Jing Minghe's words remained unfinished, and Chi Hao did not press for them, for he had long seen that although Jing Minghe's personality was vastly different from his own, they were, at their core, the same kind of person.
Perhaps, it was precisely for this reason that he was unconsciously drawn to Jing Minghe.
"Minghe, you..."
"Hao Ge, you..."
They both spoke at the same time, and both paused in surprise.
"You first."
"You first."
Again, they spoke at the same time, and again, they paused.
After a moment of surprise, Jing Minghe couldn't help but burst into laughter. He reached out and placed a hand on Chi Hao's shoulder. "I say, Hao Ge, our chemistry right now, isn't it a little too good to be true?"
Chi Hao glanced at Jing Minghe's hand on his shoulder and said in a flat tone, "This instance is almost over."
"Yeah," Jing Minghe asked with a smile, "Hao Ge, do you have any thoughts?"
"Thoughts?" Chi Hao raised an eyebrow slightly. "About what?"
A hint of unease flashed through Jing Minghe's mind. He felt that Chi Hao's words were somehow not quite right, not like the straightforward and decisive Chi Hao he knew.
Chi Hao naturally knew which instance Jing Minghe was referring to, but he did not wish to speak about it at the moment.
"I have no thoughts about this instance," Chi Hao said, taking two steps closer to Jing Minghe and lowering his head to stare into Jing Minghe's eyes. "Minghe, do you, perhaps, have thoughts about me?"
"What!"
Caught off guard by his thoughts being exposed, Jing Minghe wanted to distance himself from Chi Hao immediately, but Chi Hao embraced him around the waist.
Chi Hao leaned closer and closer to Jing Minghe, until his lips brushed against the other's ear. His voice was gentle as he said, "Darling, has anyone ever told you that you're actually very easy to read? The more you try to hide something, the more obvious it becomes."
Hearing this, Jing Minghe thought, 'This is bad.' He had prepared himself to be disliked by Chi Hao, perhaps even to be met with cold mockery. He had never expected the outcome to be so contrary to his anticipation.
Chi Hao's lips lightly grazed Jing Minghe's earlobe, the atmosphere and his tone both carrying a hint of ambiguity.
"What a coincidence, I have thoughts about you too."
For the first time in his life, Jing Minghe was so astonished by a sentence that he couldn't speak.
He remained in a daze for quite some time, not reacting, until Chi Hao pinched his chin and asked, "What? Mr. Jing, who has been handling the 'City of Death' instance with such ease, has suddenly become mute?"
Jing Minghe slowly turned his head to look at Chi Hao, the look of stunned surprise vanishing instantly, replaced by a triumphant smile. "Hao Ge, what you... just said..."
"It wasn't a joke." Chi Hao interrupted Jing Minghe's words, giving him a definitive answer.
Jing Minghe raised an eyebrow and smiled. "Then that's quite a coincidence."
"Shall we date?"
"Let's date."
They both spoke in unison again. This synchronicity, was it more than one hundred percent?
Jing Minghe rubbed the tip of his nose and cleared his throat, smiling. "Hao Ge, although in this 'City of Death,' life and death are uncertain, I'm confident we'll get out of here."
Chi Hao reached out and embraced Jing Minghe. "Don't worry, I'll accompany you wherever you want to go, no matter where it is."
As soon as Chi Hao finished speaking, the door was suddenly kicked open from the outside with a loud bang.
Shen Rong stumbled in, rushing directly towards Chi Hao. Chi Hao, however, held Jing Minghe close and turned, causing her to miss her target.
Shen Rong didn't have time to be angry. Despite missing, she immediately got back up and shouted at Chi Hao, "Hao, save me, I don't want to die. Help me find the bones, please help me."
Jing Minghe looked at Shen Rong, a thoughtful expression on his face.
It seemed that Shen Rong was the ghost player chosen this time. He remembered Yumi saying that ordinary players couldn't open the guest room doors when searching for hiding places, but Shen Rong, as a ghost player, could.
For ordinary players, the inability to open guest room doors increased the probability of them hiding in the triggering zone. For ghost players, being able to open guest room doors was meant to increase the difficulty of finding them.
Jing Minghe tapped his chin as he pondered. So, the fact that he himself could open guest room doors, whether as an ordinary player or a ghost player, what did that signify?
This was already the fifth instance, and in almost every one, he had found himself different from others. Jing Minghe began to suspect that there was something special about him that generated some kind of connection with the instances.
However, the 'City of Death' was a special space created by the system. Since it was created by the system, it was a synthesis of data. What on earth could he possess that would connect with a system-created instance?
Jing Minghe was lost in thought when Shen Rong's scream interrupted him.
"I don't care! You promised you'd protect me! I can't find it! This place is so big, where can I possibly find it! You help me look! Help me, I can't die, Chi Hao, help me look, you promised me, you can't go back on your word!"
Jing Minghe sighed helplessly and stepped forward to persuade her. "Miss Shen, please calm down. There's still time, there's no need to be like this. Hao Ge and I cannot leave this guest room before the hide-and-seek game ends. You can only rely on yourself, but I can tell you potential locations..."
"Stop your fake concern!" Shen Rong pointed at Jing Minghe. "It's all your fault! If it weren't for you, why wouldn't Hao help me! Why wouldn't he leave with me!"
Hearing this, Jing Minghe felt truly helpless. He stealthily glanced at Chi Hao, genuinely wondering how his intelligent and formidable Hao Ge had ever been attracted to this girl.
Chi Hao's brow furrowed. He tried his best to suppress his anger and spoke as calmly as he could.
"Shen Rong, I promised you before that I could help you in the instance," Chi Hao said coldly, looking at Shen Rong. "But it didn't include risking my life for yours. Minghe isn't lying to you; we cannot leave this guest room. We can tell you where the bones might be hidden, but you must find them yourself."
"No, you have to come with me! What if I can't find it, and that thing comes to kill me? You have to save me!"
Jing Minghe took a deep breath. "Miss Shen, do I need to repeat myself? If Hao Ge walks out that door, he will be torn to shreds immediately."
"You're lying! It's you, isn't it? You're the one stopping Hao from saving me! It's you!"
Jing Minghe held his forehead and turned to sit on the bed. This was the first time he had encountered such an unreasonable person. "Miss Shen, can you please calm down? There's a little over an hour left. If you continue to linger here, you will truly lose your life. Please, compose yourself, listen to us analyze the situation, and then hurry to search. That's the only way to save your life."
"Shut up! I don't want to hear you talk! Who do you think you are!"
As Shen Rong uttered her final sentence, Chi Hao shot her a cold glance, but said nothing. Instead, he walked to the bed, pulled Jing Minghe up, and with the fastest possible speed, they entered the inner room and locked the door from the inside.