The cold early spring wind swept through the forest, rustling the leaves with a faint sound.
In the real world, Gu Jiu’s vision was limited to twenty centimeters. Beyond that, everything was a blurry haze, as if she were blind with her eyes open.
However, since becoming a B-level player, she no longer relied on her physical eyes to perceive the world.
She closed her eyes slightly, waiting patiently.
Before long, Lu Ji’s presence grew closer, enveloping her surroundings and consuming her senses.
Gu Jiu opened her eyes and said, “Ah Ji, come closer. I can’t see you.”
The man standing ten steps away hesitated for a moment, then obediently walked over. Squatting in front of her, he gently placed his hands on her knees, tilting his head to look up at her.
Passersby who saw this scene couldn’t help but find it a little odd.
The young woman was strikingly beautiful, her features warm and pleasant, with an air of elegance. The man crouching in front of her wore a long black trench coat. He was coldly handsome with pale skin, his gestures intimate yet his expression distant and stoic, as if unaffected by his proximity to her.
It was a picture-perfect scene, yet the man’s icy demeanor and somber aura gave it an uncanny undertone, leaving people unsure about the nature of their relationship.
Gu Jiu reached out and touched his face, feeling the icy chill against her fingertips.
“Why don’t you wear more layers?” she asked.
Lu Ji replied in a low voice, “My body is naturally cold. No amount of clothing helps.”
Gu Jiu let out a soft “oh,” leaning in closer. Finally, she could make out his features—the raven-black brows, snow-white skin, and the cold expression that betrayed his nervousness, as he struggled to control his emotions.
She said nothing, letting her fingertips lightly trace his brows and eyes, making him grow even more tense.
Lu Ji stiffened, his entire body frozen, even holding his breath. His mind went blank as he anxiously pondered what she would do upon discovering his true identity. Would she break up with him? Try to figure out what he truly was? Or…
She suddenly asked, “Last time, when Mingli and I went to the farmstay, were you there too?”
Lu Ji gave a quiet “mm” and explained softly, “You said you couldn’t enter Boundless City, so I couldn’t help but come to your world to find you… I followed your presence to the farmstay and stood in the courtyard, watching you. But you couldn’t see me.”
As he spoke, the memory of that moment still brought him pain.
At the time, he had desperately wanted to appear before her and reveal his identity. He had been standing so close, watching her intently, but her poor vision kept her from noticing him.
Gu Jiu pieced it together, finding it both amusing and endearing.
Back then, she had dismissed it as her imagination, thinking she had grown so used to his presence that even in the real world, she felt as though he was with her. This realization had made her aware of her deeper feelings for him, feelings far from those of a mere partner. Later, she realized it wasn’t her imagination after all. He had indeed been there, standing close, but she couldn’t see him due to her vision.
So this time, when she felt his presence again, she immediately knew he had followed her.
She wasn’t surprised at all.
When leaving Boundless City, she had deliberately mentioned meeting Huo Ting, setting a trap for him. She hadn’t expected him to jump in so willingly.
“Ah Jiu…”
Seeing her remain silent for so long, Lu Ji grew increasingly panicked. He nervously called her name, wanting to say something but fearing her anger, his entire being a bundle of anxiety.
Gu Jiu touched his face again and asked, “Who exactly are you?”
“I…” Lu Ji hesitated, then carefully confessed, “Ah Jiu, actually… I’m not human.”
Gu Jiu: “…”
The cold wind howled past. The once-clear sky had unknowingly turned overcast, as if a spring shower was on its way.
Seeing her remain silent for so long, Lu Ji panicked further and grasped her hand. “Ah Jiu…”
Gu Jiu’s hand was warm. With the enhanced physique of a B-level player, she didn’t feel the chill, even in the biting wind.
She pulled her hand back and stood up. “Forget it. Let’s go home first.”
Lu Ji scrambled to his feet in a panic, blurting out, “Ah Jiu, I can explain. I’m—”
“Home first!” Gu Jiu cut him off. “We’ll talk at home.”
Lu Ji stared at her without saying a word, his eyes seeming to redden slightly.
Gu Jiu couldn’t see his expression clearly, but she could feel the shift in his presence and the sudden thick, oppressive air around them. It was a manifestation of the overwhelming aura emanating from Lu Ji—intense and powerful.
She recalled what Huo Ting had mentioned earlier.
Apparently, after players reach the S-level, they gain the ability to freely traverse spatial barriers. Some S-level players deliberately nurture the worlds they were born into, but others exploit other players’ worlds, plundering resources to sustain their own. In some cases, they even turn those worlds into their vassals.
This wasn’t explicitly forbidden, nor was it actively encouraged.
Huo Ting had worried that their world might one day become a target for such S-level players. Even if it wasn’t, the mere passage of an S-level player could cause irreparable consequences.
Gu Jiu had never encountered an S-level player before, so while she understood Huo Ting’s concerns, they had never felt real to her.
Until now.
The oppressive force radiating from Lu Ji was enough to make her believe Huo Ting’s words—S-level players could indeed have a profound impact on the real world.
She grabbed Lu Ji’s hand.
His aura was unstable, but the moment she held his hand, he instinctively tightened his grip on hers. The turbulent energy around him gradually began to calm.
“Ah Jiu…” he called softly, his voice tinged with pain, fragile and vulnerable.
Gu Jiu pressed her lips together and finally couldn’t hold back a scolding. “I haven’t even said anything yet, and here you are acting all aggrieved.”
Lu Ji didn’t respond, only looking at her with a pitiful expression. Then he seemed to realize that she couldn’t see his face clearly, and his sense of injustice deepened.
Unwilling to let the real world suffer because of him, Gu Jiu decisively brought him back to her apartment near University City, and from there, she dragged him into Boundless City.
As soon as they entered the house within Boundless City, the previously blurry world sharpened into crystal clarity.
Gu Jiu turned to look at the man beside her.
Dressed in a black trench coat, his tall and elegant figure exuded a noble, magnetic charm. His pale skin made him look like a vampire aristocrat straight out of a gothic castle, radiating an alluring dark aura.
However, his eyes were red, and his expression was one of utter grievance. He stood there quietly, enduring her scrutiny.
Gu Jiu was silent for a moment before suddenly grabbing his collar and pulling him down slightly. When he bent toward her, she kissed him.
In an instant, the darkness in his pitch-black eyes was pierced by starlight. It shattered the endless gloom, casting a mesmerizing brilliance across their depths.
Gu Jiu pushed him onto the sofa and straddled him, tugging at his collar as if tormenting a meek and submissive little bunny. Only when she was out of breath did she stop.
Looking down at the man half-reclined on the sofa, his breathing remained steady, though his cheeks were faintly flushed. His expression was timid, but his gaze burned with an intensity akin to a wolf’s. The moment he sensed her looking at him, he immediately lowered his eyelids, his entire demeanor radiating aggrieved innocence.
Gu Jiu couldn’t handle this.
Huo Ting wasn’t wrong—his strong, handsome, and commanding type wasn’t her aesthetic at all. On the contrary, someone like Lu Ji, with his sickly pale complexion and dark, brooding aura, like a character straight out of a gothic manga, fit her preferences perfectly.
Yes, the young lady’s tastes were truly unique.
What made it even better was that while he appeared frail and melancholic, his inner strength was immense—and in bed, he was utterly unstoppable.
The young lady was utterly satisfied.
Even though she suspected his pitiful, aggrieved look was likely an act, Gu Jiu couldn’t resist it. She found herself wanting… to bully him.
She touched his face gently and asked softly, “Is it really that upsetting?”
Lu Ji let out a faint hum, wrapping his arms around her waist and burying his face in her neck. His muffled voice sounded forlorn. “I thought you were going to break up with me.”
“Break up? I’m not bored of you yet. There’s no way we’re breaking up!”
Lu Ji: “.…” He didn’t dare ask if she’d break up with him once she got bored. Instead, he hesitantly asked, “Ah Jiu, how did you find out?”
Gu Jiu ruffled his hair, which was soft and silky, almost like a girl’s, unlike the coarse texture of most men’s hair.
“I’m not dumb, nor am I blind.”
Lu Ji softly agreed. She certainly wasn’t dumb, nor was she blind.
“You’ve never tried to hide your abnormalities. You never get injured—which, granted, is because you’re so strong you don’t need to. But the first time I got hurt, you were so surprised, like you couldn’t believe it was possible, or you didn’t even understand what it meant to be injured.”
Lu Ji recalled the time she twisted her ankle. By then, he’d already fallen for her, and seeing her hurt had pained him deeply.
“And you’ve never talked about the real world. Every time I enter Boundless City, you’re always there, as if you never leave. And whenever you’re present, the bosses in the game world deliberately avoid you…”
As she spoke, Lu Ji’s thoughts grew dazed.
Was his cover really that full of holes?
Although he had never deliberately tried to hide his identity, his reserved and quiet nature often made others overlook his existence. Few people had ever observed him closely enough to notice his peculiarities.
“And then there’s the fact that you’ve mentioned having enemies…”
Gu Jiu wasn’t just clever; her insight was extraordinary. Combined with the innate perception granted by her demon bloodline, she was naturally attuned to things beyond the ordinary. On top of that, Lu Ji, supposedly just a B-level player, could casually enter her world and appear at her side. It didn’t take long to deduce he was far from ordinary.
She was so familiar with his presence that whenever he came near, she could sense him immediately.
Lu Ji watched her cautiously, as if awaiting her final judgment.
Though she said they wouldn’t break up, that didn’t necessarily mean she would forgive him for his deception.
Gu Jiu chuckled lightly. “I used to think you were just a bigshot pretending to be a newbie. Turns out you’re not even human… But I’ve been mentally prepared for this, so it’s not that surprising.” She looked down at him with a playful gleam in her eyes. “What can I say? I just have a thing for your type.”
Lu Ji blinked in surprise, and then his face lit up with pure joy. His hands encircled her waist, pulling her closer onto him.
“Really?” He sat up excitedly.
Nestling into a comfortable spot in his arms, Gu Jiu twirled a strand of his long hair between her fingers and gave him an assured smile. “Of course.”
Lu Ji was overjoyed, holding her tightly against him.
As his mood soared, an invisible barrier formed outside the room, sealing the entire space away from the outside world.
That evening, Gu Jiu didn’t get to eat the dinner Lu Ji had promised to make. Instead, she ended up with a late-night snack—one not served on a plate.
The two of them lounged on the bed afterward, speaking intimately.
“So, what exactly are you?” Gu Jiu asked curiously.
Lu Ji replied honestly, “I don’t know what I am, either. People call me the Lord of the Dark Palace, and some demigods gave me a title—‘Lord of the Fallen.’”
Gu Jiu suddenly flipped over, sitting astride his waist. From her higher position, she studied him intently.
Her fingers traced over his inky black brows and his pale skin. He lay there quietly, looking obedient and soft, though the brooding darkness in his aura remained unmistakable.
She nodded. “It seems the title they gave you is pretty fitting.”
Lu Ji’s lips curved into a shy smile, and he asked earnestly, “Ah Jiu, do you think the name suits me?” His heart was fluttering with excitement—just a single word of approval from her could keep him happy for a long time.
Gu Jiu’s answer was a passionate kiss.
That nearly sent him into another frenzy, threatening to escalate things into another bout of feverish activity. Despite her bold demeanor, Gu Jiu knew her limits and quickly stopped him before it got out of hand again.
Having a boyfriend who wasn’t human came with its challenges. No wonder he was always so energetic—no matter how many times they did it, he couldn’t be drained completely. The idea of leaving him exhausted and spent was clearly out of the question.