Chapter 25 Desert Gas Station - 12 Tang Bufan...
Tang Bufan's eyesight was poor, but he still recognized the person from afar as Lu Yi. The long, golden curly hair was bathed in the glow of the setting sun, just like the beautiful person he remembered.
"Lu Yi! Lu Yi!" Tang Bufan was overjoyed and couldn't help but stand on the roof of the RV and wave to Lu Yi.
The orc also saw him and raised his long arm from a distance. The two waved to each other across the twilight.
When his arms got tired from waving, Tang Bufan smirked and quickly climbed back into the RV through the sunroof. He limped a little as he jumped down from the suspended folding ladder, but immediately stood up by holding onto the wall and jogged off the vehicle.
Anderson also saw Lu Yi. He, who had been lazily leaning against the motorcycle, got up and watched Tang Bufan run towards Lu Yi. His loose clothes were blown by the wind, as was his black hair.
Tang Bufan was very thin and ugly, but his skin and hair were very fine, giving him a light and airy feel. As he ran, his feet treading on the yellow sand, he looked like a happy little elf under the twilight.
Anderson suddenly became curious about what he originally looked like.
Tang Bufan ran, and Lu Yi ran too. Seeing the smile on Tang Bufan's face, Lu Yi couldn't help but smile as well, strangely moved by him.
But Tang Bufan quickly got tired of running. Seeing that Lu Yi was already very close to him and didn't seem to be injured, he breathed a sigh of relief, bent down to rest, and when he looked up again, Lu Yi had already run up to him.
The two looked at each other, both slightly out of breath, and were speechless for a moment. In the end, Lu Yi couldn't help but lean down and hug Tang Bufan.
Tang Bufan was slightly stunned. His chest was still heaving from running, and he felt Lu Yi's warm body. His heart was beating faster than usual.
After a moment's hesitation, Tang Bufan also reached out and hugged Lu Yi, his thin and cold hands gently resting on Lu Yi's bare but muscular back.
Don't overthink it, it's just a hug.
"Thank goodness, you're alright," Tang Bufan said softly, finally able to relax after four days of worry.
Lu Yi was caught up in his emotions and only then realized that it was inappropriate to hug Tang Bufan like that, so he let go of Tang Bufan and took two steps back, his face slightly red.
"I'm sorry to have worried you, teacher." Lu Yi looked down at Tang Bufan and reached out to lift his pointed chin: "Have you lost weight again?"
"No... I've always been this thin." Tang Bufan turned his face away somewhat uncomfortably, feeling a little depressed: "I don't even have much flesh on my body anymore, how thin can I get?"
"Did you get the antidote?" Lu Yi asked him.
"I injected myself the day before yesterday." Tang Bufan led Lu Yi back, not wanting him to worry too much, so he pulled up his loose trouser leg to show him his thigh: "My leg injury is almost healed, and it doesn't hurt when I walk now."
Lu looked down. The wound he had stitched up himself had scabbed over, but it hadn't completely fallen off yet. So he bent down and touched it. Fortunately, it wasn't too raised.
"I hope it won't leave a scar," Lu Yi sighed softly, straightening up.
"As long as I can live well, that's enough." Tang Bufan had deliberately ignored his appearance two years ago.
In the distance, Anderson sat leisurely on his black motorcycle, watching the two of them. Lu Yi felt annoyed when he saw him and asked Tang Bufan, "Anderson hasn't given you any trouble these past few days, has he?"
"No." Tang Bufan also looked at the silver-haired, silver-eyed man, quite helplessly: "He didn't kill me because he wanted to keep me around to annoy you."
"Disgusting me?" Lu Yi frowned.
“You don’t want to get married, and I’m about to die. He thinks I’ll beg you to mark me.” Tang Bufan sighed, “You’re such a soft-hearted person. If I really beg you, you’ll definitely be in a difficult position.”
Lu Yi fell silent, while Tang Bufan's voice lowered slightly: "If you force yourself to mark me and I live, you will feel uneasy. If you don't mark me and I die, you will feel that you killed me, and you will still feel uneasy."
Therefore, Anderson's idea was malicious; he was using Tang Bufan's life or death to torment Lu Yi.
Lu Yi remained silent, and Tang Bufan gently patted his back.
"Don't worry, the teacher won't say that," Tang Bufan said, his voice laced with emotion. "I'm not alive just to live."
Lu Yi frowned slightly, his golden-green eyes looking at Tang Bufan. He didn't feel relieved by Tang Bufan's assurance; on the contrary, his chest tightened slightly.
"actually……"
Tang Bufan turned his head, the silver choker around his neck reflecting the metallic light in the afterglow of the setting sun, and Lu Yi's words choked in his throat.
"What?" Tang Bufan asked him curiously.
“…It’s nothing.” Lu Yi shook his head, ultimately not revealing his true thoughts.
He was thinking that since he didn't plan to get married anyway, if Tang Bufan really wanted to live... it wouldn't be a bad idea for him to help him mutate into a sub-beastman.
It doesn't involve love; it's not about being lifelong partners, but about being teacher and student for life.
Lu Yi felt free and relaxed during his wandering days with Tang Bufan. Every day he would look at the vast mountains, hunt in the open wilderness, and occasionally return home late with firewood. He would see the man standing by the car door waiting for him, with the faint light of the RV behind him.
Without the troubles they had in the Federation, it felt like the world consisted of just the two of them.
But Tang Bufan wanted to go back to the underground city and had no desire to become a sub-beastman.
Lu Yi didn't need to ask; the collar itself was the answer.
Lu Yi slowed his pace, watching Tang Bufan's back in the orange glow of the setting sun, and suddenly felt a pang of sadness in his heart.
The two walked back to the RV, and Anderson watched them from beside the motorcycle, a playful smile on his face.
"Little Louis, you're back?"
Lu Yi ignored him and followed Tang Bufan into the RV.
Tang Bufan had tidied up the car very well, and there were also many small decorations added.
On the folding table sat red roses encased in glass, and on the kitchen shelf were red "520" candles. Tang Bufan had stuck the antique mirror to the bathroom door, and a round, small glass wind chime hung by a hook next to the car window, with yellowed cardstock swaying gently in the breeze below.
Lu Yi reached out and fiddled with the wind chime, and it jingled.
"I picked this up in the ruins yesterday, isn't it nice?" Tang Bufan squatted down next to the iron bunk bed, wanting to get clothes for Lu Yi, but then his back hurt, making him straighten up instantly.
"What's wrong with your back?" Lu Yi immediately squatted down and, in his anxiety, lifted up Tang Bufan's T-shirt.
A large patch of dark purple bruises covered Tang Bufan's skin-to-bone back, which was quite horrifying. Lu Yi's pupils shrank slightly, and his face darkened.
"Did Anderson do this?" Lu Yi's voice was icy cold, and he wanted to go out and fight that orc again.
"No." Tang Bufan quickly grabbed his hand and explained, "That night, the RV was bumped by the two of you and bent. I accidentally bumped into this bed and my back got bruised."
Lu Yi was slightly stunned. He remembered the collision that had knocked Anderson down and felt a pang of guilt.
"Feel sorry……"
"It's okay, it'll be fine in a few days." Tang Bufan sat on the floor with a stiff back and pulled an oilcloth storage box out from under the bed, telling Lu Yi, "I've put all the clothes you can wear in this box."
As she spoke, she took out an old vest and black sweatpants from inside and stuffed them into Lu Yi's arms.
"Go take a shower, you're covered in dust."
Lu Yi was dirty, and he wasn't wearing any clothes on his upper body, revealing his sculpted chest and abdominal muscles, and his two little nipples were quite pink... Tang Bufan felt that his vision was being tested, and he couldn't help but want to look in that direction.
Lu Yi was in heat these past few days and found a hillside to stay on. Feeling uncomfortable, he often rolled around on the sand, his hair covered in dirt. So, he awkwardly took the vest and pants and nodded to Tang Bufan.
After he entered the bathroom, Tang Bufan took out the meat that he had started thawing that morning and the vegetables that he had just picked yesterday from the refrigerator. First, he used an induction cooker to fry the meat until it released oil, then added chopped garlic for aroma, and then decorated the plate with lettuce leaves. After that, he used the remaining oil in the pot to stir-fry a plate of water spinach, and finally poured in water to start making radish and pork rib soup.
When Lu Yi came out with a towel draped over his head, he saw Tang Bufan setting out plates next to a small folding table.
"So lavish!" Lu Yi couldn't help but smile. Actually, the "feast" that Tang Bufan prepared was very simple, but Lu Yi liked it very much.
It would be better if there weren't so many vegetables.
"You're always the one cooking, it's my turn to cook too." Tang Bufan invited him to sit down, feeling a little embarrassed.
Lu Yi did so many things for him, and all he could do was these small things.
Lu Yi immediately walked over and sat down opposite Tang Bufan, draping a towel around his neck to catch the dripping water from his hair.
Tang Bufan leaned closer to him and sniffed, then asked curiously, "Didn't you use that essential oil soap?"
He specially disassembled one and put it in the bathroom so that Lu Yi could take a comfortable shower when she came back.
"It smells too good, it's making me sneeze," Lu Yi explained. The orcs have very sensitive noses, and the fragrance was too overpowering for him.
"Oh!" Tang Bufan understood, thinking that he would dilute it with water later and put it in a bottle to make soapy water.
While Tang Bufan was eating and pondering, Lu Yi stared at his face again.
Sure enough, it wasn't his imagination; Tang Bufan had indeed lost even more weight, and his eye sockets and cheeks were even more sunken.
He looked down at the plate in front of Tang Bufan again. There was only a small piece of meat. Tang Bufan's stomach had not expanded under his feeding, because his digestive ability had become very poor due to his weakened body.
Lu Yixin tensed up and immediately said to Tang Bufan, "Let's set off again tomorrow."
"The oil is still buried under the rocks," Tang Bufan said. He tried to dig it up himself yesterday, but many of the pebbles were too big for him to lift, so he ended up picking up small pieces of trash from the surrounding area.
Meanwhile, that wretched Anderson was leisurely watching from the side, leaning against his motorcycle.
"I'll go out and dig in a bit." Lu Yi then sped up his eating.
Tang Bufan watched him devour the meat he had fried, and a smile crept onto his lips. He felt a subtle sense of satisfaction, like a parent watching their child do a good job.
But as I looked around, I suddenly noticed something.
"Don't you eat vegetables?" Tang Bufan stared at Lu Yi's plate, where all the carefully arranged lettuce was left uneaten.
Lu Yi paused slightly as he chewed the meat, then guiltily sipped the radish and pork rib soup.
"No."
Tang Bufan didn't believe it. He thought about it carefully and realized that he really didn't have any memory of Lu Yi eating vegetables. He only remembered that Lu Yi's face twisted in pain when he tried the cactus.
"You're still growing, you can't do without vegetables..."
"I'm full!" Lu Yi interrupted him, and jumped out of the RV as if fleeing: "Teacher, I'm going to dig up some oil!"
Tang Bufan watched him run away, feeling both angry and amused. Helpless, he took the plate from him and put the lettuce into his own plate.
"Is it okay to drink radish and pork rib soup?" Tang Bufan muttered discontentedly, not wanting to waste food, so he picked up Lu Yi's soup bowl and sipped it.
"It's not bad to drink," Tang Bufan muttered to himself.
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