Ch31 - Let Me Touch It

(We’ve Grown Ears!)

Edited by Silver Wind 

Regrettably, Shen Dongqing did not manage to learn how to be afraid in the end.

It also stemmed from the fact that Wu Jia refused to teach him.

 

 

With pitiable eyes, Shen Dongqing stared at Zhou Wenyan and said, “Do you know how to be afraid?”

Shen Dongqing genuinely cherished the new life he had as a human and had been constantly learning about how to be a human. 

As long as he could learn the fundamental emotions that were part of “human nature”, he was very willing to learn.

 

Zhou Wenyan: “Well… I don’t know how to either.”

What was there to fear?

There were only ghosts who feared him.

 

After hearing that answer, Shen Dongqing’s mood slumped.

Which led to Zhou Wenyan looking at the culprit with a gaze that was akin to knives.

Wu Jia patted his own cheek: Who told you to talk so much!

 

Serrated gaze still present on him, he said, “Maybe you can observe, um…. The players and ghosts later?” 

He could learn to be human by observing other people first.

Thus, Shen Dongqing started to develop an observation plan silently.

 

The trio returned back to the place they were staying in. 

The other players were sitting in the lobby on the first floor and it seemed like they had found nothing.

They were all veteran players. Due to their heightened vigilance, they chose to give their living space a thorough check first instead of rushing out rashly. This vigilance had preserved their lives up until now but this vigilance also limited their thinking.

Thus, the three people who went out were at the receiving end of everyone’s attention.

Confronted with their roundabout enquiries and scrutinising gazes, Zhou Wenyan remained unfazed as he sat down on the empty sofa. 

Shen Dongqing followed him and sat down as well.

Meanwhile, Wu Jia glanced at them before he decided to sit further away from them. After he found his roommate in the crowd, he seated himself.

 

Lowering his voice, Wu Jia asked: “Did you manage to find Lu Xiaozhen?”

Since this player survived the previous round, they would definitely know something. Or at the very least, they should be privy to the rules within Plague City. 

His roommate shook his head, a touch depressed. “We didn’t find them.”

Wu Jia: “Huh?”

According to his roommate’s elaboration, their group did search for Lu Xiaozhen and they even had plans to both intimidate and bribe should the person refuse to cooperate. However, when they reached Room 204 and knocked on the door politely, no one had answered and the door was locked.

Even after waiting patiently for a period of time, there was still no movement so  they had barged right in. 

But there was no one in the room, only…

His roommate deliberately paused at the climax of the story.

Wu Jia revealed a curious look: “Only what?”

His roommate patted his thigh: “Only a deer ran out of it, do you believe it? It was a small deer and it was good too— it even scared us.” 

Wu Jia: “Could Lu Xiaozhen have transformed into a deer and ran away?”

His roommate let out a short chuckle, saying, “Maybe.”

After their short conversation concluded, a man with the demeanour of a mogul as well as a pair of sunglasses stood up.

The man with the sunglasses coughed and said: “Since everyone is here, why don’t we discuss how we are going to clear this copy?” 

First and foremost, he glorified his own clearance experience.

A total of seven C-level copies, five B-level copies and one A-level copy.

Once he announced it, the other players started looking at him differently.

The man with the sunglasses was quite satisfied with their response, but that quickly changed to discomfort when he glanced over at Zhou Wenyan and Shen Dongqing. 

In spite of his proclamations, the pair were too disaffected as if they hadn’t heard him at all.

“Although the game did not indicate what level the Plague City copy is, I think its difficulty is at least a level A.” The Sunglasses Man smiled at everyone else, “Since I have more experience, why don’t we stay together? We can reduce the amount of danger we are in that way.”

 

The other players were slightly moved.

Even though they were old players, there were still distinctions amongst “old” players. Some of them had never encountered an A-level copy before, and with Sunglasses Man taking the lead, their situations would be less precarious. 

Naturally, Sunglasses Man was not doing this for charity.

Since he asked the players to form a group, it might also be because he wanted to find people to apportion the amount of danger they were in. Afterall, running against ghosts was not the matter of speed; rather, it was enough if he ran faster than his own teammates.

Both sides had their own thoughts but they still displayed relief on the surface.

After Sunglasses Man gathered his own group of little brothers, he set his sights on Zhou Wenyan again. Pushing up his sunglasses, he asked smilingly, “Brother, do you want to join our group?” 

With half-lidded eyes, Zhou Wenyan leaned back against the sofa and did not reply.

Instead, it was Shen Dongqing who asked curiously, “Is an A-level copy terrifying?”

Lazily, Zhou Wenyan said: “It’s alright, it’s quite senseless.”

Zhou Wenyan was speaking the truth. However, when it fell in the ears of others, it was tantamount to being pretentious. 

That was especially the case for Sunglasses Man; half of his visage might be concealed by his sunglasses but the frequent changes in his expression could still be discerned.

“Since you’re that powerful, why don’t you bring us to clear the customs?” said Sunglasses Man, tone queer.

Zhou Wenyan gave him a flitting glance before he asked, “And who are you?”

There was a sudden burst of laughter from the crowd. 

We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.

Wu Jia raised his hand, “I’m sorry, I couldn’t hold it in. I really couldn’t.”

Pa tjvc’a yffc fjrs obg Vecuijrrfr Zjc ab frajyilrt tlr gfqeajyif jlg bo yflcu j ylu ybrr, yea jii bo la kjr klqfv jkjs mifjcis klat bcf rlwqif vlrgeqalbc.

Kter, jii atf batfg qijsfgr rajgafv tfrlajalcu jr atfs ibbxfv ja tlw.

Obkfglcu tlr tfjv, Vecuijrrfr Zjc rjlv: “P jigfjvs wjcjufv ab olcv rbwf miefr. Po sbe’gf cba kliilcu ab obgw j afjw, la kbeiv yf yfaafg obg sbe lo sbe vbc’a ilrafc.” 

His words were blatantly directed against Zhou Wenyan.

Zhou Wenyan crossed his legs and did not make a move. “I’m not in a rush.”

 

Sunglasses Man sneered. “You want to leech off the clues?”

“It’s going to be dinner time soon.” Zhou Wenyan eyed the clock hanging on the wall. “Since all you’re going to say is nonsense, I don’t see how it’s a cause for concern.” 

Sunglasses Man ruminated on himself deeply. Why was he constantly allowing his irritation to get the better of him?

He took a deep breath and sat down slowly as he gritted his teeth, “We’re not in a rush, there’s no need to be anxious.”

Clang—

The bell rang and the fragrance of food wafted over, seemingly out of nowhere. 

Shen Dongqing stood up first and eagerly walked over to the dining hall. “I’m hungry.”

 

After the three hindrances left, Sunglasses Man finally spoke: “I got a clue that the plague was caused by a black cat. We’ll search the city tomorrow and see if we can find that black cat.”

“Additionally, it’s best if you don’t eat anything here, considering how the city’s name is ‘Plague City’. The plague might be contagious.” 

Wu Jia, who had prided himself for his caution, had been hiding behind the door to listen in on their conversation. Only after he judged that their conversation was over, did he enter the dining hall.

Shen Dongqing and Zhou Wenyan were already digging in.

The dining hall had ten people’s worth of food prepared, ranging from sweet and soft breads, sausages that were grilled to a crispy texture to steaks that were garnished with a thick sauce… and it filled an  entire table.

Wu Jia: “You’re just eating it, aren’t you afraid that it’s poisoned?” 

Zhou Wenyan took a sip of the red wine: “The poison won’t kill.”

Shen Dongqing’s head was buried in his food but he still gave Wu Jia a look in between his gorging to ask: “Aren’t you hungry?”

Wu Jia: “No…” A grumbling from his stomach interrupted him.

Smiling awkwardly, Wu Jia sat down and took one piece of bread and took a huge bite out of it. 

As he was eating, he said, “The clue that the Sunglasses Man found was the one about the black cat and it coincides with what we know. Could it be crucial for our clearance?”

Zhou Wenyan returned with a question: “Are you stupid like him?”

 

Wu Jia shut his mouth.

Zhou Wenyan placed down his wine glass. “Think on your feet; whenever the game gave us a clue for free, when had it not been a pit?” 

Wu Jia bowed his head deeply.

Zhou Wenyan threw a loaf of bread at him and said: “Eat up.”

Wu Jia raised his hand to catch the bread and no longer spoke, trying to swallow both his food and his bitterness.

Even until the end of mealtime, there were only the three of them in the dining hall and no other players came over. 

Shen Dongqing rubbed his belly and sighed, “The food at the Earl’s Manor is still the best.”

Zhou Wenyan coaxed him, “We can go and find a token for the Earl’s Manor once this copy ends to go back and experience it again.”

Shen Dongqing’s eyes brightened. “Really?”

Zhou Wenyan replied, “Really.” 

A dimple appeared on Shen Dongqing’s cheek. “We can play it for two more days then.”

Wu Jia thought to himself: Are you really treating the game as a book you can flip through? The first time was not enough so you need a second time? I think the Earl is going to cry at this rate.

 

Maybe because he ate too much, Shen Dongqing felt very drowsy the moment his head hit the pillow. 

Patting his back, Zhou Wenyan whispered: “Sleep.”

Shen Dongqing thus closed his eyes and fell into deep slumber.

Meanwhile, Zhou Wenyan was lying next to him and looking at his side of his face.

The orange-tinged lights dripped down onto Shen Dongqing’s pale visage and they flowed and hung on his curled lashes. 

As if he was entranced, Zhou Wenyan gently caressed his cheeks, only to stop and retract his hand when he heard a murmur.

Pa da—

 

Zhou Wenyan turned off the lights and laid down.

The double bed was more than sufficient for two men. 

Snuggled and intimately wrapped around each other, Zhou Wenyan could hear the sound of shallow breathing by his ear, and he did not know why but he found this scene strangely familiar as if it had been repeated numerous times in the past.

As the thought lingered in his mind, he closed his eyes.

Zhou Wenyan had always been very vigilant and all of his rests were akin to catnaps, ones that he could awake from at any given time.

Tonight, however, he slept extraordinarily deeply. 

While he was sleeping, Zhou Wenyan shifted a little, lifting his hand to wrap it around Shen Dongqing’s back.

And with that action, the hope flower that had been tucked away in his pocket fell out, incidentally landing on the back of Shen Dongqing’s hand.

It could be seen that even when it was randomly shoved into a pocket, the hope flower still bloomed brilliantly.

  

At twelve midnight.

It was the darkest time of the night.

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There was a loud noise outside of the window.

When it was carefully interpreted, it sounded like someone was wandering outside and their footsteps were staggering and swaying. In addition to that, there was a series of howls which was not a sound that could be made by a person. 

Shen Dongqing heard it too.

He wanted to wake up to see what was happening but the flower’s fragrance drifted over and his sleepiness surged up again and he sunk into his dreams again without the slightest precaution.

 

When dawn arrived, Shen Dongqing sat up in a muddle-headed manner. 

As soon as he opened his eyes, he felt that there was something wrong.

Why was there something obstructing his vision?

 

Shen Dongqing raised his hand to touch it, but what he touched was not hair but something furry instead.

Wait, wait a minute! 

In an instant, he woke up completely and jumped out of bed to look at the mirror.

The figure in the mirror was unmistakable.

But on the person’s head, there was another pair of furry… Ears?

It was a rabbit’s. 

A pair of ears hung down from both sides: it was white and furry on the outside while the inside was a pale pink, making it rather cute.

Shen Dongqing patted it twice before an abrupt thought occurred to him and he rushed out of the bathroom.

Zhou Wenyan had awoken early on and he was half-lying on the bed with one of his legs bent. His voice was somewhat husky in the morning. “What’s wrong?”

Shen Dongqing threw himself into his arms. 

“So cute—”

Shen Dongqing pinched Zhou Wenyan’s ears.

What Zhou Wenyan had grown were not rabbit ears and they looked like they belonged to a cat instead. They stuck out of his head vertically and the white fur was dotted with a pinch of black.

Using a tone that vocalised the pleasant surprise he felt, Shen Dongqing exclaimed, “We’ve grown ears!” 

Zhou Wenyan went silent for a moment before he turned his head away and coughed lightly. “Get down first.”

It was early in the morning and they were both adults, which made them all the more susceptible to being aroused.

Hearing his serious tone, Shen Dongqing reluctantly tugged on his ears again before he climbed off him.

After lazing around for a while, Zhou Wenyan raised his hand to touch the ears attached to his head. 

They were furry and with temperature; it did not seem to be fake.

Could this be the plague?

 

 

The trio sat around the coffee table. 

Wu Jia seemed to have discovered a new continent as he looked between Shen Dongqing and Zhou Wenyan.

In the end, he could only come to one conclusion: “It’s quite cute.” He lowered his voice, “I really want to touch it.”

Shen Dongqing agreed, “Uh-huh.”

As his words finished, Wu Jia received a cold glare from Zhou Wenyan. 

Immediately, he changed his expression to that of indignation as he shook his fist: “What kind of harmful plague is this! We must destroy this plague!”

Shen Dongqing’s drooping rabbit ears shook. “I think it’s cute, must we destroy it?”

Wu Jia was insistent. “Of course!”

But he was thinking internally: It’s great to see something embarrassing happen to Zhou Wenyan, I’ll think about it later! 

Naturally, he did not dare to utter such treacherous words.

Zhou Wenyan crossed his arms and noted with visible dissatisfaction, “Why don’t you have it?”

Only he and Shen Dongqing grew ears.

Wu Jia touched the top of his own head and made a guess: “Maybe you touched something that I didn’t touch?” 

Shen Dongqing tried his best to recall what happened yesterday. “The black cat?”

Wu Jia muttered, “Did the priest speak the truth?”

Zhou Wenyan stood up and plucked the hope flower out of the vase and placed it in Wu Jia’s hand.

Wu Jia, who was now holding the flower, stilled. “What do you mean by this?” 

“We’re doing an experiment,” said Zhou Wenyan.

Shen Dongqing tilted his head and his rabbit ears flopped to one side as well. “What experiment?”

 

Zhou Wenyan spat out two words: “Control variable.”

The three of them went out yesterday. 

He and Sheng Dongqing touched the black cat before they came into contact with the hope flower. When they woke up the next day, they had grown ears, and it was not certain whether the black cat or the hope flower was the cause.

Wu Jia had touched neither of them which made him a good candidate to conduct the experiment on. If he did not have ears tomorrow, they could determine that the black cat was the cause of the plague.

Having understood his words, Wu Jia wailed out, “I don’t want to grow ears.”

Zhou Wenyan laughed coldly, “Didn’t you say you found them cute?” 

When he looked back, he saw Shen Dongqing staring squarely at the ears on top of his head. Then, his expression changed, “Do you want to touch it?”

Shen Dongqing: “Yes!”

Wu Jia shrunk himself into the corner with the hope flower in hand, finally understanding why people who inflicted sins on themselves could not live.

Because Wu Jia was their control variable, he was arranged to stay in his room so he would not come into contact with any other person or animal. 

Meanwhile, Shen Dongqing went out with Zhou Wenyan. Since they were already infected, they did not have to worry about incurring a debt and they decided to find clues elsewhere.

As soon as they stepped out of the door, they encountered Sunglasses Man.

Since they did not deliberately hide their defects, Sunglasses Man saw the ears on top of their heads at a glance.

The Sunglasses had to be applauded for his flexible mind; he swiftly ducked to one side instead of approaching them. 

Zhou Wenyan could care less about such a small character and he continued to walk forward with Shen Dongqing.

Sunglasses Man pushed up his sunglasses, and the thoughts he had as he stared at the ears on their head was unknown.

Shen Dongqing and Zhou Wenyan stopped at the place where they met the black cat yesterday.

On the road there, they chanced upon a few players as well. 

From the looks of it, they were scouring the city for the black cat.

Perhaps the black cat was aware that a lot of people were after its tail because it had hidden itself somewhere and not even a single hair of it could be seen.

 

The pair were not in a rush and they strolled around the city at a leisurely place.

  

As they were passing by the Cathedral doors, however, they happened to see Sunglasses Man walk out of the building and he seemed to be conversing with the priest who was walking behind him.

The priest handed him a hope flower as well and said piously, “May God bless you and I. The hope flower can free us from diseases and allow us to redeem a new life.”

Taking the hope flower, Sunglasses Man repeated his sentence, “May God bless you and I.”

He lowered his head to look at the hope flower in his hand. But due to the fact that he was wearing sunglasses, it was difficult to make out what expression he had. 

Zhou Wenyan stared at him from a distance before he withdrew his gaze.

 

The two of them did not manage to find the black cat in the end.

Zhou Wenyan considered the options they had briefly before he stated, “Let’s visit the hospital.” 

The newspaper in their room had written that most people had been admitted to the hospital during the outbreak of the plague, and it was highly probable that the hospital still had some clues left behind.

Plague City was not large, following the road signs, they found where the hospital was located in less than an hour.

Compared to the other colourful small houses, the plain hospital was monotonous in colour and it was slightly run-down.

Just as they stepped into the hospital compound, Shen Dongqing suddenly made a noise of surprise. “The scent is much lighter here.” 

Since they were constantly in a floral environment, most people could not differentiate between the heaviness or lightness of the scent.

Now that he was reminded, Zhou Wenyan showed a visible reaction.

He lifted his hand and pinched his nose, “Let’s go in and take a look.”

The hospital was in a state of abandon and there was no one inside. 

As they were exploring the place, they could see medical equipment strewn all over the floors as if there had been a scene of pandemonium where people were fleeing. There was nothing in the wards; let alone a living person, there was not even a single corpse or animal.

Emptied out like a dead city.

 

That was the case for the first two floors.

The initial interest Shen Dongqing had gradually waned into boredom. 

As he followed Zhou Wenyan, he was muttering in fragmentary sentences. “Why don’t we go back? I want to touch your ears…”

Zhou Wenyan stopped. “Huh?”

Shen Dongqing looked up and leaned closer to him. “You can touch mine too.”

Naturally, Zhou Wenyan would not refuse such an invitation. Stretching out his hand, he rubbed those soft and long rabbit ears. 

“Why are you a rabbit?” He suddenly asked.

How could his Xiao Dongqing be akin to a rabbit? Apart from his appearance, that is.

Shen Dongqing thought about it for a while before he said: “Maybe because rabbits are delicious?”

After he had satisfied himself with touching his ears, Zhou Wenyan stated: “Then let’s stop searching and go back.” 

Zhou Wenyan had been rather proactive because the mystery surrounding Plague City intrigued him, but since Shen Dongqing did not want to search anymore, he could put it aside for now.

Worst come to worst, they could just grab the priest and ‘kindly’ ask him about the origin and development of the events.

As they were about to turn around and go back, Shen Dongqing suddenly saw that there was a black shadow flitting past them in the corner. “It’s the black cat!”

The black cat peeked its head out, its emerald green eyes scrutinising the two men closely. 

Having recognised that it was Shen Dongqing, it still came out of its corner in spite of its brief moment of hesitation. It issued a “meow” as if it was permitting Shen Dongqing to touch it.

Shen Dongqing waved his hand, “It’s fine, I have my own cat.”

As he said that, he pointed to Zhou Wenyan who was behind him.

Zhou Wenyan raised his chin, satisfied. 

The black cat seemed to have suffered a blow as it dropped his head and left, while loneliness could be perceived from its back.

Soon after, Shen Dongqing remembered in hindsight, “Weren’t we looking for the black cat?”

 

Zhou Wenyan held back his laughter, “En, let’s follow it and see where it’s taking us.”

The black cat seemed to want to take them somewhere because it did not move quickly, and it would always pause whenever they reached a bend. 

Thus, the two men trailed after it, up until they reached the second floor of the basement.

When they arrived at the place, all of the floral fragrance had disappeared.

Shen Dongqing glanced at him and turned pale with fright, “Your ears are gone!”

Truly believing that his ears were gone, Zhou Wenyan unconsciously felt for them only to realise that he was talking about the animal ears above his head. 

Shen Dongqing felt like he took a huge blow, “I haven’t touched it enough…”

Compared to the other instances where he stumbled upon a terrifying ghost, he seemed more upset by this.

Zhou Wenyan comforted him, “We’ll have them after we go out, it’s okay.”

The black cat looked at the pair with a chilly gaze. 

What was wrong with these two people?

Why were they stalling and not looking for the clues to decrypt the secret? Did they come here to abuse cats? They were the least dedicated players it had ever met!

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