Introspection of a fledgling

The door of the watchtower locked Ying Yungui in with the thick night, and the echo of He Xian still lingered in his consciousness.

"Scared? Me?" He repeated He Xian's words in disbelief, "How is that possible?"

It's just that I realized how much I care about Shi Youchen.

Admit it, you like him.

And he is just a little hostile towards people who also like him.

I'm not afraid of anything.

Ying Yungui finally came to the conclusion that He Xianbai had dated so many people and pretended to be very knowledgeable about love.

"Tsk, you haven't come to any conclusion yet and you're still trying to lecture me." He snorted disdainfully, and then a sense of guilt welled up in him.

He Xian's situation might seem glamorous to outsiders, but he knew it all—after his parents sacrificed their lives for the greater good, He Xian, as the descendant of heroes, was recognized and valued, even receiving an exceptional promotion from headquarters. However, District 9 never granted him any real power. His every word and action was overly analyzed, and even every person he interacted with, whether they were psychics or ordinary people, was thoroughly investigated by the Information Department from birth. It was as if they were desperately searching for his weaknesses, fearing that he would harm the Association if he gained power.

I just said something inappropriate in a moment of haste, and I'm afraid it will bring back bad memories for He Xian.

Ying Yungui held his forehead with both hands, and after thinking it over again and again, he finally made a difficult decision.

He Xian left the watchtower and returned to his room. The decoration style of this room was not as desolate as the exterior of the manor, nor as technological as the other interiors. It was very simple and had the pure sense of time from more than ten years ago.

He Xian did not wash up and rest, but poured himself a thin layer of absinthe and leaned against the cold bay window.

He swirled the glass lightly with his fingertips, and the green liquid soaked the inside of the glass and fell back to the bottom. This was the purest absinthe, unadulterated, a bitterness that every inch of his body had long been accustomed to.

He Xian tilted his head back and drank it, but he didn't feel any sweetness in his mouth. Instead, the strong bitterness and unwillingness spread from his mouth to his stomach, then burned back between his lips and teeth, and extended to his limbs and bones, and finally burned into his eyes.

He looked out the window with a familiar hazy feeling. Facing there was the border mountain between Districts 9 and 10.

In a trance, he saw the dark mountains shrouded in light again, and the people at the foot of the mountain were dancing with happiness on their faces, celebrating the hard-won peace and stability.

But there was a child in the crowd, crying and looking for his parents. He was not sociable. He shuttled between the reveling villagers, but no one responded to him, and his thin figure was eventually swallowed up.

He Xian tilted his head, resting his left forehead against the glass window. A mist rose around the area where his skin touched it, spreading out like snowflakes. He stared at that direction with his eyes open, and only closed them after the light faded.

The mist on the glass window had long since dissipated, leaving only a trace of dripping liquid.

He Xian leaned against the window and fell asleep.

It was the same dream he had had countless times. In the dream, Helan and Zhang Hao held him in their arms, begging for his forgiveness in sorrow: "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. For your future, we have to do this. You'll understand when you grow up."

Then she left him in the old house and headed towards the mountains resolutely.

That night, each of the four people had their own thoughts, and only the moonlight and the mountains embraced every inch of their thoughts.

On the morning of the second day, the mountains woke up earlier than the city. Coupled with the many worries, when Shi Youchen opened his eyes, the last trace of leaden color in the sky had not yet faded, and it was half covered with clouds and mist.

He blankly admired the tranquility outside the window for a moment, then stood up, dressed, and while washing up, he finally remembered some fragments of his intermittent dream from last night. In the dream, he was as cold and distant as ever, but there was always someone who forcefully squeezed in beside him, eating, living, and traveling with him regardless of other people's criticism and gaze.

Someone on the side advised: "He is a disaster star, he will bring misfortune to those around him, it is best to stay away from him."

But the man ignored him, smiled, put his arm around his shoulders and said, "That's perfect. I'm a lucky star. We should be together."

Shi Youchen suddenly splashed a handful of water on his face, waking up from the absurd memories. But in the dream, the hand of the person on his shoulder had distinct joints, and the silver ring on the little finger had clear dark patterns.

He silently filled half the pool with water, then buried his face in it, holding his breath in the silent and empty water for nearly a minute. Finally, he unconsciously buried his head lower and lower, causing water to enter his ears, and suddenly stood up. His breathing fluctuated and he revealed a rare expression of panic, all because he was unable to get rid of the distracting thoughts in his mind.

The man reflected in the mirror had water droplets on his eyelashes, which were gently shaken back into the pool. He closed his eyes for a long time, and only left when the moisture on his face was almost evaporated.

He Xian woke up on the sofa on the first floor when he heard light footsteps. As soon as he opened his eyes, he met Shi Youchen's surprised gaze.

"Sorry for waking you up?" Shi Youchen looked apologetic. He had originally wanted to go to the gym on the first floor to burn off his excess energy, but he didn't expect to run into He Xian here.

He Xian saw the newcomer's attire and narrowed his eyes. "It's okay, brother got up early, but I'm still better. Are you going to exercise?"

Shi Youchen exclaimed "Ah" and avoided looking: "Well, I saw some new sportswear in the closet... I'm sorry." He was anxious to hide his unknown thoughts, so he didn't notice that He Xian was wearing the same clothes from last night, which were wrinkled after tossing and turning on the sofa for most of the night.

He Xian: "That was originally prepared for guests, just wear it, brother."

Shi Youchen nodded, quickly walked down the stairs and headed towards the gym across the street: "Thank you, I'll go over first."

The door of the gym was closed. He Xian smiled to himself, swallowed the invitation to exercise together, stood up and stretched, intending to go back to the room to tidy up his messy self.

Last night, he fell asleep on the bay window, then woke up in the middle of the night from the cold. Half asleep, he instinctively wandered downstairs and fell asleep again on the sofa. The faint, bitter smell of alcohol still lingered on him, and now he probably smelled like a matcha cookie.

Nearly an hour later, it was already bright and the birds singing in the mountains could be clearly heard.

Yan Zhiyuan, who has always had good living habits, and Ying Yungui, who had to get along well after living with Youchen for a while, had already gotten up and were gathered in the living room to discuss what to have for breakfast.

He Xian fixed his hair and changed into some warm-colored casual clothes, looking like a youthful, energetic college student. As he left his room, he ran into Shi Youchen, who was coming out of the door across the hallway. He was dressed neatly, but the towel draped around his neck made it clear he'd just showered after a workout.

The two of them walked downstairs one after the other, and just at the same time they heard Ying Yungui say, "He Xian, your Louis is hard to find. We walked around several times before we found his charging station inside the wall."

He Xian looked at him as if he were mentally retarded: "Guess why he's called the Smart Butler? And why does he have to look for it?"

Ying Yungui clicked "Submit" and rolled his eyes at him from a distance: "Guess why you've been able to sleep peacefully until now without being woken up?"

He Xian realized that he wanted to let him rest a little longer to avoid making any noise, but he still refused to admit defeat. "My fool, even though this place looks like it was bombed on the outside, the materials used inside are the strongest and most soundproof, okay? You really underestimate the financial strength of our District 9 Association."

Ying Yungui didn't want to directly state that he didn't want to do anything that might disturb Shi Youchen, so he surrendered this time: "Okay, okay, District 9 is awesome." He then looked at Shi Youchen dissatisfiedly, "You didn't even blow-dry your hair."

He moved to the right, patted the empty seat, and motioned for Shi Youchen to sit over there. He wanted to dry his hair as usual. But unexpectedly, Shi Youchen pulled the towel over his head and muttered, "I can do it myself."

Yan Zhiyuan and He Xian didn't understand the difference so they didn't react much, but Ying Yungui's hand froze in place, and his heartbeat suddenly quickened slightly.

Is Shi Youchen... in a bad mood? Did he not sleep well? Or is he hungry?

But his entire face was covered tightly by a large towel, so Ying Yungui couldn't see it at all. It was not convenient for him to lower his head to look at it in front of others, so he felt uncomfortable until Louis came to remind him that it was time to eat.

After filling their stomachs, they began to discuss the itinerary.

Yan Zhiyuan: "I have to go to the Information Department of District 9 to exchange information, and I also have to go there to verify the acceptance conditions for this S-level mission."

There are conditions for psychics to accept S-level missions, and the severity of the conditions depends on the difficulty of the mission. Any association base can register, and only those who meet the conditions after verification can accept it.

Ying Yungui: "Well, I have to go to get the certification too. Shi Youchen probably doesn't have enough level, so there's no need to apply. After this, he and I have to go to the archives. The rest of the schedule will depend on the situation."

Shi Youchen swallowed the last sip of milk and nodded: "I'll go to the association together."

He Xian put down his silver fork and said helplessly, "Okay, so I still have to go to work. I thought I could go shopping with you guys today."

Ying Yungui said angrily: "If you are so unhappy, give me the controller and we will drive there ourselves. You can just rest at home. If you are really bored, go for a walk in the mountains next door to prolong your life."

When He Xian heard what he said, his rebellious nature became hot: "Hey~ No, I want to go with you." He smiled cunningly again, "Oh no, I want to go with Brother Shi~" After saying that, he raised his eyebrows at Ying Yungui.

Ying Yungui repeated to himself, "Keep up appearances in front of him," several times before forcing a smile and saying, "He Xian, are you shameless? Do you know how old you are?"

The shameless He Xian widened his eyes innocently: "I just know that you have to call me brother."

Ying Yungui took a deep breath and clenched his teeth. "Shi Youchen is two years younger than you, so stop pretending to be young and calling him brother, okay? I don't want to lose my partner before the mission even begins." Finally, he added, "Someone is annoying me to death."

Yan Zhiyuan hadn't seen Ying Yungui with such an expression for a long time, and there was a rare curve at the corners of his eyes.

The "brother" in question seemed to have thought of something and was choked by the air, coughing repeatedly. He waved his hands while coughing to signal them to stop talking.