Chapter 36
Inside the United Star System’s Academy of Sciences observation room, Ye Yuxing was still sleeping. After checking on him and confirming there was no danger, Qin Feng had been preparing to leave, but Director Li, like a doting father, was clinging to him, refusing to let him go.
“Director Li, I’ve already told you, Yuxing is fine. He’ll wake up in two or three hours,” Qin Feng said, looking speechlessly at the old director who was gripping his arm and refusing to let go. He couldn’t very well drag the old man away, could he?
“Since he’ll be awake in two or three hours, why don’t you just stay a little longer and check on his condition after he wakes up,” Director Li insisted, not letting him leave.
“…Director, if I refuse again, are you going to hug my leg and cry?”
“What nonsense!” Director Li let go in a huff, glaring at Qin Feng. “It’s just… Ye Yuxing’s situation is special. Doesn’t your 115th Squadron need someone to stay and watch?”
Qin Feng chuckled. “Alright, I get it. I’ll stay a little longer.” It was better not to burst the old director’s bubble of fatherly love.
Only after Qin Feng agreed to stay did Director Li breathe a sigh of relief. He waved his hand at him and said, “Then you stay here. The research institute has other matters waiting to be dealt with.”
“Hey?” Qin Feng grabbed him, raising an eyebrow. “Director Li, what’s the meaning of making me stay here while you run off?”
Director Li glanced around, then tapped his photon-computer. “Little Li? Yes, I’m on my way, on my way!” And then he scurried off.
I don’t know what this man is so awkward about. This silent fatherly love is really heavy. Qin Feng shrugged and turned to look at Ye Yuxing on the bed.
“I’ve played along with you. Isn’t it time to get up?”
Ye Yuxing opened his eyes and sat up. He had delicate features to begin with—a face like white jade and eyes like peach blossoms. Qin Feng often joked that he was prettier than a girl. Now, after awakening his psychic power and lying in bed for two days, he had lost some weight. His originally delicate and fragile face had gained a sharper, more defined edge, which diluted his former cool and serious demeanor.
Ye Yuxing’s eyes were downcast, the fringe of his hair falling softly over his forehead. The monitoring suit was a bit large on him, and sitting up, it looked empty and loose. Having just woken up, his head was still a little heavy. He propped his forehead with one hand and rested for a moment.
“Don’t tell the director about my situation.”
Qin Feng walked up to him and looked down. “Your condition will have to be reported eventually. You can’t hide it.”
Ye Yuxing looked up, a rare hint of confusion in his eyes.
Qin Feng was delighted by his dazed little expression. He couldn’t resist reaching out and pinching his cheek. Squeezing his face, he felt a secret thrill. This kid was so much younger than him, but he had always been a little old man. When had he ever seen him like this? He had finally caught an opportunity today. A muddle-headed Ye Yuxing was a rare sight; who knew when the next chance would be.
Ye Yuxing struggled a bit, slapped his hand away, and returned to his frosty, serious expression. “Stop messing around.”
He’s already back to normal? So soon?
“Ahem, you should be mentally prepared. You can’t hide it for long.” Qin Feng looked at the two red blushes on his fair cheeks. It should have been an incredibly cute sight, but paired with his serious and cold expression, it was just too amusing.
Just as Ye Yuxing was about to speak, there was a knock on the door. He frowned. Could Director Li be back already?
Qin Feng got up to open the door. It wasn’t Director Li, but the deputy commander of the 115th Squadron, Leng Ying.
“Commander,” she said with a slight nod, then looked at Ye Yuxing. “Is this the ‘special case’ you just mentioned?”
Qin Feng held out his hand. A mass of black, fog-like energy appeared in his palm. He looked up at Leng Ying. “Black psychic power. It’s the first time we’ve seen it in the entire interstellar era.”
“It has only never appeared in the United Star System. There’s a probability that it exists in the Interstellar Empire, but has been hidden, and we just don’t know about it,” Ye Yuxing said, leaning against the headboard.
Qin Feng: “…Can you not rain on my parade?”
Ye Yuxing said flatly, “I am merely correcting your statement. It is a foolish act to draw a hasty conclusion based on a single case.”
“Alright, that’s possible too,” Qin Feng said, closing his hand and dismissing the energy. He looked at Ye Yuxing. “But this special situation has appeared in you. At a time like this, can you please stop thinking with your researcher’s mindset?”
Ye Yuxing: “Hmm, no.”
“…”
I can’t stand him. His dazed and foolish state just now was much more likable.
“Leng Ying, you take another look at him,” Qin Feng said, too lazy to deal with him. “This is the deputy commander of our 115th Squadron. She is a rare healing-type psychic. She might discover something else.”
Leng Ying stepped forward and scanned Ye Yuxing’s body with her psychic power. A moment later, she withdrew her hand and frowned. “From a physical standpoint, there are no problems. Everything is normal.”
“We’ve already checked with the instruments. No problems there either,” Qin Feng said.
Leng Ying activated her psychic power again, her eyes turning a faint blue. Qin Feng pulled over a chair and sat down, watching with interest. This was an ability she had developed after breaking through to A-class. She could directly link to the internal state of another’s psychic power to investigate. However, this also greatly consumed her own power. During training, she would often collapse from exhaustion after using it.
Ye Yuxing looked at her peculiar pupils and said, “Hmm? This wasn’t mentioned in the research institute’s report.”
Leng Ying’s deadpan expression was on par with his. She completely ignored him, her face showing no fluctuation. Soon, her breathing became a little ragged, and sweat began to drip from her forehead.
“Hmm?”
Qin Feng frowned and quickly stood up, striding over. He placed two fingers on her neck and applied a slight pressure. Leng Ying let out a muffled grunt and was pulled out of Ye Yuxing’s psychic power, falling backward uncontrollably.
Qin Feng caught her and asked in a cold voice, “Are you alright?”
Ye Yuxing also sensed that something was wrong.
Leng Ying pressed a hand to her violently beating heart and shook her head. “I’m fine. I was careless. Black psychic power is indeed different.”
Qin Feng’s eyes also grew cold. The situation seemed to be more troublesome than he had imagined.
“I could only see a part of it. His psychic power seems to be related to time and space,” Leng Ying said. “The moment I made contact with it, I felt like I was being pulled by an invisible gravitational force into a bottomless abyss. If the commander hadn’t acted in time, I might have really been sucked in.”
“Time and space, huh…” Qin Feng’s eyes lowered. A moment later, he smiled again. “Well, that’s a good thing. At least there’s nothing wrong with your body. It’s just a special type of psychic power.”
Ye Yuxing was already analyzing the cause in his mind. He thought back to what had happened before he had fainted and awakened his psychic power. Anran’s livestream. The old willow tree covered in blessing bags. At that time, he had been imagining what it would be like to be an ancient person, entrusting his wishes to such an imaginary object, and with such devout faith. And according to Xia Anran, this was a method that had been passed down for thousands of years, so it must have its own unique aspects. So, he had imagined how he would understand this matter if he were on Earth, what wishes he would make, and with what mindset he would pray for his dreams to come true. And then he had felt his forehead grow hot, and he had slowly lost consciousness.
Ye Yuxing sorted through his thoughts and told Qin Feng and Leng Ying. “I believe my psychic power is highly likely related to the livestream, or rather, to the ancient Earth people’s act of praying for blessings,” he said. He was a researcher and had always only looked at data, but this time, he wanted to trust his intuition.
Qin Feng stroked his chin and thought for a moment. “I agree. The specific cause is still hard to say, but it’s probably related to the livestream.”
Leng Ying said nothing, just stared at him.
“Has anyone else experienced this situation besides me?”
“No,” Qin Feng said, throwing up his hands. “Unfortunately, you’re the only one.”
“Before you woke up, we had already considered that it might be the influence of the livestream, so the blood of everyone in the 115th Squadron has already been sent for testing.”
Qin Feng rotated his wrist. “Alright, since we’ve pretty much figured things out, let’s go to the consulate and report.”
Ye Yuxing grunted in agreement and then went back to staring blankly, lost in thought.
“Oh, by the way, Director Li thought you were about to wake up earlier but then fled in panic. Do you need me to tell him for you now?” Qin Feng asked with a mischievous grin as he reached the door.
“No, thank you.”
Ye Yuxing shot him a glare. Qin Feng made a gesture of surrender. “Alright, alright. I’m still waiting for you to join our 115th Squadron.”
As luck would have it, he ran right into Director Li, who was rushing back. Seeing him come out, the director quickly stopped him. “Trying to sneak away while I’m gone?” He glanced at Leng Ying, who was following closely behind, and his heart sank. “Did something happen to Yuxing?”
Before Qin Feng could say anything, Director Li had pulled him into a nearby lab. “Tell me everything. Don’t hide anything from me!”
Qin Feng sighed. “Director Li, Yuxing is really fine. His body is in good shape. It’s just that his psychic power has just awakened, and his body isn’t used to it yet, so he’s a little weak.”
Director Li was skeptical. “Really?”
“Really. He’s already awake. You can go see for yourself.”
The stone that had been weighing on Director Li’s heart finally lifted.
Since he was about to go report Ye Yuxing’s situation to the consuls anyway, Qin Feng decided to give Director Li the gist of it first. “Director Li, there’s a problem with Yuxing’s psychic power. He has awakened a never-before-seen type of power related to space and time. I’ll be reporting this to the Consul General later.”
Time and space? The heart that had just settled in Director Li’s chest immediately rose again. “Will there be any problems?”
“It won’t affect his body. It’s just that the category of his psychic power is a bit rare.”
Qin Feng thought for a moment and then said seriously, “So I hope that Yuxing can join the 115th Squadron in the future.”
“To be honest with you, even if he had awakened psychic power, I originally didn’t plan for him to join. After all, his talent is in research, and the Academy of Sciences is a more suitable place for him. But his ability is too special, so…”
“I understand,” Director Li sighed and sat down. “It’s not up to you to decide now.”
“It’s good that you understand,” Qin Feng said with a slight nod. “Then I’ll be going now.”
“Wait,” Director Li suddenly called out to him. Then, as if he had made some kind of resolution, he said, “Yuxing is not only my student, but also my nephew.”
Qin Feng was stunned. Ye Yuxing was a child from the Child Protection Zone. He shouldn’t be mistaken.
Director Li seemed to find it difficult to speak, as if he had aged several decades in an instant. “Yuxing’s father was my only younger brother. He passed away in an accident early in life. When he was alive, he often told me he wanted to have a child, but he never got the chance. At that time, when I suddenly heard the bad news, I don’t know what I was thinking. I just wanted to fulfill my brother’s last wish, so I took his reproductive cells to the volunteer parenting center and requested a child. That was Yuxing.”
Qin Feng frowned. If that was the case, then why let Ye Yuxing grow up in the Child Protection Zone? Director Li could have taken him home and raised him himself from birth.
Director Li was lost in the past, his voice low. “Two months into the cultivation, I came to my senses and felt it was too unfair to the child. To come into this world without a mother or father, he probably wouldn’t be happy. But at that time, the cultivation was already in its later stages. He already had a heartbeat and was breathing. He looked no different from a normal baby, except a little weaker.”
“I went to the cultivation base to see him. He was so small, occasionally moving in the nutrient solution. He even opened his eyes when I was there.”
Qin Feng frowned. “So you couldn’t bear to terminate the cultivation?”
Director Li nodded. “Later, after Yuxing was born, I originally planned to bring him back and raise him as planned. But then I thought, such a family would be a bit strange. An uncle, to commemorate his dead brother, uses his brother’s reproductive cells and those provided by a volunteer whose identity is unknown to cultivate a child. No matter how you think about it, it’s strange.”
“So I thought of placing him in the Child Protection Zone. I would secretly watch over him, hoping that a family would adopt him. After all, there are many children in the zone, so he wouldn’t feel special. If he could be adopted, he would have a complete family, and he would never know about his absurd birth.”
But Ye Yuxing was never adopted, as Qin Feng knew. Adoption from the Child Protection Zone required the child to be over three years old, because newborns were too fragile and most adoptive parents in the interstellar era were inexperienced rookies. So, the government was not at ease entrusting such a precious child to them.
Director Li finished and looked at Qin Feng helplessly. “As you know, Yuxing has been much smarter than his peers since he was a child. After the age of three, his cognition was already very clear. He was unwilling to be adopted, feeling that life in the Child Protection Zone suited him better. So, I had no choice but to bring him to my side under the guise of a special recruitment by the Academy of Sciences.” Although the facilities in the zone were very comprehensive, Director Li still didn’t feel at ease leaving him there.
“So that’s how it is,” Qin Feng said, tapping his fingers on the table. “No wonder your relationship is so awkward. Director Li clearly cares so much about Yuxing, but you’re always so hesitant.”
Director Li was also helpless. “Once Yuxing joins the 115th Squadron, it will be difficult for us to see each other again. So I wanted to tell you this, and also to ask you to take good care of him.”
Qin Feng nodded and promised, “Rest assured, Director. Yuxing is my friend, and you have helped my family a great deal. I will look after him.”
Having finally spoken of these old matters that had been weighing on his heart, Director Li also felt much lighter.
“Oh, I almost forgot the main point. I’ll go with you to the consulate later. The Center for Historical Research has a new discovery about the disaster from ten thousand years ago. Yuxing’s awakening of time and space abilities at this time could very well be of great help.”