Author: 易修罗 / Yi Xiu Luo

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

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Chapter 117

After enjoying the first real dinner in his life with Jing Yu, Ling Xing found some wood and prepared to make some minor renovations to the room. The noisy sounds attracted the priest, and it was only then that Ling Xing remembered he hadn’t talked to the other person before making his own decisions.

“Uh, sorry, I didn’t inform you beforehand. This is Jing Yu, and I’m thinking of taking him in to stay here for a while. Is that okay?”

The priest looked Jing Yu over. “Of course you’re welcome. But won’t you find the room too crowded?”

Jing Yu answered expressionlessly, “No.”

The priest was somewhat surprised; this wasn’t the normal attitude someone would have when meeting another person for the first time.

“Ah, don’t mind him.” Ling Xing hurriedly explained, “He’s a Lone Star—it’s not that he’s impolite.”

Even for a priest who had seen much of the world, this was surprising. “A Lone Star? Where did you find him?”

“The bishop brought him over today. He was originally planned to be sent to the military for training, but I took the liberty of keeping him first.”

“Did the military approve?”

Ling Xing shook his head. “Not yet, but I believe the bishop can persuade the marshal. I have confidence in him.”

He had just finished speaking when Jing Shi sent a communication request. The room became even more crowded with the projection of a fourth person.

“The military has agreed that you can temporarily foster the Lone Star.”

Ling Xing smiled. “I knew you could do it.”

Jing Shi glared at him, displeased. “Do you think it was easy for me to fight for your right to foster him? I had to invoke the church’s influence to contend with those warmongers to achieve this.”

“Really? Then I must thank Lord Bishop for his hard work,” Ling Xing continued with a smile.

Jing Shi became more serious. “However, the military has a condition: even if you foster him, he must join the military expedition once a year in preparation for future battle engagement.”

“Join the expedition? But he’s still a fledgling.” Ling Xing wasn’t pleased.

“I believe the military will be more cautious in this regard. It’s rare for a Lone Star to emerge; they don’t want to see him die young more than anyone else.”

Since it was a condition after the military’s concession, Ling Xing had no choice but to accept.

“I understand. Please notify me in advance of any arrangements, so I have time to prepare.”

“Prepare? What for?”

“To familiarize him with the customs and culture of our destination in advance, since he must go, we should treat it as a trip rather than a military expedition.”

Jing Shi smiled knowingly. “You’ve thought it through. I’m really relieved that he’s in your care.”

After ending the communication, the priest offered his help. “Do you need a hand?”

Ling Xing thanked him for his kindness. “I appreciate it, but it’s cramped here, and more people might mean we get in each other’s way.”

He pointed to a bed on one side. “I’m going to turn that into a bunk bed and then install a couple of bookshelves right above the desk. The two of us can handle it.”

“What do you need bookshelves for?”

Ling Xing looked towards Jing Yu, who was busy working. “Lone Stars cannot possess human emotions; they have intelligence equal to ordinary people but lack human wisdom.”

He picked up a book from the table. “Yet all human wisdom is encapsulated within these small books. I want to cultivate his reading habits, to allow him through books to understand as much as possible the rights and wrongs of human society, so that when he leaves me one day, if he encounters something he does not understand, he can seek answers in the books.”

The priest sighed. “You know, your approach now is like that of elders from other races, nurturing the young who know nothing from scratch, carefully teaching him every little thing by hand.”

“Is that so?” Ling Xing smiled lightly. “As a Tianxiu person, having such an experience is also quite an adventure.”

The room was quickly transformed, and Ling Xing prepared a pile of foreign language picture books. Such juvenile reading materials would be impossible in Tianxiu, but Jing Yu’s emotional intelligence was undoubtedly childlike. After much consideration, Ling Xing decided to start from the very basics.

He inserted language chips into their terminals. “I think these books are more suitable for you for now. I hope you don’t find them too childish.”

Jing Yu didn’t express any opinion, and Ling Xing thought this might be his greatest advantage: whatever he decided to do, he would receive complete trust from the other side.

The two sat down at the table. “I want to ask you, if you have a piece of bread and we are both nearly starving, who should eat this bread?”

“Me,” Jing Yu replied.

“In that case, I would die. I’m your companion. Would you watch me starve to death?”

“You eat,” the other said again.

Ling Xing shook his head again. “In that case, you would die. You can’t save me while ignoring your own life.”

Jing Yu’s emotional intelligence couldn’t continue to process this problem.

“The right thing to do is to give me half the bread, so both of us can survive. Then, with the time we’ve fought for, we can both look for more food.”

“The difference between humans and animals is that humans will actively share food with unrelated individuals, while animals only share with their own kind that they have a vested interest in. For example, wolves hunt in packs, lions have different social roles, but only humans will help a completely unfamiliar fellow human.”

Jing Yu seemed to understand, but not quite.

“So,” Ling Xing opened the first book they were going to read together, “our first lesson for today is about sharing…”

……

The number of books on the shelves kept increasing, and Ling Xing had to add two more shelves to the wall. Jing Yu’s knowledge also grew more and more, and although he could never have empathy like other humans, Ling Xing never forgot to emphasize his own feelings at any time, so that the other could know how others would think when he did each thing.

That day, as he was arranging the newly added books in the room, he suddenly heard a commotion coming from outside.

Startled by what he saw when he followed the noise, outside the church courtyard, Jing Yu was emotionlessly beating someone up. The person was in a sorry state, blood flowing down from his head, with another person desperately trying to pull him away.

“Stop!” Ling Xing rushed over to pull Jing Yu away. “What are you doing?!”

Jing Yu stopped when he saw him come over, and the two who were getting beaten up seemed guilty upon seeing Ling Xing and ran away cursing.

“What the hell are you doing?” Ling Xing asked Jing Yu angrily. He had never fought before this.

Jing Yu counter-asked, “Why can’t I hit him?”

“Because hitting people is wrong. It causes pain to the other person.”

“I don’t feel pain.”

“And if you hurt him, his lover and friends will be sad.”

“What does that have to do with me?”

Ling Xing was at a loss for words. The other had suddenly become like a stubborn child that was difficult to communicate with.

He dragged Jing Yu to the church, forcing him to kneel before God.

“No matter what, you did something wrong. God is angry. You must confess to him and seek his forgiveness.”

Jing Yu looked up at the god’s statue. “Why should I care if God gets angry?”

“You…”

Jing Yu turned towards him. “Are you angry?”

“I…” Ling Xing stiffened his face. “Of course, I’m also angry.”

Jing Yu looked back at the statue. “Then I guess I will confess.”

Ling Xing was puzzled; Jing Yu wasn’t usually like this.

He knelt down beside Jing Yu. “Can you tell me what exactly happened? Why did you hit him?”

“The book says you shouldn’t talk about others behind their backs. It’s not the right thing to do.”

Ling Xing remembered. Indeed, this was the story he told Jing Yu a couple of days ago.

“Did that person say something?”

“They said that the priest of this church can’t find his other half, and one day he’ll end up soulless and scattered.”

Ling Xing was shocked and speechless. No wonder those two had such guilty expressions when they saw him.

Jing Yu turned his head. “Why don’t you perform the coming-of-age ceremony?”

Ling Xing hesitated for a long time. “What they said isn’t completely incorrect…”

He closed his eyes, the bloody night flashing before them. His classmates turned crazily against each other in slaughter, daggers mercilessly stabbing into chests, continuously turning people into souls that flew away, and in the dawn, only half of those present remained. People holding weapons that had killed their kind, in tattered and blood-stained clothes, looked around bewildered, not knowing what had happened.

“I’m sorry. I was too presumptuous.” Ling Xing bowed his head. “Although I usually pretend not to care, but, but I really…”

He was trembling slightly. “I’m really terrified of the coming-of-age ceremony. No matter who the other party is, I can’t accept it.”

He turned his head. “After hiding it for so many years, you’re the first one I’ve told. Can you keep a secret for me?”

Jing Yu moved his hand over, placing it on Ling Xing’s chest. “What are you feeling right now? Are you uncomfortable?”

This was their usual method. Whenever Jing Yu had a feeling he couldn’t understand, Ling Xing would place his hand on his own chest, hoping to convey his feelings this way.

“Yes,” Ling Xing admitted. “I’m uncomfortable. If I had to hear those words myself, I would probably be very upset too. Although I’m very grateful that you stood up for me, force is not the only way to solve problems. Let’s not do it that way next time.”

He silently prayed in front of God for a moment, and Jing Yu followed suit, imitating his actions. Whether the words in his heart were prayers, no one knew.

“Alright.” Ling Xing helped him up. “What should we study today?”

On the table, a picture book was spread open in the middle. After seeing its content, Ling Xing couldn’t help but chuckle.

“Today’s book is very similar to our current situation.” He turned a page. “It talks about how the older brother always slept on the lower bunk, but since the arrival of the younger brother, the older brother had to sleep on the top bunk.”

“The older brother is unhappy. ‘Why do I have to sleep on the top bunk?'”

“Mom says, ‘Because your younger brother is small, it’s dangerous for him to sleep on top. You are the older brother. You should give in to your younger brother…'”

Evening reading time passed in a flash.

“Hmm, this book talks about the concessions between family members. Although we are different from other races and don’t have older or younger brothers, we should also give way to others, especially those who are weaker than us.”

He concluded today’s lesson and closed the book. “Alright. It’s time for us to go to sleep.”

Jing Yu silently stood up and walked to the bed, swiftly vaulting to the upper bunk with a push of his hands.

“You… Why are you going up there?” Ling Xing asked, puzzled. Since Jing Yu moved in, Ling Xing had always slept on the top.

“You said, among companions, we should give in to each other.”

Ling Xing was at a loss whether to laugh or cry. “But that’s for those who need our care. I am older than you, so logically, I should be the one giving in to you.”

“Moreover, the young of other species are physically fragile, so it’s unsafe for them to sleep on top. For us, even if we fall down, it wouldn’t be a problem.”

Jing Yu turned his back to the wall, seemingly determined in his decision.

Ling Xing, unable to do anything about it, just let it be.

Lying in Jing Yu’s bed, surrounded by his scent, Ling Xing felt something was amiss as he lay there. He suddenly scrambled up, turned on the light, and began searching frantically around the room.

Jing Yu was woken up by the commotion. “What’s wrong?”

“Oh, nothing.” Ling Xing found a sedative from the drawer and injected it into his arm.

It was his oversight, almost forgetting the monthly sedative that was due. Fortunately, having lived alone in his fledgling status for many years, he was well-prepared for such necessities.

“It’s nothing. You go back to sleep,” Ling Xing reassured Jing Yu, mentally calculating that given the average awakening period of ten years, Jing Yu would at least not awaken for another eight years, so there was no immediate worry. Holding onto this thought, Ling Xing climbed back into Jing Yu’s bed and drifted off to sleep in a daze.

……

The military’s deployment order came swiftly. Likely because it was Ling Xing’s first time, they chose the closest place, Wolf Star.

Inside their shared room, Ling Xing was introducing the local customs and culture of the neighboring planet to Jing Yu.

“Wolf Star operates under a tribal system. The largest tribe has a population of over a million, while the smallest has only a few hundred. The combined government is formed by the largest eleven tribes. A tribe is only officially recognized as a legitimate nation after being acknowledged by the combined government. There are over a thousand small tribes on Wolf Star that have not been officially recognized…”

After introducing the overview of Wolf Star, Ling Xing said seriously, “Jing Yu, I want you to do something for me. Once you get to Wolf Star, choose a few types of local plant seeds to bring back. I think the plants in the church courtyard are too monotonous, and I’d like to diversify the flower species. Can you do that?”

“Why don’t you come with me?”

“Because I am a fledgling. The soul traction makes it very difficult for me to leave this planet. Although you are also a fledgling, the soul traction doesn’t apply to you, so you can travel further than anyone else. This is a unique advantage you have that I envy.”

“Understood,” Jing Yu replied. “I will bring back the seeds.”

During the days Jing Yu was away, Ling Xing cleared a new flowerbed in the front courtyard, and every day, people passing by the church would see the priest loosening the soil.

“Are you planning to become a gardener, Priest Ling?” someone joked.

“Yes,” Ling Xing replied with a smile. “Soon my child will bring back seeds you’ve never seen before, and this place will be transformed into an interstellar botanical garden.”

“Your child? You’re still a fledgling yourself,” the other person replied while laughing.

Ling Xing would smile and not reply. He indeed had a “child”, but that was something only those who had lived with Jing Yu would understand.

Like a parent yearning for their child, Ling Xing prayed every day and waited at the church entrance until Jing Yu returned, travel-worn, half a month later. Ling Xing was the first to greet him.

“You’re finally back. Did everything go smoothly?”

Jing Yu nodded and then pulled several bags of seeds from his chest pocket. “Here’s what you asked for.”

Ling Xing gratefully accepted them. “You really didn’t forget. Let’s plant them together.”

He focused on burying the seeds in the ground, not quite catching what Jing Yu said behind him.

“This time on Wolf Star, I accidentally participated in a Wolf King selection competition and won.”

Ling Xing, while watering, asked, “Hmm? What did you say?”

Jing Yu was about to repeat himself but then remembered that as a fledgling, Ling Xing couldn’t travel that far. He’d wait until he was older to tell him and take him to see his own tribe. Maybe by then, his tribe would have been recognized by the coalition government and become a real nation.

“It’s nothing.”

Ling Xing didn’t ask further. As days passed, the seeds quickly sprouted.

“Look, the seeds we planted have sprouted,” Ling Xing said, pulling Jing Yu to see. There was indeed a different feeling to seeing life emerge from one’s own hands.

“I can somewhat understand what parents of other species feel when they see their infants born. Don’t you think?”

Seeing Jing Yu’s bewildered expression, Ling Xing remembered that he was, in fact, a Lone Star. Having lived together for so long, Jing Yu was becoming more and more like a normal person in front of him, and even he almost forgot the other’s lack of empathy.

“Look, Wolf Star is so far from here, but the seeds from there have come to Tianxiu and are still growing vigorously.”

“Whether it’s humans, animals, or plants, all have the desire to survive. Species other than the Tianxiu people are also living very hard. Being powerful is not our reason to invade other races. I know that your future will surely be arranged by the military, to cruelly take the lives of others. But please remember, on other planets, there’s not only resources and slaughter but also such eager lives breaking through the soil towards the sun. No matter where you go, please do not overlook their existence.”

Ling Xing stood up and admired the results of his work all around. “Can you draw?” he asked.

“No.”

“What a pity. I can’t either,” Ling Xing lamented. “It would be great if one of us could draw. I’d like to record the growth of these plants. If we could produce a hand-drawn encyclopedia, that would be a wonderful idea.”

Jing Yu seemed to ponder deeply, eyes downcast.

A few nights later, Ling Xing was woken up by the sound of rustling. Rubbing his eyes, he saw the lamp on the desk was lit, and Jing Yu was sitting there with his back to him, writing something unknown.

“What are you doing?” Ling Xing asked, sleepy-eyed, as he climbed out of bed and walked over to the desk.

“Did I wake you?” Jing Yu inquired.

Ling Xing didn’t hear his question. His attention was entirely captured by the papers on the desk. “What’s this…?”

He picked it up to find that it was filled with quick sketches of various plants. The drawings were initially quite naive, but as they progressed, they became more sophisticated, to the point where the distinctive features of the plants were easily recognizable.

“Have you been drawing these every night?” Ling Xing’s sleepiness vanished completely. He was amazed that his casual remark had been taken so to heart by Jing Yu.

“Aren’t you planning to create a hand-drawn encyclopedia?” Jing Yu said, as if it were the most ordinary thing in the world. “Once I learn how to sketch, I can draw, and you can write. Then, we can fulfill your wish.”

Fulfill your wish…

For a Lone Star lacking empathy, the step from fulfilling your command to fulfilling your wish was a huge leap, and only Ling Xing, who had painstakingly taught him everything step by step, knew the true significance of this progress.

He had to cover his mouth involuntarily to hide the sourness in his nose.

“What’s wrong?” Jing Yu asked, not understanding.

“Nothing.” Ling Xing suddenly realized that in front of this person, he didn’t need to hide his emotions. “Nothing at all.”

He repeated it twice and couldn’t help but hug Jing Yu from above.

“I’m very happy, really.”

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