Lu Qiao remained puffed up with anger even after logging off!
That Irritable Rabbit guy had to make snide remarks whenever he saw a handsome man, and he was even more sour when it came to Yan Qiu. He probably felt uncomfortable if he didn’t take a jab at Yan Qiu every single day. Lu Qiao really couldn’t stand it!
And there were plenty of people like Irritable Rabbit online. Things like, “What’s so great about Yan Qiu?” and “He’s not that impressive, is he?” They would casually pull out some example and try to deny Yan Qiu’s abilities, getting their amusement from forcibly dragging Yan Qiu down from his pedestal—never mind all that, some of the mocking and speculation went even further!
Lu Qiao was seriously furious!
And they always thought he was exaggerating when he praised Yan Qiu. He wasn’t talking nonsense! If they pulled out all the current generals across the entire Alliance and compared them, he believed Yan Qiu would take first place. He had the ability!
As someone who regarded Yan Qiu as a rival, even Lu Qiao had to admit that Yan Qiu was truly outstanding!
No, he was absolutely outstanding!
It was precisely because his reputation was too great and he was too outstanding that he attracted jealous people! The saying “the tallest tree catches the most wind” was absolutely true!
Hmph!
Lu Qiao opened his eyes and angrily took off his headset. Suddenly, he heard a man’s voice beside him.
“What are you angry about?”
Lu Qiao was startled. He turned his head and saw the man sitting there. The lid of the holographic pod had already been opened, and he was leaning against the head of the pod. At some point, the man had changed into a sleeping robe. He was currently resting his chin on one hand, his head slightly tilted as he looked at Lu Qiao thoughtfully.
Lu Qiao’s eyes wandered for a moment before he said vaguely, “Nothing!”
He absolutely wasn’t going to tell Yan Qiu about what had happened online.
How upset would Yan Qiu be if he heard people criticizing and slandering him?
And as for how fiercely he had argued on his behalf, he was afraid Yan Qiu would find out too……
He might get proud. Cough.
Lu Qiao quietly gave himself what he considered the perfect explanation.
Yan Qiu didn’t press him either. He looked at the black-haired young man in front of him. His cheeks were flushed red, the color left over from when he had puffed them up earlier. Yan Qiu’s eyes darkened. He raised a hand and had just reached toward him when the young man suddenly spoke.
“Ah, I need to use the bathroom.”
That hand stopped in midair.
Lu Qiao felt a little awkward. See? This was exactly why being locked together with someone every moment of every day made so many things inconvenient!
He glanced at Yan Qiu somewhat embarrassedly and whispered, “C-Could you come with me……?”
The man withdrew his hand and let it hang at his side, slowly curling it into a fist.
He answered very calmly, “Mm.”
The two of them went to the bathroom. Lu Qiao directed Yan Qiu to turn around and stand back-to-back with him before relieving himself over the toilet.
When the sound of water rang out, even his ears turned red.
He didn’t know why, but when he used public bathrooms outside, he often ended up standing in a row and peeing alongside other people. He had never found that particularly embarrassing.
He quickly finished and hurriedly asked, “Do you want to go too before we go to sleep?”
“No need.” The man’s voice came from behind him.
“Oh.”
Lu Qiao was just about to turn around and switch positions with Yan Qiu when, unexpectedly, the man turned with him, keeping his back against Lu Qiao’s the entire time. As a result, Lu Qiao failed to turn around.
Lu Qiao stopped and looked confused.
“What’s wrong?”
Yan Qiu only said, “…Wash your hands first.”
……Was he disgusted by him? Of course he was going to wash his hands!
Lu Qiao muttered under his breath and obediently went to the sink to wash his hands. Throughout the entire process, Yan Qiu maintained the back-to-back position with him.
After Lu Qiao finished washing his hands, he tried to turn around again, but Yan Qiu stopped him once more.
“Wait a little longer.”
Lu Qiao immediately stopped and asked, “What’s wrong?”
Yan Qiu’s voice was slightly hoarse.
“Wait before turning around.”
Lu Qiao froze.
He asked softly, “Yan Qiu, what’s wrong with you? Are you feeling unwell?”
Yan Qiu: “…Mm.”
Lu Qiao was a little surprised. Hadn’t he been fine just now?
“Where do you feel uncomfortable? Why won’t you let me turn around?” he asked with concern.
Yan Qiu didn’t answer, but suddenly reached back and took hold of his hand.
Lu Qiao looked down.
The man was gripping his hand tightly. His five fingers were long and strong, and the pad of his thumb gently rubbed against him.
With that slight movement, Lu Qiao’s heart gave a heavy thump, and a strange feeling suddenly rose inside him.
That strange feeling made him shut his mouth at just the right moment. He quickly raised his head and stared straight ahead.
……For some reason, he felt that he shouldn’t make a sound right now.
The two of them stood back-to-back in the bathroom, completely silent, yet the atmosphere had inexplicably become subtle.
Lu Qiao stared at his own reflection in the mirror and at the man’s back. He didn’t know whether he was simply being overly sensitive, but he felt that Yan Qiu’s breathing drifting into his ears had become somewhat heavier, while the palm holding his hand was scorching hot.
A thin layer of sweat appeared on Lu Qiao’s back.
After a while, Yan Qiu finally pulled Lu Qiao, dragging him to his side.
Lu Qiao’s entire body stiffened, and he couldn’t help letting out a sigh of relief.
Holding his breath, he glanced up at Yan Qiu. The man’s expression was normal, but his eyes were so deep that Lu Qiao swallowed and didn’t dare look directly at him.
Lu Qiao lowered his head and followed the man out of the bathroom and back to bed.
The bed in Yan Qiu’s bedroom was also very large.
Previously, Lu Qiao had lived at the training center, where the single room could only accommodate one small bed. If he had even slightly bad sleeping posture, he would end up falling onto the floor every day.
Lu Qiao instinctively crawled toward the side against the wall.
The man beside him suddenly asked, “Why aren’t you saying anything?”
Lu Qiao: “……”
Could he say, You were kind of scary just now?
The corner of Lu Qiao’s mouth twitched. He stammered, “…I was just wondering if you’re feeling better.”
Yan Qiu glanced at him.
That glance made Lu Qiao feel as though he had just said something completely pointless. Clearly, Yan Qiu still wasn’t feeling very comfortable.
But as long as nothing was wrong, it was fine. If Yan Qiu really were sick, he probably wouldn’t inexplicably endure it without saying anything.
Most importantly, Lu Qiao’s instincts told him that it was better not to ask too many questions!
He lay down, pulled the blanket over himself, and thought that he should just go to sleep.
It was already close to midnight, and he really was tired.
Lu Qiao stared at the ceiling as his thoughts gradually began to drift.
A new day would arrive soon.
“What if they figure out the virus but we still can’t unlock ourselves?” he murmured.
“Being stuck together for just one night might be okay, but if we can’t separate later, it’ll definitely become more and more troublesome,” Lu Qiao said. “I really want to unlock already……”
No one knew when the virus would disappear on its own or when the rules governing the world would return to normal. The longest instance in recorded history had lasted an entire year.
If they had to remain in this state for a whole year, Lu Qiao simply couldn’t imagine it.
He turned his head toward Yan Qiu.
“If we can’t unlock, things must be even more difficult for you, right?”
Yan Qiu should have wanted to unlock as quickly as he did.
Yet Yan Qiu merely said calmly, “…I don’t mind.”
How could he possibly “not mind”!
He was the Empire’s First Marshal. Was he supposed to go to the military camp or meet the Emperor while dragging Lu Qiao along with him?
Lu Qiao didn’t believe Yan Qiu at all.
He stopped thinking about it, rolled over, and once again turned so that he was back-to-back with Yan Qiu.
“Forget it. I’m going to sleep. You should get some rest too.”
The man paused.
“Good night.”
Lu Qiao blinked and softly replied, “Good night.”
He felt the man lie down. He heard the rustling of fabric, followed by the man saying,
“Lights out.”
The lights in the bedroom went out in response.
Late at night, everything was silent.
Lu Qiao began to dream.
In the dream, he clearly knew that he was dreaming.
His consciousness separated from his body and came to the window.
The window was covered by a thin curtain, with moonlight faintly filtering through.
Lu Qiao sat by the window, staring blankly at the hazy moonlight.
……
When Lu Qiao woke up for the first time, he didn’t know what time it was. In his half-conscious state, he only felt that he was being held tightly captive, and it was so hot.
He pushed at the arm wrapped around him, but the arm didn’t move at all.
Lu Qiao was sleepy. While sleepy, he also complained that Yan Qiu was treating him like a body pillow. He couldn’t even push him away. Why was he still so strong even while asleep?
He complained and complained until he fell asleep again.
When he opened his eyes once more, he discovered that he had returned to the shower room at the training center.
He was lying on the tiled floor. In front of him was the large bright-red basin containing his clothes.
The shower room was completely quiet. He was the only one there.
Lu Qiao blinked, then abruptly sat up.
He looked around.
That was right. It was the shower room.
He had returned to the training center!
He and Yan Qiu had unlocked!!
Lu Qiao scrambled to his feet, grabbed the basin, and ran out of the shower room before setting it down.
He glanced at the time.
6:10 a.m.!
He found his terminal in his room and went online to check. Sure enough, everyone had unlocked!
The C1 Star Domain Administration still hadn’t figured out what exactly was going on with this World Virus, yet the rules governing the world had already returned to normal.
And it had only taken one night—
This had to be the fastest the virus had ever disappeared in history!
Lu Qiao was extremely excited.
But when he thought of Yan Qiu, his heart slowly settled down again.
Should I call Yan Qiu and tell him I’ve returned?
Lu Qiao pondered this.
Remembering Yan Qiu’s calm and unruffled demeanor the previous night, he abandoned the idea.
Sending Yan Qiu a message would be enough. There was no need to call him, right?
He might still be sleeping.
Besides, even though they had unlocked, this might really be nothing more than a trivial matter to Yan Qiu. That man was always so calm no matter what happened. This time, he definitely wouldn’t be as excited as Lu Qiao and everyone else.
So Lu Qiao carefully sent him a message:
“I’m back home! Thanks for taking care of me last night! It’s so great that we were able to unlock so quickly, haha!”
Far away, fifty thousand light-years away, inside the Yan family estate, Yan Qiu sat on the bed, supporting himself with one hand against the mattress as he stared fixedly at the empty space beside him.
He picked up his terminal and was just about to make a call when he suddenly saw the message on the screen.
Yan Qiu: “……”
He coldly closed the message and dialed a number.
The other party answered quickly.
It was Yan Qiu’s adjutant.
He said respectfully, “Marshal, good morning. Did you need something?”
Yan Qiu’s tone was cold.
“What exactly is the situation over at the C1 Star Domain?”
The adjutant immediately said, “I just woke up and saw the news online. I was about to contact them. Marshal, you unlocked too? That’s wonderful!”
There was a one-second silence on the phone.
Then the adjutant heard his commander slowly say,
“Find out whether the virus really disappeared on its own. If it did, find out why it disappeared after only one night this time. Find out everything and call me back immediately.”
The call ended.
The adjutant, still wearing his pajamas, stared blankly at his terminal. Only afterward did he click his tongue in realization.
Although he had already noticed the Marshal’s unusual attitude toward that black-haired young man during yesterday’s meeting, he hadn’t expected that after being unlocked, the Marshal would be……
That obviously unwilling to let go!