Chapter 202
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When Lou Yan returned to Xiaoliu Fishing Village, it was already two o’clock in the morning.
Pushing open Duan Zege’s door, a barbecue aroma wafted out, and Li Sanxin, Lu Haoxi, Ye Buyan, and Duan Zege were sitting around the table, holding skewers of meat.
Seeing him return, the five of them turned their heads in unison, and Lou Yan was stunned.
Li Sanxin couldn’t help but smile, stood up, walked over to Lou Yan, and hugged him, jokingly saying, “Hey, our busy man is back?”
After hugging Li Sanxin, Lou Yan tried to let go, but he pulled Li Sanxin back and hugged him tightly again.
Li Sanxin hugged Lou Yan, blinked in surprise, and deliberately looked disgusted as he patted Lou Yan’s back. “What’s wrong? Goosebumps? We haven’t seen each other for a month, do you really need to do this, Yanzi?”
Seeing them hugging each other, Lu Haoxi, holding skewers, rushed over. “I want to hug too! I want to hug too! Big brother Lou, I missed you so much! Let me tell you, my sense of touch suddenly returned this morning!”
Lou Yan extended his arms and hugged him again. Seeing this, Little Yu also bounced over and hugged Lou Yan’s thigh. The group of people hugged each other in a bunch, and someone accidentally touched Lu Haoxi’s ticklish spot. Lu Haoxi laughed so hard that his expression twisted, gasping for air as he shouted, “Stop, stop, it hurts, oh, it’s been so long since I felt pain…”
Duan Zege sat quietly at the table, watching them play around, a faint smile on his lips.
Ye Buyan sighed lightly, “They have such a good relationship.”
Duan Zege nodded.
Ye Buyan turned to him strangely, “Aren’t you going to join them for a hug?”
Duan Zege smiled, picked up a beer, and took a sip. “I already did.”
After reminiscing, the group sat down at the table to continue eating. Lou Yan saw a bunch of grilled chicken skin in the barbecue bag and casually handed a bunch to Li Sanxin, then another bunch to Duan Zege before asking, “How did you guys come here?”
“We received the message asking for supplies to be sent here. It’s been a long time since Little Lu, Little Yu, and I saw you and Duan Zege, so when we heard the news, we rushed over to see you. Little Ye happened to be visiting Little Lu at that time, so he came with us. I drove the delivery truck here. The goods have already been delivered to Uncle Li,” Li Sanxin said with a click of his tongue. “I didn’t expect Duan Zege to be here too. You two are really mysterious. Duan Zege even told me he wanted to go to the North Pole and asked me to help arrange a plane. How am I supposed to arrange one? Nonsense!”
Lou Yan glanced at Duan Zege, who was quietly eating grilled chicken skin, and said calmly, “It takes at least 50 hours to fly from here to the North Pole. It’s the warm season in the North Pole now, and the ice will melt and split, making it difficult for planes to land. Moreover, it’s easy for the high altitude to ice up, so flying there is unsafe. Taking a ship is the safest and most convenient way. It’s also easier to find the place where Fu Xuezhou and I originally boarded the ship and then follow the same route back to find the extreme cold h*ll.”
Duan Zege suddenly looked up at Lou Yan. “Are… are you willing to go?”
“I’ve already arranged for a ship. The ship will come to the seaside of Xiaoliu Fishing Village to pick us up in two hours,” Lou Yan said calmly. “We can pack up and get on the ship after finishing our meal.”
Duan Zege was stunned for a moment, then began to eat quickly.
The others were confused. When did Lou Yan and Fu Xuezhou go to the North Pole? What is the extreme cold h*ll?
Ye Buyan gave Lu Haoxi a look, asking if Lu Haoxi knew. Lu Haoxi shook his head blankly. He really didn’t know anything.
But they all understood the meaning of Lou Yan and Duan Zege’s words. Lu Haoxi and Li Sanxin looked at each other and said in unison, “We’ll go too!”
Lou Yan frowned. “What are you going there for?”
Li Sanxin and Lu Haoxi insisted on going. No matter how much Lou Yan tried to dissuade them, they were determined to go with them. After finishing their meal, the two of them took out their luggage, clearly indicating that they were determined to follow.
Lou Yan rubbed his temples in frustration. “Lu Haoxi, you’re still injured. It’s fine if Li Sanxin goes, but why are you going?”
Lu Haoxi, addressed by his full name, shivered and then, trying to please Lou Yan, patted his shoulder with a face full of flattering smiles that didn’t match his age. “Big brother Lou, take me with you, take me with you! I’ve never been to the North Pole! In the month you weren’t here, I’ve become really good at [Void Grab]. Last time when I saved someone, I even pulled out that anomalies heart!”
Lou Yan’s interest was piqued. “Did you pull it out with Void Grab?”
“No,” Lu Haoxi chuckled awkwardly. “I put my hand on that anomalies person’s body and then pulled it out.”
Lou Yan’s slight interest instantly turned into indifference. “You should stay at home and take care of Little Yu. What will Little Yu do if you go?”
Lu Haoxi’s face wrinkled, and he turned to look at Little Yu, who was looking at them eagerly. He quickly turned his face away and acted cute, pleading with Lou Yan, “Wuwuwu, big brother Lou, take me with you, and leave Little Yu to Ye Buyan! They get along so well! Little Yu really likes Ye Buyan, just look at her expression, she’s hoping we’ll leave soon so she can go home with her big brother Ye! Ye Buyan can pick fruit on the mountain and catch loaches in the water. He can cook, do laundry, and do chores all by himself. He’ll definitely take good care of Little Yu!”
Little Yu: “…”
Ye Buyan: “…” You’re really shameless, Lu Haoxi.
“Take Little Lu with you, Lou Yan,” Duan Zege also spoke up. “Maybe taking Little Lu will lead to a different result.”
Lou Yan understood Duan Zege’s meaning, pursed his lips, and finally agreed. An hour later, Ye Buyan stood by the shore with Little Yu, watching as Lou Yan and the others boarded the small boat heading to the ship anchored two hundred meters away.
Before boarding the ship, Little Yu suddenly rushed up and grabbed Lou Yan’s clothes, looking up at him with clear black and white eyes filled with dependence and reluctance.
Ye Buyan stepped forward to take Little Yu away, but Little Yu held onto Lou Yan tightly and refused to let go.
Lou Yan had no choice. After thinking for a moment, he took out a black pen from his bag and drew a round watch on Little Yu’s wrist, solemnly deceiving the child, “When this watch completes one circle, I’ll be back.”
Little Yu looked at her arm in confusion, then at Lou Yan, tilting her head: Really?
Lou Yan smiled at Little Yu and patted her head. “Really. Go back now. During this time, stay with your brother Ye, and don’t go anywhere.”
Little Yu obediently nodded, reluctantly letting go of Lou Yan.
“Don’t worry, Lou Yan, I’ll take Little Yu to the Anomaly Control Bureau to take care of her,” Ye Buyan said with one hand in his pocket and the other holding the child, looking cool and calm. “Brother You is also in the bureau, so it’s very safe there.”
Lou Yan patted Ye Buyan on the shoulder. “I’ll leave it to you then. We’re leaving.”
A group of people boarded the boat and set off towards the ship anchored two hundred meters away. Ye Buyan and Little Yu watched as their figures disappeared into the darkness, and the sound of the boat paddling gradually faded away.
Little Yu tightened her grip on Ye Buyan’s hand, taking a few steps forward subconsciously before stopping again.
Ye Buyan sighed, then bent down to pick up Little Yu, feeling somewhat worried about Lu Haoxiu’s injuries, but he didn’t show it in front of Little Yu. “Don’t worry, everything will be fine. They’ll be back soon.”
***
The ship sailed through the night, and a faint golden light emerged from the east, heralding the arrival of a new day.
Lou Yan stood on the deck, feeling the familiar sea breeze of the night, but in a short time, he felt as if he had traveled through time.
Soon, someone walked up to him, and Lou Yan suddenly said, “Do you know why I chose to leave at night?”
Duan Zege took a step forward and handed him a cigarette. “To avoid the surveillance of Shadow Reaper and cultists?”
“Yeah,” Lou Yan said, “I’ve thought about why the Shadow Reaper would target you. Actually, the reason is simple. The Shadow Reaper don’t want you to go to the North Pole to stop me from killing Fu Xuezhou. And since the Shadow Reaper are servants of the Anomaly Lord, it seems that the Anomaly Lord is really wary of Fu Xuezhou’s existence and is trying everything to kill him.”
Duan Zege took a puff of his cigarette and chuckled. “In that case, it seems like it’s really afraid of Fu Xuezhou.”
“Yeah,” Lou Yan also smiled. “I feel the same. It seems a bit cowardly.”
The two stood smoking for a while. Duan Zege flicked the ash off his cigarette and suddenly asked, “Actually, I didn’t know why the Lou Yan in my world would regret killing Fu Xuezhou. I’ve been observing Fu Xuezhou seriously for a long time in my life. Honestly, Fu Xuezhou seems more dangerous and terrifying to me than those large-scale anomalies. If it were me, maybe I would want to kill him to prevent future trouble… Fu Xuezhou might really be the key to defeating the anomalies, so he would say that. But I’m a bit worried, Lou Yan, you pushed him down to the extreme cold h*ll. If he really survives and we save him, will he hate you? What if he doesn’t cooperate with us to fight against the anomalies after that?”
Lou Yan chuckled lightly, “I don’t know.”
Duan Zege was taken aback, “Really? You can’t guess his reaction?”
“I can’t,” Lou Yan chuckled again. “Since I decided to come back and save him, I’ve also thought about what his reaction might be. Indifference? Moved? Hate me? Or want to kill me? Who knows, I’m not Fu Xuezhou. I’ll never understand his thoughts.”
“Maybe all his love for me will turn into hate, and he’ll kill me on the spot. Maybe the fact that I killed him and saved him will cancel each other out, and he’ll treat me as a anomaly from then on, and he’ll never like me again.”
Lou Yan shrugged, sounding relaxed. “Who knows.”
Duan Zege frowned, starting to get nervous. “So, we’re not going to do anything to prepare, just passively waiting for Fu Xuezhou’s reaction?”
Lou Yan raised an eyebrow, turned around to look at him with interest, “Aren’t you eager to save him? Why are you worrying about this issue now?”
Duan Zege pretended to sigh, “There’s no way. You’re much more important than Fu Xuezhou. If we save Fu Xuezhou and he really wants to kill you, it’s better not to save him.”
Lou Yan burst into laughter, his eyes curved, and his lips slightly raised, “Don’t worry, don’t you understand me yet? I’m not someone who will just sit back and wait passively for Fu Xuezhou’s reaction.”
Duan Zege felt relieved when he heard this and then couldn’t help but ask curiously, “Do you have a way? Can you make Fu Xuezhou not only not go crazy but also stand with us honestly against the anomalies?”
Lou Yan smiled mysteriously, raised his finger and pointed to the moon that had not yet set in the west, “What’s that?”
Duan Zege looked up inexplicably, “The moon.”
Lou Yan said, “The diary says that Fu Xuezhou is a bird without feet in my world, who can only fly until death. But I actually have a different view. Compared to a footless bird, Fu Xuezhou seems more like a withered tree in the abyss to me.”
A withered tree?
Duan Zege was a little puzzled but didn’t interrupt, quietly listening to Lou Yan.
“He is buried in the silent abyss, and all he can see every day is the alternation of the sun and moon hanging high in the sky,” Lou Yan turned his head and smiled at Duan Zege, the ember of his cigarette reflecting in his eyes, dazzling like stars, “Duan Zege, since I want to save him, I want the best possible outcome.”
He whispered, “I am unwilling to become a lion or an eagle to Fu Xuezhou. If I have to do something, I want to be the moon in Fu Xuezhou’s abyss.”
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