Chapter 9.1 – The World
Shi Yuan got on Lu Tinghan’s aircraft in this way.
The aircraft swept through the dense night. But this place was different from the wasteland, Shi Yuan looked out the window, the buildings were mostly gray and uneven, some old, some new, and some in ruins, a street cut them in a haphazard way, few pedestrians, and a black-clad patrol could be seen walking by with guns.
After 20 minutes, the aircraft arrived in a new area.
The buildings here were much more regular, all single-family homes, and the streets were clean, with a number of guards standing guard. They landed in the neighborhood, Lu Tinghan took Shi Yuan into a remote building, he opened the door leading to a wide and empty house.
The house was a duplex structure, with two floors, up and down, and was well decorated.
The walls were clean and the lights were bright. The living room had only a sofa and TV, the open kitchen had decorative pots and pans, no spices, and the refrigerator was empty. The place was often cleaned, the floor was spotless, just lacking in vitality.
Shi Yuan asked, “This is your home?”
“Hmm.” Lu Tinghan said, “One of them, I don’t come back here often.” He took off his coat and put it on the hanger. “You can live here first, just pick a room on the first floor. Don’t go out tonight, someone will take you for another check-up tomorrow.”
“Oh…” Shi Yuan said, “I’ve already had my blood drawn many times.”
“Tomorrow is a more comprehensive inspection,” Lu Tinghan replied. “When the test result comes out, you can go wherever you want.”
“Okay.”
“Go to sleep,” Lu Tinghan said.
Lu Tinghan took off his gloves and put them aside, and sat on the sofa. He leaned back, looked up at the white ceiling, took a deep breath silently, and let it out slowly.
Even at this time, he was not completely relaxed. He was like a bow that was forever taut, a sword that refused to return to its sheath, ready to be thrown into battle at any time.
The people in the logistics department came diligently and cleaned the place cleaner than the model house, and of course, the ceiling was also taken care of. The ceiling was very white, almost ghastly white. Sometimes, Lu Tinghan didn’t want to close his eyes, so he would let go of his thoughts for a few minutes. When he looked up, he had the illusion that he was floating in the white void.
This void was very monotonous, but it was isolated from war and death.
But today, before he could look at it for long, the ghastly white was covered.
An upside-down, Shi Yuan’s face appeared.
Shi Yuan stood behind the sofa, looked down at him, and asked, “Lu Tinghan, what are you doing?”
Lu Tinghan: “…looking at the ceiling.”
“No, you are looking at me now,” Shi Yuan said. He got the gaze and attention, and became satisfied.
Lu Tinghan asked, “What else do you want?”
Shi Yuan: “I still want you to touch my head.”
Lu Tinghan paused for half a second: “Come here.”
Shi Yuan flexibly climbed onto the sofa, and then got his head touched as he wished. He asked Lu Tinghan, “Aren’t you going to rest? Purr, purr, are you going out soon?”
“Yeah,” Lu Tinghan replied, taking off his gloves and touching Shiyuan, it was a different feeling, he could clearly feel the coolness of his hair.
“You’re so busy, you haven’t slept all night,” Shi Yuan said. “Is this the case for all generals?”
“The situation has been tense recently,” Lu Tinghan said. “It’s not always that busy.”
“Okay.” Shi Yuan thought for a while, “Can you take me for an examination tomorrow?”
Lu Tinghan rubbed his black hair: “Anthropophobia?”
“Yes, purr.”
Lu Tinghan asked, “You are so afraid of people, why aren’t you afraid of me?”
Shi Yuan said, “You are not human.”
Lu Tinghan: “…”
Lu Tinghan was silent for a moment: “There are many people who curse me, but there are quite few who are so straightforward.”
“That’s not what I meant.” Shi Yuan also realized that something was wrong. “I mean, well, you don’t look like a human being.”
Lu Tinghan: “……”
It’s not much better.
Shi Yuan bent his eyes: “Anyway, you are different from other people, purr, purr, purr.”
At this time, Shi Yuan had no intention of explaining. Lu Tinghan could only touch him while continuing to say, “I don’t have time tomorrow, someone will take you there.”
“Really don’t have time?”
“Really.”
“Okay, will you come back later?”
“Maybe.”
Shi Yuan said, “Do you have other houses? Don’t go to those places.”
Lu Tinghan took advantage of the situation and touched his devil horn: “Why?”
“Because there is no me there,” Shi Yuan said.
This is an answer that Lu Tinghan never expected.
He was taken aback and laughed in surprise.
Shi Yuan saw Lu Tinghan laughing like this for the first time.
Lu Tinghan was under 30, but he had a sense of calm and oppression beyond his age. It was the temperament that had been accumulated through hundreds of battles, which could convince people and calm people’s hearts. But when he laughed like this, his eyebrows stretched out and his eyes were bright, which was clearly the high spirits of a young man.
Lu Tinghan smiled and said, “Shi Yuan, you are really a strange person.”
“Really?” Shi Yuan was a little confused.
“Yes.”
The clock on the wall pointed to three in the morning. Lu Tinghan rubbed Shi Yuan one last time, stood up, and said, “I have to go, sleep well.”
“Be safe.” Shi Yuan said, watching him pick up his jacket and go out. He ran to the window and looked out, saw Lu Tinghan walking towards the aircraft in the distance in the cold wind, and several officers greeted him. They got on the aircraft and disappeared into the distance.
Shi Yuan looked at it for a while and when he was sure that he really couldn’t see Lu Tinghan, he came down from the bay window.
Lu Tinghan asked him to choose a room on the first floor. He walked around and found three empty rooms. And the stairs to the second floor were blocked by two small robots, which stared at him as if they were wary of his sudden dash to the second floor.
The second floor should be Lu Tinghan’s private space.
Shi Yuan greeted them: “My name is Shi Yuan, what are your names?”
Robot: “……”
Shi Yuan asked again, “What’s your name?”
Robot: “……”
These two robots were rude, and Shi Yuan didn’t like them, so he named them Broken Copper and Broken Iron respectively.
He said, “I’ll just pick a room then.” He picked a room closer to the stairs with an empty bed and a closet with clean clothes, pillows, sheets, and covers.
He awkwardly made the bed and picked out his pajamas.
The clothes were all brand new, just Lu Tinghan’s size, which was too big for him. He put his wolf tooth pendant on the head of the bed, took a set of gray underwear into the bathroom, studied the switch of the shower for a while, and then took a hot shower.
Take a bath, go to bed, and then sleep.
Shi Yuan thought that humans are really smart, they can make hot water and have such a soft bed, unlike monsters who can only eat and sleep in the open air.
Thinking about it, Shi Yuan got sleepy.
He tilted his head and fell asleep.
