Chapter 70

Chapter 70

Sang Huaiyu paused briefly, arching a brow.

While this wasn't his first time encountering such a situation, he couldn't help feeling… curious.

What exactly had Shi Yu found upstairs?

As it turned out, it was impossible to fully review all the books on time in just one night. Shi Yu had only managed to sneak around in the library for about two hours before catching sounds from downstairs.

It seemed someone had arrived.

Even though most Ability Users had already left, the on-duty staff would still occasionally patrol each floor.

Shi Yu sighed, quickly memorizing the last few pages before closing the book.

Using Spirit Threads, he wiped away all traces of his presence. Upon hearing footsteps ascending the stairs, he quietly slipped out through a side exit.

Meanwhile, Wen Jingjing did her usual sweep of the area and found nothing out of place.

She then swung her flashlight beam toward the other side, completely unaware that the library had already been rifled through.

The moment Shi Yu emerged from the Ability User Association building, he spotted the Mimosa waiting on the opposite hillside and made a beeline for it, whispering,

"Alright, let's go."

Sang Huaiyu turned to look at Shi Yu, pausing slightly when he noticed the faint dark circles under the other’s eyes.

He gave a leaf-shake in response.

Too eager to get home, Shi Yu didn’t notice the Mimosa’s odd behavior—after all, it usually kept to itself.

Only after getting into the car did Shi Yu finally relax.

Though he had remained composed the entire time, being in enemy territory had kept him on edge. Now, at last, he could let his guard down.

Sang Huaiyu stared at the human who, in just one day of his absence, had managed to make a mess of himself. He felt a strange pang of irritation.

It was like seeing his prize cat run off to wander the streets—he couldn’t help but narrow his eyes slightly.

After resting for a while, Shi Yu suddenly noticed the Mimosa reaching out a tendril toward the steering wheel.

Having spent several days with Sang Huaiyu, the god had made quite an impression. The moment the Mimosa moved, Shi Yu went rigid, suddenly reminded of the evil deity.

But he quickly snapped out of it, realizing that this was just some mimosa plant—how could it possibly be that big boss? They weren’t alike at all.

"What's wrong?"

Shi Yu turned to ask the Mimosa.

In the dim light, the Mimosa motioned him to scoot over as it planted itself in the driver’s seat.

Shi Yu: "…"

Wait… was it seriously about to drive?

Was that even allowed?

Skeptical but exhausted, Shi Yu hesitated. Though he was indeed tired, letting a plant take the wheel—wasn’t that pushing it?

But a moment later, Shi Yu couldn't help but think again.

Now that the Mimosa had been promoted to a high-ranking Horror, perhaps it had some... special abilities?

Just as he suspected, under his curious gaze, the Mimosa actually managed to navigate the mountain road.

Shi Yu studied it closely for a while and, seeing that the Mimosa was truly capable—even better than him—finally allowed himself a slow yawn.

Sang Huaiyu, who was remotely steering the car with focus, glanced at Shi Yu. His fingers twitched with restless energy, and an unnamed emotion stirred in him, though he took no action.

The journey back took a little over an hour, and by the time they arrived, the sky was lightening with dawn.

Shi Yu had already been drowsy, and shortly after switching to the Mimosa's driving, he drifted off to sleep in the passenger seat.

The fair-faced young man lay quietly in the passenger seat, breathing evenly.

The "Mimosa" parked the car in the apartment parking space, then turned to look at Shi Yu.

Perhaps the Horror across from him had been staring for too long.

The Little Monster, who had been absorbed in its studies, suddenly sensed an unfamiliar gaze. It shot out a tentacle, intending to intimidate the Mimosa.

This freak… when did it… come out?

Stay…away from…Mom!

Just as the Little Monster began to unleash its aura, preparing to test its newly mastered lightning technique—

The "Mimosa," which had been frightened by it once before, turned its leaves toward it.

With just a whiff of its power leaking out, the Little Monster froze.

The crackling sparks of lightning in the air were silently snuffed out.

The Little Monster tilted its head in confusion, letting out a confused little warble.

Dad?

Why does the "Mimosa" have… Dad's aura?

Sang Huaiyu raised an eyebrow but said nothing, merely gesturing for the Little Monster to stay quiet.

The Little Monster immediately fell silent, not daring to disturb Mom, though it couldn't help but be curious about the sudden godly manifestation.

Sang Huaiyu turned his gaze back to Shi Yu, gazing at him across the space between them without approaching.

Even he himself was somewhat surprised.

His possessiveness over this human seemed to have grown so strong that, even though he was currently controlling this vegetal Horror with no human consciousness, he didn’t want anything other than his true self to touch Shi Yu in the slightest.

Even if… it was all still him.

If he willed it, any living being in the world could become a vessel for the divine in an instant. But… Shi Yu was different.

Sang Huaiyu pressed a hand to his heart, his face an inscrutable mask.

...

The air conditioning was on, keeping the temperature just right. Shi Yu dozed off for a while and woke up to find a blanket draped over him at some point.

He paused for a moment before remembering—when Sang Huaiyu had given him the car, it seemed to come with an included blanket.

He wasn’t sure where the little Mimosa had found it, though.

Pretty thoughtful, huh?

With that thought in mind, Shi Yu stretched and checked the time.

Seven in the morning—perfect timing to grab breakfast at the entrance before heading back.

Glancing outside, he pulled on his usual bulky coat, relieved that it was overcast this morning, looking like rain. Otherwise, wearing such a heavy jacket in near-early-summer weather would’ve made him look crazy.

He turned to look at the hazy figure curled over the steering wheel.

"Thank you."

"By the way, do you want to come grab breakfast with me?"

Mimosa blinked sleepily to the sound of the human’s gentle voice.

Though it didn’t understand why the human was thanking it, Mimosa still gave a shy little shake of its head.

For some reason, it felt dead tired, like it hadn’t gotten enough rest. Had it been a bother last night?

Mimosa had no memory of driving or anything afterward—just a foggy memory of waiting for the human on the hillside, being kinda dumb.

Shi Yu nodded and ambled over to the breakfast stall outside the residential area.

The freshly steamed buns were piping hot, their fillings stuffed with meat. Though slightly pricier than other places, the taste was undeniably good.

Shi Yu placed his usual order—a bun and a bowl of soy milk—and sat at the stall until his food arrived. He took a bite, ready to kick off a great day.

Instead, his first thought after tasting it was—*"Not as good as what Sang Huaiyu makes."*

Wait, what was he thinking?

Why did that name come out of left field again?

It must’ve been because he’d mentioned him too many times last night—his brain was just reflexively recalling it too much.

He immediately shook his head, shoving that damn name out of his mind, and focused on finishing his bun and soy milk.

Then, he patted his stomach.

Yeah, that hit the spot.

This was delicious too. He must’ve just had a fluke—no big deal.

Content, Shi Yu turned back.

When he returned to the residential area, he found Mimosa right there waiting at the apartment entrance. He gave a wave.

"C’mon."

—

The next morning, everyone who had gone back to sleep the previous night arrived on time.

Because Shi Yu had carefully erased all traces, the Ability User Association detected nothing amiss all night. They noticed only minor glitches in the surveillance feed during the morning check, but dismissed it.

After all, B City had been unusually quiet lately, with the Horrors lying dormant and causing no trouble. Besides, if anything significant occurred within the association, alarms would automatically sound.

After the daily roll call, Shen Yan entered from outside.

"Everything alright last night?"

"All good, Dr. Shen," Wen Jingjing replied, relieving him for the shift change before heading back to the dorm.

Shen Yan massaged his temples and instinctively picked up the partially reviewed data from yesterday to continue reading.

Then, unbidden, Shi Yu came to mind.

Come to think of it, it had been many days since he last watched Shi Yu’s livestream—probably ever since he found out about Sang Huaiyu and Shi Yu being together.

Even he wasn’t sure what his intentions were. He had only listened to the other’s voice to help him fall asleep—that was all there was to it. But perhaps, as Han Chuyi had scolded him last time, his motives weren’t entirely innocent.

Guided by his ethics, Shen Yan had automatically distanced himself.

His insomnia worsened day by day. Amid a pulsing ache in his temples, Shen Yan jerked back to awareness, forcing himself to stop overthinking, then turned his attention to the documents.

Temporal jumps—based on the data they had collected so far, this was the first recorded case.

After a brief contemplation, he decided to go to the library to look for any earlier related records.

…

Several days passed without progress—neither Shi Yu nor the Ability User Association made any breakthroughs.

Shi Yu twisted his lips wryly, thinking that these nightly visits to the Association had changed only his circadian rhythm.

Useless—he was spent. Needed more sleep.

He crept back after dark and, the moment he entered the house, couldn’t muster the energy to reach the bedroom, collapsing onto the living room couch instead.

When Sang Huaiyu returned, he found the human asleep on the sofa—exhausted into a tight fetal curl.

His cheek pressed against the edge of the couch, flushed pink.

Sang Huaiyu paused, quieting his motions.

After setting his suitcase aside, he gently drew the curtains to spare Shi Yu the harsh sunlight.

Half-asleep, Shi Yu mistook him for Mimosa and mumbled, "Thanks."

"Don't mention it."

Sang Huaiyu lowered his gaze, tucking the blanket around him before turning toward the kitchen.

Shi Yu wasn’t sure how long he’d slept—probably well into the afternoon—when he blinked awake blearily, briefly confused about his surroundings.

Oh right, he had gone to the Ability User Association to research the archives again.

But—huh?

Why do I smell food?

Shi Yu’s nose twitched sharply, assuming it was Mimosa cooking.

He sat up and looked toward the kitchen, about to call out to Mimosa, when he spotted someone unexpected.

Wait, Sang Huaiyu?

Why is he here?

Shi Yu froze, not expecting to run into the evil god.

He instinctively checked the calendar on his phone.

Sang Huaiyu had said he’d be away for four days. Today was Tuesday—exactly the day he was supposed to return.

Damn, how could he forget? And he’d even fallen asleep in the living room!

Shi Yu didn’t dare imagine what kind of mess the evil god must have walked into.

Taking a deep breath, he quietly got up, hugging the blanket, ready to sneak back to his bedroom—only to see the person from the kitchen step out.

Noticing his movement, Sang Huaiyu’s eyes flashed with amusement.

"Ten more minutes. Clean up, then we can eat."

"Oh. Yeah."

Shi Yu nodded stiffly, not really processing what he'd just agreed to. Only after washing up and sitting at the table did he see Sang Huaiyu bring out the dishes.

It was a full spread—mushroom chicken soup, Coke-braised wings, and a stir-fried vegetable.

Seeing the chicken wings, Shi Yu instinctively looked up, only to find Sang Huaiyu propping his chin on his hand. "I saw you make these on stream once, so I tried them myself."

"Try them. Are they good?"

Distracted by that gorgeous face, Shi Yu was about to grab a wing with his chopsticks when he suddenly remembered something.

Wait, where's the little mimosa?

He hadn't seen it since waking up. Is it okay?

"Uh, have you seen a plant-based SSS-Class Horror?"

Shi Yu instinctively turned to the evil god.

Sang Huaiyu raised an eyebrow, surprised Shi Yu's first thought was that plant, but after a moment, He replied, "When I came back, I think I saw it retreat to the flowerpot to rest."

"Must be worn out."

Huh?

But Mimosa just came out of dormancy, didn't it?

Confused, Shi Yu stood up and walked over to the flowerpot, only to find that the little plant had gone dormant again.

Noticing his puzzlement, Sang Huaiyu explained, "Naturally, it never should have reached SSS-Class. But due to certain circumstances, it forced its way up. Though its abilities improved, its body still can’t quite keep up, so it keeps needing to hibernate to recover."

"I see."

Shi Yu nodded. Now it made sense.

Still, he found it surprising that the Horror mentioned "Mimosa's potential wasn't enough for promotion."

"Do Horrors have potential too?"

Sang Huaiyu curled his lips. "Of course they do."

"Ordinary humans can't tell, but Horrors do vary in talent."

"Some are born SSS-Class, while others boost their Horror energy by devouring things—though that just drives them crazy faster."

Shi Yu thought back to what he'd seen of the "Gu Ember" organization feeding Horrors to promote them and started to understand.

"Wait, then Mimosa..."

Mimosa didn't have high potential—it was just a regular plant that got infected. Suddenly jumping so many levels, would there be any side effects?

Sang Huaiyu glanced at him and shook his head.

"Mimosa's promotion is completely normal. No side effects at all."

This puzzled Him too.

Sang Huaiyu hadn't given the little plant the ability to evolve.

So maybe... this had something to do with Shi Yu.

He kept this to himself. But Shi Yu felt it anyway, his heart dropping.

No way. Even an SSS-Class Horror's evolution had something to do with him?

What was he, really?

For a moment, Shi Yu looked unsettled. Then he remembered that weird "time jump" from before and squeezed his eyes shut in frustration.

Forget it. No point worrying about it. When you're already in deep, why sweat the details?

Thinking about it wouldn't help anyway.

He lowered his head and shoveled a huge bite of cola chicken wings into his mouth, pushing his worries aside.

Sang Huaiyu watched him eat, like a lion cat who had wandered for days finally getting its shine back. His eyebrows rose a bit, and his earlier gloomy mood slowly lifted.

Shi Yu finished off a whole bowl of rice before feeling nice and full. He patted his stomach.

"I'm full."

Looking up, he caught sight of the empty plates across the table and felt slightly awkward—he hadn't held back at all.

Even as stubborn as he could be, Shi Yu had to admit it.

These past few days, Sang Huaiyu's cooking had really ruined him for other food.

Since Sang Huaiyu wouldn't let him wash dishes, after walking around a bit to help his food settle, he got up to head back to his room.

As he turned to leave, he heard the Horror sitting across from him say, "Maybe you should just ask me."

The words froze Shi Yu, almost wondering if the evil god knew about his recent infiltration of the Ability User Association.

But he had cleaned up thoroughly—probably not, right?

Uncertain, Shi Yu blinked normally and said, "Nothing's wrong."

"Don't worry, Mr. Sang."

The two locked eyes briefly, and Shi Yu couldn’t tell whether the other believed him or not.

He casually retreated to his room, for some reason remembering the other’s earlier words.

If he really had doubts, would the evil god really give him answers?

When it came to matters about himself, Shi Yu was never comfortable asking others—it made him feel insecure.

But after digging around so much, he'd hit a dead end…

He bit his lip slightly, exhaled, and found himself opening his contacts list. After scrolling for a while, he suddenly found "Big Boss."

"Boss, are you asleep?"

He sent a knock-knock GIF. Unbeknownst to him, Sang Huaiyu, who had expected him to ponder alone after returning, couldn't help but smirk upon seeing the message to "Big Boss."

"I'm here."

Just one word put Shi Yu at ease. He chose his words carefully:

"Boss, I have a question for you."

"If you have a lot of doubts in your mind, but the person in front of you is someone you find hard to trust, would you still choose to ask them?"

Someone hard to trust?

Sang Huaiyu lowered his gaze. Though Shi Yu still didn’t trust Him, the fact that he was asking "Big Boss" showed he was already wavering.

After a pause, He looked at the screen.

"Why not?"

Why not?

Was this how Big Boss thought?

Shi Yu was kind of impressed. He could never be this straightforward—maybe what he'd read had gotten to him too deeply, making it hard for him to trust the evil god. Even though the other had truly done nothing wrong.

Well, he’d think about it some more.

Shi Yu lay back on the bed, his thoughts all over the place.

In the living room, Sang Huaiyu waited for a while. Seeing no further reply from Shi Yu, He finally looked away.

He had originally thought Shi Yu wouldn’t come to Him again today. After all, humans were always on guard around Him.

But late at night, as He was getting ready to shower, there came a knock at the door.

A familiar sound gave two light knocks, seemingly hesitant. The man who had been changing clothes narrowed his eyes, finished buttoning his shirt, and walked over.

Shi Yu was working up his courage when the door suddenly opened. Caught off guard, he almost fell forward, just managing to catch himself before he could barge in.

He lightly coughed, feeling a bit awkward.

"You asleep?"

The man in black pajamas lowered his gaze to look at him.

"Nope."

"But I was just gonna shower."

Shi Yu: ...

Wait, really?

Talk about bad timing—he’d shown up right as the evil god was about to shower.

Lifting his head, Shi Yu noticed the other was still in pajamas, and for once dressed unusually casual.

He blinked, stunned for a moment, his ears burning red on the spot. The thoughts swirling in his mind were pushed aside as he stammered:

"Oh, uh—sorry, I didn’t know you were about to shower. I can come back later."

"Go ahead."

Shi Yu had no clue why—the evil god looked exactly the same as always, just with his top button undone, yet his ears burned so bad he couldn’t even look.

Shit, he was someone who could browse all kinds of comics online without flinching, so why did he get so flustered around the evil god?

Was it because the more reserved someone seemed, the hotter it was when they let loose just a little?

Shi Yu quickly muttered to himself that he was a "straight guy," trying to shake it off.

But the person across from him moved aside.

"Come in."

Sang Huaiyu turned around, revealing the renovated study behind him.

Shi Yu nodded and walked in. All his prepared questions vanished. He mentally kicked himself for not picking a better time.

God, this was awkward.

His brain told him he should leave, but his legs wouldn’t budge. By the time he snapped out of it, he was already seated inside Sang Huaiyu’s room.

The room, which he had visited once before the business trip, was exactly the same.

Shi Yu’s eyes wandered, but Sang Huaiyu studied him and paused.

"Is my outfit inappropriate?"

It was totally normal for humans. Shi Yu instinctively shook his head.

But Sang Huaiyu looked thoughtful. Just as Shi Yu assumed it was a random question, the evil god added, "Then why won’t you look at me?"

"I thought maybe my outfit was inappropriate."

His face flamed up—now it wasn’t just his ears turning red.

Shi Yu forced himself to stay calm. "I figured you didn’t like people staring."

Sang Huaiyu chuckled softly, "I permit you to look."

As Shi Yu stiffened with a sudden internal "boom," Sang Huaiyu suddenly reached out, grabbed Shi Yu's hand, and placed it on the white silk over his own eyes, asking calmly:

"No one else has ever looked directly into the eyes of a deity."

"Wanna see?"

Shi Yu came back to himself, realizing that the hand guiding his was now resting over those eyes.

A scene he'd never imagined was happening right before him. Saying he wasn't curious would be a lie—this was the legendary final boss, after all.

Who knew what those eyes could do?

Shi Yu didn’t say anything.

Sang Huaiyu, however, quirked an eyebrow, as if sensing his hesitation, and slowly guided Shi Yu’s hand to untie the silk.

And for the first time, those eyes that had always watched him through the veil now gazed upon him without obstruction.

Shi Yu had always believed himself to be a straight man.

But these eyes were way too gorgeous?!

Staring at the gray irises, the words slipped out before he could think:

"Get a grip, straight man!"

Sang Huaiyu paused. His gray slit-pupiled eyes darted down to Shi Yu’s abdomen. "Straight man?"