Free Web NovelChapter 71: Playing House (3)
A sharp ringing shattered the quiet of the night, jerking Wenzhi from sleep.
He opened his eyes slowly, still half asleep when he felt a warm breath against his stomach.
At first, he expected to see Xinyuan sleeping beside him. But the other side of the bed was empty.
Wenzhi frowned faintly and rubbed at his eyes before the steady breathing against him finally registered properly.
He froze.
Xinyuan was under the blanket. Completely buried beneath it with his arms wrapped tightly around Wenzhi’s waist, his face pressed against his stomach as he slept soundly.
Wenzhi pressed a hand against his forehead.
"What are you doing?" he muttered, his voice rough with sleep.
Xinyuan didn’t react at all.
Even when Wenzhi tried pushing at his head, all Xinyuan did was tighten his hold like an oversized sleeping cat refusing to move.
The phone kept ringing.
Wenzhi awkwardly twisted sideways and finally grabbed it from behind him.
Jiang Zhaohe.
He answered immediately and pressed the phone to his ear.
"Hey," he rasped. "It’s three in the morning."
"Well, I’m pretty sure Xinyuan has around fifty missed calls already," Zhaohe snapped back.
There was noise behind her.
Explosions. Growls. The sharp sound of something collapsing.
"There’s a large-scale Rift outbreak in Yanjing City."
Wenzhi raised a brow. "He’s asleep."
"Wake him up."
"You seriously expect him to go fight a large Rift right now?" Wenzhi asked flatly. "If he gets caught—"
"He won’t get caught, Wenzhi," Zhaohe cut in immediately. "I swear on my life."
Another loud crash echoed through the call followed by a monster’s shriek.
Wenzhi could even hear Zhaohe breathing harder now, though she still sounded completely in control.
"This Rift is huge," she continued. "I’m saying this as an SSS-rank. We need him."
Wenzhi scoffed softly. "You sound like you’re doing perfectly fine without him, Commander."
Zhaohe groaned loudly. "Why are you acting so overprotective now? I thought you hated him."
Wenzhi looked down at the disaster-class Esper currently sleeping under his blanket like he belonged there.
"It’s been two weeks," Zhaohe continued. "Things have calmed down. Besides, he’s an Esper. You can’t stop him from being one."
"I’m not being overprotective," Wenzhi muttered.
He paused before adding dryly, "I’m protecting my own ass. If they find him, they find me."
"Uh huh. Fine," Zhaohe said. "Maybe you should come wit—"
Wenzhi hung up.
He tossed the phone aside and let out a long sigh, rubbing his forehead as the last traces of sleep faded from his mind.
Unfortunately, Xinyuan was still wrapped around his waist beneath the blanket like a human restraint device.
Wenzhi lifted the duvet and looked down at him.
"What are you even doing?" he muttered, voice rough with sleep.
Xinyuan didn’t react.
He was completely gone.
Wenzhi tried pushing at his head again.
This time Xinyuan let out a deep displeased grumble, sounding genuinely annoyed at being disturbed from hugging his personal body pillow.
"Xinyuan. Let go." Wenzhi grabbed a fistful of his hair and tugged.
"What’s going on...?" Xinyuan’s voice came out rough and low with sleep, his warm breath brushing against Wenzhi’s skin.
"Nothing," Wenzhi replied immediately. "I just need you to stop trapping me."
He yanked harder at Xinyuan’s hair.
A sharp hiss escaped him. "That hurt."
The problem was that he did not sound hurt at all.
In fact, his arms tightened around Wenzhi’s waist afterward.
Wenzhi’s lips curled in disbelief. "You don’t sound hurt."
"You telling me to let go hurts," Xinyuan mumbled against his skin. "Not the hair pulling."
The low sleepy voice combined with the feeling of his breath against his stomach sent goosebumps racing across Wenzhi’s body. And unfortunately, his brain immediately betrayed him with an extremely vivid image of Xinyuan on his knees.
Wenzhi shut that thought down instantly.
"Does holding me like this actually help you?" he asked instead.
Even though he already knew the answer.
Their wavelengths were tangled together so naturally now that he could feel the calmness spreading through Xinyuan’s mental state.
"Yes," Xinyuan whispered.
"Just holding me?"
Another quiet, "Yes."
Wenzhi went silent after that.
There really didn’t seem to be anything wrong with him tonight.
No instability. No spreading corruption marks. No dangerous fluctuations.
Just exhaustion.
Slowly, Wenzhi released his grip on Xinyuan’s hair and pulled the blanket back over him before staring up at the ceiling in silence.
He had no intention of telling Xinyuan about Zhaohe’s call.
Sooner or later, Xinyuan would notice the fifty missed calls himself and understand what had happened. And Wenzhi knew that eventually, Xinyuan would return to being an Esper.
If anything, having Wenzhi beside him would only make him more confident about it.
Wenzhi frowned at that thought.
Trying to stop Xinyuan from acting like an Esper felt like forcing a fish to survive on land.
Eventually, he drifted back to sleep.
When Wenzhi woke again, the bed beside him was empty.
He grimaced as he checked the time.
10:07 AM.
Much later than he expected.
After washing up, he stepped out of the room with damp hair and loose clothes hanging lazily off his body.
Almost immediately, the rich scent of food filled the air.
His brows lifted in surprise.
Whatever Xinyuan was cooking smelled genuinely good.
As Wenzhi walked past the front door, his steps suddenly slowed.
A sealed package box sat quietly in front of it.
His expression sharpened instantly.
Wenzhi crouched beside it carefully and broke open the seal, revealing a compact holographic message receiver inside.
He picked it up slowly, turning it over in his hand while checking for any markings or sender information.
There was nothing obvious.
That made him trust it even less.
Still holding the receiver, he walked toward the kitchen.
Xinyuan was setting the table, several dishes already arranged neatly across it. fɾēewebnσveℓ.com
The food looked surprisingly good.
Xinyuan glanced up the moment Wenzhi entered.
"Morning." His eyes brightened, a dimpled smile appearing on his lips
Wenzhi lifted the receiver. "Did you bring the box inside?"
Xinyuan nodded. "Yeah. It was sitting outside the door."
Wenzhi studied the device carefully again. "The only person who knows we’re here is Zhaohe,"
Unless, she betrayed us.
His thoughts stopped there.
Xinyuan clearly understood what he had not said aloud because his expression darkened.
Every man for himself.
"Let’s play it while we eat," Xinyuan said calmly.
Wenzhi nodded slowly, his eyes still fixed on the receiver as he walked over and sat down at the table.
As soon as Xinyuan settled, Wenzhi placed the receiver on the table and pressed the button.
A blue light flickered into existence. Then a holographic figure appeared above the device.
A woman with long golden hair sat inside what looked like the back of a moving truck. Her expression was calm. Serious. Cold.
"Shao Xinyuan. Lin Wenzhi." Her voice was steady. "My name is Wu Youran. I am a mercenary currently working for the Old Blood faction."
Xinyuan’s eyes narrowed.
"I’ve been assigned to find the two of you." The woman leaned back. "I sent this message as a warning. I know you’re both in Sector One."
Silence settled over the room.
She smiled faintly. "Shao Xinyuan, I hope you put up a good fight when we finally meet."
Wenzhi’s expression slowly cooled.
"You should know..." Wu Youran continued casually, "I’m the one who shot your guide."
The atmosphere instantly changed.
"And next time," she said, "I’ll shoot him in the head while you watch."
The hologram flickered once.
"Have a pleasant day."
Then the message ended.
Wenzhi suddenly burst into laughter.
Across from him, Xinyuan said nothing. But his left eye flickered.
Crack.
The receiver instantly caved inward like an invisible hand had crushed it. Metal bent sharply around itself before the entire device split apart on the table.
Wenzhi looked down at it in amusement before lifting his eyes toward Xinyuan.
"Don’t waste your energy getting angry at the receiver, Sleeping Beauty," he said lazily. "Save it for when you actually see her."
Xinyuan’s expression remained dark.
Meanwhile, Wenzhi calmly picked up his chopsticks like none of this bothered him at all.
"We just got threatened," he sounded pleased about it. "It feels good."
Xinyuan sank his teeth into his lower lip. He looked like he was barely stopping himself from hunting Wu Youran down immediately.
After all, she had admitted to shooting Wenzhi. And Wenzhi himself didn’t even seem affected by it anymore, like getting shot was just another ordinary inconvenience in his life.
But Xinyuan had never gotten over it.
"They already found us," Wenzhi continued casually. "Which means the CEA probably knows too."
He leaned back in his chair, grey eyes bright with something dangerously close to excitement. "So what’s the point of hiding anymore?"
He grabbed the bowl of soup and drank directly from it before sighing in satisfaction. "This tastes good, by the way."
He set the bowl back down carefully.
"No more paranoia. No more laying low. No more self-blame."
His eyes locked onto Xinyuan’s. "Do you understand what I’m saying?"
Xinyuan held his gaze for a long moment before speaking. "I’m going to rip her apart."
Wenzhi’s heartbeat skipped hard at the look in his eyes, but he ignored it.
Instead, he smiled. Coldly this time. "Then let’s kill them all, Sleeping Beauty."
His voice dropped lower. "Every last one of them."
