Chapter 15: An Unexpected Slumber

It was well past ten o’clock before he finally made his way back to the residential complex.

Driven by an inexplicable impulse, Luzhichuan found himself walking past the door to his own apartment.

His steps carried him, unhurried, to another familiar door.

A look of hesitation crossed Luzhichuan’s face. After a moment of internal debate, he took a deep breath, then stepped forward and pressed the doorbell.

“Ding-dong.”

A few seconds after the chime faded, light, youthful footsteps sounded from within. Just as he momentarily faltered, the subsequent ‘creak’ of the door opening completely shattered all the man’s lingering thoughts.

Su Qingyao, clad in a nightgown, pushed the door open. Before Luzhichuan could utter a word, a slender finger was already pressed against his cherry lips, silently signaling for quiet.

It was immediately apparent that Su Qingyao had just roused from a deep sleep, evidenced by her disheveled long hair casually falling over her shoulders and her heavy-lidded, moist eyes, entirely devoid of makeup. Her slightly snug white nightgown was adorned with a playful scattering of cheerful, lively animals.

Luzhichuan found himself momentarily captivated.

Yet, knowing Su Qingyao’s temperament intimately, Luzhichuan swiftly reined in his gaze, which had momentarily lingered on the pristine expanse of the girl’s chest.

‘Cough, cough,’ he thought. ‘Even given their relationship, that gesture was a touch too suggestive, too presumptuous.’

“Come in first,” Su Qingyao whispered, her voice still thick with lingering sleepiness.

Su Qingyao, with remnants of bewilderment, lowered her voice and whispered.

After stepping inside, Luzhichuan carefully closed the apartment door behind him before finally surveying the entrance hall.

The living room was plunged into darkness, save for the television screen, which flickered with images. Its faint glow barely illuminated half of the girl’s face from behind, serving as the sole source of light.

Su Muxue’s bedroom door remained closed, bathed in the soft, ethereal glow of moonlight, which cast an aura of tranquil serenity over the scene.

Luzhichuan almost imagined he could hear the girl’s steady breathing from within.

As for Su Qingyao’s whereabouts before he had knocked, Luzhichuan had already surmised the answer from the blanket casually strewn across the sofa.

“Did you run into trouble?”

Before he could deny it, Su Qingyao casually pinched a slightly scorched corner of Luzhichuan’s shirt collar, then leaned closer and took a delicate sniff.

“As I suspected, Zhichuan, you carry the scent of something burnt.”

The man’s back instantly stiffened.

“If I told you I encountered a fire on the way home and stopped to extinguish it, Qingyao, would you believe me?”

“Perhaps I would,” Su Qingyao replied.

Su Qingyao tilted her head, a half-smile playing on her lips—a subtly mocking expression reminiscent of one Su Muxue had once worn.

“But if that were the case, then the leftover meal in the refrigerator would certainly be out of reach for Senior Luzhichuan.”

“Alright, alright, I’ll tell you everything.”

Luzhichuan was practically ready to throw his hands up in surrender.

He was, in truth, rather hungry, and not merely craving someone’s culinary skills.

Luzhichuan’s last meal had been breakfast, many hours ago.

****

After he finished recounting his story, Su Qingyao, with perfect timing, simply reheated and stir-fried the cooled dishes.

Thus, the girl found herself cradling a cup of cool boiled water, quietly observing her Senior Luzhichuan devour his meal with ravenous speed, all while lost in thought.

“Ah, Senior Luzhichuan truly hasn’t changed in this regard.”

Su Qingyao proceeded to serve him yet another bowl of rice.

This was the remainder of Su Qingyao’s dinner, which she had no appetite for the previous night and had intended to discard the following day. To her surprise, Luzhichuan’s appetite proved to be astonishingly robust.

“You eat an incredible amount, Senior.”

Su Qingyao remarked, her face devoid of expression.

“Even though you’re already nearing fifty.”

“Wh— *cough, cough, cough, cough*.”

Luzhichuan was so startled that he choked on his mouthful of rice.

‘No, wait,’ he thought. ‘Shouldn’t I still be a young man? Eighteen years before the apocalypse, thirty years after—that only adds up to…’

“How is that even possible?”

Luzhichuan’s eyes widened in genuine astonishment.

“You really are almost fifty.”

“Indeed.”

This was precisely why Su Qingyao had intentionally prepared a smaller portion; she had assumed Luzhichuan’s appetite would, at the very least, no longer be as ravenous as it had been during the apocalypse.

“But you haven’t changed at all.”

Su Qingyao sighed, watching him from across the dining table.

“Could it be, Senior Luzhichuan, that you’ve finally ascended to become a new type of human?”

“Ah, now that you mention it, that does seem to be the case.”

Luzhichuan furrowed his brow. Everyone privy to his circumstances had always tacitly assumed he would “naturally” never age, and over time, even he had come to accept it as normal. It was only Su Qingyao, who had been absent from twenty-five years of his life, who finally drew attention to this anomaly.

Yet, ultimately, while the [Hero] class undeniably granted Luzhichuan increased resilience, it offered no inherent “anti-aging” effect.

“How peculiar.”

Uttering merely a fleeting remark, Luzhichuan dismissed any further contemplation.

After all, he had more than enough oddities already manifesting within him.

As for the customary praise for the chef, both tacitly bypassed it; Luzhichuan’s ravenous consumption of the food served as a far more potent compliment than any words could convey.

“I recall that the ‘Death Worshipper’ was an evil deity associated with a minor calamity, wasn’t it?”

Su Qingyao, resting her chin on her cupped hands, spoke with an air of mild boredom, “While its fiery characteristics were a bit troublesome, I admit.”

“Anyone afflicted by it would relentlessly lose vitality until death,” Luzhichuan added.

“It was, in every sense, a coward that preyed on the weak and cowered before the strong.”

“At that time… oh.”

As if a curious thought had just struck her, Su Qingyao responded with a knowing tone, “That was, in fact, the calamity that Miss [Saintess] personally led the charge to eliminate.”

A prolonged silence descended between them.

Luzhichuan, who had so adamantly declared “it’s all in the past,” now wore a complex and deeply conflicted expression as he spoke of that individual, his eyes fixed and lifeless, like two dark, inanimate stones.

“That’s right. It was Bai Xiqian who led the team.”

Luzhichuan deliberately affirmed this in a remarkably flat tone.

‘Alright,’ she thought.

‘It seems Senior Luzhichuan still embellished the truth a little.’

Su Qingyao pouted, a hint of dissatisfaction on her face.

‘Honestly, why couldn’t he just tell me directly, “I simply can’t forget her?”‘

‘Am I truly the type to get jealous over such a thing?’

Having lost her interest in teasing Luzhichuan, sleepiness once again washed over Su Qingyao. The girl stretched languidly, a wide yawn escaping her lips.

“Haaah—”

“Senior Luzhichuan, now that you’ve eaten your fill, please return to your own home to sleep.”

“Alright, let’s not talk about this anymore!”

Su Qingyao walked around behind Luzhichuan and gave his shoulder a shake, inadvertently pushing him face-first onto the table with surprising force.

The girl’s strength, of course, hadn’t suddenly surged to such an extent.

“Hss—hrr—”

Steady snores emanated from his mouth, which was pressed firmly against the tabletop.

‘No way!’

“Senior Luzhichuan!? Wake up!”

“Don’t fall asleep!”

‘How can he just collapse on the table and fall asleep like some old man!’

Su Qingyao cried out in her heart.

As for learning from Luzhichuan, the following day, that he hadn’t rested for two and a half days before succumbing to sleep at her place—that was a revelation for later.

For now, only one pressing question confronted the girl.

Where, precisely, was she to let Luzhichuan sleep?

The most logical option would undoubtedly be to use magic to transport Luzhichuan back to his own bed, yet such an act felt undeniably heartless.

While the girl’s words could be sharp and unforgiving.

Deep down, however, she had, perhaps begrudgingly, made a small space for Senior Luzhichuan.

“Oh, Senior Luzhichuan,” Su Qingyao sighed, shaking her head wryly.

Considering he had spent the day assisting her with various tasks…

Summoning her spiritual armament, she wove ethereal magic into translucent ribbons of light within her hands. These wrapped around Luzhichuan’s waist and abdomen, gently cradling his entire form.

“Tonight, I suppose I’ll just have to make a sacrifice,” Su Qingyao murmured.

****

The following morning.

An unfamiliar ceiling greeted Luzhichuan’s waking gaze.

The bed, soft and imbued with a faint, uniquely feminine scent, almost convinced Luzhichuan that he was still caught within the throes of a dream.

Golden sunlight streamed through his eyelids. Luzhichuan took a deep breath, rapidly processing the information to comprehend his current predicament.

He, it seemed, was lying in Su Qingyao’s bed.

“Senior Luzhichuan, it’s time to get up.”

Her tone was exactly as usual, utterly devoid of any discernible change.

Yet, just as Luzhichuan was preparing to rise.

The girl, standing beside the bed, suddenly leaned down, her forehead almost touching Luzhichuan’s, as a few strands of her fragrant hair brushed lightly beneath his nose.

“This,” she whispered, “is a one-time reward.”

Her warm, alluring whisper seeped into his ear canal.

Despite having merely spent a single night sleeping in the girl’s bed.

Luzhichuan’s heart, however, inexplicably skipped a beat.

****

‘Eh, why is Senior Luzhichuan so happy?’

‘Isn’t it just that he borrowed my bed for a night?’

The girl, who had made do with the sofa for the night, mused, pressing a hand to her aching back, utterly perplexed.

‘Does my bed have some special effect?’