Chapter 27
Ye Xuan’s legs were so weak he could barely stand. Just as he was about to fall to the ground, Nan Yunzhou rushed to his side and supported him.
“I was wrong, Ye Xuan.”
The sudden apology left Ye Xuan confused.
Nan Yunzhou lowered his head. His slightly long hair covered his eyes, his lips were pressed tightly together, and the hand gripping Ye Xuan’s arm kept tightening.
Ye Xuan frowned uncomfortably and reached out to lift Nan Yunzhou’s chin. Nan Yunzhou dodged his hand and turned his head to the side. Ye Xuan moved closer and saw the glimmer of moisture at the corners of his eyes.
“You cried?” Ye Xuan touched the corner of his eye in astonishment and confusion. The dampness on his fingertip clearly told him that Nan Yunzhou had cried.
Why was he crying?
He had been the one who made the request. Nan Yunzhou did not need to take responsibility for his safety. On the contrary, he should be thanking Nan Yunzhou. It was precisely because of the explosion just now that he had awakened his space teleportation ability three times.
In that instant, his speed had become unbelievably fast. He was no longer restrained by the objects around him. Nothing could limit him. He had locked onto that tree and teleported behind it, like a ghost moving freely in and out. Even Nan Yunzhou had not noticed and thought he had died in the explosion.
But so what if he had died? The one who died would only have been a reserve team member. Besides, he had voluntarily asked Nan Yunzhou to accompany him in such dangerous training. All the team members present were witnesses. The punishment handed down by the base definitely would not have been too serious.
So what was he crying for?
He did not believe that in less than a week of knowing each other, Nan Yunzhou’s feelings for him had grown that deep.
Not to mention, Nan Yunzhou was still the person sent by the base to monitor him.
“You…”
Nan Yunzhou sniffed and said gloomily, “I’ll take you to the hospital.”
“No. Not the hospital. Take me back to the dorm.”
Nan Yunzhou anxiously lifted his head, but when he met Ye Xuan’s gaze, he lowered it again.
“But your face is really pale right now. And for an ability user like you, who has used your ability for the first time, you have to go to the hospital for testing and have a report generated and filed.”
Ye Xuan covered Nan Yunzhou’s mouth and lowered his voice. “Keep the fact that I became an ability user under wraps for now. Tomorrow, I’ll go to the hospital for testing myself. I have another plan.”
Nan Yunzhou blinked and nodded.
“Then now, take me back to the dorm.”
Ye Xuan looked sideways, his peripheral vision sweeping over the surveillance camera in the corner of the training field. His goal was not to hide it from the base. As long as he was inside the base, everything he did was exposed.
The reason he said this to Nan Yunzhou was because he hoped the base would not interfere with his decision and ruin his plan.
Nan Yunzhou placed Ye Xuan’s arm over his shoulder and supported him as they left the training field.
When everyone saw them come out, they exchanged looks, not daring to breathe too loudly.
After the two had moved farther away, someone began whispering.
“With such a huge commotion, did he still fail?”
“I think Ye Xuan is just mud that can’t be helped onto the wall.”
“Shh, keep your voice down. Do you want to get beaten up by Nan Yunzhou?”
“Could it be that Nan Yunzhou felt Ye Xuan couldn’t handle it, so he didn’t release the ability to the very end?”
“That’s possible too. Tsk, then Ye Xuan really cares more about face than his life. He deliberately had Nan Yunzhou use such a powerful ability move just to show off.”
“What a pity. He didn’t get to show off, and even made himself look like that. Next, he won’t be able to train anymore. He can only go mine ore.”
The gloating voices gradually faded into the distance. Ye Xuan simply pretended he had not heard them.
“Want me to teach them a lesson for you?”
Ye Xuan said, “No need. Just a mob.”
Nan Yunzhou helped Ye Xuan to the dormitory door, then asked him again, “You really don’t need to go to the hospital?”
Ye Xuan shook his head. “No need. Just now, I consumed too much mental energy and lost strength all at once. I’ve already recovered a little now.”
Seeing that Ye Xuan’s complexion was indeed much better than before, Nan Yunzhou felt slightly relieved.
“Alright. Rest well. I’ll go first.”
Nan Yunzhou turned and was about to leave.
If it were before, Ye Xuan thought, Nan Yunzhou would definitely have hugged his shoulder and shamelessly said he wanted to go in and take a look.
“Nan Yunzhou,” Ye Xuan called after him.
Nan Yunzhou stopped and looked back. The lingering glow of dusk fell across his face and into his pale-blue eyes, shattering there like a rippling lake stirred by the wind.
“Thank you.”
The wind grew stronger, and the lake rippled even more fiercely. But after Nan Yunzhou clenched his right fist, it was smoothed over, quickly becoming calm again.
Nan Yunzhou smiled and waved at Ye Xuan. “No need to thank me. It’s what I should do.”
He turned and left, stepping across the floor dyed orange-red by the dusk, disappearing at the end.
Ye Xuan stood in the empty corridor for a while before walking into the dorm.
He leaned against the sofa and felt very tired. This time, it was not emotional exhaustion, but genuine physical fatigue.
After narrowly escaping death, without the effect of adrenaline, his strength seemed to have been drained away instantly. Only reason remained, controlling this shell of a body.
Quan Guanxi had not suffered this much when he became an ability user.
Ye Xuan closed his eyes and thought about it.
Then he reached a conclusion.
Quan Guanxi’s ability was trash compared to his.
An ability that could only be used for a short period of time—what kind of good ability could that be?
It was not as good as his.
Besides, there were two kinds of R Virus in his body, so it was definitely a little more difficult for him than for others.
After giving himself a reasonable explanation, Ye Xuan fell asleep on the sofa.
When he woke up again, it was already three in the morning.
He was hungry. So hungry he was about to go crazy.
Ye Xuan stumbled into the kitchen, tore open a packet of crispy instant noodles, and stuffed them into his mouth. After devouring three packets in a row, he finally felt alive again.
He suspected that if he had not woken up, he might very well have starved to death in his dream.
Only after adding a little more food into his stomach did that hunger completely disappear.
Ye Xuan began worrying about his future life. Food in the base was so expensive, and he was already in debt. The base could not possibly let him keep owing money without limit, and yet he could eat so much.
Worrying.
Worrying enough to kill him.
Ye Xuan opened his wristband screen and discovered he had one unread message. He tapped it open.
Xia Chenxi: How did training go today?
The previous message seemed to have been ignored by Xia Chenxi.
Ye Xuan replied.
Ye Xuan: Not bad. I’ve already become a space ability user.
Xia Chenxi’s message popped up very quickly.
Xia Chenxi: Why are you still awake at this hour?
Ye Xuan: I just woke up. Then let me ask you, why are you still awake?
After a while, Xia Chenxi’s message popped up.
Xia Chenxi: The mission just ended. We’re still wrapping things up. I’ll be back at the base tonight.
Ye Xuan: Okay. Be careful.
Then he felt it was too perfunctory, so he copied Nan Yunzhou and sent an emoticon.
Ye Xuan: [emoticon]
“Hey, Xia Chenxi, what are you laughing at? Laughing like that at three in the morning gives people goosebumps.”
The teammate beside Xia Chenxi hugged his arms and rubbed at his goosebumps through his combat uniform.
The helmet blocked Xia Chenxi’s face, so he could not see Xia Chenxi’s expression. He had no idea that under the helmet, the corners of Xia Chenxi’s mouth had lifted and could not be pressed down no matter what.
Xia Chenxi turned off the screen, making the teammate who wanted to peek at his screen come up empty.
The teammate steadied himself and rested a hand on his chin. “Xia Chenxi, this slow-reacting block of ice… autumn has arrived, and he’s starting to melt.”
