Part 2
He prattled on to distract himself, trying to forget the sight of those feet and the stirrings deep within him.
Yu Shi thought to himself: I take back everything I said to Anna. Upright and kind? A beam of sunlight? Forget it. He’s just an annoying pest!
Chatter, chatter, chatter. He never shuts up.
The “pest” finished every scrap of food, prattling the entire time. He wiped his mouth and said, “I’ve finished the weeding. I’m heading to the farm to shear the sheep this afternoon. Don’t bring dinner to the wrong place.”
“Dinner is still carrots I cut myself. I hope you choke,” Yu Shi shot back.
Xie Ren didn’t rise to the bait. He pointed toward the lake. “Wash your feet before you go back, and put your shoes on. There are bugs in the grass; those soft legs of yours will be covered in bites.”
Yu Shi headed for the lake. He had, in fact, been bitten.
He sat on the bank, kicking his feet in the water. The back of his foot was itching intensely, but he refused to scratch it out of pride.
Damn it. I hope it isn’t a poisonous bug. I hope that jinx wasn’t right.
Suddenly, the weeds at the bottom of the lake shifted, and a string of bubbles rose to the surface.
A “water ghost” emerged, suddenly grabbing his foot.
Yu Shi was so startled he nearly fell into the lake. He raised his other foot to kick, but Xie Ren surfaced, shaking his hair out. “Don’t move.”
“…” Yu Shi snarled, “When did you get in there? You’re insane! You scared the life out of me!”
Xie Ren smirked. “You scared me too… stop kicking. Let me see your foot.”
He cupped Yu Shi’s ankle in his hand, pulling it closer to inspect the red mark.
The lake water was cool, but the man’s palm was burning hot as he gently stroked the skin with each ripple.
Mortified by the attention, Yu Shi tried to pull away. “It’s nothing. Just a mosquito bite…”
Xie Ren gripped the protruding ankle bone, his gaze trailing up the calf. Yu Shi’s pant legs were rolled up to his knees, revealing long, elegant shins with straight, beautiful lines. There were a few scattered bruises from bumps and scrapes, giving him a look of wild, untamed beauty.
The bite was slightly swollen and flushed red.
Xie Ren felt a wave of heat wash through him. Even the lake water felt as though it had been heated by the sun. Water droplets rolled down his Adam’s apple, evaporating into steam in the dry air.
He felt like he was about to catch fire.
Especially in a certain place beneath the water.
Yu Shi was about to pull his leg back when Xie Ren abruptly let go and dove back into the lake. In the blink of an eye, he had swum several meters away.
“Where are you going?” Yu Shi asked, sounding confused.
Xie Ren didn’t surface. He stayed submerged with the lake weeds, holding his breath.
Fearing he would drown, Yu Shi poked at the water with his foot. “I’m talking to you. You think you’re a fish?”
Xie Ren ignored him and swam even further away without even a single bubble rising to the surface.
Yu Shi waited for a while, but seeing that the man was content to stay underwater, he muttered something about him being bizarre. He dried his feet and pulled on his shoes and socks.
As he reached the shade of the tree, Xie Ren finally surfaced and shouted stiffly, “There’s an umbrella under the tree.”
Yu Shi turned to speak, but the man had already submerged again.
“…”
What is wrong with him??
He walked to the tree and picked up the umbrella. It was made of discarded cardboard and wooden sticks. So that was what Xie Ren had been tinkering with earlier.
Yu Shi opened the umbrella, his face one of unmasked disgust. It’s so ugly.
It couldn’t even be folded; it just served to block the UV rays.
It was truly hideous—so hideous that holding it made him feel like he couldn’t show his face.
Xie Ren stared at him gloomily from the lake like a water ghost, as if he would lunge out and drag Yu Shi into the depths if he didn’t use the umbrella.
I’m honestly terrified of him.
Looking speechless, Yu Shi walked away under the cardboard umbrella.
That evening, Xie Ren didn’t return until nine o’clock. Anna asked him why he was so late and, seeing how tired and hungry he was, heated up some buns for him.
Xie Ren gnawed on a bun and said, “I finished everything you assigned. It should take some of the weight off you and Abbu.”
Anna looked bewildered at first, then shocked. “My God. Did I hear that right? You finished everything? That was a week’s worth of farm work! Heavens, you must be exhausted!”
Xie Ren: “…”
Yu Shi: “…”
Xie Ren collapsed. “Dammit! No one told me! I worked myself half to death for nothing!”
The two agricultural novices had made a massive blunder, but there was a silver lining: they could take it easy for the next few days, as there was no work left to do.
That night, Anna boiled some water so they could have a proper bath.
The arrangement was primitive: one person had to constantly pour water into the showerhead while the other bathed behind a curtain.
Xie Ren scooped the warm water one ladle at a time. “Where did you put that umbrella?” he asked.
Yu Shi’s movements faltered. He didn’t dare say he had tossed it near the sheep pen. He lied through his teeth, “I put it by the stove.”
Right next to the Kitchen God. I’ll make sure it’s properly enshrined for you.
Xie Ren replied quickly, “That won’t do. What if it catches fire? I’ll bring it into the room later.”
“…” Yu Shi looked speechless. “Why did you even bother making an umbrella?”
Xie Ren explained, “The desert sun is poisonous, and you refuse to wear a headscarf. If you get a bad sunburn, it’ll be a mess. Does the water sting? If it does, you’re burned.”
The back of Yu Shi’s neck actually did sting; the water felt like fire against his skin.
“Anna has some sunburn salve,” Xie Ren said. “I’ll help you put some on later.”
Yu Shi thought to himself that having him help might be inappropriate, but then he reconsidered. They had no one else to rely on here, and they were already at the point where they were pouring bathwater for each other. A bit of salve on the neck wasn’t a big deal—as long as he kept his hands away from the gland.
As he finished drying off, he asked, “By the way, I’ll give you back the dagger later. I noticed some poetry carved into the handle today. Did your grandfather do that?”
Xie Ren carefully avoided looking at the silhouette behind the curtain, prattling on to keep his mind from wandering toward more scandalous thoughts.
He replied, “My mother carved it. I told you, it’s a family heirloom for the daughter-in-law.”
Yu Shi froze. “The dagger belongs to your mother? Why do you have it?”
Xie Ren went silent. He didn’t say a word for a long time—not even after Yu Shi had finished dressing.
Yu Shi pulled back the curtain, drying his hair as he studied the man. “If it’s a private matter, don’t worry about it. I was just curious.”
Xie Ren gave him a pained smile, but there was no joy in his eyes. “My mother went missing when I was a kid. She vanished right here in this desert.”
Yu Shi stopped what he was doing and stared at him.
“She was a military doctor. She was with a team transporting medical supplies when they lost contact with the main force during a period of chaos. All these years, I’ve never stopped looking for her,” Xie Ren said quietly.
Yu Shi finally understood. So that was why the man took so many missions in the Ninth Zone. But the desert was a harsh environment; to have been missing for so long meant the outlook was grim.
It was a truth everyone knew, and Xie Ren was no exception.
He said self-deprecatingly, “You’re looking at me like that… you must think I’m an idiot too.”
Yu Shi shook his head. “No. I think you’re incredibly brave.”
Xie Ren didn’t reply, clearly taking it as a platitude.
Yu Shi looked into his eyes and said seriously, “Your mother would be so proud. When I was trapped on that starship, I hoped against hope that someone would face any danger to find me. No matter what the final outcome is, if she knew that someone kept her in their heart as the most important person and worked so hard to find her, she would be so happy.”
Aside from his lectures on weapons, this was the longest speech he had ever given.
Xie Ren murmured, “Is that really what you think?”
Yu Shi nodded. “Look at what she carved on this handle. It’s a poem in Ancient Tiangui script.”
“’The journey is long and the way is far. At the break of dawn, I crossed the wilderness of the great world, leaving my tracks on many a star.’”
“Xie Ren, your mother was a sensitive and strong woman. I’m sure she understands everything you’ve done for her. Your efforts mean everything.”
Yu Shi looked into his eyes, as if looking into his own past.
Xie Ren’s eyes turned red. He stared at Yu Shi for a long moment, visibly moved.
He thought to himself: I have a sudden urge to kiss him.
The thought was like a thunderclap, shocking him back to reality. The next thing Yu Shi saw was a startling sight.
Xie Ren raised a hand and slapped himself across the face. Then, eyes darting everywhere, he scrambled out the door in a panic.
Yu Shi: “…?”
We were having a perfectly nice conversation. What the hell was that outburst about?
Translator’s Note:
Terms used in this chapter:
- Tiangui (天晷): The Republic/Central government.
- Ninth Zone (第九區): The desert region.
- Horus (荷魯斯號): Xie Ren’s ship.
- Desai (德賽): The neighboring nation.
- Heaven’s Punishment (天罰): The elite air force unit.
- Sidewinder (響尾): The legendary gun.
- Gitanjali (吉檀迦利): The collection of poems by Rabindranath Tagore.
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