Chapter 192: Extra — Travel Arc

The moment Li Xiao and Song Jin left the dessert street, they made headline news. However, the headline was not#CrownPrinceCoupleDinedAndDashedForWastingFoodAndHungAtDoorforPublicExecution#.

After the Meng faction was brought down, the two had practically disappeared from the public eye, yet their online popularity hadn’t diminished in the slightest. On the rare occasion that a passerby caught a glimpse of them during their academic tour, even a simple photo of their backs was enough to dominate the trending topics for days—let alone a front-facing photo together this time.

Compared to two years ago, the twenty-year-olds looked even more mature and captivating, driving netizens from both Danse and Shengya into a collective frenzy, signing joint petitions begging them to post more often.

The debate over who married whom was pushed back into the spotlight, triggering another round of heated arguments.

News of the couple’s visit to the dessert street spread rapidly. Countless tourists in the vicinity swarmed the dessert shop, demanding the exact same order as the Crown Princess.

Flight routes bound for B550 saw a surge in orders; within a short thirty minutes, all flights for the entire coming month were sold out completely.

As the CEO of Interstellar Aviation, Wu Ya’s homepage was flooded with comments by netizens once again. Interstellar Aviation announced dedicated travel charter routes right away, with other airlines big and small following close behind to cling to the opportunity and make a profit.

The local government convened an urgent meeting to prepare for the massive influx of tourists. As officials stared at the skyrocketing travel interest surveys, enlightenment suddenly struck them:

No matter how hard they racked their brains to boost tourism, it wasn’t nearly as effective as His Highness taking his pretty spouse for a quick stroll around the area.

A rainstorm washed over the mountain forest, leaving a pervasive mist in the air that acted like a natural, soft-focus filter.

Along both sides of a small river in the rainforest stood rows of treehouses, constructed using coexisting vines that hung down from giant trees. From a distance, they resembled massive water droplets wrapped in vines.

Song Jin sat on the steps holding a cattail fan, admiring the distant waterfall cascading through the clouds through the transparent outer wall.

Although rustic, the small, birdcage-like treehouse was equipped with a air purifier system, so it wasn’t overly humid or hot. However, its constant-temperature system left much to be desired. Fortunately, when passing through Z152 in the Zifu Constellation a couple of days ago, he had bought another fan from the old man who made plum blossom wine.

“07, still haven’t found anything?” Song Jin fanned himself, casually glancing left and right before lowering his voice to ask.

07: 【None of the sources seem very reliable. I’ll keep searching. Wouldn’t it be better to just tell him directly?】

Song Jin knitted his brows, feeling a bit irritable: “No, he absolutely cannot know. I’m afraid he won’t be able to handle it.”

07: 【But if something goes wrong with his health, he’ll find out sooner or later.】

Song Jin: “Which is why we need to resolve it before he finds out.”

07: 【I’ll keep looking then.】

Footsteps sounded behind him. Song Jin pretended to admire the scenery, and soon a cup containing a strange fruit juice appeared in front of his eyes.

“What’s this?” Song Jin took it and took a whiff.

Li Xiao sat down on the step behind him: “I added some heat-clearing herbs. It helps relieve the summer heat.”

Song Jin took a couple of sips. There was no medicinal bitterness, only a faint, subtle grassy fragrance.

It had to be said that Li Xiao really had a talent for culinary creations. Although he always claimed he rarely cooked, everything he made tasted delicious.

He wondered if it was inherited; Li Ji was the same way, seemingly born with an innate sense of which ingredients tasted good together, down to the exact proportions. Song Jin’s own family, on the other hand, possessed no such fine genes—only an ancestral trait of being a glutton.

Li Xiao: “Want to go out for a walk?”

“Go out and suffer in this weather?”

Song Jin set the cup down on the step and leaned back into Li Xiao’s chest. “We’re out to have fun, not participating in a wild planet survival challenge.”

Li Xiao naturally wrapped his arms around Song Jin’s waist: “Then I’ll take you around once the weather clears. There are plenty of delicious fruits nearby.”

Speaking of food, Song Jin mustered a bit of interest.

“Something you discovered when you were little too?”

Li Xiao shook his head: “An Omega brother who lived here took me there.”

“An Omega brother?”

Song Jin’s eyes narrowed slightly. “Is he pretty?”

Li Xiao made a show of recalling seriously: “Delicate features, simple and pure—very pleasant to look at.”

Song Jin’s voice turned chilly: “As pleasant to look at as me?”

Li Xiao looked down, meeting the sharp glares directed at him, and played dumb as he replied: “You two are entirely different types; there’s no comparison.”

To Song Jin’s ears, this sounded as if even he couldn’t replace this “Omega brother’s” position in Li Xiao’s heart. He let out a cold snort: “You aren’t that old, yet you sure have a lot of white moonlights.”

Li Xiao nodded with utmost seriousness: “If I hadn’t insisted on not dating prematurely, you wouldn’t even be in the picture. You’d better cherish me—if you look away for even a second, someone else might snatch me away.”

Song Jin stroked the silver ring on the tip of Li Xiao’s ear, saying gloomily, “I’d like to see who has the guts to snatch what’s mine.”

Li Xiao chuckled and leaned down to kiss him.

An Alpha alone with another Alpha in an deserted rainforest, with torrential rain acting as a barrier isolating everything outside—it was the perfect atmosphere to get up to no good.

Song Jin tilted his head back, but at the very last second before their lips met, he snapped to his senses and abruptly pressed his hand against Li Xiao’s shoulder to push him away.

Li Xiao paused slightly: “What’s wrong?”

Song Jin avoided Li Xiao’s probing gaze, looking a bit unnatural: “It’s been a while since I’ve appreciated the scenery of the rainforest.”

Li Xiao held his chin, turning his face back to meet his eyes: “What is going on?”

Knowing he couldn’t fool him that easily, Song Jin said earnestly: “Our marriage status expired long ago, and we haven’t completed the follow-up paperwork.”

They had jokingly gotten married back at the exam venue, but Shengya law stipulated a six-month observation period. If no follow-up procedures were completed when time was up, the marriage status was automatically dissolved.

At the time, they were busy dealing with Meng Jian, and by the time they noticed, it had long since been dissolved.

As for Danse’s side, they had never completed the paperwork in the first place.

Li Xiao: “So?”

Song Jin: “We are currently cohabiting illegally.”

Li Xiao: “…”

Fearing that Li Xiao would pry further, Song Jin made up an excuse and slipped away.

Watching Song Jin flee, alarm bells rang loudly in Li Xiao’s mind.

Ever since they returned from attending the cultural festival two days ago, his little lion hadn’t let him touch him at all.

09: 【Look away for a second, and you’re getting dumped.】

Li Xiao: “…”

09 crossed its matchstick arms, adopting a wise and experienced stance: 【Refusing physical intimacy is the first step of growing tired of someone. You’d better prepare yourself for a breakup sooner rather than later, so you don’t end up crying too embarrassingly when the time comes.】

Li Xiao: “…”

Li Xiao ran a hand through his hair, feeling a bit flustered.

Having lived two lives, he had only been in one relationship. Plus, with the massive gap between his psychological age and the little lion’s, creating who-knew-how-many generation gaps, he really couldn’t figure out what had gone wrong.

In his mind, once a commitment was made, it was for a lifetime—there was no such thing as breaking up midway to find someone else.

09: 【He must have taken a liking to an Alpha more charming than you at the cultural festival, so you naturally got disqualified!】

Could such a person even exist?

Li Xiao recalled what had happened two days ago, and nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

09: 【Then he’s simply grown tired of you, which is even worse.】

Li Xiao: “…”

Two days ago—

After leaving the dessert shop, Li Xiao took Song Jin along the dessert street toward the temple to the north, where the cultural festival was taking place.

Since Darcy and the others were already there anyway, they decided to tag along with Li Xiao and Song Jin to check it out.

Grass-woven hanging decorations unique to the festival hung everywhere along both sides of the ancient street, and visitors bustled through every alleyway. From time to time, “NPCs” dressed in traditional attire with strange totems painted on their faces walked past, providing task clues to tourists who discovered them. The festive atmosphere was thick.

Li Xiao: “I heard there are quite a few activities.”

Darcy replied: “There’s an event for collecting limited-edition stamps and small cards, as well as hidden quests that can only be activated by specific NPCs to earn limited-edition festival merchandise. There’s also a temple challenge event—tourists who pass all stages receive admission tickets to tonight’s Thousand-Person Banquet.”

“Thousand-Person Banquet?” Song Jin asked.

Li Xiao explained: “In ancient times, this ethnic group would slaughter livestock sacrifices like cattle and sheep after the rituals, inviting all clan members to share the feast together. Now that the ritual has turned into a cultural event, the Thousand-Person Banquet has also become an important part of the process.”

Darcy added with a smile: “Everyone sits together in the hall behind the temple, eating local specialty delicacies while watching traditional song, dance, and skill performances. It’s very lively and well worth experiencing.”

Song Jin’s curiosity was piqued. Whether he watched the songs and dances didn’t matter, but he definitely had to taste the local specialty foods.

If there was anything about Danse he was most satisfied with, one was Li Xiao, and the other was the food.

There were a massive number of tourists participating in the challenge—eight stages in total. At specific stages, one had to draw a challenge from a raffle box provided by an NPC. These were generally simple tasks like answering questions, escorting an NPC, or running errands, which were both fun and spread the ethnic culture.

Looking at the busy tourists around them, Song Jin said in a low voice: “The event is well organized; participation is really high.”

Li Xiao gave a soft hum of agreement.

The special zone relied on tourism for its livelihood. Because the annual profit shares were substantial, a large number of native residents were willing to stay in their hometown to live a simple life. The ancient buildings were well maintained and preserved, and the ethnic customs and traditional skills were fully passed down by the locals. As a result, the area didn’t become overly commercialized, attracting even more tourists instead.

It was a positive feedback loop.

Listening to the pair’s casual chatter, Darcy thought to himself that another batch of officials was bound to get promoted.

The Second Prince appeared to be idling around and traveling for leisure, but every step actually had a calculated purpose.

With Danse and Shengya establishing diplomatic relations, the two nations were gradually opening up exchange activities across various fields, including tourism.

Danse had a massive number of ethnic groups and placed great emphasis on cultural diversity, which served as a major selling point to attract foreign tourists.

The various cultural protection zones across the realm were likely facing a wave of major reforms next.

Since it was still early, Li Xiao acted as a tour guide, taking Song Jin around to wander freely, collect stamps, and grab limited-edition gifts from various NPCs along the way.

Darcy and the others tactfully split up from them, agreeing to gather at the main entrance of the temple at six in the evening.

An afternoon shower had cleared up, leaving the weather exceptionally pleasant. Carrying a pocketful of won-over limited-edition hanging ornaments from the festival, Song Jin ate an ice cream while lining up with Li Xiao for the first stage.

For stage one, Song Jin drew a trivia question related to the ethnic group’s culture.

Along the way, they had encountered NPCs introducing the history of the ethnic group everywhere, and could even spectate small situational plays and authentic scenes of native life. Anyone who stopped to listen and look could answer correctly.

However, with Li Xiao by his side, Song Jin chose to forego thinking altogether and tossed the question directly to him.

By the fourth stage, Song Jin pulled another ball from the raffle box. This time it wasn’t a question, but a quest item that needed to be delivered to a designated location.

Following the directions on a small paper map, Song Jin and Li Xiao walked up to a dilapidated, massive building. According to the small paper sign, this was where the deity’s mount resided, and they needed to deliver the quest item—a collar—into the hands of this mount.

Upon entering, there was a stone sculpture. Song Jin scanned it: “A flying cat?”

Li Xiao: “…It’s a tiger. In the language of this ethnic group, it’s called a Soul-Eater Beast. They believe tigers can eat human souls.”

Song Jin snorted: “People are scared out of their wits when they encounter a tiger, so isn’t that basically having their ‘soul eaten’?”

Li Xiao: “That’s precisely what it means.”

The main hall was covered in murals. Many tourists who came to run errands with quest items were admiring the murals while looking for the NPC.

Following the story depicted on the murals into a quiet corridor, Song Jin was looking with keen interest when he caught sight of a dark figure slinking stealthily out from around a corner out of the corner of his eye.

The person was wearing a strange fur robe, their face covered by a mask painted with totems, revealing only a pair of golden eyes.

Without even needing to ask, Song Jin could guess from the attire that this was the mount NPC. As for why he slunk out rather than walked out, it was because he was riding a skateboard under his feet.

Song Jin couldn’t help but roast him: “How is this a deity’s mount? Cowering around like a third-rate little monster sneaking in to steal a meal—the kind you could kill with a single strike of a staff, no less.”

Li Xiao: “…”

NPC: “…”

Following the quest process, Song Jin handed over the item and flipped open his challenge booklet.

“This is supposed to be given to you, right? Stamp my booklet to pass.”

The NPC placed his hands behind his back and delivered his line with majestic authority: “Facing This Venerable One, why do you not kneel?”

Song Jin turned to look at Li Xiao: “What did he say?”

Li Xiao translated for him.

Song Jin looked the “long-haired monster”—who was still shorter than him even while standing on a skateboard—up and down. The contempt in his eyes said it all.

Feeling intensely provoked, the NPC pointed at Li Xiao and said to Song Jin: “Daring to disrespect This Venerable One, This Venerable One shall detain your companion in this temple to serve as a servant!”

Li Xiao maintained a blank face, acting as an emotionless translation machine.

Song Jin: “If you dare detain him, I’ll level your temple to the ground.”

NPC: “…”

That’s not how the game is played!

NPC: “You dare speak to This Venerable One like this—”

Song Jin shoved the stamp booklet over: “Hurry up.”

Biting his lip, the NPC timidly pulled out a stamp from his robe.

Just as Song Jin was preparing to leave, he suddenly heard a loud, rumbling gurgle.

The NPC clutched his stomach, sucking in a breath of cold air, nearly tumbling off his skateboard.

“Not again…”

This time the voice wasn’t disguised. Li Xiao estimated he was fifteen or sixteen at most. Seeing that he didn’t seem to be acting, Li Xiao asked casually: “Are you feeling unwell?”

The youth playing the NPC: “The outfit is too stifling; I got heatstroke and diarrhea.”

Li Xiao: “…”

No wonder so many tourists in the outer hall couldn’t find the NPC.

Li Xiao was just considering whether to help contact the staff to bring some medicine when the youth shoved his mask and stamp into Song Jin’s arms.

Undressing as he spoke, the youth said: “There isn’t much time left before the banquet. I’m afraid I won’t make it in time. Please fill in for me for a bit; I’m squatting in the restroom and will be right back.”

“Hey!”

Song Jin tried to hand them back, but the youth tossed the robe over to him first, turned around, and bolted toward the restroom.

Song Jin: “You can even play it like this?”

Li Xiao: “…”

Song Jin looked at Li Xiao: “What do we do?”

Li Xiao picked up the robe that had fallen onto the ground: “We’re already here anyway.”

Song Jin: “…”

Inside the temple, more and more tourists were gathering. A large number of people doing tasks were stranded here because they couldn’t find the NPC. They had even lifted the manhole cover in the corner of the wall to check, but still couldn’t find anyone.

Suddenly, a dark figure flashed across the courtyard, and the tourists looked over in unison.

A tall figure wearing a mask flew past their eyes, landing lightly on the corner of the eaves of the palace opposite them.

“Holy crap! Found him! Over there!”

“He took off! He can actually fly?!”

“This design is way too dedicated! So cool!”

“Wait, how can he stand so stably on that sharp point?”

“Clamorous!”

A clear, cold, and majestic bark instantly brought everyone present to a silence.

Song Jin flicked his sleeves, looking down at the gathering crowd of tourists below from his high vantage point, opening his mouth to speak in a cold voice: “Facing This Venerable One, why do you not kneel?”

Quite a few obedient tourists were actually about to kneel and bow. Song Jin broke into a cold sweat, asking Li Xiao through 07: “How do I handle this?”

Standing behind a massive wooden pillar and recalling his last visit here, Li Xiao suppressed a smile and soothed Song Jin: “Don’t panic. Just repeat what I say.”

Song Jin listened and repeated word for word. Fearing he might say something wrong, he intentionally slowed down his speaking speed, which ended up making his aura seem even stronger and more intimidating.

Watching Song Jin assign tasks in a cold, icy tone, Li Xiao casually snapped a photo, overhearing a few tourists whispering among themselves.

“The mount is so imposing—looks even more like a deity than the actual deity.”

“No wonder he gets a temple all to himself; this mount could probably wipe out all the gods, hahahaha.”

“Nobody told me the Soul-Eater Beast was this cool! I wonder if they sell merchandise of it, I really want to buy some.”

“Me too! Let’s go buy some together after getting stamped!”

Li Xiao chuckled, avoiding everyone to wait behind an inconspicuous window in the main hall. As long as tourists came over and gave the correct answer, he would stamp their booklets.

On the other side, the youth suffering from heatstroke was squatting in the restroom when he received a communication from management.

Backstage: “How did you manage to fly?!”

The youth was dumbfounded: “I didn’t fly.”

Backstage: “I saw it on the surveillance! Impressive, you actually have that kind of skill! The boss said the effect is great and you can continue, but the equipment needs to be brought in for registration, otherwise your pay gets docked!”

The youth pondered for a moment, suddenly realizing something: “It wasn’t me! It was done by a temporary worker!”

Backstage: “Where the hell did a temporary worker come from?!”

The youth: “I found one on short notice!”

The line fell silent for a moment. Just as the youth was feeling nervous, a voice came through again.

Backstage: “Hurry up and get that temporary worker’s contact information!”

The youth: “…”

By the time the youth finished using the restroom and returned, the large crowd of stranded tourists had already received their stamps and left. The “temporary worker” had also departed, leaving behind only his costume props and stamp carefully placed behind the wooden pillar.

Before six o’clock, Song Jin and Li Xiao successfully cleared all stages and obtained their admission tickets to the Thousand-Person Banquet.

The hall behind the temple was also an ancient structure, with quite a few requirements for visiting tourists.

Li Xiao and Song Jin took a tour around and randomly picked a spot to sit down.

As night fell, a bonfire was lit in the middle of the open space, and dancers wearing traditional performance attire began entering the venue.

Although the strange dance moves didn’t fit Li Xiao and Song Jin’s aesthetic at all, under this kind of atmosphere, it was still enough to fully experience the cultural and visual impact. It was indeed a good experience.

Taking advantage of an interlude between programs, Song Jin went to the restroom.

On his way back, passing through the long covered corridor of the side hall, under the dim yellow streetlights everywhere, he could vaguely see staff members preparing food in the distance.

Halfway through, hearing a few abrupt splashing sounds, Song Jin inadvertently looked up. Not far from the food prep area, a group of burly men were stomping on something inside a large, bluish-purple water basin, chanting as they stomped.

A few people beside them scooped the basin water into buckets and quickly headed toward the food prep area.

Song Jin didn’t pay much attention and walked straight back to the hall.

Just as he prepared to sit down, he saw a bowl of noodles set on the table.

Why did this bluish-purple broth look so familiar?

“These cold noodles are pretty good.”

Li Xiao set down the bowl in his hand and said to him, “Eat quickly; the noodles won’t taste good if they soak for too long.”

Song Jin snapped his gaze toward Li Xiao. Seeing that his bowl was already empty, he spoke with difficulty: “…You finished it?”

Li Xiao nodded.

Song Jin: “…”

Song Jin: “You drank the soup too?”

Li Xiao nodded in confusion: “It relieves summer heat.”

Song Jin: “…”

Foot-washing water can relieve summer heat? How come he didn’t know about that?

Seeing that Song Jin’s expression was off, Li Xiao asked in confusion: “What’s wrong?”

You just drank a bowl of foot-washing water.

Those words circled in Song Jin’s mouth a few times, but he still couldn’t bring himself to say them.

What if Li Xiao was left traumatized?

But what if those burly men had athlete’s foot…

Song Jin’s expression changed. He couldn’t let his thoughts wander any further.

This cultural difference had truly shocked him to his core.

Grimacing, Song Jin moved the bowl of cold noodles far away to the corner of the table. Whether it was psychological or not, he felt there was a subtle stench of foot odor in the air.

Fortunately, after the cold noodles came desserts and fruits. Song Jin kept shoving items into Li Xiao’s hands: “Here, eat more to rinse your mouth.”

Li Xiao: “There’s tea.”

“Why drink tea? It doesn’t taste good anyway.”

Song Jin peeled another orange and shoved it into his hands. “Eating fruit prevents aging.”

Li Xiao: “…”

Did he look very old right now?

It was late at night by the time the Thousand-Person Banquet wrapped up. The two found a nearby guesthouse to stay at.

Lying in bed after taking a shower, Song Jin’s mind was still full of that bowl of bluish-purple noodles. He wanted to contact his father, Shen Sinian, but it was three in the morning Snowstar time. After thinking about it, he sat up, leaned against the headboard, and looked up data.

【Can athlete’s foot grow in the mouth?】

【Will drinking foot-washing water cause poisoning?】

【Are there pathogenic bacteria carried in foot-washing water?】

【What are the symptoms of drinking foot-washing water?】

Song Jin read through the results line by line, accidentally stumbling upon a photo of a mouth covered in pus-filled sores, getting mentally traumatized on the spot.

Thinking that Li Xiao might turn out like that, he wished he could take him back to Snowstar for treatment right now.

07: 【So many people at the Thousand-Person Banquet drank it without issue; Madam shouldn’t have any problems either.】

Song Jin: 【Is Li Xiao the same as those people? He’s never eaten anything this dirty before; his body doesn’t have immunity.】

07: 【Then take him for a checkup?】

Song Jin naturally wanted to, but under what pretext?

Li Xiao wasn’t that easy to fool. Plus, he didn’t want the other party to know, so he needed to find a reasonable excuse.

07: 【How about I secretly test his blood after he falls asleep?】

Song Jin thought about it—that was the only option for now.

“Not sleeping yet?”

Hearing Li Xiao’s voice, Song Jin looked up. The other man had just finished showering and was walking over while drying his hair, wearing only a pair of long trousers, his defined muscle lines fully exposed.

Song Jin was instantly enchanted, completely unable to move his eyes away.

Li Xiao sat casually by the edge of the bed. Seeing the little lion staring at him intently, it felt like a silent yet passionate invitation.

Having zero resistance to this, he tilted his head to kiss him.

Song Jin instinctively leaned in, but just as he prepared to raise his arms to wrap around Li Xiao, he paused abruptly. The image of those burly men stomping in the water while shouting flashed across his mind, and no matter what, he couldn’t bring himself to kiss him.

Sensing Song Jin’s hesitation, a trace of disappointment flickered in Li Xiao’s eyes, though he concealed it well. He asked as if nothing had happened: “Why are you zoning out? Tired?”

Snapping back to reality, Song Jin naturally took the towel from Li Xiao’s hands to help him dry his hair.

“Where are we going tomorrow?”

Li Xiao leaned both hands beside Song Jin, lowering his head to enjoy his service: “The work here is done. Is there anywhere you want to go?”

Song Jin: “We’ll talk after we wake up tomorrow morning.”

Li Xiao chuckled: “Okay.”

The two chatted idly about this and that.

Once Li Xiao’s hair was dry, both of them lay down.

Thunderstorms began pouring outside the window once again. Listening to the sound of wind and rain outside, neither of them felt sleepy for a moment.

If it were usual, they wouldn’t be lying under the covers purely sleeping like this—the cat cub would have pounced over long ago. The more Li Xiao thought about it, the more he felt the other person had something on his mind.

Had they really entered a relationship fatigue stage?