Tomb raiding: Today is another day I don't want to go home.

Chapter 190 Please Accept the Challenge

Zhang Qiling's expression warmed involuntarily, and then he heard Yan Huai's voice.

"Are you alright? Take a rest!"

Yan Huai's eyes lit up when Zhang Qiling appeared. He quickly stepped forward, took Zhang Qiling's hand, and made him sit on the makeshift 'stool' he had made from piled-up clothes. His gaze was still subtly scanning Zhang Qiling, looking for anything amiss.

This behavior, which could be considered overprotective for Zhang Qiling, was taken for granted by Yan Huai. Even now, Zhang Qiling still doesn't quite get used to it, but she can't do anything about it.

Only serious matters could distract him...

"Outside, we didn't find the largest taimen." It's as if it vanished.

Yan Huai paused upon hearing this, but without hesitation, he sat down next to Zhang Qiling.

"It's okay, let's not look for it anymore. It probably won't appear again."

why?

Seeing Zhang Qiling's question, Yan Huai hesitated for a moment before honestly replying, "That taimen is acting strangely. It's probably a test from the consciousness of this world. It wants to see if I can control myself and help you when you're in danger, even with half of my bloodline talent sealed. It wants to know if I can keep up the agreement."

As soon as he finished speaking, Yan Huai felt the temperature around him drop suddenly, and he knew exactly why...

He sighed inwardly, gently squeezed Zhang Qiling's hand, and comforted him, "Don't be angry, brother. The agreement isn't harsh. As long as the Yan family members and I don't reveal any unusual abilities in front of outsiders and don't interfere with your future path, we can stay here indefinitely. Besides, being sealed isn't so bad. I was afraid I wouldn't be able to resist."

Yan Huai had a good attitude; as long as Zhang Qiling was safe and sound and not wronged, he didn't care about anything else.

But then he thought about how Yan Huai had brought danger to Zhang Qiling, and how his good attitude was instantly dampened, like a bucket of cold water being poured on him.

“It’s just that when you encounter situations like this, it takes some effort… It seems that ever since you met me, you’ve always been dragged into this mess.” Yan Huai’s tone was somewhat somber, as if he had found the cause but couldn’t think of a good solution, let alone a solution.

Seeing this, Zhang Qiling instinctively wanted to deny it, but he couldn't find a way to do so either. Only now did he realize once again that matters of the heart, especially his feelings for Yan Huai, had nothing in common with his lifelong practice of swordsmanship and tomb raiding. He couldn't cut things off quickly, nor could he hide them.

Although the events that have occurred during this period are not overwhelming, they are still quite chaotic. Zhang Qiling can only try to understand Yan Huai's true thoughts, which even he himself may not be aware of, based on the existing situation.

The space is now safe enough, and the person in question is right in front of us...

Yan Huai had been expecting Zhang Qiling to question him or offer clumsy words of comfort, but he received nothing. Only those dark, calm eyes remained fixed on him, a gaze that made him strangely uneasy...

"what happened?"

Zhang Qiling pursed his lips; this was the first time he had encountered something like this: "...Let me think about it."

"Ha..." Yan Huai was amused, but with Zhang Qiling's serious attitude, he was afraid that if he really laughed out loud, he would irritate Zhang Qiling.

He quickly suppressed his laughter and replied, "Ahem—okay, take your time thinking about it." Although he didn't know what Zhang Qiling was thinking, there was still plenty of time before their agreed meeting time at the foot of Snake Head Mountain, so there was no rush.

After a moment of eye contact...

Yan Huai couldn't withstand Zhang Qiling's gaze and awkwardly looked away first.

Not far away, more than a dozen taimen were still hopping around in the space, but they still couldn't get close to Yan Huai and Zhang Qiling, who were sitting on two piles of clothes. One of them sat stiffly, looking bewildered, while the other stared blankly as if his soul had left his body.

Yan Huai, who was slow to realize: The calm before the storm, is Zhang Qiling holding back a big move?

Zhang Qiling, who appears to be daydreaming but is actually deep in thought: A recounting of all the major events since meeting Yan Huai.

(Actually, Old Ghost had almost forgotten the previous plot points... I'm ashamed.)

From the inexplicable trust Yan Huai showed shortly after they met, and the ever-present gaze he kept following her, to Yan Huai's first confession of his feelings, and the contradictory feeling of sharpness and shrewdness that emanated from him after their trip to Xisha, to the moment they were bound together by a contract, and the obsession she sensed under the pull of the contract...

The biggest change should be when Yan Huai left the Wang family's underground palace without saying goodbye and they met again in the Qinling Mountains.

At that moment, Yan Huai seemed to have reverted to the way he was when they first met. Apart from being more intimate, all his emotions were suppressed, as if... as long as he didn't say anything, no one would know what he was thinking.

Yan Huai admitted at the time that his memory had returned.

So, could the trigger for these changes be the memories he regained?

Zhang Qiling remembered the bedtime story about villains that Yan Huai had told him.

Yan Huai wasn't a coward, but his vague words at the time suggested that it wasn't so much an attempt to escape as a reflection of the fact that he would find it difficult to accept and overcome those experiences if they were brought back into his own life...

Thinking of this, a struggle flashed in Zhang Qiling's eyes.

Should he ask?

Yan Huai appears very friendly, but he has strangely shown caution on more than one occasion.

Yes... Yan Huai was too cautious with him.

Even though their feelings for each other were already out in the open, and Yan Huai had given him far more than he had given Yan Huai, Yan Huai's behavior sometimes made him feel that this guy was still hiding something from him, or rather, that Yan Huai genuinely felt he owed him something, and therefore didn't know how to interact with him or make amends, even with that contractual relationship...

The question that had been lingering in Zhang Qiling's heart seemed to have found a breakthrough. He suddenly focused his gaze on Yan Huai, his expression unusually cold and stern: "Yan Huai."

"Huh!?" Yan Huai was startled by the clear, sharp voice.

Is Zhang Qiling about to unleash his ultimate move?

However, the reality is...

“If you’re afraid, don’t be afraid,” Zhang Qiling hesitated for a moment before continuing, “we will always be together.”

After a moment of stunned silence, Yan Huai gradually realized—had Zhang Qiling imagined him to be some kind of pitiful little thing just now?

His gaze returned to the earnestness in Zhang Qiling's eyes, and he couldn't help but think to himself: This is another powerful move, it's practically draining my health bar...