Chapter 59: Anomalous Time 25

Chapter 59: Anomalous Time 25

The icy finger that touched the shoulder of the person in bed recoiled as if electrocuted.

It was reflexively shaken, as if burned.

The person who had cautiously bent down beside the bed to poke him stared blankly with widened eyes.

...How could it be so hot!

Yubai's impression of Xie Wufang's body temperature had always been an icy cold that was distinctly different from that of a normal human being. He had even worried that others might notice something strange if they accidentally touched him.

But at this moment, through the thin fabric of his shirt, he felt an almost scorching heat.

Yubai, who had been submerged in memories and felt chilled to the bone, had very cold fingers. In contrast, Xie Wufang's body temperature felt burning hot.

In shock, Yubai didn't dare move at first, nervously observing the reaction of the other person after being poked.

Under the anxious yet expectant gaze of his pale eyes, the man on the bed showed no response. His deep and handsome profile was half-covered by the sunlight, his eyes closed, hiding the familiar gray-blue lake.

He waited for a moment, but there was still no movement. It seemed that Xie Wufang was still sound asleep.

The bedroom was particularly quiet. The window next to him was tightly shut, with a layer of hazy mist on the glass, like a room with heating on in the cold winter.

The tranquil scene made the searing touch of his fingertips feel like an illusion.

Yubai hesitated for a moment, his gaze lingering over the shoulder covered by the shirt before him. Then, he cautiously extended his gradually warming fingertips once more.

He prodded the man's cheek tentatively.

It was still very hot.

It was about the same temperature as when a normal person has a high fever, perhaps slightly higher.

...It wasn't an illusion.

Yubai immediately withdrew his hand, staring at the man on the bed with a look of panic.

His originally normal icy body temperature had become scorching hot, and the person who didn't need sleep was now deeply asleep.

If he were to use human concepts as a metaphor, he felt that Xie Wufang was now like someone who was sick.

However, the influence of a god falling ill was much greater than that of an ordinary human being. Not only did his power leak out uncontrollably, spreading a sudden cold snap across the world, but even the fever trapped within his body had a more noticeable effect on the surroundings, warming the air around him.

When ordinary people fell ill with a high fever, they should go to the hospital, get injections, take medicine...

These methods were clearly not applicable to Xie Wufang.

He wasn't truly human.

But he was just an ordinary human being, Yubai thought.

So... Could he do anything for Xie Wufang, who might be sick right now?

He had no idea what to do, but he couldn't ignore it either.

Just as Yubai was feeling at a loss, the cheerful ringtone suddenly pierced through the tranquility of the room.

It was his phone ringing in his pocket.

Yubai jumped in fright, fumbling for his phone without even looking at the caller ID on the screen. As he quickly pressed the answer button, he hurriedly left the room.

Yanjing, who was still frozen in place in another bedroom, was also startled by the sudden ringtone. Reflexively reaching into his pocket, he saw Xiao Bai, holding his phone tightly, quickly return to the room and gently close the door behind him.

"It was your phone ringing!" Yanjing said, patting his chest in relief. "You scared me to death. I was afraid Brother Xie would be woken up."

"I was afraid too," Yubai replied, still shaken. "He needs rest right now."

"Needs rest?" Yanjing asked, confused. "Do you know what's wrong with Brother Xie?"

Before Yubai could answer, a familiar voice of concern came from the phone he held to his ear.

"Xiao Bai! Did you wake up from your lazy sleep?"

A gruff voice came from the other end of the line. "Well, I didn't mean to wake you up! It's just that the weather outside really changed!"

It was Sun Tiantian, who had agreed to come over today.

Yubai paused for a moment before responding immediately, "It's okay, I'm already awake, Brother Tian."

"Oh, good!" Sun Tiantian blurted out reflexively before correcting himself. "Ah, what good is that? How did the weather suddenly turn into such a mess? I saw the internet going crazy!"

Since the temperature drop began, Yubai hadn't left the large courtyard, nor had he had time to check his phone. He was unaware of the extent of the impact of this sudden winter day.

Only now, listening to Sun Tiantian's words, did he realize that the drop in temperature wasn't localized; it likely spread across the entire planet.

Just like the global sky anomaly everyone had witnessed together.

Yubai thought for a moment and reassured him first, "Don't worry, it's probably not the end of the world."

Even if this time-space that shouldn't exist was about to meet its end, the real world where people lived would remain safe.

Because Xie Wufang knew that this planet was important to him, he wanted to continue living in this world, didn't want it to explode, and didn't want it to perish.

So at some unknown moment, the deity who had quietly answered the wishes of humans used his extraordinary and vast powers to change something.

At the moment he realized the cause and effect, Yubai was plunged into a distant and dark school day that he never actively recalled.

He almost thought he was about to experience another loss without even having the chance to say goodbye.

Those who vanished into the mundane days had walked there for his sake.

This was the true end of the world.

The end of his own world.

Tian Tian Sun said in his ear, "I'm not worried, because if it's really the end, the whole world will go down together—it's fair! I'm just worried that you might be scared alone!"

As he spoke, he hesitantly softened his voice, "Xiaobai, how are you doing? Are you alright? Are you inside or outside? Have you been cold?"

"I'm fine," Yu Bai came back to his senses, "I'm in my room, and I haven't been cold."

A rugged yet caring voice then cautiously asked, "Can you move the phone away from your ear?"

"What?"

Despite being confused, Yu Bai followed the instruction and moved the phone away from his ear.

Then he saw the familiar, resolute face shaking on the screen.

...

Sorry, he forgot that Big Brother Tian, who insisted on seeing people alive, always made video calls.

The two people staring at each other through the video call were both momentarily stunned.

Yu Bai felt a bit awkward, "Sorry, I didn't notice it was a video call."

Sun Tian Tian exclaimed, "Holy shit! You're not wearing your glasses today!"

"I took them off earlier," Yu Bai said as he reached for the black-rimmed glasses, "I'll put them on now."

"No, no, don't put them on!" Sun Tian Tian quickly said, "It's better this way, it's especially reminiscent of my youthful style—ahem, I mean, it's more suitable for the current weather."

"It's so cold outside, you must have the heating on indoors? Going in and out with those glasses would fog up all the time, how inconvenient!"

...That made sense.

Yu Bai stopped reaching for his glasses, pretending not to hear the former mob boss's slip about the real reason he didn't want him to wear glasses.

Seeing that he seemed to have abandoned his original plan, Sun Tian Tian's eyes lit up with joy, "Haha, this lousy weather does have its perks!"

"Right, since you're already awake, should I come over to see you now? Where are you? Still at a friend's place?"

"Mm, still at a friend's place," Yu Bai said, "But I might have something to attend to right now."

He was still concerned about Xie Wufang's condition, leaving little room in his heart for anything else.

When Sun Tian Tian mentioned coming to see him earlier, Yu Bai had once worried about what scene would unfold when these two met, surely causing him a headache.

Now that Xie Wufang was in a deep sleep, without the potential trouble, he preferred to have a headache instead.

"Alright, I won't bother you!" Sun Tian Tian readily agreed, "You do your thing, I'll just drop by to see you and bring you something. No need to fuss over me."

He was always straightforward and wasn't being polite.

Yu Bai didn't refuse anymore and gave him the address of the courtyard.

"This is prime real estate!" After noting it down, Sun Tian Tian asked him, "How many friends are there where you are?"

If only counting his friends, there were five, but including everyone else in the courtyard, it was more than that.

Yu Bai didn't know why Sun Tian Tian was asking, so he vaguely replied, "...There are quite a few people here, maybe a dozen or so?"

"Woah, you've made so many new friends?"

Sun Tian Tian was surprised but smiled and waved at him, ending the conversation on his own initiative, "Alright, I got it! Go take care of your business, see you later!"

The video call ended, leaving Yu Bai somewhat at a loss.

What did Big Brother Tian ask that for?

He didn't have time to think much about it, as his attention soon returned to the matter at hand.

Facing a non-human who might be "sick," what could he do?

Also, when the phone rang suddenly, had Xie Wufang been woken up?

A few seconds later, the bedroom door slowly opened, and a brown head cautiously peeked out, looking towards the next room.

Following closely behind was a black head.

The two round heads, one above the other, clung to the door frame, peering into the bedroom with the open door.

Inside, it was still quiet, and the man on the bed lay still, not even changing his position.

The brown head felt a bit relieved and disappointed as it withdrew, "He wasn't woken up."

The black head also pulled back, trying to interpret his tone and asked, slightly puzzled, "Do you hope Brother Xie was woken up, or do you hope he wasn't?"

"..." Yu Bai sighed, his expression conflicted, "I don't know either."

He was worried about any side effects of waking the other party, yet he longed to see the familiar gray-blue lake again.

"So what do you know?" Yan Jing, who had listened to him finish the call, couldn't help but ask about the interrupted question, "Why did you say earlier that Brother Xie needs rest?"

"Because his body temperature is very hot, like a high fever. I think he might be in a state equivalent to us humans being sick, and sickness definitely requires rest."

Yu Bai said dejectedly, "But he isn't truly human, medicine and doctors won't work. I don't know what I can do."

"You can help cool him down!" Yan Jing blurted out.

Yu Bai was taken aback. "Cool him down?"

"Right, isn't his body temperature scorching hot?" Yan Jing scratched his head. "The first step in dealing with a high fever is to lower the temperature! If we can bring it down, he'll feel more comfortable, right? I reckon it's the same for humans, isn't it?"

...That made perfect sense.

How did he not think of that?

Perhaps it was because he was too worried.

With newfound resolve, Yu Bai got up and headed for the bathroom, genuinely praising, "Genius."

"..." Yan Jing was flattered, "T-thank you."

A moment later, after preparing everything, Yu Bai returned to the bed where the blankets were puffed up. In his hand was a towel soaked in cold water and wrung almost dry, but his expression was somewhat hesitant.

He had never taken care of a sick person before.

Even when he himself was ill, if no one was watching over him, he would just take some medicine haphazardly and wait it out, never bothering to look after himself properly.

Facing someone who fell ill because of him for the first time, Doctor Xiao Yu, in name only, felt a bit at a loss.

He wasn't sure if a cold compress would help alleviate the high fever on Xie Wufang's body.

Regardless, he decided to give it a try.

If it worked, he would fetch more towels or find some ice to wrap around them.

With this thought, Yu Bai made up his mind, bent down, and tried to place the neatly folded towel on the man's forehead.

Then,

Standing by the bed, he realized he couldn't reach.

His fingers and the towel hung stiffly in the air, just an inch away from their destination.

It was just that little bit short, preventing him from placing the towel steadily on the forehead of the man lying on his side, afraid it might slip off accidentally.

...This bed was just too big!

After hesitating between smearing a wet towel all over someone's face and taking off his shoes to climb onto the bed, Yu Bai chose the latter.

After all, even the loud ringing of a phone couldn't wake Xie Wufang up.

A little noise from climbing onto the bed definitely wouldn't either.

Thus, with deliberate lightness in his movements, the spacious and soft double bed sank a little further as pristine white sheets rippled with new creases, like waves advancing layer by layer.

The brown-haired youth, still dressed in his thin summer clothes, carefully moved on his knees to the side of the man lying on his side.

The closer he got, the more intense the burning heat became.

When his knees were about to touch the other's back, Yu Bai cautiously stopped, relieved to see that Xie Wufang remained asleep.

He lowered his eyes slightly, looking down at the pale profile so close that their breaths mingled.

After a brief daze, the person kneeling on the bed shook his head, reining in thoughts that had wandered to some unknown dimension. His icy fingers, reddened by the cold water, twitched.

Then, silently, he leaned forward, his fingertips crossing the vividly hot air, gently placing the meticulously folded damp towel on the forehead of the man suffering from a high fever.