Pretend to be crazy

Shen Yan didn’t speak for a moment, just watched the TV.

On screen, falson skillfully handled the reporters’ questions. In just a few words, he painted himself as a poor, motherless soul who was lost and desperate, and only needed a little bit of love to turn back to the right path.

With that face of his, it was extremely convincing. You couldn’t detect the slightest hint of acting.

After the emergency news broadcast ended, the screen switched back to a bio-mech battle, which was boring.

Shen Yan turned off the TV, finished all the fruit on the plate, and calmly said, “Of course we’ll save him.”

Ruan Zhixian said meaningfully, “Do you like him too, bro?”

Shen Yan: “Stop being passive-aggressive.”

“I’m not happy,” Ruan Zhixian said.

“You shouldn’t be unhappy.”

Shen Yan paused, then asked, “Did you send the same message to Blaze and Warren?”

“I did,” Ruan Zhixian sighed, “Bro, you’re amazing. You know everything.”

Shen Yan: “I’m not amazing. You’re just too easy to read.”

It was the first time Ruan Zhixian had heard such a thing. He smiled even wider, “Besides that, what else did you guess?”

“You’re a pervert, beyond saving,” Shen Yan ignored his probing and, for the first time in this world, spoke the truth, “Anyone would find you unbearable.”

Ruan Zhixian said, “But you can.”

“I can’t.”

Ruan Zhixian’s smile faded, his voice calm: “Then why did you come back?”

“You could live well anywhere. There’s no need to stay by my side and tolerate me… a ‘pervert.’”

Shen Yan was speechless.

So petty — his words, actions, and heart were all on different pages — it was practically split personality.

If he stayed, Ruan Zhixian would grow suspicious; if he left, he’d become murderous.
If he hadn’t shown up at the airport today, all the goodwill he had built up would have evaporated.

This question now was the same — if he answered poorly or too indifferently, it would displease Ruan Zhixian and cost him points.

Lose too many points, and he’d be dead.

Ruan Zhixian didn’t even know what answer he wanted, only what he didn’t want.

Impossible to please.

Shen Yan splashed water at him. Ruan Zhixian, face and hair dripping, didn’t move. He just calmly stared at him, demanding an answer.

“You think I wanted to?” Shen Yan poked his chest lazily, “If I didn’t find you kind of interesting, if my curiosity about you didn’t outweigh my dislike, I’d have to be crazy to come back.”

Ruan Zhixian: “When did you start finding me interesting?”

“Probably back in Zone Seven,” Shen Yan idly stirred the flower petals floating in the water, relaxing:

“You locked me up with Blaze, Warren, and falson, forcing us to ‘bond’ and pushing us to air out all possible misunderstandings. So that later, we wouldn’t hold grudges over petty issues.”

“While telling those you slept with that I was you, you pushed others towards people who showed signs of liking someone else. Someone who does that either has a niche kink — finding pleasure in watching their lover be intimate with others — or they have an ulterior motive.”

Shen Yan’s voice was slightly hoarse but slow and pleasant.

He looked up at Ruan Zhixian, “We’re not lovers, but we share the same fundamental logic. You’re not the former, so I was curious about your real agenda.”

“You better keep it that way. Don’t disappoint me,” Shen Yan said word by word, “If I find out you simply like being cuckolded…”

“I will kill you.”

Ruan Zhixian’s gaze softened — his eyes were thick with honey, sticky, sweet beyond measure.

“Absolutely.”

He leaned over, kissed Shen Yan’s temple, and left the bathroom.

Only after confirming he was completely gone did Shen Yan finally breathe out.

That nonsense just now — Ruan Zhixian probably only believed half of it.
Both sides were still testing each other’s limits: Ruan Zhixian trying to dig into Shen Yan’s background, and Shen Yan trying to ensure Ruan Zhixian kept him around.

Mysterious? Well, he was mysterious too!

Interested? Sure, he was interested too!

Overflowing energy and insatiable stamina?

…That part, no thanks.

As for the others besides falson, their situations weren’t looking great.

Without Shen Yan around as the backbone, Blaze, Warren, and falson hadn’t killed each other yet, but that was already impressive.
With no unity, the odds of them working together were about as slim as Ruan Zhixian quitting everything to genuinely work a 9-to-5 job earning a meager salary.

Ruan Zhixian didn’t hide anything and told Shen Yan about what had happened these past few months.

Blaze, using VPNs, easily bypassed regional information walls.

He saw what Shen Yan was doing in District 13, panicked, thinking he was in danger — being used as a pawn — and desperately tried to rush to him.

He tried everything to reach Shen Yan, but Ruan Zhixian intercepted him every step of the way.

Finally irritated, Ruan Zhixian had him exiled to a desert labor camp at the border of District 11 — survival and escape became his top priorities. Even if he escaped, Ruan Zhixian had backup plans to relocate him elsewhere.

When Shen Yan faked his death, Ruan Zhixian purposely let slip a rumor that Shen Yan had died horribly, then stopped monitoring Blaze altogether.

Out of everyone, Warren seemed to be doing the best.

Ruan Zhixian hadn’t messed with him.

Warren, a fugitive from the Rose Institute with a dirty record, was hiding in Zone Seven. With no money, he earned a living fighting underground battles — and had now become the underground king.

Ruan Zhixian had succeeded in keeping them all out of the way, but they were so scattered that gathering them again would be difficult.

The hotel was booked for three days. Shen Yan hated dragging things out. After resting for half a day, he decided to get up and check out.

falson was locked up, his trial in half a month. He just needed to bust him out before then.

Warren was fine — idiot luck — no need to worry.

Shen Yan was most concerned about Blaze.

Ruan Zhixian had only told Blaze that Shen Yan died horribly without any follow-up, intentionally leaving him to misunderstand.

Blaze was calmer than falson and wouldn’t believe it easily, but those bloody images would definitely mess with him.
He had migraines and would sleepwalk under stress, possibly causing serious trouble.

Ruan Zhixian was back in observer mode, refusing to interfere anymore. Telling Shen Yan Blaze’s location and offering some funding was already a huge favor.
How to save him — and when — was all up to Shen Yan.

The labor camp was in the middle of a desert, extremely remote. After landing the plane, Shen Yan would have to switch to various means of transport, taking three to five days.

District 11 and District 13 were neighboring zones, constantly at odds.
His new identity was as a fourth-class citizen of District 13 — trying to enter a labor camp with that ID would be suicide.

Get a new identity? Too slow — at least half a month.

Better to sneak in as a laborer directly. If Ruan Zhixian wasn’t being devious, he and Blaze could easily escape.

But Shen Yan wasn’t a fighter. The camp was full of cyborgs — he probably couldn’t win a fight.

So, find Warren first, then rescue Blaze together, and finally deal with falson.

No detailed plan, just rough ideas.

Shen Yan was deep in thought when he sat up — and immediately got pulled back down by Ruan Zhixian.

It was nine-thirty in the morning.
They’d fallen asleep close to 1 AM. Eight and a half hours were more than enough for someone like Ruan Zhixian.

Ruan Zhixian woke up earlier and had been staring at him, even wishing him a good morning.

Clearly not sleepy anymore — no reason to still lie there.

Shen Yan, face cold, found himself trapped in Ruan Zhixian’s arms, cursing fate.

Half a year ago, even touching his sleeve made Ruan Zhixian so disgusted he threw away the whole garment.
Now? Hugs, kisses, endless intimacy — who would believe this man was homophobic?

“Ruan Zhixian,” Shen Yan said blankly, “I booked a flight for two hours from now.”

Ruan Zhixian rested his chin in Shen Yan’s neck, “Cancel it.”

“I can’t.”

Ruan Zhixian chuckled, “I mean, I already canceled it for you.”

Shen Yan: “?”

Ruan Zhixian shamelessly bit Shen Yan’s shoulder and said lazily, “Who knows when we’ll see each other again? Stay a few more days.”

As Shen Yan remained speechless, he felt Ruan Zhixian slowly getting hard against him, rubbing against his lower back through their pants.

Shen Yan: “…How are you still so energetic? Didn’t we go at it forever last night?”

“Not enough.”

Ruan Zhixian deliberately breathed heavily in Shen Yan’s ear, biting it teasingly, “Bro, it’s not enough.”

His hand slipped down Shen Yan’s waist.

“They’re your family, friends, lovers — and I’m nothing. I can only sneak around with you.”

“Even sneaking around, I’m not the special one.”

“Fang Luo, Adlai, Qi Cong, Li Wento… maybe even more I don’t know about.
So many people love you, and I’m nothing.”

As Ruan Zhixian spoke, his voice grew lower — joking at first, but then genuinely sounding upset.

Under the covers, his hand suddenly tightened on Shen Yan’s chest, making him groan.

Then he relaxed, just lightly tugging at that spot, eerily saying:

“No wonder you’re distracted when we’re together — who are you seeing through me?”

Shen Yan: …

Theatrics, again — talking as if he really loved him.

He was the one who set the trap and lured him in. Even if these words were sincere, it was his own fault.

There were so many things to roast, Shen Yan didn’t know where to start, so he chose to say nothing.

He tried to move Ruan Zhixian’s wicked hand away.

He couldn’t.

The skin, already broken from last night, swayed helplessly under Ruan Zhixian’s teasing.

Hot, red, pitiful — and strangely electric.

“I’ll be gentle this time,” Ruan Zhixian whispered by his ear, “I’ll make you feel so good.”

“Stay with me three more days — it won’t matter.”

Shen Yan was silent for a few seconds, then patted his head.

“Just three days?”

“Don’t be shy — make it a week.”

The ever-so-generous Shen Yan found a chance to run away that very afternoon.

Forget three days — not even half a day!

Ruan Zhixian watched him flee with his luggage and let out a low laugh.

He didn’t chase him.