Days and nights of pursuit of Dottore

Cheng Yan glanced at Zandik's determined expression and wanted to ask him why he believed that Teacher Abu Zar would come to save them even though he had a bad relationship with him.

"I don't communicate with Mr. Abu Zar that often. Great."

Zandik leaned closer to Cheng Yan, and his breath almost sprayed on Cheng Yan's face.

"Some people, you can tell at a glance that they are incapable of doing anything bad."

Seeing Cheng Yan's face slowly turning red, Zandik seemed to want to chuckle, but felt that it was inappropriate, so he immediately stopped laughing and just calmly supported Cheng Yan's shoulders.

"Just like you, even if you were given three times the courage, you would not take the initiative to hurt others."

Cheng Yan looked up at him, "If others don't provoke me, why would I take the initiative to hurt others?"

The reply was as expected, word for word. Zandik raised his hand and pinched Cheng Yan's face, and Cheng Yan did not resist.

The skin under his fingertips was smooth and white, and would turn red if touched lightly. Zandik withdrew his hand and rubbed his fingertips.

"The purpose of hurting someone is not necessarily just revenge after he provoked you. Don't you think that people are the most precious resource in this world?"

Cheng Yan blinked, carefully thought about what Zandik said, and then immediately nodded in agreement.

"Zan Zan is right. People are of course the most precious. Teyvat is so big. If there were no people, it would be so deserted. Only when there are people can the fields be cultivated and the smoke from cooking rise. People should live with each other. Isn't this the best life?"

The smile that he had just held back could no longer be suppressed. Zandik chuckled softly, his red eyes curved, the corners of his lips were red, and he looked extremely seductive.

It was clearly an extremely seductive expression, but when Cheng Yan looked at it, he suddenly felt a chill on his back.

“Great…”

Cheng Yan murmured, "Isn't what I said right?"

The Emperor had taught him that the foundation of Liyue is not the land, not the gods or the immortals, but the people, every citizen living on the land of Liyue.

Why did the Emperor personally get involved in that war? Why did the Master worry and sleep less all day long? It was because the people were living in poverty and instability at that time. People should be the most precious, right?

Zandik laughed enough and looked at Cheng Yan's handsome and androgynous face, which was full of innocence.

"You misunderstood." With his thin lips slightly raised, Zandik's tone was full of high spirits when he talked about his own ideas.

"What I mean is that humans, like animals, plants, and everything on this land, are all resources that can be utilized." Resources are meant to be used, and the same goes for humans.

Thinking of the experimental topic on the human body that he had conceived long ago, Zandik's eyes showed a hint of anticipation.

Twisting his fingertips slightly, savoring the wonderful touch he had just felt, Zandik raised his hand and wanted to touch Cheng Yan's cheek again.

But his hand was held by someone, Cheng Yan frowned slightly, and his black eyes, which had always been pure and thorough, were now covered with a faint shadow.

"Great, great, but people are different. People have their own thoughts. How can they be compared with others?"

However, Zandik didn't listen to Cheng Yan carefully. He stretched out his finger and tapped Cheng Yan's forehead lightly.

"Don't argue with me with that brain of yours. The more important thing is to think about where to stay tonight."

Cheng Yan held his breath and wanted to talk a lot about how people are special and different from other things. However, he regretted not having read enough books when he needed them. If it was the Emperor or his master, he would definitely not be like him and not be able to say a single word correctly.

With a slight sense of loss in his heart, Cheng Yan lowered his head and didn't even notice that Zandik took the initiative to hold his hand.

As the sun gradually set in the west, Zandik took Cheng Yan to find a small sheltered cave and unceremoniously snatched a bird from Xiaojiu, who had been following them.

Skinning, cleaning, and roasting, the whole process went extremely smoothly, and it didn't look like Cheng Yan had to serve him during normal meals.

Even with the fragrant barbecue stuffed in his hands, Cheng Yan was still thinking about what Zandik had just said.

The system couldn't bear to watch it any longer. [Host, what are you hesitating about? The target, Zandik, is a villain. He will do anything to achieve his goals. He has no psychological burden in doing human experiments or playing with people's feelings.]

"But why? What if those people are not bad guys?"

[…Host, you are really a little naive. Will bad people be punished? Will good people always have good results? This kind of thing is hard to say.]

The thoughts in Cheng Yan's head became more and more confused, his heart was not at peace, and his stomach was aching from hunger, but Cheng Yan didn't even look at the barbecue in his hand. He moved closer to Zandik and held his hand tightly.

"Zanzan, can you stay with me forever?"

Cheng Yan's eyes flickered. He thought, if he could stay with Zazan all the time, he would be able to see some things. He wanted to be with Zazan all the time, but there were some things Cheng Yan absolutely could not do.

Zandik looked at Cheng Yan's brows that seemed unable to relax, wondering what he was still struggling with, and asked.

"Why are you asking this suddenly?" You keep sticking to me, how can I chase you away?

Unknowingly, Zandik's tolerance for Cheng Yan had reached an unimaginable level.

Cheng Yan shook his head slightly, without expressing his concerns, and just moved closer to Zandik.

"I just want to be with Zanzan forever. Zanzan, can we hold hands?"

Cheng Yan clasped Zandik's hand tightly with his ten fingers and almost buried his body in his arms. He wanted to escape and hoped that Zandik had not said such words just now.

"You're already holding it." Feeling that Cheng Yan was abnormal, Zandik let him hold his hand, and there was a hint of concern in his eyes when he looked at Cheng Yan, which he did not notice.

"Can we kiss then? I missed you so much."

"...Are you crazy?" Zandik was choked by Cheng Yan's bold words, and a tingling sensation spontaneously appeared on his lips, as if Cheng Yan had already kissed him.

Cheng Yan stood up directly, grabbed Zandik's collar and tried to push himself up.

"Please, Zan Zan, just give me a kiss, just once."

Zendik: ...!

[Drip—Target Zandik’s favorability +3, current favorability 15]