CR CH22

Chapter 22: Xiaobai

At night, only two figures could be seen running across the training grounds. Amidst the silence, sounds that usually went unnoticed began to emerge, like unexpected surprises scattered by the Creator. The gentle chirping of insects added a touch of serenity to the night, diluting the subtle tension in the air.

Jiang Tianji jogged steadily, sweat drenching his clothes and leaving dark watermarks across the fabric. Raising his bandage-wrapped hand, he wiped away the sweat that was about to drip into his eyes and looked up at the sky.

He loved looking at the stars. When he was a child, his mother was always busy, constantly traveling between different star systems. Since her work wasn’t suitable for bringing along a child, she would often leave him with the personnel at the headquarters. At night, the adults liked to carry him out to the terrace to look at the stars, pointing in a certain direction to tell him, “Your mother is right over there.”

As he grew older, he became familiar with his mother’s colleagues. Because he wasn’t a troublemaker, everyone grew very fond of him.

At their suggestion, Jiang Yan began taking Jiang Tianji along with her, traveling through various interstellar fortresses. Whenever the adults were busy, he would stay by himself in the temporary lounges, leaning against the small, circular windows to stare outside.

The radiant, magnificent starlight reflected in the child’s eyes—fantastical, mysterious, and beautiful. The delicate fragments of light gathered within his dark green pupils, forming a unique galaxy of his own.

It was a place that could make one forget all worries. People were like tiny specks of dust, floating quietly in that vast sea of stars. Yet, as Jiang Tianji grew older, seeing the exact same scene only filled him with dread.

The sea of stars that once carried his childhood dreams had turned into an endless vortex in his eyes—a hidden abyss that would swallow him up no matter how loudly he screamed.

Earlier in the confinement room, the near-death experience had plunged Jiang Tianji into an absolute terror. He had once Chuunibyou-style fantasized about how calm, composed, and cool he would look in the face of death, but actually experiencing that taste felt like a harsh slap to the face.

Deep down, there was only fear and the raw instinct to survive; he couldn’t afford to care about anything else.

When his consciousness was hazy, he couldn’t distinguish between hallucination and reality. He thought he saw someone walk in. The silver-white luster elongated and blurred in his vision. His gaze clung to it like a life-saving straw, desperately trying to see clearly, but the pain ultimately overwhelmed him. For a fleeting moment, he felt himself becoming incredibly light, completely detached from his own body.

After his vision plunged into complete darkness, he was delivered into a warm, old dream.

The academy playground in the afternoon.

Most of the children were running and playing, enjoying their break. Sunlight filtered through the treetops, swaying with the wind, casting patches of shade beneath the green leaves. Two boys leaned close to each other, their faces carrying the unique round softness and innocence of that age. Jiang Tianji was substantially bigger, making the other boy look delicate and cute by comparison.

“Xiaobai, you’re clearly two years older than me, so why are you so small?” He stared boredly at the other boy, unable to resist reaching out to pinch Xiaobai’s cheek.

The child called Xiaobai shrank back slightly, clutching his sketchbook tightly. “I’m not called Xiaobai… I’m just growing slowly. I’ll get bigger when I grow up.”

—Even his voice was soft and gentle.

Young Jiang immediately pressed further: “Then what is your name?”

“……” Xiaobai fell silent again, burying his head in his drawing.

“Silent again,” he muttered complainingly.

The scene in the dream was blurry. Jiang Tianji couldn’t see his face clearly, only remembering that the boy had very long eyelashes, a face as delicate as sculpted jade, and unkempt, somewhat long silver-white hair. He was a very beautiful child.

Xiaobai sat quietly. With nothing better to do, Jiang Tianji leaned against him to nap, catching a whiff of a crisp fragrance in his dazed state.

“Xiaobai, you smell so good. Did you steal your mom’s perfume?”

Xiaobai looked down and sniffed himself: “No, you’re smelling things.”

“Impossible. My mom says my nose is sharper than a dog’s.” Jiang Tianji leaned closer to him, sniffing around like a small animal. “It is your scent. I’ve smelled it many times. It’s very refreshing… like the scent of jasmine.”

The other boy seemed shocked by his actions, backing away repeatedly until he was pressed into the corner of the wall before stammering out.

“What are you doing?”

“Ahem, I.”

Young Jiang squatted in front of him, watching him for a while. His ears suddenly turned red. After a moment of silence, he looked at him with utmost seriousness: “Xiaobai, uh, I mean… when you grow up, do you want to be my wife?”

His gaze flickered to the side as he began counting the other boy’s merits on his fingers.

“You always smell good, you’re clean, cute, obedient, and you look pretty. When I grow up… wait, no, I can protect you right now.”

Xiaobai curled into a ball, drawing back slightly, appearing somewhat hesitant.

“But I’m a boy.”

“Oh, I know. It’s the same thing, just say yes. I can help you chase away the bad guys later, and then I’ll earn lots of money to buy you whatever you like.”

“The teacher said children shouldn’t do this.”

“We can get engaged first.”

“…Really?”

“Of course!”

“Then… then okay…”

“Awesome! I’m getting married! I’m going back to tell my mom tonight…”

Jiang Tianji bounced up in excitement, lunging forward to give Xiaobai a hug, but suddenly remembering something, he softened his movements.

Looking at the heavily faded scars on Xiaobai’s arms, Jiang Tianji gently blew on them with a look of heartache.

Xiaobai was like a little snowman; the blue veins beneath his skin were faintly visible, making the scars left on his body exceptionally jarring.

“With me around, I won’t let you get hurt again.”

That year, the little Jiang made a massive promise to Xiaobai.

“In the future, these scars will disappear completely. By that time, we will both be happy.”

Two children who understood nothing had formally, privately betrothed themselves to one another.

However, that promise was never fulfilled. One day, Xiaobai suddenly vanished, leaving no word behind.

He vaguely remembered crying his eyes out back then, feeling as though he had suffered some monumental betrayal. He had earnestly recounted his tragic experience to his mother.

That was the first time Jiang Tianji had seen Jiang Yan laugh so happily. Seeing that the child’s heartbreak wasn’t faked, she led him over to a potted plant in the house, telling him to cry over it so the pure-hearted little boy’s tears wouldn’t go to waste.

“Tsk.” A soft, mortified click of the tongue broke the silence of the training grounds.

At twenty years old today, the grown-up Jiang Tianji felt so embarrassed every time he recalled this incident that he wished he could find a hole to crawl into. He could only pray that Xiaobai had a terrible memory and absolutely did not remember a little rogue tricking him into marriage during their childhood.

For some reason, Ling Kongmiao’s face flashed across Jiang Tianji’s mind, his thoughts drifting for a split second. Actually, in a certain sense…

Before this bizarre thought could fully manifest, Jiang Tianji shuddered and couldn’t help but let out a cold snort. How terrifying. If those two had any similarity other than the color white, he would brush his teeth with a toilet brush tomorrow.

While he was deeply lost in thought, another breath joined his side, and a second shadow began running shoulder-to-shoulder with him.

Feng Huo had caught up with him at some point, his expression obscured and unreadable under the dim lighting.

“Hey, what did you mean by what you said back then?”

The Author has something to say:

Here are some explanations~

Captain Ling is the Chief of Special Rescue, while Little Jiang is just a small fry in the basic forces. Therefore, Captain Ling is very busy and appears less frequently in the early stages. I peeked at the manuscript—his appearances will gradually increase around Chapter 25!

All the doubts from earlier will slowly unfold later on. The children’s characters won’t be one-dimensional; they have their own will and pursuits. I also spent a lot of time “getting to know” them, and they can’t be defined by a single adjective. My storytelling level might be limited, but I will treat every story seriously.

Feel free to guess Captain Ling and Little Jiang’s beast forms~