An Apology and a Lingering Embrace

Zhuo could no longer feign death, especially with Yuan Anqing still actively strangling an assassin in the middle of the bus aisle.

Black-and-crimson mist swirled from the chimera’s neck stump, rapidly coalescing into the distinct shape of a head. The mist slowly solidified and hardened. Just like that, Zhuo’s head had grown back completely.

He ignored the terrified gazes of the passengers around him, rushing toward Yuan Anqing. “Alright, alright, stop choking him!”

Zhuo reached out, grabbing Yuan Anqing’s waist to pull him back. Yuan Anqing did move, but the Breeding Body he was choking was simply dragged along with him.

The Breeding Body, crushed by Yuan Anqing’s psychic influence, stared blankly into the void, tears streaming down his face even more violently.

“Let him go first.” Zhuo tugged at Yuan Anqing’s wrist. He didn’t dare use his monstrous strength on the fragile Savior, so his tugging had no effect whatsoever.

Zhuo sighed, lifted Yuan Anqing entirely with both hands, and then shook him gently up and down. Yuan Anqing still didn’t release his grip, though the Breeding Body staggered forward a few steps on his tiptoes.

“Stop choking him! You can’t choke him to death like this!” Zhuo sounded a little anxious. He couldn’t shake the feeling that Yuan Anqing now resembled a stubborn cat that had caught a mouse and refused to drop it, even while being lifted by the scruff.

This time, however, Yuan Anqing finally reacted to the words. “I can’t choke him to death?”

“You can’t. He has incredibly thick skin!” The Breeding Body’s physique was exceptionally robust for a humanoid. Even if he had lost the ability to mentally resist, Yuan Anqing physically couldn’t crush his windpipe barehanded.

“Then you do it,” Yuan Anqing said, releasing his grip.

The Breeding Body crumpled weakly to the bus floor, his expression completely unbroken in his psychic stupor.

Zhuo glanced at the crying assassin on the floor, then at the terrified passengers huddled in the back of the bus. Despite how unfitting his next words were for a world-destroying monster, Zhuo sighed. “I should text Bai Tian to contact the cleanup crew. This guy has caused a serious traffic violation.”

Yuan Anqing met Zhuo’s gaze. “Are you serious?”

Zhuo pursed his lips and nodded.

“This is a good opportunity to kill him.” Yuan Anqing raised a single, unimpressed eyebrow.

Zhuo was deeply surprised. “Are you trying to steal my job?” The Savior trying to tempt him to murder was far too strange.

“I just feel it’s a bit unfair.” Yuan Anqing placed a hand on the Breeding Body’s head, as if caressing him, or perhaps using him as an armrest. “He tried to decapitate you with lethal intent. You only survived because of your biology. What if you weren’t so formidable?”

“If I weren’t so formidable, I wouldn’t be the Savior’s bodyguard.” Zhuo felt Yuan Anqing really needed a nap. “Choices made in heightened emotional states are irrational. It’s best if you do nothing right now.”

“Do nothing?” Yuan Anqing found the corporate logic absurd.

“We just need to wait for HR to come and pick us up,” Zhuo affirmed.

Yuan Anqing let out a soft laugh. His expression was minimal, yet it conveyed unmistakable, withering mockery.

“You’re not in the right state of mind right now, so I won’t argue with you.” Zhuo then looked at the other people on the bus. “None of you can leave. Until official personnel arrive, you must not spread any information about this online.”

A passenger quietly asked from the back, “What about after the official personnel arrive?”

“How should I know? You’ll sign a non-disclosure agreement, I guess?” Zhuo clearly didn’t enjoy managing crowd control.

Another person whimpered, “Will we be killed?” The abilities of these three freaks were each stranger than the last; ordinary people like them had no chance of escaping.

Zhuo could sense their terror. He glanced at Yuan Anqing again. Zhuo had a strange feeling that Yuan Anqing had inexplicably joined the villain’s side in the eyes of the public.

“Have you committed a crime?” Zhuo countered, trying to sound reasonable.

“N-no,” the passenger quickly shook his head.

“Then why would they kill you?” Zhuo pressed.

The passenger fell silent.

Yuan Anqing’s golden gaze returned to the Breeding Body. Clearly, he hadn’t given up the idea of finishing the job.

Zhuo sent a quick text to Bai Tian, then reached up to massage his own newly-regrown neck.

The Breeding Body’s projectile hadn’t inflicted any substantial harm on him, yet Zhuo’s throat still felt somewhat dry from the regeneration. “We should have bought some drinks when we got on the bus.”

“Oh! Here!” A high school student fearfully pulled a bottle of soda from his backpack. “Do you want this?”

Zhuo paused, then unceremoniously took it. “Yes.”

“Zhuo,” Yuan Anqing called out to him coldly.

Zhuo’s movements halted.

Yuan Anqing prompted him, “Say ‘thank you’.”

“Oh.” Zhuo, automatically following Yuan Anqing’s reprimand, turned and thanked the high school student.

Only after expressing his gratitude did Zhuo realize something was amiss.

Why was I so obedient?
Was something not quite right?

Zhuo wanted to ask Yuan Anqing, but the man was clearly not in a rational state, rendering objective conversation impossible.

Strangely, the passengers and the driver on the bus felt much more relaxed after the soda exchange. Since they couldn’t use their phones, they actually started chatting quietly to ease their nerves.

Occasionally, a brave passenger would strike up a conversation with Zhuo. After all, though growing a head out of thin air was horrifying, the giant man who said ‘thank you’ for a soda seemed vastly more approachable than the black-haired, golden-eyed Savior standing over a crying body.

Yuan Anqing currently projected an aura of absolute, cold indifference, making anyone feel that striking up a conversation with him would be met with severe, potentially lethal disdain.

After chatting with the passengers for a while, Zhuo noticed this dynamic. He felt the strong partiality in this group of humans. He knew Yuan Anqing was the Savior—the one supposed to be loved by the masses.

Thus, Zhuo decided to stand with Yuan Anqing.

“Humans aren’t worth it,” Zhuo mumbled softly, sidling up next to him.

Yuan Anqing heard him but wasn’t curious enough to ask what prompted the philosophical observation. He continued to stare intently at the Breeding Body, unreservedly radiating malice.

As for the passengers, they were quite bewildered.

Did the monster mean they had isolated the cold-faced man? But that man had displeasure etched all over his face; anyone with a shred of survival instinct wouldn’t dare speak to him!

“You don’t need to be too angry, you know. I can keep you company,” Zhuo offered. He reached out, intending to pat Yuan Anqing’s shoulder, but his hand was intercepted mid-air by Yuan Anqing.

“I don’t want to be too close to you right now,” Yuan Anqing told him, dropping the hand.

Zhuo’s tail stiffened in shock. “Eh? Why?”

“I don’t like inappropriate jokes,” Yuan Anqing said coolly. “I don’t wish to see a headless corpse again.”

Zhuo froze. “But I can’t die,” his voice became softer.

At this moment, he finally understood. Yuan Anqing’s sudden, extreme irritability—aside from being startled by the ambush—largely stemmed from him.

Yuan Anqing had genuinely believed Zhuo had died for a moment.

Thinking of this, Zhuo inexplicably felt guilty. “Besides, our relationship isn’t that good, you know,” his volume dropped so low it was almost inaudible.

“Is that what you think?” Yuan Anqing turned to ask him, his golden eyes narrowing. “You used to clamor to sleep in my bed, and now you say our relationship isn’t that good?”

Zhuo dared not speak.

“I thought we were getting along quite well. But since you don’t see it that way, perhaps I was being presumptuous.” Yuan Anqing averted his gaze.

“Um, Yuan…”

“This isn’t the time to bother me,” Yuan Anqing interrupted him, shutting down the conversation.

A deathly silence settled between the two.

The passengers on the bus were also silenced by the sheer, suffocating awkwardness of the lovers’ quarrel.

Until the official vehicles arrived and everyone on the bus was evacuated, Zhuo did not speak again, nor did Yuan Anqing pay him any further attention.

The Breeding Body was escorted away in a secure transport, while Yuan Anqing and Zhuo returned to the city by plane. On the flight, Yuan Anqing rested with his eyes closed the entire time, while Zhuo gazed down at his hands, lost in miserable thought.

Yuan Anqing’s emotional state was highly unstable, so Bai Tian wouldn’t ask him to file a report under such circumstances. Thus, Yuan Anqing and Zhuo went straight home.

Yuan Anqing showered and then collapsed into bed to sleep, but Zhuo didn’t cuddle up to him.

Zhuo wanted to, but he felt that if he did, he would be disliked.

In the past, Zhuo hadn’t cared about being disliked; after all, almost everyone in the world detested him. But he inexplicably didn’t want Yuan Anqing to despise him.

Zhuo felt a little wronged. He was truly powerful—invincibly so! It was Yuan Anqing who had underestimated his biology and got frightened over nothing!

Though… Yuan Anqing having no concept of chimera biology was normal. And Yuan Anqing was indeed shaken to the point of genuine distress…

Yuan Anqing feared I would get hurt? Zhuo thought. But I was going to devour him eventually! He should be happy if I get hurt!

Yet, Yuan Anqing had told that Breeding Body that Zhuo was his ‘friend.’

And earlier on the bus, Zhuo had told Yuan Anqing that their relationship wasn’t that good. Was he being too harsh on his Savior after all?

Zhuo’s mind was incredibly muddled; he couldn’t untangle these complex, mortal emotions. He had never experienced such anxiety before, which meant he couldn’t find a reliable reference point in his past behavior.

Yuan Anqing, meanwhile, was asleep—or rather, had passed out. The two consecutive episodes of emotional loss had drained too much of his energy. He basically fell into a coma the moment his head hit the pillow.

This time, Yuan Anqing didn’t dream. His body simply needed sufficient time to reset his chemistry.

As Zhuo had said, the recovery period for the second psychic hangover was much shorter than the first. The next day, when Yuan Anqing woke up, only physical exhaustion remained. There was no trace of his previous cynical passion or murderous intent.

Yuan Anqing rubbed his forehead, reaching out beside him. Empty?! Where was Zhuo?

“Zhuo?” Yuan Anqing called out.

“I’m here,” Zhuo responded quietly.

Yuan Anqing followed the sound and found the massive monster huddled in a corner of the room.

Zhuo had originally intended to huddle on the balcony in exile, but the rules stated Yuan Anqing had to remain within his line of sight at all times, so Zhuo could only crouch miserably on the floorboards.

Yuan Anqing slept closer to the wall, while Zhuo was tucked tightly into the corner by the window. The towering chimera sat there, hugging his knees, looking lethargic and profoundly dejected.

Yuan Anqing rubbed his eyes, recalling the trivial argument from yesterday. He pressed his temples, sighing helplessly. “I’m sorry. My emotions were overly intense yesterday.”

Zhuo looked up.

“My emotions were artificially amplified,” Yuan Anqing explained calmly, back to his usual deadpan self. “You know very well that those weren’t my true intentions. No matter how subtle an emotion is, once amplified by the psychic drain, it becomes extreme and terrifying.”

Zhuo blinked. “So… are you still angry now?”

“I don’t actually get angry often,” Yuan Anqing said with a tired sigh. “Anger is very draining. Too many calories.”

“I won’t play dead like that again,” Zhuo promised.

Yuan Anqing froze.

Zhuo then pointed hopefully at the mattress. “So… do you think we can still sleep together later?”

“Of course,” Yuan Anqing said, a little bewildered by the sudden timidity.

Zhuo silently got up, climbed onto the bed, and squeezed next to Yuan Anqing. Finding that Yuan Anqing didn’t push him away, Zhuo happily wrapped his massive arms around Yuan Anqing’s waist and circled him securely with his tail.

“I won’t scare you again,” Zhuo mumbled into Yuan Anqing’s shoulder. “So you can’t be mean to your friend anymore.”

Friend? Yuan Anqing looked down at Zhuo, but the monster had already closed his eyes.

Zhuo’s lips were still downturned in a pout, looking utterly wronged by the entire ordeal.

Zhuo repeated softly, “You can’t be mean to friends.” He squeezed Yuan Anqing even tighter.