Lu Qiao also noticed the caller ID. He swallowed and nervously glanced at Yan Qiu.
Yan Qiu looked at him but said nothing. Instead, he slowly raised his hand and somewhat stiffly answered the call.
He was not wearing an earpiece, so the call was played aloud.
It was the butler’s ecstatic voice.
“Master, Old Master is awake! Old Master has woken up! He just woke up! We—we’ve already called a doctor to examine him, but no matter how we look at it, his brain waves are normal. Old Master is completely lucid and has already spoken with us. He even asked where you and Madam went! Hahahaha! Old Master really woke up!!”
The butler was so excited that his words became incoherent.
Meanwhile, as Yan Qiu listened, he stared fixedly at Lu Qiao, as though he had completely frozen.
Lu Qiao felt somewhat restless… He hadn’t done anything wrong, had he? But was it not inappropriate to touch Old Marshal Yan’s consciousness body without Yan Qiu’s permission?
At the time in his dream, his Consciousness Clan gene had just broken through, so his thoughts were actually somewhat hazy. The very first moment he realized that he had gained the ability to repair consciousness bodies, he instinctively pieced Old Marshal Yan’s consciousness body back together. By the time he came to his senses, he had already finished putting it together.
Yan Qiu spoke, his voice hoarse. “Where is Father now?”
The butler took a deep breath and said, “Old Master couldn’t sit still and said he wanted to take a walk in the garden. I—I’ll go find Old Master in the garden for you!”
“No need. As long as Father is awake, that’s enough,” Yan Qiu said slowly. “Have the doctor call me after the examination. I’ll return as soon as possible.”
“Yes, Master!”
Yan Qiu gave the butler a few more instructions. After the call ended, Lu Qiao cautiously said, “Yan Qiu…”
The man suddenly stretched out his arms and, without saying a word, pulled him tightly into his embrace.
Lu Qiao fell silent.
The man’s arms were wrapped tightly around him, and his scorching breath brushed against the side of Lu Qiao’s ear. Lu Qiao could even feel that Yan Qiu was somewhat out of control, his lips seemingly brushing against his ear several times, as though… as though he was—
Lu Qiao’s entire body turned red. He gently pushed at Yan Qiu, but could not push him away.
He heard Yan Qiu call his name hoarsely and felt his own body growing hot.
“Lu Qiao, how did you do it?” Yan Qiu asked in a low, hoarse voice.
“When I passed out, my consciousness left my body.” Lu Qiao told Yan Qiu everything about how his consciousness had exploded after drifting away from his body, and how he had pieced Old Marshal Yan’s consciousness body together, without holding anything back.
It did not take long to explain.
Afterward, Yan Qiu released Lu Qiao, but their foreheads were almost touching. The two were extremely close, their breathing somewhat disordered, mingling with each other.
Lu Qiao looked at Yan Qiu helplessly, while Yan Qiu gazed back at him with burning eyes.
That look made Lu Qiao’s heart race.
“You once said that you dreamed of the room where my father was, right?”
“Yes. At that time, I really thought I was only dreaming. I didn’t expect it to be related to consciousness power.”
Regarding all of Lu Qiao’s unusual manifestations that differed from those of ordinary consciousness manipulators, Yan Qiu did not show the slightest trace of suspicion. He simply watched Lu Qiao and said hoarsely, “Thank you, Lu Qiao.”
With those words from Yan Qiu, Lu Qiao also breathed a sigh of relief.
“I-I was afraid you’d be unhappy that I touched your father’s consciousness body without permission…”
“Because of Cheng Yi, I do indeed care very much about the existence of consciousness manipulators. But you’re different.” Yan Qiu lowered his eyes, his gaze sweeping over Lu Qiao’s lips before lifting again to meet his eyes. His voice became even hoarser. “I trust you.”
Lu Qiao’s eyes widened slightly.
“I never intended to arrange a consciousness manipulator in my military corps before, but from now on, you must stay by my side.” Yan Qiu spoke word by word. “Lu Qiao, I will only allow you alone to enter my consciousness.”
Allowing a consciousness manipulator to enter one’s consciousness required the deepest trust in the world.
And Yan Qiu was giving this trust to him alone?
Those words were simply too beautiful. Lu Qiao’s heart seemed to float.
He instinctively said, “Aren’t you afraid that I’ll become like Cheng Yi—”
Yan Qiu curved his lips and asked him, “Would you hurt me?”
Lu Qiao trembled.
His heart, which had been floating in midair, slowly descended with Yan Qiu’s words and settled firmly again. His gaze also became resolute.
He tightly held Yan Qiu’s hand and said, “I won’t.”
I will never hurt you.
As soon as the words fell, Yan Qiu pulled him tightly into his arms again.
Lu Qiao paused, then simply reached out and hugged Yan Qiu back, patting his back.
Ah, happy.
Yan Qiu looked so happy, so he was happy too.
He had always thought that if only he could help Yan Qiu and Old Marshal Yan somehow, it would be good.
He had never expected that one day he would actually be able to do it!
“Yan Qiu,” Lu Qiao said softly, “do you want to go back and see your father first?”
“You’re coming back with me.” Yan Qiu whispered beside his ear.
“I—” Lu Qiao froze for a moment, suddenly remembering what had happened earlier, and his mood sank. “I have to stay here for another two days.”
Yan Qiu frowned slightly.
Lu Qiao pushed him away and asked, “How is Song Yue?”
“Nothing serious. He only suffered some minor injuries.”
“What about the others?”
Yan Qiu had explained things very briefly earlier and had not mentioned how much impact those six patients who had awakened and gone berserk had caused.
But Lu Qiao estimated that the situation would not be good. After all, he knew most of the people living in District Three. Faced with consciousness power released to such an extreme degree, they were simply powerless to resist.
Sure enough, Yan Qiu paused before saying, “Quite a few people had their consciousness bodies shattered.”
“Then I’ll leave after repairing their consciousness bodies,” Lu Qiao said firmly. “By then, Uncle Gavin should have been found too. I still want to meet him.”
“Lu Qiao, you just learned how to use consciousness power. If your strength is unstable, excessive consumption will cause unpredictable damage to your body.” Yan Qiu clearly did not approve.
“Then I’ll repair one and rest for a while. At worst, I’ll just spend more time.” Lu Qiao looked at Yan Qiu, his voice soft. “That’s why I can’t leave so quickly. You should go back first.”
Yan Qiu was about to speak when another call came in.
He glanced at it, got up, and went to the outer hall.
After a while, he returned and said, “Luo Ye is preparing to come over.”
“Why is he coming?” Lu Qiao asked in surprise.
“The Emperor knows that my father has awakened, so of course he’ll know too. He guessed that I might know the reason my father awakened, so he called me.” Yan Qiu sat down beside the bed again and said gently, “You can stay here and heal everyone who was injured, but you still need to undergo an examination before doing so. Don’t recklessly squander your strength. Luo Ye is bringing someone with him. His name is Ye Lan. He is currently the most powerful consciousness manipulator. He’ll examine you, and while he’s here… he may also want to learn how you repair consciousness bodies.”
Hearing this, Lu Qiao nodded very readily.
“Okay.”
However, was he currently the only person who could repair consciousness bodies?
Besides being able to repair consciousness bodies, his consciousness power operated silently. Although it was powerful, sometimes this kind of unique strength was not necessarily a good thing.
Lu Qiao hesitated before voicing his concerns.
The man merely reached out and smoothed his hair.
“With me here, trust me.”
Lu Qiao froze.
His feelings were somewhat strange, but he immediately felt reassured.
“Also, I just contacted Father. I’ll leave tomorrow.” Yan Qiu rubbed Lu Qiao’s head.
He still intended to accompany him until tomorrow?
Lu Qiao met the man’s eyes and smiled happily.
It was noon.
Lu Qiao underwent a simple physical examination by the doctor Yan Qiu had brought with him. After confirming that there were no problems, he ate some lunch.
During this time, he noticed that Big and Little Bryan had been standing in the corner, staring at him hopefully, yet not daring to approach, looking as though they wanted to say something but could not bring themselves to.
While wondering what these two were doing, he heard the man beside him say, “Don’t pay attention to them.”
Lu Qiao obediently turned his head back.
A bird happened to fly past outside the window.
Lu Qiao thought of something and began whispering to Yan Qiu.
Yan Qiu glanced at him, then gestured to his adjutant. When the adjutant came over, he gave him a couple of instructions.
After the meal, Lu Qiao went into the room to change clothes and then left with Yan Qiu.
Standing beneath the sunlight, Lu Qiao, dressed in the special clothing of the Featherwing Clan, stretched lazily.
He had to admit that with the eruption of his secondary genes, he felt as though his entire body had been reborn.
The changes were not limited to his Consciousness Clan gene.
There were other changes too—
Lu Qiao calmed his mind and looked at Yan Qiu.
Yan Qiu nodded at him.
Lu Qiao took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and tried to activate the first-level gene within his body.
Under the sunlight, two enormous pure-white wings unfolded from the young man’s back.
There was not the slightest trace of blood, nor the slightest hesitation.
The process of spreading his wings was smooth and graceful. Beneath the sunlight, the wings even seemed to be adorned with brilliant golden light, like the wings possessed by a true angel descending from heaven to the mortal world.
Lu Qiao opened his eyes.
Facing the brilliant sunlight, his eyes grew moist with emotion.
He had done it—
His genes had stabilized—
His wings, his entire body, were now completely under his own control!
After enduring two years, struggling for two years, he had finally waited for this day!
Lu Qiao excitedly turned his head.
“Yan Qiu, look—”
Then he discovered that the man was standing to the side, watching him, his eyes extremely deep.
Lu Qiao was startled and stammered, “W-What’s wrong?”
Yan Qiu was silent for a moment before saying, “Beautiful.”
Lu Qiao’s face reddened. He muttered, “I’m a man. You should say I’m handsome!”
But Yan Qiu seemed not to have heard him. His gaze slowly traveled over the pair of wings behind Lu Qiao.
That look…
Lu Qiao’s wings began trembling.
Lu Qiao: “…”
They hadn’t even been touched by Yan Qiu yet. They were already trembling just from being looked at a few times???
Hadn’t these stupid wings already evolved? Why had they seemed to regress when it came to this? Why had they become even more sensitive?!
Stay calm!
He shouted this inwardly.
Instantly, his wings settled down.
Lu Qiao breathed a sigh of relief.
Seeing that Yan Qiu was still staring at his wings without stopping, he moved closer and joked, “Are you mesmerized?”
Yan Qiu’s gaze returned to Lu Qiao’s face.
There was no trace of teasing in it. The man answered in a low, gentle voice.
“Mm.”
Lu Qiao immediately composed himself and shyly stepped back.
What was this? He really was mesmerized?
He scratched his head, feeling somewhat embarrassed.
Seeing him like this, Yan Qiu chuckled softly and said, “Try flying. I’ll follow you.”
Lu Qiao coughed and quickly said, “Okay.”
The next second, he flapped his wings and flew up just like that.
The breeze brushed against his face.
Lu Qiao rose into the air, embracing the sunlight and blue sky, feeling indescribably exhilarated.
This was so freaking awesome!
All this time, he had clearly had wings, yet could only pretend to be a fake bird online to get his fix.
Now, he had finally become a real bird!
On the ground, Yan Qiu walked leisurely after him, gazing at the figure happily flying through the sky, a gentle smile lingering on his lips.
Meanwhile, not far away, Big and Little Bryan were at their wits’ end.
“Dad, we can’t find any opportunity to talk to Lu Qiao at all!” Little Bryan said anxiously. “Yan Qiu is watching him way too closely!”
Apart from finding an opportunity to curry favor with Lu Qiao and say a few nice words, they could no longer think of any other way to save themselves!
Big Bryan was also anxious at this moment, with no idea what would await him after today.
Just then, a cold voice sounded from nearby.
“You two, come with me.”
The father and son turned around.
It was Yan Qiu’s adjutant.
Big Bryan’s heart gave a loud thump.
He had a feeling that he would not even make it to tomorrow.
He was completely finished.