Chapter 137: The Secret of Treading Snow

Just at that moment, the phone in Chen Hao's pocket suddenly emitted a faint green glow, though this subtle light went completely unnoticed by the three of them.

Given Chen Hao's usual reflexes, when Zhuge Taxue fell backward, he should have easily been able to catch her. However, in that brief fraction of a second, Chen Hao suddenly felt his entire body go limp, followed by darkness clouding his vision as a familiar wave of dizziness washed over him.

Chen Hao's immediate internal reaction was: "Oh, damn it! You've got to be kidding me! Not again?"

His second reaction was: "Crap! Now I'm in for it. I'm going to completely embarrass myself in front of Guo Yunhai. Who knows how long I'll be knocked out this time? If they find out they can't wake me up, are they going to send me to the hospital?

Uh... to be precise, it would probably be the hotel's medical room. This is so messed up! I was the one keeping Guo Yunhai company to see the doctor earlier, and now do we have to switch roles?"

Before losing consciousness entirely, Chen Hao vaguely felt that in his attempt to catch Zhuge Taxue and prevent her from falling, he seemed to have grabbed her body. And right now, whatever he was holding in his hand felt remarkably soft... Holy shit! No way!

Even as he thought this, Chen Hao plunged completely into unconsciousness.

When Chen Hao finally opened his eyes again, he had naturally entered the game world. Just like before, he was lying flat on the ground. When he woke up the previous few times, Chen Hao had been all alone out in the wilderness, but this time was slightly different. He could clearly feel that someone was lying on top of him.

The person resting on Chen Hao wasn't particularly heavy, but being pinned down like that was still a bit uncomfortable. Although his body felt somewhat restricted, Chen Hao realized that both of his hands were still in a remarkably comfortable position. Good lord! No way! Was he still holding on?

Yet that had only been Zhuge Taxue in the real world! The person here in the game... uh... or rather, who was this NPC? Could it possibly be Vivian?

It hardly seemed likely... First of all, Vivian didn't smell like this. Secondly, Vivian didn't have a figure this voluptuous! Vivian belonged to the petite, loli type. But the sensation in his hands clearly belonged to a mature imperial sister archetype.

Speaking of imperial sisters among the women he knew, the only two that came to mind both shared the reputation of being tomboys: one was Dong Xin, and the other was Zhuge Taxue.

An imperial sister wasn't just defined by her commanding personality. Aside from being bold, carefree, and possessing an air of haughty superiority, her figure also had to meet certain standards. Beyond that came her demeanor, tone of voice, and overall behavior.

Take Gu Mengyan, for instance. Even though her personality was quite boisterous, she lacked Dong Xin's regal, queenly majesty, nor did she possess Zhuge Taxue's intense, dominant aura. Coupled with the fact that Gu Mengyan's curves were not nearly as explosive as those of Dong Xin and Zhuge Taxue, Gu Mengyan could hardly be considered an imperial sister in Chen Hao's eyes.

The only ones who truly fit the description were Dong Xin and Zhuge Taxue. Perhaps Chen Hao's own mother might have qualified as an imperial sister back in her youth. However, he didn't really have a say in that matter—the person with the deepest understanding of that would undoubtedly be his old man.

However, these two imperial sisters, Zhuge Taxue and Dong Xin, actually had quite distinct differences, which primarily manifested in their personalities.

Dong Xin belonged to the cold, elegant, and aloof variety of imperial sister. Although she could converse with you with a smile, you could clearly sense that she was speaking to you from the condescending perspective of a superior showing concern for a subordinate. Their status and relationship never felt quite equal. To put it simply, Dong Xin was an iceberg beauty.

And Zhuge Taxue? She was the bewitching, alluring type of imperial sister. The word alluring here was not derogatory, but a pure descriptor. Although Zhuge Taxue's daily attire heavily favored a hip-hop style, Chen Hao was certain this was far from her only look. She could undoubtedly pull off countless different styles without ever looking out of place. She was an enchantress born to command any aesthetic.

Chen Hao was simply pondering their contrasting styles without any ulterior motives. Yet, because he was so engrossed in his thoughts, he hadn't even bothered to check his surroundings or the person lying on top of him, while his hands remained stubbornly clamped over those two protruding mounds.

"I say... Chen Hao, you've been groping me for so long. Aren't you planning to let go anytime soon? And is there something wrong with your body? You've been grabbing for ages, yet you don't have the slightest reaction at all? Don't tell me you swing the other way too?" A voice filled with a mix of grievance, confusion, a hint of anger, and a trace of flirtatiousness suddenly echoed from right in front of him.

"Holy crap!" Hearing the voice coming from right before him, Chen Hao snapped back to his senses and hastily pulled the person lying on him up into a standing position.

The moment Chen Hao laid eyes on the person in front of him, he even wondered if he was dreaming rather than having entered the game world. He circled around her twice, then rubbed his eyes in utter disbelief.

Next, right before Chen Hao's terrified and astonished gaze, the person standing before him reached out, grabbed Little Chen Hao directly, and gave it a firm little squeeze.

"Ah~~~" Chen Hao let out an exquisite shriek. "What the hell! What are you doing? Huh? Wait a minute... Why does it actually hurt this time? Is this place not a game after all? But if it isn't, what about Guo Yunhai?"

What Chen Hao said made complete sense to him, because during his previous entries into the game, he had never experienced any sensory touch whatsoever. At least the last time he entered the game and was forced out by Dong Xin's self-destruction, Chen Hao hadn't felt a shred of pain.

Yet this time, being pinched in such a vital spot by the person in front of him had actually produced a sharp pain, forcing Chen Hao to seriously doubt whether he was currently inside the game world at all.

Moreover, if this truly was the game world, how on earth did the person standing right before him get here?

"Taxue? Why are you here?!" Chen Hao asked in disbelief.

Zhuge Taxue was left baffled by the question. "What kind of talk is that? Weren't we together the whole time? But what about the big guy? Where's Guo Yunhai? Where did he go? How did he suddenly vanish? And where are we anyway?"

Zhuge Taxue's words jolted Chen Hao into finally surveying his surroundings. From the very first glance at the dull, gloomy color palette, Chen Hao could practically confirm that both he and Zhuge Taxue had indeed entered the game world.

This dark, slightly melancholic aesthetic was the strongest impression left by his first two entries into the game. It was the standard background style of previous virtual reality games. It wasn't because the designers harbored some depressing psychological trauma, but simply because this color tone best matched the game's setting.

Chen Hao sighed. Before figuring out how to explain their current environment to Zhuge Taxue, he felt he needed to address the elephant in the room first. "Umm, Taxue! Just now, my hand... well, you know, I didn't mean it that way... I was just..."

Before Chen Hao could finish, Zhuge Taxue waved her hand dismissively. "I know! You were just trying to hold me up from behind to keep me from falling. But for some unknown reason, you, a martial arts expert, lost your balance and fell backward with me, and then your hands naturally grabbed my breasts, right? I get it!"

Hearing Zhuge Taxue speak of the incident so casually, Chen Hao suddenly remembered that she was actually a lesbian. Though he didn't fully understand their mindset, Chen Hao figured that in Zhuge Taxue's eyes, her gender might as well be the same as his. That must be why she didn't care at all that he had touched her chest! And as for her grabbing him down there just now... was it for the same reason?

At that moment, Zhuge Taxue spoke up again. "Since you've offered your explanation, I feel the need to clarify something as well. When I pinched you just now, it wasn't an accident—I did it completely on purpose!"

Hearing this, Chen Hao nearly spat out a mouthful of blood. "Ugh..."

Chen Hao desperately wanted to ask why, but he had already heard Zhuge Taxue mention earlier that she seemed to suspect something was wrong with his physiology. And frankly, her suspicion wasn't entirely unreasonable; after all, Zhuge Taxue was an enchantress capable of toppling nations. Even knowing she was a lesbian, it didn't diminish the lethal impact her appearance had on others.

For such an absolute beauty to be grabbed in that sensitive area by a man, yet receive zero reaction—it truly wasn't normal. But Chen Hao knew his mind had simply been preoccupied with other thoughts at the time.

Just as Chen Hao was scrambling to find words to steer the conversation away from this awkward topic, Zhuge Taxue continued, "Actually, don't listen to what the big guy said. He doesn't even know the full story. I'm not actually a lesbian in the truest sense of the word!"

"Huh?" Chen Hao froze. "What do you mean by 'in the truest sense'? Does this stuff come with an official definition?"

"Ahem!" Zhuge Taxue looked somewhat embarrassed—a rare expression to see on her face. "Actually, the big guy misunderstood me. Even though my parents raised me like a boy since childhood, I am still a girl after all. In the beginning, my preferences were just as normal as any other girl's.

"But you also know how much of an impact my appearance has; men were constantly coming over to harass me. Over time, I developed an aversion toward men. To avoid those troubles, I simply decided to label myself as a lesbian and deliberately acted a bit ambiguous with women both in our village and from outside, purely to keep men away.

"After doing it for so long, it eventually turned into second nature, and I gradually started developing a fondness for pretty girls. But the truth is, I do like men too. Well... if I have to put a label on it, I suppose I'm bisexual!"