Chapter 31: Becoming the Most Hopeless Captive in His Love

Chapter 31: The Most Hopeless Captive of His Love

A few days later, moving day arrived.

The once lively squad dormitory now stood locked up tight, and soon new people would move in.

Shu Hanqing stood alone at the foot of the steps, lost in thought.

"Brother Shu, let's go. The convoy is waiting outside." Yun Ying, carrying a backpack, called out to him.

Shu Hanqing snapped back to reality and slowly turned around.

Morning light broke through the mist, and Mu Ye stood at a deliberate distance. The usual coldness in his eyes melted away the moment they met Shu Hanqing's. A gentle smile tugged at the corner of his lips as he reached out a hand: "Let's go."

The Shengsu Squad had ultimately accepted the Central Military's offer.

Except for Wang Meng and two other stubborn veterans who insisted on staying in the Third Safe Zone, nearly everyone else voted to follow Mu Ye and relocate to the Central Base.

Sitting in the back seat while Sang Mai drove, watching the Third Zone's buildings recede outside the window, Shu Hanqing was suddenly struck by an eerie sense of fate.

Some things were different from his past life, after all.

In his past life, he had left this place in utter disgrace, only to end up in Lei Zheng's arms.

But in this life, Mu Ye insisted on following him, leaving Shu Hanqing, amid all his tangled emotions, with a sense of helpless resignation.

Maybe this was for the best.

In this dog-eat-dog apocalypse, civilian squads had their freedom, but without backing, the risks were terrifyingly high. In this unstable world where you never knew where your next meal was coming from, for support-type superpowered individuals like Yun Ying, who had no way to defend themselves, attaching to the military was the best possible outcome.

But the knot of tension in Shu Hanqing's chest had never loosened.

He was too eager to know what exactly the Plot Master was.

Why was Mu Ye now an exception to the rules?

Shu Hanqing couldn't tell anyone about the Plot Master's existence.

But something so unbelievable—who could he tell? Would Mu Ye believe that he had died once and come back to life?

Having died once, Shu Hanqing had become more cautious and suspicious than before.

A week passed.

The inner core of the Central Base.

Early in the morning, Shu Hanqing groggily opened his eyes, still wrapped in warm blankets.

At that moment, the warmth beside him withdrew, and freezing air rushed in through the gaps in the blankets, making his fingertips involuntarily curl.

He squinted through the faint light.

Mu Ye was facing away from him, bare-chested with broad, strong shoulders, leisurely pulling on his shirt.

Across that muscular back, marked with old scars, were several shallow scratches, their red marks unmistakably suggestive.

Those chaotic marks made it hard to believe that this man, in front of others, was a complete ascetic with no interest in men whatsoever.

The Central Base had a strict hierarchy, from the outer common zones to the inner core.

The Shengsu Squad received an overall B+ rating, with pretty good treatment, and was assigned to live in the inner district upon arrival.

Their quarters weren't fully heated yet, and it was freezing. Shu Hanqing, being a Water Ability User, was especially sensitive to the cold.

Mu Ye turned his head and softly called out, "Hanqing."

Shu Hanqing burrowed deeper into the blankets, closed his eyes, and pretended to be asleep, ignoring Mu Ye's calls to get up.

The mattress beside him sank slightly.

Mu Ye knew perfectly well he was just being lazy. With an amused smile, he raised his hand, pressed his palm over the bulging blanket, then slipped it inside along the edge of the covers and gently massaged the back of Shu Hanqing's neck.

A tingle ran down his neck, and Shu Hanqing couldn't help but grind his teeth, turning to glare at him: "Mu Ye, move those cheap beads on your wrist. They're freezing."

A short laugh escaped Mu Ye's throat as he withdrew his hand: "Did you forget? Today you have to check in with Yan Shenyun at the Central Laboratory."

Hearing the name Yan Shenyun, most of Shu Hanqing's drowsiness vanished.

He gritted his teeth and reluctantly sat up, his waist sore.

Mu Ye grabbed the clothes that had been warming by the heat and moved to dress him like he was tending to a young master.

But before he could even unfold the clothes, Shu Hanqing suddenly leaned forward, wrapped his arms around Mu Ye's waist, and buried his face in his abs.

Mu Ye was usually cold as ice, but having awakened the Fire Superpower, his very flesh and blood seemed to burn hotter than an ordinary person's.

In front of Shu Hanqing, he was mostly gentle, considerate, and completely without temper. When he smiled, his eyes were clear and pure, quietly watching him, and then with a tone of utter resignation and helplessness, he'd softly call out: "Hanqing."

Shu Hanqing: "How are you never cold?"

Mu Ye looked at the lazy cat-like young man in his arms, unbuttoned the jacket he'd just fastened, and wrapped it around Shu Hanqing, pulling him fully into his embrace.

The next moment, Mu Ye used that momentum to press him back down onto the bedding.

He leaned down, his hot lips tracing along the sharp line of Shu Hanqing's jaw, licking and sucking in small, delicate motions, all while breathing against his ear: "Since you're cold... how about we skip today, hm?"

Such gentle yet utterly sensual and indulgent seduction was a real test of self-control.

After a few seconds, Shu Hanqing let out a long, resigned sigh, threading his slender, pale fingers through Mu Ye's short hair and giving it a tug: "We can do it once before you go."

The restraint in Mu Ye's eyes vanished in an instant.

He let out a low laugh, his warm chest pressing down firmly, lowering his head to once again lick, nibble, and devour Shu Hanqing's cool lips and tongue with a mix of tenderness and aggression.

As Shu Hanqing responded, he quickly went over everything related to Yan Shenyun in his mind.

In his previous life, Shu Hanqing had only met Yan Shenyun a handful of times.

Those few encounters had all taken place in the most secure meeting rooms of the upper echelons, and every single time, Lei Zheng had been there like a shadow.

In his past life, the zombie hordes had been almost completely driven out of humanity's last refuge. At that time, Shu Hanqing had been quite curious about the legendary Chief Scientist.

After all, Yan Shenyun was an incredibly mysterious figure. Legends about him spread throughout the apocalypse—they said he was the smartest mind in all ten safe zones, and that the revival and survival of human civilization rested on his shoulders alone.

But back then, he'd only glanced at him a few extra times, and Lei Zheng—that man with a heart smaller than a needle's eye—had grabbed his jaw in a secluded spot and warned him in a sinister tone to stop being so curious about other men.

Lei Zheng's eyes had been full of arrogance.

He said the entire Central Base would soon be his, that the ten safe zones would ultimately bow to his command, and that rather than wasting his thoughts on irrelevant men, Shu Hanqing would be better off fawning over him.

Shu Hanqing thought to himself at the time that Lei Zheng wasn't afraid of talking out of his ass with all that bragging.

But then again, he died way too soon, and he never got to find out whether Lei Zheng's wild claims ever actually came true after his death.

In his mind, the plot's overseer monitored Shu Hanqing, only letting him walk the exact path his script laid out, not letting him breathe a single word about this world being some absurd novel.

Shu Hanqing had a feeling, as if from some invisible void, a pair of cold, unseen hands were slowly cranking the wheel of fate.

That giant gear turned with a click—he couldn't run, couldn't break loose.

Choking on that suffocating dread, Shu Hanqing suddenly thought with a hint of defiance: since he'd gotten a second life and still couldn't escape this swamp, then fine—he'd stop dodging and just slam headfirst into it.

He sank into the mattress, kicking up a damp, messy storm.

Mu Ye had no clue what the guy in his arms was thinking.

All he knew was that at a moment like this—sweat slick, bodies tangled, desperate and raw—Shu Hanqing could still zone out like he was the only one in the room.

What the hell was he thinking about? Who?

Mu Ye lowered his head, his mouth dragging down the line of Shu Hanqing's neck, sinking his teeth into his collarbone, biting and sucking just hard enough to hurt.

A jolt of tingling numbness shot through Shu Hanqing, and he couldn't help the low, breathless moan that slipped out. The heat burning up from his bones yanked him back to the moment. He reached up with sweaty hands, grabbed Mu Ye's solid shoulders, and started moving with him.

Mu Ye was too sharp—he caught the distraction right away.

He slowed down, bracing his arms on either side of Shu Hanqing: "Hanqing... what were you just thinking about?"

Was he thinking about Rong Hua?

Or was Shu Hanqing already bored of him that fast?

Shu Hanqing leaned in and pressed a quick, calming kiss to Mu Ye's thin lips, his voice rough: "Nothing. Don't read into it."

He remembered the question he'd asked the plot's overseer before.

He'd asked it: Did you wipe Mu Ye's data the same way you wiped Rong Hua's?

The overseer's silence was answer enough.

It had done the same to Mu Ye in his last life.

Shu Hanqing finally got why the Mu Ye from his past life sometimes went cold and distant, like a total stranger.

Why?

Shu Hanqing thought, why the hell should he have to let go?

Two lifetimes, and even if he lived to the very end, he'd only get a few short decades total. Why should being some throwaway side character, meant to step aside for the lead, mean he didn't even deserve to be loved for real?

In this world, what hurt more—being erased without even knowing it, or being eaten alive by hatred you can't forget? Shu Hanqing couldn't tell.

But if he had to pick, he was way more scared of the look Rong Hua gave him before he left. That calm, flat look had just wiped out everything they'd ever had, just like that.

It was that panic of being ditched by the entire world.

Shu Hanqing remembered dying in his past life—his soul ripping out of his body in agony, floating off into some unknown nothing.

Cold and hollow, he looked down at the world from above, thinking how without him, everything would still go on—sun still rising, ruins still standing, and nobody remembering him, nobody giving a damn.

That feeling of being wiped clean, of living like a ghost nobody noticed—it fucking hurt.

Shu Hanqing hated and feared so-called fate with everything in him.

He told himself to shut it down for now, dragging his fingertips up Mu Ye's abs, teasing higher.

Between their ragged, tangled breaths, Shu Hanqing said two words: "Fuck me."

The air went dead still for a second.

The next moment, Mu Ye's hand shot out and grabbed the hand that was causing trouble, staring down at him, the barely leashed hunger in his eyes suddenly turning dark and dangerous.

Mu Ye grabbed Shu Hanqing's lower back and hiked him up a little.

This time, Mu Ye really let loose.

Under that steady, clean-cut front, Mu Ye had always hidden some twisted, dark cravings he never let see the light.

He wanted to cover every inch of Shu Hanqing's body with his mark, no exceptions.

He wanted every shake, every shiver from this man to happen only because of him.

He loved this man far too much.

Even a lazy, careless smile from Shu Hanqing on a random day could hit the most sensitive chord in his chest and stir up waves he couldn't settle.

The jealous, possessive beast inside Mu Ye had been let out by Shu Hanqing's own hands.

Shu Hanqing sobbed and shook his head, drowning in too much sensation.

He was pushed way past his limit, opened his mouth to beg, to say something, but Mu Ye clamped his jaw shut, and both his wrists were pinned together in one hand, shoved hard into the pillow above his head.

In all that mess, Shu Hanqing ended up soaked in sweat, too wrecked to even push him away.

When it was over, he could only cling to Mu Ye's sweaty shoulders with weak arms, like a guy pulled from the water.

Shu Hanqing figured he had his own issues too—ever since he and Mu Ye first hooked up, every time they were alone, he wanted to do it again.

Like only through that kind of closeness could he actually prove, in this messed-up world, that he was still alive—that someone really loved him.

Mu Ye's chest was still heaving as he buried his face in the sweaty curve of Shu Hanqing's neck, holding him still for a long time, until both their heartbeats finally settled.

He pushed himself up, kneeling at the head of the bed, moving so gently you'd think he was a different man from a minute ago. Mu Ye got some warm water and carefully cleaned Shu Hanqing up, then grabbed clean clothes and dressed him.

Only then did they leave.

The car pulled up smooth and easy in front of the central lab's gray-white main building.

Outside the window, a light dusting of snow had quietly fallen.

The falling snow seemed to drain the last bit of life out of the world.

In weather cold enough to freeze your bones, Mu Ye was only wearing a thin black military undershirt and an open combat jacket.

He cut the engine and turned to Shu Hanqing: "I'll pick you up at six to take you home."

Shu Hanqing buried half his face in his collar and murmured, "Okay."

But just as he reached for the car door handle, ready to step out—

Mu Ye caught his hand, pulled him in with that momentum, and pressed a kiss to his lips. Then he let go and slipped a few hard candies into his pocket.

"The research institute doesn't allow smoking. Quit it," Mu Ye said, thumb brushing soothingly over Shu Hanqing's slightly reddened lower lip from the kiss, his tone soft and low, like he was coaxing a misbehaving child. "Be good. No sneaking smokes."

Shu Hanqing nodded, feeling like Mu Ye was dropping him off at school.

The position Yan Shenyun had approved for Shu Hanqing was as a temporary assistant, so he could come and go freely from the research institute.

Mu Ye hadn't raised much of an objection to the transfer order, nor had he interfered.

But Shu Hanqing could sense that Mu Ye harbored a veiled, wary hostility toward Yan Shenyun.

Shu Hanqing pulled open the door and hopped out, stepping through the thin layer of snow, then turned and waved at the man through the window.

Mu Ye kept the window down, sitting there without so much as a blink, watching Shu Hanqing's lean figure until it vanished completely. Then he glanced at the institute's high walls, yanked the wheel hard, and floored it.

Armed with the pass personally signed by Yan Shenyun, Shu Hanqing made it through without any military checkpoints.

Once past the security gates, a young researcher assigned to receive him led the way, guiding him through one endless, pristine white corridor after another.

Shu Hanqing was soon brought to the main control room where Yan Shenyun typically worked.

Even among a crowd all wearing identical, lifeless white sterile suits, Yan Shenyun was still impossible to ignore.

Yan Shenyun had a perfect, coldly handsome face. Under the harsh white glare of the overhead shadowless lamps, his skin had an icy sheen. The gold-rimmed glasses perched on his nose lent his cold demeanor just the right touch of scholarly refinement.

At that moment, Professor Yan was bent slightly over, holding an electronic stylus, his expression detached as he cross-checked a set of extremely complex wavelength data with his deputy beside him.

A ring of people surrounded him, all gazing at him with fervent respect and awe.

Sensing the commotion at the door, Yan Shenyun turned his head slightly and let his gaze sweep over Shu Hanqing's face.

He turned back to murmur a few brief instructions to his deputy, then left the crowd behind and strode over to Shu Hanqing on those long legs.

Shu Hanqing greeted him respectfully: "Professor Yan."

"Follow me."

Yan Shenyun stepped aside and made an extremely gentlemanly "after you" gesture.

He first had the support staff fit Shu Hanqing into a well-tailored white protective suit, then personally led him through a heavy alloy airlock.

It was a massive, cavernous isolation chamber where every sound echoed.

At the very center of the room floated a huge, snow-white spherical mechanical pod, like a meteorite from another world.

The pod's surface seemed to have no seams at all—only faint threads of blue psychic energy flowing slowly beneath the smooth material, like breath.

Yan Shenyun issued the order: "Get in."

Shu Hanqing eyed the massive white sphere warily. "...What is this thing?"

Yan Shenyun lowered his head, fingers flying over the control panel beside him. He didn't bother with theatrics: "An expansion pod designed to forcibly raise your psychic threshold. Last time, just peeling off a small portion of your Lightning Ability remotely nearly did you in. A psychic power as defective as yours doesn't cut it here."

The snow-white machine slowly split open, and Shu Hanqing sat down inside.

As the hatch sealed shut behind him, all the noise of the real world was instantly sucked away.

Yan Shenyun's icy voice came through the communicator, followed by a cold metal sensory device—like an eye mask—pressing down and locking over Shu Hanqing's brow and eyelids.

His vision plunged into absolute darkness.

But the moment that darkness descended, Shu Hanqing felt something detonate deep in his brain—as if giant hands had hurled him into a weightless, unanchored, bizarre void.

Before he could recover from the intense vertigo, danger struck.

Countless unknown objects, each tearing through the air with piercing shrieks, came crashing down on him like a torrential downpour. Too fast.

The speed was beyond anything he could perceive. Shu Hanqing hadn't even registered it before the first wave of impacts slammed into him.

No dodging, no evading—those things, laden with psychic pressure, tore straight through him without resistance.

No physical wounds.

Only psychic oppression.

Every pore on Shu Hanqing's body constricted in sheer terror, and in the blink of an eye, cold sweat broke out across his back.

Just as he was about to suffocate, Yan Shenyun's voice sounded in his ear again: "Focus. Try to channel your psychic power to dodge the objects coming at you. Starting today, you'll stay in here every day, with only two hours of scheduled rest."

Did Shu Hanqing even have a choice?

After what felt like an eternity, when the dense blue threads inside the machine gradually dimmed and the preset alarm blared, Shu Hanqing collapsed limply into the seat, completely drained.

He raised trembling, spasming fingers and yanked the mask off, again and again.

The pod's hatch burst open.

Shu Hanqing was drenched in sweat, his damp bangs plastered to his temples.

Those proud, beautiful eyes were now red-rimmed from the psychic strain, brimming with unshed tears that hadn't had time to dry—damp, hot, and utterly disheveled.

When he tried to swing his legs off the machine, his knees buckled like jelly and his feet nearly slipped out from under him.

Behind the wide desk in the main control room, the chair was empty. Yan Shenyun had already left at some point.

In the vast, empty room, only the young assistant who stayed by Yan Shenyun's side remained, watching him.

She was a cute young girl named Yi Ran, with thick black-framed glasses like the bottom of a bottle, standing off to the side.

Yi Ran stepped forward awkwardly and handed him a silver meal card, telling him the supply station on the first floor was still serving food—he could go grab something to eat and regain his strength.

Shu Hanqing took it, thanked her, then, unable to stand the sticky feeling on his skin, asked quietly, "Is there a place I can shower? I'm sweating a lot. I'd like to wash up quickly, if that's okay?"

Yi Ran hesitated: "There is one, but since you're not internal staff, you probably can't move around freely. However, Professor Yan has a personal rest room—also where he stays in the inner city—with its own hot water system. Wait a moment, let me go ask."

The girl didn't dare take matters into her own hands.

Everyone in this building knew Yan Shenyun had severe cleanliness and OCD tendencies. His private space was so strictly guarded that even a fly buzzing in would be disinfected three times over—there was no way he'd let any outsider set foot inside.

Shu Hanqing nodded, grabbed a clean white towel from nearby, and pressed it over his still-throbbing forehead, silent and withdrawn.

His brain was nearly fried from the ordeal.

Before long, Yi Ran came jogging back.

She was holding a key, clutching it as if it were a sacred relic.

She kept reminding him, "This is the key to Professor Yan's room. The professor said on the phone just now that there are spare clean towels in the third cabinet on the right side of the bathroom. You can go in and wash up. But absolutely do not touch anything else in the room."

Shu Hanqing took the key and simply said, "Okay."

Yi Ran walked Shu Hanqing to the elevator.

Yan Shenyun's place was on the top floor.

Because Yi Ran had been so solemn earlier, Shu Hanqing felt a strange sense of restraint the moment he walked in.

He stood in the entryway, kicked off his shoes and socks, and set them to the side, then carefully stepped barefoot onto the polished floor. Then he set the key on the entryway cabinet.

This private lounge was astonishingly large.

A full wall split the room down the middle—the left side was a work area, and the right side held a bed neatly made with gray sheets.

The whole space carried Yan Shenyun's signature cool scent.

Shu Hanqing didn't linger and headed straight into the bathroom.

He turned on the water, rinsed off, and—careful to keep his distance—didn't even touch the shampoo.

Shu Hanqing eyed the bottles and jars Yan Shenyun had lined up in a perfect row and thought, yeah, definitely OCD.

After washing, Shu Hanqing dried off and pulled his trousers back on.

He stepped out of the bathroom bare-chested, faint scratch marks across his skin, planning to grab one of Yan Shenyun's shirts and dry his hair first.

The fingerprint lock beeped as it unlocked.

Yan Shenyun pushed the door open and walked in.

He'd just hung his coat to the side when he looked down and spotted the shoes at the entrance. He took a few steps forward, and his gaze locked onto the tall figure not far away.

Shu Hanqing stood by the table with his back to him, bare-chested, drying his hair. A few glistening droplets dripped from his hair, sliding over his fair, delicate shoulders and neck, winding down toward the small of his back.

Under the cold white light, that silhouette was so pristine it was almost blinding.

Shu Hanqing's arms and back were simply too perfect—slender, elongated, with lean muscle flowing along his bone structure. He had neither the crude ferocity of a typical superpowered individual in this apocalyptic world, nor any hint of frailty.

The last time Shu Hanqing had bared his back like that, Yan Shenyun had felt the same awe.

This body seemed like a flawless creation, meticulously crafted by some master artisan.

Like a rare, priceless specimen.

Except this one before him was far more alive, far more scorching than those cold, lifeless things.

Yet on that exquisitely sculpted back, eerie purple-black Thunder Marks sprawled arrogantly beneath the skin like a greedy parasitic beast. They spread and devoured along the smooth, beautiful muscle lines, driven by a wild ambition to consume every inch of his body.

Yan Shenyun saw the Thunder Marks as a stain defiling a masterpiece, and he wanted to use his mental power to scrape away that superfluous flaw entirely.

"Buzz—"

The hairdryer whirred to a stop.

Shu Hanqing felt the gaze on him and stiffened. His lips, flushed red from the steam and looking freshly washed, moved slightly.

"…Professor Yan, I'm almost done with my hair."

"It's fine."

Yan Shenyun stood perfectly still, his eyes behind his lenses dark enough to be unsettling.

He felt that talking to Shu Hanqing required a nearly rigid mental guard.

Because Shu Hanqing was just strange.

Whether it was his strikingly handsome, cold face, whatever expression he wore, or his calm voice—on the surface, it all seemed harmless.

But within that non-aggressive calm lurked a soul-enthralling depth, like an invisible, sticky spiderweb. It could make anyone who came close lose themselves without realizing it, willingly surrendering to him, becoming the most hopeless captive of his affections.

Like… the one who'd left those marks on Shu Hanqing's body.