Go home and decide

Xu Youling suddenly turned his head and opened his eyes wide, looking at the soldier's young face.

The lights on the first floor of the base flickered, a stark contrast to the snow outside. At least in some ways, they were nothing like the rest of the border region, where people were ready to kill at any moment. Yet, in Xu Youling's eyes, the lights spun and receded like a peek into a high-speed washing machine, the warm colors distorted into chaotic points of light, as if everything was moving away from him.

Xu Youling stood at the center of the world, watching them disappear and seep into the endless snow outside the window.

He felt his emotional perception first magnified immeasurably, then dwindled. He could hear the flow of thoughts closest to him, all the urgent and non-urgent emotions, happiness, anxiety, calmness, anger, shame... and then all of this was suddenly pulled away from him, as if thrown into a vacuum, into a dark, utter silence.

It wasn't even black, but a color darker than black, the plastic box that Xu Youling was imprisoned in. He had no way to deal with it, and could only concentrate even more intently and vulnerablely, listening to the sounds that he could only hear as a guide.

But Pei Zhi was not among them.

For some reason, Pei Zhi was not among them. No matter whether the voice of emotion was close to him or far away, no matter whether Xu Youling had the choice or not, he could not hear Pei Zhi's emotions.

The thought made his hands and feet go cold.

Anxiety began to creep onto the young soldier's face. He leaned closer, calling out Xu Youling's name even louder, trying to make sure he was alright. But Xu Youling couldn't respond. He felt like he was trapped in a body that didn't belong to him. He could hear the clamor of the people around him grow louder, but he couldn't muster the energy to say, "I'm fine."

Because he really isn't good at all.

Who is Xu Youling? If they have the same name, do they also have similar lives?

On the other side of the real world, when someone calls out "Xu Youling" loudly, can Xu Youling on this side also hear it?

What does "he" think?

Does “he” like the new life “I” have given him?

Xu Youling began to realize that the long coma and... his own dead body as the soldier said, were actually warnings from the world to him. If the chaotic interweaving of time and space itself was an unexpected accident, how could he get everything back on track?

If the right track is really the right track...

What about Pei Zhi?

The name emerged from my mind like a hard bluestone under the water.

"Xu Youling!"

Xu Youling suddenly came back to his senses.

He was still sitting at the bar in the base, even the coat and thin blanket on his body were wrapped before Pei Zhi left, but the other soldiers were clearly still doing their own things just now, but now they all turned their eyes to him.

The young soldier who was talking to him was so frightened that his face turned pale and he could not utter a few words. Xu Youling felt that the sudden rise of his soul just now made it more difficult for him to control his actions, and even the movement of his eyeballs became very slow.

Then he saw Pei Zhi.

Pei Zhi's expression was calm, yet there was a certain unnecessary solemnity. He lowered his head to check on Xu Youling's condition, and let out a barely perceptible breath.

“Just now…” Xu Youling’s throat was dry, “Just now I…”

"Do you know?" Pei Zhi suddenly interrupted him, speaking at an extremely fast speed.

"I will walk with you no matter what, no matter what kind of world we will lead to. If you are a guide, then I will be your sentinel. If you are an ordinary person, then I will be your ordinary boyfriend. If you are a corpse, I will always hold you and rush along, not letting you get bumpy at all, and I will remember to bend down and kiss you. I am already prepared. If you keep going like this, I will find the way with you like that."

Xu Youling had never heard Pei Zhi speak so many words in one breath before. His head was buzzing. He lowered his head and touched his hands. They were not transparent, nor were they cold. They were in a healthy and normal human state.

Pei Zhi noticed his movements and reached out to hold his hand, saying softly, "And you're doing fine now."

Xu Youling couldn't believe it: "You really...my corpse..."

"I know you haven't." Pei Zhi leaned in closer, speaking loudly enough for only Xu Youling to hear. "You won't leave me... and I can feel your heartbeat, your breathing... They all say I'm crazy, but I know I'm not."

"You have always been alive and well. I am absolutely certain of this. You have always existed here in your identity."

At some point, Xu Youling realized that he was crying.

Big tears rolled down from my eyes, but it seemed as if I couldn't feel it at all. It didn't cause any vibration in other parts of my body. I was just crying, just crying.

There wasn't even much emotion greater than sadness in his heart, just a calm, gentle tiredness that didn't lead to pain or despair—just like when he first approached Pei Zhi, he wanted to cry.

Pei Zhi wiped away his tears and rubbed his hands with both hands, urging his numb nerves to return to his body.

Xu Youling gradually felt that his body was under his control again, even though it was only a temporary residence for his soul. But even for Pei Zhi, this world was only a temporary residence for him...

If he wanted to leave, then it was not too late.

The first thing Xu Youling did after recovering was to throw herself on Pei Zhi and kiss him.

Pei Zhi was startled, and quickly hugged him tightly, pulling him against his body, and lowered his head to respond to his kiss. Xu Youling was breathing heavily, as if he had been nearly killed by what had just happened, but now the boat had finally entered a stable harbor, and everything returned to peace.

There is only breathing and heartbeat, which are the ripples created by the boat approaching the shore.

After the kiss, Pei Zhi no longer hesitated, carried the person out of the bar, and strode upstairs.

As soon as he entered the door, he put Xu Youling steadily on the ground, and the latter immediately turned around, grabbed Pei Zhi's collar, and stumbled to push him against the door.

"What are you doing?" Pei Zhi asked in a hoarse voice.

"Don't say anything else... I'm just going to ask you a question, and you only have to answer this one question." Xu Youling's tone was urgent. "I'm just going to ask you one question... Do you like this story?"

Pei Zhi vaguely knew which story Xu Youling was referring to, if he was as good at sensing his partner's emotions as he thought. But this story...he was a supporting character and villain, unable to meet Xu Youling, unable to become his sentinel. He really hated it.

It's not because he will become a villain who destroys the world that I hate him, it's just because I can't see Xu Youling. If Xu Youling didn't come, if...

"I don't like it." Pei Zhi's voice was very soft. "I prefer... the version you revised."

Xu Youling breathed a sigh of relief and almost wanted to slide to the ground.

To do anything next, he actually only had two things to confirm.

The first is whether Pei Zhi is willing to go with him, and the second is whether Pei Zhi accepts his current life.

Fortunately, the answers to both questions are affirmative. If Xu Youling thinks a little more deeply, he will clearly realize that when Pei Zhi answered these two "yes", he actually answered another question.

"I love you too." Xu Youling raised his head and said with a smile.

Even though I already knew the answer, I still felt very happy when I heard him say it again.

I like hearing these words coming out of Xu Youling’s beautiful mouth, and I like looking at Xu Youling’s bright eyes.

I like this moment as the beginning of long-lasting happiness and commitment, and I like it as the brightness in the night.

Just like the little house they are in now, it is a lit window in the snow and wind on the border.

"Okay, let's go together." Pei Zhi nodded.

You can go anywhere.

-

There are still some things to do before traveling.

For example, Xu Youling wants to conclude the plot lines of other important characters, and Pei Zhi wants Xu Youling to see things that he has never seen before and will not encounter again after leaving.

Obviously, in the end, Pei Zhi had the upper hand in terms of priority.

He took him around the entire base, from the dormitory to the bar, from the gate to the office.

"Do you know? I submitted my matching application on this table." Pei Zhi opened the office door without any hesitation and pointed at his superior who was completely out of his mind and introduced him to Xu Youling who was following behind him.

"What?" Xu Youling was shocked, but not because he felt he had offended his superiors. "Didn't you say that it was a random match made by the White Tower?"

"Really? I don't remember." Pei Zhi was calm.

"If you have something to say, can you please go outside and talk?" The superior finally couldn't help but speak, "And Pei Zhi, you... Oh, forget it, I don't want to say it anymore. As long as you are fine, that's all that matters."

"I have something important to do." Pei Zhi showed a serious expression, "I want to resign."

The superior roared in despair: "I'll just pretend I didn't hear it!"

When the door slammed shut, both of them couldn't help but start laughing.

"Big villain, why do you have to write a resignation letter before running away?" Xu Youling laughed so hard that he couldn't breathe. He tilted his head to look at Pei Zhi, "Shouldn't your style be prison escape?"

"I want you to think that I'm actually very reliable." Pei Zhi admitted.

He is indeed very reliable, for example, he skips work every day to take Xu Youling around.

Xu Youling no longer showed symptoms of out-of-body experience, which made Pei Zhi feel relieved. He also wanted to take credit and asked Xu Youling if everything went so smoothly because he really took good care of him.

If Xu Youling doesn't admit it, Pei Zhi will pretend to be angry.

Xu Youling admitted it, and Pei Zhi asked for a reward.

Some kisses, hugs, and long lingering moments... When Xu Youling was picked up by Pei Zhi, soft and dripping with water, she always felt that she was actually taking a very long and happy vacation.

Instead of finding the way home in a troubled foreign world.

After a few days of this, the communicator finally rang, and as soon as it was connected, Lu Heng asked in a subtle tone.

"Well... I'll give the store to you." Xu Youling was very generous. "Didn't you say you really like this project?"

"What? I don't want it!" Lu Heng's voice suddenly rose. "Just do some financial work. If you really want to be a store manager... I don't want it. Take it!"

Xu Youling just chuckled on the other end of the line. But when she hung up the phone, her heart suddenly tightened, realizing that she had lost another link with the world.

Pei Zhi could already feel his emotions almost in sync with his own. Whenever this moment came, he would hold Xu Youling in his arms, as if protecting a restless little animal.