn’t mean much unless he figured out the Main Quest of this Mysterious Domain and found a way to end it.

“Maybe the Apocalypse isn’t so bad. Ever since my husband died, I’ve been living without much meaning anyway,” Sister Mei sighed. She glanced at Lü Yang, her eyes lingering on his muscular chest for a few seconds before quickly looking away.

“Sister Mei, the dead can’t come back to life. If everything returns to normal tomorrow morning, don’t keep dwelling on the past. Start a new relationship. Your husband wouldn’t want you to stay sad like this,” Lü Yang couldn’t help but offer some advice.

“I haven’t been… it’s just… in this world… I’ve only met two good men. One was my husband, but he died. The other is you. But you’re already taken… Of course, a handsome young man like you wouldn’t be interested in an old woman like me…” Sister Mei teased him lightly. Under the cover of darkness, she looked at Lü Yang again, letting her eyes rest on his well-built chest for another few seconds.

Although Lü Yang had often worked shirtless in the past because of the heat, showing off his strong muscles, for some reason, seeing him like this tonight stirred unusual feelings in Sister Mei’s heart.

Lü Yang sensed something suggestive in Sister Mei’s words and gaze. He used to go shirtless while working, but this time, it was because his clothes were torn and he had no choice. Sister Mei had never looked at him this way before. Before, he hadn’t thought much of it, but now he suddenly felt a bit awkward.

Lü Yang had another set of work clothes in a bag inside, but suddenly getting up to put on the dirty clothes to cover himself seemed unnecessary, as if hinting to Sister Mei not to look at him.

“Actually… that Xiao Ya… she… she’s not my girlfriend,” Lü Yang said, flustered by Sister Mei’s intense gaze, and quickly changed the subject to hide his discomfort.

“She’s not your girlfriend? No wonder I always thought something seemed off between you two,” Sister Mei said with a knowing look. Seeing that Lü Yang noticed her staring but didn’t seem upset, she grew bolder, letting her eyes roam freely over his bare upper body in the dark.

“What do you mean, something seemed off between us?” Lü Yang was curious now. After Yi Yi suddenly disappeared, he’d never understood how Yi Ya ended up being considered his girlfriend.

“Nothing much…” Sister Mei smiled. “I just thought it was odd… I never saw you hold her hand, and when you walked in the residential area, you were always separated… Young couples aren’t usually like that.”

“Heh, she really isn’t my girlfriend. She’s very ambitious—she said she’d only marry someone worth at least ten billion. Being with me… it’s just…” Lü Yang didn’t know how to finish, because he wasn’t sure either.

“Xiao Ya is very pretty. Maybe she’s keeping you as a backup? If she can’t snag a rich guy, at least she has a good man like you waiting… so she won’t end up with no one. Girls these days… they really have no shame, no gratitude…” Sister Mei sighed, probably feeling Lü Yang deserved better.

“Don’t say that about her,” Lü Yang said unhappily. Although he knew Sister Mei wasn’t wrong, he didn’t think it was Yi Ya’s fault. If anyone was to blame, it was society.

If everyone had basic security—education, healthcare, retirement taken care of—maybe then everyone could pursue true love.

But the country had its own struggles. For development, to overcome the weakness left by a century of oppression by foreign powers, it endured hardships and pressed on with infrastructure despite internal and external pressures, unable to fully focus on people’s welfare yet. But Lü Yang believed that as the country grew stronger, everything would slowly get better.

“Sorry…” Sister Mei quickly apologized. “I just… feel you deserve better…”

“What’s there to deserve or not?” Lü Yang laughed. “I never intended to be with her anyway. I see her as a little sister, like my own sister, you know?”

Back when Yi Yi was around, Lü Yang mostly saw Yi Ya as his sister—except for those occasional lustful thoughts he had while alone in bed.

“I understand,” Sister Mei smiled, her eyes wandering to Lü Yang again. Maybe she thought the Apocalypse had come and nothing mattered anymore, or maybe after all the fright, the brief safety made her bolder. Now she didn’t hide her appreciation for Lü Yang.

Perhaps… she’d felt this way around him before but suppressed it. And the strong heartbeat from fear and tension can sometimes be mistaken for attraction, making the feelings feel real.

“Xiao Ya… she just sees me as a brother too,” Lü Yang sighed, a hint of loneliness in his expression.