Chapter 2.3
Sometimes, there are stories where individuals naturally don't get along well with select people. Perhaps this male lead decided that the supporting male lead is an eyesore the moment they met. This is a logical reason to explain why Mo Xuanzhi acts the way he does towards Sui Yuan. Only, he is not quite sure if someone finds another person unbearable, will said person always want to come to blows[1] with the other?
Faced with this question, 5237 whines and moans for more than half a day before giving him an equivocal affirmative. And much to its eternal sorrow…Sui Yuan actually… Honestly. Believed. It…
5237 feels like its integrity had fallen to the bottom of the ocean. Leading such a naïve and innocent child astray really fills it with guilt ah!
Convinced that the male lead assaulted him with an unorthodox move purely because Mo Xuanzhi disliked him, the heavy burden in Sui Yuan's heart quickly lightens. With no secondary worries occupying his thoughts, he can finally concentrate on wrangling this deformed storyline back in order by plotting how to drag the male and female leads together.
First of all, he cannot be too intimate with the female lead. In terms of this, Sui Yuan feels he is doing exceedingly well. Even Leng Xia herself doesn't notice that he is meticulously keeping his distance.
Secondly, he has to manufacture as many opportunities for them to interact as possible. If the male lead is hungry, send the female lead over to feed him. If the male lead sustains an injury, send the female lead over to give him first aid. If the male lead suffers from insomnia… Umm…well, he is still working on that… But either way, since Leng Xia is originally the logistics support in the team, it wouldn't seem strange to keep pushing her to the male lead during those situations.
It's just… Everything that he has planned so far with great effort and dedication yielded minimal results, if at all. All the hope and anticipation that rises each time crumbles swiftly.
Sui Yuan feels that all this is due to him, as the supporting male lead, cutting in between Mo Xuanzhi and Leng Xia during a critical juncture.
In the original text, Leng Xia meets Mo Xuanzhi in the window period of He Haochen's absence. Therefore, when such an outstanding male expressed goodwill, she was naturally drawn in. Everything that comes after is logical. A deeper friendship leading to affection, and finally, love. Now, however, the situation has changed. The female lead is not some fickle lady. Presently, her feelings of deep friendship for He Haochen is restricting her from looking at Mo Xuanzhi as more than a tentative ally. Of course, with this frame of mind, she wouldn't be too intimate with him.
As for the male lead…his attention seems, for the most part, focused on destroying his love rival, thus neglecting that he ought to be paying more attention to the female lead.
Fortunately, they have nearly reached Lu Sheng's largest survivor's base of operation. Once they arrive, Sui Yuan can successfully withdraw from the stage, leaving the male and female lead to meld together.
Sitting on the ground, one hand supporting his body while the other wipes away the beads of sweat gathered on his forehead, Sui Yuan gasps for breath. His body is currently sapped of all strength to the point that he doesn't even feel like lifting a finger.
Just recently, they were embroiled in a hard battle. Only after experiencing significant, material losses did they finally manage to break away from the closely pursuing swarm of zombies. This so-called 'main lead's physique' is a rather bothersome thing that never fails in attracting trouble. As long as Mo Xuanzhi was here, one can wave peaceful days goodbye. Before, when this team only had the female lead, things were still relatively okay. Now, with the addition of the male lead whose abilities can be classed as heaven-defying, higher-ranked foes pour forth. If the enemies remained the same common ones that were easily dealt with, how would the male lead be able to display his incredible skills?
But…this male lead is apparently someone who enjoys watching a rowdy scene. Each time, when the group is met with danger, he leisurely watches the fire burning from across the river, up until Sui Yuan and the others really cannot persevere any longer. Only then does he deign to lift a hand to help dispose of the threat. Although everyone loves scenes of 'hero saving the beauty', if one overdoes it, even someone like Sui Yuan who happily undertakes the laborious task of being a supporting male lead without complaints is also starting to be unable to tolerate it.
Because each time the male lead has a 'hero saving the beauty' moment, it is all established on the sweat, blood and tears of other cannon fodders like Sui Yuan ah!
Naturally, after facing countless life and death situations, it is inevitable that Sui Yuan experiences a breakthrough in his ability level. A few days after Mo Xuanzhi tagged along with their team, both his water and lightning system rises from Rank 3 to 4. Exceeding the level he ought to be at in the original plot is perhaps the sole reward he gains from this…
"Are you all right?" Leng Xia asks worriedly as she clutches a bottle in her hands, settling down on the floor next to Sui Yuan, back leaning against his side.
Taking the bottle, Sui Yuan puts her concern to rest with a small smile. "I'm fine. I only overused my abilities. It'll be all good after I rest for a while."
"That's good to know…" A soft sigh of relief puffs out of Leng Xia's mouth. Seeing Sui Yuan gulp down half the bottle in one go, the concern in her eyes solidifies. As soon as she recalls the main offender behind Sui Yuan's current state, she can't help complaining, "That Mo Xuanzhi is really too much! Standing aside and watching every time, not willing to help until the situation turns critical. Who does he think he is?! The Saviour[2]?"
Sui yuan pauses, lowering the bottle from his mouth before tilting his head at Leng Xia, sighing inwardly.
It appears that Mo Xuanzhi's abuse of all those 'hero saving the beauty' scenes had achieved the opposite desired effect: making Leng Xia more and more resentful.
In order to prevent the gap between the male and female lead from widening, Sui Yuan acts like an understanding person this time to put in a few good words for his love rival in front of the female lead. "Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. If we are always hiding behind him, the moment he leaves, we will be at risk."
Seeing a thoughtful look in Leng Xia's gaze, Sui Yuan continues, "By not lifting a hand to help until absolutely necessary, Mo Xuanzhi is trying to toughen us up. Haven't you noticed that recently, everyone's strength has improved very quickly? Just the fact that he hasn't allowed a single teammate to die can already be considered he is protecting us. I feel that what he is doing is correct."
"…I understand that reasoning," Leng Xia hangs her head, replying softly. "Still, I feel very unhappy, as though he is looking down on us from up high."
"This is a world where the strong preys on the weak." Sui Yuan consoles as best he can, "I can only say that he follows this value."
Lifting her head, Leng Xia stares at Sui Yuan with a rather complicated expression. Staying silent for a moment, she finally inquires, "…Haochen, your evaluation of Mo Xuanzhi is very high ah?"
Thanks to her rebirth, Leng Xia knows that Mo Xuanzhi's future holds limitless potential, which is why she dares not disobey him. However, the present Mo Xuanzhi is only a powerful but unknown Ability User. He has yet to do anything truly astonishing that will ensure his name and reputation travels across the land. It is reasonable to say that one mountain cannot house two tigers[3]. Based on this saying, Sui Yuan, whose ability is not too far behind Mo Xuanzhi, should be feeling threatened by the latter's existence. But far from rejecting his presence, Sui Yuan instead holds him in high esteem. Just this alone is enough to raise doubts in people's hearts.
A mountain cannot house two tigers. Unless one is a male and the other female…
Sui Yuan is not aware of this, but from the day Mo Xuanzhi joined their ranks, everyone else in the team began to look at the two men with ambiguous gazes. However, besides that one shocking, public kiss between the two, Sui Yuan treats Mo Xuanzhi with an upright, proper manner, while the latter simply limits himself to teasing the former. No one can tell where the wind is blowing, for there are no further incidents between these two men.
No matter if it is due to curiosity or the slight crush she has on Sui Yuan, this entire situation causes Leng Xia's heart to itch terribly. She really wants to get to the bottom of what exactly is going on between these two.
Meeting Leng Xia's gaze, Sui Yuan feels rather unsettled by the strange glint in the young woman's eyes. Unable to figure out what is going on in her head, he can only continue with his original train of thought. "I feel that he is worthy of such an evaluation."
Staying quiet for a while, she finally murmurs, "Haochen, don't tell me you and Mo Xuanzhi are really…?"
Leng Xia trails off, carefully scrutinising Sui Yuan's expression as she sounds him out. Only, she is met with a pair of limpid eyes staring blankly back, completely devoid of the shrewd, firm look he always has in the past. Now, he seems somewhat…dense?
She abruptly feels guilty as though she has just misguided an innocent child…
"What is it?" Sui Yuan urges as he realised Leng Xia doesn't intend to finish her sentence.
He really dislikes the kind of lines that leaves off halfway. Even if he had the entire script in front of him, he is not a parasite residing in the other party's stomach ah. How will he know what they want to say? How can he continue the conversation with a dialogue like this? Peh!
"Ah! It's nothing!" Leng Xia shakes her head vigorously, unwilling to continue trying to sound him out. But just as she planned to change the topic, she senses something not quite right. Unconsciously, she turns her head around, and immediately feels the fine hairs on her arms and legs standing up.
Detecting the female lead's sudden shift in awareness, Sui Yuan is about to turn around and look too when Leng Xia jumps to her feet, departing with a rushed, "I still have things to do." Left reeling from her abrupt retreat, Sui Yuan can only stare mutely at her back, deeply confused.
……What's with this unfinished conversation turning into suspense?
"I never thought you can comprehend my thoughts to this extent." Mo Xuanzhi's voice suddenly sounds from behind him.
Subconsciously registering a threat even if they are not exuding a hostile aura, his elbow jabs firmly backwards. However, the person behind easily catches his elbow, at the same time pulling on his other arm and pinning them both behind Sui Yuan's back, effectively immobilising him with just one hand. Mo Xuanzhi's free arm wraps around Sui Yuan's chest, trapping him in the other man's embrace.
Not for the first time, Sui Yuan is extremely upset with his slender physique. Although the supporting male lead's special ability is not bad and has a quick mind, it is obvious that before the apocalypse, he was a mere civilian with a mentally-taxing occupation. No matter how good his inner qualities are, he definitely cannot overcome this male lead who clearly possesses a military-trained body. Being subdued by Mo Xuanzhi is as easy as an eagle catching a chick.
"I was only telling the truth," Sui Yuan answers coldly, doing his utmost best to keep his wise and cool-headed attitude together.
Mo Xuanzhi chuckles, biting Sui Yuan's earlobe lightly and causing goose bumps to rise on the latter's skin. Quickly turning his head to the side, Sui Yuan gazes pleadingly at his system hovering not far away.
Sui Yuan: "……… QAQ"
But to his sorrow, 5237 turned its back to Sui Yuan as soon as Mo Xuanzhi appeared. Facing away from the scene in the room, it stares resolutely up at the sky. It saw nothing, it knows nothing……
Following Sui Yuan's gaze to the empty space, a crafty smile appears on Mo Xuanzhi's face.
Footnotes:
[1] Come to blows: It's actually more like always touching/harassing the other person, but in this case, SY views it in a hostile way
[2] The Saviour a.k.a Jesus Christ
[3] One mountain cannot house two tigers = literally means that in an area, there cannot be two strong people leading. There can only be one king/leader. If there are 2, they will either fight it out, or one of them will leave.