Chapter 33: Restraint and Reflection
Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations
Editor: Karai
When Wu Chenghe woke up, it was slightly brighter outside, with a faint mist enveloping the surroundings. Under a large mushroom by the river, a fire was burning. Jin Xuan was squatting by the fire, his large lion running around like it had gone crazy, shaking its mane, tilting its head, and even raising its front paws to play, resembling a lion dance during the Spring Festival.
“You’re awake?” After the mark was established, there was a weak connection between them. As soon as Wu Chenghe woke up, Jin Xuan sensed the changes in his consciousness and immediately stood up and walked over. The Barbary lion also stopped frolicking, trotting over with small steps and sticking its head into Wu Chenghe’s arms, asking for a pet.
Wu Chenghe comfortingly patted its large head and retrieved little Light Bulb from its ear. The Light Bulb rolled in his palm, turning transparent and displaying a barrage: 888888…1
“It wants to say goodbye to you,” Wu Chenghe said to the lion. He felt somewhat balanced in his heart; after all, the little thing acknowledged him as its master.
The lion was a little disappointed, but it had already been very happy to play with the cute little thing for such a long time. It shook its mane and ran to the riverbank to play with mushrooms.
“Is this your quantum beast?” Jin Xuan had been busy making fire and cooking, and seeing his lion acting like a lunatic running around, he thought it was playing some split personality role-playing game again. But now, seeing little Light Bulb in Wu Chenghe’s hand, he exclaimed in surprise, “Is this… a caterpillar?”
Wu Chenghe knew his setup was too ridiculous and nodded wryly. “Yes.”
“No, this isn’t a normal caterpillar.” Jin Xuan’s eyes suddenly lit up as he took little Light Bulb from Wu Chenghe’s hand and carefully observed it. Light Bulb was kneaded by him a few times, tickling, and it laughed, curling up into a ball.
“This is a kind of butterfly larva.” Jin Xuan had extraordinary senses; he could see the details of the caterpillar without a microscope. The more he looked, the more surprised he was. “Heavens, this is the larva of the Morpho butterfly!”2
Wu Chenghe was speechless. Of course, it would be great if the worm could turn into a butterfly, but how should he, a man, handle having a “Morpho butterfly”?
“What is a Morpho butterfly?” Wu Chenghe didn’t have much knowledge about insects, let alone the classification of butterflies.
“It’s a variant butterfly,” Jin Xuan explained. “It’s a hybrid variant of the orange oakleaf butterfly, the heliconian, and the Morpho Helena butterfly. Its common name is ‘Icarus butterfly’. 3It’s named after the god who flew to the sun in Greek mythology because its original color is orange-red like the morning sun. It inherits the characteristics of the orange oakleaf butterfly and the heliconian, able to mimic and create mirages, but its own patterns are as beautiful as those of the Morpho butterfly, so it’s also known as the ‘God butterfly’.”
“… Let’s just call it ‘Icarus butterfly’.” Wu Chenghe earnestly suggested. “Or ‘God butterfly’ works too. Are you sure this thing can turn into a butterfly?”
“It should be able to. It looks quite similar to me.” Jin Xuan placed little Light Bulb on a black mushroom, and in half a second, it turned black. Then he placed it on a green backpack, and it immediately turned green. When he held it in his palm again, it returned to its original orange color. “Look, it can mimic colors and become transparent. Only the larva of the Morpho butterfly has these characteristics.”
The small light bulb was still young and had been played with by Jin Xuan and his lion for so long. It wriggled weakly a few times and sought help from Wu Chenghe through mental communication. Wu Chenghe hurriedly picked it up and rested it on his ear, saying, “It’s tired and needs to rest for a while.”
āAh, yes, larvae need plenty of rest,ā Jin Xuan nodded. āYou’re almost an adult, and it’s about to enter its third state, so it needs to accumulate a lot of energy.ā
Egg is the first state, caterpillar is the second state, and the third state should be the pupa, right? Wu Chenghe guessed, then asked Jin Xuan, “But aren’t you studying interstellar strategy and artificial intelligence? Why do you know so much about insects? You’re quite the polymath, aren’t you?”
“Uh, I don’t really know much about insects, just butterflies,” Jin Xuan said. “It’s actually because of my brother. He likes to study creatures with mimicry, such as chameleons, orchid mantises, and butterflies. For a while, he was also interested in quantum beasts as mimicry creatures and went to the Guide School to meet a few. But then he went crazy and said he didn’t want to get married, which angered the principal. Several guides liked him, and his blind dates without marriage as the goal were basically just playing rogue!ā
Wu Chenghe chuckled. These two brothers seemed to have a similar level of madness, one rejecting everyone and the other relentlessly pursuing.
“But if he got married, then there wouldn’t be me,” Jin Xuan shrugged, stopping the discussion about his brother and returning to the topic of quantum beasts. “Speaking of which, I felt that your aura was strange, as if you were particularly easy to ignore. It turns out it’s because of the mimicry ability of quantum beasts.”
Wu Chenghe felt that although he was relatively short, he wasn’t completely invisible. The reason he was often ignored was probably because he had a strong suggestive ability. But then he thought that this suggestive ability was similar to the function of mimicry, both of which erased one’s presence, making people not notice them.
Indeed, the state of the quantum beast was intricately linked to its owner… But the capriciousness and inscrutability were probably unique to the small light bulb, right? Wu Chenghe thought so, then suddenly smelled a scent of burnt food and sniffed, asking, “What are you cooking?”
“Oh! My mushrooms!” Jin Xuan jumped up in shock, ran to the fire, and came back with two large skewers of mushrooms on branches, handing one to Wu Chenghe. “Try my grilled mushrooms. There was supposed to be meat, but I finished it yesterday.”
Wu Chenghe took the mushroom skewer and took a bite. It was decent. He had been busy for so long and had slept again, so he was indeed hungry, and he ate heartily.
“Is it delicious?” Jin Xuan was delighted to see him enjoying it.
“It’s okay,” Wu Chenghe replied as he ate quickly. He took the last piece in his mouth, about to chew, when Jin Xuan suddenly leaned over.Ā
“Is it? I eat it every day and I don’t think it’s delicious. Let me try yours. Is yours different?”
“Hmm…” Wu Chenghe was completely unprepared. The mushroom in his mouth was bitten by Jin Xuan, and their lips touched, noses touched, and they ended up kissing each other.
“Delicious,” Jin Xuan murmured vaguely, then held the back of his head and stuffed the mushroom that had been bitten in half into his mouth with his tongue, then followed it up with a lingering kiss.
Wu Chenghe was speechless, dropped the branch in his hand, grabbed his ponytail, and pulled him away, “Mmmph! Let me go!”
“I like you, I like kissing you,” Jin Xuan coaxed him softly, loosening his grip a bit, “Can I kiss you?”
The airflow echoed in their mouths, like a spell. Wu Chenghe couldn’t resist at all, his hand pressed against Jin Xuan’s shoulder but unable to exert any force. He watched helplessly as Jin Xuan leaned over, lips touching his, and his mouth being invaded by his soft lips and tongue.
It was the submissive aspect of the mark that was at work. Wu Chenghe struggled hard, suppressing his instincts with reason. He finally managed to push Jin Xuan away, spat out the mushroom on the ground, and said hoarsely, “Is this fun for you?”
Jin Xuan was stunned. Wu Chenghe wiped his lips with the back of his hand, then said coldly, “Does it make you happy to command me to submit?”
“I didn’t…” Realizing that he was angry, Jin Xuan’s face turned pale.
Wu Chenghe stood up, wiped his face with cold water by the river, suppressing the warm emotions surging in his heart. He turned back and said, “Establishing a temporary mark with you was voluntary for me. I know that doing so would create a submissive aspect, but I had no choice. You were in danger because of me, and I had to save you.” He paused and continued, “The way you’re treating me now, I can’t refuse. If you want to continue, then I can only submit.”
Jin Xuan’s face completely changed. He stood still, his chest heaving violently. Wu Chenghe stood up, facing him through the thin mist, and asked coldly, “Do you want to continue?”
Misunderstood by the person he loved the most, Jin Xuan was so angry that even his fingers trembled. After a long time, he swallowed the anger in his chest fiercely and said, “I’m sorry. Earlier, I lost my head. But I didn’t mean to command you to submit, that was just… just instinct.”Ā
Jin Xuan took a deep breath, struggling to explain to him, but even he felt powerless. He knew he was born a contradiction, longing for the heartfelt love of a normal human, yet unable to control the beastly nature in his genes. He was sure that he liked Wu Chenghe not only because he was a guide perfectly compatible with him, but he couldn’t explain this. Sometimes, even he himself didn’t know whether this love stemmed from human nature or animal desire, or both, just a matter of different proportions.
Seeing his painful and conflicted expression, a soft pang of guilt rose in Wu Chenghe’s heart. He didn’t know if it was the mark working again or if he was just naturally saintly. He had planned to be firm and put an end to any potential accidents, but now seeing Jin Xuan so miserable and distressed, he felt he had gone too far, too sharp-tongued.
“I just… I just like you too much,” Jin Xuan rubbed his face and said, “I’m sorry, you let me mark you to save me, and I’ve let you down. I won’t touch you again until you agree, I swear.” After a pause, he added, “I mean, when you really want it, not out of submission.”
Wu Chenghe looked at him without saying a word. After a while, Jin Xuan asked softly, “Do you still want to believe in me?”
He had lost a lot of weight, his cheekbones were protruding, making his eyes look particularly large and pitiful. Wu Chenghe’s saintly aura was ringing like a bell, his heart softening like he had a big lion kneading on him. He nodded.
Jin Xuan breathed a sigh of relief, his hand on his chest, and asked, “Does that mean I still have the right to pursue you?”
His words naturally had a compelling force, although his tone was not strong, the force was very subtle, but Wu Chenghe couldn’t help but nod.
The encouraged emo was back in full force, with his big lion, running to the open field to establish communication. Leaving Wu Chenghe, the saintly figure, squatting by the river, scratching his head in anguishāDamn, he was already a saint, now he had a compulsory kneel and lick aura, life was simply unbearable!
During the battle with the Free Revolutionary Army, the communication satellites near the asteroid were damaged, so Jin Xuan had no way to contact the outside world. Now that Wu Chenghe had brought an intelligent starship, he could finally use the remote communication device on the starship to connect to his personal terminal.
While Jin Xuan was busy, Wu Chenghe briefly told him about the attack, including the identity of the attackers, Hannibal’s rescue of him, and the president’s obituary for him, as well as the fans holding a memorial service for him.
Jin Xuan didn’t care much about the fans’ feelings, but he was very suspicious of the identity of the attackers. “You said the remnants of the Free Revolutionary Army attacked us? What about the people who were chasing me? Are they also from them?”
“I don’t know, I only heard that later the patrol team and the Royal Guards teamed up to wipe them out. As for whether anyone landed on the asteroid to chase you, I’m not sure,” Wu Chenghe was not familiar with the details of the battle, paused, and apologized, “Speaking of which, all this happened because of me. My father’s fleet recently wiped out many strongholds of the Free Revolutionary Army, and they held a grudge, so they wanted to kill me to vent their anger, which ended up causing harm to so many innocent people. I…”
“Stop being silly,” Jin Xuan comforted him, patting his head, “They are terrorists, no matter what banner they’re under, it doesn’t change the fact. You don’t need to carry any guilt for them.”
Wu Chenghe sighed. He had served in the UN for many years, so he knew this truth well, but knowing it was one thing, feeling uncomfortable about it was another.
“By the way, you said Commander Hannibal sent people to search for me later?” Jin Xuan asked in confusion, “But after the first group of people chasing me left, no other rescuers came here.”
Wu Chenghe also became puzzled. “Really? My father said he sent thousands of people to look for you afterward, but they didn’t find any trace of you.”
“Well, maybe I hid too well. After the pursuers left, I traveled upstream along the river for a long way, just to avoid being attacked by others,” Jin Xuan pretended to laugh it off, but his heart was already churning violently. Even though the first group of people who chased him might have been from the Free Revolutionary Army, after he jumped down, he didn’t encounter any other rescuers, not even a probe. Hannibal was either lying to Wu Chenghe, or…
A horrifying thought surfaced in his mindācould someone really want him dead? Could all of this have been planned, with Wu Chenghe just being a decoy while he was the real target of the entire terrorist operation?
Thinking back to that day on the space station, when Ivanov didn’t rescue him and left with his men, and then being chased by unidentified experts after he landed on the asteroid, with no one coming to search for him after he fell off the cliff… Maybe Hannibal actually wanted to kill him?
Why? Because of the conflict between the Voyager Army and the Federation? To strike at Jin Zhe? Or to keep him away from Wu Chenghe?
Or perhaps all three, or even deeper motives?
Jin Xuan inexplicably felt a chill down his spine. Jin Zhe had warned him earlier to respect Hannibal when he arrived on Gabriel, not to cause trouble. But he had been too overconfident, chasing after Wu Chenghe even at his home and even confessing at a farewell performance…
It really was a case of “No zuo no die, why you try”!
This Title is available for faster chapter releases through paid Patreon membership. Any proceeds go to keeping the website running. Check it out HERE.
Yummyyyyy š¤¤š¤¤š¤¤ grilled mushrooms šāš«
Hannibal is really sus char.