Free Web NovelAfter Wen Yuzhi and Xi Heyan followed the hunting team away, a cloaked figure appeared in what had once been the old site.
It seemed to have come here by following some kind of trail.
Amid the vast ruins, the figure searched for a long time before finally reaching the area near the cemetery.
There, it stopped.
The aura it had been so fixated on ended there.
But when it tried to distinguish it more carefully, it discovered that the air here was exceptionally mixed and muddied with too many scents.
It was as if many people had passed through this place before.
That chaotic tangle of smells had buried the one scent it truly wanted to find.
There was no direction left for it to follow.
Every clue vanished here.
That made the person in the cloak grow a little irritated.
And of all times, a pack of stray beasts came nosing up at that very moment.
“I have to... find him... You’re blocking me... getting in the way... need to be dealt with... erased...”
The voice that rang out was low and hoarse, with a halting roughness to it, as if it rarely spoke. freewёbn૦νeɭ.com
And the moment those words fell—
the figure was still standing there perfectly still, yet far-off stray beasts suddenly had their heads and bodies sliced apart as though by some invisible blade.
Seeing their kin die in an instant, the beasts finally realized this was something they could not afford to provoke.
But by the time they understood, it was already too late.
Invisible blades had already enclosed them. Not a single stray beast escaped alive.
And at the very moment those stray beasts were killed, somewhere else, after returning to the base, Wen Yuzhi’s steps suddenly halted.
“What is it?”
The instant Wen Yuzhi stopped, Xi Heyan, walking beside him, noticed.
But Wen Yuzhi himself looked a little dazed.
When he heard Xi Heyan ask, he shook his head. “It’s nothing.”
Maybe it was just his imagination?
Otherwise, why would he suddenly sense a fluctuation in mental energy here that felt a little like his father’s?
And his father... probably still didn’t know he was here.
The thought made Wen Yuzhi press his lips together, and a trace of disappointment rose in his heart.
Aboard the Thanatos, Mansendis was still in the cub’s room.
In his hand was a doll Wen Yuzhi had once liked very much.
It was a palm-sized teddy bear.
For a time, the cub had adored it and dragged the little bear everywhere. Back then, Wen Yuzhi himself had only been about as big as the bear, yet no matter where he went, he insisted on bringing along his little teddy-bear friend.
The degree of attachment was second only to the silver toy he slept with.
Later, Mansendis had also given Wen Yuzhi new teddy bears, but the one Wen Yuzhi loved most was still that very first bear.
Once, out of curiosity, Mansendis had asked the cub in his arms why he liked that bear so much.
And Wen Yuzhi’s answer back then had been...
“Because when I hold it, it feels like Daddy is holding me.”
When he said that, Wen Yuzhi’s pale golden eyes reflected Mansendis’s figure, and his eyes were shining.
The cub had said the bear’s fur was thick and warm to hold.
When Daddy was busy and didn’t have time, Wen Yuzhi would hug the teddy bear instead, as if Daddy had already hugged him.
After hearing that, Mansendis had said nothing.
But from that day on, no matter how busy he was, every morning when he woke up, he would first give the cub a hug.
And now, it had already been a very long time since their last embrace.
Mansendis’s patience had long since run out.
What the Saint Clan had been doing these past few days could only be called madness. They had almost spared no cost in rooting out the underground black markets hidden across the various planets and destroying them completely.
That move had made even the outlaws who were usually brazen in how they operated start to grow uneasy.
And across the interstellar world, there were now two different camps of opinion regarding the Saint Clan’s recent actions.
One side thought the Saint Clan had done well. Those underground black markets were engaged in nothing but illegal crime to begin with. Why else were star pirates impossible to wipe out completely no matter how many times they were suppressed, if not because these gray zones kept shielding them?
The Saint Clan destroying the black markets was simply punishing evil and eliminating harm.
But another group argued that the Saint Clan’s arrogance had gone too far. They were barging into other people’s territory just because they had powerful military force, using weapons however they pleased on other people’s land, and plainly treating the nations and races around them as if they did not matter at all.
And no matter which side was speaking, the Saint Clan did not care in the least.
They only wanted to find their little highness.
How the other races chose to view them was none of their concern.
Under the Saint Clan’s forceful attitude of ignoring everyone, a quiet anti–Saint Clan force had also begun to grow across the stars. They called themselves the Resistance, refusing to allow the Saint Clan onto their planets, and had even united in the delusion that they could wage war against them.
They had a nice idea in their heads: the Saint Clan were only one race, after all. With so many races joined together, surely they could not lose to a pack of mentally unstable madmen, could they?
When Alvin saw the declaration of war those races had sent over, he raised a brow and inwardly sighed that their timing could not have been worse.
Of all times, it had to be now.
The moment that declaration was delivered, there was no need to think to know how angry the king would be.
And just as expected, when Alvin informed Mansendis of what those people were doing, the silver-haired ruler, his expression cold and indifferent, directly tossed the declaration of war onto the desk.
“Grant their wish.”
Mansendis spoke expressionlessly, his voice icy.
.........
Wen Yuzhi knew absolutely nothing yet about the Saint Clan being on the verge of going to war with other races.
Right now, he and Xi Heyan were standing at the doorway to the room.
Chong Fengshuang was saying awkwardly, “Brother Yan, um... the only room in the base that can still be lived in for now is this one, so...”
He trailed off there without finishing.
But Xi Heyan had already guessed the rest.
There were no suitable rooms left in the base, so Chong Fengshuang had probably arranged for Wen Yuzhi to stay here.
After all, he had not come back in so many years. When Chong Fengshuang made the arrangements, he had probably never expected him to suddenly return.
And so this somewhat awkward situation had come about.
Wen Yuzhi, on the other hand, was very calm. This room had belonged to someone to begin with. Now that its owner had returned, it was only natural for him to leave.
Seeing Chong Fengshuang looking troubled, Wen Yuzhi took the initiative and said, “I can stay anywhere. There are chairs in the dining hall. I can sleep there.”
As long as someone gave him a small blanket, even sleeping on the floor would be fine.
But before Chong Fengshuang could speak, Xi Heyan rejected the idea outright.
“There’s no need to make it that troublesome. You can just stay with me.”
As he said this, Xi Heyan glanced at the little boy at his side and asked in a low voice, “Do you mind?”
If even the room’s owner did not mind, Wen Yuzhi had even less reason to.
And so the matter of the room was settled just like that.
Wen Yuzhi followed Xi Heyan inside.
The moment Xi Heyan entered, he sharply noticed the subtle changes in the room.
There were faint wrinkles on the bed, for instance, and the closet door had been left slightly ajar. It was not hard to guess from what Chong Fengshuang had said earlier that Wen Yuzhi had been the one sleeping here before.
Wen Yuzhi had noticed it too. Walking behind him, he said a little apologetically, “I messed up your bed. I’ll make it again for you later.”
But Xi Heyan said, “It’s fine. I don’t mind.”
If Zhuo Haoyu had been here and heard Xi Heyan say that, Zhuo Haoyu probably would have thought he was hearing things.
Everyone in the combat department knew that the reason Xi Heyan had been willing to fight for the top seat in the first place was because becoming the top student in the year meant he could have a private dorm room of his own. The ordinary dorms all housed at least four people, and even the young masters and young ladies of noble families were no exception.
Xi Heyan had never liked other people getting close to him. He had always gone his own way. He could not even tolerate sharing a room with someone, let alone having someone sleep in his bed.
But now Wen Yuzhi had not only moved in, he had even rumpled up his bed, and after noticing it, Xi Heyan found that he had no particular reaction at all.
He walked straight to the closet and took out a clean set of clothes.
Xi Heyan had long since noticed that the coat and shoes Wen Yuzhi was wearing now were both his—more precisely, they were clothes from when he had been younger.
At the base, the youngest people now were Chong Fengxue and Chong Fengshuang. Chong Fengshuang also had old clothes, but his had all been worn before and were not suitable for Wen Yuzhi.
Most of the clothes on Xi Heyan’s side, meanwhile, had barely ever been worn.
Xi Heyan found a new outfit in the closet.
“Do you want to take a shower first?”
When Wen Yuzhi had killed those stray beasts, most of the blood had been blocked by the cloak, but some still inevitably splashed onto the clothes underneath.
Besides, he had already been wearing those clothes for two days. If he had the chance, of course Wen Yuzhi wanted to shower and change.
So he did not refuse Xi Heyan’s kindness.
Taking the clothes, he went into the bathroom.
Xi Heyan, meanwhile, stood in the room and felt a little uncomfortable listening to the sound of running water from inside.
After thinking it over, he simply pushed the door open and left.
Wen Yuzhi had no idea Xi Heyan was already gone.
He was still washing the blood out of his hair.
Although food was scarce at the base, water resources were fairly sufficient. After all, half of Blackrock Star was snowfield, and the people at the base would sometimes collect melted snow, so using water for a bath was not considered especially extravagant.
In the corner, Wen Yuzhi even found a bottle of body wash that had never been opened. The date on it was from five years ago, and it had long since passed its expiration date.
It really did seem Xi Heyan had not come back in a very long time.
What Wen Yuzhi found strange, though, was that the scent written on the bottle was woody.
But when Xi Heyan had carried him in his arms before, the scent Wen Yuzhi had caught from him had clearly been something slightly bitter.
...Had he switched to a different body wash later?
Wen Yuzhi was a little curious, but he did not dwell on it for too long.
After he had washed himself clean, he changed into the new clothes Xi Heyan had given him and came out of the bathroom.
Xi Heyan happened to return to the room at that exact moment.
He had taken off his outer coat and was wearing only the high-collared fitted shirt underneath. His sleeves were rolled up, exposing a section of firm muscle on his forearm, and in that hand he was carrying a tray.
Wen Yuzhi glanced at it. There seemed to be a plate on the tray, but it was covered with a lid, so he could not see what was inside.
Xi Heyan had not expected it to be such a coincidence either, that Wen Yuzhi would finish his shower the moment he came back.
But when he saw how Wen Yuzhi looked now, Xi Heyan felt he probably should have come back a little later.
Wen Yuzhi had just come out of the bathroom after a hot shower, and a faint misty dampness still clung to him.
His silver-white hair was wet and still dripping. Some of the droplets had fallen onto his face, and his snow-white, soft cheeks had been steamed into a faint pink by the heat.
And lower still...
Xi Heyan saw that Wen Yuzhi was wearing the very outfit he had chosen just now.
A shirt trimmed with elaborate °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° lace.
The clothes he kept here had all been prepared for him by his mother, Lena Damian, before she died.
At the time, nothing had yet happened to the Xi family, and Xi Heyan had still counted as a young master.
Lena had only this one child, so she had naturally taken great care with everything. When Xi Heyan was still small, she had already prepared clothes for him all the way up to adulthood.
And this shirt, in fact, was the kind meant to be worn with formal dress clothes.
It was a pity that Xi Heyan had never liked wearing the sort of “fine clothing” popular among the nobility that represented their status and standing, and after the Xi family’s downfall, he had no chance to wear it anyway.
So the shirt had simply remained tucked away in the closet all this time.
When he had been looking for clothes for Wen Yuzhi just now, Xi Heyan had spotted it at once and, without hesitation, chosen it for Wen Yuzhi to wear.
As for how it looked on him...
Xi Heyan could only say it had exceeded his expectations by far.
He had thought Wen Yuzhi would suit the obviously expensive-looking shirt, but he had not expected it to fit him so perfectly.
The shirt with its ornate, oversized lace collar looked not the least bit unsuitable on Wen Yuzhi. On the contrary, the beautiful little young master with that air of natural refinement looked as though he had been born to wear something so elegant.
With that exquisite face, Wen Yuzhi now looked exactly like a little prince out of a fairy tale.
A little prince who had just finished his bath, cheeks flushed pink, his whole body giving off a soft, gentle air.
Xi Heyan had already looked at him the entire way back and was more than familiar with how Wen Yuzhi looked after growing smaller, but seeing him like this now, he still could not help losing focus for a moment.
“Cough...”
Xi Heyan gave an unnatural little cough and looked away.
To cover his awkwardness, he first set the tray in his hand down on the table.
Wen Yuzhi, however, did not notice anything odd about Xi Heyan at all.
He was still troubled by the water dripping from his hair.
Back with the Saint Clan, after taking a bath he could dry his hair right away. But Blackrock Star did not have that kind of convenience.
So Wen Yuzhi could only come out with his hair still wet.
And while he was still wondering what to do, Xi Heyan walked over. He brought Wen Yuzhi to sit beside the desk, then fetched a clean towel.
Then he draped the towel over Wen Yuzhi’s hair and began gently drying the water from it.
“I can...”
Wen Yuzhi wanted to say he could do it himself.
But Xi Heyan’s movements were so practiced and natural that Wen Yuzhi could not find an opening to step in.
When he realized there was no need for him to do anything after all, Wen Yuzhi simply sat obediently in the chair and tilted his head slightly in Xi Heyan’s direction, making it easier for the man to dry his hair.
And the way Wen Yuzhi quietly cooperated stirred something in Xi Heyan’s heart, as if a soft feeling were slowly spreading through it.
After who knew how long—
just as Wen Yuzhi was becoming drowsy from the gentle pressure of Xi Heyan’s hands, Xi Heyan’s voice finally came from above his head.
“All done.”
Wen Yuzhi’s hair was mostly dry now.
Xi Heyan even found a comb and smoothed out the strands he had mussed while drying it.
Very quickly, Wen Yuzhi’s bright silver hair was once again fluffy and silky.
“Thank you for the trouble.”
Blinking, Wen Yuzhi thanked him sincerely.
Xi Heyan’s gaze softened too. “Eat something first. You should be hungry too.”
As he spoke, Xi Heyan lifted the lid off the plate.
Inside was actually a serving of roasted meat.
If nothing unexpected had happened, it was probably made from one of the sand rabbits they had caught earlier.
The meat was still steaming, and it smelled wonderful.
Wen Yuzhi had not been that hungry before, but the moment he smelled it, his stomach instantly felt very, very empty.
Still, before eating, he asked curiously, “Did Chong Fengshuang make this?”
Wen Yuzhi remembered Chong Fengshuang had said he was going to roast rabbit for him.
But Xi Heyan said, “I made it. I’m the one who taught Little Shuang how to roast rabbit in the first place.”
Xi Heyan had started going out hunting with the people of Blackstone City when he was three years old.
Back then he had been small, so the things he could catch were all little prey like rabbits and birds.
And his skill at roasting rabbit had been built up during that time.
But after leaving Blackrock Star, what he usually consumed was nutrient solution, so he rarely handled food himself anymore.
This time, it was because he thought Wen Yuzhi might be hungry that he had gone out of his way to roast this rabbit meat and bring it back.
...Though after so long, he had no idea whether his skills had grown rusty.
At that thought, Xi Heyan asked with a trace of nervousness, “Do you want to try it and see how it tastes?”
