“Go! Find everyone who was staying with Young Master! Bring them all to me! I want to know exactly what happened!” Yuan Long slammed his hand against the table again, but in the end, he could only say this helplessly.
At this point, the most important thing was to find out exactly what had happened first, and then figure out how to rescue his son.
The guard looked as though he had just been granted a pardon. He immediately stood at attention and saluted. “Yes, sir!” Then he turned and hurried out.
After the man left, Yuan Long finally slumped back into his chair, rubbing the spot between his brows repeatedly with one hand.
With the people sent by Mu Jiu to settle them in, Chu Tian and the others soon arrived at the place that had been arranged for them.
Cai Yuanhan was quite generous with them. There were more than twenty people in their group, and he immediately gave them two large villas. Both were detached houses with their own yards, each three and a half stories tall, standing right next to each other.
There was even limited water and electricity available here. In the post-apocalyptic world, that was an extremely luxurious arrangement.
Everyone was delighted with the accommodation. Originally, they had assumed they would simply be crammed into some residential building or something similar.
The entire area consisted of identical villas. It was kept extremely clean, and there was even a large gate at the outermost entrance guarded by soldiers. It looked very secure.
The peace and comfort of this villa district stood in stark contrast to the area outside it.
J City itself was not nearly as stable and prosperous as everyone had imagined.
Along the way, they saw that the shops lining the streets had long since disappeared. In their place were dilapidated storefronts packed with people in ragged clothing, using them as temporary homes.
Most of the people they saw were crouched in corners, their faces numb and devoid of hope.
There were hardly any people walking around the streets. Most were either crouching or standing around street corners, and young women made up the majority of them. They looked relatively clean, clearly living much better than the women outside the city.
Soldiers patrolled the city from time to time. Whenever they encountered people fighting, the soldiers would immediately arrest them, and sometimes even open fire.
Thus, this villa district was obviously where the current elite of J City lived.
Sure enough, no matter the era, there were always people of power and privilege.
After bringing them to the location, the guide handed over the keys and everyone’s access passes. He then dutifully went over several important precautions in detail before saluting Chu Tian and leaving.
As soon as the man was gone, Chu Tian immediately called Old Wu and Zuo Li over.
He briefly explained how the rooms and supplies would be distributed, then sent the two of them off to settle everyone’s living arrangements and take care of the miscellaneous matters.
As for himself, he first found a room and settled Xiao Ziran, who was still unconscious, inside. He then entrusted Ouyang Jing with the important task of temporarily protecting the doctor.
Only after that did he bring Quan Xiaoyu, Bai Mingxi, and Li Nan into the room, intending to hold a small meeting with the four of them.
“Is there anything wrong with the doctor?” Bai Mingxi was the first to ask.
Chu Tian glanced at him, probably not expecting Bai Mingxi to be the one to raise the question first, but he still answered, “Lu Zhongxia and Xiao Nan both examined him and said there’s nothing wrong. Still, even exhaustion shouldn’t have left him this exhausted. Something feels a little off. We need to keep an eye on him over the next couple of days.”
Bai Mingxi nodded and didn’t ask anything else.
Chu Tian then got straight to the point and explained the main reason he had called the three of them together.
“The first thing is the water problem Xiaoyu mentioned to me. The four of us have actually been drinking the water from Xiaoyu’s space the whole way here. I don’t need to explain its effects—you all know them. Whether it’s replenishing stamina or restoring our abilities, the effects are quite significant. As for whether it actually helps improve abilities, we don’t have a definite conclusion yet. But in any case, it certainly doesn’t hurt.”
“So Xiaoyu plans to replace everyone’s drinking water with the water from his space. But his space cannot be exposed. This secret is limited to the four of us. Absolutely no fifth person can know about it!”
Bai Mingxi and Li Nan both nodded solemnly.
“Right now, most of everyone’s drinking water is supplied by Zhao Bufan. It’s honestly becoming too much for one person to handle. I asked around, and this base provides the villa district with fifteen minutes of drinking water every day. So every household now has a water-storage system. We’ll make use of that. Every day, Xiao Nan will bring Xiaoyu along under the pretext of purifying the drinking water and replace all the water. We’ll make everyone believe it’s purified drinking water supplied by the base. It will also reduce Zhao Bufan’s workload.”
Li Nan’s eyes widened, and he nodded seriously. This was the first official mission he had ever been given.
Chu Tian looked at Quan Xiaoyu again. Quan Xiaoyu nodded as well. Changing the water was easy. All he had to do was collect the base’s water into his space, then replace it with the water from his space.
“Good. That’s the first matter settled. Let’s talk about the second.” Chu Tian paused before continuing. “As for Xiaoyu’s space, I want to see if I can enter it.”
Quan Xiaoyu’s eyes widened. Chu Tian had never mentioned this plan to him beforehand.
“I suspect it might be possible. There are two reasons for doing this. First, if I can get inside, I can carefully study that miraculous place. I have a feeling there are still many secrets waiting for us to uncover.”
As he said this, Chu Tian glanced at Quan Xiaoyu with a faint smile.
Quan Xiaoyu instantly felt as though his intelligence had suffered a devastating blow.
Wasn’t Chu Tian basically saying that he knew far too little about his own space, and that with his level of intelligence, he probably wasn’t going to discover anything else, so Chu Tian had decided to go in and investigate it himself?
He was practically on the verge of tears.
“Second, if we encounter a major danger in the future, having the space means we’ll have a place to retreat to,” Chu Tian continued.
“But what if it doesn’t work? What if I forcefully bring you inside and something happens to you?” Quan Xiaoyu asked anxiously.
This had always been his greatest concern. He was so worried about it that he hadn’t dared let anyone try.
Chu Tian shook his head and analyzed the situation. “Actually, judging from everything you’ve described about the space, the probability of anything going wrong is extremely low. There’s no need to worry excessively. Besides, sooner or later, we’re going to have to try it.”
“But…” Quan Xiaoyu was still somewhat conflicted.
“How about letting me try?” Li Nan raised his hand and looked at the adults.
Bai Mingxi smacked him on the head in exasperation. “Kids shouldn’t speak! It’s not your turn! Tiantian is right. Tiantian is the most suitable person to go.”
He said it with such righteous conviction that Chu Tian was actually amused into laughter.
“Bai Mingxi, why don’t you go yourself? Look at you showing off!” As he spoke, he casually grabbed the pillow from the bed and threw it straight into Bai Mingxi’s face.
“Get out! Keep an eye on Xiao Nan and guard the door for us. Don’t let anyone come in.”
“Got it.” Bai Mingxi made a childish face at him before taking Li Nan by the hand and walking out.
When he reached the doorway, however, he suddenly turned back.
“If someone asks what you’re doing in here, what should I tell them?”
His expression was mischievous as he asked.
“We’re in here doing what adults do,” Chu Tian answered with complete seriousness and absolute confidence.
Bai Mingxi immediately gave him a thumbs-up, then turned around, walked out, and locked the door.
Only Quan Xiaoyu felt the temperature in the surrounding air suddenly rise several degrees.
Now, there were only the two of them.
Ever since they had confirmed their relationship, the two of them had been on the road the whole time, basically always surrounded by everyone else. At most, they would sometimes be in the same vehicle, but there were still people around them inside and outside the vehicle.
This was the first time they had been alone together in an enclosed space like this.
Quan Xiaoyu had originally thought Chu Tian had just been joking and bantering with Bai Mingxi.
Who could have known that the moment Bai Mingxi left and the door closed, Chu Tian would pounce on him like a hungry wolf and pin him down on the bed.
Quan Xiaoyu’s eyes widened. Before he could even react, Chu Tian’s lips covered his, and the kiss was as passionate and domineering as before.
Before long, the room was filled with the intimate sounds of their lips meeting.
“You… didn’t you say… the space?” Chu Tian finally released his lips, allowing him a chance to speak between breaths.
Chu Tian’s hand had already slipped beneath his clothes. His lips had also moved to Quan Xiaoyu’s ear, and he deliberately extended his tongue to lightly lick his earlobe.
Quan Xiaoyu sucked in a sharp breath, instantly feeling an uncontrollable shudder run through his body.
“The space can wait. It’s not going anywhere. Do you know how long I’ve wanted to do this?” Chu Tian said wickedly.
Quan Xiaoyu was already accustomed to how Chu Tian seemed to become a completely different person whenever they were alone.
“Xiaoyu, do you like me?” Chu Tian asked with narrowed eyes.
“I do.”
Quan Xiaoyu answered immediately. For one thing, it was the truth. For another, Chu Tian looked extremely dangerous right now, and he didn’t dare give any other answer!
Chu Tian smiled in satisfaction and kissed him beside the ear again, making Quan Xiaoyu shudder once more.
Then Chu Tian gave a low chuckle.
“So that’s your sensitive spot.”
Before Quan Xiaoyu could figure out what he meant, Chu Tian began taking off his clothes.
Quan Xiaoyu immediately became flustered. He had a pretty good idea what Chu Tian wanted to do and what would happen next, but he didn’t know what he was supposed to do himself.
His hands moved about awkwardly as though he wanted to resist, but when he looked into Chu Tian’s deep eyes fixed on him, he didn’t dare.
In the end, he could only stare helplessly at Chu Tian, looking especially vulnerable and endearing.
As expected, Chu Tian immediately lost his restraint.
He reached out and pulled Quan Xiaoyu’s head into his arms, bringing his lips close to his ear and whispering, “Give yourself to me, okay?”
Quan Xiaoyu was still bewildered and didn’t manage to respond in time, but his hands instinctively wrapped around Chu Tian’s back.
Chu Tian was dissatisfied. He kissed him several more times before repeating the question from just now.
“Give yourself to me, hmm?”
Quan Xiaoyu finally understood and gave a soft “Mm.”
Only then did Chu Tian finally smile in satisfaction.
[Fade to black.]
Author’s Note: Get away, censorship crab!