Author: 易修罗 / Yi Xiu Luo

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

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Chapter 121

Ling Xing got up and took down a book from a very conspicuous place on the bookshelf. After flipping through the first few pages, Ling Xiao realized that the pages at the back were glued together.

“What’s that?” he asked.

Ling Xing didn’t respond. Instead, he carefully peeled away the outermost glued page, turned it over, and to his surprise, a square hole had been cut right in the center of the book, where a peach pit-like seed was securely placed.

He took out the seed. “This is the seed of the Soul Tree. I’ve thought of a way that won’t be discovered by the military, which is to entrust it to you.”

Ling Xiao’s eyes widened at the first sight of the seed. This damn thing… It was actually the seed of the Soul Tree?!

So the thing that Ying Feng held onto, pining for someone, wasn’t the peach pit left over by Ling Xing!

Ling Xing was talking to himself, completely oblivious to Ling Xiao’s unusual expression. “However, I hope you can pass it on to Jing Yu of the future. This is something I took from him; it should rightfully be entrusted to him for safekeeping.”

“But this thing is neither his nor mine. It belongs to the country. I am entrusting it to him in the hope that one day, when the country needs it, he can hand it over.”

“It’s buried,” Ling Xiao muttered softly.

“What?” Ling Xing didn’t catch it clearly.

“No, nothing,” Ling Xiao quickly denied, and then looked out the window at the backyard with a guilty conscience. There was a peach tree there—if he wasn’t mistaken, Ying Feng had buried it there.

The only seed produced by the Soul Tree in four thousand years, they just… buried it… buried…

Wait! Since it’s a seed, it might have already sprouted during the era when Ying Feng lived.

If a Soul Tree grew in the churchyard, announcing it would surely scare a lot of people. Maybe people would think it was the power of God!

Ling Xing solemnly handed the seed to Ling Xiao. “You can help me fulfill this wish, right?”

Ling Xiao, stunned, took the seed, chuckled dryly, raised the seed to his eyes, looked at it from all sides, and sighed.

“Why can’t history be changed? Do you know how much trouble I’ve been through for this little thing?”

“Is there a problem?” Ling Xing asked, puzzled.

“Forget it.” Ling Xiao sniffled exaggeratedly. “Trying to change history is pointless. Give it up, Ling Xiao.”

He placed the peach pit—ah, no, the tree seed—in his left chest pocket solemnly. “Don’t worry, I promise I can deliver it to him in the most special way, ensuring he cherishes and protects it meticulously.”

Ling Xing was reassured. “That’s good, then.”

Footsteps came from outside. Ling Xiao was the first to hear them. “The Long Star is back. I have to go.”

“Why are you afraid of him?” Ling Xing still wanted to introduce him to Jing Yu.

“I don’t want to get beaten up!” Having seen Ying Feng after his coming-of-age ceremony, he was so intrusive that he would intervene even when someone was just talking to another person. If the Lone Star found out he had sneaked into Ling Xing’s bedroom, it would be terrible.

Ling Xiao jumped out of the window he had come through, and Ling Xing quickly tidied up the things on the bed. When Jing Yu entered the room, he only saw Ling Xing sitting back on the bed. He looked around the room, sensing that something had happened, but he couldn’t tell what.

“Did someone come by?” After all, this was a Lone Star; his animal instincts were very strong.

“No one,” Ling Xing lied with his eyes open. Although he didn’t understand the meaning of “I don’t want to get beaten up”, since Ling Xiao was experienced, he must have his reasons for saying so.

Jing Yu always took Ling Xing’s word for it; if he said no one came, then no one came.

“I’ve repaired the garden in the front yard.”

“Is that so?” Ling Xing hadn’t left his room in three days. “I’d like to see it. Help me out.”

Jing Yu stepped forward to help Ling Xing up, but Ling Xing regretted it after only a couple of steps. Going seven rounds in one night really wasn’t humanly possible; he hadn’t walked far before his legs began to tremble, and he leaned more and more on Jing Yu, to the point where it became difficult for the other to walk properly.

Eventually, Jing Yu simply picked him up. Ling Xing was startled and reflexively hooked his arms around Jing Yu’s neck to prevent himself from falling.

The garden had finally been restored to its former glory. Although many plants were missing, the soil had been tended to. It seemed Jing Yu had replanted the seeds, and in no time at all, it would be blooming brilliantly again.

He felt a reluctance to leave. “Put me down. I’d like to stay here for a while.”

Jing Yu set him down, but Ling Xing’s legs were weak, and he could only manage to sit on the steps.

“I’ll go get the lounge chair from the backyard. You can lie down in the yard.”

Ling Xing smiled. “Okay.”

Jing Yu went to the backyard, but someone entered the front yard. It was someone he had never seen before.

“Hello,” Ling Xing said, a bit embarrassed, as he greeted the newcomer. “May I help you with something? If you’re here to pray, you can go straight in from here.”

The man looked around for a moment. “Are you the priest here?”

“I am the cleric here,” Ling Xing explained. “The priest has gone to study doctrines on another planet and will be back after some time.”

The man nodded. “Then I…”

Just as Jing Yu, carrying the chair, came to the front yard and saw Ling Xing speaking with a stranger, he didn’t think twice before jumping in front of them, standing between the two.

“Jing Yu, what are you doing? That’s impolite.”

In the past, Jing Yu would have obeyed Ling Xing’s orders, but today he had no intention of moving aside.

“Go away,” he said expressionlessly to the person in front of him.

“Jing Yu!”

“Leave now,” he said again, driving the person away.

The man, although not intimidated by Jing Yu’s size, was scared off by his emotionless gaze and backed away a few steps before turning to flee. Ling Xing couldn’t understand this behavior from Jing Yu.

“What’s wrong?” he asked. “He wasn’t a bad person.”

Jing Yu turned around. “I don’t want to see you talking to him.”

He put the chair down to one side and picked up Ling Xing again, heading back.

“Hey, didn’t you bring the chair so I could sit in the yard?” Ling Xing protested.

“I don’t want to anymore.” Jing Yu kept walking. “There are too many people around.”

No matter how much Ling Xing opposed, Jing Yu insisted on carrying him back to the bedroom and closed the door, feeling relieved only then.

A thought came to Ling Xing’s mind as he recalled Ling Xiao’s words and combining them with Jing Yu’s behavior.

They had learned the most detailed health knowledge at the academy, not only about Qizis but also about Qizhus, which included the period for establishing ownership rights of the Qizhu over the Qizi.

Could it be that the Lone Star also had a period of establishing ownership rights? Ling Xing was puzzled; in Jing Yu’s concept, there was no such thing as ownership. His understanding of things was always divided into what could be moved and what couldn’t.

To teach Jing Yu the concept of mine, yours, and others, Ling Xing spent a whole month pointing out things—yours, mine, others—to help Jing Yu understand what ownership meant, but he couldn’t get him to actively develop the concept of “this thing is mine”.

To test his hypothesis, Ling Xing resumed the previous game. He pointed at the sports drink on the table and said, “Yours.”

Then pointed at a book nearby. “Mine.”

He searched the room and finally found a clock ornament left by the priest. “The priest’s.”

He continued pointing to the upper bunk, “Yours,” then to the lower bunk, “Mine,” and then pointed at himself, silent.

Jing Yu fluently continued, “Mine.”

The guess was confirmed, and Ling Xing didn’t know whether to be happy or worried. It was the first time the Lone Star had the concept of ownership, and the thing he marked as “mine” was him.

Jing Yu was waiting for his confirmation. In the past, if he guessed correctly, Ling Xing would affirm it. Otherwise, he would correct the mistake. But now this… Ling Xing was at a loss for words, and moreover, legally speaking, what he said wasn’t wrong, so he simply nodded, “Yours.”

If the Lone Star could feel happiness, then this was how Jing Yu expressed his joy. He pushed Ling Xing onto the bed, and before Ling Xing could utter a word of protest, his Qizhu’s desire was already conveyed. He had no choice but to surrender on the spot.

In this small and cozy bedroom, sounds not meant for the daylight hours began to intermittently fill the air.

……

“What? That guy isn’t dead?”

The subordinate who was sent to monitor Ling Xing reported truthfully. “After verification, Ling Xing really isn’t dead. But the two did indeed complete the coming-of-age ceremony, and these past few days, the Lone Star has been taking care of the other’s chaotic period.”

Long Yin sat down heavily, his grip on the armrest causing it to creak loudly.

An aide hesitated at his side. “The original order given to the Lone Star was to complete the coming-of-age ceremony with Ling Xing. If we look at just this point, this time he indeed…”

Long Yin glared at him. “I’ve never heard of anyone surviving the coming-of-age ceremony with a Lone Star.”

“Could it be because the two of them have lived together for a long time, and the Lone Star showed mercy?”

Long Yin waved his hand dismissively. “I don’t care whether he showed mercy or not. Even if he survived the coming-of-age ceremony, he is no longer a fledgling. He no longer has the ‘get out of death free’ card. Executing him is just a matter of saying the word.”

“We can’t be so rash,” the aide hurriedly advised. “First of all, he is now the Lone Star’s Qizi. Although we don’t know what caused the Lone Star’s abnormal behavior, the fact is that the situation has changed. According to common sense, the Lone Star has now entered the period of establishing ownership rights, and during this period, the Qizhu’s protective instincts for his Qizi are at their strongest. Trying to harm his Qizi now is basically a death wish.”

“Hmph,” Long Yin snorted contemptuously. “The period of establishing ownership rights—how long does it last?”

“It varies from person to person; as little as a week, as much as a month… it’s hard to say.”

“You want me to wait a month?” Long Yin raised his voice.

“That was just one reason. There’s another. Ordinary people develop through union, the Lone Star develops by killing his partner. Now that the Lone Star hasn’t killed his partner, it’s unclear which developmental path he has taken. If he has shifted to the ordinary developmental route, executing Ling Xing now means that the Lone Star will only maintain the appearance and abilities of his fledgling state, and he will never be able to fully exert his strength.”

Long Yin calmed down; after all, the Lone Star’s combat capabilities were important to them. He needed a fully developed Lone Star, not one in an undeveloped fledgling state.

“I know what to do now.”

Before the aide could speak up with his idea, Long Yin cut him off.

“But before that, regarding this period of establishing ownership rights you mentioned, I still want to test it out, to know how to proceed with the next step.”

……

Ling Xing touched his ear in pain, complaining somewhat discontentedly, “In those documentaries I showed you before, the reason male mammals bite the ears or the nape of their partners during mating is because some female mammals might run away. But I won’t run away, so can you please stop biting my ear? It really hurts.”

Jing Yu clearly heard what he said but turned his head away, showing no intention of complying.

Ling Xing felt frustrated. Ever since the coming-of-age ceremony, he had been increasingly “disobedient”, especially when it came to matters in bed, showing a strong inclination to establish his authority as a Qizhu. It was said that for some Qizhus, the period for establishing ownership rights could last even longer than the dangerous period for the Qizi. Ling Xing was somewhat tearful; he missed the obedient little Jing Yu from the past.

Ling Xing lay in bed for three days. On one hand, Jing Yu was watching him closely, and on the other, he was too exhausted to get out of bed. Fortunately, the supplies left by Ling Xiao were plentiful, saving him from having to gnaw on energy bars every day.

He was about to go stir crazy, but on the fourth day, taking advantage of Jing Yu’s absence, he followed Ling Xiao’s example and jumped out the window. Being outside after so long, breathing the fresh air, everything felt so good, but he hadn’t gotten far before Jing Yu caught him and brought him back.

“How did you find me?” Ling Xing wondered.

“If I want to see, I can see.”

Ling Xing understood; it must be a Qizhu’s skill. “You’re not always monitoring me, are you?”

“It’s not monitoring.” The emotionally detached Lone Star didn’t know what word to use. “It’s caring.”

Ling Xing touched his forehead. “I’m really happy you can say the word ‘care’, but that’s not how you use it. If you care about me, you should understand my feelings, not use your ability to watch me all the time. It makes me feel very insecure.”

“Then I won’t know where you have gone.”

Ling Xing grabbed his wrist. “Look, you have a terminal, right? People invented terminals to contact each other, didn’t they? If you want to know where I am, just call me, and I will tell you where I am. Promise me that you won’t use that ability again unless necessary, okay?”

Jing Yu seemed reluctant to accept this. “But it’s convenient.”

Ling Xing sighed and had to use the previous method again, placing Jing Yu’s hand on his chest. “When you do that, I feel uncomfortable.”

Jing Yu blinked. “Okay.”

The seven-day dangerous period finally passed, and Ling Xing and Jing Yu re-established another kind of relationship—elder and junior, teacher and student, Qizhu and Qizi, family and lover. All of this was built on the foundation that one of them was a Lone Star that completely lacked emotional areas, which Ling Xing found incredible.

Perhaps because the military had swept through the area recently, these days the church saw few visitors. With the priest and bishop gone to other planets, Ling Xing, bored to death, put on the cleric’s robes, ready to go out to preach on the streets.

Knowing that Jing Yu might not agree, he once again chose a time when the other was absent to sneak out through the back way. Since their last agreement, Jing Yu indeed had kept his promise not to use his tracking skill, which made Ling Xing feel much more at ease.

He walked on a secluded path, carrying pamphlets he had printed, when suddenly a gust of wind came at him. He instinctively leaned back to dodge, but a heavy blow hit him from behind.

Ling Xing staggered a few steps, pamphlets scattering on the ground. When he looked up again, four or five figures had emerged from the shadows and were slowly surrounding him.

Once he recognized the uniforms they wore, Ling Xing’s heart tightened—it was the military. Long Yin was finally making his move.

Ling Xing nervously spun in place and frowned. Jing Yu had made a promise not to watch him anymore, so naturally, he couldn’t possibly arrive in time. Was this going to be their farewell?

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