After Being Transformed Into Cannon Fodder For Death, The Heartthrob Chapter 41
byYe Qingyun waited until the Tattoo stopped burning and his strength returned before getting up from Gu Shenyuan’s embrace.
“It was fine, a piece of cake,” Ye Qingyun insisted stubbornly. “Is that all you’ve got?”
Gu Shenyuan: “…”
“I have more powerful methods. Do you want to try?” Gu Shenyuan narrowed his eyes slightly.
Ye Qingyun certainly didn’t dare to try again; another attempt and he would collapse right there. He pretended to be disdainful and straightened up, telling Gu Shenyuan, “Forget it, you’re tired. I’ll let you rest first. No more playing with the Tattoo.”
Gu Shenyuan didn’t expose him, instead thoughtfully helping Ye Qingyun tidy his messy clothes. He then prepared to go somewhere else to cool down.
Ye Qingyun had recovered, but Gu Shenyuan had not. Ye Qingyun didn’t know his own lethality, but as the person facing him, Gu Shenyuan was acutely aware.
Those hazy, watery eyes, the breaths that scratched lightly at his heart like feathers, and the warm arms wrapped around him—all felt like a raging fire threatening to consume him.
It wasn’t that Gu Shenyuan didn’t want to make substantial progress with Ye Qingyun sooner, but without any tools or preparation, Ye Qingyun would be hurt. Furthermore, he hadn’t undergone systematic study or research, so he feared he couldn’t give Ye Qingyun a perfect first experience. Therefore, he preferred to endure it a little longer.
In a while… he would become Ye Qingyun’s first man, leaving his own mark inside his body.
Seeing Gu Shenyuan about to leave, Ye Qingyun immediately grabbed his hand: “Are you leaving already? Did you forget something?”
Ye Qingyun raised his other wrist, which was still bound by Gu Shenyuan’s Ability. The black Ability was wrapped around his fair skin, connecting it to the headboard, preventing Ye Qingyun from moving freely.
Ye Qingyun hugged Gu Shenyuan’s waist and looked up at him with pitiful, still flushed eyes: “You have to take this off, right? I’m already yours, are you still worried I’ll run away?”
Gu Shenyuan remained silent for a long time before finally raising his hand and retracting the Ability binding Ye Qingyun’s wrist. However, he couldn’t resist an inner impulse and released a bit more Ability, wrapping it around the base of Ye Qingyun’s middle finger to form a simple ring.
“Wear this,” Gu Shenyuan said, lowering his eyes. “I can find you anytime.”
After doing this, Gu Shenyuan quickly glanced at Ye Qingyun, nervously pursing his lips.
His possessiveness and anxiety prevented him from giving Ye Qingyun complete freedom. No matter what, he needed to guard Ye Qingyun in some way.
Would Ye Qingyun think he was too overbearing, unreasonable, and cold-hearted?
If Ye Qingyun got angry because of this…
“Is this a promise ring?” Ye Qingyun looked at the ring on his finger, thinking how fast the relationship was progressing. One moment they were confessing, the next moment they had everything. “I’ll get one for you another day too.”
No sooner had Ye Qingyun finished speaking than Gu Shenyuan, seemingly stimulated by something, lifted his chin and initiated a deep kiss.
When the kiss ended, Gu Shenyuan released Ye Qingyun and hurried away to deal with his personal physiological needs.
Ye Qingyun, “Where are you going… Hmm, should I help you?”
Ye Qingyun’s mind spun, realizing what Gu Shenyuan was going to do, and so he asked that question.
Ye Qingyun felt his words were a bit too unrestrained, making him slightly embarrassed, but he also felt it was his responsibility as a boyfriend, so he asked cheekily.
“No need.” Gu Shenyuan slowly took a deep breath, struggling to refuse Ye Qingyun’s invitation, while also warning him, “If you don’t want to be injured and unable to get out of bed for a few days, don’t say things like that right now.”
Ye Qingyun immediately shut up.
After Gu Shenyuan left, Ye Qingyun lay on the bed, staring at the ceiling for a long time, and called out in his mind: [System, you saw everything.]
[What?] The System was startled. [I didn’t see anything! You can’t slander me, I was shielded!]
Ye Qingyun: […I wasn’t talking about that.]
The System had previously agreed that he would die and leave the plot in three months, and the System would give him a new body. But given his current situation, if he suddenly died, Gu Shenyuan would likely collapse.
There were two solutions: one was to tell Gu Shenyuan directly about the body swap, letting him know Ye Qingyun was still alive and would return soon; the second was to simply not change bodies.
Ye Qingyun explained his thoughts to the System, which replied: [I already reported this issue to the Main System when I realized you wanted to date Gu Shenyuan. First, no matter what, you absolutely cannot expose the existence of our System. If you change bodies and return, you need to use other reasonable excuses.]
Ye Qingyun agreed and asked if he could simply not change bodies.
The System was about to speak but paused for a moment, as if receiving instructions. After a long while, it said: [It is possible, but… to be honest, as a Cannon Fodder, if you stay with the Protagonist and the World Consciousness wakes up and is unhappy about your identity, it will target you and cause you great trouble. So…]
Ye Qingyun: [So?]
System: [So we recommend a compromise: cancel the three-month death limit while keeping your body reserved. If you do encounter trouble and die, you will still have a fallback.]
Ye Qingyun was shocked: [That’s allowed? Why are you so agreeable? I’ve seen other Systems, and they aren’t like this. Are you plotting something?]
System: […Do we really look like such exploiters?]
These Systems maintain world stability by having their Hosts complete the plot, thereby gaining energy. However, they miscalculated; this world was inherently unstable due to its unfinished ending, making energy acquisition extremely difficult. They were about to give up on gaining energy from this world, but unexpectedly, they gained a large amount of energy in the short time Ye Qingyun and Gu Shenyuan had been together.
The Main System immediately ordered them to offer the most favorable terms to keep Gu Shenyun and Ye Qingyun together permanently.
Regarding the malice of the World Consciousness, Ye Qingyun hadn’t seen it, but they had seen plenty. Even with these conditions, they couldn’t guarantee Ye Qingyun would survive from start to finish. They also couldn’t prepare too many bodies for Ye Qingyun, so this was his only chance for rebirth.
The System sighed silently and explained the situation to Ye Qingyun.
Ye Qingyun looked down at the black ring on his finger and smiled: [It’s fine. If that day ever comes, before I die, I will definitely force the Antidote down Gu Shenyuan’s throat.]
Gu Shenyuan could choose to follow him in death because he couldn’t bear the pain, but he absolutely could not be forced to die with him due to the torment of the Bloodline constraint.
He didn’t want Gu Shenyuan to be buried with him at all.
However, what he needed to do now was try his best to ensure his own safety and live a healthy life, giving Gu Shenyuan no chance for martyrdom.
Ye Qingyun looked at the ring on his finger, and a new idea popped into his head.
He had promised to buy Gu Shenyuan a ring before. Why not buy a matching pair of rings for them to wear as couple rings?
He could then modify the rings to allow mutual positioning, so not only could Gu Shenyuan find him, but he could also easily find Gu Shenyuan.
Perfect!
——————
When Gu Shenyuan returned, Ye Qingyun explained his idea to him.
Gu Shenyuan looked at him deeply, his eyes filled with unconcealed joy and excitement: “Are you proposing to me?”
Ye Qingyun: “…???”
Ye Qingyun was so startled that the snack in his hand dropped.
Wait a minute, he hadn’t mentioned that, he was talking about rings. Why did Gu Shenyuan suddenly bring up marriage?
He had just confessed and just started dating Gu Shenyuan—were they already stepping into the hall of matrimony?
While he wasn’t unwilling, this was truly too fast!
“Only married couples wear identical rings,” Gu Shenyuan took Ye Qingyun’s hand, forcefully separating Ye Qingyun’s joined fingers and threading his own fingers into the gaps between Ye Qingyun’s. “You must know that, Qingyun?”
Ye Qingyun was dumbfounded. He really didn’t know! He hadn’t researched customs in this area!
Did that mean there was no tradition of couples wearing rings here? Only married people could wear them?
Ye Qingyun tried to explain: “Actually, I didn’t—”
Gu Shenyuan tightened his grip on Ye Qingyun’s hand, cutting him off abruptly, his eyes shining with a frantic light: “I accept, Qingyun. You can’t go back on your word.”