“Dad, what’s that?”
The little black-haired, blue-eyed boy was walking down the corridor when he suddenly pointed at the glass curtain wall in front of him.
Through the completely transparent glass, he could see a little house inside, almost like a miniature model.
The little house had been arranged very cozily. It was filled with all kinds of dolls, and the floor was covered with a thick little rug.
Most importantly, there was actually a nest inside it, almost like a bird’s nest.
There seed to be sothing inside that nest, but from the little boy’s angle, all he could see was a rounded curve of snowy white.
It was wrapped up carefully in the softest fabric, and the slight rise and fall of it looked almost as if it were breathing.
...Was it sleeping?
The little boy wondered in confusion.
“Shh, quiet. Little Yan, you mustn’t wake him up.”
A woman in a white lab coat slowly walked over to the little boy’s side.
Even though the glass between them ant their voices couldn’t possibly carry inside, the little boy still covered his mouth to show that he definitely wouldn’t make any noise.
Seeing that, the woman gently ruffled his hair. She could see the curiosity in his eyes, so she pointed at the nest inside and silently mouthed the words to him.
‘That’s a little friend.’
The little boy looked toward the little house in surprise.
He didn’t make a single sound. He silently asked the woman, ‘Can I go take a look at him?’
But the woman shook her head.
‘He’s still very fragile. We can’t disturb him.’
Understanding what she ant, the little boy nodded. He didn’t throw a fuss over his own curiosity or insist on going in. Once he learned the other party was fragile, he simply chose to stand outside quietly and watch.
Only after quite a while did the woman take his hand and lead him away. He walked in front, but he couldn’t help turning back to look behind him.
They had already gone quite far before the little boy finally pulled his gaze back and asked the woman, “Can I co see him again later?”
The woman thought for a mont, her voice warm and gentle. “Not for now. He has to go back to his family.”
“I see...”
The little boy sounded a little disappointed.
But in the next mont, his eyes lit up again when he heard what the woman said.
Because she told him—
“But later, you’ll have a chance to see him again.”
The scene in his mory gradually faded away along with those words.
Xi Heyan opened his eyes. Looking at the familiar ceiling and the familiar furnishings around him, he realized he had just been dreaming.
He had dread about the past.
Back then, nothing had happened to the Xi family yet. He had gone to Polaris with Xi Yuelin, and he had been very happy that day. When he ca back, he had even talked to his mother about it for a long ti.
That mory was already very far in the past, but for so reason, Xi Heyan had suddenly dread of it tonight.
Rubbing at his brow, he sat up from the floor.
There was another person breathing in the room.
Xi Heyan turned around.
Wen Yuzhi was asleep on the bed beside him.
The young boy’s breathing was light, his features peaceful.
At a glance, it was obvious he was having a beautiful dream.
For so reason, seeing Wen Yuzhi sleeping so peacefully gradually cald the turmoil in Xi Heyan’s heart that the dream had stirred up.
He had very few monts this peaceful anymore.
To him, the middle of the night was like an endless nightmare.
His childhood had been filled with one loss after another.
Xi Shixiao had been urgently summoned to the palace in the middle of the night. Not long after that, word ca from the imperial palace that Leader Xi had colluded with enemy forces and attempted to assassinate His Majesty.
Xi Yuelin had also left on a night like that. She escaped from Bernard’s imprisonnt and ran to Polaris.
No one knew exactly what had happened inside Polaris, but Xi Yuelin chose to activate the self-destruct program she had installed there.
And she, too, died in that night’s explosion, protecting the life’s work she had founded in the most resolute way possible.
Later, in order to cover Xi Heyan’s escape from the capital star, Lena and August also died.
Xi Heyan had been forced to watch one familiar face after another vanish before his eyes.
To fake his death and get him out, many people died on the capital star that night, and the Damian family was subjected to a bloody purge.
From that mont on, nightti beca Xi Heyan’s nightmare.
He dread often, and his dreams reflected reality.
He would dream of one mangled face after another appearing before him, and he would also dream of a faceless figure sitting high upon a throne, looking down at him from above.
Xi Heyan knew that was Bernard.
And behind Bernard stood countless shadowy black silhouettes, all of them faceless just like him.
But Xi Heyan knew perfectly well that these people were all part of the force that had destroyed the Xi family from behind the scenes.
He had many enemies.
So long as they still lived, how could he ever sleep in peace?
At tis, Xi Heyan would still drift into a daze.
Because the little boy who had once dread of becoming a protector of the Empire like his father was already gone. In his place was soone else entirely.
To keep himself from spiraling, Xi Heyan buried himself in books.
What he had told Wen Yuzhi before was all true.
During that period, he read a great many books and used every thod he could think of to make himself calm down.
And he really had done it.
After leaving Blackrock Star, Xi Heyan’s mind was cool and clear. He suppressed all of his emotions. Other than being a little withdrawn by nature, he looked just like an ordinary person.
Not one of the classmates who spent every day with him at school noticed anything unusual about him.
In front of others, Xi Heyan was always calm. Indifferent.
Only deep in the night, in those dreams steeped in blood, ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) did his emotions surge violently.
Every ti he woke from one of those dreams, his mood always carried a damp, stifling heaviness.
But for so reason, Xi Heyan didn’t feel quite so terrible today.
Maybe it was because the dream he had tonight was, for once, no longer one of those bloody nightmares. It had only been an ordinary, peaceful fragnt from his mory.
After waking, Xi Heyan didn’t feel too bad.
He was even still thinking about what that thing hidden inside the nest had been.
It was just a pity that his aunt had never told him at the ti.
Still, Xi Heyan guessed it had probably been an egg.
A round little egg.
And inside that egg lived a tiny little life.
Unbeknownst to him, Wen Yuzhi was also dreaming of a round little egg right now.
Only unlike Xi Heyan, he dread that he was inside the egg.
He was wrapped in a warm place. Everything around him was warm too, and there was a soft white noise that made people relax.
In that kind of environnt, even though everything around him was pitch-black, Wen Yuzhi didn’t feel nervous or afraid.
He seed to know this place was safe.
Wen Yuzhi released his ntal power.
And the mont those soft ntal-energy feelers stretched outward, Wen Yuzhi was stunned.
Because around him was an enormous toy house. An overwhelming array of miniature toys had turned the place into an extravagantly lavish fairy-tale kingdom.
And the place where Wen Yuzhi was now was the royal palace of that kingdom.
Looking out from the palace, the streets, the buildings, the vehicles—everything was so vividly lifelike.
Wen Yuzhi walked for a long ti before finally reaching the edge of the kingdom. There stood an enormous glass curtain wall, and beyond it was another world.
A cold, pale laboratory.
It was the complete opposite of this place.
But strangely enough, Wen Yuzhi felt an intense familiarity with it.
It was as if he knew where every instrunt should go, and he also knew the layout of this laboratory.
So vague instinct seed to be pulling him in a certain direction.
Soone was speaking to another person, voice kept very low.
“His condition is very dangerous... I can’t give you any definite guarantee... those ntal powers are devouring his life... his ntal sea could riot at any ti...”
“I’ll send him back to your side... his body is very weak... I understand... seven days is already the limit...”
“...He is one of a kind. Perfect or not, he will be the only one.”
It seed the conversation had so kind of shielding mode on. Wen Yuzhi could only make out the rough aning of it.
And after saying that, the woman in the white lab coat in front of him cut off the communication.
She had originally ant to continue with the procedure in her hands, but then a gentle touch brushed past her feet.
It was very light, like an affectionate little cat suddenly coming over to rub against her.
Wen Yuzhi had thought his movent wouldn’t be noticed.
But to his surprise, the woman imdiately lowered her head and accurately found the direction his ntal power was in.
The soft ntal-energy feelers instantly turned into sothing like a cat whose tail had just been stepped on.
His whole body went stiff at once.
Yet the woman didn’t look angry or surprised.
She only smiled and said, “Out to play again? But today you can’t break any more of my test tubes.”
Wen Yuzhi didn’t move.
The woman didn’t mind.
She dragged over a box from the side. Inside it were brand-new dolls.
The ntal power that had been utterly motionless a mont ago imdiately stirred a little.
But it still stayed in place cautiously, like a wary little cub.
The woman pushed the box forward.
“These are all for you.”
She pointed at the box as she spoke.
Wen Yuzhi himself wasn’t tempted.
But his ntal power seed to have ideas of its own. Even though it was scared, it still timidly hugged the doll on top of the box.
The woman couldn’t see what the ntal power looked like, but she could see the doll floating in midair.
She froze for a mont, then seed to realize sothing. A flash of surprise crossed her eyes.
“Do you like it?”
She was asking about the doll.
The ntal power didn’t move, but it was still holding the doll.
The woman seed to understand sothing. “If you like it, I’ll bring more tomorrow.”
Wen Yuzhi could feel his ntal power growing happy.
The woman seed to be able to sense that too. After hesitating for a mont, she spoke tentatively.
“I know you can understand what I’m saying.”
The doll was still floating in midair, without any response, but as long as it was still there, the woman knew that strand of ntal power hadn’t left.
So she continued, “All the experintal subjects in the laboratory have serial numbers, but I’m guessing you probably wouldn’t like those numbers. I don’t want to call you that either. An independent life-form should have its own na, even if you haven’t hatched yet...”
“Do you have a na? It seems your race is born with one.”
Wen Yuzhi felt his ntal power move again.
Using the dolls from inside the box, it arranged the character for Zhi—“branch”—on the floor.
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