Both of them froze, staring at each other.
Bai Mo’s face flushed pink. He was aware that he was firmly holding onto the other, but he did not dare to kiss him, let alone do anything else. He could only impatiently rub his nose against the other man’s cheek and ear, begging almost without thinking, “Yu-ge, I- I’m so uncomfortable… please, can you…”
Like hell you can!
Bai Mo had been rubbing against Fu Yucheng all over, and the collar and waistband of his night clothes had been loosened. He could only focus on his scalp tingling and his face growing hotter and hotter beyond his control.
He had always been very thick-skinned, always calm and confident. He had never been in such an embarrassing situation, and at that moment he just wanted the ground to open up and swallow him.
He calmed down a little, and then, after some struggling, he realized that he couldn’t move at all. He had to speak in a low voice and coax the other softly, saying, “Little Mo, let go of me first and let me get up.”
Seeing him struggle, Bai Mo reflexively held him tighter.
Fu Yucheng didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Suddenly, he felt a biting cold on his wrists and ankles. When he tilted his head to look, he saw a thick circle of ice growing around where Bai Mo was holding his wrists, locking him in place tightly like a frozen solid pair of shackles.
He was shocked, and couldn’t help raising his voice, “Bai Mo! What are you trying to do?! Are you trying to force yourself on me?!”
“I didn’t…” The young man came back to his senses suddenly and his face turned pale. He pulled back his psionic powers in a panic. The ice disappeared in an instant, only faint traces of water left behind.
Taking advantage of his panic, Fu Yucheng shoved the other away and jumped out of the bed. He couldn’t help but feel a little annoyed. “You’re grown up now, so don’t give me that! And what about your psionic power? Ah?”
Bai Mo hurriedly defended himself. “I didn’t- I don’t know how it happened…! I- I can’t control it, I really didn’t, don’t be angry…”
" "“You didn’t? Psionic power responds to your thoughts. You know better than anyone what you were thinking about…!” Fu Yucheng paused, not having the heart to go on.
His mind was just confused, and he was annoyed, distressed and embarrassed, and he also had an inexplicably guilty conscience… he wasn’t able to sort all these complex emotions out, so he just stood still before the floor-to-ceiling window, refusing to turn his head to look at Bai Mo.
Bai Mo sat on the bed dumbfounded, his hair a mess, staring at the other’s back blankly.
After a long time, the young man said, “It’s almost morning… I’m going to take a bath, go back to sleep for a bit.”
Hearing a rustling sound behind him, Fu Yucheng couldn’t help but glance back discreetly. Bai Mo walked to the bathroom with his head hanging low, and then Fu Yucheng heard the sound of water.
Fu Yucheng stood there for a while, then slowly walked back to the bed, flopping down onto his back.
He grabbed a pillow and pressed it to his face, feeling simply humiliated.
What was that all about?
Bai Mo took a cold shower, and, when he came out, he saw Fu Yucheng lying on the bed with his limbs spread out and a pillow pressed to his face. He was muttering and tugging at his own hair.
“Bai Mo, this brat, how could1 I just… how could I… Fuck…”
Bai Mo watched in silence for a while, and his depressed mood inexplicably cleared up.
He hesitated a little, and then he said softly, “Yu-ge, it’s time for breakfast. What do you want to eat? Chinese or Western cooking? I’ll have the room service deliver it.”
Fu Yucheng paused and stopped pulling at his hair.
After a long time, he muttered, “Chinese cooking.”
Bai Mo couldn’t help but smile slightly, then made a call and asked the room service to deliver two Chinese style breakfasts.
After the call, he sat down on the side of the bed cautiously and handed Fu Yucheng a snow-white, hot towel he was holding in his hand. “Yu-ge, you can wipe your face with this.”
Fu Yucheng, running his fingers through his messy hair, sat up slowly and took the towel.
When he did, he spotted five obvious finger shaped bruises on his wrist and couldn’t help but glare at Bai Mo again.
However, at that moment, his hair was sweaty and messy and his lips were flushed, the corners of his mouth a bit split… he really didn’t look threatening.
Bai Mo’s gaze swept from the finger marks on Fu Yucheng’s wrist to the corners of his lips. He felt distressed and cursed himself, but his breathing gradually quickened.
And Fu Yucheng was still staring at him, with his eyes slightly wet.
Bai Mo looked away, unable to bear it. “You- don’t look at me like that.”
Fu Yucheng was stunned, and then came to the realization that—this kid… this kid!
Before he had time to say anything, Bai Mo spoke in a dull voice. “Yu-ge, did you… did you not recover your psionic power? You didn’t fight back earlier. I’m now an S-class special type manipulator, I’m afraid I won’t be able to hold myself back…”
" "Fu Yucheng wasn’t able to either laugh or cry. He threw the towel in his hand at him. “Okay, I know you’re really great, now go dry the towel!”
“Okay.” Bai Mo took the towel and went to the bathroom to hang it to dry.
At that point the room’s doorbell rang with a clear chime.
Fu Yucheng stood up, walked over and opened the door.
A seventeen or eighteen year old girl stood timidly outside the door, pushing a food cart.
Fu Yucheng sniffed, noticing a very alluring fragrance, and nodded to her, telling her in a pleasant tone, “Come in.”
The young girl glanced at him and suddenly blushed, quickly lowering her head and pushing the dining trolley in. She arranged the tableware and then muttered, “Sir,2 please enjoy your meal. Someone will come to collect the tableware later.”
Bai Mo had already come out by the time Fu Yucheng sent the young girl out.
The two sat down at the table next to the floor-to-ceiling windows and began to eat breakfast.
The fish porridge3 was well done. The snow white, short grain rice had been boiled until it was sticky, and there were a few thin slices of fish faintly visible and a few green onions sprinkled on top, making it look very appetizing.4
In addition to the fish porridge, there were also two small baskets of soup dumplings,5 as well as a few fruits and pastries included in the Chinese breakfast spread. Although there wasn’t a lot of variety, they were all very delicate.
Fu Yucheng had been hungry for quite a long while so, at that moment, he was completely content as he ate.
Bai Mo absentmindedly bit a soup dumpling and hesitated for a while before saying, “Yu-ge, did you really not recover your psionic power? You didn’t resist earlier…”
Fu Yucheng was silent for a moment before muttering, “Mmhm.”
Bai Mo glanced at the other man and lowered his eyes silently.
He felt a little sorry for Fu Yucheng, but, deep in his heart, he was slightly happy. Such an inexplicable, vile emotion made him utterly despise himself.
How can I be like this…? It’s too despicable.
Bai Mo was silent for a while, tangled up with his thoughts, and then he cautiously said, “Three years ago, shortly after I woke up, I went to find you at the Twilight Belt. I went to Fort Hurricane and I heard from Song Lan that Mo Ziran’s power was unstable and that he was not receiving guests. At that time, I guessed that maybe he had not been capable enough to help you regain your psionic power.”
He seemed afraid of irritating Fu Yucheng, so he comforted him. “It’s okay, we can find a way. Besides, I’m here as well.”
Fu Yucheng felt a burst of guilt and he looked down in silence.
He picked up a soup dumpling, casually switching subjects. “Little Mo, what about you? What is your psionic power like now? I know you are an S-class special type manipulator, but what are your specific abilities?”
Bai Mo said, “When I woke up in the laboratory, I was already a stable S-class manipulator. As for my specific abilities…”
He pursed his lips and picked up a small knife.
The knife in his hand quickly changed its shape, turning into a row of steel balls floating in the air, hovering like a group of fishes, before finally solidifying into a knife again, returning to Bai Mo’s hands.
“Three-state transformation,” Fu Yucheng murmured.
Bai Mo nodded. “I can transform the three states of matter at will under certain conditions. However, water is the most common, and I’m most used to it.”
Fu Yucheng nodded and sighed. “Very impressive.”
Bai Mo’s eyes lit up slightly. “Do you really think so?”
“Yeah, I swear.”6 Fu Yucheng picked up the knife and tried to cut the fruit, but found that it didn’t work well. “Little Mo, you changed the knife around and made it dull… Your skills aren’t good enough. Tsk tsk.”
Bai Mo was a little embarrassed. “Really? I’ll tell them to send another one.”
Fu Yucheng shrugged. “Forget it, it’s okay. I’ll use this.”
As he spoke, he picked up the ‘Silent Blue Moon’, the treasure of the Empire, that was on a low cabinet next to him, and peeled the apple carelessly.
The blade of the ‘Silent Blue Moon’ was as thin as paper and very sharp. After a few strokes, Fu Yucheng had peeled the apple and cut it into several pieces.
He took a bite. Seeing that Bai Mo was staring at him, he put a fork with a piece of the apple in front of the other’s mouth, saying with a full mouth, “It tastes good, sweet and crunchy.”
Bai Mo stared at the blue blade in his hand, and suddenly said, “Yu-ge, Mei Nianxue said before that this blade… this blade was the sentience weapon of the Imperial Prince, Rong Yuan—’Silent Blue Moon’. Did Mei Nianxue tell the truth?”
Fu Yucheng didn’t expect that he would ask about that so suddenly, and he couldn’t help but feel taken aback momentarily before vaguely replying, “Hm.”
“Why did Rong Yuan give you his own sentience weapon? Aren’t you, aren’t you… enemies?” Bai Mo tried to endure it, but, still unable to hold himself back, he finally asked the question that had lingered in his heart for many years to his face.
Fu Yucheng ran his fingers through his hair in anguish—he really couldn’t answer that question.
He thought for a long time before finally vaguely saying, “Well… it was as a compensation, of sorts. Back then, I promised to cooperate with the surgery but presented three conditions. The first condition was that I wanted to go to Earth. The second, to let my teacher go. The third one was that I wanted the ‘Silent Blue Moon’.”
“So he gave it to you because you wanted it?” Bai Mo stared at Fu Yucheng, obviously not convinced.
Fu Yucheng said perfunctorily. “Yeah.”
“I’ve met Rong Yuan.” Bai Mo paused slightly, his expression a little complicated. “He doesn’t seem to be the sort of person who will give away his sentience weapon as ‘compensation’ to anyone.”
Fu Yucheng nibbled at the apple. “You’ve met him? Well, of course you’ve met him. Aren’t you an Imperial Knight?”
Bai Mo stared at the other man. “I only met him once at the White Rose Palace, when I was officially declared a Dark Knight.”
Fu Yucheng said casually, “Then, what kind of person do you think he is?”
Bai Mo recalled that day, the only time he and Rong Yuan had met.
The very noble Prince Regent had stood on top of the high dais and nodded slightly towards Bai Mo, showing a perfect smile of approval. But he could feel the cold malice hidden within that smile like a poisonous needle.
Because I’m just the same.
Bai Mo pondered for a moment before whispering softly, “I think he’s a hypocrite.”
Fu Yucheng glanced at him. “You know how to read people. Indeed, Rong Yuan has an unpredictable, shrewd mind7 and can betray people ruthlessly8.”
“Then why did he give you this blade?” Bai Mo couldn’t resist asking once more.
His repeated questioning was almost aggressive, and Fu Yucheng got irritated. “Yes, he did give me the ‘Silent Blue Moon’, so what?! I’ve already told you, it was just compensation of sorts! Anyway, he used this blade…” Having said this, he suddenly paused and then asked helplessly. “Little Mo, you keep holding onto this. What is that you actually want to ask?”
Bai Mo hesitated for a long time before speaking with great difficulty. “Since someone like Rong Yuan is willing to give you such an important thing, have you ever…?”
His words were cut off half way, and he wasn’t able to finish asking the question.
The question stuck in his throat was like a poisonous snake biting at his heart, torturing Bai Mo for the last four years. But, at that moment, he suddenly didn’t want to hear the answer.
He was scared.
He was afraid that the answer was not what he wanted to hear. If- if things really had been like that, he didn’t know… he didn’t know what he would do.
He was afraid of the answer, and he was also afraid of himself.
Fu Yucheng understood what the other meant, and he didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
He sighed. “Little Mo, the matter between me and Rong Yuan is indeed very complicated and easy to misunderstand… But the relationship between us is not the kind of relationship you’re thinking of. It’s just that there are many things that I can’t tell anyone right now, not even to you. In the future, once this matter is resolved, I will definitely explain it to you properly, okay?”
Having said this, Fu Yucheng couldn’t help but freeze.
Explain? Why do I have to explain about me and Rong Yuan, that pile of old shit, to this kid? How come I feel like this kid has trapped me somehow?
Bai Mo stared at him intently, trying to read something in the other’s eyes. “Really? You really have no relationship with him? You… you wouldn’t lie to me, would you?”
What? Fu Yucheng, lying? Never.
I’m back from my trip AND the ko-fi goal was reached, so this week there’ll be an extra update of ERL in addition to this one! Thank you everyone for your support!
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