Chapter 5: Return
Ying wrapped Yu She’s tail around his own body again and again, but lacking any vitality, it slipped off every time. He kissed his body as if possessed, and when he was too exhausted to continue, he simply held him, sitting motionless for a whole day.
Yu She reached out to virtually stroke this big idiot’s head. Ying really wasn’t one to cry, but the aura permeating from his entire body was even more agonizing than tears.
Suddenly, Ying put Yu She’s body down, stood up, and walked straight toward Yu She’s spirit. Yu She’s heart tightened slightly. Did he discover me?
But Ying only stopped beside him. With Yu She feeling somewhat apprehensive, Ying tore open the carcass of the prey beside him and ripped off a few chunks of meat.
So it was just that he and the prey were standing in the same spot. Yu She couldn’t say whether he was disappointed or relieved.
After tearing off the meat, Ying didn’t eat it; instead, he ran outside.
Yu She stared blankly in the direction he left. Where is he going?
His confusion didn’t last long. Ying returned shortly. His footsteps were somewhat rushed, and when he got closer, Yu She finally noticed that his face and body were covered in black and white patches. Upon closer inspection, there were even a few burn blisters.
He carefully plucked a black, charcoal-like object from a branch in his hand, blew on it, tore off a small piece, and stuffed it into Yu She’s physical mouth.
His face still carried a somewhat ingratiating, silly smile. “She, I learned how to make cooked meat. Wake up after you eat it, okay? Stop throwing a tantrum, I’ll listen to everything you say.”
Yu She’s heart instantly felt as if it had been struck by a heavy object, aching dully. He didn’t know why his eyes felt so sore. This big idiot… could eating a piece of cooked meat really bring the dead back to life? Did he think this was Tang Monk’s flesh?
Even if it was Tang Monk’s flesh, it had been burned to a crisp; it probably wouldn’t work anyway.
Ying squeezed and rubbed the tip of Yu She’s tail, but Yu She didn’t playfully whip him with it as he imagined. The corners of Ying’s expectant mouth slowly drooped.
For the next few days, Ying repeated the exact same routine. If it weren’t for the light in Ying’s eyes growing increasingly dim, Yu She would have thought he was stuck in a time loop.
He couldn’t bear to watch any longer. As if God had heard his plea, his alarm clock rang.
This sleep felt like he hadn’t slept at all. Facing the mirror in the bathroom, he saw the dark circles under his eyes and his pale face, looking exactly like a scholar who had his life essence sucked dry in a ghost story.
He mechanically chewed the food in his mouth. Even though this meal had all the proper seasonings and was countless times better than the wood-like roasted meat in the primeval forest, he found it completely tasteless. He shoved a few more bites into his mouth, but in the end, his stomach defied his brain’s commands first.
The sound of Yu She vomiting echoed from the bathroom, lasting for quite a while. With the flush of the toilet, everything returned to peace.
He couldn’t stomach this meal anymore. Yu She didn’t persist in torturing his body. Seeing that it was about time, he put on his clothes, took his thesis, and headed out.
After handing the thesis to his advisor, a weight was lifted off his mind. He walked on the bustling streets, surrounded by noisy and lively crowds, yet he still didn’t feel the slightest sense of belonging.
Just like that, he walked in a daze, not knowing where his feet were taking him. When he snapped back to his senses, he was in an unfamiliar place again. Fortunately, there was a subway station across the street. As long as he found the subway, he could find his way home.
Perhaps the area was too remote; there were hardly any people on either side of the road. He stood alone at the edge of the crosswalk waiting for the red light. This red light was exceptionally long—two minutes—something he had never seen before.
Finally, the number jumped to 1. After it turned green, he started walking across the street, but the sudden screams of a crowd reached his ears.
He was a bit confused. What are they screaming about? Eh, strange, why can’t I walk anymore?
With a heavy “bang,” the sound of a body hitting the ground echoed. Yu She looked up at today’s somewhat gloomy sky.
Ah~ So he was hit by a car. Let him think about who sent it. Was it his younger brother from a different father, or his older sister from a different mother? Or perhaps, they had joined forces. But he was afraid no one would be around to give him the answer to this question.
Yu She’s consciousness gradually blurred. Before plunging completely into darkness, he thought that maybe starting out as a snake in a primeval forest wasn’t so bad after all.
He didn’t know how long he wandered in the chaos. Was the road to the underworld really this long?
Who is it? So annoying. I’m already dead, yet they keep poking my mouth. Bah! What is this in my mouth? It’s so bitter!
Unable to endure it, Yu She bit down on the long object that was shoving strange things into his mouth. The long object seemed to freeze. He stuck out his tongue, licked it, and bit it twice more.
Mhm~ It seems to be a finger. Why am I so hungry? It seems I didn’t die after all. As if realizing something, he struggled to open his eyes, and unsurprisingly saw a completely stunned Ying.
At the moment he saw Ying, he opened his mouth, but there were no words to describe the complexity of his feelings. So everything he saw in the dream was real. He didn’t know how many days had passed since he stopped breathing. Ying’s human form had gone from a well-proportioned magazine cover model to a bony beggar who seemed to have been wandering the streets for years.
His cheeks were sunken in, those sharp eagle eyes had lost their luster, his lips were cracked, and his whole person had withered down to a skeleton.
Looking at Ying, who had reduced himself to this state, Yu She felt a wave of heartache mixed with an indescribable joy. So there really was someone who cared about him and relied on him this much.
A video he had scrolled past one night flashed through his mind: Eagles are absolutely devoted and loyal to their mates from beginning to end. If their other half accidentally encounters danger, they will risk their lives to save them. There will never be a third party between them. Even if they lose their other half, the remaining eagle will not eat or drink until they starve to death; they will never live alone in this world.
Yu She couldn’t articulate his complex feelings right now. Ying took him as a mate? How was he going to explain to him that they were both men?
Forget it, he’d talk about it later.
It had been half a day, why was this big idiot still motionless?
“Why are you spacing out again? I’m so hungry I have no strength left. Hurry up and find me some food.”
Yu She skillfully swung his tail and smacked it against Ying’s dazed face, looking at his silly expression.
“I… I don’t dare to move. I’m afraid that if I move, I’ll wake up from this dream.”
He felt somewhat wronged. Such a large person stood there awkwardly, wanting to reach out and touch Yu She, yet absolutely terrified to do so. He had dreamed of this scene several times, but the moment he touched Yu She, he would disappear.
Looking at his slightly red-rimmed eyes, Yu She’s heart ultimately softened.
“Pick me up. Let’s go out and find food together.”
If he had even a bit of strength left, he would have moved himself. He really could only swing his tail right now.
Ying hesitated a bit. After dawdling for a long time, as if making a monumental decision, he closed his eyes, supported Yu She by his arms, and gently picked him up.
The slightly cool and delicate touch in his hands didn’t disappear, and that slippery tail wrapped around his waist on its own accord. This time, it didn’t slip down even without him holding it.
“She, are you really awake?”
He tentatively touched Yu She’s face, then touched further down his neck, his unclothed upper body, tracing all the way down to the tip of his tail.
Yu She got goosebumps all over from his touch. A warm hand that didn’t belong to him sliding over his body felt so weird, but he didn’t voice out to stop him. Leaving for these few days had scared the kid to death. Feeling guilty, he wrapped his arms around Ying’s neck and rubbed his cheek affectionately against his.
“I just slept for a few more days.”
He tried to reassure Ying and didn’t mention the matters of the modern world. Anyway, he was completely dead over there, and explaining too much would be incredibly troublesome.
Speaking of which, he died right in front of the public eye. His brother and sister were really stupid. If they had found an empty place to kill him, probably no one would have found out for a year or two.
“Will you sleep again?”
Ying lowered his head. From behind him, Yu She couldn’t see his expression clearly.
“I won’t sleep like that again.”
As if hearing a positive answer, Ying finally recovered some vitality. He hugged Yu She’s tail tightly and took him out to find something to eat.
Every two steps he took, he would call out to him, and Yu She responded to him tirelessly time and again.
One eagle and one snake walked through the dangerous forest. One would occasionally call out “She,” and the other would immediately respond “Mhm.”
In the end, it was Yu She who couldn’t stand it anymore. Using the last bit of strength in his entire body, he twisted around on Ying, turning his upper body to face him, chest to chest, and rested his head on Ying’s shoulder so he could feel his breathing and heartbeat.
“Ying, I’m here. I won’t go to sleep.”
Ying just hugged him tighter and didn’t speak.
“Ying, you’re so thin. It hurts.”
His formerly firm pectoral and abdominal muscles were all gone, leaving only protruding ribs. Pressing against his body hurt from the hard bones.
“I thought you… so I stopped eating. I’ll eat properly from now on.”
He gently stroked Yu She’s long hair. The female liked his previously strong appearance; if he didn’t change back, would he go to sleep again?
“You thought I was dead? And you were going to commit suicide by going on a hunger strike?”
Yu She forcefully pulled his hair, angry that this person didn’t cherish himself. If he had stopped breathing, this Ying really wasn’t going to live anymore! If he had died a few days later over there, he’d probably have had to collect his corpse.
Ying let him mess around. Regarding the question he raised, he neither admitted nor denied it; he just smiled, watching Yu She’s exasperated appearance.
Meeting Ying’s eyes, Yu She somehow found himself momentarily speechless. No matter what, he couldn’t bring himself to say words like ‘if I die, you have to keep living’. At this moment, he finally realized that to an eagle, losing a mate was more terrifying than death.
He sighed and lay quietly on Ying’s body.
“Hurry up and find food. I’m starving to death!”
He ordered Ying in a huff.
Hearing the word ‘death’, Ying stiffened entirely. He immediately quickened his pace, found a safe place to put him down, then turned into his beast form and went hunting.
Before he flew away, Yu She even shouted instructions at him: “No big rabbits!”
Ying nodded to indicate he understood and left.
He was truly scared out of his wits by Yu She and didn’t dare to leave for too long. Therefore, he moved very fast. In no time, he came back with a pheasant in his talons. He remembered Yu She loved eating the meat of this kind of animal.
The two sat by the lit campfire. Ying actively took on the task of roasting the meat. Thinking of the black, charcoal-like thing he saw in his dream, Yu She’s scalp tingled.
After thinking about it, he still demonstrated it for Ying once. Ying learned with extreme seriousness, his eyes never leaving the campfire.
The two ate and slept, slept and ate. Just like that, a few days passed. Except that every night, Ying would wake up several times. Afraid of waking him, he would carefully touch his chest to see if he had a heartbeat, confirming if he was still alive.
Yu She felt a bit of sorrow, so he let him toss and turn time and again. Even when he was awakened by him, he pretended not to know.
After a few days, his body was mostly recovered. Yu She didn’t want to sleep in the tree hollow anymore; it was time to consider building a house. After breakfast this morning, Ying turned back into his beast form and carried him on his back to look for a suitable place to make a home.
Finally, when the sun was about to set, they found two adjacent, super large trees. Pink petals fell rustling down. Yu She immediately decided on these two trees.
Recommended Reads
