Chapter 228: Mutation (26)
Three days ago.
When the ice sphere finally floated to the surface of the water, Bai Yinnian lost consciousness and fainted.
Following 037’s instructions, Xiao Ji let the ice sphere drift toward the nearby coast.
He first dealt with the troublesome cocoon silk on the members of “Shenyi” (Divine Wings). After the others had recovered, he had Mu Fan contact the base.
Three hours later, vehicles from the base arrived at the coast and brought everyone back.
Xiao Ji refused the request of the medical staff at the research institute to treat Bai Yinnian and personally carried him home.
Bai Yinnian had fainted partly because he was severely depleted, and partly because he had absorbed the energy of two high-level pollutants, beginning a new round of evolution.
And this sleep lasted for a full three days.
During this time, Zhao Yi personally visited once, stating that Dr. Cui from the research institute needed to draw a blood sample from Bai Yinnian for testing. Xiao Ji shut him out directly, declaring that before Bai Yinnian woke up, if anyone dared to come again, he wouldn’t mind testing whether the base’s thermal weapons were superior to him.
Other than that, he had been guarding by Bai Yinnian’s side the whole time.
Right now, their eyes met, and Bai Yinnian’s gaze toward Xiao Ji seemed to hold a trace of unfamiliarity.
It flashed by and then seemed to return to normal.
Xiao Ji acted as if he hadn’t seen it, gently touching his forehead and asking, “Are you hungry?”
Before Bai Yinnian could reply, 037 suddenly appeared:
[Immortal Lord, there’s an anomaly with the Little Phoenix.]
Xiao Ji: [Speak.]
037 was somewhat terrified: [In the cave, the excessively dangerous environment stimulated his instinctive will to keep struggling and fighting against the Heavenly Dao’s restraints. He now has a tendency to recover his memory.]
At this moment, the Phoenix’s tribulation wasn’t over yet. Recovering his memory halfway through would not only cause the tribulation to fail, but could also entangle him in other karma.
What the consequences would be, whether mild or severe, no one could say for sure.
And Xiao Ji’s mission might also fail because of this.
Xiao Ji pursed his lips: [Can it be resolved?]
037 was somewhat worried: [It requires time to seal it again, but the premise is that he must cooperate and not resist. Moreover… if the Phoenix fails his tribulation, I’m afraid my chances for promotion this time will be hopeless again.]
[Are there any other methods?] Xiao Ji could hear the hesitation and other indescribable implications in 037’s tone.
This meant there must be other ways to resolve this matter.
Sure enough, after a moment of silence, 037 said to Xiao Ji:
[Theoretically speaking, a small world cannot simultaneously host two ‘gods’ who have a bond with each other. The ‘god’ here refers to an existence like yours, carrying a god’s will and capable of breaking through the small world’s restraints at any time.]
[If you are willing, we can use a sleight of hand to deceive the heavens. Once the Phoenix recovers his instinctive will, I will seal you.]
Xiao Ji hesitated.
Actually, it had similar experiences with this kind of thing.
It asked: [Are you afraid that after the Little Phoenix recovers his memory, he’ll feel that getting mixed up with you was very unlucky, and out of anger, simply let the tribulation fail? Or are you afraid he’ll slaughter you?]
It thought carefully: [Probably not, right? After all, it’s been so long, and he’s always repeatedly falling in love with you. Even in the Heavenly Realm, he didn’t necessarily truly hate you.]
Xiao Ji pursed his lips: [What I’m worried about is myself.]
037 immediately understood Xiao Ji’s meaning.
Xiao Ji’s emotions were too thin.
Reaching this step today and loving Yinnian was the result of accumulation over time.
If someone like Xiao Ji had his memory sealed, it was hard to imagine what Yinnian’s path of pursuing his husband would become—whether it would be smooth sailing or full of bumps and hurdles was uncertain.
And right now, Xiao Ji clearly couldn’t bear to let Yinnian suffer such hardships.
It pondered for a moment: [Xiao Ji, forgive my bluntness, but don’t you want to try? Having reached this point, just how deep is the bond in your souls?]
After saying that, it felt that speaking like this seemed to carry the suspicion of pushing for its own promotion while ignoring the host’s feelings.
Pausing, it added:
[I’m just saying. Regardless of what happens, I still respect your opinion.]
Xiao Ji couldn’t make a decision so cleanly. Right now, he still pinned his hopes on Bai Yinnian staying honest and his instinctive will not fighting against the Heavenly Dao’s restraints anymore.
He only said: [We’ll talk about it when it comes to that point.]
037 expressed understanding and stopped talking.
Bai Yinnian collected his thoughts. When he first saw Xiao Ji’s face, he indeed felt an indescribable strangeness.
But as soon as Xiao Ji spoke, that feeling vanished instantly, leaving only overflowing love and longing.
He reached out his arm, hooked it around Xiao Ji’s neck, and pulled Xiao Ji into his embrace with force:
“I’m hungry, but I don’t want to eat food. I want to eat you.”
Xiao Ji reached around to his back, touching the place where his wings grew.
The bloody mess on his shoulder blades caused by the violent growth of his wings the day he emerged from the sea had long disappeared, leaving only smoothness.
Bai Yinnian kissed the side of Xiao Ji’s neck, his voice hoarse: “I’m fine, don’t touch there. Touch somewhere else.”
Hearing him speak like this, Xiao Ji knew that there was indeed no problem with his body now. The hand that was originally resting on Bai Yinnian’s shoulder and back began to slowly move downwards.
On the night Bai Yinnian just woke up, the two didn’t discuss a single serious matter.
It wasn’t until the sun was high in the sky the next day that they finally found time to talk about what happened that day.
“I indeed underestimated you. Does this mean you’re invincible?”
Bai Yinnian had to sigh with emotion.
Given the situation at that time, he had even prepared for inevitable death, but he didn’t expect that Xiao Ji’s hidden depths would become the key to turning defeat into victory.
Xiao Ji’s tone was calm: “Not invincible. If there were no water source, I would have been at my wit’s end.”
But Qi Xu really didn’t have that luck. He guarded against everything, paid such a huge price, and specifically targeted Bai Yinnian, but didn’t expect to end up helping Xiao Ji instead and sending himself to his grave.
Bai Yinnian saw things more thoroughly than Xiao Ji imagined:
“No, more than half of the human body is water. Xiao Ji, for other living things, including pollutants, no matter how low the proportion, water will still exist. Even in the air, there are countless water molecules.”
Xiao Ji denied it: “I don’t have that much capability. I can’t utilize such minute water sources. You’re still more formidable.”
Bai Yinnian raised an eyebrow: “I wouldn’t get angry at you just because you’re more formidable. Why are you being so cautious?”
Xiao Ji knew Yinnian too well. If he said he wouldn’t out loud, he definitely would.
He firmly refused to admit it: “You flatter me too much. I’m disabled.”
Bai Yinnian didn’t like hearing this: “Don’t mention this in the future. Mu Fan isn’t disabled, but it doesn’t stop him from being useless.”
Xiao Ji then stopped talking.
Ever since Bai Yinnian evolved again, he felt a faint unease in his heart. Zhao Yi would definitely carefully interrogate those “Shenyi” members rescued by him and Xiao Ji.
Bai Yinnian didn’t doubt others’ character, but he had a certain understanding of Zhao Yi’s methods.
If someone revealed everything that happened that day, Zhao Yi would definitely know that he, Bai Yinnian, might have evolved again.
Zhao Yi feared losing control; he feared all people and things that might escape his grasp.
And sure enough, on the morning of the third day, within half an hour of making a phone call and learning that Bai Yinnian was awake, Zhao Yi showed up at their door once again.
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