MCL CH114

Chapter 114: A. Good. Talk….

Yan Xingzhou’s coma lasted longer than expected.

According to Ju Ze’s description, after previous treatments from Shen Nanyang, he would wake up in three days at most. But this time, seven days had passed without him realizing it.

The room was quiet, with only the faint, restless agitation of supernatural energy fluctuations.

Another day passed, and the sky outside darkened once again. Only the desk lamp cast a faint light, illuminating the figure at the desk.

The phone screen lit up, and another message popped up.

Lin Xi picked it up and opened it. He saw the source of the message at a glance: it was his adjutant in the Third Administration, Pu Sui. Through the text, he could feel the dissatisfaction in his words: [Director Lin, how can you handle such important work so casually? Just handing over the content report to the Executor is one thing, but as the person in charge of this front-line mission, I believe you should at least give a formal, in-person report.]

Lin Xi tapped his fingers and replied: [Got it, got it. I’ve already told the Executor that he can come to me with any questions, and I will do my best to answer them.]

Pu Sui: [I hope you can adapt to your current position as soon as possible, correct your attitude, and have the self-awareness of the Director of the Third Administration.]

Lin Xi: [Okay, okay. Haven’t I been actively assisting with rift cleanup work every day? I guarantee I won’t disappoint my adjutant.]

It was unknown whether the other party was finally convinced or simply felt completely speechless, but the phone finally stopped vibrating.

[Sometimes, I really wonder, between you and that Pu guy, who’s the real boss.]

Calamity’s voice sounded in his mind.

“After all, he was trained by Su Qiuyin. It’s normal for him to be a bit rigid.” Lin Xi replied nonchalantly, casually scrolling through his inbox. After replying to a few recent work-related messages, he slowly stretched and looked at the figure on the bed.

In just a few short days, rifts around the world had begun to erupt more frequently. Even J City itself had sounded the alarm.

Judging from the emergency missions he received, several times the rifts had even appeared in the city center without any warning. Because of this, more panic began to spread among the public.

Lin Xi hadn’t been by Yan Xingzhou’s side all the time these past few days.

The man hadn’t woken up, but given his current identity, his external work had to continue. Today, just like the previous few days, he had been out on an operation all day. He had just managed to come back, take a shower, and relax when, in no time, many work messages came chasing after him.

If it was like this for him, one could only imagine how busy the others at the United Administration were.

Compared with what Shen Nanyang had confessed, it more or less did feel like the end of the world could come at any time.

The wind forebodes a coming storm.

However, although the outside world was changing drastically every second, compared to all that, Lin Xi was more concerned about the man in the room.

He walked to the bedside and sat down, casually brushing away the stray strands of hair from Yan Xingzhou’s forehead. His cold fingertips touched the thin layer of sweat remaining on his brow.

Without the faint smile he usually wore when facing others, Lin Xi’s lowered eyelids hid an unreadable emotion in his eyes.

Though there was no fluctuation, the extremely low atmospheric pressure around him seemed to predict a storm that could break at any moment.

[Speaking of which, you’re calmer than I thought.]

[The person who attacked you back then has already exposed himself. I thought you would go straight to the research institute to kill him, repaying grievance for grievance and taking revenge.]

[You can’t have been fooled by such high-sounding rhetoric, right? Or are you saying that for the future of humanity, you also empathize and think that sacrificing you is a very reasonable choice?]

[Are you still reminiscing about that ridiculous kindness from when you were human?]

“Neither,” Lin Xi replied. “I’m keeping Shen Nanyang alive only because he is still useful to me.”

At this point, a playful smile finally touched his lips. “But you, why do I feel you’re more anxious than I am? Calamity, so eager for me to erase Shen Nanyang. It seems you’re worried his existence will threaten the future of you contaminants? You know what those things are secretly brewing, don’t you? Let me guess, when will the final premeditated blow be? Within ten years, five years… three years? Or even sooner, within this very year.”

[…]

A suspicious silence fell in his mind. A long time later, the voice sounded again: [How would I know? cough cough cough, I’ve been swallowed by you for so long. Their plans have nothing to do with me anymore.]

“Oh, is that so?” Lin Xi’s voice drawled out with a slight lilt. “Don’t you think you’re much more pathetic than I am right now? At least I still have the choice of whether to take revenge and when. But you, you’ve long been abandoned by your lowly contaminant world. The King of Contaminants? Heh, a stray dog tucking its tail and hiding everywhere, a type of food for those contaminants trying to obtain a source of power. These two descriptions might suit you better.”

[…QAQ]

[Your mouth is much more venomous than mine! Why do you have to stab me in the heart every time you speak!]

“If you know that, then don’t provoke me,” Lin Xi sneered. “I’ve been in a bad mood lately.”

To be precise, not just in a bad mood, but a very bad mood—although entering rifts every day allowed him to vent appropriately, if this guy Yan Xingzhou didn’t wake up soon, he couldn’t guarantee what would happen.

The voice in his mind tactfully quieted down.

Evidently, a certain contaminant also knew very well that popping up now to become the target of his anger was clearly not a smart choice.

Yan Xingzhou lay quietly on the bed, an IV tube connected to his hand, injecting the nutrients needed for the past few days. On the bedside table was the meal Ju Ze had brought, untouched, and by now, it was clearly cold.

In fact, compared to when he first came back, Yan Xingzhou’s supernatural energy fluctuations were already noticeably more stable. The treatment had clearly been effective. It was just that for some reason, he still hadn’t woken up.

Lin Xi’s gaze fell on Yan Xingzhou’s tightly furrowed brow. After a moment, he reached out and gently smoothed it, his low murmur the only sound in the room, “Sometimes… I really want to see what’s in your dreams, what’s making you not want to wake up for so long.”

As he spoke, he was about to withdraw his hand.

At that moment, his arm was suddenly grabbed by a force.

Lin Xi’s movement paused. Realizing what was happening, he looked up and happened to meet Yan Xingzhou’s slowly opening eyes.

His eyelashes trembled silently, his expression froze, and only a cold scoff remained. “So, you’ve finally deigned to wake up.”

As his voice fell, he received no reply, but he could clearly feel the grip on his wrist tighten.

Lin Xi finally frowned slightly. “What are you…”

Before the words could come out, he was pulled forward by a force.

The next second, he fell directly into a broad chest. The kiss that covered his lips was like a test, and also like a confirmation. It started cautiously and gradually became more intense, slowly making their breathing ragged and hurried.

Lin Xi did not push him away.

The kiss seemed to stretch on for a long time, until their breaths were completely intertwined, until the thin layer of sweat that had formed on their bodies was stained with the other’s scent.

Finally, all the explosive emotions seemed to subside bit by bit, leaving only a peaceful embrace.

Lin Xi looked at Yan Xingzhou. As their eyes met, he caught the man’s prolonged daze.

Those dark eyes seemed to be shrouded in a thin layer of mist, as if he hadn’t completely withdrawn from a deep dream. It was only after a long stare that these complex, shrouded emotions faded bit by bit.

Lin Xi could feel that Yan Xingzhou was still in a bit of a trance. It seemed that only after a long while did the man finally react, but he still stared at him, his brow subconsciously furrowed as if in thought, trying hard to confirm something.

This made Lin Xi frown as well.

He suddenly remembered that he had seen this expression on Yan Xingzhou before, at the villa in N City.

It was just that when Yan Xingzhou came downstairs that day, he had only assumed the man was still suspicious of his identity, so he hadn’t thought much of it.

Looking at it now, it seemed that many things had shown signs long ago.

For a time, no one in the room spoke.

Lin Xi felt the grip on his wrist loosen. It seemed that at this moment, Yan Xingzhou had finally, completely, come back to his senses.

The fleeting change in his expression gave Lin Xi an illusion, as if—at this very moment, the man had finally remembered who he was.

But Yan Xingzhou quickly composed himself, as if everything upon first waking was just an illusion. “You… why are you here?”

“Why am I here?” Lin Xi raised an eyebrow, as if he had heard the funniest joke in the world. “If I’m not here by your bedside, where do you think I should be right now?”

“…” Yan Xingzhou was momentarily speechless, a rare occurrence. “It’s just a routine treatment. A little rest is all that’s needed. You could have safely left it to Ju Ze to arrange.”

“Safely left it to Assistant Ju?” Lin Xi’s smile became even more pleasant. He asked with a sincere face, “President Yan, do you know how many days your so-called ‘little rest’ has been?”

These words made Yan Xingzhou realize. He picked up the phone from the bedside table and looked at the date, falling completely silent.

From his expression, it was not hard to see that the duration of this coma had also exceeded his expectations.

“But overall, the results are good. At least your supernatural energy fluctuations are stable now, and you’ve finally finished resting and woken up.”

Lin Xi very considerately removed the IV tube from Yan Xingzhou’s hand. A flame from his fingertip gently circled the bowl and chopsticks, precisely heating the food. He thoughtfully handed it to Yan Xingzhou. “You haven’t eaten for so many days. Eat something first.”

Yan Xingzhou reached out to take it. Just as he was about to respond, he heard Lin Xi continue unhurriedly, “After you finish eating, you should have a. good. talk. with me, your bedside family member.”

Yan Xingzhou: “…”

His hand, which took the tray, trembled slightly. He opened his mouth and finally replied, “Okay.”

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