Lu Qiao had quite a few dreams that night.
He dreamed of leaving his hometown and coming to a first-class starfield to attend school. His grandmother had just passed away, and he had not yet gotten used to living alone before he had to start adapting to an unfamiliar environment.
Amid caution, uneasiness, and restraint, he heard a name for the first time—Yan Qiu.
He had heard that he was the son of Old Marshal Yan, attended the Royal Academy, and was an existence worshipped by all the students.
He dreamed again of the first time he met Yan Qiu. It had been at an interschool competition.
He had not yet joined his school’s competition team and could only stay in the audience, watching that handsome, tall young man from the rumors easily crush his senior with a fierce and dashing fighting style.
Aside from shock, another emotion surged through his heart—perhaps excitement, perhaps hot-blooded enthusiasm, or perhaps something even harder to describe…
After the competition ended, the students gradually dispersed. Carrying a heartbeat that was somewhat too hurried, he could not help running in front of the other person and shouting, “C-Come compete with me!”
Yan Qiu, who had been about to turn and leave, heard his voice and raised his eyes.
That cool, indifferent glance he directed at him was the first moment their lives intersected.
Naturally, Dream-Lu Qiao was completely beaten senseless by Yan Qiu. Yan Qiu did not say a single word to him. After beating him, he simply left, extremely cold and indifferent.
That appearance even made Lu Qiao feel that the fact that the other person had been willing to compete with a nobody like him was already an enormous display of patience.
What a difficult person to approach.
Yet he did not dislike him.
And from that point onward, he had a more definite goal.
He stared fixedly at that departing back and desperately studied, studied, and studied some more; trained, trained, and trained some more. He did not know what kind of magic Yan Qiu possessed, yet relying on this drive alone, he charged forward at an astonishing speed.
After his grandmother’s death, amid that indescribable loneliness, this was the first time Lu Qiao had once again grasped the feeling of being “fulfilled.”
He knew that a new stage of his life was about to begin.
He also realized that even if he no longer had any family, even if he was completely alone, he still had to continue growing.
His dream had not changed.
There was simply one more person standing before that dream—a person who shone brightly.
At five minutes before six in Universal Time, the alarm rang.
A slender arm lifted, lightly tapping the wall and turning off the alarm.
The room remained quiet. From far outside the window came the crisp sound of birdsong.
On the bed, the man glanced at the person curled up beside him who was still sleeping soundly. The latter did not know what kind of wonderful dream he was having; the corners of his lips were slightly curved, seemingly carrying a hint of a smile.
Yan Qiu rubbed his chin against the top of the other’s head, then carefully sat up and straightened his loose sleeping robe.
At exactly six, he disappeared from the bed and returned to the hospital where the teleportation had occurred the previous night.
There were still not many people in the hospital at this hour. When he appeared, the driver and hospital director were already waiting nearby.
Yan Qiu did not linger. After boarding the aircraft, he immediately left the hospital and returned to the manor.
As soon as he sat down in the aircraft, he received a message.
Lun En: “I’m back already. Before I go report in, I’m bringing Seir over to mooch a breakfast from you. [Grinning]”
Two hours later, they arrived at the manor.
Yan Qiu gave the butler who came out to greet him a few simple instructions, then glanced upstairs and asked, “Is he awake?”
“Young Master Lu hasn’t come downstairs. He should still be sleeping,” the butler said.
Yan Qiu nodded. After thinking about it, he did not return to the bedroom either. Instead, he went to the study and changed clothes.
When he returned downstairs, the guests had already arrived.
The man sitting on the sofa drinking tea was sitting there without a care in the world. His full beard was a mess, his military uniform was worn messily, and his voice was even louder than necessary.
“Wow, it’s really comfortable here! I should buy a manor too, raise some chickens and ducks, grow some crops. Just thinking about it feels great.”
The butler stood to the side and laughed awkwardly.
They did not have any of those things here…
The young man sitting beside him had delicate, handsome features and much better manners. Upon seeing Yan Qiu, he stood up and smiled, giving a slight nod.
“Good morning, Marshal.”
Yan Qiu merely nodded at him, then frowned at Lun En.
“Keep your voice down.”
“Huh?” Lun En put down his teacup, looking bewildered. “What’s wrong?”
Seir sat back down. Without making it obvious, he swept his gaze around the surroundings and smiled.
“Marshal Yan has other guests staying here too, doesn’t he?”
Although Lun En was a rough sort, his mind worked quickly enough. He immediately understood and began waggling his eyebrows suggestively.
“What, I heard you got locked too. Don’t tell me the little beauty is still sleeping?”
Yan Qiu blew gently on his tea. At those words, he raised his eyes, his gaze carrying a warning.
Lun En completely ignored it and grinned mischievously.
“You’re really precious about him, huh? He should be sleeping in your room, right? Your room is on the third floor. Even if I’m loud down here, can I really wake him up? Yan Qiu, Yan Qiu, I never thought you’d lose your head over love too!”
The butler beside them broke out in a cold sweat.
Yan Qiu put down his teacup and calmly asked, “Do you still want breakfast?”
Lun En burst out laughing while clutching his stomach.
“Eat, eat, eat! Fine, I won’t say anything. But you’re really no good, hiding the person you’ve had a crush on from us all this time!”
Yan Qiu ignored his complaints and did not refute him either.
Seir smiled throughout the entire exchange without saying anything.
Once breakfast was served, Lun En finally began discussing business.
As the commander of the Second Legion, Lun En had also been stationed at the border all this time. After the Alliance’s greatest enemy had been eliminated, the First Legion returned first, while his Second Legion began its return journey several days later.
The only difference was that the Second Legion took a somewhat different route. On their way back, they passed through the Blue-Eyed Star Nation at the border and discovered something.
“You should have seen the message I sent you the day before yesterday,” Lun En said while eating noodles. “That country has been somewhat chaotic these past few years. I didn’t expect Cheng Yi to have infiltrated it. I figured you’d want to ask more carefully about this, so I brought Seir over.”
Upon hearing this, Yan Qiu wiped his lips with a napkin and looked at Seir.
“You were the one who discovered Cheng Yi?”
Seir immediately answered, “Yes. I encountered him when I was out on the street with some people from my team. Armed forces were causing trouble in the streets at the time. I only saw that person’s profile, but I’m certain it was Cheng Yi. However, the situation was too chaotic then. By the time we managed to get away, he had already disappeared.”
Lun En looked at Yan Qiu.
“You’ve been running around outside the Alliance like a headless fly looking for him all these years. Now you have a definite target, right?”
Although they and the Blue-Eyed Star Nation were both part of the same Alliance, that did not mean they, as soldiers of the Galactic Empire, had the authority to search for someone within another star nation’s territory.
What’s more, Cheng Yi’s identity was special. Although the Empire had never explicitly disclosed certain matters related to him to the outside world, it was fundamentally impossible to keep them hidden. Those who needed to know already knew.
Even if the other star nations agreed to help them search for this wanted criminal, no one could say what they might do behind the scenes.
Therefore, the Emperor had long ago handed this matter over to Yan Qiu.
Officially, the Empire’s wanted criminal would still be searched for as usual, but the focus of the search mission had long since shifted into the shadows, with Yan Qiu in charge.
Yan Qiu lowered his eyes and gave a quiet response.
“Mm.”
Lun En wiped his mouth and leaned back in his chair lazily.
“However, I know you’ve been keeping an eye on Ye Lan’s progress. He’s currently the most powerful mental-force manipulator. Even he still can’t repair an consciousness body. Even if Cheng Yi was the ‘first person’ among mental-force manipulators to break through back then, he might not be any stronger than Ye Lan now. He might not necessarily be able to awaken your father.”
Lun En knew that if Yan Qiu could capture Cheng Yi, he would definitely try Cheng Yi’s abilities. Aside from Yan Qiu, there were also many people watching this matter.
Yan Qiu said, “I know.”
Lun En smiled.
But even if Cheng Yi did not possess such an ability, Yan Qiu would still do everything he could to find him, right?
Aside from the fact that this was a mission entrusted to him by His Majesty, it was also because that person had betrayed his father and was the culprit who had shattered his father’s consciousness body.
No matter how calm and rational Yan Qiu was, he was not a saint. There was no way he would allow Cheng Yi to roam free outside.
Just then, Seir stood up and smiled at Yan Qiu.
“Can I go see Uncle?”
Yan Qiu glanced at him and nodded.
After Seir left, Lun En leaned closer to Yan Qiu and lowered his voice.
“There’s going to be another personnel reshuffle soon. Your current adjutant is about to be promoted to general, right? So, have you chosen anyone for the new adjutant?”
Yan Qiu glanced sideways at him.
Lun En jerked his chin toward the direction Seir had left.
“You know Seir wanted to join your First Legion back then. But because of the reshuffling that year, he was assigned to the Second Legion instead. After these two years of experience, he’s gotten quite capable. He told me he’s still planning to submit an application to try for that position beside you. What do you think? You two grew up together and know each other inside out. You should work pretty well together, right?”
Upstairs, Lu Qiao had spent the entire night dreaming about Yan Qiu.
Yet when he woke up and did not see the man, he actually felt a little disappointed.
But the Yan family’s bed was really comfortable…
Lu Qiao stretched lazily and thought that he had actually slept until nine o’clock. It had been many years since he had slept like this…
Of course, on the other hand, it might have been because he had drunk alcohol the night before.
The power of being tipsy was so strong.
Unable to remember what exactly had happened after he returned home last night, only vaguely feeling that he seemed to have said some embarrassing things, Lu Qiao fell into deep thought.
After thinking for a while, he still could not remember anything. Lu Qiao gave up and sheepishly got out of bed to wash up.
He could not find the clothes he had worn yesterday, so he simply went out in his pajamas to look for Yan Qiu.
As a result, when he reached the first floor, he discovered that the Yan family had guests and immediately stopped, feeling somewhat awkward.
However, Yan Qiu, who was sitting at the dining table, had already turned around and seen him.
Lun En had his back to the stairs and knew nothing. After saying a whole lot, he was currently waiting for Yan Qiu’s answer.
Yet in the next second, the man spoke.
“I’ve already chosen my adjutant.”
Lun En froze.
He had only asked casually, never expecting that Yan Qiu really already had someone in mind. He opened his mouth to continue, but then saw Yan Qiu stand up.
His gaze followed Yan Qiu’s movement, and he saw a handsome young man in pajamas standing sleepily beside the stairs, a hint of awkwardness on his face, seemingly unsure whether he should come over.
Yan Qiu was always cold toward others and was not particularly gentle by nature.
Yet Lun En had known Yan Qiu for five years, and this was the first time he had ever seen him walk over and speak softly to someone in front of him.
After hearing what Yan Qiu said, the originally awkward young man suddenly jolted awake. He rubbed his eyes right there, widened them, and looked toward Lun En.
And then—
He shoved Yan Qiu aside in shock.
“Marshal Lun En! Ah, it’s really Marshal Lun En! Aaaaaah! The real person! I actually met the real person!!”
He excitedly jumped up and rushed toward Lun En like a fan who had just met his idol!
Yan Qiu: “…”
After a brief moment of astonishment, he shot Lun En a cold glare.
Lun En: “…”
Uh…
What… was going on???
Even when he was a student, Lu Qiao had several marshals he admired. Naturally, that included Old Marshal Yan’s son, and of course Lun En.
An aggressive, fierce combat style, a powerful physique, and a straightforward personality—
“I always thought that one day I absolutely had to become a marshal like you! Seriously!” Lu Qiao practically had stars in his eyes.
Yan Qiu stood to the side, coldly looking Lun En up and down.
One hundred kilograms of body weight, dark skin, messy hair and beard, an untidy appearance. At his heaviest, he had even needed two seats just to sit comfortably.
At this moment, the man was scratching his head and laughing, “Hahahaha,” completely flattered to the point of losing his bearings.
“Hey, if you want to become like me, that little body of yours is nowhere near enough!” Lun En poked Lu Qiao on the shoulder.
“Yeah!” Lu Qiao sighed deeply at the mention of this. “I tried building muscle when I was studying, but I just couldn’t bulk up at all!”
“Hahahaha, that requires the right genes too!” Lun En laughed like a flower in full bloom.
“Lu Qiao, eat your breakfast. Sit down.” Yan Qiu spoke coldly from the side.
Hearing him, Lu Qiao obediently replied, “Okay,” then sat down next to Lun En, continuing to stare at him with stars in his eyes.
“Marshal, can you give me your autograph? On my clothes!”
“Sure, sure! Where should I sign?”
Lu Qiao looked down and suddenly remembered that he was wearing the Yan family’s clothes. He immediately blinked and looked at Yan Qiu.
The man expressionlessly drank his tea, giving absolutely no response to his gaze.
Lu Qiao cautiously turned to the butler standing not far away and asked expectantly, “Uncle, where are my clothes from yesterday?”
The butler did not even need Yan Qiu to signal him. He straightened his back and answered loudly and firmly.
“They’ve already been washed, but they haven’t dried yet, Young Master Lu!”
“Ah…” Lu Qiao looked disappointed.
Suddenly, inspiration struck. He lifted his shirt and said to Lun En, “Then you can just sign directly on me—”
“Lu Qiao!”
Yan Qiu placed his teacup heavily on the dining table.
Lu Qiao and Lun En were both startled. The two immediately fell silent and stared at him nervously.
The man stared at Lu Qiao, his expression somewhat dark.
Lu Qiao and Lun En exchanged a glance.
Wow.
Was Yan Qiu angry?
He was scary!
Although Lu Qiao did not really understand why, his survival instincts still made him restrain himself somewhat. He sheepishly lowered his shirt, glanced at Yan Qiu once, then again.
Yan Qiu said in a low, heavy voice, “Eat.”
“Oh…” Lu Qiao did not dare say anything else and obediently dug into his breakfast like a good child.
Lun En looked at the two of them and secretly laughed.
Amazing, absolutely amazing.
He had actually lived long enough to see Yan Qiu, that cold-faced freak, get jealous.
Today had truly opened his eyes.
Just then, the sound of a door closing came from nearby.
Lu Qiao followed the sound and met Seir’s gaze. Both of them paused slightly.
Seir was standing outside the room at the very end of the corridor on the left. He had just closed the door, his hand still resting on the handle.
He unobtrusively swept his eyes over Lu Qiao’s pajamas and his sleep-mussed hair. After a second of silence, he smiled.
“So you’re the person who was locked with Marshal Yan, Lu Qiao.”
Hearing Seir say this, Lun En found it curious.
“Hm? You two know each other?”
Seir walked over as he spoke.
“Mm. Lu Qiao and I were in the same class. Back then, Marshal Yan and I participated in competitions as members of the Royal Academy’s competition team, while Lu Qiao was a member of another school’s competition team.”
Lun En had not expected such a story and laughed.
“Oh, so it’s a connection from your student days. But if that’s the case—”
Only then did he think of something and become puzzled.
He asked Lu Qiao, “Huh? Then you’re a military academy student who graduated two years ago, just like Seir? Are you in the military now?”
Lu Qiao froze, then tugged at the corners of his lips.
“Graduated… I did graduate two years ago, but I got sick, so I haven’t been able to enter the military yet…”
Yan Qiu added some milk to Lu Qiao’s cup and calmly said, “He’ll enter once he’s recovered.”
At those words, Lu Qiao trembled and looked toward Yan Qiu.
Seir lowered his eyes, a shadow falling before him.
Lun En suddenly thought of his earlier conversation with Yan Qiu. His gaze shifted, and the corners of his lips rose.
“So that’s how it is… All right, then I’ll wait for you to come into the military and hang out with me. Uh—Lu Qiao?”
Lu Qiao smiled again and happily nodded.
“Okay!”
Lun En grinned and turned to Yan Qiu with a meaningful look.
“So you and little Lu Qiao—”
After only these few minutes, seeing the atmosphere between Yan Qiu and Lu Qiao, he felt that things seemed different from what he had imagined.
Before he could finish his question, Yan Qiu’s glance already gave him the answer.
His eyes were opened yet again.
Truly opened!
Lun En could not help sighing once more.
Someone like Yan Qiu could actually have a one-sided crush!
Although many people online said that those who were locked together were secretly in love with each other, even if that was true, if one side had not figured out their feelings yet, things would still be quite difficult for the other side!
As an onlooker enjoying the drama, Lun En found this extremely amusing.
Lu Qiao still had to finish breakfast, but the other three had already eaten.
Lun En did not want to be a third wheel and disturb Lu Qiao and Yan Qiu, so he grabbed Seir and headed outside to bask in the sun.
At the dining table, Lu Qiao ate while secretly watching Seir outside the corridor.
Just as Seir had said, the two of them were students from the same class. Seir was Yan Qiu’s junior and had also studied at the Royal Academy.
Lu Qiao and Seir were not particularly familiar with each other and had barely interacted. He had only heard Ji Zhuyun mention that Seir’s father was a subordinate whom Old Marshal Yan valued highly.
Therefore, after Seir was born, Old Marshal Yan had been very fond of him. When he was little, he was often brought to the Yan residence to play, and at a very young age, he had become Yan Qiu’s little shadow, admiring him greatly.
He had not expected Seir to join the Second Legion after entering the military and follow Marshal Lun En.
He had thought Seir would enter the First Legion…
Lu Qiao took a large sip of milk and looked at Yan Qiu again.
Yan Qiu sat quietly beside him at the dining table, accompanying him while browsing the news.
Lu Qiao remembered what Yan Qiu had just said, and his heart felt both buoyant and touched.
Yan Qiu’s confidence in him seemed even stronger than his own.
This man was always like this. A casual sentence from him could easily give Lu Qiao strength and make him pull himself together.
Lu Qiao’s gaze lingered for a little too long.
Yan Qiu raised his eyes and met his gaze. His voice was gentle.
“What is it?”
Lu Qiao smiled and shook his head.
Yan Qiu raised an eyebrow and looked at him with a half-smile.
Lu Qiao put down his cup, licked the milk from the corner of his lips, thought for a moment, then hesitantly spoke.
“Yan Qiu.”
Yan Qiu simply turned off the news and responded.
“Mm?”
Lu Qiao looked toward the corridor on the left and hesitated.
“That last room over there… what’s inside?”
Yan Qiu froze.
Lu Qiao himself felt that the question was rather abrupt.
It was just that, when he had seen Seir enter that room earlier, he suddenly remembered the dream he had had a few days ago, and an instinct suddenly rose within him—
There really was something special inside that room.
If Seir could enter…
Could he also go take a look?
He was somewhat curious, and somewhat concerned about it.
But that inexplicable thought had only flashed through his mind.
Now, seeing Yan Qiu’s expression, he somewhat regretted asking so rashly and awkwardly said, “I was just asking casually. Sorry…”
Yan Qiu was silent for a moment.
“Why did you ask that?”
Lu Qiao steeled himself.
“I dreamed about it before…”
“A dream?” Yan Qiu frowned.
“Mm…” Lu Qiao paused, then laughed awkwardly. “If it’s something you can’t tell me, then forget it. I really was just asking casually…”
However, after he finished speaking, Yan Qiu was silent for only a second before answering.
“No.”
With that, he stood up and took Lu Qiao’s hand.
Lu Qiao followed him to his feet in a daze.
The man led him toward the corridor on the left and said, “There’s nothing I can’t tell you. I just hadn’t thought about deliberately taking you to see it before.”
Outside, in the corridor, the two people sat on rocking chairs, basking in the sunlight.
The man beside him was saying something, but Seir was not listening carefully.
He turned his head and saw the two people walking into the corridor hand in hand.
His eyes narrowed slightly.