After Gong Xiangyi and Lin Wenbo were gone, Song Haoran slowly loosened his arms around the child and scolded him gently. He cautiously opened his mouth. "Gong Xiangyi is sick. You stay far away from her. Do you understand?

  "Hn, I know." Gong Lixin nodded twice. He also felt that Gong Xiangyi’s actions were quite inexplicable.

  "Hey," Song Haoran touched his soft hair and sighed, "I didn’t expect my Lixin to be a peerless martial arts master." Lin Wenbo had told him about the child just now.

  "It’s fortunate Lixin has the ability to protect himself." As the words fell, Song Haoran surprised himself for a while. He buried his head deeply in Gong Lixin’s neck, smelling the refreshing scent that made him feel so at ease. As if that wasn’t enough to appease his spirits from the stress of these past two days, he looked up again and dropped countless kisses on Gong Lixin’s forehead and cheeks. The skin under his lips was warm and soft, smooth and silky, which made him not want to stop.

  Gong Lixin looked up and touched the other’s lips. He looked at Song Haoran and looked at his face with distress. "Big Brother Song, how was your lip hurt? A layer of sores has formed."

  Song Haoran didn’t care about his wound. "I got some sores on my mouth a few days ago. It’s nothing. The sores are already healing."

  "Such big sores are caused by extreme stress when the heart is extremely burdened. Big Brother Song must have been very worried about me." His brows wrinkled up tightly and he stuck out his small fingertips, gently touching Song Haoran’s lips. A pair of clear eyes were filled with distress and care for him.

  The place where the lips were touched felt like it was on fire. Upon seeing the cute child’s eyes on him, Song Haoran’s heartbeat gradually accelerated and it quickly became uncomfortable. He moved his body and joked, "You now know I was worried about you, you still have some conscience."

  The child heard his words and his brows wrinkled even further, his expression scrunched up, unable to tell the child that he still looked adorable.

  Song Haoran looked straight ahead and laughed, patting the child to comfort him. "Okay, don’t run around in the future, tell us when you go out." When the words were uttered, he couldn’t help but laugh again, saying: "I didn’t expect that the ’internal force’ you mentioned before was actually true. Then the pills you made were also real?"

  "Hn, it’s real. I’ve brought them." Gong Lixin eyes lit up. He immediately broke away from Song Haoran’s arms and took out five large bottles from his mountaineering bag.

  "This is yours. There are five hundred pills in it. One lasts half a month. It’s enough so that you won’t need to eat for a couple of years. These are Dad’s, Grandpa Lin’s, Big Brother Lin’s, and mine." Gong Lixin pointed them out one by one.

  "How come there’s none for Gong Xiangyi?" Song Haoran knew that the child was not a stingy person and thought it was a bit strange.

  "I didn’t refine any for her. She had a space so these pills are useless to her. Plus, she hates me, and I don’t want to provoke her." Gong Lixin replied honestly.

  "All this time you knew she had a space?" Song Haoran focused on the words coming out of the child’s mouth.

  "I know. I overheard you." To Song Haoran, Gong Lixin naturally tells him everything.

  "Eavesdropping on our conversation and still run out on the day of the apocalypse?" Song Haoran jumped at that piece of news.

  "I only listened in twice. You didn’t talk about the time when the apocalypse would start those two times." Gong Lixin had big eyes, his face looking extremely innocent.

  Song Haoran hugged the child and rubbed his head. He hated that he was too severe and said: "Since you were eavesdropping, it is of course necessary to eavesdrop all the way! In the future, you must know everything first. Don’t just get half the information, remember!"

  "I remember." Gong Lixin answered meekly, eyes misty and pale red as a confused expression was reflected on his face.

  Song Haoran looked at his pitiful image and couldn’t help but find it lovable. He couldn’t help but bow down and kiss him, then laid with him, sighing in satisfaction. The feeling of having him back in his arms was too good to be true which made him afraid of letting go of Gong Lixin’s hand.

  When the back of his head hit a hard object, Gong Lixin remembered the nucleus that he was hiding under his pillow. He quickly pulled Song Haoran up and took the crystal nucleus out before handing it over to him.

  "Big Brother Song, this is for you to absorb." He looked up and smiled at Song Haoran.

  "Crystal nucleus? From that little devil zombie?" Song Haoran’s pupils shrank as he picked up the nucleus and placed it under the light to take a closer look.

  "Hn, Big Brother Song, you should absorb it soon." Gong Lixin’s small hand wrapped Song Haoran’s hand around the nucleus to urge him on as his eyes showed a curious expression.

  "Why don’t you absorb it yourself?" Song Haoran squeezed the white palm and smiled softly.

  "I don’t have an ability, it’s useless for me. You can absorb it instead. I’ll find more crystal nuclei for you in the future." Gong Lixin said as if it was a given.

  Song Haoran’s chest felt full and his mouth couldn’t stop from curving up. Pressing down the joy in his heart, he joked: "Why don’t you give some to Big Brother Lin, he’s also an ability user."

  "Oh, I forgot." Gong Lixin felt embarrassed and added: "I’ll give them to Big Brother Lin and Big Brother He too."

  Hearing there was also a share for He Jin, Song Haoran was very surprised and felt awkward. He was a person who the child had met two days ago, but the child seemed to trust him a lot. However, it wasn’t uncommon to form strong bonds when facing hardship together. It was easier for people to develop special feelings in those situations and those feelings are often unbreakable.

  Thinking this, Song Haoran’s heart felt extremely troubled and he even became more disgusted with what Gong Xiangyi did. Fortunately for him, his importance in Lixin’s mind was still the highest. Without his reminder, Lixin almost forgot about them. Song Haoran thought about this and felt a little comforted.

  Seeing Gong Lixin staring at him without concealing the curiosity in his eager eyes, Song Haoran slightly smiled. He held the crystal nucleus in his hand and pushed a small amount of his ability into it, carefully exploring the inside of the nucleus.

  When his ability entered the nucleus, it was like a light bulb was lit. The phenomenon was triggered by his ability. It started emitting a soft red glow and shrouded Song Haoran. The rest of the light was like mist and flowed like water. It flowed around him, and it immersed into his body and his limbs at a speed visible to the naked eye. When all the red light disappeared and entered his body, the crystal nucleus in his palm had also evaporated like dew.

  Gong Lixin’s round cat eyes stared at it with wonder. When Song Haoran slowly opened his eyes, Gong Lixin couldn’t wait to reach out and touch the other’s body. He released a hint of internal force to detect whether he had any abnormalities.

  "What are you doing?" Song Haoran’s voice was a little hoarse. The child’s palm was soft and warm as it slid up his chest and arms, seeming to ignite a bunch of flames inside him, making his mouth feel parched.

  "Looking at what changed. Your abilities have really increased, although it’s not much but I still feel it. Big Brother Song, I’ll collect a lot of crystal nuclei for you to absorb in the future." Gong Lixin said softly as he blinked. His tone was filled with obvious fondness and kindness and felt like a feather scratching at Song Haoran’s heart.

  Song Haoran felt strange, it was as if he was on fire. He patted the child’s head and opened the quilt before pushing the child under it and then wrapping him tightly within it. He hugged the child through the quilt and softly whispered: "Alright, Big Brother Song will leave it to you. For now, you haven’t rested properly these two days, no? Close your eyes and sleep."

  Gong Lixin smiled slightly and closed his eyes with peace of mind. Being beside his most trusted and closest person, he quickly fell into a deep and sweet dream. Song Haoran got up slowly, keeping his lower abdomen as far away from the child’s body. His troubled expression also showed his annoyance, only because he didn’t know when that part in his lower body stood up quietly and tented his pants. [1]

  Fortunately, Lixin was asleep and didn’t see this distasteful sight. How did he get a physiological reaction when he touched him twice? Is it a side effect of absorbing the crystal nucleus? Song Haoran smiled bitterly. But seeing the child’s sleeping expression, it made him feel a touch of happiness and the fiery heat in his body quickly subsided. He closed the distance between them and kissed the child’s cheek before falling into a deep sleep himself. This was the first time he had fallen asleep since he had learned that the child was lost.

  ***

  Lin Wenbo took Gong Xiangyi back to his room and gave her a cup of hot drink to soothe her. After a long time, he slowly opened his mouth. "Xiangyi, why do you hate Xiaoxin? Is it because you foresaw something in the future? A bad future?"

  As he said this, he sent a sharp look in Gong Xiangyi’s way while carefully observing her eyes. He would not let any change in her expression slip past him.

  Gong Xiangyi was shocked and she stopped sipping her drink. How should she answer? What should she say? Then, if Lin Wenbo asked her what would make her hate Gong Lixin in the future, hate him so much to let him die, how should she answer? Should she tell the truth?

  No, no! Gong Xiangyi shook her head vigorously. She couldn’t let Wenbo know those unbearable things. She hoped that this world’s self would be clean and pure in Wenbo’s heart [2] and belong to him alone. So she can’t say it!

  Thinking like this, Gong Xiangyi looked up and calmly waved her hand. "I didn’t foresee the future. I was only a little confused. As you said, I saw a lot of things and I couldn’t figure out whether it was reality or a dream. I’m tired. I need to get some good rest. Also, I don’t hate Lixin. I let him leave because I was weak and I was afraid he would become a zombie but didn’t want to kill him personally, so……" She said all this and stopped there. She had to stop there or else it’ll seem like she making excuses.

  Looking at her pretentious face, Lin Wenbo’s expression darkened and he yelled. "Were you so sure that Xiaoxin would become a zombie? You know, there was still a chance that he would become an ability user. Was it that easy to give up on him? What if it was me, would you still behave like this?"

  "Of course not! You’re different from him!" Gong Xiangyi quickly retorted. [3]

  "Oh? What’s the difference between me and Xiaoxin? I am just your lover, but Xiaoxin is a relative who you’re connected to by blood. Isn’t that obvious at a glance?" Lin Wenbo’s tone held a hint of coldness, radiating from the bottom of his heart.

  Gong Xiangyi was flustered and replied incoherently: "That’s because I…… I have not experienced such a terrible thing, so I dare not face it. I would not do such a thing in the future. If it’s you, I would let you go freely before I will go down with you."

  She said as she strongly embraced Lin Wenbo’s waist and tried to bury herself in his arms.

  Lin Wenbo held her and wanted to smile but failed. Although Gong Xiangyi’s words sounded very beautiful, very affectionate, very romantic, and the most feasible with the current outlook on life and values, he didn’t know why her words still didn’t touch his heart. Compared with Gong Lixin’s cruel, but innocent vows, he actually felt that Gong Xiangyi’s words paled in comparison.

  What kind of power did she have? This was not right! He must not forget! Lin Wenbo pushed Gong Xiangyi away, heart figuratively in his hands, he suddenly jumped away and yelled coldly.

  "Wenbo, what’s wrong with you? You hate me?" Gong Xiangyi looked up and at Lin Wenbo’s expression as she asked uneasily.

  She remembered that since she came back, she had never been intimate with Wenbo. One reason was because she was busy collecting materials, and the other was because in her past life, she experienced a trauma and was now extremely repulsed with male and female interactions. In respect for her feelings, Lin Wenbo usually seldom made a gesture to go further than a simple cuddle. Over time, she got used to it.

  Right then, she was shocked that the state between them had become so dysfunctional. How could couples be less intimate than them? With this in mind, Gong Xiangyi secretly ground her teeth, one hand twitching near her chest button as the other suggestively caressed Lin Wenbo’s chest.

  "Enough Xiangyi. Go to bed and rest early. I am tired." Lin Wenbo grabbed Gong Xiangyi’s hand and pushed it away. He could feel the coldness and stiffness of Gong Xiangyi’s body and his heart was equally cold and stiff.

  "Hn, let’s rest early." Gong Xiangyi quietly sighed and quickly left after she buttoned her clothes.

  When she was gone, Lin Wenbo lay down on his bed and felt confused like he never had been before. Now that Gong Xiangyi was acting so strange, there was some lingering sorrow in his heart, and he didn’t know how to face her. He was always thinking about what she did to Xiaoxin and his heart felt like it was surrounded with thorns, and if he didn’t try to pull them out, he’d feel some pain from time to time.

  Forget it. Let it be! Tired, Lin Wenbo closed his eyes and let out a large sigh.