Chapter 154: Anything Can Happen
"Physically, you are perfectly fine," Ruixin told Zhiyao gently, tapping her tablet to finalize his current health status. "You’re just suffering from severe energy depletion. Yuzhen is an SSS-rank, which means he is going to consume more guiding energy than you’re used to handling. You’ll need a strict restoration schedule."
Zhiyao let out a heavy sigh of relief, rubbing the back of his neck. "Yeah... I figured as much. The drain was intense."
Wenzhi just stood there, staring blankly at the monitors. Zhiyao stood up from his seat, noticing the tight, rigid set of his Faction Leader’s shoulders. "You look seriously uneasy, boss."
"I’m not uneasy," Wenzhi frowned. "I’m frustrated."
"Me too," Zhiyao agreed, his own expression darkening. "Those bastards chose to try and vaporize us in the middle of a literal Rift outbreak. They must have been tracking the energy spikes and waiting for the exact moment Yanjing turned into a Red Zone. It was only a matter of time. But we are safe, that’s all that matters."
The reassurance didn’t ease the knot in Wenzhi’s stomach one bit. He knew about the sabotage plot Liye had warned him about, and things still weren’t adding up.
"Oh, wait a second..." Ruixin muttered, rummaging through a tray of vials and frowning at a specific bottle of pills. "These aren’t your pills, Zhiyao. These belong to Gu Luhan. He was supposed to come pick them up a few hours ago."
She looked around the lab, her brow furrowing. "He pestered me for days to compound this specific formula for him, even though I explicitly told him he didn’t need it. So where the hell is he?"
"Maybe he’s with Chenxi," Zhiyao suggested with a casual shrug.
Wenzhi’s eyes narrowed as he recalled the heated, emotional argument Gu Luhan and Wang Chenxi had had in the briefing room earlier that day.
Come to think of it, Wenzhi hadn’t seen or heard a single thing from Chenxi since the retreat order was called. He had assumed the fire Esper was just brooding somewhere in his quarters because of Luhan’s harsh words.
Frankly, Wenzhi had thought the recent friction between them was a sign of actual progress. Chenxi clearly harbored genuine feelings for the stubborn Guide, and Luhan’s foolish, obsessive pursuit of Xinyuan had finally started to fizzle out.
"Yes, yes, he must be in desperate need of guiding anyway," Ruixin said, placing the bottle of pills onto a metal tray. She gave Wenzhi a knowing, private look. "Are you feeling any side effects at all from your recent... change?"
"No, none," Wenzhi said, shaking his head. "I’ll come back later."
He didn’t want to discuss his SSS-rank evolution with Zhiyao in the room. Behind him, Zhiyao gently lifted Yuzhen’s head, raising his Esper’s head so he could slide underneath him. The moment Yuzhen’s head rested securely on Zhiyao’s lap, the sleeping redhead instinctively gripped the front of Zhiyao’s shirt, pulling himself closer even in the depths of his exhaustion.
Wenzhi slipped out of the lab. The second the doors hissed shut, he pulled out his secure phone and dialed Chenxi’s direct line.
Nothing. The call wouldn’t even connect.
"Odd." He walked down the metallic corridors, heading back to the private quarters.
The moment he slid the door open, he found the Esper tearing through their wardrobe. Xinyuan was shirtless, wearing nothing but low-slung sweatpants, the dark chain tattoos across his back shifting with the heavy muscles of his shoulders as he flung garments aside.
"Where the hell are they?" Xinyuan muttered, pulling out an armful of shirts.
"What exactly are you looking for?" Wenzhi asked, closing the door behind him.
Xinyuan froze, slowly rising to his full height and turning to face his Guide. His warm brown eyes were wide, a flicker of panic cutting through them. "Our bear shirts."
Wenzhi gave him a confused look. "What?"
Xinyuan let out a heavy sigh, running a hand through his dark hair. "Anything can happen, freckles. Anything. The whole world is burning, my father is a psychopath, and I keep overthinking every single damn thing instead of just doing what I need to do."
Wenzhi blinked, watching the panic rolling off the Esper. He slowly walked across the room toward him. "Overthinking what, Xinyuan?"
Xinyuan stared down at him, his gaze intensely raw. "Us..."
Before Wenzhi could press further, Xinyuan stepped forward, wrapping his arms tightly around Wenzhi’s body and burying his face deep into the crook of his neck. The force of the embrace was grounding.... desperate.
"Let’s go on a date. Right now," Xinyuan’s voice was muffled against his skin.
Wenzhi let out a soft laugh, his hands instinctively coming up to play with the loose strands of Xinyuan’s dark hair. "We have an entire warzone to analyze, Xinyuan. We need to talk about what happened today. The trap, the missiles, the Disaster—"
"Kaiwen, Su Zheng, and their Guides aren’t even back from their hunt yet, and the rest of the base is still recovering," Xinyuan cut in, pulling back just enough to look Wenzhi in the eyes. "Let’s just go on a date, freckles. Please."
Wenzhi sighed, his defenses crumbling against the heavy gaze. "Where?"
"A new private restaurant just opened in the downtown district. It’s run directly by Elder Suisui’s people. Let’s just go."
The underlying current of desperation and fear in Xinyuan’s voice was loud and clear through their bond. It sent a dull ache through Wenzhi’s chest.
Was he really this terrified that one of them was going to suddenly end up dead in the middle of this bloody faction war? Given the scale of the Red Zone’s sudden expansion, the fear wasn’t entirely irrational.
Wenzhi tugged Xinyuan’s sweatpants, a soft expression gracing his features. "Fine. Get dressed. Let’s go on a date."
Xinyuan immediately leaned away from his neck, cupped Wenzhi’s face, and pressed their lips together. The kiss slowed, softening into something deep and passionate, before he broke away with a breathy whisper. "Thank you."
Wenzhi’s freckled face flushed. "Let’s go."
Xinyuan chuckled. "Okay."