Chapter 1 Half a Month Passes

In the blink of an eye, half a month had passed, and the Lunar New Year's Eve was approaching.

City S had always been a place with terrible weather, not only cold in winter and hot in summer, but also, the air was especially humid and cloying during the coldest and hottest days.

This year was no exception...

Even with the damp cold and biting wind, people still had to go out and hustle for a living.

Day after day, they walked through the streets with piercing winds, squeezed into packed subways, entered lifeless offices, did a whole day of tedious and boring work, and then dragged their tired bodies back home, exhausting the last bit of their energy in front of a cold screen...

And the next day, it would all start again.

This was the most realistic face of life—hardship and bitterness, but people still had to endure it; this endurance was not only for survival, but also for the bits and pieces, the moments of happiness in life.

Of course, there were also some people who were paying and striving to grasp that phantom called "dream" that had not yet dissipated.

But in the end, very few people could truly reach the destination they originally wanted to go to...

The vast majority of people were ultimately lost on the road of life. They had their edges smoothed by the years, they forgot their original intentions in the process of pursuing their dreams, and they turned from extraordinary children into ordinary adults.

...

January 15th, noon, on a certain street in the center of City S.

The gloomy weather seemed to make people's moods also become gloomy.

The expressions of the passers-by could be roughly divided into two types: hurried and pale, and numb.

And among these people, there was one person... who was different.

This was a woman, an obese woman.

Even disregarding the factor of obesity, this woman's appearance could not be associated with the word "beauty"; moreover, she was not wearing makeup at this time, so she looked five or six years older than her actual age.

She was wearing a thick down jacket and jeans, both of which looked very cheap, and her short, thick legs seemed to be about to burst the jeans open, making it difficult to look at directly.

Naturally, such an image did not attract a high rate of passersby turning their heads.

However, this was exactly what she wanted—she did not want to attract attention in the first place.

"This is... the so-called..." she walked slowly on the sidewalk, muttering to herself, "...'real world'?" Her eyes shifted around, collecting all the images that could be obtained visually, and in her eyes... there was also a white glow, "Compared with other universes composed of disordered natural evolution sequences... besides being a bit more boring, what else is there to recommend it?"

No one heard her mutterings; presumably, even if someone did hear them, they would not care or would just ignore them as chuunibyou (middle-schooler syndrome).

"If 'fate' had not connected our universe to this place and established a subordinate relationship of 'superior and inferior', the so-called 'dimensional difference' would not exist." As she spoke, she looked down at her hand and tried to clench her fist, "And in terms of 'power', we Derivatives are obviously more..."

At this point, her expression suddenly changed, and at the same second, the color of the flowing light in her eyes also became somewhat mottled and dim.

"So quickly noticed?" she muttered in a deep voice, expressionlessly, "Sure enough, in the current situation, it's still too difficult to come to 'this side'..." She sighed softly, "Alas... I originally wanted to see 'him'... Oh well, there will be opportunities in the future."

After saying this, the flowing light in her eyes quickly disappeared.

In the next second, the woman's expression changed drastically, and along with it, her standing posture, the temperament between her eyebrows, and so on also changed...

After this change occurred, she immediately looked around with a look of panic, and her hands also instinctively crossed and embraced, as if to protect herself.

Her reaction was very much like that of someone who had just woken up from sleepwalking...

...

At the same time, in another part of City S, at Feng Bujue's home.

Knock knock knock—

"Dinner's ready." Jue Ge knocked on his own room's door while raising his voice to call out.

Although it was his room, because Ruoyu had recently moved back in, Jue Ge had once again returned to the kind of days where..."you have to knock on the door to enter the room, and at night you can only sleep in the game pod."

"Ah... coming..." After a moment, a weak response came from inside the room.

A full five minutes passed before Feng Bujue had finished serving the food, setting out the cutlery, and sitting down, before the door of the room finally opened.

There, Ruoyu, with a flushed face and a sickly look, wearing a set of pajamas and wrapped in a blanket, swayed out of the room.

"Actually... if you need it, I can divide the food and bring it to your bed." Feng Bujue's tone seemed very calm, and it seemed that he was already used to the situation before him.

"It's just a cold... there's no need to go that far... hiss..." Ruoyu said, also sniffling, "Besides, getting up and moving around is also good for the body."

"What I find surprising and curious is..." Feng Bujue looked at Ruoyu, who was walking slowly, step by step, and continued, "You guys who cultivate immortality can also catch a cold?"

"First of all, I'm not a cultivator of immortality, I'm a spirit ability user." Facing Jue Ge's teasing, Ruoyu was now able to respond freely, "Secondly, even if I were a cultivator of immortality, I haven't yet cultivated my spiritual abilities to the point where I can kill cold germs."

After saying this, Ruoyu happened to reach the table, and pulled out a chair and sat down.

"Hmm..." Feng Bujue said, "Considering that you are still in a state of 'no physical contact with others', you will inevitably be unable to seek medical treatment normally, so what if you suddenly develop a high fever that doesn't go down?"

Hearing this, Ruoyu thought for a few seconds, then put down the chopsticks she had just picked up and stretched out a hand towards Jue Ge: "Why don't you try holding my hand."

"Hey hey..." Feng Bujue immediately backed away a few steps, "What are you doing? It's not just once or twice that I've dislocated my arm in the past two weeks..."

"It's already been two weeks, the symptoms may have lessened; and... I feel very weak now, and I can't exert any strength..." Ruoyu continued, "You try first, if touching hands is not a problem, as long as you are careful on the way, you should still be able to go to the hospital to get some medicine."

"Hmm..." Feng Bujue groaned again and thought for a few seconds, "Okay..."

As he spoke, he also put down his chopsticks, and then grasped Ruoyu's hand.

"Eh?" Two seconds later, Jue Ge's brows furrowed, "It seems like nothing's really happening!"

In the past ten or so days... especially in the first few days, Feng Bujue had tried to touch Ruoyu's body more than once, of course... mainly grabbing her hand or shoulder; however, Ruoyu was like the kind of perverted AI in fighting games with its own parry skill, every time contact occurred, she would instantly retaliate with a throw.

Unexpectedly, this time she didn't make a move...

"Wait..." But before Feng Bujue was happy for even five seconds, he felt a pain in the instep of his foot.

He looked down under the table and found that Ruoyu was stepping on his foot.

"You're doing this..." Jue Ge only asked half a sentence.

Ruoyu interrupted him, "My foot moved on its own, I can't help it either."

"Oh... so that means..." Feng Bujue then recited in a summarizing tone, "The natural reaction you have after physical contact with someone has changed from 'wanting to kill you', to 'punching you to death with little fists'?"

"Yeah..." Ruoyu nodded, "But it can't be determined yet whether this is caused by the cold, or because I have adapted to your touch to some extent."

"Hehe..." When Feng Bujue heard this, he smiled, "Then next I'll try to change the position, method, and strength of the touch." As he spoke, his gaze wandered restlessly over various parts of Ruoyu's body.

There was no doubt that Jue Ge was being a scoundrel, and if you asked him why he chose to do it at this time and place... he wouldn't be able to answer.

A master who has reached the realm of unity between man and scoundrel does not need to think before acting...

Just like those experts at giving snarky remarks, as long as there is something to snark about, they will instinctively give a snarky remark, without snarking they feel uncomfortable.

The current Feng Bujue was also in this situation, so after he finished being a scoundrel, he received a one-handed arm wrench from Ruoyu that was not out of instinct...

In any case, he could be considered to have confirmed that the other party's illness was not too serious in a special way; while lying on the ground feeling the pain coming from his arm and back, Jue Ge's heart was still relieved.