inspire-indiana Chapter 231 Meteor
Chapter 231 Meteor
As the moonlight streamed over the balcony railing, Cheng Cuo's fingertips still retained the coolness of Yu Hansheng's face mask.
The silk sheet soaked in cherry blossom essence was slightly wrinkled from his grip, swaying like a translucent butterfly in the night breeze.
"Give it to me." Yu Hansheng reached out to grab it, his eyes brushing against Cheng Cuo's hand.
He hurriedly loosened his grip, only to see the other person tear open the packaging and apply it to their face, the refreshing scent of cherry blossoms instantly filling the space between them.
Little Orange was sitting on the wicker coffee table at some point, its tail idly sweeping at the pudding box that Lu Xue had secretly hidden.
"That's the fifth one." Lin Wanchu poked the girl's chubby cheeks, dabbing cream on her nose with her fingertip. "Don't cry when you weigh yourself tomorrow."
Lu Xue chuckled indistinctly as she nestled into the crook of Lin Wanchu's neck, the scent of apples mixed with the sweet aroma of milk emanating from her hair, causing Lin Wanchu to tremble slightly.
Lu Xue sat in the middle with her legs curled up, the picture book placed squarely on her knees.
Lin Wanchu leaned against her left, and Lu Xue leaned against her right.
Cheng Cuo couldn't maintain such an intimate posture with Yu Hansheng; the two simply sat together, looking up at the sky.
Cheng Cuo downed half a glass of iced lemonade, and the water droplets that had condensed on the glass wall dripped onto the hem of Yu Hansheng's pajamas, spreading into dark circles.
He stared at the ever-expanding watermark, then suddenly heard his own hoarse voice: "I heard Nightmare Games is getting stricter with bug checks lately..."
The terrace suddenly fell silent.
The rustling sound of the wind passing through the camphor trees became deafening.
The little orange perked up its ears, its golden eyes shining brightly in the darkness.
Lu Xue crushed the empty pudding box, while Lin Wanchu's pink-nailed fingers slowly curled up.
Chi Miaomiao's gray pupils became even dimmer and lifeless.
"Cheng Cuo." Yu Hansheng suddenly removed the half-applied face mask, the damp silk paper hanging in her palm. "Do you know that some things can be hidden forever?"
Yes, they must keep this secret about Jiang Qi very well.
As soon as he finished speaking, the night wind carried the creaking sound of the wooden ladder, like the static of an old record player stuck.
In the shadows of the southeast corner of the terrace, Jiang Qi was about to climb up the ladder, holding onto it with one hand.
Moonlight fell on his white shirt, the hem still damp with water droplets.
Jiang Qi and Lu Zhigang straightened up and immediately met the probing gazes of the five people.
The tense atmosphere suddenly relaxed.
"Oh, it's Brother Jiang and Brother Lu. You two can't sleep either?"
Lu Xue hadn't licked the cream off her lips yet, making her look like a little kitten stealing a bite.
Jiang Qi chuckled and buried his face in Lu Zhi's shoulder. Perhaps it was because he had spent so much time with them that he finally let loose and laughed.
Lu Xue looked puzzled. "What are you laughing at? Come and look at the stars with me."
She took the opportunity to pull out another pudding, and this time even the little orange got a small spoonful.
"Are you also having trouble sleeping because of what happened yesterday?"
"Yes, yes, Xiaoxue and I each had a wedding candy in our pockets."
After that, there was a long silence.
They all knew perfectly well that this was how the instance selected players.
Wedding candy is essentially an invitation.
Cheng Cuo, Yu Hansheng, and Chi Miaomiao had no way to get the dungeon.
They were not invited to the instance, so naturally they could not enter the same instance as the four people.
"Hey, let's not think about the nightmare game now that we're back in reality."
"We should still enjoy life while we can."
Chi Miaomiao nodded, agreeing with Lu Xue's point.
As the Milky Way cascaded down, Cheng Cuo counted to the eighteenth time Yu Hansheng adjusted the angle of the face mask.
This person always likes to smooth out every wrinkle, as meticulously as if they were handling a dungeon quest.
He suddenly reached out and poked the other person's puffed-up cheek, and the scent of cherry blossoms spilled out from the tear: "Severe obsessive-compulsive disorder."
Yu Hansheng slapped his hand away, her ears blushing slightly in the moonlight.
Only in front of Cheng Cuo would he pay extra attention to his image.
People love beautiful things, and he can't be lacking in any aspect.
Beauty was only part of what attracted Cheng Cuo.
Suddenly, Little Orange jumped onto Yu Hansheng's lap, its tail tugging away the face mask that was about to slip off.
The face mask was slippery, and it fell to the ground in no time.
Then, the little orange lightly leaped to the other side.
As Cheng Cuo bent down to pick up the face mask, Yu Hansheng's lips brushed against his ear: "Let me do it."
The scalding breath pressed against the side of her neck, and Cheng Cuo's hand trembled, causing the face mask she had just picked up to fall back into place.
"The face mask is all dirty from falling on the floor, are you sure you still want to use it?"
Yu Hansheng looked at him like he was an idiot. "I'm going to pick it up and throw it in the trash can."
Cheng Cuo was so embarrassed that he couldn't utter a single word, and even his toes curled up involuntarily.
Yu Hansheng threw the face mask into the trash can and shook his head helplessly.
Xiao Cuo, you're so adorably silly, it's almost unfair.
As the meteor ripped through the night sky, the dew in the clusters of flowers suddenly condensed into crystals.
The safety lock around Chi Miaomiao's neck moved automatically without any wind, its tinkling sound startling the sleeping Milky Way.
Seven breaths stopped simultaneously, and Orion's bowstring tightened at that moment.
"Make a wish quickly!" Lu Xue pulled Lin Wanchu and Lu Xue to kneel on the wooden planks of the terrace, and the cherry blossom face mask cracked with the movement.
The girl's fingertips were still covered in the caramel from the pudding, yet she had already clasped her hands together and pressed them against her forehead.
The little oranges were fried into fluffy balls, their golden eyes reflecting the fire falling from the sky.
Lu Zhi suddenly grasped Jiang Qi's wrist, his palm burning hot.
The icy blue trail of the meteor swept across the backs of their clasped hands, like silver threads on the spindle of fate.
The mint candy that Cheng Cuo had just taken out rolled to the side of his feet.
He gazed at Yu Hansheng's profile, its edges gleaming with starlight, and suddenly remembered the day Yu Hansheng shielded him from a knife; he too had pulled himself out of death against the light in the same way.
"Be sincere," Lu Xue whispered, her eyelashes dusting with tiny stardust.
The shadows of the seven people stretched long and crisscrossed on the terrace.
Lin Wanchu's wish, mingled with the scent of cherry blossoms, drifted through the air: "I hope Xiaoxue will always be..."
"Hey!" Lu Xue hurriedly covered her mouth, her fingertips smearing cream on the other's cheek, turning it into an unusual blush.
When Chi Miaomiao chuckled softly, the vibration of her chest startled the night birds, which fluttered across the sky.
"What did you wish for?" Lin Wanchu suddenly asked, the night breeze lifting the tips of her pink hair.
"I won't tell you," Lu Xue said mysteriously.
"Miaomiao, what did you wish for?"
Chi Miaomiao stared blankly for a moment, then shook her head.
“It won’t work if you say it out loud, Ah Chu.”
As the main body of the meteor fell below the horizon, the fragments were still burning.
The brightest spot swept past, leaving a golden mark in Jiang Qi's pupils.
The orange light illuminated the small mole at the corner of his eye, making it look like a star was falling from the sky.
Lu Zhi's breathing sounded like the rising tide at night, rising and falling just three inches from his ear.
The seven wishes transformed into particles of light that rose and coalesced into a blurry crown at the edge of the Milky Way.
Cheng Cuo picked up the lemon candy that had rolled into the crack between the bricks. The reflection of the candy wrapper showed Yu Hansheng's drooping fingertips, which were only millimeters away from the back of his hand.
As the night wind swept away the last wisp of stardust, the pudding box on the rattan chair on the terrace glowed faintly.
Lin Wanchu wrote "Monster Guild will win" on the drawing paper with a pen, and Lu Xue drew a little rabbit and a fox next to the seven characters.
Lu Zhi stepped forward and said, "May I take a look at your art book?"
"Sure!"
Lu Zhi was writing something on a wishing sheet, covering it up so Jiang Qi wouldn't see.
After watching the shooting star, the seven of them tidied up and went down to the terrace.
Staying up late is also mentally taxing; I was already yawning when I got back to my room.
The picture book that Lu Xue had placed on the rattan chair on the terrace moved automatically without any wind.
The latest page contained a wishing note that Lu Zhi had secretly slipped in; the ink, stained with starlight, flickered in and out of focus: "I wish to be your star that never sets."