Chapter 71

Chapter 71: Kissing Cures Everything

It doesn’t hurt anymore.

After swallowing that thing, his sore throat miraculously vanished!

"...Shit." Lin Jianyuan smacked his lips in disbelief, swallowed a few more times, and blurted out, "Kissing you really does cure everything, huh?"

His roommate burst out laughing.

Lin Jianyuan pulled his roommate closer. "Give me a few more."

Roommate: "Does it still hurt?"

Lin Jianyuan: "Nope. I just want to kiss you."

His roommate's lips curled into a smile, and those warm lips pressed against him.

Lin Jianyuan wrapped his arms around his roommate. The two of them tangled together on the soft, sprawling bed, kissing and holding each other close.

They kissed until the world faded away, lost in each other.

After a long while, they finally had their fill.

Lin Jianyuan licked his lips, which now felt a little swollen.

That definitely wasn’t from the kissing.

It had to be the cold!

Kissing is good.

Colds are the worst!

Kissing his roommate might cure a sore throat, but it did nothing for a headache.

According to his roommate, he only had accelerated healing powers.

Mystery solved.

What Lin Jianyuan had just swallowed was Recovery X.

"What's Recovery X?" his roommate asked, puzzled.

Lin Jianyuan fought back a grin. "Nothing, nothing... Mm, I really do feel better. Babe, you're amazing. So what exactly did you feed me?"

He was genuinely curious.

His roommate leaned in, kissed him, and said softly,

"It's my mark."

……

Once his throat stopped hurting, Lin Jianyuan felt a hundred times better.

He cuddled his roommate, bare legs rubbing together under the covers.

"This bed is amazing."

Lin Jianyuan hugged his warm, soft roommate like his own personal body pillow. "No wonder this is a luxury hotel. The bed is perfect, the blanket is perfect, the pillows are perfect, and especially these sheets..."

He had no idea what the sheets were made of—smooth, soft, and just a little cool to the touch.

Lin Jianyuan couldn’t help but rub his bare legs back and forth, wriggling around under the covers.

The sheets glided over his bare skin, sending a strange, delicious shiver through him.

Lin Jianyuan let out a long, contented sigh, hugging his roommate with his eyes closed. "I need to ask the hotel if I can buy a set of these sheets to take home... God, this feels so good..."

Xie Yu had only healed his inflamed, swollen throat.

He couldn’t cure the cold itself.

Because he didn’t know where to kiss for that.

So Lin Jianyuan soon drifted off again.

This time, he slept soundly, breathing deep and even.

Whenever he turned over, his thigh would unconsciously brush against the sheets.

The sensation was so pleasant that even in his sleep, Lin Jianyuan’s lips curled up in a faint smile.

He let out a soft, happy sigh.

Xie Yu: "..."

He wanted to rip the sheets off the bed.

He didn’t know why.

He just really wanted to tear those sheets off!

By the way, what exactly is a cold?

Why did Lin Jianyuan turn into a squashed lemon?

Xie Yu curled one intestine around Lin Jianyuan, and stretched another out from under the covers to grab his phone.

He opened up the all-knowing Xiaohongshu app.

A few minutes later.

Xie Yu was seething with rage, nearly smashing his phone.

What! So a cold was actually bacteria and viruses invading his human?!

The nerve!!!

How dare they!!!

Xie Yu was fuming, about to leap up, but half his digestive system was yanked back—

His human was still clinging tightly to his little duodenum, unwilling to let go.

Xie Yu: "~"

His heart softened for a second.

He bent down, tucked the blanket in around his human.

He started to leave.

But turned back.

Bent down, kissed his human’s forehead.

Started to leave for real.

But turned back again.

Bent down, leaned in.

He left his mark on his human’s forehead, throat, collarbone, chest...

He left his imprint everywhere.

Left traces of himself behind.

...This couldn’t go on.

If he kept kissing like this, there’d be no end to it!

Xie Yu used his intestine to pull his mouth away from his human’s abs, puffing with frustration.

He finally forced himself to leave.

The next second, at the Bureau.

Deep in the inverted spire, in the S-class cell.

The space was so dark it seemed bottomless. In that darkness, metallic whispers echoed endlessly.

"I knew it, I shouldn’t have... I shouldn’t have been so stupid and not run, but that was Xie Yu, how could I possibly escape... No, no, if I’d moved a little faster, if I’d acted sooner, I wouldn’t have been caught, it’s all my fault, I’m too weak, I wasted all my time on regret... I shouldn’t be like this, I really shouldn’t..."

Bang!

A heavy blow!

The whole cell shook. A crushing pressure surged from the blood-red shadows!

"...!!!" Remorse jolted, then collapsed, covering his face. "God, I shouldn’t have said its name, now it’s here, what do I do, I need to start over, maybe if I don’t mention it, it won’t come, no, I have to..."

"Remorse. Hand over your mark."

A cold voice, heavy with open menace.

"Or I’ll kill you."

The next day.

Lin Jianyuan woke to the roar of a thunderstorm.

Boom—

Thunder crashed.

The sky was so dark that, groggy from sleep, Lin Jianyuan couldn’t tell if it was morning or evening.

Wait, what time is it?!

Lin Jianyuan reached for his phone on instinct. One look, and his eyes flew wide.

It was already one in the afternoon!

Crap, today’s plans—

He was about to get up, but suddenly realized his roommate was curled up in his arms.

A warm, soft bundle—honestly, not that small by size.

But he always thought of his roommate as small and cute.

It just made him want to protect him.

Lin Jianyuan sniffed and caught a whiff of insect repellent.

At that moment—boom—

Thunder and rain pounded the windows.

Lin Jianyuan hugged his roommate and looked out.

Rain poured down the mountains, fat drops drumming against the floor-to-ceiling windows.

The wind howled. Tree branches whipped wildly, but the trunks stayed rooted deep in the earth.

Just like the two of them, huddled together in this storm-tossed room—chaos outside, but calm and steady inside.

...Forget it.

With wind and rain like this, today’s plans were canceled.

Staying in bed together all day sounded perfect.

Lin Jianyuan bent down and kissed his roommate’s throat.

The scent of insect repellent hit his nose again, and for a second he was back in that summer after the college entrance exams, carefree and full of hope for the future...

—Wait?!

Carefree, my ass!

Insect repellent, my ass!

That wasn’t insect repellent, it was a stimulant!

Lin Jianyuan’s heart clenched. He shook his roommate awake. "Babe, babe? Why do you smell like that stimulant again? Did someone come looking for trouble?!"

"...Mmm..." His roommate mumbled, refusing to budge from his chest.

He was limp and warm, like a snake that should be hibernating but had been toasted cozy by the fire.

Lin Jianyuan finally managed to rouse him, and his roommate yawned a huge, lazy yawn.

Then pointed at the nightstand.

"No one came," his roommate said. "I went to the Containment Department to get you a mark."

Lin Jianyuan stared. "A mark?!"

Lin Jianyuan picked up the bronze pendant from the nightstand.

The bronze pendant was, well, bronze.

One look, and he knew what it was.

A wave of warmth filled Lin Jianyuan’s chest. He couldn’t help but say, "Babe..."

His roommate leaned in, fastened it around his neck, pressed close, and said gently, "This is Remorse’s mark. With it, a cold can never touch you ag—mmph!"

Clang!

The moment the pendant clicked shut, a metallic crash exploded in front of Lin Jianyuan!

His roommate was flung away with a loud thump!

Roommate: "?"

Lin Jianyuan: "???"

"Babe!" Lin Jianyuan scrambled over on all fours. "Babe, what happened—"

His roommate got up and tried to climb back onto the bed.

His right colon just brushed the edge—

Clang!

It was like two bronze bells smashing together!

Then, smack!

His roommate’s whole digestive system was launched across the room!

"Babe!" Lin Jianyuan shouted, then cursed, "Shit, it must be this stu—"

He yanked the pendant off, about to call it a stupid piece of shit, but then remembered it was a gift from his roommate.

He couldn’t call it a piece of shit!

Lin Jianyuan quickly changed course: "It’s gotta be that bastard Remorse messing with us!!!"

His roommate slowly crawled up from the floor.

"Wait right there." His roommate’s mouth twitched, voice full of murder.

"Give me a minute. I’ll go... I’m going back to kill him right now."

They say, that whole day—

The deepest part of the inverted spire rang with the sound of metal being smashed to pieces, again and again.

And with Remorse’s desperate, endless muttering:

"It wasn’t me, I swear, it really wasn’t me, my mark just works like that, can’t you be reasonable, no, no, no, I shouldn’t say that, if I say that Xie Yu will get even angrier... Ah! Ah! I know I was wrong! I’m sorry! I shouldn’t have said that! I’m sorry, it really wasn’t me... Ah! Ah! Ah!!!"

……

Lin Jianyuan spent the whole afternoon studying it.

He figured out how the pendant worked:

The bronze tag below was the mark, and the cord was actually part of the circuit too.

Like a wire.

Or a circuit.

If you just kept it nearby, it was nothing but a decorative tag, totally useless.

But once you snapped it around your neck, the circuit closed.

Then you could use Remorse’s power to repel anything that tried to approach.

Lin Jianyuan ran a few tests and found that it only bounced away things trying to get close—anything already on you was fine.

Lin Jianyuan started to think.

Inspiration struck.

He slapped his thigh!

This is why I make a living off creativity!

After the rain, the sun came out bright and clear.

Lin Jianyuan went up to the roof, stood at the edge, and took a deep breath.

Jump!

The weightlessness grew stronger. Just in case, Lin Jianyuan snapped the bronze circuit closed the instant he leaped.

Click.

Lin Jianyuan was instantly bounced away from the ground!

Yes!

Lin Jianyuan whooped with delight. He’d guessed right!

Even the ground you were falling toward counted as “approaching”!

So you’d be bounced away!

Which meant...

Wait!

Before he could finish the thought, Lin Jianyuan realized something—

After being bounced, he’d lost all control and was now hurtling straight toward a big tree!

"Ahhh! Babe! Babe, save me! Babe!!!"

Lin Jianyuan flailed and screamed as he flew through the air.

"Mm!"

Countless intestines wrapped gently around him, weaving a soft, tight net to catch him.

Lin Jianyuan staggered up, dizzy and unsteady, when his wrist was suddenly caught.

The pink digestive system gave a gentle tug, and Lin Jianyuan tumbled into a warm, soft embrace.

His roommate’s slender intestines slipped between his fingers, toying with the bronze tag.

"You react fast."

His roommate said, "Good thing you undid the clasp, or I wouldn’t have been able to catch you."

Lin Jianyuan’s reflexes were top-notch.

The instant he lost control and flew at the tree, his first instinct was to call for help, the second was to break the bronze circuit and turn off Remorse’s effect.

If he hadn’t, Xie Yu wouldn’t have been able to get near.

And he’d have been bounced off the tree, maybe knocked out or even broken a bone.

"This thing is amazing!" Lin Jianyuan scooped him up, excited. "Babe, I have a great idea!"

Xie Yu paused, then caught on immediately.

Ten minutes later.

At a secluded mountain lake.

"Woohoo!"

Lin Jianyuan dropped straight down from over ten meters up, snapped the circuit shut just before hitting the water!

Click!

The water’s force bounced him right back up!

Lin Jianyuan shot straight back into the sky!

Flying over the water was the best feeling ever!

Xie Yu: "..."

Xie Yu couldn’t help but laugh. "This was your great idea?"

"Yeah! Babe, want to try? It’s awesome! Woohoo!" Lin Jianyuan was soaked, grinning like a kid, his eyes sparkling like sunlight on the lake.

Xie Yu said, "I thought you were going to use it for fighting."

Lin Jianyuan was, after all, human.

No matter how strong his mind was, he was still human. Fragile.

Yesterday, after Xie Yu left, Lin Jianyuan had run into Remorse alone. Luckily, Remorse wasn’t aggressive—otherwise, it could have ended badly.

Even now, Xie Yu was uneasy.

That was why he’d rushed back to the Bureau and beaten Remorse senseless all afternoon.

Partly to extort the mark.

But also to vent something darker.

So strange.

He was an Aberrant.

Those thick, suffocating, hateful negative emotions—those used to be his food.

But now, the food was affecting him.

He was starting to act like a human, ruled by emotion, doing things he never would have done before.

So strange.

Lin Jianyuan was soaked to the skin, hair dripping.

He snuggled up, wrapped his arms around his roommate, and laced their fingers together.

The bronze tag pressed between their palms.

"Babe! Come play with me! It’s amazing!"

Lin Jianyuan laughed out loud and added,

"Gunpowder wasn’t invented just for war, right? Some people use it for fireworks!"

Roommate: "...?"

Gunpowder? Fireworks?

He didn’t get it.

But.

"Okay." Xie Yu turned, winding himself around his human.

Their hands stayed tightly clasped.

Let’s play!

Play together!

That’s what a vacation is for!

All that other stuff—Xie Yu had learned a word from Lin Jianyuan that fit perfectly here.

All that other shit—fuck it!!!

Let’s play!