After Being Transformed Into Cannon Fodder For Death, The Heartthrob Chapter 22
byYe Qingyun looked at Gu Shenyuan blankly, not reaching out to take the thorny rose.
Gu Shenyuan put the flower back into the bouquet and silently watched the little girl selling flowers.
Seeing this scene, the little girl immediately understood and hugged Ye Qingyun’s leg: “Big brother, please take it. The older brother is helping me out of kindness. If I don’t sell these flowers, I won’t have money to eat!”
With the situation laid out like that, it was hard for Ye Qingyun to refuse. He braced himself and accepted the flower, feeling utterly bizarre inside.
Who would have thought that the first flower he received in this world would be given by the aloof and solitary Protagonist?
Gu Shenyuan: “It’s beautiful.”
You are beautiful.
Ye Qingyun: “…Thank you, I think it’s quite beautiful too.”
The flower was indeed quite beautiful.
The little girl happily took the money. Listening to Ye Qingyun and Gu Shenyuan’s disjointed conversation, she seized the opportunity and said, “Big brother, we have an event here recently! There are rewards just for showing affection! The prizes are plentiful. Take your little brother to take a look, maybe there’s something you want!”
Ye Qingyun: “…” What affection did he and Gu Shenyuan have to show?
The little girl pulled a promotional booklet from her pocket, handed it to Ye Qingyun, and skipped away.
Ye Qingyun casually flipped it open. It was filled with a dazzling array of couple activities: who could kiss the longest; which couple had the best chemistry; how loyal your man was, and whether he could be tempted by others, and so on.
Out of the corner of his eye, Ye Qingyun saw that Gu Shenyuan’s gaze was fixed on the contents of the booklet, looking very focused.
What was he looking at? How other people kissed?
Looking at this kind of material with an aloof, cool guy made Ye Qingyun feel a bit ashamed. He closed the book with a snap.
“Do you want to play?” Gu Shenyuan asked.
Ye Qingyun’s mouth twitched. He countered, “Who would I play with? You?”
According to normal logic, Gu Shenyuan should sneer and walk away. But the Gu Shenyuan in front of him seemed abnormal.
Gu Shenyuan did not leave. He was silent for a moment, observing Ye Qingyun’s expression, then spoke: “You are an excellent person and should contribute to the development of the galaxy, not be troubled by Pu Tian. It’s not worth it. This kind of entertainment might cheer you up. If you need…” This time, Gu Shenyuan paused longer. He was afraid of saying the wrong thing and causing Ye Qingyun further aversion, so he chose his words carefully, “If you want to ask me, of course you can.”
Ye Qingyun was shaken!
He never expected that Gu Shenyuan admired his knowledge so much that he was willing to offer himself up!
In all honesty, he himself would absolutely not be able to do that.
Ye Qingyun felt how backward his own thinking was. For a moment, he had actually suspected Gu Shenyuan liked him—how vulgar!
Ye Qingyun awkwardly flipped through the book: “No need. I don’t like any of the prizes here, I won’t—”
Ye Qingyun’s voice stopped. He saw the prize on the open page of the booklet.
It was a brilliant energy stone called the Stone of Love, extremely rare on the market, usually given as a token of affection between couples.
Ye Qingyun was very interested in it, not for any romantic reason, but because of a rare energy contained within the stone, and he had previously had no way to obtain such a piece.
The promotional slogan printed on that page read:
The strongest sword protects the most beautiful person and wins the most expensive Stone of Love! Want to know if the person protecting you is the strongest? Come join this challenge, recognize his true strength, and don’t hesitate to break up!
Ye Qingyun looked at this slogan, which was practically a breakup manifesto, and grew anxious.
He wanted it so badly!
Why was he just a physically weak technician!
What should he do now!
A hand with distinct joints pulled the booklet from Ye Qingyun’s grasp. Gu Shenyuan closed the booklet and said lightly, “Let’s go, we’ll participate.”
Ye Qingyun: “…Wait a minute?”
No, although Gu Shenyuan was indeed very strong, he was not the kind of teacher who would take advantage of his student!
Besides, Gu Shenyuan had such noble ideals. What if people misunderstood him for participating in this kind of competition?
Wouldn’t that be a stain on the pure, high-mountain flower that was his life!
Gu Shenyuan knew Ye Qingyun was reluctant to be associated with him in this way, so he persuaded, “This competition doesn’t require us to do anything together. The content of the competition is also my strong suit. You don’t need to worry.”
Ye Qingyun was very touched. He tried to keep a straight face: “I won’t take advantage of you. I will use this stone for research. If there are any new discoveries, I will let you share the credit.”
Gu Shenyuan smiled faintly: “Mm.”
The Stone of Love he was giving Ye Qingyun—as long as Ye Qingyun accepted it, even if Ye Qingyun used it for other purposes, even if Ye Qingyun had no intention of accepting him, it was enough for him to cherish that moment for a lifetime.
——————
After signing up for the event, Ye Qingyun and Gu Shenyuan went to the waiting area.
During registration, Ye Qingyun learned that this event had been advertised for a long time and had attracted many people from various planets, making the competition fierce.
Ye Qingyun was a little nervous. He looked at the screen above the waiting area, which displayed the ongoing duels. Everyone looked very strong; their fists were as big as his face.
Ye Qingyun secretly glanced at Gu Shenyuan’s face. Gu Shenyuan’s face was very handsome, but it wasn’t even one-tenth as fierce as the others.
Although he knew Gu Shenyuan was strong, who knew if there were hidden masters here?
Ye Qingyun hinted indirectly: “I won’t collect your corpse, so you’d better come back with a breath left.”
Gu Shenyuan smiled: “Mm.”
Ye Qingyun snorted and focused on watching the live broadcast screen above.
After several rounds of competition, two more people stepped onto the stage.
One of them was quite famous. As soon as he appeared, many participants in the waiting room recognized him.
“It’s Hans the Vicious Bandit! I’ve seen his footage; he took down a whole group of people who came to arrest him by himself!”
“I heard that although his Ability level tested at A+, when he actually uses it, it’s not much worse than S-rank!”
“He should win this round, right? Abilities close to S-rank are famous. There’s no way he’d be knocked out in the first match.”
Everyone was discussing animatedly. Hans the Vicious Bandit waved his fist at the audience, and the camera gave a few seconds to Hans’s lover, a rather delicate-looking girl.
The next moment, the camera switched to Hans’s opponent, a black-haired, black-eyed young man who looked quite taciturn and had a gloomy expression.
This person was not famous, and the crowd remained silent, but when the camera turned to this person’s lover, the crowd erupted again.
“Oh my god, that person is…”
“The Third Prince!”
“Wait, I remember a rumor that the Third Prince has been looking for that person, right?”
This person was the Third Prince?
Ye Qingyun looked at the golden-haired, arrogant young man on the screen in shock, feeling strange.
Why would such an important figure come to participate in such a small game?
In the original novel, the Third Prince was also one of Gu Shenyuan’s suitors, a proud supporting character arranged by the author.
Ye Qingyun was a little worried. Although he didn’t know why the Third Prince had a partner now, the partner of a royal family member must be unfathomably strong. Gu Shenyuan shouldn’t get hurt.
The two competitors wasted no words and started fighting immediately. Ye Qingyun watched their dazzling exchange of moves for a long time. Eventually, the Third Prince’s partner knocked the bandit down, winning the round.
The camera returned to the Third Prince. A reporter immediately stepped forward to interview him: “Is there anything you want to say to your lover? Are you confident in him?”
The Third Prince proudly curled the hair near his ear with his index finger, seemingly unintentionally revealing the blue flower-shaped Tattoo on the back of his hand: “Confident? Of course. He will not lose.”
The interview ended, the screen cut away, and the crowd immediately burst into an uproar.
“What is that Tattoo on the back of his hand? Is it that thing! It must be that thing!”
“Holy crap, the Third Prince really found that person!”
“And he actually made that person fall in love with him…”
“The Tattoo has grown onto his hand! How big must that Tattoo be?”
“I heard the Imperial Emperor wasn’t sure who to pass the throne to before, but now it seems settled!”
The people around seemed to understand everything. Ye Qingyun listened blankly for a moment, then whispered to the person sitting next to him: “Big brother, what are you all talking about?”
“You don’t know?” the big man replied, “There’s a rumor that the Third Prince has been looking for that Humanoid Weapon who cannot betray, and swore he would make that person fall in love with him. Tsk tsk tsk, he actually found him!”
Ye Qingyun was stunned, recalling the post he had seen on the Star Net Forum back then.
He had thought such a person couldn’t exist, but now he had met the person himself.
Ye Qingyun wanted to ask more, but his fingertip was suddenly lightly touched by someone. He turned his head and saw Gu Shenyuan looking at him.
Gu Shenyuan: “If you want to know something, you can ask me directly.”
“You know about it too?” Ye Qingyun thought for a moment and asked, “Is that power really that strong?”
Gu Shenyuan looked at Ye Qingyun for a while, then lowered his head and smiled: “Yes, very strong, almost invincible. That’s why countless people have gone to great lengths to find him.”
Ye Qingyun: “Wow…”
Gu Shenyuan waited for Ye Qingyun’s response. He hadn’t expected to encounter the person impersonating him here, but now that he had, he couldn’t help but anticipate Ye Qingyun’s reaction.
Would Ye Qingyun be tempted and try to get to know that person? Would Ye Qingyun regret not meeting that person before the Third Prince, missing the opportunity?
Ye Qingyun took a sip of water and licked his lips: “I think… I think fighting and killing is disgusting, crude, and uncivilized. It makes me dizzy just watching. I’m leaving. Are you coming with me?”
In fact, Ye Qingyun’s question was redundant. The competition rules stipulated that both members of the couple must be present. If one person left, the other had to follow and was not allowed to continue the match.
Gu Shenyuan lowered his head, a silent smile playing on his lips.
Ye Qingyun was not tempted.
Ye Qingyun was worried about him getting hurt and wanted to forcibly take him away.
This realization made Gu Shenyuan feel something overflowing in his heart, making his whole body feel immersed in a warm current.
“He is not my opponent,” Gu Shenyuan said slowly. “Stay. That Stone of Love is destined to be yours.”
Anything Ye Qingyun wanted, he would win for him.