Chapter 26.2 – Every Day the Protagonist Wants to Capture Me

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Chapter 26.2 (Part 2 of 3) – Every Day the Protagonist Wants to Capture Me

Chapter Title: Wedding Festivities

Everything in the illusion was almost the same as reality. If it wasn’t for the fact that Chu Yu knew that they were in an illusion, he was afraid that he might really think that he is really married to Xie Xi and living a secluded life in a paradise untroubled by worldly cares.

Although he knew what was in Xie Xi’s mind, thankfully Xie Xi didn’t go too far. Chu Yu strengthened his position as a straight man and treated Xie Xi with a strange tolerance.

Fortunately, it’s OK in the evenings. Chu Yu was trying hard to think of ways to escape from the illusion but he shouldn’t hurt Xie Xi. He can only lie and be ridiculed by Xie Xi. But as long as his chrysanthemum stays intact, he can still maintain his reputation as a man among men.¹

As the days passed, Chu Yu felt that a person was getting more and more enthusiastic about his third leg every night. He became increasingly worried that the sanctity of his chrysanthemum wasn’t guaranteed.

There were two things he had to do. One is to escape from the illusion to preserve his life. The other is to preserve his chrysanthemum. If he cannot preserve both then Chu Yu chose his chrysanthemum.

The expression on Chu Yu’s face was visibly mournful. Xie Xi looked down at him and kissed his forehead.

“What’s wrong?”

These past few days Chu Yu had felt numb. He was worried that if he didn’t solve this problem quickly, he would soon get bent. His mouth twitched then he shook his head and turned over.

The situation seemed quite bad. Every time he tried to talk to Xie Xi about the topic of waking up from the illusion, Xie Xi would use his lips to seal Chu Yu’s lips.

For the sake of his points, Chu Yu didn’t dare to take out Xun Sheng to defend himself in case Xie Xi got too excited and Chu Yu accidentally stabbed him to death.

#_ (: 3) ∠) _ The little brother I was hoping to rely on wants to push me down,² what to do? Urgently waiting for advice online#

Scared witless for a long time and with the half month deadline fast approaching, Chu Yu was desperate. Bombarding the System with criticism and bad reviews, the System reluctantly gave him a hint although it was a very bad plan indeed.

In Xie Xi’s mind the illusion was calm, beautiful, and peaceful. It was not contaminated by the slightest amount of dirt or blood. To make Xie Xi wake up, apart from telling him to snap out of it, there was also the option of introducing an external stimulus.

Chu Yu and the System’s silent communication finished. He opened his eyes and saw the handsome face of a man in front of him.

Chu Yu could not help but feel a little worried. Thinking over the facts, logically speaking the protagonist right now was a lot more handsome than before but having spent three years in bed together, how did a great harem master become bent?

He stared blankly at the other person for a moment. Xie Xi, who had been awake for some time, couldn’t help but smile and say: “Yu-er always resists and never looks at me. Is it because you like to look at me when I’m asleep?”

Bro, IMHO, you’re being paranoid …

Chu Yu silently turned away but at the next moment Xie Xi turned his back. Xie Xi said, his face serious: “Yu-er, do I look ugly? Why can’t you look me in the eye?”

Chu Yu said with a painful expression on his face: “… No, you just look too good that I can’t bear to look straight at you.”

These past few days when he read the reader comments the overwhelming responses were “a world where all of the beautiful men are gay,” “good luck,”³ “love is in the air during the New Year,” and “gong, quickly push down the shou.”⁴ He looked at the genre that “Supreme Sword Immortal” was under and saw that it was in the BL category.

… Because the protagonist changed, the genre was changed, and the readers also changed. Now the comment section was full of screaming fujoshis.⁵

Thinking of this horrible new development, tears sprang into his eyes involuntarily.

His chin was suddenly lifted. Chu Yu avoided the other’s eyes as his breath was taken away by a deep kiss.

Chu Yu felt that he was in grave danger of getting bent, like a fish swimming in dark dangerous depths:⁶ If you don’t act soon, you won’t be able to protect your chrysanthemum.

Operation Chrysanthemum Shield, activate!

********

In the illusion of Chu Yu’s courtyard in Maple Valley, two maple trees stood. When the autumn winds howled, the red maple leaves would fall, giving one a rather bleak feeling.

Xie Xi crossed his hands behind his back and looked at the sunset-colored maple trees, frowning. Ever since then the maple leaves no longer fell.

Every day at noon, Xie Xi would sit down, Chu Yu held in his embrace, and read under the maple trees. Xie Xi read with intense concentration and with great interest, seemingly relishing this task. From time to time, he smiled. This made Chu Yu break out into a cold sweat. He didn’t know what to think.

He just can’t see what Xie Xi is reading.

If this goes on, Xie Xi just might go mad, completely fallen to the illusion. His mind is will became addled and his spirit might not be safe either.

Today’s autumn wind was deathly cold. Chu Yu nestled in Xie Xi’s arms and looked up at the red maple tree leaves that never fell. He touched Xun Sheng with his hand and gently took Xie Xi’s arms away. He got up and said: “Shidi, you should wake up.”

This was something that Chu Yu repeated several times a day. Xie Xi only smiled slightly. The look in his eyes was quite indulgent. He looked at Chu Yu calmly: “Yu-er, what are you talking about?”

Chu Yu shook his head. He was ready to take the plunge. Chu Yu suddenly pulled out Xun Sheng and stabbed his own stomach.

Xie Xi’s face turned pale and his expression turned to one of terror: “Shixiong! Stop!”

The sword was in Chu Yu’s hands. Xie Xi can’t stop it. Xun Sheng is sharp and the sword was stabbed down. Scarlet bloomed in its wake.

The sharp pain from his abdomen made Chu Yu’s face turn pale instantly. His vision darkened and he thought he was picked up by Xie Xi. A low, panicked whisper was in his ears and the faint scent of blood drifted into his nose, lingering.

He didn’t know how much time passed before his mind regained its clarity. A face stained with tears was in front of him, along with a pair of clear, inky black eyes that were bloodshot.

Chu Yu narrowed his eyes. When he saw that this handsome face was immature, he was suddenly relieved.

The sword was not used in vain because now the illusion has been cracked open.

His stomach hurt. The weak, delicate man from Earth⁷ hadn’t wanted to stab himself so ruthlessly. Just looking at the blood was bad enough, but the pain was too much. He seemed to be unable to take care of himself. Groaning, he poked Xie Xi’s chest: “You woke up?”

Xie Xi’s body stiffened. He lifted his sleeve to wipe his tears away. He looked at Chu Yu for a moment, his face gray. “Shixiong, I was wrong. Don’t ignore me… Don’t leave, I will put away those thoughts. I’m sorry, Shixiong, don’t get angry…”

Chu Yu, hearing this incoherent apology, shook his head weakly: “Stop. What is this place?”

Now is really not the appropriate time to talk to the protagonist about the urgent need to increase the population of cultivators in the world. The protagonist is still young, he can still turn back to the straight road of a stallion harem master. The priority right now was …

There are only seven days left before the Mausoleum Ruins close.

Based on the original novel’s plot, Xie Xi must stay inside and Chu Yu must leave.

However, the protagonist right now is the type who will follow where Chu Yu goes, not willing to be left behind by even half a step. Making the protagonist stay inside here to cultivate with a tranquil mind will be extremely difficult.

Chu Yu secretly sighed in his heart and looked around him. The surroundings right now was not the gray and desolate battlefield that he had imagined, but a sea of flowers. Delicate purple flowers were swaying in the wind and a dark fragrance was floating over a vast sea of blossoms, but the sky was dreary. Chu Yu had even thought they had left Mausoleum Ruins.

He stared at the distant sea of flowers for a long time, until a flash of inspiration hit him. Before entering Mausoleum Ruins, Chu Yu had secretly vowed to raise his favorability rating, but in the illusion that was the same as handing over his chrysanthemum. Chu Yu isn’t that stupid.

That being the case, he shouldn’t try to raise his favorability rating anymore since the protagonist’s emotions experienced a slight deviation. At this time, he needs to separate himself from the hero …

Chu Yu paused, then said in a cold voice: “Xie Xi.”

Xie Xi trembled slightly and lowered his head, looking extremely dejected.

Chu Yu recovered his cold and noble demeanor and said: “Do you know what you have done wrong?”

Xie Xi’s lips thinned. After a long time, he whispered: “I’m right.”

……

Chu Yu gave him a look, flung his sleeves, and turned around angrily. “I treated you as a younger brother but you have such an irreverent mind. I can forgive you for not being conscious of what you were doing while you were in a trance, but …”

Chu Yu gritted his teeth and said: “You and I need not see each other again. From now on we will part ways with each other.”

I can’t hold this thigh.

After saying this, he didn’t dare to turn back to see the expression on Xie Xi’s face. He began to walk forward and he hadn’t taken more than two steps when his waist was suddenly hugged tightly. A teenager said in a voice choked with sobs: “Shixiong … I beg you, please don’t drive me away. You said you won’t leave me …”

Chu Yu was silent for a moment, his face twitching. The most unfortunate thing⁸ about it was that the protagonist was hugging the place where he had been stabbed.

He lowered his head in pain and looked at the hands that were tightly fastened to his waist. Chu Yu reached out with an impassive face.

Xie Xi whimpered: “Shixiong I was wrong, I was wrong, I shouldn’t have been so …. I knew but I didn’t want to wake up …”

The pain made Chu Yu want to cry, too. He endure the pain and held back some words then suddenly realized that he had heard something that wasn’t right.

What did Xie Xi just say?

What did he say?

WTF???

Xie Xi was aware all that time?! Then why was he still unwilling to listen to him, unwilling to leave the illusion?!

Chu Yu was really angry this time. He pulled off Xie Xi’s hands and strode forth with an expressionless face.

Xie Xi covered his eyes and called out in a trembling voice: “Shixiong …”

Chu Yu’s head ached. He gritted his teeth but finally he couldn’t hold back anymore. He was just about to say something cruel when he suddenly saw a shadow flash behind Xie Xi’s back.

The protagonist could die while they were playing around!

 

********

Translator’s Notes:

• I originally wanted to make this chapter just two parts but it was too long. It really is more than 3x longer than normal so it will be released in three parts.
• Now it was revealed that Xie Xi knew they were in an illusion. Naughty (thirsty) protagonist!
• I think this chapter is very funny. Between his life and his chrysanthemum, CY is more determined to protect his chrysanthemum! Operation Chrysanthemum Shield!
• Announcement: Bursting Chrysanthemums, a BL fan translation website (i. e. me), has released a new project: Never Marry a Man with Two Bananas! It’s a story from the author of Transmigrating into a Mob Character to Rehabilitate the Villain Plan. In it, we (the curious readers) will finally be able to find out if two bananas are better than one. You can comment in the announcement post in the NU forums or the Reddit thread. Thanks for reading this.

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1. 跳起来又是一条英雄好汉 – lit. jumping up again heroic (like a hero). Obviously this idiom can’t be literally translated so I substituted an English idiom.
2. 我家大腿想上我 – lit. my family’s thighs want to top me
3. 囍囍囍囍囍 – double happiness, symbol of good luck, esp. marriage
4. ”gong” means the seme or “attacker” while “shou” means the uke or “receiver”
5. 腐女 Yes, it means fujoshi. The Chinese took that word from the Japanese word.
6. 楚麻木感觉自己快弯鱼深刻感觉 – Wordplay of Chu Yu’s name. Pretty much impossible to make the same puns in English since “Yu” and “fish” don’t sound the same.
7. 死宅男鱼是 – lit. dead otaku fish (the “Yu” in Chu Yu means fish)
8. I had to use Baidu (the Chinese version of Google) to find out what this idiom 好死不死 (lit. good die no die) meant.