The Fifth Savior and the Big White Goose

Zheng Xiao’an sat on the sofa, heart pounding with trepidation, awaiting Yuan Anqing’s review of his biology test paper.

Yet, for a long while, Yuan Anqing uttered no impatient, cutting criticisms. Zheng Xiao’an felt a flicker of confusion. Could it be that I actually did well this time?

As this thought crossed his mind, Zheng Xiao’an looked up. His gaze met Yuan Anqing’s, who was already staring at him. In that instant, Zheng Xiao’an felt as if he might have a sudden heart attack from the intensity of the Savior’s golden eyes.

“It’s like this,” Yuan Anqing said, pushing up his glasses. “I have something I’d like your help with.”

“Y-you speak, Mr. Savior,” Zheng Xiao’an swallowed hard, sweating.

“You’re a little afraid of me; I can tell,” Yuan Anqing said. He had always known he was a bit of a killjoy. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have gone over thirty years on Earth without making a single friend. “I want to trouble you to hang out with Zhuo for a bit.”

Before Zheng Xiao’an could reply, Yuan Anqing added, “You won’t be staying with us for many more days. Zhuo is quite interested in you, though he isn’t always the most polite speaker. Don’t laugh, but he hasn’t really interacted with many people his own age, nor has he ever made a real friend. Just humor him and play along, and it’ll be fine.”

He paused, then added, “Of course, my suggestion is a bit strange. If you don’t like it, just pretend I never said anything.” Yuan Anqing himself wasn’t entirely comfortable discussing such soft, emotional matters.

“How do we play?” Zheng Xiao’an asked. He was actually quite eager; he was thoroughly tired of doing test papers.

“Just tell Zhuo where you wanted to go when you were still in school,” Yuan Anqing said. “Zheng Xiao’an, you don’t have much pocket money to spend, and a child of your age would naturally have a playful spirit. As long as you can relax and enjoy yourself, Zhuo will likely be happy too. Zhuo’s actions might seem a bit peculiar to you, but he means no harm.”

“Alright,” Zheng Xiao’an said, but his expression seemed a little conflicted again.

“What’s wrong? Does this make you uncomfortable?” Yuan Anqing asked him.

“No, no, no! It’s not that!” Zheng Xiao’an quickly waved his hands. “It’s just… if we’re going out to play, can we invite one more person?”

“Hmm?” Yuan Anqing seemed puzzled.

Before Zheng Xiao’an could explain, the front door opened.

“Are you two chatting?” Zhuo pushed the door open and stepped inside, carrying groceries.

By rights, Zhuo shouldn’t have been too far from Yuan Anqing, but they were currently in the secure government building. Bai Tian had some routine matters to discuss with Zhuo, so Yuan Anqing had stayed behind with Zheng Xiao’an to help with homework. Otherwise, even Yuan Anqing’s softest voice would have been audible to the monster.

“Just some idle chatter,” Yuan Anqing said, adjusting his position. “What did Bai Tian want to talk to you about?”

“Just asked me to help consume a few inferior Differentiated Beings,” Zhuo sat down beside Yuan Anqing with casual, possessive ease, his brow furrowed in disgust. “They’re really quite unappetizing.”

He picked up a soda from the table, gulping it down. “Chen Jiao, the former Savior, has been helping to deal with them, but the anomalies have really increased in number lately. Chen Jiao has been resting well in her ward; we should pull her back to work soon.”

“Her emotions are slightly more abundant than mine,” Yuan Anqing mused, remembering Chen Jiao at least had friends on Earth. “For her to seek death so readily, she must have had some strong, unfulfilled desires within her.”

“Hm? What do you mean by that?” Zhuo took another sip of his soda.

“To desire something unattainable often leads to thoughts of life and death,” Yuan Anqing explained. “If one is completely without desire—indifferent to everything—then there’s no need to actively seek death. Death and life wouldn’t hold much difference to them.”

Zhuo’s brows knitted together. He hated when Yuan Anqing talked about death so casually.

Yuan Anqing realized he had steered the conversation to a heavy topic and quickly changed the subject. “Tomorrow, let’s find a place to go out and play.”

“You want to go out and play?” Zhuo was surprised. Even though they were together now, Yuan Anqing wasn’t exactly known for his vivacity.

“Zheng Xiao’an is our guest, after all. It’s not good to make them do test papers every single day; they’ll have plenty of homework to do once they return to high school,” Yuan Anqing said, looking at the teenager. “I just discussed it with them. They’ll choose the location, and we’ll all go out and have some fun together.”

Zhuo looked at Zheng Xiao’an.

The teenager nodded shyly; they were still a bit afraid of Zhuo.

“They said they wanted to bring someone else along, but I didn’t hear the whole thing before you came in,” Yuan Anqing said. He knew Zheng Xiao’an wouldn’t proactively suggest it otherwise; for an introverted kid, inviting a guest was a massive psychological burden. Since Zheng Xiao’an had agreed to go, Yuan Anqing took the initiative to mention it.

“Bring another person?” Zhuo paused, then leaned forward to ask Zheng Xiao’an, “Is this person a boy or a girl?”

“A girl… a classmate,” Zheng Xiao’an replied softly, their face flushing.

“Oh~” Zhuo understood instantly. “So you’re planning to differentiate into a man when you turn eighteen, huh?”

Zheng Xiao’an lowered their head, completely embarrassed. “The differentiation is random. I can’t choose.”

It was normal for teenagers of their age to be in the throes of puberty, but Zheng Xiao’an’s subspecies genetics had a major biological problem: they couldn’t choose their s*x.

“Oh~ So you and that girl won’t necessarily be lovers in the future. You might end up as sisters,” Zhuo chuckled, delighted by the tragedy. “You’re so unlucky, kid.”

“We couldn’t possibly be lovers anyway,” Zheng Xiao’an’s face flushed crimson. “She’s so good-looking and so smart; how could she ever look at me?”

Then why are you inviting her? Zhuo thought, but he didn’t voice it, because…

Yuan Anqing asked Zheng Xiao’an, “Do you think if you invite her alone, she would come?”

“I don’t know…”

“She’s a high school girl. Going out alone with a boy she barely knows…” Yuan Anqing leaned back. “Call all your classmates. Both boys and girls. Let’s make it a group activity.”

“That would be too much expense for you,” Zheng Xiao’an stammered. The more people, the more money spent on tickets and food.

“No trouble at all. You’re not elementary school children who need constant hand-holding, and Zhuo and I also need to go out and have some fun,” Yuan Anqing explained smoothly. “It’ll be livelier with a group.”

Zhuo was clearly interested. “You pick the place, kid, and we’ll go with you.”

“Really? Can we?” Zheng Xiao’an was tempted by the offer.

“You can,” Yuan Anqing nodded. “Go ahead and message them.”

“Then… then I’ll send a text in our group chat,” Zheng Xiao’an pulled out their phone.

“Wait,” Yuan Anqing interrupted.

Zheng Xiao’an paused.

“I’ll transfer you some spending money,” Yuan Anqing said, pulling out his own phone. “You might need it to buy drinks and snacks for your classmates.”

“Ah? No, no, no! That’s too much!” Zheng Xiao’an quickly refused, flustered.

“You don’t think you can be with that girl, do you?” Yuan Anqing’s words were always so blunt and practical. “I don’t think you can be together either, biologically speaking.”

“You probably won’t have many chances to gather like this before your differentiation, so at least leave a good impression on your peers,” Yuan Anqing said, typing a transfer.

Zhuo could sense the shifting emotions in the room. He watched Zheng Xiao’an, tasting the sheer helplessness and raw excitement in the teenager’s aura. It was clear Zheng Xiao’an particularly admired Yuan Anqing.

It’s like seeing a life idol, Zhuo realized.

He took another sip of his drink, his smile widening. “I really don’t understand what you’re dilly-dallying about, kid. You’re almost seventeen, yet you don’t even dare to confess.”

Zheng Xiao’an lowered their head. “I, I…”

“Don’t make fun of him,” Yuan Anqing reached out, grabbed Zhuo’s crystalline horn, and gently pulled his head down. Zhuo cooperated with the movement, letting out a small, playful yelp. “You wasn’t exactly brave yourself last week.”

It hadn’t been many days since Zhuo’s moment of weeping and pining in the bedroom, and now he was laughing at a high schooler.

“You’re in a very good mood today, aren’t you?” Zhuo looked up at Yuan Anqing, his red eyes shining. “Quite excited.”

“You can’t sense my emotions,” Yuan Anqing released Zhuo’s horn, lowering his gaze to drink his tea.

“I have eyes; I can see for myself,” Zhuo pointed to his own face. “You’re happy.”

Yuan Anqing’s lips curved slightly.

“See! You smiled!” Zhuo immediately caught the tiny change.

Zheng Xiao’an’s official reason for taking leave from school was ‘illness,’ and his reason for inviting his classmates was that his condition had improved, and his two ‘distant older brothers’ had invited his friends to hang out with him.

Six classmates arrived at the designated meeting spot that day. High schoolers were in their peak developmental phase, and once freed from the classroom, they were incredibly lively and excited. However, after exchanging quick pleasantries with Zheng Xiao’an, their attention was immediately dragged toward Zhuo.

It had to be said, Zhuo was a monster capable of manipulating desires; his human smile was far more radiant and naturally charismatic than Yuan Anqing’s. Some of the classmates noticed Yuan Anqing, but they didn’t dare approach him for a chat, feeling the Savior was far too cold and serious.

With their classmates around to buffer the tension, Zheng Xiao’an became bolder in talking to Zhuo.

Yuan Anqing watched Zhuo, who was squeezed happily in the middle of the teenagers, and let out a soft sigh, wanting to find a place to sit. He didn’t know what this unlucky child, Zheng Xiao’an, was thinking. Instead of taking his classmates to an amusement park or playing some popular indoor games, he had actually brought them hiking.

The girl Zheng Xiao’an liked looked fair, thin, and delicate. How could hiking up a steep peak possibly make her develop romantic feelings for him? She would probably be cursing his name internally halfway up the mountain.

However, Yuan Anqing couldn’t bother with their teenage romance; he just kept his gaze fixed on Zhuo. He noticed that while Zhuo wasn’t adept at dealing with individual children, he was perfectly at ease when facing a group of teenagers. The boys marveled at Zhuo’s massive physique, while the girls were initially intimidated by him but quickly grew intrigued by his dramatic, expressive personality.

Under the strong comparison, the group of girls gathered around Zhuo. The girl Zheng Xiao’an liked was thin and a bit short. When everyone else surrounded Zhuo, she noticed Yuan Anqing standing quietly to the side and deliberately came over to say hello, probably worried that the Savior felt ignored or uncomfortable.

Yuan Anqing disliked intimate interactions with strangers, but he understood the young girl’s good intentions. He inwardly praised her upbringing and subtly declined her invitation to chat; he simply didn’t have much to say to a high schooler.

His private intention in arranging this outing was for Zhuo to have a good time. Firstly, Zhuo wanted to learn human empathy, but at his current pace, who knew how long it would take him. Secondly, Zhuo was inherently a lively character, and no matter how much he enjoyed staying in the apartment, he still needed to go out and find some fun.

As for Yuan Anqing, he could, at most, go through the motions. Not being a complete wet blanket was already his greatest effort.

When it was time to climb the stairs, several kids rushed upward in pairs. The more energetic boys ran up two or three steps at a time, while the shyer ones were swept up by the competitive atmosphere.

Zhuo, however, slowed down, walking beside Yuan Anqing. “These children are highly vulnerable.”

“They’re pure,” Yuan Anqing corrected him. “You always use negative terms to describe everything.”

“Purity isn’t always a good thing,” Zhuo said.

“You are also very pure,” Yuan Anqing looked at Zhuo beside him. “Extremely pure.”

Zhuo raised an eyebrow, his tail twitching. “Now I think ‘pure’ is a fantastic word.”

Yuan Anqing smiled.

They walked up the stone steps one by one, very slowly, and the distance between them and the group of teenagers grew wider and wider.

“Don’t you enjoy playing with them?” Yuan Anqing asked.

“It’s somewhat interesting, but there’s not much point in just chattering with them,” Zhuo leaned closer to Yuan Anqing’s shoulder. “Besides, I’m your bodyguard, aren’t I? What if I left you behind and you suddenly had an ulcer attack?”

“I can keep up with them,” Yuan Anqing’s physical stats were actually far superior to those high schoolers; his Savior body was built for endurance.

“Well, I can accompany you too, then,” Zhuo said. “They run like idiots, getting tired after just a few flights of stairs.”

Yuan Anqing added, “Then they can help each other climb.”

“Boys helping boys, girls helping girls,” Zhuo shrugged, looking ahead. “That kid still won’t have a chance to touch her hand.”

“He never even imagined having a chance; it’s just the emotional release of youthful ignorance,” Yuan Anqing noted, feeling Zhuo’s hand resting on his shoulder.

“But we ended up together, didn’t we?” Zhuo referred to his dream from the previous chapter. “Could it be because we were childhood sweethearts?”

Yuan Anqing: “…”

He didn’t know why Zhuo had so naturally accepted the ‘childhood sweethearts’ setting, but what the monster said wasn’t entirely wrong.

“We didn’t think too much about our differences back then in the dream,” Zhuo said. “We were so young and just got together; clearly, we weren’t ones to hold back.”

Yuan Anqing rephrased Zhuo’s words. “Because we’re both orphans in reality.”

Zhuo: “…”

“We don’t have parents or family restrictions,” Yuan Anqing thought about Zhuo’s deep-seated anxiety and added softly, “If either of us had parents and a harmonious family, the other would probably have held back and suppressed their feelings, not daring to let the other know, fearing they’d be a burden to their normal life.”

Zhuo thought about it and felt it made perfect sense. “It’s a good thing our parents are gone.”

Yuan Anqing was silent.

“We truly are a match made in heaven,” Zhuo added smugly.

Yuan Anqing massaged his forehead.

The group of children was long out of sight, but Yuan Anqing and Zhuo were still strolling leisurely. Zhuo chatted aimlessly, and after a long while, he suddenly said, “I heard what you said to him, you know.”

“Hm?” Yuan Anqing didn’t immediately react.

“I heard everything you two said in the lounge yesterday,” Zhuo clasped his hands behind his back, looking smug. He didn’t look at Yuan Anqing as he spoke. “You asked him to play with me because I don’t have friends.”

Yuan Anqing paused, then let out a helpless laugh.

Zhuo’s voice tightened further. “You still know too little about my abilities, Savior. If I want to listen, even if you’re on the top floor and I’m in the basement, I can still hear your voice.”

“So you’re actively spying on me every time I’m alone?”

“Not exactly! I wasn’t sure if Zheng Xiao’an was absolutely safe,” Zhuo quickly defended himself, wanting to protect his image. “But you clearly didn’t even want to come out today.”

“Of course I wanted to come out,” Yuan Anqing retorted. “If I didn’t want to, who could possibly drag me out of my apartment?”

“You forced yourself to come out,” Zhuo countered.

“I can’t force myself; I just wanted to come out.”

“But you don’t even play with the kids.”

“I feel happy watching you laugh,” Yuan Anqing said, his voice quiet. “There are many kinds of happiness in this world; I just like seeing you so gleefully silly.”

“Silly?!” Zhuo squawked.

“Then… a bright and sunny smile?” Yuan Anqing offered a different, more acceptable description.

“Yuan Anqing.” Zhuo’s steps suddenly halted on the trail.

Yuan Anqing looked at him.

Zhuo solemnly placed both hands on Yuan Anqing’s shoulders, took a deep breath, and suddenly leaned close to Yuan Anqing’s face. “AH!!!”

Yuan Anqing flinched backward in genuine fright.

Zhuo immediately released him, laughing loudly as he sped off up the mountain. “Hahaha! I got you!”

“I was talking seriously, and you scared me,” Yuan Anqing pushed his glasses back into place, then chased after him.

Zhuo ran much faster than Yuan Anqing, but he always stayed just ahead. Yuan Anqing stretched out a hand, his fingers just barely grazing the thick tip of Zhuo’s tail. Zhuo ran and laughed, his gleeful, loud hoots reaching Yuan Anqing’s ears. After chasing him for a flight of stairs, Yuan Anqing couldn’t hold it in anymore.

He stopped, clutching his abdomen, and squatted down.

“What’s wrong?!” Zhuo grew anxious, quickly running back and squatting beside him. Then he realized Yuan Anqing was actually laughing.

Zhuo: “…You scared me!”

“Sorry, sorry,” Yuan Anqing waved his hand, his eyes moist with laughter.

“What are you laughing at?” Zhuo didn’t understand. They had just been chasing each other; Yuan Anqing wasn’t angry, so why was he laughing so hard?

Yuan Anqing’s forehead was glistening with sweat from the run. “I’m laughing at your laughter.”

“Huh?”

“Zhuo, your silly, gleeful hoots are very much like a big white goose honking,” Yuan Anqing had listened to the noise and simply couldn’t hold his composure any longer.

Zhuo had a knack for acting mature and aloof when he wanted to, but when he truly let loose and laughed, his voice was rough, loud, and unrestrained, much like a goose honking wildly in a farmyard.

“You?! You!” Zhuo was choked, his skin flushing bright red, and his tail curled up in embarrassment. “How can you say that?!”

“This trip truly wasn’t in vain,” Yuan Anqing said, his face bright. “I always thought we had a little sheep at home, but it turns out you’re actually a big white goose.”

Zhuo reached out to tickle Yuan Anqing, but Yuan Anqing dodged him nimbly. It wasn’t that Zhuo was slow; it was mainly because in the past, when he wanted to grab Yuan Anqing, Yuan Anqing would just stand there and wait to be caught. Now, the Savior was actively running.

Zhuo blinked in confusion, and by then Yuan Anqing had already started heading up the mountain. He glanced back, and as his gaze met Zhuo’s, a golden light flashed in his eyes.

“Oh, you! Do you think I can’t catch you?!” Zhuo immediately gave chase.

“The big white goose is coming to peck me!”

“Yuan Anqing!”

The two chased each other up the stairs, drawing frequent, amused glances from the other tourists. They looked no different from the high schoolers they had been discussing earlier.

After visiting the temple on the mountain, the high schoolers ran out to enjoy the breeze. They gathered around Zheng Xiao’an, asking him where his two older brothers had come from and why they were so handsome.

“They’re just… well, distant relatives, you know. We only recently got in touch,” Zheng Xiao’an lowered his head and took a sip of his drink. He hoped this group wouldn’t ask too many detailed questions; otherwise, he truly wouldn’t know what to say.

“The tall one looks over two meters! Does he play basketball? I saw his muscles are really impressive too!” one boy asked.

“Even basketball players aren’t this beefy, are they? This kind of guy would be an elite boss monster even if he turned into a zombie!” another boy interjected. “The kind who wields a giant concrete pillar.”

“That’s a bit impolite of you,” Zheng Xiao’an reminded him.

A short-haired girl asked, “Is your brother with the glasses a teacher?” She hadn’t dared to make eye contact with Yuan Anqing, always feeling he would be a particularly rigid, scary type.

“No, he’s a very nice person,” Zheng Xiao’an explained. “He just doesn’t talk much.”

“He’s really handsome; I noticed him right away,” the girl with the high ponytail said. “But after being around him for a while, I feel like he’s like our physics teacher—the one who always has a stern, terrifying face.”

No sooner had they spoken than Yuan Anqing and Zhuo ran up.

“I’ll get angry if you grab my tail!” Zhuo yelled, running forward. Yuan Anqing was actively holding onto his big tail to slow him down, his glasses completely askew.

Yuan Anqing was completely unfazed by Zhuo’s intimidation. “If you get angry, what are you going to do to me?” His hair was damp with sweat, and he was breathless; his Savior body was durable, but he was still feeling the climb.

“What can I do to you?! You’re always so shameless!” Zhuo grumbled, but he immediately reached out and lifted Yuan Anqing entirely off his feet to let him rest.

Yuan Anqing was happy to save his energy and simply leaned his weight against Zhuo’s chest. He tilted his head back, resting it on Zhuo’s shoulder.

Zhuo swallowed hard. Yuan Anqing’s exposed throat was right by his mouth. He could even hear the rapid sound of his pulse. “You’re teasing me again.”

“Heh,” Yuan Anqing didn’t deny it.

The high schoolers watching: “…”

“What happened on the way up?” the short-haired girl whispered. “Was the brother with glasses swapped out?” He had looked so cool and distant earlier, but now he was acting like this?

Yuan Anqing noticed them watching. He patted Zhuo’s arm, signaling Zhuo to release him, then instantly wiped the smile from his face, seamlessly switching back to his detached, professional state. He adjusted his glasses and nodded to the teenagers. “Hello. You all got up here quite fast.”

The high schoolers awkwardly smiled and greeted him.

They understood now: the brother with glasses hadn’t been swapped out; he was just only gentle with the tall one.

Just a young couple’s business…

“Hey, hey.” One boy nudged Zheng Xiao’an with his elbow. “Didn’t you say these two were your distant brothers? They don’t seem to be related by blood at all, do they?”

“No, no,” Zheng Xiao’an also realized the cover story was failing. They quickly explained, “The one with glasses is my actual relative. The tall one is… my brother’s partner.”

Only then did the classmates nod in understanding.

Zhuo was far away, but his ears captured their whispers perfectly. “That little brat recognizes you as his brother and treats me like some stranger.”

“Does that bother you?” Yuan Anqing asked.

“You’re too popular. I’m a little jealous,” Zhuo murmured.

Yuan Anqing pinched Zhuo’s cheek, then his movement froze. “Wait. There?”

“What?”

“There. The aura of inferior differentiation.” Yuan Anqing pointed out toward the city.

The mountain was quite high, offering a panoramic view of almost half the city. On the way up, Yuan Anqing and Zhuo had been too busy playing to notice, but now at the summit, he saw the glaring, gray mists rising within the streets below.

They looked like needles stuck on a map. They didn’t seem as terrifying as the desire Vortexes, but like tiny stains splattered on white clothing, they were particularly conspicuous.

“They’re getting more and more numerous,” Zhuo noted, his tail coiling around Yuan Anqing’s wrist. “Their taste is truly disgusting, like rotten fish.”

“Do Bai Tian and the others have any thoughts on this?”

“Bai Tian says these are being caused by the rogue resistance organizations,” Zhuo said. “They’re very troublesome, like bedbugs.”

“Is Chen Jiao helping? How’s her progress?” Yuan Anqing asked again.

“She’s still figuring out how to target them safely,” Zhuo finished, then noticed the lingering auras of those inferior Differentiated Beings moving.

Those not-so-intense gray auras flew up toward the peak. Zhuo instantly became alert, yet the auras showed no intention of attacking. They flew in front of Yuan Anqing, then began to dance docility around him.

“How did you do that?” Zhuo marveled at the way they hovered around the Savior.

“I don’t know; I just called them over in my mind,” Yuan Anqing reached out and touched the gray mists swirling around him. The gaseous forms expanded like powder blown by the wind, then contracted back, continuing to float around his fingers.

“There’s a very disgusting smell in here,” Yuan Anqing’s brows furrowed. This smell wasn’t something he merely detected with his nose; it was more like something he ‘perceived’ spiritually.

“It’s the smell of rotten flesh,” Zhuo added.

The high schoolers nearby couldn’t see these auras, so Yuan Anqing and Zhuo’s actions seemed somewhat bizarre to them. What were they doing, poking at the empty air for no reason?

“The kind you’ve eaten?” Yuan Anqing asked.

Zhuo nodded, looking deeply wronged. “Yes. Eating these rotting things… I feel like my sense of taste is going to be ruined.”

“Does Zheng Xiao’an have this rotten flesh smell on him?” Yuan Anqing asked, concerned.

“No,” Zhuo glanced back at the teenager. “He smells like a normal, living person.”

Before Yuan Anqing could reply, wisps of new smoke emerged from the places where the auras had just been cleared.

These things can’t be completely cleaned up?

Yuan Anqing’s brows furrowed. He felt that the desire auras around him were different from those chaotic and fallen ones, carrying a desolate, deathly scent. “Is it… the harvested flesh and blood of those Saviors?”

“Huh?”

“The flesh and blood of deceased Saviors. It’s just a guess,” Yuan Anqing could at least confirm that those mutated people had physical problems, as if they had been parasitized. After parasitism, hallucinations appeared, and merely clearing the hallucinations was useless; those parasites had to be dug out entirely.

Yuan Anqing always felt that the foul odor was particularly pungent, as if it wanted to penetrate his body and reach his soul. This sense of disgust was unprecedented.

“The fifth one.”

“What?” Yuan Anqing looked at Zhuo.

Zhuo blinked. “Huh? What’s wrong?”

“Weren’t you speaking?” Yuan Anqing asked him.

“I wasn’t speaking! Don’t you recognize my voice?” Zhuo was puzzled. His voice was quite distinctive, very deep.

“I was misled.” Yuan Anqing recalled the sound. Indeed, that voice just now sounded more like several people speaking in a chorus, completely different from Zhuo’s. How could he have mistaken it?

Yuan Anqing’s expression gradually became serious. The golden light in his eyes slowly brightened, and the surrounding gray mists dispersed like morning fog touched by sunlight.

“What’s wrong with you?” Zhuo saw Yuan Anqing’s expression and couldn’t help but ask, “Are you feeling unwell?”

“I’m fine. But I can now confirm that this mass inferior differentiation is directly related to the corpses of those former Saviors.”

At the moment he devoured those mists, two distinct voices entered his mind—a man and a woman—arguing in Yuan Anqing’s spiritual world.

The man’s voice said, “They’re afraid of you; they want to harm you. You should find a way to escape.”

And the woman’s voice, like a looping background track, kept repeating, “Kill them, kill them, kill them!”

Their voices gradually grew louder, finally turning into hysterical, overlapping screams.

Yuan Anqing clutched his temples. “Two of the former Saviors’ spirits are bothering me.”

“How are they bothering you? Are you feeling alright now?!” Zhuo grew anxious. Bai Tian had mentioned that these former Saviors could perceive the pain of being dismembered, and such intense resentment might affect Yuan Anqing’s mind.

“Their voices are just very loud,” Yuan Anqing finally gained a relatively accurate understanding of his own mental power. This level of interference should have been soul-shaking for a normal human, but Yuan Anqing only felt that they were impeding his hearing. He was completely unable to empathize with their drama. “Let’s go sit on the bench over there.”

“What’s wrong?” Zhuo was still worried. “Can’t you walk?”

“I can walk. But they want to argue, so I’ll go into the spiritual void and listen to them argue,” Yuan Anqing’s face grew cold. I’d like to see what extraordinary conclusion they can come up with.

“Then I want to go in too!” Zhuo was uneasy about Yuan Anqing going alone. “If they keep making trouble, I’ll eat them.”

Yuan Anqing glanced at Zhuo. “I’ll enter the spiritual world first, then pull you in.” He needed to first confirm there was no immediate danger.

Zhuo still wanted to say something, but Yuan Anqing’s eyes had already become vacant.

“You left me behind again,” Zhuo mumbled, sitting on the bench beside him.

In the spiritual world, Yuan Anqing saw two figures.

A man and a woman, both with beautiful faces, but only their faces remained of their entire bodies. Below their necks were mere skeletal bones. Yet, without muscle traction, the small forearm of the female skeleton actually lifted, pointing in Yuan Anqing’s direction.

“The fifth one,” the woman said.

“Hello,” Yuan Anqing greeted them politely. “May I ask which Savior number you are?”

The female skeleton froze, then a dry word emerged from her mouth: “Two.”

Yuan Anqing nodded, indicating his understanding. “And you?”

The male skeleton tilted his head. “One.”

“So you two are my predecessors,” Yuan Anqing nodded to them, indicating respect. “Do you have any requests for seeking me out now?”

The two skeletons probably couldn’t comprehend complex vocabulary in their decayed state. They fell silent simultaneously, then erupted again, merely clamoring, “Kill him!” and “You’re the fifth to die.”

These words were highly inauspicious, but Yuan Anqing didn’t particularly care.

In his spiritual world, Yuan Anqing could adjust an individual’s perception of time. He conjured a wooden table and chairs, poured himself some tea, and then pulled Zhuo’s consciousness into the void.

Zhuo was bewildered when he first entered, but after Yuan Anqing patted his thigh, signaling him to sit, Zhuo quickly found his place, plopping down onto Yuan Anqing’s lap. He wrapped one arm around Yuan Anqing’s neck, picked up a teacup from the table, and coyly asked, “Anqing, tea?”

He had adopted a full seductive, “clinging wife” posture, surely having watched plenty of relevant TV dramas. The tip of his tail was practically twisted into a knot of excitement.

After Zhuo appeared, the two Saviors fixed their hollow gazes on him.

“Monster!” the man-skeleton hissed.

“Something that shouldn’t exist,” the woman added.

Zhuo tried to look at the two Saviors, but halfway through twisting his head, Yuan Anqing gently cupped his jaw and brought his face back.

“They still have some logic,” Yuan Anqing noted. “Do you want to play a game, Zhuo?”

“A game?” Zhuo’s interest was instantly piqued, and he truly ignored the two screaming Saviors.

“Up to you. Don’t you like being childhood sweethearts? How about I meet you in your childhood timeline this time?” Yuan Anqing asked.

Zhuo’s eyes instantly lit up.

Immediately, the surrounding void transformed. Zhuo shrank, becoming the small monster who hadn’t even grown horns yet, while Yuan Anqing became a Savior summoned early. They lived next door to each other, and there was even a window connecting their rooms. They went through the process from mutual childhood hostility to adult intimacy. Just as the two of them were about to kiss in the simulation, they woke back up to the void.

Yuan Anqing had no desire for outsiders to watch him kiss; he had his own sense of privacy.

The two Saviors’ resentments had been forced to watch more than ten years of Yuan Anqing and Zhuo’s simulated lives, from childhood to youth. They transitioned from incessant, hateful shouting to absolute, stunned silence.

But Zhuo’s next words plunged them into an icy abyss of boredom. Zhuo was very excited. “Can we try a brand new scenario this time?! Can we be farmers tilling the land like in my nightmare?”

“That should be possible. I’ll try,” Yuan Anqing agreed.

This time, the scene transformed into a self-built house in a rural village. They had separate families—a completely fictional world. Then came another round of turning from enemies into friends, holding hands, watching the stars and the moon, and secretly pledging their lives to each other. When they were about to kiss at the very end, they woke up again.

This time, both resentments were dead silent.

Zhuo, however, said again, “Wait! More! I have so many novel ideas here!”

Yuan Anqing was extremely indulgent. “Tell me slowly. We’ll try them one by one.”

After that, no matter the scenario, their identities, or the attitudes of those around them, their story always followed the exact same ‘enemies-to-friends’ domestic arc. Essentially, their real-life experiences were transplanted into different historical or fantasy settings.

The two resentments were practically numb from watching the fluff.

Just as Yuan Anqing was about to take Zhuo to a new world for the thirteenth time, the male skeleton spoke first, his voice trembling. “You two… could you wait a moment?”

No matter how wonderful a story, once the timeline stretches as long as reality and the plot never deviates from its domestic core, it becomes a form of psychological torture—an inescapable, boring loop.

But for two people in love, this was not the case; they were merely enjoying the process of being together.

“I knew you still had logic,” Yuan Anqing raised an eyebrow, looking at the two masses of Savior resentment. “Is it fun to pretend to be crazy?”

“We wasn’t pretending,” the female skeleton said. “Our logic is inherently abnormal.”

“You sounded pretty normal when you said that!” Zhuo retorted.

The female skeleton Hanford a glance at Zhuo. “Because we have already detached from our corrupted flesh, and this gentleman’s golden gaze cleared away the filth when he confronted us, allowing us to regain momentary clarity.”

“Then why did you call me a deformed creature?” Zhuo challenged them.

“You inherently are,” the male skeleton looked at Zhuo. “You are the offspring of two mutated Saviors. A sin that should not exist in this world.”

“And you,” the male skeleton then looked at Yuan Anqing, “You should have died long ago, otherwise you will suffer greatly in the future during your next Awakening.”

The female skeleton strongly agreed. “You haven’t experienced your first true Awakening…”

“I have,” Yuan Anqing interrupted. “And I survived.”

“Huh?” The female skeleton hadn’t reacted yet. Clearly, they still wanted to say more, but their time was up. Their bodies began to turn transparent, finally dissolving into specks of pure white light in Yuan Anqing’s spiritual void.

In the real world, the high schoolers had already gathered, planning games on their phones.

They saw the two who had been leaning against each other on the bench suddenly stir. Zhuo, looking annoyed, pulled Yuan Anqing to the platform railing, pointing outside, saying something unintelligible.

“Grab some more of those gray desires,” Zhuo said. “Some of those auras are still floating down there.”

“Even if I grab more, they won’t be the two we just saw. Those two former Saviors were too severely fragmented. Their spirits are finally at peace.”

“Just grab them anyway. It’s safe.”

Yuan Anqing sighed helplessly.

So the high schoolers watched as the two adults poked at the empty air with their fingers, then sat back on the bench, closing their eyes as if to rest again.

In the spiritual world, Zhuo delivered a swift punch to the newly formed male skeleton’s jaw, knocking him senseless before he could even feign madness.

“You’re the one who should have died long ago,” Zhuo said, cracking his knuckles. “Do you think everyone is like you, unable to endure their first Awakening?”

“Huh? What are you talking about?!” The male skeleton was still startled by Zhuo’s identity when he was unexpectedly punched. “Why did you hit me?!”

“You already said it earlier. Otherwise, why do you think I’m looking for you?” Zhuo was merely venting his protective anger.

“Wait, let’s be reasonable! My mind is blank right now!” The male skeleton clutched his head.

“I’ll swat you to death first,” Zhuo’s spiritual form began to grow enormous, taking on his four-meter, red-scaled form. “Then I’ll destroy every memory of you!”

“Hey! Fifth Savior, sir?!” the male skeleton called out to Yuan Anqing in panic.

“My name is Yuan Anqing,” Yuan Anqing introduced himself calmly.

“Mr. Yuan Anqing! Let’s talk! I’ll tell you anything you want to know!”

Yuan Anqing looked at Zhuo.

Zhuo’s massive, scary ram’s head nudged into Yuan Anqing’s chest. Yuan Anqing couldn’t possibly hold him in this form, and almost ended up riding on Zhuo’s head due to Zhuo’s snuggle. Zhuo’s thick tail drooped, signifying his complete willingness to endure any humiliation from his Savior.

The skeletons could sense the special aura of Savior mutations on Zhuo’s body; he must have been born from those corrupted predecessors. The fifth Savior in front of them showed no signs of mutation, yet this towering monster was acting incredibly coquetish with him.

The male skeleton nodded to Yuan Anqing in absolute, horrified respect. “I don’t know what my previous self said to offend your son, Mr. Yuan. I apologize here.”