Even If You Become a Monster… I’ll Stay With You

In the script, Ning Shixue was also a drama queen.

He was actually angry at Xie Zhaozhou.
He had already thrown away all his dignity to chase after him.
Yet Xie Zhaozhou still wouldn’t forgive him.

After Xie Zhaozhou told him to leave, he clutched the wound on his stomach and leaned against the door of the electrical control room.
Blood flowed down his long, pale fingers.
His lowered eyelashes were very cold.

It was like telling him to leave was just because he found him annoying.

Ning Shixue’s eyes reddened a little.
He was furious.
He turned and left, no longer caring whether Xie Zhaozhou lived or died.

[President Xie, just admit it. You really love her.]

[Ningning and President Xie are the most satisfying to watch. It doesn’t even feel like acting. When the post-production is done, the official version will definitely be even more realistic. I’m really crying.]

As soon as Ning Shixue left, Xie Zhaozhou stopped pretending.
He wiped the blood off his hands and stood up.

[??? You’ve lost your wife.]

[Are you really not going to look for her? Dammit, is this couple going to have a bad ending? I don’t expect Director He to chase his wife anymore. Looking at the script for Xu Mengze and Jiang Lin’s couple, it feels like one of them will die in the end. So that just leaves Brother Tang and Professor Yan?]

Xie Zhaozhou, with a lazy air about him, seemed to know what the bullet comments were worried about.
Staring in the direction Ning Shixue had left, the corner of his mouth lifted.
He replied,
“She’ll be back in a bit.”

With that, Xie Zhaozhou walked towards the room.

Ning Shixue walked down the dark corridor.
At the end, he picked up a silver dinner knife.
It must have been left by that shadow just now.
But the kitchen was a common area.
Anyone could go there.
He couldn’t tell which guest the knife belonged to.

He had seen He Lin, Tang He-an, and Jiang Lin go to the kitchen.

Ning Shixue went to the hotel manager to get a flashlight.
He looked around for half an hour.
Then he stopped.
According to the script, he should be angry with Xie Zhaozhou now.
He should go find a sofa in the hotel to sleep on.
But he hesitated for a moment, then still walked towards the bedroom.

He couldn’t tell if Xie Zhaozhou was pretending or if he had accidentally hurt himself.
He felt that Xie Zhaozhou didn’t look well.

When Ning Shixue got back, Xie Zhaozhou was still pretending to tend to the wound.
Ning Shixue looked at him pleadingly, grabbed his hand, and made him let go of the bandage.
Only after confirming it was all stage blood did he relax.

“Does it hurt?”
Ning Shixue continued acting.

Xie Zhaozhou’s dark phoenix eyes glanced at him.
They stared at each other for a few seconds.
Then he said, ambiguously,
“Not really.”

It was like saying it wasn’t as painful as being abandoned by this scumbag.

Xie Zhaozhou looked at him deeply.
Ning Shixue’s guilt was stirred up.
He didn’t even know why he felt so guilty.
He could only say that this bastard was too good an actor.

He couldn’t keep up the act anymore.
Xie Zhaozhou wrapped the bandage and went to sleep.
He followed like a little puppy, lying down beside him.
Then he hugged him and leaned against his back.

Under the covers, Xie Zhaozhou held his hand.
His palm was warm, completely enveloping his fingertips.

Ning Shixue punched him and, unreasonably, whispered,
“Coax me a little.”

He had been coaxing Xie Zhaozhou for over ten hours on this damn show.
It was completely unfair!

Xie Zhaozhou seemed to chuckle.
He put his arm around her waist and moved her to the inside of the bed.

He turned to face Ning Shixue.
The cameras couldn’t see his expression.
So he just curved his eyes and mouthed,
How should I coax you?

Ning Shixue couldn’t say either.
He pouted a little.
Then pressed his lips together.

Xie Zhaozhou pinched his lips, not letting him press them together.
His voice very low, he held her close and whispered in her ear,
“Morning glory, will it be okay if I sing you a lullaby?”

Ning Shixue looked up and bit him on the Adam’s apple.
Xie Zhaozhou pinched his cheek and made him let go.

Then he ruffled his hair and gently patted his back.

The tips of Ning Shixue’s ears were a bit red.
He felt it was Xie Zhaozhou’s own fault.
It was his honor to have him sing him to sleep.

He burrowed into Xie Zhaozhou’s arms and hugged him.
They slept curled up together like that.

[??????]

[Help… this bastard is seducing my wife right in front of me. No wonder he said Ningning would be back. She’s completely wrapped around his finger. Babe, I’m begging you, don’t take the bait so easily, okay? Can’t you see he’s playing pitiful??? @NingShixue]

[Oh well, oh well. I deserve what I ship. Equally jealous of everyone who has a wife. Crying.jpg]

The next morning, the guests went downstairs for breakfast.
Shen Yi’s arm was hurt last night.
He Lin reached out to help her.
But Shen Yi dodged, as if she was wary of him.

There was no progress at all.

Under the live stream’s watchful eye, even the smallest expressions and movements were visible.
He Lin was still very attentive to Shen Yi.
But Shen Yi, with He Miao, seemed inexplicably guarded against him.

He Lin handed He Miao a small cake.
Even He Miao ignored him.
He Lin was in tears.

[Director He really deserves not to have a wife.]

[But I feel like something’s wrong. The cameras were all dark last night. This show doesn’t even have a God’s eye view.]

Yan Ting had gone out early in the morning to get information.
He was the most serious of all the guests.
He couldn’t act, so he didn’t really follow the love line with Tang He-an.

But he had chemistry experiments to do at night.
He was very busy.
Tang He-an sighed bitterly.
He could only take the baton the program team had given him and act as a bodyguard.

Ning Shixue had worked very hard last night.
But when he woke up, he was shocked to realize he had been working hard.
How could this be?

The atmosphere was too similar to the instance of that escape-and-kill game he had been in.

It made him instinctively start doing tasks.

He decided to continue slacking off.

So, when the director came downstairs, he saw Ning Shixue on a scooter.
He was sliding along, followed by a group of little kids chasing him.
They zipped past his eyes.

The little boy Jiang Lin had brought, Nuo Nuo, was the same age as Xie Yaoyao.
His little face was also flushed as he ran after him.

Ning Shixue was actually a bit cold.
He didn’t like to talk to people.
But for some reason, he was very popular with all kinds of little ones.

Director: ???

[Slacking king, it’s still you.]

[The director wakes up in the middle of the night: What was that that just flew past my eyes? (just kidding)]

Jiang Lin and Xu Mengze also came downstairs.
Jiang Lin raised his hand and straightened Xu Mengze’s collar.
Xu Mengze looked down and kissed him, saying,
“Thanks, baby.”

Jiang Lin and Xu Mengze had been the most popular guests on the previous season of the parenting show.
Even though the show’s overall popularity had been low back then, Jiang Lin had been married for several years, and they still had many CP fans.

[Sniff, Xiao Jiang and Brother Xu are really rare. After all these years, their relationship is still this good.]

[This is what a dating show should be filming!]

Ning Shixue didn’t have many scenes in I See the Immortal Lord.
But he had worn a bright red wedding dress and had a demon lord’s makeup.
In his eyes was the boundless moonlight.
He was beautiful, unlike anything on earth.

The plot was full of ups and downs, very exciting.
So he had been featured in countless fan-edited shipping videos.

Plus, after Last Night’s Star won Best Actor, he had many fans now.
But also many anti-fans.

He even had rivals.

The bullet comments weren’t always harmonious.

[Exactly, this is what a dating show should be. Let the drama queen calm down a bit. I’m really afraid he’ll get kicked out of the Xie family.]

[What drama queen? The kind who can knock out ten of you with one punch???]

[But isn’t Jiang Lin always watching Xu Mengze’s expression? He’s an artist at Xu Mengze’s company. He was even careful asking him about choosing a room last night. He’s been filming the show all day and still had to make him breakfast this morning. I really don’t understand. Is this love?]

[If you’re going to say that, isn’t Ning Shixue the same? As if he isn’t an artist at Shengxing Entertainment.]

[Well, your news might be a bit outdated. After the premiere of Last Night’s Star, President Xie transferred Shengxing Entertainment to his wife. Strictly speaking, she’s both the boss and an artist.]

Before the bullet comments could finish arguing, the hotel manager brought someone over.
It was the boy from Yan City University who had accompanied Ning Shixue to class.
He was a permanent assistant on this show.

He had come to help out with a role almost every season.

The hotel manager introduced him.
“This is Officer Yu. He’s been assigned to this evacuation zone to update everyone on the situation outside.”

It turned out that the monster might be in this film and television city.
And they couldn’t contact Tang He-an.
So the police had sent someone.

Yu Nan had a role.
His character had a ambiguous relationship with Ning Shixue.
When they got to the hotel, the guests split up again to look for clues.
He went to find Ning Shixue.

“This won’t work,”
Tang He-an said.
“Let’s search each other, and then search each other’s rooms.”

It was a very reasonable suggestion.
None of the guests objected.
So they started with the body search.

Then Yu Nan followed them as they searched each room.

Ning Shixue was still in a cold war with Xie Zhaozhou.
He was holding the gun in his mouth, his hands full of things.
He gestured with his eyes towards the top of the cabinet, trying to tell Yu Nan that there was a music box up there.

This was Yan Ting and Tang He-an’s room.
He had noticed that every room had a music box.

Yu Nan was confused.
He thought Ning Shixue was asking him to open the cabinet.

But there were only Yan Ting and Tang He-an’s things in the cabinet.

Xie Zhaozhou was silent for a moment.
Finally, he said blandly,
“He wants that music box.”

[Good, good. This is the showdown.]

[Ningning is sweating. doge]

The atmosphere suddenly became subtle.

The tips of Ning Shixue’s ears were warm.
He turned his head and glared at Xie Zhaozhou.
His profile was pale.
The obsidian earring on his right earlobe glinted in the light.

The bullet comments finally remembered the previous parenting show.
The director had asked if they had any exes.
Ning Shixue had touched his earring and paused for a few seconds.

[It’s driving me crazy. I really want to know who gave him this earring. Can’t the director just ask?]

[This obsidian earring isn’t worth much. But Ningning didn’t take it off even when walking the red carpet at the film festival. That is a bit strange.]

Even during an immersive role-playing game, the guests would take breaks.
It was too tiring to stay in character the whole time.
After all, it was a three-day shoot.
It would be hard to maintain.

So the director took the opportunity to ask Ning Shixue.

Ning Shixue was stunned for a moment.
But he didn’t lie.
He happened to be standing behind Xie Zhaozhou.
So he hugged him and shook him, his ears red as he said,
“It was given to me by someone I like.”

The bullet comments completely exploded.

[??????]

[So did President Xie give it to her? No, they only got together on the parenting show. But Ningning was already wearing this earring the day before the show started. How could it be President Xie?]

[The Ning and Xie families have a good relationship. Maybe it was a birthday gift from before? But President Xie doesn’t seem to have much to do with the Xie family. He probably wouldn’t give birthday gifts, right?]

[Oh no, oh no, President Xie, danger!]

[President Xie forgot to wear his hat when he went out, didn’t he? I knew that one I found last time must be yours. doge]

Ning Shixue thought Xie Zhaozhou, with his thick skin, would definitely admit it was from him.

But he didn’t expect Xie Zhaozhou to lean back against the sofa, looking as shameless and annoying as ever.
He didn’t seem to have any intention of speaking.

“…”

Great.
Tonight’s trending search would be about him and Xie Zhaozhou’s marital problems.

Ning Shixue’s cheeks burned.
A bit angry, he asked him,
“Don’t you know?”

“What do I know?”
Xie Zhaozhou asked, his dark phoenix eyes curving.
But his tone was incredibly plaintive, even sour.
“Teacher Xiao Ning likes so many people. How should I know who?”

Ning Shixue: “…”

Not just the bullet comments, even the other guests were curious.
He Lin was gloating.
This bastard actually had a day like this.
Ning Shixue was so clingy with Xie Zhaozhou.
He had thought Xie Zhaozhou was Ning Shixue’s first love.

Since Xie Zhaozhou himself was willing to bring it up, He Lin asked Ning Shixue,
“Who else?”

Ning Shixue couldn’t even open his mouth.

“There’s also a male model who charges a hundred thousand a night,”
Xie Zhaozhou said, drawing out his words, his voice tender and suggestive.
Staring at Ning Shixue, he said,
“Doesn’t Teacher Xiao Ning see him often?”

He reached out and pinched Ning Shixue’s soft earlobe.
Quietly, he said,
“This was from him, right?”

“…”
Ning Shixue, red-faced, said defiantly,
“I see him every night. What’s it to you?”

The bullet comments were shocked, but also felt something was off.

[What’s going on? I’m not nervous at all (?)]

[I admit I’m that dog by the roadside who gets kicked. If I don’t get kicked by the couple a few times, I feel uncomfortable. So watching them argue now gives me a familiar sense of security. (just kidding)]

The director couldn’t help it.
He raised his hand and spoke, trembling,
“Teacher Xie, doesn’t that bother you?”

What kind of generous spirit was this?

After all, Xie Zhaozhou and Ning Shixue weren’t like He Lin and the others in their plastic marriage.

“Bother me about what?”
Xie Zhaozhou asked, putting his arm around Ning Shixue’s waist and pulling him into his arms.
His red lips curved.
He had a lazy, rakish air.
“He’s just making the mistake every man makes. Of course, I forgive him.”

Ning Shixue finally got angry and punched him.

But he didn’t punch very hard.

Xie Zhaozhou grabbed his wrist and chuckled.
He didn’t dare push his luck.
Before Ning Shixue could really get angry, he said very seriously,
“I gave it to her.”

[So President Xie is that male model (?)]

[Good, good. You’ve been keeping this roleplay from me, huh? You’ve been so standoffish with me for so long. I’m going to throw a tantrum, wuwuwu.]

[The question is, if President Xie gave it to her, when exactly did they meet???]

The bullet comments didn’t realize it.
Almost everyone was thinking about when they had met.
As if this Ning Shixue was the one they had first met on the parenting show.

The one who had suddenly appeared in this world, a visitor from outer space in everyone’s eyes.

Xu Mengze’s expression wasn’t good.
Jiang Lin didn’t dare speak either.
Actually, on the previous season of the parenting show, they had been the most loving couple.
They were also very good with children.
They had been popular for over half a year.

But in comparison, they were even worse than He Lin and Shen Yi.
At least He Lin knew what Shen Yi’s favorite food was.

They seemed a bit awkward here.

Xu Mengze avoided the camera and scrolled through the bullet comments in the live stream.
He felt even worse.
What the hell?
He was in the entertainment industry.
Did people in this circle really have true love?

This dating show mainly filmed daily life, just life taking on a role.

That night, the hotel manager gave them another task: hide and seek.

The monster had infiltrated the hotel.
The guests had to hide for an hour without being found.
Otherwise, they would lose points.

Except for Ning Shixue and Xie Zhaozhou, almost everyone lost a point that night.
Adding to the previous deductions, Jiang Lin had technically been eliminated.
But unless the monster was found, it wouldn’t be eliminated.

Ning Shixue remembered the dinner knife he had picked up before, and the bloodstains he had found on He Lin and Tang He-an’s clothes.
The color wasn’t quite like human blood.
Then he thought about Shen Yi’s wary attitude towards He Lin.
He didn’t look for any more evidence.
Anyway, it was most likely He Lin.

Yu Nan was mainly there to pick up the kids.
The scenes for the next night weren’t suitable for the children to be on set.
So the director had him play a police officer and find a way to take the kids to safety first.

Xie Yaoyao was even a bit reluctant to leave.

Even though he couldn’t see the baby while Ning Shixue and the others were filming, he and Ji Xiao and the others could play together in their room until very late.
Ji Xiao’s mom would even make them little fried chicken legs.
What a baby happy house.

He wasn’t even an adult yet, and he had already experienced the joy of nightlife.
Even though Ji Xiao’s mom would come to sleep with them, the nightlife didn’t actually last very long.

Xie Yaoyao was in tears as he was carried away by the police uncle.

That night was full of danger.
Shen Yi was also eliminated.
Except for Ning Shixue, all the other guests had only one life left.
Monsters were wandering everywhere in the hotel.

Ning Shixue voted for He Lin.
But the votes for the monster were done privately and anonymously.
The guests couldn’t discuss it.

There weren’t enough votes yet.
The monster still hadn’t been found.
Not until the last night.

Late at night, Ning Shixue and Xie Zhaozhou were leaning against the stair railing on the second floor.
They were covered in blood.

He and Xie Zhaozhou also had a kissing scene.
The moonlight shone through the stained glass window onto them.
Ning Shixue’s face was a bit pale.
But his eyes were even more striking.

He grabbed Xie Zhaozhou’s tie and suddenly looked up to kiss him.
This kiss wasn’t at all faked.
His lips were sucked red.
Xie Zhaozhou bit the soft flesh of his lower lip.
When they parted, it was even wet.

The tips of Ning Shixue’s ears were red enough to bleed.

The Xie family all had intense features.
Xie Zhaozhou had starred in many films.
His features were sharp and deep, especially suited for this kind of long shot.
And Ning Shixue’s face was really beautiful.

The moonlight was bright.
Tonight was the guests’ final escape.
The film and television city was already blazing with fire.
Explosions rang in their ears.
But it seemed like on this blood-soaked night, they should hide and kiss, even ignoring life and death.

The whole scene had a strong cinematic feel, like a film movie.

[Ahhhhh if I don’t go crazy, who will! Finally, it’s complete. Is this their first on-screen kiss? Puppy hugging leg crying.jpg]

[Director, you know me so well. Now give us some more s*x!!!]

Tang He-an and Yan Ting had already escaped.
But the hotel’s main entrance was also engulfed in flames.
The guests were forced to flee upstairs.

“Crawl out through this vent,”
Ning Shixue said, having checked it out earlier.
He said to Yan Ting and the others,
“There’s an air cushion below. Just jump!”

Besides the guests, there were other customers.
Everyone was escaping.
Ning Shixue and Xie Zhaozhou were the last to leave.

Xie Zhaozhou helped Ning Shixue up by the leg, pushing him towards the vent.
Ning Shixue waited for him up above.

Then he suddenly heard groaning.

Xie Zhaozhou turned around.
The hotel manager was lying on the ground, clutching his heart in pain.

In the escape-and-kill game back then, Ning Shixue had never saved any other player.
He didn’t trust anyone.
But after going through so many worlds, he still wasn’t ruthless enough.

That’s why he had gone to save Ji Xiao on the parenting show.

But Xie Zhaozhou really didn’t care about anyone other than Ning Shixue.
Even on a variety show.

Ning Shixue was a bit torn.
The hotel manager was an important NPC.
If they didn’t save him now, he didn’t know what would happen.
But it was also very likely a trap.
After all, it was clear he had already started to turn into a monster.

He only hesitated for a second before saying to Xie Zhaozhou,
“Second Brother, wait for me. I’ll go get him.”

“I’ll go,”
Xie Zhaozhou said, blocking him.
He turned and walked into the sea of fire, saying to him,
“You go first.”

The hotel manager raised his hand tremblingly.
He actually handed him a key.
It was the key to another entrance of the hotel.

Xie Zhaozhou decided to go there.

But Ning Shixue still hadn’t left.
He was still waiting for him.
Xie Zhaozhou walked over, reached out his hand to him, and said hoarsely,
“Jump down.”

Ning Shixue jumped into his arms without hesitation.

Xie Zhaozhou was knocked back slightly, but quickly steadied himself.
He took off his suit jacket and put it over Ning Shixue’s shoulders.
Then he put his arm around him and walked towards the hotel entrance.

Ning Shixue, held in his arms, whispered,
“I thought you were the monster at first.”

“What if I really was?”
Xie Zhaozhou asked, looking down.
The lights reflected in his dark eyes, almost burning.
He couldn’t help smiling and also whispered,
“What would you have done? Would you have arrested me?”

Ning Shixue looked at him, but shook his head.

They finally escaped.
They also found the burnt remains of the antidote at the hotel entrance.
Yan Ting finally voted.
With Ning Shixue and Xie Zhaozhou’s votes, He Lin was arrested.

After Shen Yi and Jiang Lin were eliminated, they had actually been locked in hotel rooms, not really dead.
He Lin had found a fire hammer, smashed the door open, and jumped down holding Shen Yi.

In the deep night, the flames still blazed.
They huddled together like that.
Anyone would ship it.

The film and television city was very close to the Yan City riverbank.
The river-crossing bridge was brightly lit.
The director finally took the guests there to film a final segment.
This segment was a bit mean.

Before filming started, they had done an interview, asking the guests,
If your partner were a monster, what would you do?

And tonight, they brought out that interview to show the guests.

Ning Shixue remembered what he had said.
His toes curled.
His ears reddened bit by bit.
He hadn’t expected a public execution.

If he had known, he wouldn’t have said that.

“I knew he was a monster from the start,”
Shen Yi said in the interview video, almost rolling her eyes.
“I would have arrested him the first night.”

He Lin: “…”

[Director He: Does love disappear? Wait, was it ever there? doge]

Both Jiang Lin and Xu Mengze chose to turn each other in.
Given the current situation, it was too awkward for them to even look at each other.

He Lin had just gone to save Shen Yi.
But Xu Mengze hadn’t gone to find Jiang Lin.
He knew he wasn’t the monster, so he was afraid of a trap.

In the video, Yan Ting, wearing a white lab coat, hesitated for a few seconds.
He also chose to vote for the monster.

But he paused and said,
“I would try to find the antidote first. Then I would go save him.”

Tang He-an finally didn’t have to cry with He Lin anymore.

Finally, it was Xie Zhaozhou and Ning Shixue’s turn.

Xie Zhaozhou had given his interview in the car.
His gaze was very calm.
“I wouldn’t leave him alone. No matter what he became, I would go get him.”

The director reminded him,
“Teacher Xie, you’ve already broken up now. Don’t go off-script.”

“Do I need to chase him?”
Xie Zhaozhou asked, the corner of his mouth lifting.
He stared at the camera like he was staring at Ning Shixue, speaking slowly.
“If it’s for Teacher Xiao Ning, giving it away for free isn’t impossible either.”

His tone was inexplicably annoying.
Even the director couldn’t help asking,
“Teacher Xie, what if they don’t want it even for free?”

Xie Zhaozhou, still shameless, said,
“I can also pay him.”

In the video, the director was amused.
He didn’t dare laugh too loudly.
Outside the video, the guests were also laughing.

Ning Shixue, face red, kicked Xie Zhaozhou.
How could this person never be serious for more than three minutes?

Finally, it was Ning Shixue’s interview.

“Even if his hair turns white, even if he’s an old man in his seventies or eighties, I’ll still love him the most,”
Ning Shixue said, looking up.
His gaze was so determined it was almost moving.
“If he became a monster, I’d become a monster with him.”

The director reminded him again,
“If you become a monster, you’ll die.”

Ning Shixue didn’t speak anymore.
But anyone could see that he wasn’t afraid of dying.

This star had Xie Zhaozhou on it.
So it was his star.
If one day it was gone, he would go to the next star to find him.
He had come from a very distant star.
He had seen endless stars and the universe.
But Xie Zhaozhou would always be waiting for him.

The bullet comments thought they were acting.
But they also somehow felt they were serious.
After all, even the anti-fans knew she really loved Xie Zhaozhou.
It was like she only had eyes for him.

This episode of the show was over.
The guests were about to leave.

The bullet comments quickly urged the director to ask Ning Shixue when he and Xie Zhaozhou had met.

Who knew if they would get another chance?

The dawn was already rising over the riverbank.
Ning Shixue turned his head.
His voice was very soft, like a love song scattered in the wind.
His eyes curved as he said,
“I won’t tell you.”