Boliya Tower stood at the northernmost edge of the border, enduring bitter cold year-round. Every time the tide surge period ended and the ebb tide began, the people stationed at the watchtower loved nothing more than gathering around a pot to enjoy a steaming hot pot meal.
After Shen Yue’an and Yuan Qing’an grew accustomed to this tradition, they brought it into their home as well. However, at home, there were many more reasons to fire up the hot pot.
For instance, when Shen Tangmo received another certificate of merit, when Shen Huaiyun’s report card once again placed him at the top of his class, or simply when they had accomplished a lot that day and were in high spirits.
Shen Tangmo had been in excellent spirits these past few days. During his lunch break, he remembered it had been a while since they last had hot pot. With the recent drop in temperature, he decided to skip his nap and instead dashed to the “Pot Circle Bargain” store to buy several boxes of meat rolls and restock the family’s supplies of sesame paste, peanut sauce, and seafood sauce.
After returning home and setting down his purchases, he hurried to the market to buy fresh chicken, lettuce, asparagus, spinach, potatoes, and enoki mushrooms, hauling back two large, brimming bags. The chicken would be stewed to make the soup base, while the rest were ingredients both brothers loved to dip into the pot. He set everything aside to prepare that evening after returning home.
All this bustling around had eaten up his lunch break, yet Shen Tangmo felt more energetic than usual. That afternoon, as a substitute teacher, he breezed through the lesson at a rapid pace, even managing to spare ten minutes to show his students an episode of Aerial China.
As dismissal approached, the students eagerly anticipating the weekend were buzzing with excitement. They took the opportunity to pack their bags, ready to bolt home the moment class ended. Shen Tangmo, too, was already longing to return, frequently checking his watch. The instant the minute hand pointed to dismissal time, he grabbed his teaching plan and trotted out the door, looking even more eager to leave than his students.
“Yes, that’s right. The two newly delivered aberrants their spirit cores not only move but also use psychic energy to fabricate fake cores to deceive me.”
Shen Huaiyun had just finished today’s training session and was frowning slightly as he discussed the aberrants’ condition with his mentor, Professor Ning.
Ning Yanfeng compiled the information and sent it out. “It’s precisely because of their peculiarities that the watchtower went to such lengths to capture and deliver them to us for research.”
Noticing Shen Huaiyun’s brows beginning to knit together again, Professor Ning tossed him a tea bag and continued, “You’re concerned about their level of intelligence, and so are the higher-ups. They specifically kept two live ones confined in the research lab.”
“That’s good.” Shen Huaiyun pinched the edge of the tea bag, his expression easing slightly. “By the way, I heard that new protective equipment has been developed using the previous shell materials?”
“Hey, you played a part in that too! You’ll receive an extra bonus for it when the time comes.” Professor Ning chuckled and patted his shoulder.
“Ah, these young people nowadays truly have both capability and vision,” he mused with admiration.
“The group I’m mentoring has also come up with several new inventions. I’ve heard that some talents have even developed auxiliary equipment capable of simulating Sentinel psychic attacks, and something else. like mecha suits. But these aren’t stable enough yet. In a few years, perhaps they’ll truly be ready for the world.” He gazed contentedly out the window, where the sky was clear and bright. A few birds flew past, leaving swift, meteor-like trails.
“By then, the pressure on the front lines should ease considerably.”
If machinery could truly assist or even replace human effort, perhaps Mom and Dad could retire peacefully? Shen Huaiyun thought to himself.
At that moment, a bluish-purple psychic tentacle arrived even before its master, affectionately winding around Shen Huaiyun’s arm and raising its tip to nuzzle his cheek. With a smile in his eyes, Shen Huaiyun reached out to play with it. Soon, its owner appeared in the doorway.
“Shall we head home?” Shen Tangmo quietly tugged at the tentacle, preventing it from continuing to cling to Shen Huaiyun.
Shen Huaiyun walked toward him, tilting his head to say, “We’re off now. Thanks for the tea bags, Professor.”
Ning Yanfeng waved him away. “Go on, go on.”
On the way, Shen Huaiyun poured out everything that had just happened to Shen Tangmo like spilling beans. The young man gripped the steering wheel, focused on the road ahead, but several psychic tentacles emerged from beneath his clothes, climbing onto Shen Huaiyun’s body. Each of his words received a response from them.
One of them grew bold, seemingly trying to slip up under his shirt, winding around his neck and directly burrowing into his clothes.
The cool, soft sensation transmitted directly to his nerves through the skin of his chest and abdomen, accidentally brushing against a certain spot on his chest. This caused Shen Huaiyun to jolt sharply, instinctively arching his back as he grabbed it, pulling it out from his clothes and tucking his shirt firmly into his waistband to prevent it from sneaking back in.
This tentacle seemed to realize its mistake, twisting into a heart shape to nuzzle his fingertips in apology, easily earning forgiveness and regaining the privilege to wind around his wrist.
Shen Tangmo beside him wasn’t having it so easy. All sensations from the psychic tentacles were synchronized with him, and their actions were influenced by his subconscious. When he wasn’t consciously controlling them, they acted spontaneously, following his inner desires to get closer to Shen Huaiyun.
The problem was, he was driving and couldn’t afford to be distracted, nor did he have a free hand to manually control them.
When the tentacle brushed against that spot earlier, Shen Tangmo’s fingers instantly tightened around the steering wheel. On one hand, he felt a secret thrill; on the other, he almost wanted to dissolve the offending tentacle into psychic energy right then and there, lest Huaiyun take offense. But such an overt reaction would surely arouse Shen Huaiyun’s suspicion and possibly lead to unpleasant misunderstandings.
Fortunately, Huaiyun didn’t say anything, so he temporarily halted that tentacle’s activity, letting Huaiyun handle it himself. Only after Huaiyun had tucked in his shirt did he restore its movement.
During a red light, Shen Tangmo subtly rubbed his fingers together. So soft.
And Huaiyun seemed quite sensitive.
As the countdown lit up, Shen Tangmo closed his eyes, pushing away the scenes surfacing in his mind, silently reminding himself: Focus on driving.
Shen Huaiyun leaned back in his seat, idly playing with the psychic tentacles with his fingers, his head tilted toward the window as if watching the street scenes.
But his mind kept circling back to that earlier sensation.
The feel of the psychic tentacle was similar to a firmer, cooler jelly. Due to its lower temperature, the contrast with human body warmth created a strong, momentary stimulus upon contact.
Moreover, aside from bathing and dressing, that area of his chest was rarely touched. He hadn’t expected his reaction to be so intense.
Usually, touching it didn’t evoke much feeling, and he’d certainly encountered cold water before. Was it because it was Shen Tangmo’s psychic tentacle?
He closed his eyes, thinking about Shen Tangmo’s recent behavior, their nearly healed ear piercings, and the two pairs of earrings they’d chosen together. His thoughts meandered but always returned to that fleeting sensation.
The tentacle, Shen Tangmo, What if it were Shen Tangmo’s fingers.
The young man suddenly sat up straight, letting go of the chilled gel strip Pro Max he had been idly kneading in his hands.
‘What am I thinking?!’ He rubbed his cheeks, his lowered gaze filled with complex emotions, the most prominent being shock. ‘That kind of thing is way too intimate no, that kind of thing is only done between lovers!’
‘I do want to stay close to him, but not to that extent.’
‘No… right?’
He glanced at Shen Tangmo’s distinct, knuckled fingers gripping the steering wheel, then awkwardly closed his eyes and turned his head away.
It might really be the case.
Otherwise, why would those suggestive images pop into his head?
Right… right?
Maybe he’s been a bit repressed lately. Maybe he should go back and add some extra training. Yeah, throwing himself into training should keep these thoughts at bay.
Unfortunately, Shen Huaiyun didn’t remember at that moment that they slept in the same bed at night. Once training time was over, there would be no buff to ward off distracting thoughts.
But it didn’t matter he remembered the next morning when he hurriedly got up to wash his pants.
For the latter half of the journey home, Shen Huaiyun didn’t continue teasing the tentacles. Instead, he stared out the window, lost in thought. Shen Tangmo, noticing his delayed reaction, quickly retracted all the tentacles at a red light, occasionally glancing at him out of the corner of his eye.
Only when the car jolted slightly, indicating the tires had touched the barrier at the back of the parking space and the car was fully parked, did Shen Huaiyun seem to snap out of his trance. He murmured, “I’ll go back first to chop the vegetables,” then unbuckled his seatbelt and got out of the car.
Watching his slightly hurried retreating figure, Shen Tangmo sighed softly and didn’t follow immediately.
“Seems like it’s not disgust, but shyness?” He picked up his phone, wanting to send a message, but worried he might be misreading the situation, he exited the chat interface. “Forget it, let’s see how things go.”