EDEH Chapter 22

Lying was a bad habit, especially lying to friends.

 

Sang Jue knew this.

 

But he also didn’t know how to tell Huo Yanji about himself… Could he trust Huo Yanji one hundred percent?

 

He was an alien… dragon after all.

 

When infected, not only would he not undergo aberrant disorder, he could also transform into the appearance of the infectious species. Besides that, he also possessed those rare materials from the spacecraft…

 

Would Huo Yanji force him to do things he didn’t want to do? Just like Dr. Millie back then.

 

Sang Jue’s head was still very dizzy, making it impossible to think effectively.

 

He frowned and said sullenly: “It hurts.”

 

“Delicate.”

 

Sang Jue’s skin was too pale, and with the slight sweat from fever, it appeared even more lustrous. The place that had just been pinched already showed red marks. Combined with his vulnerable feverish appearance, it easily aroused sadistic desires.

 

Huo Yanji released his hand: “Didn’t I tell you to learn to keep your distance from people?”

 

“Mm…”

 

Huo Yanji: “You and Bao Cang only met by chance three days ago, yet you spent an hour alone with him tonight.”

 

“But I didn’t get close to him. I maintained a safe distance of over three meters.”

 

“Only intimate people can be alone together, especially since he’s also a deviant.” Huo Yanji said flatly. “There weren’t many people in the hall at the time, and this place was partitioned off by curtains. If he had covered your mouth wanting to harm you, you wouldn’t even have a chance to call for help.”

 

“He couldn’t beat me anyway.” Sang Jue was very confident. He blinked: “Are we intimate people?”

 

“Hm?” Huo Yanji’s eyebrows moved almost imperceptibly.

 

“You said before that we’d be sleeping in the same room for the next few days.”

 

“So?”

 

Sang Jue was good at drawing inferences: “Isn’t that even more intimate solitude?”

 

Huo Yanji: “This is military-arranged accommodation, and I’m not a deviant either.”

 

But I’m not a soldier, Sang Jue thought to himself.

 

However, the three words “deviant” gave Sang Jue inspiration. He suddenly knew how to confess to Huo Yanji without being too suspicious.

 

Sang Jue asked: “Do you really hate deviants?”

 

Huo Yanji also asked: “Who said that?”

 

“Many people say so.” Sang Jue thought for a moment and asked, “If I were a deviant, would you hate me too?”

 

Sang Jue’s forehead was sweating again, whether from nervousness or fever. His beautiful eyes blinked, and sweat beads hung on his long black eyelashes.

 

Huo Yanji didn’t seem surprised by his question. He raised his hand to wipe the sweat from his eyelashes: “I don’t hate any group—I just don’t like people lying to me.”

 

Sang Jue’s heart gave a small tug.

 

He shifted his bottom and faced away from Huo Yanji with the back of his head: “Alright, I’ll tell you about the tail, but let me think about it first.”

 

A strange glint flashed in Huo Yanji’s eyes.

 

His gaze moved down to look at Sang Jue’s tailbone area, where there really was—

 

“…” No tail, but there were two small dimples. Huo Yanji withdrew his gaze: “Pull up your pants properly.”

 

“Hm?” Sang Jue made a sound, looked back, and quickly pulled up his waistband: “They’re too big.”

 

Although clean, uncontaminated clothes were also military necessities—but the team didn’t have soldiers as slight as Sang Jue. Even the smallest size was too big for him.

 

Huo Yanji let Sang Jue off, no longer pressing about the tail: “Sit a bit longer. The accommodation building will be ready in twenty minutes.”

 

“Okay…”

 

Seeing Huo Yanji leave, Sang Jue asked 007 in a low voice: “Are there dragons on this planet?”

 

007 gave a definite answer: [Yes.]

 

“That’s good.”

 

Sang Jue had already figured out how to tell Huo Yanji about the tail, but he needed to rehearse his lines first to avoid being caught in inconsistencies by Huo Yanji and exposing more things.

 

So while Huo Yanji listened to subordinates reporting cleanup data, occasionally glancing over, he saw the little thing holding his feverish face, muttering words in distress.

 

Saiya hesitated: “General—”

 

Huo Yanji: “Speak.”

 

Saiya really couldn’t hold back: “I heard you have a special nickname for Sang Jue. Is that true?”

 

The scene from a few days ago at the steel gate in the sewer flashed through his mind.

 

Ji-ji.

 

Ji-ji.

 

Dick…

 

Huo Yanji’s expression remained unchanged: “You don’t seem very tired.”

 

Saiya immediately denied: “Report! I’m so tired I could fall asleep instantly!”

 

But the General didn’t deny the nickname thing, so it must be true.

 

The General’s spring had arrived.

 

Tsk.

 

…

 

The sound of rain outside gradually weakened. When he looked up again, faint morning light had fallen into Sang Jue’s eyes.

 

“Sang Jue, let’s go.” Huo Yanji called from a distance, still carrying his backpack.

 

Sang Jue hurried to catch up: “I thought you threw it away.”

 

Huo Yanji: “No.”

 

Walking out of the cafeteria, Sang Jue breathed in the fresh air after the storm.

 

The corpses on the streets, the filthy contaminants, the bloody smell permeating the air—at this moment it was as if they had never appeared, vanished completely clean.

 

Aside from the sudden drop in resident numbers in District Seven’s system, everything seemed fine, as if the disasters of the past two days had never happened.

 

The temporary residential building was very close. In the elevator, besides Sang Jue and Huo Yanji, there were nearly ten other officers, including Wei Lan, making the atmosphere very solemn.

 

Sang Jue missed Colin a bit. As a fellow officer, Colin wasn’t serious and was quite talkative.

 

Feeling out of place, Sang Jue tried to squeeze behind Huo Yanji but was grabbed by the back collar and pulled out.

 

“Are you a hamster? Like burrowing into holes?”

 

“…No.”

 

Fortunately, the elevator doors opened, timely relieving Sang Jue’s embarrassment.

 

But why were all these people following them into his and Huo Yanji’s room?

 

Huo Yanji gestured for Sang Jue to leave first: “There’s hot water for a medicinal bath and food in the bedroom. Go soak for a while.”

 

Saiya nearby had an “I knew it” expression.

 

The food and hot water bath were things Huo Yanji had asked him to arrange half an hour ago, even adding very precious intoxicating flower powder. But in all his years serving under Huo Yanji, Saiya had never seen him ‘indulge’ while away—this was definitely prepared for Sang Jue.

 

Although everyone liked gossiping about their superiors… for Huo Yanji, who was too young yet held such a high position, was having a romantic interest really a good thing?

 

Too many eyes were watching him.

 

Residents, deviants, those old fools from the Supreme Council who only knew how to complain…

 

If Huo Yanji made one wrong step, countless hands would want to pull him down from his pedestal.

 

During this rescue mission, Huo Yanji bringing the non-military Sang Jue along had already attracted much criticism, though no one dared say it to his face.

 

Such criticism included—Huo Yanji didn’t care about the rescue or the lives of District Seven residents and soldiers at all; he was basically here on a date with his little lover.

 

Sang Jue didn’t know about these complex political matters. He entered the bedroom and glanced outside before closing the door.

 

Huo Yanji sat on the sofa with his back to him, one elbow propped on the armrest, fingers slightly curved, pressed against his jaw as he said coldly: “Begin the report.”

 

Wei Lan spoke slowly: “According to statistics, deviant military personnel suffered the greatest casualties this time, with losses approaching one-third. Here are the specific numbers and list…”

 

Sang Jue hadn’t expected Huo Yanji would still have to work after returning to their quarters. It was already dawn.

 

Earlier, when Wei Lan came to ask him about Colin, she had mentioned that Huo Yanji hadn’t had a full night’s sleep for three consecutive days, only taking short naps totaling less than three hours.

 

He closed the door and whispered: “Huo Dolphin.”

 

Only dolphins didn’t need to sleep because they had two brains that could work alternately. So dolphins swam from birth to death, resting for a lifetime.

 

The laboratory on his home planet used to have a dolphin—very cute and friendly to humans.

 

He wondered if this planet also had dolphins, and if so, what they had been contaminated into.

 

Lost in thought, Sang Jue stepped into the bath without testing the water temperature: “Ah—”

 

He almost jumped out—his dragon meat was about to be cooked!

 

The bathtub contained something unknown and had a faint wine scent.

 

Outside, Huo Yanji looked back and raised his hand to signal a pause in the report.

 

He got up and knocked on the bedroom door, only entering after hearing Sang Jue’s response.

 

The people outside couldn’t see anything, only hearing their commander say in his usual flat tone: “Stupid—don’t you know to test the water temperature first?”

 

Sang Jue said: “I forgot…”

 

Then came the sound of splashing water as Huo Yanji helped add some cold water.

 

“Try to soak for a full half hour.”

 

“Oh.”

 

Huo Yanji left after testing the water temperature, the closed door blocking sound from both sides.

 

He returned to his original seat and gestured: “Continue.”

 

…

 

In the blink of an eye, an hour had passed. The sky was bright, with the sound of pattering rain outside the window.

 

As the data reports closed, this disaster finally came to an end.

 

But the pain in everyone’s hearts hadn’t ended. With the mission over, their suppressed emotions began to surface.

 

The faces of sacrificed comrades and those infected who died by their hands passed through their minds one by one—surging, churning, tormenting their seemingly unshakeable hearts.

 

Wei Lan suddenly said: “With such heavy casualties this time and District Seven losing so many people, the Supreme Council will likely hold you accountable and question whether your order to defend District Seven to the death was correct.”

 

Saiya frowned: “But the order to defend wasn’t issued by the General alone. Commander Lin also…”

 

Wei Lan glanced at him.

 

Saiya fell silent.

 

Compared to others, Wei Lan was much more direct: “Combined with Sang Jue’s presence, which has led to many unfounded rumors about your private life, even if any general had led the team, casualties couldn’t have been reduced further. The Supreme Council will likely still seize on this point—you need to be mentally prepared to respond.”

 

Huo Yanji made a flat “mm” sound: “Do what you’re supposed to do. If anyone comes to inquire, answer however you think.”

 

Saiya: “There’s also the matter of compensation…”

 

“This support mission: supervisors and deviants receive normal compensation, families of the fallen receive triple compensation, and compensation for fallen soldiers without families will be divided among surviving military personnel.”

 

“Compensation for fallen mercenaries follows the same rule, surviving support mercenaries receive double compensation.”

 

“All compensation will be drawn from District Seven’s finances.” Huo Yanji stood up. “Everyone go rest. You’ve worked hard these past few days.”

 

“Yes.”

 

Saiya was the last to leave. Before going, he couldn’t help asking: “If all compensation comes from District Seven, won’t that be a bit unreasonable? After all, District Seven also lost many people…”

 

Huo Yanji: “This is the lesson they deserve for failing to protect the sonic device.”

 

Every safe zone’s sonic dispersal device was in the city center, heavily defended by aerial city defenses and very difficult to destroy. But those honey-guides had completely destroyed the sonic device in just twenty minutes from entering the city.

 

What does this prove? It proves that District Seven’s city defense assumed no flying contaminants could approach the sonic device—they were negligent in their duties and failed to fulfill their responsibilities.

 

If they had defended properly, there wouldn’t have been such massive casualties.

 

Thinking of Colin, who had been reduced to nothing, Saiya immediately lost all sympathy.

 

“Is Sang Jue also counted on the mercenary list?”

 

“Why wouldn’t he be?”

 

Saiya had heard from the one-armed Wei Heng that Sang Jue had helped a lot following behind the mercenary team, so receiving equal compensation was only natural.

 

But according to social conventions, with rumors flying everywhere outside, adding another rumor about securing benefits for his little lover wasn’t worth it.

 

The most appropriate approach would be to avoid suspicion—if he really wanted to give compensation, he should use a private account…

 

Unfortunately, Huo Yanji wasn’t someone who liked following social conventions.

 

The room finally fell quiet.

 

Huo Yanji knocked on the door: “Knock knock—”

 

No one answered.

 

He wasn’t surprised—probably asleep.

 

But when he pushed the door open, he found the room filled with mist, and Sang Jue was still soaking in the bathtub without any movement.

 

“Sang Jue?”

 

He strode over and checked Sang Jue’s carotid artery—

 

“Huo, Huo Dolphin.”

 

Sang Jue opened his eyes, dazed and confused, like he was drunk: “Is the report finished…”

 

Not knowing how another ‘nickname’ had appeared, Huo Yanji made an “mm” sound and asked: “Where do you feel uncomfortable?”

 

Sang Jue: “My head, dizzy…”

 

Soaked too long?

 

Huo Yanji asked: “Can you get up?”

 

Sang Jue: “Can’t, I’m soft, soft…”

 

“…”

 

Huo Yanji lifted the naked Sang Jue out, wrapped him in a bath towel, and tossed him onto the bed.

 

As Sang Jue had said, he was now as soft as a boneless caterpillar, unable to even crawl.

 

“Huo Dolphin, go to sleep quickly…”

 

“Mm, I’ll sleep in a bit.”

 

“No, no good.” Though soft as a puddle of water, Sang Jue still held onto Huo Yanji: “I promised, promised Colonel Wei Lan to supervise your rest.”

 

Huo Yanji was about to call a doctor when Sang Jue’s bath towel came undone.

 

He bent down to pull the bedding from inside the bed to cover Sang Jue, but unexpectedly caught a whiff of alcohol—

 

Having an alcohol scent was normal. Intoxicating flower was one of the brewing materials that didn’t need fermentation. Ground into powder and used for bathing at a 1:1000 ratio, it had miraculous effects on muscle and bone injuries.

 

But the alcohol scent Huo Yanji smelled seemed to be emanating from Sang Jue’s skin.

 

He leaned closer to smell—there really was an alcohol scent.

 

Sang Jue wasn’t physically uncomfortable—he was drunk.

 

Huo Yanji’s voice was very cool: “Sang Jue.”

 

“Mm…”

 

“Did you drink the bath water?”

 

Sang Jue refuted with his eyes closed: “Only idiots drink bath water.”

 

If he hadn’t drunk the bath water, how had he gotten himself into this drunken state?

 

Thinking of the intoxicating flower’s properties, Huo Yanji called Hill: “It’s me.”

 

Hill, who answered the call, was in the main city laboratory, observing Karl’s corpse through an isolation chamber: “Morning, General.”

 

Huo Yanji asked: “Any changes to his body?”

 

Hill answered: “All predictable changes. The lingzhi mushrooms have grown a full circle using his flesh and blood as nourishment. In three days, Mr. Karl will probably be just a skeleton.”

 

Most of Sang Jue’s body was exposed outside the blanket again. Huo Yanji held the communicator with one hand while wrapping Sang Jue into a cocoon with the other: “No strange phenomena?”

 

“Too many strange things, hard to explain them all.” Hill smiled helplessly. “I’ve never seen someone contaminated by two types of genes survive four days, nor have I seen an infected person who didn’t lose control and died naturally.”

 

“Most strangely, Mr. Karl had blood drawn every day in the observation room, but we never detected lingzhi contamination genes—as if they suddenly appeared after death.”

 

Could Sang Jue’s dream about lingzhi just be a coincidence?

 

The little drunk behind him kept muttering, saying who knows what.

 

Huo Yanji asked about his main purpose for calling: “When intoxicating flower powder is absorbed through the skin during bathing, would it cause drunken characteristics?”

 

“No.” Hill said with certainty. “Unless the bather drank the bath water.”

 

Ending the call, Huo Yanji glanced at the bed.

 

Somehow his head had gotten wrapped in the blanket too, and Sang Jue was wriggling and struggling like a caterpillar—truly only an idiot would drink bath water.

 

Finally managing to get his head out, Sang Jue caught a familiar scent and mumbled: “I’ll tell you a secret…”

 

Huo Yanji asked: “What?”

 

“Actually, I’m that one-in-a-thousand lucky one… I have a tail.” Sang Jue groped around behind himself: “Mm… where’s my tail?”

 

Huo Yanji: “So you’re a deviant?”

 

Sang Jue made a dizzy “mm” sound—this was the explanation he had prepared.

 

Huo Yanji sorted through the logic and asked flatly: “You mean your contamination genes weren’t obtained through proper procedures, but you were infected by unprocessed genes in the wild, yet not only didn’t lose control but successfully ‘evolved’?”

 

“You’re so smart…”

 

“Where’s the tail?” Huo Yanji’s voice was very flat. “Show it to me.”

 

Sang Jue grabbed the blanket and wrapped himself tightly: “Don’t peek.”

 

“Alright.”

 

After waiting a good while, Sang Jue still showed no movement, his breathing light and slow, as if asleep, as if everything he’d just said was drunken rambling.

 

Huo Yanji pinched the bridge of his nose and got up to rest on the sofa outside, but then saw a scale-covered tail tip emerge from a corner of the blanket.

 

“…”

 

Huo Yanji lifted the blanket. The tail was firmly attached to Sang Jue’s tailbone, with the surrounding skin also connected to some black scales. Sang Jue’s tail was very long, but at its thickest point was only as thick as Huo Yanji’s forearm, very fitting for Sang Jue’s build.

 

The cold scales glinted with blue light. Probably from the heat, all the scales were slightly opened outward, revealing the vulnerable flesh color within.

 

Finding the blanket gone, Sang Jue unhappily swished his tail, finally wrapping it around Huo Yanji’s wrist and pulling it into his embrace, as if he really liked the temperature here.

 

Sang Jue turned over, mumbling drunkenly: “So dizzy… not enough snake wine, now you want to soak me in dragon wine? I just cracked your… balls.”

 

Huo Yanji: “…”

 

Dragon?

 

After the collapse, some flying dragon creatures had indeed appeared in the valley called ‘Eye of Bliss’ near Crack #1, and they were one of the powerful contamination genes humans could choose from.

 

They had strong bodies and were among the few contaminants with high intelligence, with very low contamination desire toward humans.

 

Sang Jue’s explanation could be self-consistent.

 

The survival rate from unprocessed gene contamination was very low, but not impossible—one in a thousand.

 

Most importantly, did Sang Jue have the… intelligence to continue lying while drunk?

 

Huo Yanji watched for a moment, then grabbed Sang Jue’s tail tip to free his wrist, not expecting Sang Jue’s tail to have such strong gripping power that he couldn’t pull it away.

 

“Let go.”

 

“Huo Dolphin, sleep.” Sang Jue was muffled under the blanket, wrapping around his wrist and pulling it into his embrace. “I’m a deviant… don’t you want to sleep with me anymore?”

 

##

---