Ah Sui’s attitude toward Xu Cengfeng’s departure was so unusually extreme that Blairand even started to suspect that Ah Sui was acting. He looked at Ah Sui with uncertainty, his movements hesitating for a moment. Even the syringe in his hand loosened a little as he hesitated, unsure whether to inject it.
Was Ah Sui acting?
But it didn’t seem like it; the other zerg wasn’t that deceptive, and Blairand knew this.
At this moment, Ah Sui finally regained some strength and forced himself to stand up from the ground. The first thing he did was reach out to restrain Blairand, and then, taking advantage of the moment when Blairand didn’t react, he snatched the syringe away and, with a clang, threw it onto the nearby table.
Blairand was startled by the sudden movement and was about to retaliate, but the next second, he was unexpectedly pulled into Ah Sui’s arms. He heard Ah Sui’s slightly hoarse voice near his ear: “Don’t move, let me hold you…”
It was also a chance for him to recover some strength.
Upon hearing this, Blairand froze in his struggle.
Ah Sui’s mind was still fuzzy, but he knew that if he missed this chance, it might be a long time before he could move freely again. He held Blairand tightly, his thoughts racing as he wondered when he had ever shown any signs of wanting to hate him.
The answer was: never.
Blairand had almost lost his life to save him last time; how could Ah Sui hate him?
As this thought crossed his mind, Ah Sui reached out to cup Blairand’s face, a trace of confusion flickering in his eyes. He leaned in slightly and softly asked, “Why would you think I hate you?”
Blairand felt the warmth on his cheek and instinctively looked toward Ah Sui, not wanting to miss even the slightest emotion on his face. His voice was low as he asked, “Xu Cengfeng left. Don’t you want to go after him?”
Ah Sui, however, shook his head. “He’s going to find a friend. I can’t follow him anymore.”
He and Xu Cengfeng were indeed good friends, but they couldn’t follow each other for a lifetime—everyone had their own path to walk.
Ah Sui had been abandoned by his parents on a mountain when he was young, and could only follow his Grandpa San around, playing by his side. Later, when his Grandpa San left the mountain, he had no choice but to follow his great-grandfather. Unfortunately, his great-grandfather was already very old, and one day, he too would leave him.
After coming to the Zerg race, he could only follow Xu Cengfeng, but now Xu Cengfeng had left.
No matter the reason, it seemed that Ah Sui was always the one who was forced to stay behind.
“Can I follow you from now on?”
Ah Sui also wanted a place where he could stay. He buried his face in Blairand’s neck, gently rubbing against him, like a small animal finally finding its nest. He whispered, “I won’t leave. I’ll stay with you.”
The turn of events was too sudden, and Blairand was momentarily stunned. In his mind, even if Ah Sui had a good temper, he would likely feel angry to some extent once he learned the truth. Blairand had spent several days preparing himself mentally, but he hadn’t expected Ah Sui to react like this.
Blairand wondered if he was dreaming. “You… really don’t want to go after Xu Cengfeng?”
Ah Sui shook his head seriously. “I’m not going after him. I’ll go with you to the Imperial Capital.”
Although he didn’t know anything except for his martial arts skills, he believed that with enough effort, he could still make a living. If worse came to worst, he could go work on a construction site, carrying bricks. He just hoped Blairand wouldn’t despise him.
Blairand was surprised at what he heard and was about to say something when suddenly, a warm touch brushed against his cheek. Before he could react, Ah Sui silently pressed him against the wall and kissed him.
Blairand let out a muffled sound and instinctively grasped Ah Sui’s shoulder. “Ah Sui, don’t…”
But his actions betrayed his true feelings.
Ah Sui not only didn’t let go but tightened his hold on him. These past few days, Ah Sui had been lying in bed, only able to be kissed by Blairand without being able to move. Now, he had finally caught a chance, and of course, he was going to reclaim what he had missed, with interest.
Ah Sui raised his hand to remove Blairand’s military hat, his fingers slowly threading through the soft strands of his hair. He first pecked lightly at Blairand’s lips, like a bird, before finally prying open his teeth and deepening the kiss, his technique shifting from awkwardness to skillful.
Ah Sui remembered: “At night, you always sneakily kiss me…”
Blairand, realizing it too late, felt a wave of embarrassment. He instinctively turned his head and shifted his gaze, his eyelashes trembling, looking somewhat uncomfortable. However, the male zerg forcibly turned his face back to him.
Ah Sui imitated his actions from that day and whispered, “Blairand, open your eyes and look at me…”
Upon hearing this, Blairand seemed to be entranced, unable to control himself as he opened his eyes. His pale blue irises resembled a deep, mysterious lake, with an almost imperceptible hint of enigma in their depths.
Ah Sui kissed his eyes, then his nose, and whispered, “You don’t need to feed me any more medicine. I won’t run away.”
Blairand, unsure whether he believed it or not, suddenly hugged Ah Sui tightly, turning his head to kiss him back, his force carrying a trace of barely noticeable fierceness.
Ah Sui’s face turned red, but it wasn’t from embarrassment; it was from his rising body temperature. Without any guidance, he clumsily unbuttoned Blairand’s military uniform. The warm kisses gradually moved lower, but he couldn’t quite figure it out. In the end, he could only look at Blairand with a pair of dazed, unfocused eyes.
Ah Sui’s voice was hoarse. “I feel uncomfortable.”
Blairand wasn’t in a much better state, his fair skin flushed with a light pink hue, as if brushed with a layer of rouge. However, he knew he couldn’t let Ah Sui mark him right now; neither the timing nor the environment was right.
Blairand could only lead Ah Sui into the adjoining bathroom, using the old method to resolve the situation.
As the mist rose, Ah Sui continued to kiss Blairand, until the female zerg’s face was flushed a deep red. Only then did he bury his head in Blairand’s neck and ask, “I’m a fugitive now. Does that mean I’ll have to hide in the house from now on, never able to see anyone?”
“Of course not.”
Since Blairand had decided to take Ah Sui to the Imperial Capital, he would never let him be confined indoors for a lifetime. He cupped Ah Sui’s face and softly reassured him, “Once we reach the Imperial Capital, I’ll find a way to get you a citizen ID. No one will know your true identity.”
There were hundreds, if not thousands, of fugitives in the Empire, most of whom were wanted for serious crimes like murder and robbery. Ah Sui hadn’t done anything wrong. With a slight change to his appearance, no one would bother to investigate him.
Hearing this, Ah Sui finally felt at ease. He reached out with his fingertips, curiously tracing the zerg markings on the back of Blairand’s neck under the gentle flow of water. As expected, this drew a shiver from Blairand. After a moment of hesitation, Ah Sui asked softly, “Why… won’t you let me mark you?”
Mark him?
Ah Sui vaguely remembered that word. During his time in the interstellar pirates’ den, he had overheard the zergs around him mention it more than once. Even Blairand, during his heat, when he had lost all sense of reason, had tearfully begged him to mark him.
From that time on, Ah Sui had gradually come to understand—“marking” seemed to also signify “claiming ownership.”
Once a female zerg was marked, the zerg markings on the back of their neck would change color.
Blairand hadn’t expected Ah Sui to suddenly ask such a question and was momentarily stunned. “Do you want to mark me?”
Ah Sui felt a bit embarrassed, unsure whether he should nod or shake his head.
Seeing this, Blairand’s gaze softened for a moment. He embraced the male zerg and whispered half-jokingly into his ear, “Ah Sui, if you mark me, you’ll have to marry me.”
Marry?
Ah Sui blinked at those words, suddenly reminded of how broke he was—he didn’t even have money to buy a vehicle. “Can I still marry if I have no money?”
Blairand thought to himself, Who would expect a male zerg to earn money anyway? “If it’s possible, would you marry me?”
Ah Sui’s gaze wavered, his face turning red as he avoided answering, staying silent.
Blairand hadn’t left the starship all day. In the end, he couldn’t bring himself to trust leaving Ah Sui alone inside, nor was he entirely certain whether Ah Sui would try to escape. So, he temporarily pushed aside his official duties to stay in the room with Ah Sui.
After all, they would arrive at Salaranfa tomorrow, and being absent for just one day wouldn’t matter much.
Ah Sui didn’t ask for much—being able to move freely was enough. At night, when he lay in bed with Blairand, he deliberately acted clingier to make the female zerg lower his guard. His kisses and touches were more frequent than usual, but at the same time, he seriously pondered some questions.
From behind, Ah Sui embraced Blairand, who was bare and vulnerable under the covers. In the darkness, he asked softly, “We’ll arrive at Salaranfa tomorrow. Does that mean we’re going back to your home?”
Blairand’s back was pressed tightly against Ah Sui’s chest, and he inexplicably felt a certain warmth. Yet this sense of being firmly embraced finally eased some of the tension in his heart. He let out a low hum in response.
Ah Sui ran his hand over Blairand’s shoulder, where the scars left by shrapnel from a past explosion remained. The female zerg’s body had once been flawless, and he couldn’t help but feel a twinge of regret. “Then your parents… I mean, your female father and male father, do they live with you too?”
If they really lived together, Ah Sui felt it wouldn’t be appropriate for him to suddenly show up at their doorstep.
However, Blairand shook his head. “They’re in the south, not in the Imperial Capital. I joined the military academy when I was fifteen, so I rarely see them.”
Ah Sui didn’t understand. “My female father and male father don’t want me anymore, so why don’t you spend more time with yours?”
In Ah Sui’s mind, having parents was a very fortunate thing.
Blairand fell silent for a moment before replying, “…There are too many rules in the south. I don’t like it.”
The female zergs in the south were the most gentle and most submissive. Even after marriage, they couldn’t resist if their male partners decided to remove their wings. Blairand had grown up under this kind of mindset, instilled by his female father. He had grown weary of it but couldn’t rebel, so he had no choice but to distance himself. Coupled with his busy military life, he seldom saw his parents throughout the year.
Ah Sui, perhaps sensing the loneliness in Blairand, gently kissed his earlobe. “Were they very harsh with you?”
Blairand shifted slightly, turning in the covers and entangling his legs with Ah Sui’s, like two fish entwining together. “They’re not harsh, just too rigid.”
The female zergs of Salaranfa were mostly pitiful. As long as the male zergs showed even a small amount of warmth, they would be so grateful that they would willingly offer their lives.
Blairand’s female father was the same way.
But he was still somewhat fortunate. He had married a male zerg with a good temperament, one who wouldn’t take a harem of female attendants nor think about removing his wings as a collection. In the south, that was already enough to make other zergs envious.
As Blairand thought of this, he reached out and gently touched Ah Sui’s face. “When we get to the Imperial Capital, I’ll take you for a blood purity test.”
Ah Sui didn’t like blood draws. “Why do we need to do the test?”
Blairand replied, “Every male zerg has to do it. Your blood purity will be recorded on your star citizen certificate.”
If the blood purity is too low, Ah Sui would easily be looked down upon by other zergs; if it’s too high, the empire would send officials to verify it, and no matter how it was marked, it would be awkward. It would be better to just do a blood test and record the most accurate data.
Ah Sui let out a small yawn, then, feeling a bit tired, nuzzled Blairand’s shoulder. “Alright then.”
He was too tired and soon fell asleep without realizing it.
Blairand stayed awake the entire night, worried that Ah Sui might slip away while he wasn’t looking, or that he might be dreaming all of this.
The next morning, the army arrived at the Imperial Capital on schedule. Just as General Aks led the troops back to the military headquarters to report, Blairand, citing feeling unwell, took the opportunity to pilot the starship back to his home in the central district.
The noble residential area covered a vast area, consisting of individual villas with large gardens, all set in a tranquil environment where few outsiders roamed.
When Ah Sui finally stepped out of the starship after many days and was greeted by the sunlight, the first thing that struck him was the large garden in front of Blairand’s house. He couldn’t help but exclaim in awe, “Wow, your garden is beautiful~”
Ah Sui had spent so much time in the northern regions, where all he saw when he stepped outside were mountains and snow. Seeing so many brightly colored flowers all at once was quite a novelty for him.
Blairand smiled at his reaction. “They’re all artificial flowers. Salaranfa is heavily polluted, and the area suitable for planting is scarce, so real flowers are very rare.”
Ah Sui reached out and touched the flowers, confirming they were indeed fake, with a texture resembling plastic. “It’s fine, I know how to plant flowers. I’ll help you plant them in the future.”
He could also grow napa cabbage, bok choy, tomatoes, cucumbers, and big eggplants.
Blairand shook his head, not paying much attention. He reached out and gently pulled Ah Sui into the house, making sure no other zergs saw them. The interior of his home was even more extravagant than the outside, as the Zerg race’s decorating style was all about grandeur. Ah Sui, being a child from a poor family, had never seen anything like it. He touched everything, asked about everything, and acted as if it were his first time entering a city—
Which, in truth, it was.
Blairand wasn’t irritated at all. He patiently stayed by Ah Sui’s side, explaining the functions of the high-tech gadgets, spending over half an hour downstairs before heading upstairs.
He opened the door to one of the master bedrooms and gestured for Ah Sui to go in and have a look. His voice was low, carrying an indescribable meaning: “From now on, we’ll be living in this room.”
When he said “we,” his voice sounded particularly pleasant, and Ah Sui’s ears tingled for a moment. “We?”
Blairand asked in return, “You don’t want to?”
“Of course I do.” Ah Sui leaned in and kissed him, his handsome features smiling. “This room is so beautiful. I like living with you.”
Blairand gently kissed him back, feeling quite pleased with the confession from the male zerg. “Before your star citizen certificate is ready, stay here and don’t go anywhere. I don’t want you to be discovered, understand?”
Ah Sui quietly perked up his ears upon hearing this. “Then you can’t feed me medicine.”
Blairand hummed in agreement. “No medicine, but the door will be locked.”
There were many nobles living nearby, and it was hard to tell when someone might suddenly come to visit. Locking the door was both to prevent Ah Sui from running off and to avoid unwanted visitors.
Ah Sui was very curious about the outside world. “When will my star citizen certificate be ready?”
Blairand paused for a moment before replying, “The day after tomorrow. I’ll go to the military department tomorrow first. The day after, we’ll disguise ourselves and go to the hospital for a blood test.”
He spoke, then took Ah Sui’s hand and looked at it. There was a faint white scar on the index finger of the male zerg, a remnant of when he had lost control during his heat and accidentally bitten himself.
Blairand could vaguely recall the strong, sweet, and metallic scent of it, the pheromones thick in the air. He unconsciously furrowed his brow.
What was the purity of Ah Sui’s blood, really?
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