Rustle…
The wind blew across the wilderness, making countless Gardenia Roses sway, their branches and petals rubbing against each other, producing a rustling sound. Thousands of beautiful petals were swept up by the wind, drifting away gently into the distance.
On the high cliff of the towering mountain, Huo Xianfeng reached out his hand, catching one. Jiang Ci immediately noticed that its color was off, furrowing his brow.
“It’s so red.”
Or more accurately,
—That red was bloodcurdling.
As if drenched in blood, the edges of the petals were so intensely dark and vibrant that they bordered on blackish-purple.
Typically, Gardenia Roses were a shade between red and pink, sometimes even leaning towards a pinkish-white. Their flower shape resembled a rose, but was larger, almost the size of a volleyball, with more layers of petals. It was stunningly beautiful.
But compared to normal flowers, their overall branches were also extremely large, a size just right for the Zergs, falling under the category of large trees in human eyes.
However, in terms of human standards for flowers, the Gardenia Roses had excellent ornamental value.
But very few people knew that the scent of Gardenia Roses was also special, somewhat similar to a combination of milk and roses.
But it wasn’t the same here. Despite blooming so grandly and beautifully, they carried a distinctly putrid smell. Here, to Huo Xianfeng, it felt like a massive graveyard of Gardenia Roses, evoking an indescribable sense of nausea in him.
Jiang Ci looked back.
“Somebody planted a large number of Gardenia Roses here.”
After all, those neatly arranged branches were full of traces of artificial intervention.
But why plant so many Gardenia Roses?
For humans, this plant only had ornamental value, serving no purpose other than attracting the Zergs. Growing up in the Empire, Jiang Ci couldn’t understand why anyone would want to attract those terrifying creatures.
Jiang Ci expressed some caution,
“There are so many Gardenia Roses here, there might be Zergs.”
“Mmm.”
Huo Xianfeng discarded the petal in his hand and closed his eyes deeply.
—Indeed.
In the pitch-black darkness, he saw many dim lights.
In the Zergs’ spiritual network, the brightness represented their vitality, while the size of the halo indicated the strength of their power.
When they were on Earth, the only Zergs there were the surviving ones from the nuclear explosion. Most of their light was dim, like light bulbs in an old house – struggling to emit the last bit of warmth.
But Winter Day Planet was different. The larvae were well protected, full of vigorous vitality, tender and innocent, like a newborn morning sun, warm and fervent.
As for here…
Those lights were probably like flickering candles in the wind, hovering on the brink of death, giving their all just to be discovered by their King.
—Unable to even muster the simplest response.
Huo Xianfeng suddenly wrapped his arms around Jiang Ci’s neck from behind, burying his head in the omega’s nape, and taking a deep breath.
“You…!”
Jiang Ci immediately froze, but before he could struggle, he heard the hoarse voice of the young man next to his ear,
“Don’t move, let me hold you.”
“…”
Jiang Ci was stunned. Although he couldn’t see the expression on Huo Xianfeng’s face, he still noticed an unusual emotion in the other’s voice,
“Huo Xianfeng?”
The young man didn’t answer and just quietly leaned against the omega’s soft and warm neck for a while before getting up.
“Let’s go.”
He looked far away and his gaze fixed on a white house hidden in the sea of flowers.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
“Vlcmf la kjr jgalolmljiis qijcafv, atfgf rtbeiv yf rbwfbcf tfgf.”
Aljcu Jl ibbxfv ja Leb Wljcofcu’r rlvf qgbolif. Ca atlr wbwfca, atf sbecu wjc’r fzqgfrrlbc kjr vloofgfca ogbw tlr ereji ijhlcfrr, jqqfjglcu qjgalmeijgis mbiv jcv geatifrr.
Lf ofia jr lo atfgf kjr jc ecygfjxjyif rjvcfrr lc atbrf vffq yijmx fsfr, sfa ja atf rjwf alwf, atfgf rffwfv ab yf cbatlcu atfgf ja jii.
The silver-haired major general was stunned for a moment yet didn’t ask anything, just lowering his gaze and replying,
“Okay.”
At this moment, Huo Xianfeng suddenly turned his head, hooked a strand of Jiang Ci’s hair with his fingers, and wrapped it around his fingers.
“Your hair color is too conspicuous, you need to change it.”
This gesture was very intimate, but the young man did it so naturally that Jiang Ci was momentarily taken aback and couldn’t immediately resist. However, by the time he reacted, Huo Xianfeng had already let go.
“…”
But it was true; his hair color and eye color were too conspicuous. Even without Huo Xianfeng’s reminder, Jiang Ci knew he needed to change, including the imperial uniform he was wearing now. The reason he didn’t change it on the Winter Day Planet was because he needed his appearance to enter the auction.
“I just don’t know what kind of clothes people here wear.”
After all, this was the territory of the Church. If the style of clothing was too different, it could easily lead to mistakes.
Huo Xianfeng didn’t think it was a problem. He glanced at Jiang Ci’s thigh,
“Go and see, then you’ll know.”
Half an hour later——
They arrived at the white house hidden in the sea of flowers.
From a distance, it looked like a white house, but upon closer inspection, it turned out to be a small white city. The decoration and construction style were very classical, reminiscent of the early Cold War era, which was earlier than the Earth Alliance period.
There were also some scattered, self-built houses outside the city, all white. There were not many pedestrians on the road, but there were not few either, and their clothing style was also very classical, somewhat resembling the attire of the medieval Western era. There were guards at the city gate, conducting security checks, but it didn’t seem too strict, just a means to extort some benefits from the passersby.
Huo Xianfeng swept his gaze around and finally locked onto a slightly remote, small house outside the city. He turned around, grabbed Jiang Ci’s wrist and lowered his voice, his expression solemn as if he were giving instructions for some top-secret mission,
“Let’s go steal some clothes!”
Jiang Ci: “…”
Although he knew their general purpose and action plan, hearing these words from Huo Xianfeng suddenly made him feel embarrassed.
It was the first time in his life as a senior military officer that he had done something so sneaky, but his movements were still very swift and agile. Following Huo Xianfeng, they quickly climbed over the wall.
The latter found an iron wire from somewhere, casually picked the lock, and swiftly found some men’s clothing that barely fit him in the wardrobe.
Seeing that Huo Xianfeng didn’t hesitate at all and started to undress directly, Jiang Ci stiffened for a second and then immediately turned his head,
“…You go first, I’ll keep watch outside.”
“Oh, it’s okay, I don’t mind.”
Jiang Ci: “…I do mind.”
“Hmm? Didn’t you already take a look on your own last night?”
When he said this, Jiang Ci could clearly hear the rustling sound of changing clothes. He closed his eyes, trying hard to push away the weird images in his mind, and gritted his teeth,
“Shut up and hurry up and change!”
“I’m done.”
But in just a few words, Huo Xianfeng had already changed into the clothes. The clothes of the local people were quite loose, so even if the fit wasn’t perfect, it didn’t look too tight. It was just that the pants were a bit short, but luckily, they were tucked into long boots, so it wasn’t too noticeable.
Jiang Ci kicked the person out very coldly, and then quickly changed himself.
“Tsk.”
A flash of regret passed through Huo Xianfeng’s eyes. He originally wanted to see what Jiang Ci’s shirt stays looked like.
The two of them squatted at the city gate for an hour, confirmed that the entry checkpoint was just a simple entry fee, and then walked out.
Bam!
“Oh, sorry, sorry,”
Jiang Ci watched as Huo Xianfeng “accidentally” bumped into two people, then tossed the stolen wallet to him.
“Here, the entry fee.”
Jiang Ci, who was forced to become an accomplice: “…”
He didn’t know where this guy learned so many sneaky tricks.
He lowered his head and looked at the banknotes in the wallet. They were all unfamiliar, but there was a pattern of a white tower printed on them.
Jiang Ci’s grades in all subjects during the Military Academy period were full marks, so he could easily recognize that it was a church building from the Earth Alliance period.
—the Holy White Tower.
He narrowed his eyes slightly.
It seems that this is indeed the territory of the Church.
But even though the two of them were well-prepared, they were still stopped by the guards.
“Strangers?”
There was no way around it.
Jiang Ci had dyed his hair and eyes to the most common brown, changed his skin tone, and even used beta pheromone concealers. As for Huo Xianfeng, he had also dyed his hair brown and put on a lot of freckles on his face.
But even so, their appearances were still outstanding compared to ordinary people, causing the guards to take a few more glances and step forward to inquire.
“Halt, where are you from?”
They had just arrived on this planet and didn’t even know where they were. How would they know the names of other places?
But Huo Xianfeng was not in the least flustered. He discreetly blocked Jiang Ci and then stuffed a wad of banknotes into the guard’s hand, complimenting,
“Where else could it be? Brother, you’re so sharp-eyed; haven’t you already figured it out?”
“Humph, you’re a smart kid,”
The guard took the money, squinted slightly, and showed a pleased expression on his face.
“Seeing how big and tall you are, you must be from the north, from Bright City?”
Huo Xianfeng didn’t rashly follow the guard’s lead but just smiled.
“Brother, look, we’ve come all this way and just want to rest in the city for a bit.”
“Coming all the way from Bright City, are you here to find raw Lingsteel?”
The guard snorted coldly,
“I advise you to give up, the raw Lingsteel here has long been mined out.”
Raw Lingsteel?
Jiang Ci immediately caught onto the keyword. It was an extremely rare ore, and the Lingsteel smelted from it was the best material for making mecha shells.
Most importantly, the shell of the Forbidden Abyss is made of this metal.
It seems that the Church has already obtained the wreckage of the Forbidden Abyss and is preparing to repair it.
Jiang Ci held Huo Xianfeng’s hand and lightly traced words in the young man’s palm,
[Church, Lingsteel, Forbidden Abyss, wreckage, repair.]
Jiang Ci’s words were obscure, but Huo Xianfeng immediately understood his meaning. However, the young man didn’t show any traces on the surface. He looked at the guard and readily agreed.
“Brother, we’re just trying our luck.”
“Alright, alright, you’re stubborn.”
The guard impatiently waved his hand,
“Go on in.”
“Okay, okay.”
Jiang Ci lowered his head and brushed past the guard with Huo Xianfeng’s hand in his. Just then, the guard suddenly stopped them,
“Wait!”
His gaze swept over Jiang Ci, as if he had discovered something, and he furrowed his brows, striding closer to Jiang Ci,
“You, this beta…?”
Jiang Ci immediately became nervous, thinking that the beta pheromone concealers had failed. After all, he had once experienced failure due to the overdose of pheromones in him during Huo Xianfeng’s temporary marking.
Huo Xianfeng couldn’t perceive the pheromones, so he also had the same guess at the same time. Now isolated and without military support, once Jiang Ci’s omega identity was exposed, it would bring a lot of trouble.
He immediately stood in front of Jiang Ci, with the thought of eliminating the guard in front of him in that instant.
But then, the guard’s gaze suddenly shifted from Jiang Ci to Huo Xianfeng.
At this moment, his eyes were very straightforward.
“—Aren’t the alpha pheromones on you too strong?”
Huo Xianfeng: “….?”
Jiang Ci: “….!”
This sentence successfully dissipated all the killing intent from Huo Xianfeng in an instant.
But Jiang Ci understood what the guard meant. Betas couldn’t be marked by alphas, and even if they had done the most intimate things, it would only leave faint traces of pheromones.
There were only two situations where betas would have strong alpha pheromones remaining on them.
Either they were repeatedly marked by an alpha, engaging in prolonged mating, or they were pregnant.
But now, Jiang Ci no longer had any signs of pregnancy, so the only remaining situation was the former.
The guard clicked his tongue several times,
“Young man, are you married? Can’t you exercise some restraint?”
“….”
Jiang Ci turned his head away, his face was already too dark to look at.
“Cough…”
Huo Xianfeng coughed lightly,
“Not yet.”
The guard was puzzled until, who knows what he thought of, he showed a somewhat enlightened expression on his face,
“Did you elope? No wonder you came all the way from Bright City.”
“Yes yes, his family didn’t agree.”
At this moment, Huo Xianfeng nodded seriously and said with a heavy tone,
“They called me a wild man.”
Jiang Ci: “….”
Huo Xianfeng, you can shut up now.
jjwxc comments
N1 netizen: Who is saying the author’s writing style is not good? The foreshadowing was buried in just a few words? From the first meeting, Huo Chao and Pei felt a little fishy. The second time, Pei said that he lied even to him, and with that we can be even more certain. Huo and Pei are a couple, right? Xiao Huo is the Zerg King. Huo yearns for freedom and peace, and strives to reconcile humans and Zergs. The villain is undoubtedly the church.
N2 netizen: Huo Xianyun and Pei Changfeng really look like their couple names (Changfeng=长风= Faraway winds)
N3 netizen: Why do I feel that Huo Chao and Pei Changyun are a bit fishy (especially when Huo Chao spreads his arms to hug Pei Changyun) emmmmmmmmm I still prefer Huo Chao and Zerg King
Author: No hug, but Pei felt as if he hugged the world and himself.
2P: Pei: Just a part of the world
3P: So, Pei Changyun = world, dog head.jpg
N4 netizen: Only then did I realize that the clouds were wandering and the wind was blowing.
😂🤣 Thank you for the chapter 😍 ❤️ ❤️
🤣🤣🤣
🤣 Thanks for the chapter!!
The netizens 😭
But also, Huo Xianfeng is telling half-truths isn’t he? Jiang Ci’s family did indeed call him a wild man! 🤣🤣
I don’t feel that Huo Chao and Pei Changfeng were a couple.
I feel that they were close friends and Pei may have had an unrequited love for Huo.
Love how Jiang Ci is so easily flustered by Huo Huo 😘
Thanks for the chapter 💞