EDEH Chapter 92

[007 Diary Twenty-Eight]

 

[Subject 008 Evelyn is a very special observation target. She is that woman’s child, yet she has taken a path completely opposite to her mother’s.

 

Subject 008 taking the position of ‘Madam’ might be the greatest insult to her mother.

 

She fought her entire life for the fate of the underground city’s women, yet ultimately couldn’t ‘save’ her own child.]

 

·

 

Sang Jue panted, his cheeks flushed, his back against the hard ground, the back of his head pillowed on Huo Yanji’s hand.

 

He unconsciously licked his lips, as pure as a small animal cleaning its mouth after eating, yet it made Huo Yanji’s eyes grow deeper.

 

One more step and they would be at negative distance.

 

They were both soaked through, water droplets hanging on their faces, wet hair scattered across their foreheads, utterly enchanting.

 

His tongue tip hooked the corner of his mouth as Sang Jue stated: “You’ve been contaminated by me.”

 

Huo Yanji’s expression didn’t change. He raised his other hand, probably wanting to touch his lips, but considering the current unclean environment, he just pinched his chin and caressed his cheek instead.

 

He hummed: “So you need to take responsibility.”

 

Sang Jue touched his mouth and reasoned seriously: “But you were the one who wanted to kiss me. What if I really am contaminating? You’d die.”

 

Huo Yanji said lightly: “Wouldn’t that be perfect? If I died, you could eat me.”

 

Sang Jue argued: “That won’t work. Even if I ate you, I couldn’t talk to myself, touch my own tail, or kiss myself.”

 

Huo Yanji chuckled softly, lifting Sang Jue up in their current position: “Let’s go. They might come back.”

 

Sang Jue tilted his head, feeling like something hadn’t been completed before it ended.

 

He tugged at his shirt hem and said with certainty: “You want to make love with me.”

 

Huo Yanji said flatly: “As mates, isn’t that very normal?”

 

It was indeed normal. Sang Jue asked directly: “Then why did you stop? You were clearly about to explode.”

 

Huo Yanji glanced at the surrounding environment and curved his lips: “Because the cave environment is too poor, I’m afraid we couldn’t enjoy ourselves fully.”

 

Sang Jue: “…”

 

He bit his lip, feeling inexplicably thirsty, curious yet somewhat nervous.

 

Colin had told him before that between human males, it was through… would that be pleasurable? Would Ji Ji eat him, or would he eat Ji Ji?

 

Sang Jue was eager to learn, full of questions: “How does it go into such a small place?”

 

“…” Huo Yanji asked: “Who told you these things?”

 

Sang Jue initially didn’t even know the concept of homosexuality, so how could he know how same-sex couples did it?

 

Sang Jue blinked: “Colin told me, a long time ago on the way back to the main city from Rift Two, we chatted briefly.”

 

Huo Yanji narrowed his eyes meaningfully: “You two really talk about everything.”

 

“You’re my mate, Colin is my only friend. It’s normal for friends to answer each other’s questions.” Sang Jue was serious, not seeing anything wrong with it, and urged: “You still haven’t answered me, how does it go in?”

 

Huo Yanji’s Adam’s apple bobbed as he exhaled lightly: “You can use oil or ointment for expansion.”

 

Sang Jue hummed: “Then how does the person being… upstream… feel pleasure?”

 

Sang Jue praised himself for the metaphor—he was becoming more and more like a human.

 

Huo Yanji helped Sang Jue wring the water from his shirt and asked back: “Really want to know?”

 

Sang Jue: “Yes!”

 

Huo Yanji said leisurely: “You can only know how it feels good by experiencing it yourself. I can help.”

 

“…Oh.”

 

Something seemed off, though he couldn’t put his finger on it. The little evil dragon’s mental circuits couldn’t yet handle human deviousness, only vaguely sensing this was a trap.

 

Huo Yanji made a laughing sound, and when Sang Jue looked up, he had already returned to his usual calm demeanor, as if nothing had happened.

 

The little evil dragon looked at him suspiciously: “Are you bullying me?”

 

Huo Yanji said flatly: “No.”

 

The evil dragon didn’t believe him but couldn’t find evidence.

 

His wife had said you needed evidence to accuse others.

 

They didn’t have time to dry by fire. Huo Yanji wrung the water from his pant legs and extended his arms toward Sang Jue.

 

The little evil dragon immediately threw himself into the embrace: “Are you going to carry me?”

 

Huo Yanji said flatly: “Do you have shoes?”

 

“No.”

 

The mountain terrain was strange and varied. Setting aside dangerous thorny plants, just the stones on the ground were enough to cause problems, regardless of how thick the soles of one’s feet were.

 

It was quiet outside the cave. Sang Jue hugged Huo Yanji’s neck, playing the role of observer, listening for a while before saying: “The two closest people are about fifty meters to the west.”

 

Huo Yanji asked: “The woman who was sitting by the pool just now, can you sense where she is?”

 

“…” Sang Jue was confused: “My sense of smell doesn’t work underwater, and then you suddenly kissed me when we surfaced, so I forgot to remember her scent.”

 

Sang Jue could detect traces of humans left in a place. But he’d been so dazed by the kiss just now, his mind full of thoughts about how soft his wife’s lips were, how nice the kiss was.

 

Even the coldest person had a warm mouth and soft lips.

 

It just hurt a little when he kissed him so fiercely.

 

“It’s fine, forget it if you don’t remember.”

 

Avoiding the search and rescue team, Huo Yanji carried Sang Jue into the forest on the left. Neither of them could be simply described as “disheveled” anymore—it would be terrible if someone saw them.

 

Most importantly, currently no person, let alone any vehicle, could travel from the main city to the underground city in less than three days.

 

Even deviants with wings couldn’t do it.

 

After all, these were artificially formed limbs that could never match natural flying creatures in flight talent, which was why most flying deviants served as observers rather than in combat roles.

 

Sang Jue was different.

 

The little evil dragon was only afraid of heights, but his flying speed was still good.

 

Huo Yanji stroked the inside of his thigh, where the wound had already healed. The forest was very quiet, the communicator still faintly crackling with static mixed with the voices of search and rescue personnel trying to contact him.

 

Sang Jue asked curiously: “Who was that woman just now?”

 

Huo Yanji said: “The current manager of the underground city’s reproductive resources, Evelyn.”

 

Sang Jue asked: “Is she married?”

 

Huo Yanji said: “No.”

 

Sang Jue said: “Then why do the soldiers call her Madam?”

 

Huo Yanji paused slightly: “Probably because the title ‘Madam’ better fits what that profession does. Starting from the first manager, they’ve been called ‘Madam.'”

 

Although Wolf Peak hadn’t been affected by the fire, some fine ash still drifted over with the wind, scattered through the air with a romantic floating feeling.

 

A piece of ash landed on Huo Yanji’s shoulder. Sang Jue reached out to catch it: “She seemed unhappy.”

 

Huo Yanji hummed, saying objectively: “Compared to the surface, in some ways, life in the underground city is indeed more oppressive.”

 

Life in the underground city was comfortable—no need to consider danger, no need to think about how to survive or obtain resources. If you were lucky, you could live your whole life like that.

 

It sounded wonderful, but in reality the underground city was like a huge cage, never seeing real sunlight, imprisoning many confused women who didn’t yet understand the meaning of staying below.

 

Why did they have to choose at twelve whether to go to the surface or stay underground? Because young minds were the easiest to control.

 

Years ago, that women’s resistance movement seemed to bring freedom, but it was actually just a false appearance. How could a twelve-year-old child fairly decide their latter half of life?

 

From birth, they received ideological education to ‘stay’ and sacrifice their lives for racial reproduction.

 

But some things couldn’t be changed just by understanding they were wrong.

 

Many times it was like this—feeling sorrow but being powerless, like the Dawn Plan.

 

Just like what Huo Feng had written in his notebook before going to Rift Two to die—”We are all pawns, only for tomorrow.”

 

But would tomorrow really come?

 

No one could give a definite answer.

 

Evelyn was trapped by the title ‘Madam,’ women were trapped by the underground city, deviants were trapped by Dawn.

 

Some people had physical freedom, some had neither mental nor physical freedom—it was hard to say who was more tragic.

 

Or rather, being born in this era was itself tragic.

 

Silver-white ash spread over the vegetation like a light snow.

 

Sang Jue lay on Huo Yanji’s shoulder, suddenly not understanding how to complete the task the doctor had given him—or rather, given to 007.

 

Obtaining enough resources and solving the current contamination crisis—would that count as salvation?

 

But how could these millions of lost souls, these people trapped in the mud unable to free themselves, be pulled from the abyss?

 

This question was too complex for the little evil dragon, passing through his mind in an instant.

 

“Does the main city get snow?”

 

“No, the main city has spring-like weather year-round, often with heavy rain.”

 

“So you’ve never seen snow either?”

 

“I’ve seen it once.” Huo Yanji walked steadily, slowly answering: “There used to be a District 52, in an extreme geographical environment of year-round blizzards, also called Snow City. I went there once.”

 

“I’ve never seen snow.” Sang Jue said: “The research facility on my home planet doesn’t get snow either.”

 

Hearing Sang Jue say this, Huo Yanji couldn’t make a promise like “I’ll take you to see snow.”

 

No matter how long his life could be—forty years, fifty years, even seventy or eighty years—over ninety percent of his time didn’t belong to himself.

 

He couldn’t willfully make promises like ordinary couples, so he could only say: “If there’s time in the future, we can go see.”

 

Sang Jue said obediently: “Okay.”

 

Huo Yanji asked: “At the research facility on your home planet, what would they do to you?”

 

Sang Jue thought about it: “Dr. Milly used to do many excessive things, but after Dr. Anya became my guardian, it was just blood draws.”

 

“Blood draws for research?” Huo Yanji asked directly: “Any results?”

 

Sang Jue said quietly: “The doctor said my existence is special, helpful to humans to some degree, but not the kind of help they most want.”

 

Thinking of Old Karl’s corpse situation, Huo Yanji’s eyes darkened slightly.

 

He asked seemingly casually: “What kind of help do they most want?”

 

Sang Jue shook his head: “I don’t know.”

 

The doctor never said.

 

Sang Jue could sense that his home planet had also encountered great difficulties, but the doctor never brought those heavy matters before him. The doctor always said that having already confined him to the laboratory, she only hoped he could live happily.

 

So for the doctor’s sake, Sang Jue learned to be “happy.”

 

For him, staying in the laboratory wasn’t confinement—he could slip away anytime, but chose to live with Dr. Anya.

 

More and more ash floated in the air. Huo Yanji had Sang Jue cover his mouth and nose to avoid breathing it in.

 

Sang Jue did so, and also covered Huo Yanji’s nose with his hand.

 

“…I don’t need to, you’re blocking my vision.”

 

Sang Jue said worriedly: “I can change back into a dragon and fly you somewhere farther away.”

 

“Aren’t you afraid of heights? Don’t force yourself unless absolutely necessary.” Huo Yanji said: “There are firefighting teams everywhere in the mountains now, plus helicopters. Being seen would be very troublesome.”

 

“Okay then.”

 

Sang Jue did indeed hear the buzzing of helicopters, though quite distant.

 

His nose suddenly twitched: “There’s the smell of human blood.”

 

During his time fighting mutant monsters with mercenaries in the main city, with countless casualties around him, Sang Jue had smelled the blood of countless humans—he couldn’t be wrong.

 

Huo Yanji’s eyes darkened as he asked: “Which direction?”

 

Sang Jue pointed to the side: “This way.”

 

Huo Yanji held Sang Jue and, avoiding a dormant venus flytrap nearby, pushed through the bushes to a narrow clearing.

 

A soldier in military uniform lay on the ground, blood flowing from his chest.

 

—It was one of the underground city soldiers who had followed Evelyn to the cave earlier.

 

**

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