CR CH23

Chapter 23: A Glimpse

The moonlight was thin, and the light remained obscure.

Now that they had calmed down, facing a former partner felt somewhat awkward.

Feng Huo had initially kept his head down while running, deliberately keeping a few paces away from the other man. In the dead silence, he kept feeling a chill down his back. Recalling the sheer ruthlessness this guy had shown during the day, he subtly slowed his pace, letting Jiang Tianji run ahead of him.

In truth, he had realized very early on that Jiang Tianji might not be as good-tempered as he appeared on the surface.

Ji Yandong and the others always called him an idiot or a brute. He indeed wasn’t smart and possessed a terrible temper; when he first arrived here, he had disdained making any friends. But he was lucky to have encountered good people, which allowed him to gradually lower his guard.

No one understood the meaning of peril better than someone like him who came from a D-rank planet. A person with no one to rely on could afford to have a bad temper, but they couldn’t afford to be stupid. If you didn’t know how to read the room or sense a bizarre atmosphere, you would have been chewed up until not even bone fragments remained in that dog-eat-dog place.

In the self-built “little family” back on their D-rank planet, their eldest brother was an ordinary Alpha who had been assigned to a small C-rank planet as a logistics staff and reservist. When his letters arrived home, he always said others treated him well and that everything was wonderful.

They didn’t possess advanced communication equipment to keep in touch, nor could they scrape together enough money to buy an interstellar train ticket. On the day they decided to visit him, they had barely managed to pool together enough currency for a single ticket. Since Feng Huo looked like the hardest one to mess with in their little household, his younger siblings insisted that he go to hold down the fort.

That day, Feng Huo had changed into his most decent clothes to rush to that nameless C-rank planet. The moment he spotted his eldest brother, he ran over with a smile, only for a disdainful murmur to drift from nearby.

“People still wear this kind of clothing nowadays?”

He instinctively looked over toward that person, his brows knitting as he prepared to hurl an insult, but he was dragged back by his brother who rushed over.

His brother had thinned down considerably. He patted Feng Huo’s shoulder reassuringly, though a trace of apology that Feng Huo didn’t quite understand lingered in his gaze.

“Xiaohuo, it’s your first time riding an interstellar train, right? How does it feel? Is everyone doing well lately?”

Feng Huo grinned widely. “It felt pretty unique, and everyone is…”

“Liu Zhao, go buy some water for us,” a rather impolite instruction drifted from behind them.

Yet his brother was completely accustomed to it, pulling him along toward the supermarket.

“Who’s that over there? Never seen him.”

“Just a savage from a D-rank planet, you can tell just by looking at him.”

“……”

Bizarre looks kept darting over from all directions. Feng Huo didn’t care about those looks, but he cared about his brother.

Back on the D-rank planet, everyone was looked at this way, and no one thought much of it. If someone looked for trouble, at worst they would just engage in a deadly brawl; with a worthless life on the line, no one was afraid.

But here, only they were the anomalies, forced to act timidly and shrink back in everything they did, becoming objects of ridicule.

The floors here were pristine, while only they were considered “dirty.”

Beside him, his brother chatted with him incessantly, his voice deliberately softened by a substantial margin. His brother carried a sense of awkward embarrassment that he had never possessed in the past, intentionally or unintentionally turning his body sideways, trying to shield Feng Huo from those gazes and malicious words. But his brother’s frame was slight, and he hadn’t even fully grown himself. He wasn’t looking at anyone else; he kept watching Feng Huo’s expression instead. That appearance made Feng Huo’s heart ache.

In the past at home, his brother’s voice had been the loudest, audible from far away.

Feng Huo clenched his fists, asking him, “Brother, did I embarrass you?”

His brother blanked out for a moment, his face turning red with anxiety. “How could you? You mustn’t think nonsense. I know the situation at home, you guys definitely…!”

In his anxiety, his voice pitched slightly higher. The surrounding people wore half-smiles, staring at them for a moment before turning away to whisper among themselves. He saw his brother clench his fists, but in the end, his brother said nothing, pulling him along as he strode quickly outside.

“It’s because your brother is incompetent, Xiaohuo. Don’t listen to those words. The outside world is still very good; if you get the chance, you must come out.”

Looking at his brother’s tense expression, Feng Huo wanted to ask if his brother was truly living well.

But he knew he couldn’t ask that. The words lodged in his throat, and after a long silence, Feng Huo tugged his brother’s hand. “Brother, there’s a little over a year left before you come home. We’re all waiting for you.”

“What a trashy place, as if anyone cares. It’s just a C-rank planet anyway, nothing to be so arrogant about.”

Hearing him say this, his brother smiled instead. “Mhm, less than a year and I’ll be able to come home. I’ve saved some money; when the time comes, I’ll bring back good things for you all.”

“We don’t want good things. Don’t save money to send back; you’ve starved yourself thin.”

“You kid are talking nonsense, this is all muscle. Watch your mouth.”

The two youths walked with arms thrown over each other’s shoulders amidst the unkind assessments. Feng Huo knew his brother wouldn’t care about those looks; as long as he kept his own spine straight, his brother wouldn’t worry.

The very first lesson every child from a D-rank planet learned upon coming out was to recognize reality—to recognize that this place wouldn’t offer them a friendly face, nor was there anything here worthy of their attachment.

Therefore, when Feng Huo later differentiated into a dominant Alpha and arrived at Z01, he didn’t hold anyone in high regard.

That was until he discovered Ji Yandong and the others were different from those people; that was his first time receiving goodwill. Feng Huo’s method of reciprocating this goodwill was to be obedient, because he had nothing else to offer.

Later, Jiang Tianji arrived. On his very first day, Feng Huo could tell this guy was extraordinary. The feeling was hard to describe; in short, one look and you could tell he had been raised exceptionally well, possessing fine and clean proportions.

Jiang Tianji had no temper, making him comfortable to get along with. Yet, Feng Huo always felt this person was slightly different from Huang Qi and the others. What it was exactly, he couldn’t quite put his finger on; it was all revealed through tiny details.

The first time he sensed an inconsistency was when Jiang Tianji was zoning out. Feng Huo had turned his head to look at that moment, discovering that when the guy wasn’t smiling, he could actually look quite intimidating. Leaning against the window with his arms casually crossed, his face remained devoid of expression as he stared into the distance, leaving no clue as to what he was thinking.

After hesitating for a moment, Feng Huo went up to pat his shoulder. The guy snapped out of it and instinctively smiled at him, reverting to that familiar appearance. While Feng Huo let out a sigh of relief, he felt he was overthinking things.

Jiang Tianji actually knew a great deal, but he didn’t deliberately flaunt it. It was only during casual daily chats that he would smoothly mention things ordinary people had absolutely no knowledge of. When praised with remarks like “as expected of a top graduate from the Federal Military Academy,” he would put on a comical, cheeky front, subtly steering the topic away.

He looked easy to push around and also appeared foolish, but his speech was actually highly measured, possessing a sense of breeding that seemed almost etched into his bones. He was entirely different from those who were truly dense, making him very comfortable to be around.

At first, Feng Huo thought his personality was simply like this—that he just liked being down-to-earth.

That was until the night of the surprise inspection, when they had run in a disheveled state onto the training grounds amidst a barrage of energy shells.

Upon seeing Captain Ling, everyone felt a trace of unease in their hearts. Sure enough, Jiang Tianji clashed with Captain Ling once again.

Feng Huo thought this time would be just like the previous instances, treating it entirely as entertainment. The words Captain Ling spoke were unpleasant, almost bearing an insulting connotation. Just as everyone worried that Jiang Tianji’s self-esteem would take a blow, he lifted his head to pull a funny face at the group, instantly scattering the heavy and awkward atmosphere.

While everyone else was laughing, Feng Huo merely watched him quietly.

Perhaps he was the only one who saw it that day—the exact moment Captain Ling uttered those words, Jiang Tianji’s fists clenched for a split second. Looking from Feng Huo’s angle, the guy’s jawline had tightened rigidly, returning to normal only a moment later.

He had doubted whether he had misseen it, but ultimately didn’t take it to heart.

It was only when Huang Qi jokingly remarked, “If this were Feng Huo, he would have jumped off a building,” that Feng Huo couldn’t resist speaking up on Jiang Tianji’s behalf.

“What’s the big deal? A real man is open and aboveboard, capable of enduring what ordinary people cannot.”

He didn’t know why Jiang Tianji endured it, but to be able to go to this extent, the man must have his own reasons. Everyone possessed secrets they didn’t want others to know, and he was the same.

It was only later with the birth of the rumors—perhaps because it touched upon a pain buried deep within his own heart—that he began to read too much into things. The little peculiarities of Jiang Tianji’s past pieced together, leaving him somewhat uneasy.

He knew he was in the wrong, yet he couldn’t adjust his mindset. This resentment accumulated more and more, becoming increasingly excessive. Sometimes when his teammates scolded him, Feng Huo actually felt a bit better inside, but Jiang Tianji had never targeted him, nor had he ever gotten angry with him.

It was as if he had never even existed in Jiang Tianji’s eyes, causing the frustration in his heart to deepen. He couldn’t convince himself to lower his guard regarding certain matters; this uncertainty always reminded him of his brother. He desperately craved a sense of security.

If my brother back then had…

Feng Huo closed his eyes briefly, adjusting his breathing as he ran, recalling the morning.

He didn’t know which bastard had been fanning the flames near his ear. Feng Huo’s temper was inherently terrible to begin with, and he had actually regretted the words the moment they left his mouth.

When Jiang Tianji’s punch swung over, everyone was caught completely off guard, including himself.

He couldn’t even clearly remember how he had ended up scuffling with the other man; his body seemed to be operating entirely on instinct to fight back.

He only remembered that Jiang Tianji’s strength felt unfamiliar and immense. When they wrestled to the edge, the man suddenly slammed him brutally against the wall.

“Anyone has the right to say those words, but you don’t.”

Just as Feng Huo was about to curse, he lifted his eyes and locked onto that freezing gaze, the complexity within it sending a chill through him.

It wasn’t directed at any specific individual; it felt more like a helpless venting of despair. At that fraction of a second, Feng Huo seemed to catch a glimpse of the real him.

“My parents died as early as twenty years ago. They died at the Tianheng Angle, all to protect you people.”

Hearing these words, Feng Huo was stunned, completely unable to react.

That punch came down without a shred of mercy. He caught the scent of a dangerous aura—what was clearly a very crisp and harmless lemon scent, resembling the air fresheners used daily, pinned him down so hard he could barely breathe.

The rioting pheromones caused the Alphas to act like wild beasts wanting to tear each other apart, continuing until the officers pulled them away.