EDEH Chapter 110

Forty minutes in the small grove with no one to disturb them, except for the adjutant calling midway, dealt with by Huo Yanji’s deep voice.

 

Forty minutes could only be hasty, superficial, quick—but it had the opposite effect. Bean-sized sweat drops slid down his sharp jawline, caught by a slender vine tip reaching over.

 

Sang Jue’s body was suspended, back against the tree, with only one support point.

 

The black military uniform was slightly dampened by sweat. Dark green vines wrapped around the gaps at the connection point, sometimes contracting, sometimes tightening. A belt gagged Sang Jue’s mouth—he bit down hard, and even the wind couldn’t mask the panting in the air.

 

Sang Jue didn’t want to bite the belt either, but humans were creatures very concerned with privacy—what to do in what situations, what could be done in public, what must be done in private.

 

Other creatures didn’t have so many concerns. They could be in forests, ruins, wild streams… anywhere, not caring whether other life existed around them.

 

“Cool down for a bit before leaving.”

 

“It’s you who needs to cool down, not me.” Sang Jue nestled in Huo Yanji’s arms, his bottom supported, arms around Huo Yanji’s neck.

 

Wait… neck?

 

Sang Jue let go of Huo Yanji’s neck, wanting to look at his own hands, nearly falling backwards. Fortunately, Huo Yanji freed one hand in time to catch him.

 

“Stupid?”

 

“I’m not stupid.” Sang Jue said: “You weren’t holding me steady.”

 

Huo Yanji patted his bouncy bottom: “I don’t have as many hands as you.”

 

“I don’t either.” Sang Jue showed him his hands: “They changed back.”

 

Huo Yanji said: “Little waste.”

 

Sang Jue huffed quietly, not arguing with him. After all, he indeed couldn’t control himself yet—perhaps the ivy genes weren’t stable.

 

Tree shadows layered heavily, with faint moonlight filtering through dense canopy into the woods, bringing slight rustling sounds.

 

The sweat-soaked undershirt was blown by wind into cold sweat. Both had calmed down—accurately speaking, Huo Yanji had calmed down. After all, what could be done in forty minutes? Just a taste.

 

“Let’s go. If we don’t return soon, they’ll come looking.”

 

“Mm.”

 

Sang Jue lowered his head to straighten his clothes and followed Huo Yanji’s steps.

 

The convoy hadn’t lit fires, only using flint to make several lanterns placed roadside for illumination. The bright youth followed behind the older man, emerging from the forest.

 

Everyone kept their eyes forward—those who should rest rested, those with needs handled their needs.

 

Huo Yanji’s gaze touched a spot and he turned to Sang Jue: “Food’s in the backpack—sandwiches. Eat something.”

 

Sang Jue nodded: “Okay.”

 

By a nearby armored vehicle, Saiya hurriedly looked away, pretending nothing happened as he turned to gnaw compressed biscuits.

 

“Saiya.”

 

Saiya took a deep breath, turned around, forcing a smile: “Sir.”

 

Huo Yanji commented flatly: “Very ugly smile.”

 

Saiya: “…Oh.”

 

He looked at his superior, meeting his gaze for a while before looking away first, heart pounding.

 

Staring vaguely into space, it took Saiya a while to react—what was he feeling guilty about!

 

Huo Yanji looked thoughtful and suddenly said: “You weren’t unconscious then?”

 

“…”

 

Saiya’s pupils contracted. After a long while, he said hoarsely: “Sang… woke up for a bit.”

 

Previously in the pool water being chased by worm swarms, everyone couldn’t hold on—they’d dived too long. The exit was right ahead, but their limbs couldn’t stop going weak.

 

Saiya wasn’t completely unconscious then. He only saw at the fire-lit red water surface of the exit, a huge shadow suddenly diving down.

 

Then he fainted, but being a deviant with extremely strong physique, after choking on just a few mouthfuls and being rescued, he naturally woke quickly.

 

He lay on the ground in a sorry state, seeing in his blurred vision a dragon’s shadow with its back to him, staring at his superior.

 

He had no time to wonder why only Huo Yanji was on a separate ground while they were piled together like corpses.

 

His body completely stiffened. He instinctively held his breath—even as a deviant, it was almost impossible to kill an evil dragon at six or seven meters distance and rescue his superior unharmed, even if the dragon seemed unguarded.

 

He first considered whether to speak up to draw the dragon away, giving his superior better survival odds.

 

But then he thought—evil dragons had low contamination desire and were usually only interested in humans for one reason… taking a fancy to the human’s beauty to bring back to their lair.

 

Saiya didn’t think himself ugly, but compared to his superior, what were the odds of attracting the dragon away? Probability was rather low.

 

After his mind went through countless turns, his superior woke up.

 

From Saiya’s perspective, though his superior remained alertly still, the evil dragon lowered its head as if to bite off his head in one gulp.

 

Just as he was about to jump up regardless, he heard Huo Yanji call: “Sang Jue?”

 

Saiya was instantly stunned. Before he could react, the human and dragon began chatting as if there was no language barrier.

 

“Too big, can’t carry you.”

 

“Roar.”

 

“Injured?”

 

“Roar.”

 

…In any case, a very surreal scene.

 

His breathing nearly gave him away, but fortunately the nearby Hao Hui suddenly woke and was directly scared unconscious, drawing the attention of both human and dragon.

 

Fearing discovery, Saiya even forced himself unconscious.

 

The reason he directly followed Hao Hui to the solar base station to continue the mission afterward, rather than participate in rescuing Huo Yanji, was understanding that if the evil dragon was Sang Jue, Huo Yanji wouldn’t be in danger.

 

Though he didn’t understand why, his brain couldn’t comprehend it, and his body was instinctively wary and fearful, from their conversation it seemed dragon-form Sang Jue was controllable—could understand Huo Yanji’s words and was indeed obedient.

 

So many days had passed. He’d been restraining himself from thinking about Sang Jue’s identity, but couldn’t control his wandering thoughts.

 

Who was Sang Jue?

 

Was he a special case among deviants who had perfectly fused with contaminants?

 

Or was Sang Jue not human at all, but a monster like humanoid creatures that could devour human genes?

 

If the latter, could Sang Jue, who could take human form and had thoughts and behavioral logic, still be considered a monster? Was his existence exceptional, or was there a larger population?

 

Did this truly validate what some extreme groups had said decades ago—all creatures were evolving while only humans were being naturally eliminated, with higher beings destined to replace human civilization?

 

Humans were never great, just insignificant ants in the world’s laws.

 

…

 

Since everything was out in the open, Saiya no longer hid his concerns: “Sir, have you clarified Sang Jue’s identity? If he’s a perfect fusion, then…”

 

He wanted to say that research facilities desperately needed such exceptional specimens for study.

 

But looking into Huo Yanji’s deep eyes, he inexplicably couldn’t speak.

 

Huo Yanji said: “No.”

 

Saiya was stunned.

 

So Sang Jue really wasn’t human?

 

Accusatory words instantly rushed into his mind regardless—as a human general, how could Huo Yanji be with a monster so recklessly despite the risks?

 

But then he understood such accusations were groundless. Contaminants had killed many people and seized human living space, but that wasn’t Sang Jue’s fault.

 

He was silent for a while, avoiding the topic of Huo Yanji and Sang Jue’s relationship, and hesitantly said: “Sir, shouldn’t you ask Sang Jue if there are other dragons that can become human?”

 

Huo Yanji looked back. Sang Jue was leaning against the vehicle, head down eating a sandwich, occasionally glancing over calmly.

 

Huo Yanji turned to Saiya: “Why don’t you ask him yourself? He can hear you.”

 

Saiya was stunned for a second before realizing Huo Yanji meant that across a distance of over ten meters, Sang Jue could hear what he was saying.

 

He instinctively stepped back, hurriedly waving his hands: “For-forget it…”

 

Huo Yanji turned around, paused, then dropped a flat statement: “Any thoughts you’re having now, I’ve already considered. For me, human interests always come first.”

 

This clarified his stance, and Saiya’s tense nerves relaxed slightly.

 

But after a while he realized—knowing Sang Jue could hear their conversation, why would Huo Yanji still say this? Wasn’t he afraid Sang Jue would become angry from embarrassment?

 

Puzzled, he only saw Huo Yanji walk to Sang Jue and wipe breadcrumbs from the corner of his mouth.

 

Sang Jue didn’t seem angry, saying something quietly that he couldn’t hear.

 

Saiya shook his head and turned away, suddenly feeling a second of strange pity for Sang Jue.

 

When such an innocent ‘monster’ met someone like Huo Yanji who prioritized rationality above all, it was hard to say whether it was fortune or tragedy.

 

Saiya had thought about everything these days, except doubting whether Sang Jue’s nature was treacherous and cunning. Just watching his every move made such thoughts impossible.

 

How could he possibly outmaneuver the general?

 

…

 

“Uncomfortable?”

 

“No.” Sang Jue tugged at his waistband: “No water to bathe, sticky.”

 

Sang Jue had slight germophobia, probably because the home planet… probably because the research institute he lived in over a hundred years ago was too clean. Daily teeth brushing and bathing had become habits carved into his bones, and his skin had to stay fresh and clean at all times.

 

“You can rest once we reach District Seven.”

 

“Can you too?”

 

Huo Yanji paused slightly: “After this busy period.”

 

Sang Jue bent down, lifted his leg, and sat in the rear compartment, saying to Huo Yanji standing outside: “You’ll never finish being busy.”

 

Huo Yanji was speechless.

 

“After this busy period” was as absurd as saying “when the world returns to order.”

 

Burden after burden pressed on Huo Yanji’s shoulders. At such a sensitive, critical moment, it was hard for him to get a good night’s sleep. Even if everything developed in a positive direction, it would take one or two decades for humanity’s situation to stabilize.

 

Only a very small part of Huo Yanji belonged to Sang Jue—a very, very small part.

 

But Sang Jue no longer complained like before, telling Huo Yanji to go sleep or expressing demands, because he knew he couldn’t change anything.

 

Not far away, the adjutant called: “Sir, Major General Wei Lan sent communication. There’s a situation in the main city.”

 

Huo Yanji frowned and immediately strode away toward the communication vehicle.

 

Almost no one in the main city knew Huo Yanji had already left the underground city—this was to prevent other interested parties from focusing attention on the aircraft prematurely, saving much trouble.

 

Whoever held the aircraft’s resources would essentially control all humanity. At this time, anyone with improper intentions might be tempted to try seizing the resources.

 

Main city, with torrential rain and thunderbolts streaking across the sky, illuminating the dark night.

 

In the conference room, silence.

 

After a while, the old general asked: “How’s the situation in the underground city area?”

 

“According to Major General Wei Lan’s report, the offensive and defensive battle will take about another week to settle.”

 

Two days ago the main city received Wei Lan’s message—the underground city hadn’t abandoned the surface; it was purely a conspiracy planned by Madam Evelyn and rebels. As for opening the passages, they’d have to wait until capturing Madam Evelyn.

 

“I heard the rebels are now united under a woman?”

 

“Yes, called Ji Zhen.”

 

“Ji Zhen…?” The old general suddenly looked up as if remembering something, then clenched his fists against his wrinkled forehead: “It’s all karma.”

 

“You’ve heard of Ji Zhen? I investigated—this woman suddenly appeared in recent years, a very powerful deviant, but kept a low profile, so we didn’t get information in time.”

 

“She’s Bo Qing’s sister, biological sister.” The old general wearily closed his eyes: “She and Bo Qing, along with the Huo brothers, were the only two sets of twins born that year. I held them with my own hands when they were born.”

 

Everyone inevitably thought of the mass trial from over ten years ago and fell silent again. Though many years had passed, memories of that year’s madness remained vivid.

 

Even the riotous mob who celebrated that year had died in recent disasters.

 

In some sense, they were all victims who lost the ability for independent thought under apocalyptic ideological conditioning, led by the nose by public opinion and higher-ups as tools for killing.

 

But everything seemed to be mutually generating and restraining in self-circulation, like the “karma” humans often spoke of hundreds of years ago.

 

Every action planted a cause, awaiting its effect in the near future.

 

“By the way, have they arrived?”

 

Everyone’s expressions tensed. After a long while, one officer answered: “According to General Huo’s reply, they’re ready to depart.”

 

After receiving word that the underground city hadn’t abandoned the surface and Wei Lan could handle the underground city area situation alone, Huo Jiangmian returned, delivering a deadly strike to the rebels causing casualties in the main city’s outer ring.

 

According to the adjutant’s report, 731 rebels, not one escaped—the methods were ruthlessly brutal.

 

Soon after, Huo Jiangmian went to execute a mission—a not-so-secret secret mission.

 

The old general murmured: “That’s good… the final gamble.”

 

Ling Gen had a splitting headache: “General Huo was so opposed before. If he finds out…”

 

Someone said: “This was voluntarily requested by the people. It can’t be lumped together with previous situations.”

 

“The problem is, Huo Jiangmian’s involved too.” An officer said: “I don’t understand why you agreed to let Huo Jiangmian lead. I’m usually good at reading people—the relationship between those brothers is definitely not as bad as it appears on the surface. This trip could be called a near-death mission. Huo Jiangmian’s reputation may be poor and awkward now, but if he dies, and you have doubts about Sang Jue’s identity and something else happens, don’t break people’s hearts.”

 

The old general said calmly: “We must prepare for the worst. The underground city may not open again, and Yanji may not return to the surface. Outside now is crisis after crisis—severe weather, contaminated monsters unusually agitated recently, rebels constantly causing riots and massacres… Do you think humanity still has time?”

 

“Our generation is all the same—from birth we’ve been indoctrinated with the concept that sacrifice and greatness are supreme. Sometimes I can’t tell right from wrong either… But after fighting our whole lives, with so many dead, watching civilization perish before our eyes—are you willing to accept that? Are the people below willing?”

 

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