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Chapter 297 Fixing the Situation

His feelings were quite complicated at the moment.

Happy? Of course, he was happy. Just as Xia Xinyan said, that illusion was the scene they most wanted to see, where Xinyan would witness her wedding with him. This proved that Xinyan truly liked him and wanted to marry him, so how could he not be pleased?

But at the same time, he was a bit angry.

That wedding… it should have been him creating beautiful moments and lovely surprises for her, yet a lonely ghost had stolen the show—going so far as to take his place as Xinyan’s “groom.” Even though Xinyan said she recognized immediately that the guy wasn’t him, he still felt a surge of rage.

He wanted to tear that ghost to shreds.

He had never hated anything as much as he did now; the earlier ghost mimicking Xinyan could be considered one instance, and now there was this ghost impersonating him.

He didn’t even realize that the first time he faced a ghost and was too scared to move was behind him; now his first reaction to ghosts was to want them dead.

This must be what growth feels like.

However, Xia Xinyan was startled by his sudden action: “Mo Mo?”

“Hmm?” Ling Mo suddenly came to and, realizing what he had done, quickly manifested a bag to collect the crushed bowl, smiling apologetically, “Sorry, did I scare you?”

“No,” Xia Xinyan shook her head, “What’s wrong, Mo Mo? Are you angry?”

Ling Mo met her gaze for a moment, then slightly pursed his lips: “I’m just a bit… Our wedding, it was supposed to be a beautiful memory that belonged to just the two of us.”

Xia Xinyan: “……”

Well, okay, she had overlooked that.

But shouldn’t he be pleased that his illusion was about their wedding?

What was this? Getting jealous over a ghost that didn’t even exist?

Was she really that immature back then?

After a brief silence, she finally said: “Illusions are always illusions; they don’t count—what we should focus on is the reason we encountered that illusion. It’s because we yearn for it in our hearts that we see it, right? That’s the key point I want to share with you, Mo Mo.”

Ling Mo smiled: “Hmm… I’m really happy.”

Xia Xinyan: “……”

Not a hint visible.

She truly couldn’t understand Ling Mo more and more.

This even dimmed the little confidence she had just gained—causing her to internally question if she really could grasp Ling Mo.

But this inquiry was destined to yield no answers.

So she directly changed the subject: “So… Mo Mo, what was the scene you saw?”

That was what she really cared about.

She had personally witnessed how Ling Mo dealt with that illusion; she had heard all the words he spoke. She didn’t doubt that those were his true feelings, but some deep thoughts aren’t easy to express to the person you want to tell.

And those unspoken parts are often what people desire to realize the most.

So she planned to ask Ling Mo directly about his thoughts.

Upon hearing her question, Ling Mo looked a little hesitant.

But in the end, he spoke: “I saw you and me at home.”

“Hmm.” Xia Xinyan nodded with a smile, as if waiting for more.

Ling Mo met her gaze for a moment, then softly said: “But I recognized right away that the person wasn’t Xinyan.”

“She looked exactly like Xinyan, just as cute and captivating, but… she wasn’t Xinyan. I could feel your aura, something no other being could imitate.”

Xia Xinyan’s expression stiffened a bit: “Hmm… So what did you do?”

“I exposed her true form and defeated her, then I exited the illusion.” Ling Mo’s expression was quite serious, sounding as if he was speaking the truth— which it was, just chosen to leave out some parts.

Xia Xinyan blinked: “Ah… did you fight her right from the start?”

“I didn’t want to waste time with her; I had to come to protect you.” Ling Mo smiled slightly, getting up to tidy up the mess, “Alright, it’s getting late, Xinyan, you should go rest. Leave the cleanup to me.”

Xia Xinyan opened her mouth but ultimately said nothing: “…Alright, I’ll wait for you after my shower.”

This was reckless.

She thought Ling Mo would at least say something, even share what he wanted from her—this way they could create a communication platform. After all, she generally leaned toward rationality, so she was better at handling matters with clear price tags.

For feelings like this, while she understood some basic principles, she had no practical experience.

Especially now, it was Ling Mo saying nothing that bothered her most—given her scant accurate understanding of him, with his personality, the deeper he suppressed something, the crazier it would explode when released.

And judging from what she had personally witnessed at that moment, this guy had been bottling things up for quite a while.

He said he was waiting for her and would give her time.

But what was he really waiting for? She herself didn’t even know what she was supposed to prepare?!

Did they really need to take that final step?!

Was it necessary? Was it really necessary?!

The time spent showering was agonizing.

In the end, Xia Xinyan couldn’t think of a good solution. But seeing Ling Mo come back after showering, behaving as if nothing was wrong and climbing into bed, she felt there were some things she had to discuss with him.

“Mo Mo.”

“Hmm?” Ling Mo tilted his head to look at her.

Xia Xinyan met his gaze for a moment, then lightly chuckled as she asked: “How long have we been dating?”

“Over seven months.” Ling Mo answered almost immediately; he remembered everything related to Xinyan quite well.

Xia Xinyan then leaned against him naturally, resting her head on his shoulder, adopting a full-on lover’s pose as she asked: “Do you think we’re really in a relationship?”

Ling Mo was momentarily caught off guard by her action.

He felt for some reason that today Xinyan seemed especially… cute?

After pondering for a couple of seconds, he nodded: “Of course we’re in a relationship; doesn’t it seem that way?”

“No, no, it doesn’t,” Xia Xinyan actively denied that, then directly wrapped her arms around his, softly saying, “Look, usually couples would go on dates together… But we haven’t really had a true date yet, have we?”

Ling Mo was stunned: “…Date?”

“Hmm, do you want to go on a date?” Xia Xinyan looked up at him.

She couldn’t think of any effective ways to resolve Ling Mo’s issues, but could they at least improve things? Like letting him genuinely feel that they were in a relationship and not just cooperating under the guise of being in love to save the world.

Indeed, she had spent the majority of the past six months focusing too much on game-related issues, thinking she understood Ling Mo well enough, thus neglecting his thoughts.

Well… this could count as fixing the situation a bit, right? Shouldn’t be too late… probably?