2: Underneath A Thousand Skies

248 Reality (4)

"Jia, I think I know." Xu Jinhai looked solemn. He didn't think a restaurant could understand him to such a deep level. "Desires of the soul, succumbing to temptation, and self-control...."

He clenched his feast. "I will definitely try not to pounce on you—"

"No, you're definitely misunderstanding something."

The two of them entered the gate. They saw a large space filled with traditional low banquet dining tables. Hanging on the ceiling was an enormous candelabra, the candles flickering to an invisible wind. If you listen closely enough, you could hear a soft piano music echoing through the large chamber, the melody sounding eerie.

A white mist swirled around their feet, creating a haunting atmosphere. The waiters were dressed as zombies, stiffly walking from table to table, taking orders from the customers.

"Jia, be careful," Xu Jinhai expertly moved her body as a male customer was about to bump into her from behind them.

The man who had been busy looking at his phone gave them a quick glance and without a word of apology, sat down on the table next to them.

Xu Jinhai shot him a deadly glare as he guarded Song Jia to sit on the cushion opposite his. If he wasn't out on a romantic date and wasn't doing his best to create a good impression, he would definitely pick a fight with him.

Their orders were also placed in advance. As soon as they sat down, zombie waiters filled their table with all sorts of different dishes.

"Jia, you should try this." Xu Jinhai placed a dish that looked like chopped human fingers in front of her.

In fact, this was just an illusion. It was shortbread cookie shaped into a severed finger. The nail was actually a sliced half of an almond, and the blood was just jam.

"It's delicious."

Song Jia looked at the array of dishes in front of her. If you didn't look too closely, you would think that they were eating the amputated limbs of a human body.

She didn't know what to make of this "exciting" first date.

Song Jia wasn't aware that this was deliberately arranged by Xu Jinhai. He had purposely ordered the restaurant to have a horror theme, in order to make their date more romantic.

In the relationship advice books that he had read, it was better to take your first date into somewhere exciting or scary. That way, they would mistake their accelerated heartbeat as infatuation for you.

"Jia, you should also try this..."

With a "kacha" sound, the chopsticks that Xu Jinhai held broke into two. The piece of meat that he was holding dropped on the table, spattering a bit of sauce on the surface.

Song Jia was startled. "Jinhai?"

Xu Jinhai quickly mopped up the mess and flashed an embarrassed smile at her.

"I accidentally used too much force, did any of the sauce get on your clothes?"

Song Jia shook her head. Xu Jinhai breathed a sigh of relief and stood up.

"Jia, I'll have to clean the sauce from my hands. I won't be long so don't go anywhere, okay?"

"Well, take your time."

As soon as Xu Jinhai left, Song Jia looked at her surroundings. From the moment they arrived, she was aware that they had been stared at from time to time, most of them coming from the female guests.

Song Jia also knew what they were thinking about. If she had to guess, it was probably more or less the same as Li Qing's.

Xu Jinhai stood out too much. It might be because of his looks, his powers, or just the unique aura of a male god that constantly radiated off him. Wherever he went, he would always attract attention.

In contrast, Song Jia, who didn't look anything special and could be mistaken as Passerby A if this had been a movie, was seen as a toad wanting to eat swan meat by the melon-eating crowd.

Song Jia pursed her lips. During her transmigration missions, she didn't really care what she looked like. In any case, it wasn't her body, so even if they judged her appearance, she didn't care too much about it.

It was different now. She felt her insecurities slowly rise up, threatening to drown her. One of the reasons Song Jia didn't hurry to find Xu Jinhai as soon as she woke up was also because of it.

This male god had been chasing her for more than a thousand years. Time and time again, they had barely gotten together when she slipped through his fingers like sand, disappearing into air. Song Jia began to wonder if Xu Jinhai's affection was mostly due to the fact that he had been unable to conquer her.

Maybe as soon as they meet in real life, he would realize his obsession was just actually because he had lost her time and time again. Now that they were finally meeting and he saw that she wasn't as beautiful as the original hosts that she occupied before, he would feel that she betrayed his expectations.

Song Jia shook her head and told herself not to be an idiot. She had already promised to face him and his feelings, so she shouldn't doubt him again.

She clenched her fingers around her chopsticks and secretly cheered herself on.

"Be brave, Jia."

[1] Torii: Japan, symbolic gateway marking the entrance to a sacred space; kinda looks like this "門"