He must be lying! He’s definitely lying!
How could this guy possibly be a male Zerg?! If he said he was a little sub-female, Yun might believe it, but a male…
“Where’s your mental power?!”
At this thought, Yun’s grip tightened. “Are you tricking me? Even if a male Zerg cub hasn’t gone through their awakening, they still have mental power!”
Does he think I’m easy to fool?!
Li Xi was caught off guard by the strength in the child’s hands. The plate of cookies on his lap went rolling with a clatter, and he tumbled off the sofa.
It didn’t hurt because he landed right in the child’s arms. At the same time, his right cheek was firmly pinched. A voice spoke through gritted teeth from above: “You don’t have a shred of mental power on you! Is it fun to lie to me?!”
Li Xi: “…”
Yun squeezed his cheek: “Is it fun?!”
Li Xi realized that although this kid didn’t look big, his strength was quite significant. He tried to escape the “clutches,” but as soon as he struggled, he was pinned down by the other cub. “!”
“You!” Seeing that Yun wanted to pinch him again, Li Xi quickly raised his hands to protect his face, his speech becoming frantic. “Get… get off…”
Yun lay on top of Li Xi, switching targets to ruffle his hair. “Who told you to lie to me?”
Li Xi had never felt so helpless. He wasn’t as strong as this kid, he couldn’t win in a fight, and he couldn’t win an argument. He tried to explain: “Didn’t lie.”
“Humph!” Yun clearly didn’t believe him, his entire body draped over Li Xi.
Amidst the struggle, Li Xi suddenly remembered something. “The marks…”
“What marks?”
Li Xi said word by word: “Chest marks. I don’t have them!”
This was the longest sentence he had spoken in his life.
Yun froze. He belatedly realized what the “marks” referred to—Zerg marks.
“Chest,” Li Xi said. “You can look.”
Yun actually followed the instruction and started pulling at Li Xi’s clothes. When a bit of skin was revealed, he said like a little rogue, “Wow, your skin is way too good.” He even rubbed his fingertip against it.
Li Xi: “…”
It wasn’t until the shirt was lifted to the waist that Yun felt something was wrong, because he couldn’t see even a tiny bit of extending Zerg marks. He stopped there, hesitating, still holding onto a sliver of hope. Maybe the marks were just very small?
Until the chest was fully revealed, his world went silent. Yun stared blankly at the smooth, clear chest; his brain couldn’t process it.
Li Xi: “See it?”
Yun let out a long “Ah,” then stubbornly reached out and felt Li Xi’s heart area, muttering, “There… there really aren’t any.”
Li Xi: “…!”
Looking is one thing, but why does this kid keep touching me?
“Get off.” Li Xi felt very uncomfortable with another person pressing down on him, and his voice involuntarily turned cold.
Only then did Yun snap out of it. He was still pinning down a male Zerg! He scrambled up instantly and stood to the side, looking a bit constrained. He wanted to help Li Xi up; his hand reached out then retracted, reached out again, and finally stayed at his side.
Li Xi adjusted his clothes and climbed up himself. He saw in the reflection of the glass that his hair had been ruffled into a mess, with a few “cowlicks” sticking up, making him look rather silly.
Li Xi shifted his gaze to the child who was tiptoeing toward the door. Sensing the gaze, Yun also looked at the glass. Their eyes met. “!!!”
He took a large stride, pressing his back against the door while his hand grabbed the handle, ready to bolt at any moment if things went south. He let out a few nervous laughs, trying to break the heavy silence: “I… I didn’t know you were a male. If I had known…”
If I had known, I wouldn’t have gone near this brat in the first place!
Li Xi smoothed down his standing hair and turned around, watching the child struggle to find his words with an air of “waiting to see what you’ll say.”
As he turned, Yun got even more nervous, opening the door a crack. “If I had known, I definitely wouldn’t have pinned you down!”
“And I wouldn’t have touched you!”
“And I certainly wouldn’t…”
Li Xi listened for a while, then planned to go upstairs to change. Unexpectedly, as soon as he took a step, the child at the door bolted. In the blink of an eye, only a small black dot remained in Li Xi’s vision.
Li Xi: “…?”
“Hiss—” Yun didn’t know where he had run to. He crouched in a corner and started feeling for his optical computer. He searched his top and bottom pockets for a long time but couldn’t find it. “Where’s my optical computer? Did I leave it in the room?”
Refusing to give up, he searched all his pockets again. When he reached the last pocket, he smacked his forehead and muttered to himself, “I might as well be stupid.”
The optical computer was on his wrist!
Yun felt he had gone crazy, likely due to the massive shock of Li He being a male cub. He opened the optical computer, found the contact number, and dialed.
The call was only answered after quite a while.
“Female Father! I’m doomed! That one… is he really a male?! He has no Zerg marks! And no mental power! What is he?!” Yun blurted out in a rush.
The person on the other end was even more confused. With a hint of a smile, they said patiently, “Don’t be in such a rush, Little Lord. What do you mean ‘no mental power’? What ‘male’?”
“Uncle Butler?” Yun looked down at the contact. He hadn’t dialed the wrong number, so why did the butler answer?
“It’s me.”
Yun asked blankly, “Where’s my Female Father?”
“He—”
Another cold, indifferent voice suddenly cut in: “Looking for me for something?”
Yun couldn’t tell what his Female Father’s mood was. Regaining his composure, he repeated his words clearly: “Does Female Father remember that cub from the banquet?” He wasn’t sure if his father had noticed Li He; his father usually didn’t pay much attention to his affairs.
The other side was silent for a long time. Finally, a voice sounded. It wasn’t as flat as before, sounding a bit weary: “Mm, I remember.”
Yun asked out of concern, “Are you sick?”
“It’s nothing, just an old injury flared up,” the voice continued, answering his question simply. “He is a male. As for why he has no mental power, I don’t know. Anything else?”
Yun quickly explained their previous encounters and how he had bullied the boy, asking his father what to do.
“Bullied?”
“Um…” Yun responded with a lack of confidence.
The other person chuckled softly. “You didn’t hit him, did you?” Without waiting for Yun to speak, they added, “What are you nervous for? It’s not the first time you’ve fought with a male Zerg.”
His father was mocking him, but Yun just bowed his head and plucked at the grass, not daring to talk back.
“Hmm?”
Yun explained weakly, “Didn’t hit him…” Close enough, though.
“If you fight with a male Zerg again, you don’t need to come home.”
Yun plucked the grass more frequently and remained silent.
“…Don’t… be so… harsh…” The optical computer seemed to be covered, so only intermittent fragments of speech reached Yun. It was Uncle Butler pleading for him.
Yun’s mood improved significantly. Since the call hadn’t been disconnected, he continued to wait. When the voice spoke again, it had softened considerably.
“I know that cub’s Female Father. His temperament shouldn’t be too bad. Try to go along with him as much as possible.”
“Mm-hmm.” Actually, Li He was very easy to get along with, lacking any of the arrogance typical of male cubs. Yun agreed readily.
“Find an opportunity to come back and grab your backpack. You might have to stay with the Jonah family for a while.”
“Okay, Female Father.”
When the call ended, Yun realized he was in a lush flower garden. He walked for a long time before meeting an attendant who gave him directions.
When Yun came out of the main gate, he wasn’t stopped by the guards. He waited for a while before a flight vehicle marked with the Shiya family crest arrived. Yun ran over excitedly, shouting, “Uncle But—”
The voice stopped abruptly when he saw the female Zerg in the driver’s seat. He greeted him properly: “Female Father.”
The newcomer had short gray hair and delicate features. He was unusually dressed in casual clothes, and his cold, stern aura had lessened. He propped up his head lazily and gave a faint “Mm.” “What, not being your Uncle Butler makes you look so unhappy?”
Yun obediently fastened his seatbelt, his eyes filled with joy. He replied, “I’m happy it’s Female Father too!”
“Mm.” The adult female uncomfortably pulled at his collar, hiding the black neck ring on his throat, before starting the flight vehicle.
When Yun reappeared at the Ancient Tree, the sunset clouds had merged into a red river. He carried several shopping bags of various sizes and stood at the door, hesitating about what to say when they met.
Meanwhile, Li Xi was sitting in the living room playing a horror escape game. He was absorbed in the final level and didn’t notice the door being quietly opened.
“YOU DIED. GAME OVER.”
Crimson letters filled the screen. Li Xi put down the game controller and pulled his mind out of the game, only then noticing an extra presence. He turned to look; the kid who had been gone all day was standing at the door staring at the screen. Li Xi thought he wouldn’t come back. “You?”
“Ah?” Yun snapped back to reality.
“Um…” Yun tugged at the strap of his backpack and said tentatively, “I didn’t know you were a male cub before. I was… a bit offensive to you.”
On the flight vehicle, his father had told him a little about Li He, though it wasn’t much. He only knew that Li He had been diagnosed as a male cub without mental power since birth and had been left in a remote corner by the Jonah family, ignored. Finally, his father said, Don’t panic no matter what strange things happen.
“I bought you clothes and food!” Yun walked in and placed the bags on the coffee table. “Are you… angry?” He waited for a while. Seeing Li Xi staring at the bag of clothes without any signs of anger, he continued to himself, “It’s good that you’re not angry.”
What could Li Xi say? “…Mm.”
Yun was still a bit uneasy. They said male cubs had fickle temperaments, so he decided to try a different approach to soothe him. He pointed to his own face. “You can pinch me back.” He didn’t mind; the other boy smelled nice anyway.
Li Xi: “…”
“You’ve seen all my Zerg marks, and we even slept in the same bed last night…” The child counted their past interactions on his fingers, getting more excited as he went, momentarily forgetting he was supposed to be soothing the other. “No matter how you look at it, I’m the one losing out! Do you know the consequences of seeing a female’s Zerg marks?!”
Li Xi’s movement of taking out the clothes stopped. He looked up, pointed to his waist and chest, and retorted: “You touched.”
Yun: “Hmm?”
Li Xi said seriously: “I’m the one losing out!” He had been pinned down, had his cheeks pinched and hair ruffled, and had his body touched today. He was losing out too!
Yun blinked. Does a male Zerg lose out in this situation? He didn’t remember the teacher ever mentioning males losing out, but since he was in the wrong, he followed along. “…Then I won’t touch you anymore.”
“If you don’t say anything, I’ll take it as you agreeing with me,” Yun said in a voice used for coaxing toddlers, clearly treating Li Xi as a naive, easily fooled cub with little understanding.
Looking at the cub clothes and the fragrant grilled meat in the bags, Li Xi grudgingly accepted Yun’s apology. “Mm.”
On the way back, Yun had forced himself to accept the fact that Li He had suddenly become a male cub. He thought he would have to coax the boy for a long time, but unexpectedly, it was settled in just a few sentences; the speech he had prepared was useless.
Yun watched for a while. Seeing that Li Xi really wasn’t angry, he relaxed. His peripheral vision caught the game screen suspended on the wall. Driven by curiosity, he grabbed the controller. “What were you playing just now? It looks fun. Can I play?”
Li Xi felt a dip beside him. A small hand reached into a brown paper bag and picked up a piece of golden-brown grilled meat. That was the piece he had chosen at a glance… the one he wanted to save for last!
Li Xi stopped chewing and turned to look at Yun with puffed-out cheeks.
Yun: “?” He obliviously stuffed it into his mouth right in front of Li Xi and asked in a muffled voice, “What’s wrong?”
“Can I play this game?” Seeing Li Xi remain silent, Yun asked again.
Li Xi agreed readily. If he played the game, he wouldn’t be staring at his meat.
It wasn’t until late at night that Li Xi regretted agreeing to let the kid play.
Li Xi slowly opened his eyes in the darkness, unable to sleep due to the slight movements behind him. Li Xi was used to sleeping alone; having an extra “person” was already a big adjustment. And that “person” was exceptionally restless tonight. He sighed again, regretting letting the kid play the game.
“Sleep,” Li Xi turned around and said briefly, staring at the lump in the moonlight.
Hearing the voice, Yun sat up instantly. He first looked nervously at the balcony, then surveyed the surroundings. He swallowed hard, wrapped himself up like a small rice dumpling, and whispered, “Li He, I… I can’t sleep.”
Li Xi lowered his eyes and waited in silence for what was next. Yun’s expression in the dark was unnatural, and he spoke vaguely: “I slept too much during the day.”
Li Xi naturally didn’t believe him but continued to watch the child silently. The wind howled through the treetops, sounding even more eerie in the silent night.
“I’m scared,” Yun gave in.
The lights flickered on. The child was curled up in the quilt, with only his eyes showing. “There are snakes… as soon as I close my eyes, I see the game screen.”
What a trash game! Yun regretted playing that horror game. They stared at each other in silence for a long while.
Li Xi also regretted it. To someone like him who was used to bloody scenes, that game wasn’t scary; he just used it to pass the time. Li Xi patted the spot beside him, still being sparing with his words: “Here.”
Yun rolled over to Li Xi’s side in a flash. A moment later, Li Xi felt his arm being hugged. A rich milky scent enveloped him, as if he had fallen into a sealed jar full of milk candies. Yun’s panicked heartbeat miraculously calmed down. In his daze, he suddenly sat up—he forgot to buy milk candy!
Li Xi was also startled and was about to ask what was wrong, but before he could speak, Yun fell back onto the pillow in the darkness, muttering something.
Li Xi: “…?”
The game’s aftereffects are that big?