Chapter 8: Seahorse and Black Panther, You Can’t Do That!
Zhou Siyan also found a sewing kit. The needles were covered in rust, but he put it in his pocket anyway. The town had been abandoned for too long. Unable to find anything else useful, they left and returned to the SUV, deciding not to press on. They would spend the night here.
Xue Yu was starving. The first thing she did when they got back was start a fire, busying herself with cooking the fish in the clay pot she had found.
Zhou Siyan sat to the side, fiddling with the sewing kit from the town. The needles were too rusty. He took out a whetstone and tried to grind the rust spots off.
The pager on the dashboard of the SUV rang several times, but he showed no intention of answering it.
Xue Yu finished preparing the fish and put it in the clay pot. When she heard the pager go off for the fifth time, she couldn’t help but say, “Your pager is ringing.”
Zhou Siyan continued to sharpen the needle, not reacting.
Xue Yu waved a hand in front of his face. “Hey, your pager is ringing.”
“Mm,” Zhou Siyan replied without looking up.
Xue Yu: “The pager is so loud. Will it disturb the baby’s sleep?”
Zhou Siyan’s sharpening movements paused. He put down the whetstone and the sewing kit, got up, retrieved the pager from the car, and answered, “What is it?”
It was the deputy director of the Security Division. “Director,” the deputy asked, “are you feeling any better?”
Zhou Siyan’s expression was impassive. “What’s the matter?” he asked coldly.
Before leaving the White Tower with Xue Yu, he had applied for a month of sick leave, claiming he had been contaminated during a combat mission. He knew his deputy was dissatisfied with him and had always wanted his position. To show his loyalty to the higher-ups, the deputy had even undergone castration surgery, having his prostate removed as well.
The deputy seemed to suspect something. “Director, the news of someone being pregnant in the White Tower has caused a huge stir. The higher-ups are taking it very seriously and have ordered our Security Division to join the investigation. We’re required to find the pregnant person within a month.”
“So, I was wondering if you had any plans for this investigation, Director?”
Zhou Siyan was calm. “I’m still recuperating and can’t go out. You can handle the arrangements.”
Deputy Director: “Understood. By the way, Director, are you in your dorm? I have a document I need to give you.”
Zhou Siyan: “Just send me the electronic version. I’ve been infected by a contamination factor, so it’s not convenient to meet.”
Deputy Director: “Alright then.”
Zhou Siyan turned off the pager and tossed it aside.
“Your Security Division seems pretty busy,” Xue Yu commented. “You have to deal with work even when you’re out here?”
Zhou Siyan was using a pair of scissors to cut a small piece of fabric. His reply was completely unrelated. “How about using this piece to make socks for the baby?”
“…” Xue Yu gave a strained smile. “Whatever. As long as you’re happy.”
After the fish was cooked, Xue Yu served a bowl to Zhou Siyan first. They ate, holding their bowls. The last rays of twilight sank below the clouds, and the sky turned completely dark. They finished the fish soup.
The encounter with the abominations during the day had put them both on high alert. They didn’t dare sleep in the tent. Zhou Siyan folded down all the back seats of the SUV and told Xue Yu to put the air mattress inside. The SUV was large and tall. With the seats down and the mattress laid out, there was more than enough room for two people to sleep.
Xue Yu didn’t know if they were supposed to sleep together. Zhou Siyan was an extreme sexual conservative, so she had to follow his lead. Otherwise, if she got too close, it could be considered harassment.
She squatted outside the car, chewing on a foxtail weed she’d picked, and didn’t get in for a long time.
Zhou Siyan folded some clothes to use as a pillow. After getting everything settled, he stuck his head out the window. “Aren’t you going to sleep?”
“With you?” Xue Yu stood up and asked.
Zhou Siyan’s sharp, handsome features flickered in the car’s interior lights. He only said, “The baby needs you.”
Xue Yu got into the car and sat on the edge of the mattress. Zhou Siyan had changed into a fresh, linen-colored shirt. He shifted his body to make room for her, and his long fingers began to undo the buttons. Xue Yu secretly watched his movements out of the corner of her eye, the image of his strong chest from their academy days shamelessly popping into her mind.
However, Zhou Siyan didn’t unbutton his shirt completely. He only undid the lower half, revealing his protruding abdomen. From his chest up to his throat, the buttons remained securely fastened.
“Sleep while holding my stomach. The baby needs you,” he said. He lay down on his side and gestured for her to move closer.
Xue Yu lay down, scooting her body down so her face was pressed against his belly. Zhou Siyan was extremely self-disciplined and focused on physical fitness. Even while pregnant, the faint outline of his abs was still visible.
Seeing that Xue Yu was quiet, Zhou Siyan turned off the dome light inside the car and suddenly added, “And you need the baby.”
Xue Yu could clearly feel that as soon as she was close to Zhou Siyan’s stomach, the fetus began to transfer his spiritual power to her. A spiritual landscape had already appeared in her mind. She could clearly see a vast ocean, and in it, a blue seahorse was sleeping with its eyes closed.
Xue Yu told Zhou Siyan about this.
“At this rate,” Zhou Siyan said, “you should be able to awaken your spirit body soon.”
Xue Yu was overjoyed. “Does that mean I can finally stop being a second-class citizen?”
“That depends on what kind of feedback the power source of this seahorse gives you. No seahorse spirit body has ever appeared in the White Tower before, so there are very few records on it.” He hesitated, then added, “And the seahorse’s power source seems to be related to reproduction. If the higher-ups find out, I’m not sure if the White Tower will tolerate your spirit body.”
Xue Yu sighed softly but said nonchalantly, “Whatever. I’m used to it. It’s not so bad being a good-for-nothing.”
They slept through the night.
When Xue Yu woke up the next day, Zhou Siyan was already up. He had opened both side doors, and the gentle morning light was spilling into the car. Zhou Siyan had finished washing up outside with bottled water, his shirt buttoned up neatly.
He got back into the car and sat down next to her. He rolled up his sleeves, revealing his strong forearms. When he clenched his fist, the veins on his forearm bulged prominently.
Zhou Siyan opened the medical kit, once again took out a syringe, and drew a small tube of liquid into it. He then expressionlessly injected it into his forearm.
Xue Yu ran a hand through her messy hair. Seeing that he was injecting the libido suppressant again, she couldn’t help but ask, “Aren’t you taking that a little too often? Didn’t you just have a shot yesterday?”
“My morning wood wouldn’t go down. It’s strange.” Zhou Siyan’s tone was natural, as if he were talking about something completely ordinary.
He wasn’t embarrassed, but Xue Yu was. Her eyes darted uncontrollably downward, toward the area below his abdomen. It was indeed… impressive.
She patted her slightly flushed cheeks. “That’s a bit much, don’t you think?”
Zhou Siyan finished injecting the liquid, pulled out the needle, and shot her a sideways glance. He hadn’t said a word, but the baby in his stomach spoke first: “Much.”
Zhou Siyan’s brows immediately furrowed, his sharp brow bone conveying extreme displeasure. He said to Xue Yu, “Talking about such things in front of the child.”
A sweat broke out on Xue Yu’s back. The man had changed so much. In the past, if she had called him shameless, he would have just grinned and said, Yeah, but isn’t that what you like about me?
Xue Yu got out of the car and quickly washed up. They ate some compressed biscuits and then continued driving south.
By noon, Xue Yu started to feel something was wrong. Her back was burning hot, so much so that she couldn’t continue driving. She had to pull over to check herself. Zhou Siyan lifted her shirt and saw that the blood vessels under the skin on her back were bright red. “You’re about to awaken your spirit body.”
“What do I do?” Xue Yu had no idea.
Zhou Siyan took out a dagger, lanced one of the red blood vessels on her back, and pulled out a bloody, gooey mass, placing it on the ground. Xue Yu crouched down to look. It looked like a magnified cell.
Then, the mass began to grow larger. The translucent membrane on the outside ruptured, and a blue seahorse covered in slime emerged. It wasn’t small, about the size of a two or three-year-old child.
“This is my spirit body?” Xue Yu was ecstatic.
Zhou Siyan nodded, went back to the car to get a clean towel, and wiped the seahorse clean. “The spirit body is still very fragile right after it emerges. You can’t put it in your spiritual landscape yet. Let’s keep it in the car for now.”
“Okay.”
Xue Yu carefully carried the beautiful blue seahorse and placed it in the back of the SUV. She could feel the power it brought her, a powerful force surging through her body from head to toe. She clenched her fist, suspecting she could probably kill a bear now.
To test this theory, Xue Yu punched the hood of the car. The reinforced steel used for the hood was the hardest metal in the White Tower. With one punch from Xue Yu, the hood dented.
Zhou Siyan stood to the side, one hand on his stomach, a smile playing on his lips. “Very impressive. It seems the seahorse’s power source isn’t just limited to reproduction.”
Xue Yu rubbed her fist. “I can’t believe a spirit body can bring so much power.” She was almost crying with joy. “Mom, I’m not a waste anymore!”
“While a spirit body brings power, it also increases one’s libido,” Zhou Siyan said. “You’ll have to learn to control it. If you can’t, I can teach you some of the extreme conservative methods.”
“Like what?” Xue Yu blinked.
“If you need it, I can give you a shot of libido suppressant.”
Xue Yu waved her hands, saying she didn’t need it. She didn’t think she was at the point where she’d need an injection. Besides, the suppressant sounded weird and embarrassing.
They got back in the car.
Just then, Zhou Siyan’s black panther spirit body emerged on its own, without being summoned by its master. The panther lay down in the back seat, its gaze soft as it looked at Xue Yu’s seahorse. It even gave the seahorse’s tail a little lick, as if they had known each other for a long time.
Neither Xue Yu nor Zhou Siyan noticed. They just continued driving.
In the afternoon, Xue Yu glanced in the rearview mirror to check on the back seat and was shocked to see her seahorse and Zhou Siyan’s black panther tangled together, licking each other’s tails.
Realization dawned on her. Her eyes widened, and she slammed on the brakes.
“What are you two doing? You can’t!” She unbuckled her seatbelt, scrambled into the back, and pulled them apart, feeling secondhand embarrassment for the two animals. “What are you doing? How could you do that! Haven’t you ever heard of reproductive isolation?!”
A flash of embarrassment also crossed Zhou Siyan’s eyes. He barked, “Blackbrow, what are you doing!”
The black panther’s golden eyes darted around. It reluctantly climbed into the passenger seat and curled up on Zhou Siyan’s lap.