Amused, I fiddled with Xing Chuan"s extended arms. Suddenly, the hand that was hugging my waist clenched. The muscles on the long arm tensed and firmed up until they felt like a normal arm to the touch. A seductive splash of red gradually stretched out along his arm. His spider lily tattoo was like a living thing. I watched it start circling around his arm until it reached the wrist that was still resting on my waist.
Xing Chuan"s tattoo could change too.
Little Prince rolled over and lay against Xing Chuan"s arm. The long arm began to soften once again; it seemed like he didn"t want Little Prince to notice anything.
Glancing at them, I closed my eyes, resting my hand on Xing Chuan"s bracelet. With my fingertips resting on Xing Chuan"s wrist, I could feel the pulse under his skin and the warmth that belonged to a man.
*Flush.* The sound of running water roused me from my sleep. Slowly opening my eyes, I saw a blurred figure standing in the bright water curtain. Inky black hair fell past his shoulders, and the spider lily on his back was blooming.
My sight cleared. The lines on his back s.h.i.+fted as he raised his arms to bathe himself. The spider lily tattoo rippled bewitchingly with every movement, so enchanting that it was almost seducing you to touch it.
Is the spider lily on his back alive?
I sat up and moved towards him uncontrollably. Before I knew it, I"d walked up right behind him. Entranced, I extended my hand to touch the tattoo that was tickling my heart.
“Gasp…” He abruptly raised his face and let out a low gasp, still standing under the water curtain. His slender neck stretched taut as he arched backwards, his back muscles tensing up wherever my finger slid.
“Is this alive?” I couldn"t help but ask.
“Yes.” He took a deep breath, his voice hoa.r.s.e as the cooling water flowed down his body.
“It"s really alive!” I touched it in shock. Just then, I felt something popping up on his skin. The spider lily"s petals were flying off from his back! The huge flower petals opened up gently, spreading out across his back like blood-red wings.
“Ah!” Alarmed, I retracted my hand. Xing Chuan quickly grabbed my wrist. His superpower sure was convenient, allowing him to hold my wrist even with his back facing me. “Don"t be afraid. It won"t hurt you,” he rea.s.sured me in a hoa.r.s.e voice, before he guided my hand back to the spider lily that seemed to be floating on his back.
Softly I touched the huge flower petal. The cold petals gently swayed in my hand. It really was alive. “How can this be?” I touched the thin flower petals, unable to wrap my head around it.
“Parasite flower. Don"t you know?” He turned back, and I quickly spun around in shock. He was entirely naked!
“Talk to me after you put on clothes.” I wanted to walk away, but he suddenly pounced on my back and hugged me. “Can you let me hold you for a while?”
His wet chest had already drenched my back. Only now did I realize that I was standing in the pool as well. Whatever it was that he had on his back, I believed that it held a strong allure for humans.
“Thank you.” He let go of me really quickly. “This is the first time you didn"t dodge.”
I came back to reality and I walked out from the pool with huge steps. Little Prince happened to wake up and ran to me happily, “Eat, eat, eat paste!” Little Prince picked up things really quickly.
And… Was it my illusion? I felt that Little Prince had grown much bigger. Yet today was only the third day I"d spent with him.
“Parasite flower is a parasitic organism that lives on another living thing,” Xing Chuan explained solemnly over breakfast. The wounds on him had healed very quickly. Ever since he"d recovered his superpower, his self-recovery ability had been strengthening too.
“So it"s living on you?” I peered at his neck curiously. The spider lily had returned to his neck again.
“Yes.” Xing Chuan touched his neck. “Sixty years ago, this thing was already a trend in the fas.h.i.+on world. It can grow into anything you wish. I like spider lilies so it grew into a spider lily.”
I looked at him. “Can I touch it again?”
Xing Chuan was suddenly stunned. He stared at me and I returned his look confusedly. “Why?”
“You… This is the first time you"ve taken the initiative to touch me,” he said excitedly.
I blushed faintly and avoided meeting his eyes as I touched his neck. Unexpectedly, the flower left his neck and entangled my hand. I widened my eyes at it in surprise. “It"s on my hand!”
“Because I like you and it senses my feelings towards you. Hence, it enjoys your touch.” Xing Chuan slightly tilted his face to look at the spider lily on my hand, “It will keep me company all my life and on the day I die, it will wither to death too.”
I slowly retracted my hand. The long curving red petals gradually left my finger.
Suddenly, I felt a vibration in the air. The sensitive flying corpses immediately looked out through the water curtain, their muscles tensed in high alert. Someone was invading!
“Mm…” Little Prince was crouched on all fours on the ground, bristling as he took an offensive position. Seemed like there was still a long journey ahead before Little Prince could fully master human habits.
“It ended so soon…” Xing Chuan looked lost.
I immediately picked up Little Prince in my arms. “It must be the people who"ve come to look for us. Hurry up and go out. Otherwise, they""" fight."
“Hold on!” Xing Chuan held my arm, while I looked back at him confusedly. He met my eyes firmly. “Stay here. I will go.” Then, he ran out. When he reached the water curtain, he turned to warn me again, “Don"t go out!” Then he ran past the water curtain and disappeared.
Why didn"t he let me go out?
I glanced down at myself. Did he not want more people to know that I am a girl?
I recalled that there was a scouting robot in the backup capsule. Carrying Little Prince, I rummaged around and found the scouting robot.
“Brother, brother.” Little Prince was worried about Xing Chuan. “Brother Xing Chuan, Brother Xing Chuan.
“Don"t worry, we will see him very soon.” With a light toss into the air, the robot flew up at once. *Poof!* A b.u.t.ton-sized round plate shot out from its bottom before the robot flew out through the water curtain as well.
The round plate fell to the ground, while the flying corpse guards looked on curiously.
Then, lights shone and the scene outside was projected in front of us. A flying corpse carried Xing Chuan to the rooftop. Hanging in the sky above the roof was Silver Moon City"s huge s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p that just about covered the sky.
Flying corpses flew out from the building and surrounded the s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p, seemingly ready to attack at the command of Flying Corpse King.
Xing Chuan jumped from the air and landed before Flying Corpse King. He nodded at him, then signaled at the s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p.
The s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p ascended, withdrawing from its trespa.s.s into the flying corpse territory. As the s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p ascended, flying corpses landed in numbers, taking up every available spot of s.p.a.ce.
Small flying vehicles flew out from the s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p and slowly landed on the rooftop too. Gale and Sharjah alighted from the flying vehicle. As expected, they"d come to get us.