Chapter 22.2 The Reader and Protagonist Definitely Have to Be in True Love

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Chapter 22 – Author: In YY novels, lilies can be straightened

Xiu took off Du Ze’s glasses and, before he could react, Du Ze was turned onto his back, laying him flat on the bed with Xiu on his knees above him. The Lich’s long black curls tumbled down his pale shoulders. Not waiting for Du Ze to curl up and shiver from the cold, Xiu stooped down and kissed him on the lips.

This was not the first time that their lips touched. When they first met, the skeleton lying under the statue of god could only watch as the black-haired youth walked towards him, crouched down, and kissed him – Du Ze was saving Xiu then. Now the black-haired youth on the bed could only watch as the pale, handsome Lich leaned over and kissed him – Xiu was now saving Du Ze. The same two people, the same behavior, even the purpose of the action is the same, but because the dominant person is different, the action is very different.

The first time, Du Ze’s motive was “I want to save him, I don’t want him to be in pain.” With that thought, he gave his soul to Xiu. A lot of time passed since then, but now Xiu has the same idea. The soul flames in his eyes were fluctuating as he slightly lowered his eyelids, concentrating all of his attention on his prey.¹

This person … is important.

Du Ze felt Xiu’s ice-cold thin lips on his, and when the Lich’s tongue explored his mouth, he was unsure of what to do with his own. Obviously he knew that this was just Xiu’s way of sucking out the spirit and saving him, but this type of behavior of one’s lips and tongue will always have a different meaning. Along with the time when he gave his soul to Xiu, this was the second time that Du Ze has kissed someone – and it’s even the same person! But this time, the impact of the kiss was much stronger than the first. The previous time they kissed, the other was in his skeleton shape. This time Xiu was in his Lich form. For Du Ze, he very vividly felt that he was kissing a man, even though he is also a man.²

Xiu’s tongue was inside Du Ze’s mouth, gently sucking out the spirit. The cold that had chilled him to the bones gradually faded away as Du Ze felt the familiar sensation of his soul being consumed. Even though he knew it was just Xiu sucking out the cold spirit, this scene was so similar to the old one that Du Ze felt frightened – that time when he had contributed his soul, he almost died. In the Lost Land, although he lost part of his soul every day, the protagonist had used undead magic to take it.

Through his blurry vision, he saw the soul flames in Xiu’s eyes leap up again.

[…… Are you afraid?]

Du Ze was confused for a moment. This was the same as before when the protagonist spoke in his mind. But even now Du Ze still doesn’t know how to respond. He subconsciously wanted to retract his tongue, but failed.

Xiu was silent then he stretched out his hand and stroked the Du Ze’s black hair.

[Don’t be afraid.]

The faithful reader was instantly comforted and cured. Comparing the performance of the protagonist’s first and second kiss, Du Ze felt that this time his autobiography wouldn’t be “Blackened Fan: A Beautiful Cinnamon Roll Too Good For This World, Too Pure” anymore. This time the autobiography’s title would be “How to Raise a Cute (Moe/Meng) Master” and the theme would be: Long live the cute master! The hole in Du Ze’s brain was getting bigger and the silly, adorable reader didn’t realize that Xiu was not just sucking out the Yin spirit. The tip of Xiu’s tongue was licking Du Ze’s tongue. The soft, slippery and moist touch made the Lich narrow his eyes.

Very comfortable …

“Mr. Du Ze, your companion woke up -”

The voice from the door came to an abrupt halt, and the two men in the bed came to their senses and parted. Du Ze and Xiu turned at the same time to look at the door. Violet stood in shock, her mouth covered by her hand.

Q: When a sister opens a door to see two men half-naked in bed, what would she think?

A: It is the chaste act of a man saving another man’s life.

…… Who’s going to believe that?

Seeing Xiu’s cold look and Du Ze’s impassive (desperate) gaze, Violet panicked and stammered: “I, I knocked at the door – I’m sorry to disturb you! If you are alright, please come and see me at the reception room. I have something to ask. I’m awfully sorry!”

The door slammed shut. Du Ze was in a daze to think that the title of “gay man” was ruthlessly smashed on his head. With his playful social barrier, there’s no way that he could explain it to her so he could only rely on the other party. Du Ze looked at Xiu, very calmly began to put on his clothes, and tactfully said: “She seems to have misunderstood.”

The main character of your family’s harem thinks that you’re gay! Come on, fix it!!

Xiu seemed puzzled: “What’s wrong?”

“…”

After Du Ze haltingly explained it to him, Xiu finally figured it out. But he frowned a bit, still confused: “Why would she think so?”

Should he tell the protagonist that the twin demon flowers are actually a pair of lilies (lesbians), which is why the sister earlier “understood” the relationship between Xiu and Du Ze?!

Yes, Violet and Alice were actually lilies before they met the protagonist. In order to increase the diversity of the YY (wish fulfillment) novel’s harem, “lily” attributes have become popular. Ye Zhi Qiu wished to meet the expectations of readers, so in “Mixed Blood” he wrote a pair of lily sisters. Anyway, when it comes to web novels, there is an unwritten rule: in YY works, the bent lily can be straightened.

Suddenly, Du Ze felt so dirty and ashamed that he could not look directly at the protagonist. Xiu was genuinely, baffled which meant that Du Ze had previously misunderstood the protagonist. Xiu’s recent behavior had combined with the doujinshi’s contents in his mind, but now it looks like the protagonist is still straight. The act before was because of the demon form’s carefree ways and a certain evil influence.³

Doujinshi: You’re still too young.

For the sake of the health of the cute Lord, Du Ze cut his explanation short. After they had put on their clothing, they went to the reception room but found that Violet was not there. A servant told them that Alice woke up so Violet went to see her. She asked that they go to Alice’s room to talk.

When Xiu and Du Ze reached the demon sisters’ bedroom, they saw Violet tightly holding Alice crying.

“Wu wu wu⁴ … You idiot! Why did you detonate your power that way … You know I love you so much, but you do such a cruel thing in front of me …”

Alice was lying on the bed, still pale and wan. She smiled quietly and stretched out a hand to hold her sister.

“Because I love you, too, sister.” ”

Violet eagerly kissed Alice, who welcomed it and deepened the kiss.

Du Ze moved away from their line of sight, his face mostly expressionless but his lips tight, betraying the feelings of a loser. He did not see Xiu’s astonishment when the Lich heard the sister’s words. Neither did Du Ze notice that Xiu was stunned when the sisters started kissing.

******

******

They’re saying … love？

What is that?

– [black box]

The author has something to say:

Author: In YY novels, lilies can be straightened.
Reader: Praise.
Protagonist: … (← Predator)⁵
Author: In DM (danmei/BL) text, straight males can bend.
Protagonist: Praise.
Reader: … (← Prey)⁶

*******

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1. Literally “on his plundering/robbery” but it sounded weird in English.
2. Kinda literal translation, is there a better way?
3. This paragraph is too elliptical, but basically Xiu doesn’t seem to easily grasp the concept of being gay/lesbian so Du Ze thinks Xiu is still straight and the previous “pistol” play was just his demon form’s lack of inhibition and the evil doujinshi.
4. The Chinese onomatopoeia of a crying sound.
5. Literally “the one who implements.”
6. Literally “the one who it’s implemented on.”