Author: 易修罗 / Yi Xiu Luo

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

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Chapter 76

With a muffled bang, Tai Yin’s body jolted backward, and for a brief moment, everything went dark before his eyes.

When he opened his eyes again, Ying Feng had calmly discarded the gun in his hand. The moment the weapon left his grasp, it vanished into thin air.

Tai Yin clutched his chest; he could clearly feel something had penetrated his body. Yet, there was no wound, let alone any bleeding.

“What did you use on me?” Tai Yin asked with suspicion in his eyes.

“My soul shard,” Ying Feng replied with a calm demeanor. “You claim to be a genius scientist. You must understand why a Qizhu can control a Qizi. Since you’re pretending to be my Qizi, please try to be more professional about it.”

Tai Yin, however, lost his composure. “Do you realize what this means for you? A Qizi is meant to die during the coming-of-age ceremony. It’s the Qizhu who transfers their lifespan to allow the other to live. By doing this, you can only control me for a short while, but at the permanent expense of your own lifespan. Hurting your enemy at the expense of yourself, do you think it’s worth it?”

“Injuring you is already rewarding enough,” Ying Feng remarked as he halted the spaceship. Not far away, a stargate, resembling a massive blue whirlpool, spun clockwise. Passing through it would lead to another galaxy. However, if a being rather than a machine traversed it, they would be crushed and torn apart by the compressed space.

“Is this the rendezvous point? When will your contact arrive?”

Tai Yin didn’t answer. Ying Feng shot him a cold glance, causing Tai Yin, usually proud and haughty, to feel an unprecedented pressure bearing down on him. He nearly collapsed but managed to brace himself with a hand on the console. Sweat poured down, dripping audibly onto the metallic surface.

“Your contact method,” Ying Feng pressed again.

“Shield… recharge…” Tai Yin struggled to utter these words through clenched teeth. The overwhelming pressure atop his head vanished as if wings had taken it away. The abrupt change in pressure, like transitioning from the deep sea to the surface, forced him to grasp the edge of the console, gasping for breath. No matter how proud he had been before, in front of this individual who was over four hundred years younger than him, he lost all his dignity.

“You’re so adept at this; you must’ve tried it on your own Qizi,” Tai Yin remarked, attempting to open his sweat-blurred eyes. “Now I know why he doesn’t address you directly.”

Ignoring him, Ying Feng activated the shield modulator, emanating waves of cobalt blue light from the ship’s hull. Operating such high-consumption equipment in a safe zone was certainly conspicuous.

A black spaceship emerged from invisibility; its rear adorned with an emblem of an eagle with dominant eyes—a signature of Star Tower assets—the Eagle. It was their mobile space lab.

The Eagle readily opened its gates, and Ying Feng piloted the half-severed ship into the enemy’s lair.

“How does it feel to embrace death?” Tai Yin watched Ying Feng’s fearless descent, desperate to see some emotion on the young man’s stoic face—defeat, fear, separation from a loved one—just as he had inflicted upon him.

“Now, there’s nothing to support your body,” Ying Feng retorted.

Fei Jing, puzzled, approached. “Why only you? Where’s Shang Yang?”

Tai Yin stepped aside, revealing the person behind him. The two paused momentarily when they saw each other.

Fei Jing looked up at Ying Feng, who was taller than him, while Ying Feng observed Fei Jing. The two circled each other cautiously before stopping.

“Ta Yun.” A name came out from Ying Feng’s mouth.

Fei Jing’s expression shifted. Ying Feng realized the truth in the principal’s words. “You truly are the principal’s Qizhu.”

Fei Jing was surprised. “Principal? What do you mean? He’s still alive and became a principal?”

“Exactly.”

“Which school?”

“Bikong, your alma mater.”

Fei Jing scoffed. “I thought he wouldn’t survive the chaos period. Turns out he’s not only alive but also thriving.”

Ying Feng subtly observed the surroundings. “Seems like he’s doing better than you, hiding here.”

Fei Jing’s gaze darkened. “You’re as unlikeable as your Qizi.”

Ying Feng’s time to control Tai Yin was limited, and he didn’t want to waste words on him. “Where is the other person?”

Fei Jing pointed with his thumb to a glass apparatus behind him. Ying Feng naturally noticed Ling Xiao, who was lying on the ground.

“What did you do to him?” he asked, a hint of interrogation in his voice.

“He talked too much, so I made him take a nap.”

Ying Feng felt relieved. He knew Ling Xiao couldn’t help but talk too much wherever he went. A saying came to his mind: humans die for wealth, birds die for food*, and monkeys perish from talking too much. He could almost foresee Ling Xiao’s fate.

*Idiom referring to how humans would sacrifice even their lives in pursuit of wealth, just like how birds would die in pursuit for food. The last part is made up by him (I think) referring to Ling Xiao (as the monkey).

He turned to Tai Yin. “Release him.”

If you don’t want to relive the experience you just had in front of others.

The unspoken words were evident on Ying Feng’s face, and Tai Yin pretended not to notice.

“What’s going on here?” Fei Jing was filled with confusion as he saw Tai Yin following Ying Feng’s order, entering the passcode.

After entering the last digit, the transparent material imprisoning Ling Xiao vanished. Ying Feng approached and turned Ling Xiao over, revealing the dagger beneath him. Ying Feng glanced at Fei Jing, who simply shrugged.

“He threatened me with suicide. I was trying to save him,” Fei Jing explained.

Without a word, Ying Feng pocketed the dagger, picked up the unconscious Ling Xiao, and turned to leave. As he did, Fei Jing aimed his weapon at Ying Feng’s back.

“Wait.”

Ying Feng stopped.

“Can someone explain what’s happening?” he asked Tai Yin. “You were supposed to rescue someone. Not only did you fail, but you’re also letting the opponent brazenly take the hostage away. Do you think this place is a public area?”

Ying Feng calmly turned to face the gun pointed at him.

“You might have defeated the principal during the coming-of-age ceremony. I recognize your past strength. But you may not be a match for me now, and that weapon in your hand may not hit me.”

“Really?” Fei Jing casually looked around the interior of the spaceship. Following his gaze, Ying Feng noticed heavily armed individuals every few meters on the platforms surrounding them. Though their physiques appeared like fledglings, their eyes betrayed their adult identities.

“Alright,” Ying Feng said, changing his tone. “If you don’t let us go, I’ll kill him.”

“Kill who? Him?” Fei Jing glanced at Tai Yin, then back to the unarmed Ying Feng holding Ling Xiao. “How do you plan to do that?”

With his actions, Ying Feng answered. Tai Yin, seemingly out of control, slowly drew a dagger, aiming it precisely at a lethal spot on his body.

The scene before him surprised Fei Jing, until Tai Yin managed to speak, “Let… them go…”

The weapons held by the people above were simultaneously lowered. Fei Jing hesitated but finally holstered his weapon.

“Alright, you win. Take him and go.”

Though Ying Feng didn’t fully trust him, he said to Tai Yin, “Since you’re the master here, please escort our guest.”

With Tai Yin by their side, no one dared make a move. The two intruders had entered the heart of the enemy’s lair and were now leaving unscathed, to the discontent of the residents.

As they were about to disappear from Fei Jing’s sight, Ying Feng suddenly turned. “I know the incident years ago wasn’t your fault. Abandoning him was understandable. But times have changed, and so have people. He’s still waiting where you two met. Perhaps you should go back and hear what he has to say.”

With that, Ying Feng, followed by Tai Yin, and carrying Ling Xiao, returned to where their spaceship was parked.

“You’ll… regret… this…” As they were about to board, Tai Yin threatened through gritted teeth.

Ying Feng paused, looking at Ling Xiao in his arms, an idea forming in his mind. “Raise both hands.”

Like a puppet, Tai Yin’s arms were uncontrollably raised.

“Lift your right foot.”

Tai Yin was forced into a ridiculous pose, his anger seemingly enough to burn Ying Feng alive. Yet his comical position made him appear even more ridiculous.

Ying Feng’s expression wasn’t as cold as before.

“I’ll give ten years of my life for ten minutes of seeing you like this*.”

*Golden rooster standing on one leg (金鸡独立) It’s a pose made of standing on one leg normally seen in Chinese martial arts (example).

He looked down at Ling Xiao in his arms. “It’s a pity the one who loves a spectacle the most is asleep.”

Tai Yin finally saw a different expression on his face—a hint of gentleness that was hard to detect. This was the kind of revenge Ling Xiao would have chosen, and Ying Feng silently executed it in his dream. Who said the Qizhu couldn’t change? After spending so much time with a naive individual, he even adopted some juvenile traits and took actions his past self would never have imagined.

The spaceship restarted, and the Eagle reluctantly opened its hatch, letting the two intruders out with apparent disdain. Just as they were about to make a jump through the stargate, Ling Xiao groggily woke up.

“Why am I here?” he asked, rubbing his sleepy eyes. “Did you bring me out?”

‘Sure enough, this is the real Ling Xiao,’ Ying Feng thought. He wouldn’t seriously tell him “thank you” or “I’m sorry.” Even if faced with danger, to him, it was just like taking a nap. Such a Ling Xiao couldn’t possibly be imitated by a mere illusion.

Although Ling Xiao wasn’t ecstatically happy about a near-death experience, he was delighted to see Ying Feng again. He excitedly shared, “I just had a weird dream where you taught Tai Yin a lesson.”

“How did I do it?” Ying Feng feigned ignorance.

“Like this.” Ling Xiao made an exaggerated gesture, laughing uncontrollably. “Isn’t it funny?”

After finishing his laughter, he sighed. “Ah, it’s a pity it was just a dream. How could you possibly do such a thing?”

“Yes, you were dreaming,” Ying Feng responded, subtly activating the spaceship’s thruster as they sped straight into the stargate. The pitch-black clouds and distorted light formed an illuminated tunnel that seemed like a bizarre dream even when they were awake.

Unintentionally, Ying Feng’s hand brushed against Ling Xiao’s, eliciting unexpected reactions from both. Maybe it was the mesmerizing scenery around them, but the shifting lights made everything seem simpler and more genuine, making them want to express their innermost feelings.

Having traveled through time and space together, seeds of emotion that had been buried deep within them were now sprouting, ready to bloom in the sunlight.

Ling Xiao nervously swallowed, realizing at some point their hands had intertwined. Neither initiated the gesture; it just happened.

“What… what are you thinking?” he stammered.

Ying Feng remembered the instructor’s words—that touching his hand would accelerate his heartbeat and make him want to express his feelings. And indeed, the sensation was different than before.

“A certain part of my body reacted,” Ying Feng answered truthfully.

Ling Xiao’s face reddened as he understood the implication. “You pervert, thinking about such things at this moment…”

Despite his words, Ling Xiao continued to hold Ying Feng’s hand tightly, not wanting to let go even for a second. Ying Feng’s face grew closer, and as they both shut their eyes, their breaths mingled in the confined space.

The spaceship rushed through the stargate, with blinding white light replacing the darkness for a brief moment. When everything returned to normal, the two individuals maintained their previous postures, their gazes reluctantly moving away from each other’s faces. In front of them was a fleet of sniper ships, neatly arranged in two rows, their guns uniformly aimed at them, ready to fire at any moment.

Their ships had an off-putting black-gold hue, designed to mimic various insects in shape and color. Their structures were as sharp as if carved by a blade, with some of the ships’ front lights designed to resemble compound eyes and others had strange antennae. Every ship bore the emblem of a scorpion.

Anyone with a bit of common sense would recognize this as the notorious pirate insignia of the galaxy— the Poison Pirates.

A communication signal came in, and a coarse voice with a foreign accent, speaking in a clumsy Tianxiu dialect, boisterously complained, “Oh dear, that was close. If you had escaped, that mad scientist would have certainly used it as an excuse not to pay the protection fee. Oh, I almost forgot to introduce myself. I am your beloved pirate captain, Captain Sheng Xie*. If you ever encounter me in the universe.” His voice suddenly took on a sinister yet tempting tone. “Congratulations, you’re in trouble.”

*Clarity: His name means Prosperous Scorpion.

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