Chapter 509: The Thirty-Seventh Day of Transmigrating into an Alien War Novel

Chapter 509: Day 37 of Being Thrown Into an Alien War Novel

But nothing out of the ordinary happened.

After all, there was still over a year until An Yi's coming-of-age this time.

An Cheng was eager, but he had to be patient.

And for now, that was enough.

He could embrace An Yi without any pretense, could wrap his arms around An Yi's waist from behind while he was reading, could bury his face in the crook of An Yi's neck and breathe deeply, could get a gentle kiss when they said goodnight to each other.

He could wake up in the morning and see An Yi's peaceful sleeping face as the first thing.

He could snuggle up with An Yi on the couch watching movies on rainy days, An Yi leaning against his chest, his arm around An Yi's shoulders.

He could... there were so, so many things.

These simple, everyday, trivial little things made up all of An Cheng's happiness now.

He couldn't have been happier.

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Until that one night.

It was a perfectly ordinary Wednesday night.

A fine rain pattered outside the window, tapping against the glass in a steady, rhythmic sound.

The room was lit only by the lamp, casting a warm, amber glow on the wall.

An Cheng was propped up against the headboard reading, but his mind wasn't on the book—his eyes kept wandering over to An Yi, who was sitting at the desk.

An Yi was sitting in front of a laptop, the screen packed with dense formulas and charts.

In the glow of the screen, his profile looked intensely focused, his lashes lowered, his fingers tapping lightly on the keyboard, making a crisp, rhythmic sound.

It was already almost eleven.

An Cheng set down his book and said quietly, "Xiao Yi, it's time to rest."

An Yi gave a soft "mm" in acknowledgment but didn't move.

His eyes were still glued to the screen, his brow slightly furrowed, as if working through some complicated problem.

Ten more minutes went by.

An Cheng was just about to speak up again when he saw An Yi suddenly snap the laptop shut and stand up, turning around.

It looked like he was heading out.

An Cheng was taken aback. "Xiao Yi? Where are you going?"

An Yi turned around, wearing his usual calm expression. "Going to do research."

An Cheng frowned and sat up straight in bed. "Now? It's almost eleven. Research what? Can't it wait until tomorrow?"

He figured An Yi was talking about research at the school lab—physics students were always pulling all-nighters in the lab, so it wasn't out of the ordinary.

But it was already late, and it was raining out.

An Yi shook his head and grabbed his jacket, which was draped over the chair. "I've got class tomorrow."

"Then... what's so urgent that you have to research it now?" An Cheng pressed.

An Yi looked at him for a few seconds, then suddenly smiled.

The smile was faint, but there was something in his eyes that An Cheng couldn't read.

"Research this," An Yi said, then raised his hand.

He lightly swiped his finger through the air, and then, the next second, An Cheng saw it.

He saw something he would never forget as long as he lived.

A... creature. Was it even a creature? It appeared out of nowhere right in front of An Yi.

Out of thin air.

It was a grayish-white creature, long and thin like a stick insect.

Its head was shaped like an inverted triangle, it had no nose, and two compound eyes that covered half its face—those compound eyes reflected an eerie glint in the dim light.

It had four arms, and each arm had an unnatural number of joints.

Right now, those four arms were curled up in a bizarre way, its body trembling slightly, as if held in place by some invisible force, unable to move.

A faint, shrill hiss escaped from its mouth.

An Cheng sat there on the bed, completely frozen.

His brain stopped functioning for a split second. His eyes went wide, staring hard at the creature that had appeared out of nowhere, at those eerie compound eyes, at those four twisted arms...

He felt like his cerebral cortex had gone completely smooth.

Then he turned and looked at An Yi.

An Yi stood there, right in front of that grayish-white creature, his face showing no surprise or fear—only a kind of almost cold calm.

His face flickered between light and shadow under the lamp, the light dancing across his refined features, carving out deep shadows.

In that moment, An Cheng felt like An Yi was a million miles away.

So far away, like he was standing in another world. So far away, like some kind of... existence he could never truly touch.

In the shifting light, An Yi's face had a kind of almost divine, otherworldly beauty—not the beauty of a human face, but a transcendent, almost cold and perfect presence that went beyond species.

An Cheng opened his mouth to say something, but his throat seized up, as if a hand were squeezing it, and no sound came out.

All he could do was sit there and watch An Yi, watching the boy he had loved for ten years and thought he knew inside and out, standing there now, light streaming behind him, a struggling, bizarre creature in front of him, wrapped in an aura that was completely foreign to him—mysterious and powerful.

Then he saw An Yi raise his other hand and wave it lightly.

The next second, the grayish-white creature disappeared without a trace.

The room went back to normal.

Only the sound of the rain pattering outside the window remained.

An Yi turned around and looked at An Cheng calmly, his eyes clear as if nothing had happened at all. "Research this."

An Cheng took a deep breath.

He forced himself to calm down, to get his brain working again.

Then he threw off the covers, got out of bed, and walked quickly to stand before An Yi.

"Xiao Yi." He said, his voice painfully dry. "What... was that just now?"

He asked, his eyes locked onto An Yi, as if trying to find answers in those perpetually calm eyes.

An Yi looked at him and suddenly gave a faint smile.

"You want to know?" An Yi asked, his voice soft.

An Cheng nodded without a moment's hesitation. "I do."

He wanted to know everything about An Yi—every single thing.

Including the parts he didn't know—the mysterious parts, the possibly dangerous parts.

He wanted to know.

Even if those truths would shatter his understanding, even if those secrets would hurt him, even if... the more he knew, the more he realized just how vast the gap between him and An Yi really was.

But he still wanted to know anyway.

Because when you love someone, you want to know everything—all of them.

The good, the bad, the light, the dark, the human, the inhuman... all of it.

An Yi stepped closer. "Then let me show you."

An Yi said, then held out his hand.

That hand was pale, with long slender fingers and sharp knuckles, like some exquisite sculpture in the dim lighting.

An Cheng hesitated for a second, then reached out and took his hand.

The moment their palms met, he felt how cool An Yi's hand was—like smooth jade.

The coolness spread from his palm, traveled up his arm, seeped into his skin, into his blood, into his heart.

The next second, everything spun around him.

Everything around him—the bed, the desk, the computer, the curtains, the walls—began to ripple like water.

The ripples twisted, warped, stretched, compressed...

Then, they vanished completely.