Dark Fire chapter 14
Undercurrent
Twenty minutes later, the boat docked by the lake.
When disembarking, Ling Zhuo noticed that the boatman’s clothes also had a magpie embroidered on them, which earned him another “golden finger,” an unexpected surprise.
He happily shared this with Zhong Yiran beside him, and Cheng Yafeng, who came up behind, chuckled and reminded him, “Xiao Ling, you’re on our team, remember?”
Ling Zhuo smiled awkwardly, remembering this.
Lu Chixie was the last to disembark, looking at Ling Zhuo with a mocking expression before walking away first.
Ling Zhuo looked away, pretending not to see.
Around noon, the filming paused. After reuniting with the other two teams, the production crew arranged for them to eat at a nearby restaurant.
At the table, the regulars and the program directors chatted and laughed. Lu Chixie seemed to know everyone and could converse with anyone, but he didn’t speak much, appearing to be in a bad mood.
Ling Zhuo and his group, being newcomers, didn’t dare to be too forward. They only spoke when spoken to, unable to join in the laughter and chatter of the others.
Earlier, when the female guest from the team of Zhong Yiran and Qi Liangli mentioned their group, Zhong Yiran briefly introduced their group’s situation. Finally, he smiled and said, “We will release our second album at the end of the year, and we will have a national tour concert early next year. If you seniors have time then, it would be great if you could come and support us.”
Everyone laughed and agreed, asking Zhong Yiran to remember to send them tickets.
Lu Chixie, who hadn’t spoken, looked at Ling Zhuo across the table and called out to him amidst the laughter, “Ling.”
Ling Zhuo looked up.
Lu Chixie said, “Send me a ticket too.”
Under everyone’s gaze, Ling Zhuo felt extremely embarrassed but could only reply, “Okay.”
Zhong Yiran glanced at Lu Chixie, who was still staring at Ling Zhuo, and started a conversation with the other guests, changing the topic.
Near the end of the meal, Ling Zhuo got up to go to the bathroom.
Standing at the sink, he tidied his hair in the mirror. Just as he was about to leave, Lu Chixie walked in from outside.
As Lu Chixie approached, Ling Zhuo turned around and was blocked by his hand, then grabbed by the wrist. Ling Zhuo glared, “What are you doing?!”
Lu Chixie lowered his eyes to meet Ling Zhuo’s angry gaze, paused, then tightened his grip on his wrist and pulled him into the nearest stall, locking the door behind them.
“Let go of me, mmph…”
Pushed against the door and having his mouth covered, Ling Zhuo’s mind buzzed with anger. He bit down hard on the base of Lu Chixie’s thumb.
Lu Chixie remained still, not letting go. He looked at Ling Zhuo and said in a low voice, “Someone could come in at any time. Keep it down.”
Ling Zhuo’s eyes reddened. Lu Chixie held him down, gradually releasing his hand from Ling Zhuo’s mouth. The bite mark was bleeding, but he didn’t seem to care.
Ling Zhuo, chest heaving with anger, glared at him but stayed silent. Lu Chixie touched his face and whispered, “Don’t be mad. I won’t do anything to you.”
Ling Zhuo gritted his teeth, “Let go of me.”
Lu Chixie said, “Ling, you provoked me today.”
His breath was hot against Ling Zhuo’s ear, making him uncomfortable.
Ling Zhuo sneered silently.
Lu Chixie touched his face again and slowly said, “I don’t like seeing you smile at others, especially your team captain.”
Ling Zhuo closed his eyes, realizing the person in front of him was completely irrational. He didn’t want to waste his breath.
Lu Chixie’s fingers brushed against his chin, and he said in a lower voice, “Ignoring me?”
Ling Zhuo said, “Let go of me.”
Lu Chixie refused, his fingers still lightly touching Ling Zhuo, who turned his head away to avoid him.
Outside, Zhong Yiran’s voice called out, “Ling Zhuo, are you in here?”
Ling Zhuo’s breath hitched, and his body tensed.
Lu Chixie still held him tightly, looking at him with amusement. Ling Zhuo’s eyes reddened further as he forced himself to stay calm and replied, “Yes.”
The sound of footsteps stopped outside their compartment. Zhong Yiran’s worried voice came from outside the door, “Are you having diarrhea? Why haven’t you come out for so long?”
Ling Zhuo replied, “It’s alright, I’ll be out in a moment. Just wait for me outside.”
Zhong Yiran asked again, “Are you sure you’re okay?”
Ling Zhuo reassured, “I’m fine.”
Zhong Yiran urged, “Okay, hurry up then. The director is pushing for time.”
Ling Zhuo responded with a simple “Hmm.”
As the footsteps gradually faded away, Ling Zhuo felt a wave of relief. Beads of sweat formed on his forehead. Lu Chixie rested his head near Ling Zhuo’s ear and teased, “Are you afraid of him seeing us together? Afraid of him misunderstanding?”
Ling Zhuo clenched his teeth and remained silent.
Lu Chixie continued, “Ling, are you feeling guilty?”
Ling Zhuo, irritated, replied, “Enough from you. Can you let go now?”
Lu Chixie looked deeply into his eyes, his thumb brushing against the corner of Ling Zhuo’s lips slowly. Ling Zhuo couldn’t avoid it and closed his eyes again.
The warm touch of Lu Chixie’s thumb on his lips lingered for a moment before withdrawing.
Lu Chixie let go and took a step back. Ling Zhuo immediately turned around, opened the compartment door, and left in large strides.
Zhong Yiran was still waiting at the door. Seeing Ling Zhuo come out, he asked, “Why do you look so pale?”
Ling Zhuo replied, “It’s nothing. My stomach just felt a bit uncomfortable earlier. Let’s go.”
Zhong Yiran glanced towards the direction of the bathroom but didn’t say more. He left with Ling Zhuo.
In the afternoon, they were recording the gameplay segment of a drama-themed game, where they would compete to snatch the “golden fingers” from each other’s hands, with the more fingers obtained, the higher the probability of completing tomorrow’s role-playing task.
As soon as they went on stage, someone noticed the injury on Lu Chixie’s hand and casually asked him about it.
With the cameras already rolling, Lu Chixie nonchalantly waved his hand, saying, “Got bitten by a cat.”
Someone immediately reminded him, “Bitten by a cat? You should get a tetanus shot for that, right?”
Ling Zhuo felt awkward, but luckily no one paid attention to him.
Lu Chixie glanced at him, a smirk playing on his lips, but he didn’t say anything.
In the first game, pairs would confront each other, each with a balloon attached to their backs. The one who burst the opponent’s balloon first wins.
Ling Zhuo sat on the sidelines, not rushing to join in, observing others first. This game didn’t require much skill, but for the sake of entertainment, all the guests were putting on a show, chasing each other around, rolling on the ground together, and even jumping into the pool to avoid attacks, providing plenty of laughs.
Qi Liangli was the fool who jumped straight into the pool, eliciting laughter from everyone. Regardless, the entertainment value was at its peak, and his screen time for this part would be guaranteed.
Ling Zhuo also chuckled. When he lifted his eyes, he met Lu Chixie’s gaze from the opposite side. Lu Chixie seemed disinterested in the game, his attention wandering throughout. When Ling Zhuo looked at him, Lu Chixie casually averted his gaze.
A slight tension crept into Ling Zhuo’s smile. He subtly shifted his body to the side.
In the second round, Cheng Yafeng asked the two of them who wanted to go up. As fate would have it, the opponent was Zhong Yiran’s team. Seeing Zhong Yiran already heading to the stage, Ling Zhuo was about to stand up when Lu Chixie grabbed his hand and stood up himself, saying, “I’ll go.”
Lu Chixie stepped into the arena, calmly meeting Zhong Yiran’s gaze, both showing a desire to win.
As the referee signaled the start, both of them bent down, alertly eyeing each other, neither making a move.
Lu Chixie stared intently at his opponent, his face expressionless. It wasn’t until the audience on the sidelines started getting impatient that he suddenly made his move. Lunging forward, he grabbed Zhong Yiran’s shoulder with one hand and reached for the balloon on his back with the other.
Zhong Yiran reacted swiftly, swiftly dodging and blocking Lu Chixie’s attempted grab. But Lu Chixie’s movements were fluid; he feinted with one hand and followed up with the other, reaching for the balloon behind Zhong Yiran’s waist. Without hesitation, he burst it with a firm grip.
The sequence of actions happened in just a few seconds. Most of the audience hadn’t even processed what had happened when they heard a popping sound, and Lu Chixie had already released his grip and stepped back.
Zhong Yiran took a breath, slightly disheveled but said nothing, nodding at Lu Chixie before walking back to the sidelines.
Lu Chixie returned to his team, taking a seat and drinking water. Seeing Ling Zhuo’s lack of joy, he asked, “I won against him, aren’t you happy?”
Ling Zhuo, holding back his breath, replied, “No.”
Lu Chixie smirked but didn’t press further, continuing to drink his water.
By evening, all the game recordings were done. Ling Zhuo and Lu Chixie’s team had obtained the most “golden fingers,” a total of five. As for what these fingers entailed, they would have to wait until tomorrow’s role assignments to find out.
With a call from the director to wrap up, the recording for that day’s episode concluded.
Ling Zhuo bid farewell to the other guests and the director before leaving with Zhong Yiran and the others, heading out for dinner.
Lu Chixie remained seated, his gaze following Ling Zhuo until he got into the car with the others.
Ling Zhuo never looked back.