Chapter 8
Yin Mingzheng walked alone in the deserted desert.
This was part of the territory of the Insect race, but due to there being little more than a wasteland here it was spa.r.s.ely guarded. He tried to maintain a low profile because if he was discovered by Insects then they were sure to fight.
He only discovered that his power had increased significantly when he had tried to use it before. His control over it was more precise as well.
Yin Mingzheng’s first thought was that he had to hug Shi Qing who weighed several tonnes for the last ten or so days. He was forced to use his ability in order to do so.
He had to hug him while eating.
He had to hug him when going to the washroom.
He had to hug him while sleeping.
It was like being around a little baby that made a fuss when it wasn’t held.
But after realizing how Shi Qing spent the last 10,000 years, Yin Mingzheng had to admit that it didn’t bother him to be around this baby.
Rather, his heart ached for him.
He didn’t seem to see the three-legged low level alien with six eyes as it was vapourized before it could scream. His mind was occupied by the image of a dumbfounded youth that couldn’t find him after waking up.
Shi Qing told him that the s.p.a.ceship was constantly moving upwards. Due to the planet’s gravitational pull, the rise in alt.i.tude was very gradual. It wasn’t like the man-made contraptions that could move freely in the sky. The day before Yin Mingzheng escaped, the youth had said that they could leave Earth the next day.
It was because of those words that Yin Mingzheng changed his plans suddenly from biding his time for an opportunity to risk it all to leave the night Shi Qing learned to sleep.
He put the thought of Shi Qing sending a.s.sa.s.sins after him out of his mind.
The best method to take care of future problems was to kill Shi Qing. But he just couldn’t do it.
No matter how desperate his situation became, he was still that warm and kind hero of humanity at his core.
His bottom line was to never kill women or children. And no matter how high Shi Qing’s station was or how many subordinates he had or how strong he actually was, the past couple of days had let Yin Mingzheng confirm that he was just a child.
Just like what Shi Qing had said: He was a 10,000 year old baby.
Yin Mingzheng couldn’t sleep well the first night he left the s.p.a.ceship.
Shi Qing had been constantly sticking to him these past few days, so it felt like they had been together for decades.
Shi Qing’s method of sticking to his sweetheart like glue was very effective.
The alien youth was no longer here to rub himself on him like a little puppy.
There was also no octopus clinging to him at night.
Yin Mingzheng woke up several times to feel an emptiness in his arms, as if he had lost something.
When he heard the sounds of birds flying through the forest while he was half asleep, he even extended his arm out of habit to comfort the youth.
Of course, he woke up when his hands met nothing but air.
Yin Mingzheng never thought that he liked men. But after interfacing so many times with a clearly bent Shi Qing, the most important reproductive tool available to human men had a reaction several times. This made him unsure of his orientation.
After struggling like this until dawn, he could only sigh and continue his journey with a heavy heart.
Although his mind was preoccupied, his feet carried him forward steadily. Out of his sight, Shi Qing was observing him from his ship. He was sipping ‘fruit juice’ from a straw while piloting the ship to follow a certain distance behind Yin Mingzheng.
He was different from Yin Mingzheng who could only travel during day time and who was at the mercy of the weather. Shi Qing had everything he wanted aboard the ship, and all he had to do was comfortably lie back to follow the man.
He grew bored after a day of this. He began to bother the System: [I’m a new user and this is the first world. Shouldn’t you guys give a newbie care package or something?]
The System was hesitant: [There is something, but it’s a prize for completing the first world. You need to succeed before receiving it.]
Shi Qing knew from the tone of its voice that the System could give the prize earlier at their discretion. He smiled and put out some bait: [Do you think I can’t complete this task?]
The System looked at the animosity value of 60 and felt like it was still up in the air.
Even though an animosity value below 50 would prevent them from being ejected from the world, the value becomes harder to decrease the lower it gets.
Shi Qing seemed to be disappointed by the System’s silence: [You have so little trust in me. Did you really think that I was just playing around with a beauty the past ten days? Am I just some playboy in your heart?!]
The newbie System immediately started panicking.
[That’s not it Host, of course not! You’re definitely not that kind of person! Here, I’ll give you the reward right away!]
It gave a white jade bottle to Shi Qing.
[This is Rosemary Powder. If you spread it on someone, they’ll fall asleep no matter how powerful they are. Their body and mental state will be improved while they sleep. The duration is five hours.]
Shi Qing grabbed the bottle. His sad expression suddenly became lively. He leaned back on the chair. [Little dummy.]
[I’m exactly that kind of person.]
System: [……]
System: [Wuwuwuwuwuwu……]
[Okay, stop crying. Since I got the reward, I’ll definitely complete this task.]
Shi Qing threw the bottle up and down a couple of times.
[What can I do with this…….]
The System that was just about finished crying volunteered an idea: [The Host can use it against the Insect race. With just a bit, you can do whatever you like to them!]
[Whatever I like, huh…….]
Shi Qing spun the white jade bottle around in his hand. His silver-white eyes gradually lit up as he thought of a plan:
[You’re right, I can do whatever I want.]
The System whose opinions are rarely taken into consideration was so happy that it was like New Years to it.
It knew that it could still be useful!
***
Yin Mingzheng found out with complicated feelings that, from the second night, he was able to sleep normally but his dreams all involved the youth back on the ship.
It was like he had never left in his dreams.
The alien youth was being sticky in his arms. He was playing with his zipper like a kitten.
And when he woke up the next day, Yin Mingzheng would find that the part he worked so hard to defend on the ship had surrendered in his sleep.
One could imagine the impact this had on a man that’s never had wet dreams before.
The number of Insects in the desert decreased after nightfall. The low-level grunts focused primarily on developing their fighting power, so their brain and sight were average. They rested at night.
Yin Mingzheng had pretty good vision due to being an ability user. He found a lower area and made a makeshift bed there with his clothes.
Then he laid down traps in the surrounding area to make sure that he would be awoken if any Insects approached. Only then did he lie down. Yin Mingzheng knew that he would have that dream again tonight, so his emotions were complicated.
Not because he was resistant, but because he could sense antic.i.p.ation in his heart.
But his time was almost up. Every day that he remained in the desert added danger and uncertain variables to his life. He needed to quickly rest up and continue on the next day.
Yin Mingzheng breathing evened out, but his hands remained clenched. This seemingly soundly sleeping man was ready to kill at the slightest disturbance.
The desert wind blew over his face.
A small aircraft silently flew just above him.
Although there was no sound, Yin Mingzheng seemed to sense something and was about to open his eyes any moment now.
“Whoosh–”
Shi Qing nimbly blew the pollen in his hands downwards.
Yin Mingzheng’s furrowed brows relaxed after the pollen touched them. He continued to sleep soundly.
The System watched as Shi Qing jumped down and squirmed into the man’s arms. He shifted around until he was comfortable.
It tried to resist but couldn’t: [……Host, I don’t think this is appropriate.]
[Why not? I didn’t do anything.]
Shi Qing enjoyed his bouncy mattress. He closed his eyes and got ready to go to bed: [See? I didn’t do anything to him.]
The System had no reply.
Yes, Shi Qing wouldn’t do anything to Yin Mingzheng.
But Yin Mingzheng would ah!!
The man that was used to sleeping with Shi Qing reacted when he sensed a soft body beside him. He unconsciously drew the other person into his arms and began to run through the sequence with his eyes closed.
The System opened its storage while its vision was covered by a mosaic.
[The Dao is Dao, but not all is Dao……]
[Names are names, but not all names……]
****
After a treacherous (plenty) journey (of) spanning (meng) several (every) days (night), Yin Mingzheng finally returned to the human base.
He didn’t conceal himself and strode right up to the front gate.
Those people probably considered him as good as dead after handing him over, so they most likely have no contingencies in place.
Therefore, it was best for him to just get it over with.
As expected, once Yin Mingzheng showed his face, the people at the entrance were first stunned and then overjoyed at his return.
“General Yin is back!!! General Yin is back!!!”
“What?! General Yin’s really back?!!”
“I’m so glad General Yin is still alive.”
The festive atmosphere was like it was New Years again. Hidden in his ship, Shi Qing could see an excited woman approach and throw herself into Yin Mingzheng’s arms.
Although Yin Mingzheng avoided her, her actions were clearly deliberate and not done in the heat of the moment.
[System, who is that.]
The System performed a scan: [General Zhao’s only daughter. The general has always wanted to betroth her to Yin Mingzheng.]
It added more info out of sympathy for Shi Qing’s actions towards Yin Mingzheng these past few days: [Don’t mind her, Host. In the original book she never got her wish, so she betrayed Yin Mingzheng for the Insect race later on and was obliterated by him. She’s kind of like a middle stage BOSS that managed to live longer than most.]
[I don’t mind. Why would I mind?]
Shi Qing stared at the woman wearing white in a sea of grey from afar. [Let me guess, is she a white lotus character?]
[Yeah, she’s a white lotus……Host, what are you doing?]
Shi Qing hopped off the aircraft and managed to scratch up his clothes real nicely. He then proceeded to grab a fistful of dirt from the ground and carefully dab some on his white face.
[I’m going to be a white lotus.]
The System felt a sense of apprehension.
It cleverly took out its book of mantras in advance.
***
“Mingzheng-ge, I was so worried about you. It’s such a relief that you’re fine. I wasn’t even able to eat these past few days because I was afraid that you were suffering……”
Even though Yin Mingzheng avoided her, the woman was still crying pitifully: “You’ve become so thin…..”
She was about to point out how thin he had gotten, but when she raised her head to take a look she almost choked on her words.
For quite a while, all Yin Mingzheng had to do was sleep, eat and run through the sequence with Shi Qing. He even had Rosemary Pollen to boost his concentration in the desert. He looked even stronger than before he had left.
The woman was stunned for a moment before changing the subject, “It’s good that you’re fine. Then I don’t need to worry anymore, cough cough…….”
Her friends chimed in from beside her: “General Yin, Miaomiao has been beside herself with worry for you. She’s even been sick for a long time.”
The woman weakly shook her head, “I’m fine, I’m just……”
–”Cough cough……”
A series of quiet coughs suddenly sounded out from behind them.
Yin Mingzheng who was frowning but otherwise expressionless before stiffened and quickly spun around.
Shi Qing was standing not far from the entrance of the base. His clothes were in tatters, and his usually flawless skin was smeared with dust. His eyes were red-rimmed and looking rather wronged at him.
After seeing Yin Mingzheng glance over, the youth’s silvery eyes immediately filled with tears. His body seemed frail enough for a slight breeze to knock him down. The tears in his eyes threatened to fall at any moment.
“Mingzheng, cough cough……”
Yin Mingzheng’s mind went blank. He didn’t even consider why Shi Qing would appear here or why his appearance was so haggard. His body was already rushing forward to embrace the youth in a familiar fashion. He even took of his jacket and draped it over the youth to cover his exposed skin.
He opened his mouth and said in a voice broken up from heartache: “Shi Qing……”
Shi Qing leaned softly into his chest without even a single hint of blame. He acted just like he did on the ship, saying in a whining tone: “Where did you go? I’ve been looking all over for you.”
He snuggled in a demure and white lotus-like way deeper into the man’s chest. His voice was filled with misery: “It’s so scary here. I was in danger so many times and my clothes even tore…….”
The words sounded spoiled, but when they were said by this little prince of a youth, Yin Mingzheng could only feel guilt and heartache. He couldn’t help but tightly grasp the other person’s hands.
After Shi Qing was finished crying, he glanced at the woman who was white-faced from rage after having her opportunity taken before her eyes. He ducked his head into the man’s arms as if he was a bunny that had been frightened by her expression.
Weak, pitiful and easily scared:
“Wu……I’m so scared.”
The System that saw everything: [……]
It was such a splendid performance that it would have been fooled if it didn’t see Shi Qing play games and sleep in all day while taking advantage of a beauty at night.
Were all humans natural actors like this?