Chapter 15: Green Eyes (15)

Shen Qiuxun didn’t know if it was the influence of the secrets he’d heard from Xu Zhiyuan that night, but he actually felt the atmosphere at the pharmacy had been unusual lately.

Several batches of unlabeled medicine appeared in the warehouse, along with iron crates hidden under black cloth. A few of the transport workers who frequently showed up started carrying guns. Shen Qiuxun and the others began doing confidential work previously forbidden to them, like forging accounts.

Most of the bottom-level employees didn’t notice anything amiss. Shen Qiuxun reasonably suspected they would ultimately be used as disposable pawns.

Why were they suddenly allowed to do confidential work? Because dead men keep secrets very well.

How terrifying.

But it didn’t really matter. Shen Qiuxun’s mission was almost due for settlement. He decided to make a last-minute push these few days, like suddenly revealing his online username, then pointing at Xu Zhiyuan’s black avatar and exclaiming: “Wow! Do you know the ‘Black Pineapple’ meme?”

Alright, truth be told, they’d both been so busy lately they hadn’t even seen each other.

Shen Qiuxun worked three days straight. As the sky darkened into evening, he finally got a break. Dragging his exhausted body, he said goodbye to Ellie, then cut through the alley to head to the BBQ shop at the very end.

He didn’t know how long it had been since he’d seen sunlight or plants. The endless grey inevitably affected one’s mood, which was why every time he came to the BBQ shop and saw the glowing red charcoal fire, his spirits lifted a bit.

‘System Buddy, how about my treat?’

【Treat me to what?】

‘Treat you to death.’

【Thanks, but I’ll pass.】

He followed the alley out. Behind it lay a vast, abandoned mine. Scars like wounds were exposed on the earth’s surface. There was nothing here but collapsed metal and bare mud and rock.

Shen Qiuxun stopped in his tracks. He saw two men talking behind a broken wall in the distance. One was Xu Zhiyuan, head bowed. The other, a man he didn’t recognize, was lighting a cigarette for him. The yellow flame briefly illuminated the other man’s facial contours.

He felt a bit like cannon fodder stumbling into a villain’s secret meeting. Shen Qiuxun shoved his hands in his pockets, held his breath, and quietly retreated a few steps back into the alley. No one came after him. He breathed a sigh of relief.

He prepared to backtrack and take a different route home. The alley was long, with industrial waste of unknown origin piled on both sides. At the end was a faint wisp of cooking smoke.

…

Not far away:

“Should we deal with him?” The Black-Clothed Man lit his own cigarette.

Xu Zhiyuan waved away the smoke before his eyes. Through the blurry white haze, he saw that distant figure clearly. His eyes darkened slightly. Everything before him blurred, save for one vivid silhouette.

After a long moment, he crushed his cigarette butt under his fingers, lifted his eyelids to glance at the man beside him, his dark green eyes carrying a silent warning. He spoke softly: “Mine.”

…

The alley was very quiet.

Gradually, another set of footsteps merged in. Shen Qiuxun paused. He lowered his eyes, seeing a dark shadow on the wall’s base. Suddenly, some black-and-white memory surfaced in his mind. The other man just now seemed to be…

A high-level member of this drug-running organization. Among that thick stack of employee files, there was one thin sheet that belonged to him.

Why would Xu Zhiyuan be in contact with him? And their manner… it didn’t seem like subordinate and superior.

“Shen Qiuxun.”

Shen Qiuxun snapped out of his recollection and turned back. The silver-haired, green-eyed man stood at the starting point of the alley, waving at him.

Only then did he belatedly feel a cold sweat break out on his back. This quiet little alley… seemed quite a suitable place for silencing witnesses, didn’t it?

“Uh…” Before he could find an excuse, the other man jogged over. Shen Qiuxun instinctively retreated. Just like that, one advancing, one retreating, until his back hit the cold wall.

Xu Zhiyuan lowered his head and reached out, pinching the tip of his nose. His grass-green eyes flickered. “What are you afraid of? Weren’t you bold enough when you were peeking?”

“…” Shen Qiuxun pressed his lips together, his face wooden, not taking the bait.

Xu Zhiyuan propped one hand on the wall beside his face, looking at him for a long time before reaching out to break the silence. He suddenly raised his hand, palm sideways, pushing Shen Qiuxun’s bangs upward from below. His forehead was suddenly hit by a chill. Shen Qiuxun instinctively looked up, the crease of his double eyelids thin and deep, his thick lashes neatly arranged like small fans. Pure white, distinct black. A clean beauty that was almost hauntingly exquisite.

A tiny reflection shimmered in those unusually colored pupils. After a long moment, Xu Zhiyuan silently let his bangs fall back down. He made a fist and coughed lightly into his lips: “Not afraid I’ll silence you?”

“…Get help if you’re sick.” Most of Shen Qiuxun’s fear had dissipated. He reached up to smooth the scattered bangs on his forehead, pushed the man aside, and turned to walk out of the alley.

“Quiet Type.” Xu Zhiyuan followed in two steps, watching his indifferent profile. The corner of his mouth inexplicably quirked up again, mixed with a vague, baffling irritation: This guy really wasn’t afraid of him. Why wasn’t he afraid of him?

Sigh, just why wasn’t he afraid of him? What to do about this.

Right now, all Shen Qiuxun could think about was eating two Roasted Sand Rats to calm his nerves.

The BBQ shop was tiny. The entrance was completely blocked by two large grills, no signboard, no tables or chairs. The shopkeeper was a tall, masked man. The two were actually familiar; they’d nod at each other in greeting whenever they met. Shen Qiuxun told the Shopkeeper he wanted two. The Shopkeeper said okay.

“Tch.” Xu Zhiyuan scowled at the tall man in front of the grill. Of course he knew Shen Qiuxun came running here all the time. He didn’t know what kind of love potion this man had given him.

Shen Qiuxun tilted his head to look at him, then glanced at the grill: “Mm… do you want one too?”

After all, he mostly had him to thank for the colossal fortune of 242 bucks in his pocket.

Xu Zhiyuan withdrew his gaze. His eyes brightened at the words. “You’re going to treat me?”

He glanced at the silently grilling Shopkeeper, leaning his body closer to the person next to him with pretended difficulty. The grass-green eyes reflected two tiny figures. “Although we are indeed in a living-together relationship… is it a bit inappropriate for me to let you treat me to Roasted Sand Rat?”

“?” Shen Qiuxun was silent for a moment. “Ah, what’s inappropriate about it?” If a single Roasted Sand Rat could raise my Favorability Value with you, I’d be thanking my lucky stars.

【.】

The Shopkeeper silently handed over three Roasted Sand Rats wrapped in Aluminum Foil. Shen Qiuxun’s eyes lit up slightly. He carefully reached out to take them. “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.” The Shopkeeper raised his eyes briefly, then quickly dropped them, his voice as faint as a mosquito’s hum.

Xu Zhiyuan shot him a cold glare. He raised his hand to take the three sand rats first. “I wonder what trick this Roasted Sand Rat has to mesmerize someone into visiting time and again. I was thinking of learning your secret so I can go home and make it for him myself.”

He placed a heavy emphasis on the word “home.”

The Shopkeeper just kept his head down and didn’t respond to his words.

But Xu Zhiyuan very precisely caught the tension in those hands.

An overconfident rival in love.

Shen Qiuxun didn’t notice the silent battle between the two of them. He carefully took his two portions and silently went off to find a place to eat. He usually crouched in another empty alley to eat.

Empty of people, the tall walls on all sides blocking the wind, forming a relatively warm pocket. Eating there felt very secure. He crouched down and blew on the Roasted Sand Rat in his hands. A rich, charred aroma rushed straight to his head.

Shen Qiuxun sniffed it cautiously, then exclaimed with emotion: “Wonderful, it’s Roasted Sand Rat. I’m saved!”

Xu Zhiyuan watched his utterly satisfied expression and couldn’t help but quirk his own lips up. “What does that mean?”

“Just… it means I really like Roasted Sand Rat.”

Shen Qiuxun glanced at him, then lowered his head and started eating.

Xu Zhiyuan nodded, looking thoughtful.

Shen Qiuxun liked to save the best parts for last, so he usually started with the back, then the belly, then the front legs, and finally the juice-bursting hind legs. He stared at the hind legs for a moment, then lowered his head and began gnawing on the back meat.

Xu Zhiyuan crouched beside him, chewing on a sand rat belly, his eyes filled with Shen Qiuxun’s reflection. He suddenly reached out and took that piece of slightly stringy back meat right out of someone’s mouth.

Having food stolen from a cat’s mouth, Shen Qiuxun: “???!!!”

He glared furiously.

Xu Zhiyuan suppressed the smile tugging at his lips. He broke off the two hind legs and two front legs from his roasted sand rat, placed them carefully into Shen Qiuxun’s foil wrap, then took the portion of back and belly Shen Qiuxun had separated out.

He took a bite, chewed twice, then held up the steaming meat to show him. “You eat the legs. I like this meat.”

“?” Shen Qiuxun glanced at the juice-dripping Roasted Sand Rat legs in his own foil: Slurp.

Was there really such a good deal in this world?

The System watched those eyes squint in bliss again and found itself instinctively looking to the side of this person, always feeling like there should be a tail there wagging.

After finishing the sand rat, Shen Qiuxun remained crouched. Very discreetly, he reached out and touched his own belly, closing his eyes briefly: So satisfying.

Xu Zhiyuan wrapped up the trash and stood up. “I’m heading off.”

“Hey.” Shen Qiuxun looked up and called out to him.

“Hm?” Xu Zhiyuan looked down, meeting his deep black eyes.

“You… are you really going to learn how to make Roasted Sand Rat for me?” Shen Qiuxun pursed his lips, arms wrapped around his knees, blinking at him.

His upper lash line was dark, thick, and delicate.

The heartbeat that had just calmed down pounded fiercely again. Xu Zhiyuan looked up at the glass shard stuck in the wall, then down at the trash pile in the corner. He secretly took a deep breath, his face tense: “Dream on.”

Who did he think he was, roasting sand rats for someone? What a joke.

‘I’ll just consider that sand rat I fed to a dog.’

【Seconded.】

Shen Qiuxun lowered his head, no longer looking at him. He stood up, patted the invisible dust off the corner of his clothes, and strode away from the other end of the alley.

The sky darkened rapidly. A fierce wind howled, surging like a savage flood, carrying coarse grit and sand. It lashed against people like sharp blades. In almost the blink of an eye, the world before him turned into a thick, greyish-yellow haze.

A sandstorm had hit. The damned weather changed on a whim.

Shen Qiuxun tightened his scarf. His body couldn’t move an inch forward. The usual sand had turned into tiny daggers, and his eyes were blinded by the dust, unable to open. After thinking it over, he found a sheltered corner and crouched down. Using some strength, he dragged a discarded steel plate nearby over to block the other side. The wind lessened, and he was finally able to open his eyes again.

Sand and gravel hammered against the steel plate, the rapid clattering like gunfire. The storm howled, the entire world twisting and spinning into a blur, the temperature plummeting like a freefall off a building.

Shen Qiuxun brushed the sand off his head, face, and body. After a moment, he simply covered his face with his scarf, wrapped his coat tighter, and huddled in the corner, unmoving.

‘When will it stop?’

【Hard to say.】

‘I hate this. This planet will be blown away by the wind sooner or later.’

【The end for a Trash Planet is usually extinction.】

The steel plate was battered and dented by the gravel. Shen Qiuxun chatted with the System for a while, then prepared to count sheep and sleep.

Suddenly, the air fell silent. The sand and gravel seemed blocked by something, cut off beyond the steel plate. Shen Qiuxun looked up. The distant billboard swayed precariously in the air. The storm hadn’t stopped. The world was vast and hazy. Only his little spot was still. What was going on?