BAI ZE quickly stepped in between his older cousin and Su Yuqi. Deep inside, he was already cursing so loud. Just why were these two at each other's throat again? And what the heck was Shen Ji Yun doing? Taking Luo Yan like that. He knew how overprotective his cousins were. Now, he was the one who had to calm them. And Su Yuqi was not helping at all.

"Brother Ren, Su Yuqi was simply saying that Ji Yun won't do anything harmful to Xiao Yan. I can attest to that. I've been friends with him for more than a decade now. I assure you that he won't harm Xiao Yan in any shape or form," he said to Luo Ren before turning to Su Yuqi and whispering, "And you, don't say anything more. I beg of you, please."

Su Yuqi raised one of her brows but still nodded at the end. She enjoyed riling up Bai Ze because it was easy to do so. But even she knew that this was not the right time for that. In truth, she also didn't want to meddle with the affairs of these Luo brothers. But the way the two were acting, like Luo Yan was in grave danger or something just rubbed her the wrong way.

There were only a few people she considered friends and Shen Ji Yun was one of them. She didn't like how they were treating him like some lowlife who's bound to destroy their brother.

She understood that it was mostly because of their love for their brother. With Luo Yan's life experience, it's understandable for his family to be protective of him. They nearly lost him at one time after all. But to be this paranoid about it, she shook her head.

It's not as if the one who was with Luo Yan right now was someone untrustworthy, much less a stranger. More importantly, this was a holographic world. No harm could really be done to any players in the game. For one, if they felt that they were in danger, they could easily just log out of the game.

So, wasn't all this just a little bit too over the top?

Although the way they were acting might probably be because they had already noticed Shen Ji Yun's feelings for their brother. Which was hardly unnoticeable. If one had high enough EQ, they could easily see it. But still. It wasn't right to just simply assume the worst of him. Especially if one knew Shen Ji Yun well.

That guy was not someone who could easily open his heart just to anyone. In fact, he was covered in such a big wall of ice that she doubted if there could ever be a time when he could actually feel. But the time came with the arrival of Luo Yan. And thus, he also opened his heart to him.

But then again, it's not as if these Luo brothers could understand that immediately. So, she was also at fault for being too hurried in defending Shen Ji Yun. What she did might just have a negative impact instead.

Luo Ren glanced at Bai Ze, his gaze was still chilly. "Ah Ze, I don't care about your friend's character. What I'm more worried about is his, let's just say, interest in my brother. I believe you know what I'm saying, correct? Since the two of you are the closest of friends."

Bai Ze felt a chill behind his back. He almost groaned. Seriously, how could this cousin of his be so scary? It's like Luo Ren was saying in just those few words that 'I know that you know about your friend's feelings for your cousin'. And the way he looked at him was like asking 'despite knowing that, you still side with your friend?'.

Even though it's not possible, he felt like cold sweats started flowing down his back. He gulped. It's like being stuck between a rock and a hard place.

He already told Shen Ji Yun that he wouldn't help him in chasing his cousin. But he couldn't just let his older cousin think badly of him. Because, really, Shen Ji Yun was hardly a villain. He had a soft heart despite the cold exterior. He didn't want Luo Ren to think that Shen Ji Yun was full of bad intentions.

But if he fought too hard for his friend, his older cousin might think that he was in approval of Shen Ji Yun's feelings for Luo Yan. Which was not entirely the case. In fact, he's very neutral in this matter.

So, really, where should he put himself in this situation?

Bai Ze gulped and at the end he could only say, "Brother Ren, I'll send a message to Ji Yun and ask him where they are. So, let's all just calm down."

Yu Jiao watched everything that had happened since earlier. From Luo Jin's worried tirade, to Su Yuqi's defense of Shen Ji Yun, and now to Luo Ren and Bai Ze's exchanged. It's making her fidget. She didn't like this kind of atmosphere. She couldn't even understand what they were all fighting about.

Then she suddenly remembered what Luo Yan told him before, about how she could calm down Luo Ren in the most efficient way just in case her words no longer worked. She had a feeling that her words wouldn't work in this kind of atmosphere.

When Luo Yan asked her if she could calm down Luo Ren if ever he got angry during the preliminary, he thought her of a secret technique that could quickly calm the other down. Although up until now, she couldn't understand how this 'technique' could even work. But Luo Yan said that it would. So, she should probably try.

In the next few seconds, she followed Luo Yan's instructions up to the tee.

She walked to Luo Ren, hugged his arm, and then whispered in his ear, "Brother Ren, please don't be angry."

She could feel her cheeks turning red because of her actions. It probably took everything in her to do that. That's why once she'd done, she quickly let go of Luo Ren's arm.

And that's when she noticed that the other's body was completely frozen in place. She wasn't sure if it was just her imagination but she noticed that Luo Ren's ear tip, the one where she whispered to, was now dyed red.

She wanted to make sure but before she could do so, the door to the hall suddenly opened and Luo Yan and Shen Ji Yun walked in.

Luo Yan, of course, noticed the tense atmosphere. "Ahm, did we miss something?"