Chapter 110: Going HomeÂ
On a night in late summer and early autumn on the Frontier Star, it rained all night, and by the next day, the rain showed no signs of stopping. But even with the heavy rain, the spaceport was still bustling, completely unaffected.
Among the crowd, a man holding a single black umbrella for himself and another man caught the attention of passersby. The two men were a strange pair. The man holding the umbrella was very tall. To accommodate the shorter man beside him, he held the umbrella low. The collar of his ankle-length, dark gray trench coat was pulled up, and people could only see a glimpse of his pale profile covered in scabs.
He had his right arm on the shorter man’s shoulder, and his forearm rested in front of the man’s chest. His hand gripped the man’s left shoulder, and it looked as if he were putting most of his weight on him, or even as if he were holding the man captive. Although the younger man’s clothes looked expensive, the trench coat the taller man was wearing was just as, if not more, valuable. The coat fit the man’s body perfectly, so it wasn’t stolen. Logically, a person who could afford clothes like that wouldn’t resort to robbery. The suitcase the young man was carrying looked like a cheap, well-used piece of luggage, which didn’t match their clothes at all.
Furthermore, both men were limping, suggesting they were disabled. Why would a disabled person rob someone? They wouldn’t be able to run or fight. But the taller man was so heavily covered, and it seemed so strange that he couldn’t possibly be a good person.
However, the tall man radiated a fearsome aura that screamed, “Stay away!” Everyone was afraid that he might be a criminal, so no one dared to meddle. They all looked down and walked on their way.
The two men who rushed into the spaceport were none other than Mu Mu and Yan Gui Xing, who were in a hurry to leave the Frontier Star. Yan Gui Xing’s leg injury made him limp, so Mu Mu had found him a sturdy, long branch in the ruins to use as a cane. The branch was crooked, and the ends were too thin. At first, Yan Gui Xing couldn’t figure out how to use it and couldn’t find a foothold, causing him to fall several times. It was Mu Mu, with his own experience, who had to teach him how to use the branch.
Yan Gui Xing had joked with Mu Mu that if they put their two pairs of legs together, they could make a good pair. Mu Mu had looked down at Yan Gui Xing’s legs seriously, then shook his head. “That’s not right. Only Mumu’s right leg is good. Gui Gui, your right leg is hurt too.” Although Yan Gui Xing’s right leg wasn’t as badly injured as his left, it was covered in scrapes. He smiled helplessly. Well, he was right. Now, they couldn’t even make a good pair of legs between the two of them.
On the day they left, it was raining, so they had to use an umbrella. Yan Gui Xing hated the ugly branch and didn’t want to bring it back to be embarrassed, so he purposely left it in the house. From the moment they left the house, Mu Mu felt as if Yan Gui Xing was missing something. It wasn’t until they were almost at the spaceport that Mu Mu realized Yan Gui Xing hadn’t brought his cane.
Mu Mu thought that Yan Gui Xing would have a hard time walking without a cane and wanted to go back and get it. Yan Gui Xing was so tired of that ugly branch. He put a little more pressure on Mu Mu’s shoulder and said he didn’t need it. He had Mu Mu as his “little cane.” Mu Mu’s cheeks puffed out, and he looked like a hamster. He complained that Yan Gui Xing was so heavy, and he would be exhausted if he had to hold him up the whole way. Yan Gui Xing laughed, saying he was just kidding and would never make his little darling work so hard. He shook the umbrella between them, saying that they had this long umbrella, which they could use as a cane. The rain fell faster with Yan Gui Xing’s movements, and the tapping sound of the raindrops was unexpectedly soothing.
Mu Mu realized he was right. An umbrella could be used as a cane, and an extra stick would just be a hassle. He stopped fussing about the branch and focused on the path ahead, which had become difficult to walk on because of the rain. And this is how the passersby saw the tall man who seemed to be holding the shorter man captive.
After entering the spaceport, the two men found the boarding gate for their flight and were given two small metal cards for their first-class tickets to Glass Star. The basic facilities on the Frontier Star were all destroyed by the war, and the network was spotty. This didn’t affect the reconstruction efforts too much, but it was a big problem for the spaceport. So the spaceport went back to the old way of doing things. Staff manned the boarding gates for each planet, and people who wanted to leave had to get the metal card for their ticket from a staff member. Once they reached their destination, a small robot at the exit would sell them a ticket and then destroy their metal card.
It was impossible for anyone to get away with a free ride. A metal sensor was installed at the exit. If a passenger with a metal card went through the exit, an alarm would sound, and the spaceport’s security robots would grab them and take them to the police station. It was also impossible to simply throw the card away in the garbage. The small robots were very dedicated. After all the passengers from the Frontier Star had disembarked, the robots would cross-reference their numbers with the metal cards on hand to make sure everyone had purchased a ticket. If the numbers didn’t match, they would look at the surveillance footage to identify the person and then report them to the police. This seemingly complicated process only took the robots five minutes. So, very few people were willing to get a free ride to the police station.
The flight to Glass Star was two hours away. Yan Gui Xing and Mu Mu found an inconspicuous corner in the hall and sat down. Waiting can be a real test of patience, and the two men passed the time by talking. Suddenly, a series of quick beeps came from their pockets. It was a message notification from their terminals. They looked at each other, and Mu Mu’s face lit up with an uncontainable joy. They both took out their terminals. Yan Gui Xing opened Achi’s messages first, and Mu Mu opened Zheng An’s. But before the messages could even load, the network disappeared again.
“What’s going on? Why did it stop working again?!” Mu Mu complained in a low voice, poking the screen of his terminal.
Yan Gui Xing’s eyes darkened, and he felt a sense of unease. The last time he felt this way was before he went to the battlefield, and he almost died in the enemy ship’s self-destruct sequence. The return of this feeling made Yan Gui Xing, who didn’t usually believe in intuition, put his guard up. He put his terminal back in his pocket, then took Mu Mu’s terminal. “The network will be back once we leave the Frontier Star,” he said gently. Mu Mu gave a low “mhm,” agreeing with him.
Yan Gui Xing looked around at their surroundings. His sharp, eagle-like green eyes took in everyone around them. After confirming there was no immediate danger in the spaceport, he frowned. If the spaceport was safe, the problem could be on the spaceship or Glass Star. The latter wouldn’t be so bad. Being on the ground meant they could handle whatever came their way. But if the problem was on the spaceship, that would be the worst-case scenario. Maybe they shouldn’t leave today and try again another day. Yan Gui Xing immediately dismissed the idea. It was too risky. You never knew what would happen. The fact that the entire military had suddenly left the Frontier Star was already very strange. Unless something unusually difficult had happened, at least one platoon or company would have been left behind.
Yan Gui Xing looked down at his legs, which were wrapped in his black pants. He took a deep breath, pushing away all the bad thoughts. He told himself not to worry about things that hadn’t happened and not to assume the worst. He was lucky to be alive, but that lunatic from the Insectoid army hadn’t been so lucky. If the Insectoid Queen was smart, she wouldn’t try to get revenge for her unlucky son at a time like this.
Yan Gui Xing was clearly burdened by his thoughts, and his expression turned cold. Even Mu Mu noticed something was wrong. But Mu Mu didn’t guess the real reason. He thought he was in pain somewhere. He leaned closer to Yan Gui Xing and cupped his hands around his right hand, which was covered in bandages with a tender scab on the back. “Gui Gui, is it hurting somewhere because of the rain?” he whispered.
Yan Gui Xing took the opportunity to lean into him. He slouched against Mu Mu like a boneless snake, lowering his voice. “Yeah, my leg hurts a little.” Mu Mu had old injuries on his own legs and knew that they were the most uncomfortable on a cloudy or rainy day. He let go of Yan Gui Xing’s hand and reached for his long, straight legs, but halfway through, he remembered that his leg wasn’t fully healed yet. He pulled his hand back and pressed it against Yan Gui Xing’s knee instead.
“It’s always like this when it rains, it’s uncomfortable. When we get back, you should ask Dr. Gongsun to take a look at it to see if it can be completely cured.”
Yan Gui Xing’s gaze fell on Mu Mu’s left leg, and his heart ached as if it were being pierced by needles. He felt a pang of guilt. If he hadn’t been so eager for success back then, would Mu Mu’s injured leg have suffered for so many years? And now, since it couldn’t be cured, he would have to endure this pain for the rest of his life.
A bitter smile appeared on Yan Gui Xing’s lips. His own leg was like this now, probably a form of karmic retribution. He had planned to go into a repair pod and completely heal his leg when he got back, but now he decided against it. This was good. Since Mu Mu’s leg couldn’t be healed, he would suffer with him. He couldn’t change the past, so he would make up for it in a different way.
And when he thought about it differently, the fact that they both had injuries on their legs and could hurt together on rainy days was a kind of romance in itself.
[Author’s Note]: Yan So-and-so is a little bit “off” today, and that’s just fine.
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