Chapter 74#

Bai Mo rolled over and lay on his stomach in Fu Yucheng’s arms, silent.

Fu Yucheng rubbed his hair: “What’s wrong? Don’t want to see my brother?”

Bai Mo buried his head in the other’s neck and said bashfully: “…It’s too fast. I, I’m not psychologically prepared yet.”

Fu Yucheng almost burst out laughing, but fearing the other would get angry out of embarrassment, he managed to hold back his laughter and comforted him: “My brother is a very good person, both gentle and patient. He won’t eat you.”

Bai Mo hesitated: “But, I’m a man. Will he look down on me…”

Fu Yucheng suppressed a smile: “Don’t worry, my brother is very open-minded. He won’t kick you out.”

“Oh.” Bai Mo paused, then couldn’t help but look at him again, “Your brother… is really that good?”

Fu Yucheng nodded without hesitation: “In my heart, he is the best in the whole world.”

Bai Mo held it in for a while before whispering: “…What about me?”

Fu Yucheng froze for a moment, then was both amused and exasperated: “Be reasonable; that’s my brother! You and him are two different things! Don’t go around comparing yourself to him all day!”

Bai Mo didn’t say anything.

After a while, he muttered again: “If your brother doesn’t like me, or if he wants to kick me out because I’m a man… will you help me?”

Seeing his nervous “little daughter-in-law” look, Fu Yucheng couldn’t help but tease: “We’re already like this. I’ve seen you from head to toe. Of course, I’ll take responsibility for you to the very end. Haha, don’t worry.”

“You’ll take responsibility for me to the end… Does that mean for a lifetime?” Bai Mo didn’t seem to realize Fu Yucheng was teasing him; instead, he happily hugged the other and rubbed against him, looking incredibly obedient.

Fu Yucheng was both amused and softened, so he patted the furry head: “I hope it’s for a lifetime.”

“It is a lifetime,” Bai Mo said softly.

Then he lowered his head and began to peck at him with dense kisses, and Fu Yucheng let him.

After kissing for a while, Bai Mo lightly licked the corner of Fu Yucheng’s mouth, which had been chafed from overexertion, showing a somewhat apologetic expression: “I broke the skin just now… I’m sorry.”

At the mention of this, Fu Yucheng couldn’t help but feel a bit annoyed again and glared at him: “You have the fucking nerve to say that!”

Bai Mo stared at him for a long time without making a sound, then suddenly buried his head in the other’s neck and said muffledly: “…Don’t look at me like that.”

Fu Yucheng didn’t catch on: “What?”

“When you look at me like that, I feel uncomfortable…” Bai Mo hesitated for a moment before slowly raising his head. His dark eyes were moist, filled with undisguised, murky desire.

Perhaps it was the ambiguous atmosphere created by the bath’s steam, or perhaps it was because Fu Yucheng had just given him… At this moment, Bai Mo’s gaze was even more direct than usual. It wasn’t just longing and imploring; it was completely undisguised soliciting and demand for intimacy.

Looking at him like that, Fu Yucheng faintly felt something was a bit odd.

He had felt this way before, but most of the time, Bai Mo was both soft and obedient, shy and awkward in front of him. He was usually very well-behaved, and even his occasional small temper was cute. Fu Yucheng didn’t think much of it, only figuring the kid was too young and his needs were a bit too vigorous. Fortunately, his own physical strength was quite good; otherwise, he might not have been able to handle it.

While grumbling internally, he soothingly stroked Bai Mo’s hair: “Don’t be in a hurry. Once I get my brother out of the tower, there’ll be plenty of time to take things slow.”

Bai Mo looked down at Fu Yucheng, his dark eyes bright, then solemnly kissed the other: “En.”

He paused and added: “Don’t lie to me.”

Fu Yucheng also knew he was very insecure and couldn’t help feeling a bit guilty, so he sighed: “I had no choice before, but I’ll never lie to you again. I… I lied to you before saying I grew up in the industrial zone, but that was out of necessity. My real identity was just too special.”

Bai Mo whispered: “En, I understand. I don’t blame you.”

Fu Yucheng paused and continued: “However, many things I told you were true. For example, my father passed away early, my mother was bedridden with a serious illness, and my brother adored me… those are all true. Later, my brother entering the Tower of Light was also for me—every generation of the Rong imperial family must have one person enter the tower. That’s the rule.”

Bai Mo asked in confusion: “Isn’t training in the Tower of Light part of participating in the Pathfinder Project? Is there a problem with that?”

Fu Yucheng let out a cold snort: “The Pathfinder Project… that’s just something to fool people. Luckily, I came back in time and caught this once-in-twenty-years, goddamned Pathfinder Project.”

Bai Mo seemed to understand something: “You used every means possible to pull down… Lu Xing, just to stop this iteration of the Pathfinder Project?”

Fu Yucheng was silent for a long time before suddenly sighing: “Actually, from the very beginning… my escape from the White Rose Palace was for this.”

Bai Mo frowned: “What exactly is going on?”

Fu Yucheng looked out the window, seemingly reminiscing: “When I was very young, my mother fell ill. State affairs were all handled by my uncle—the Platinum Prince, Rong Jin. My brother and I, the two of us, relied on each other in the East Six Palaces. Once, a maid’s lover entered the Tower of Light and never came out. She felt it was all the imperial family’s fault and vented her anger on me, cutting my neck with a fragment from a crystal vase.”

“Was your injury serious? Are you okay?” Bai Mo was a bit nervous.

Fu Yucheng laughed: “If something had happened, would I still be sitting here talking to you?”

He took Bai Mo’s hand and placed it on his neck: “Right here. The scar is already very faint. Later, after you left those two bloody scratches, it became even harder to see.”

Bai Mo felt a bit embarrassed and lowered his head to kiss the faint scar on his neck: “Sorry.”

Fu Yucheng sighed softly: “I was only five then, terrified. I didn’t know to hold the wound or to run. Luckily, my brother arrived in time and had the guards drag that maid away. She screamed all the way, ‘Retribution will come to you! Curse the Tower of Light! Curse the Pathfinder Project!’ That was the first time I heard the name of that project.”

“Later, when I was eleven, I was chosen to enter the tower as the future core leader of this iteration of the Pathfinder Project. My sixteen-year-old brother was to inherit the throne of the Central Empire. However, my brother had once overheard a conversation between our mother and uncle; he already knew the truth about the Pathfinder Project.”

“My brother protected me at all costs and entered the tower himself.” At this point, Fu Yucheng’s voice was a bit raspy.

Bai Mo lightly kissed his cheek as if to comfort him.

“Originally, I didn’t know anything. But later, I vaguely learned certain things, some secrets about the Pathfinder Project… this terrifying secret is known to no one except the Rong family.” Fu Yucheng said in a low voice, “I couldn’t accept this truth. First, I had a big argument with my uncle, and then I had a confrontation with my mother… They locked me up. After being confined for several months, I managed to escape.”

“I smuggled myself to the industrial zone, trying to tell everyone the truth about the Pathfinder Project. But no one believed me; they all treated me like a madman. Later, I gave up and was picked up by the teacher. From that moment on, I told myself I would do whatever it takes. I would personally destroy the Rong family, destroy this goddamned Central Empire, and destroy this perverted Pathfinder Project.”

Fu Yucheng didn’t explain what the Pathfinder Project was, and Bai Mo didn’t ask, only saying softly: “So that’s how it was.”

Fu Yucheng said in a low voice: “Of course, I failed the first time. At the point closest to success. Lu Xing learned of my identity. He felt I had deceived him, so he defected on the spot and joined forces with my uncle, the Platinum Prince, to encircle and suppress me.”

“It’s all in the past.” Bai Mo lowered his head and kissed him comfortingly.

“With my uncle’s help, Lu Xing impersonated my identity and locked me up. Later, through a small-area cortical transplant surgery, he took my mental power and gained control over all the Royal Knights.” Fu Yucheng paused, then added, “To make me cooperate with the surgery, he agreed to three of my conditions. First, let me return to Earth; second, spare the teacher; third, return my brother’s saber, ‘Silent Blue Moon,’ to me.”

Fu Yucheng seemed to remember something and couldn’t help a light laugh: “By the way, you were blindly jealous over that saber before.”

Bai Mo felt a bit embarrassed: “En, later after knowing you are the real Crown Prince, I came to terms with the matter of that saber.”

“That’s good. Don’t you try to snap my precious scimitar again.” Fu Yucheng smiled and continued, “Actually, when I requested to return to Earth, I had already planned everything. I wanted to find Mo Han-chuan’s method for restoring mental power, then return to the Dyson Cloud Ninth Ecological Zone, take Lu Xing by surprise to topple him, and retake control of the Central Empire.”

Bai Mo nodded: “You’ve done it all.”

Fu Yucheng gave an “En”: “Most things have been completed basically according to my plan—except for you, the variable. I really didn’t expect to pick up a White Knight like you in the great desert.”

“It was our destiny,” Bai Mo whispered.

Fu Yucheng sighed softly: “In hindsight, when Lu Xing cursed me for being deeply scheming, full of lies, and doing whatever it takes to achieve my goals, he also had his reasons.”

Bai Mo lowered his head, lightly pecking at the side of his neck and the corners of his mouth: “At that time, you were all alone, and you had no choice… Your situation was just too difficult. Lu Xing is just a bastard; you don’t need to pay him any mind.”

Fu Yucheng lost himself in thought for a moment, then suddenly said: “Years ago, when I first met Lu Xing, he wasn’t like this. At that time, he was only thirteen or fourteen, very talented, but always dirty and aggressive. His mother was also… I felt it would be such a pity to let him perish in a place like that, and I always wanted to give him a hand. For that matter, I went back and forth over a dozen times.”

Bai Mo didn’t say anything, his expression not very good.

Fu Yucheng didn’t notice his expression and continued: “Later, I finally took him away from that hellhole and convinced the teacher to take him in. He slowly grew up and progressed very quickly, becoming a great hand at fighting. I still remember when he was eighteen, he led people to take down an important munitions factory. He got a lot of spoils and was showing off to me, asking for a reward. That night…”

Bai Mo interrupted him, unable to take it any longer: “…Don’t say any more!”

Fu Yucheng was about to say that that night he took Lu Xing out for ice cream and then didn’t have the money to pay the bill, but he was interrupted halfway by Bai Mo.

He blinked, not understanding why. He thought to himself that Bai Mo’s jealousy was always quite strong and that he probably didn’t want to hear these things, so he didn’t continue.

Bai Mo hugged him tightly and only gradually calmed down after a long time, whispering: “…Sorry. I shouldn’t mind things from the past. I also know that you had a hard time then… But from now on, you’re only allowed to have me. No matter what you want, I’ll risk my life to help you. Don’t look for anyone else…”

Fu Yucheng rubbed his head and smiled: “Everything I want, I already have. Now that I’ve taken this position, I can get my brother out of the tower, abolish the Pathfinder Project, and then dissolve the White Rose Palace and restore the Dyson Cloud Coalition Government. Most importantly, I have you… I’m not a greedy person. What I have now is already enough.”

Bai Mo looked at him deeply for a long time before saying: “On the fifteenth, I’ll accompany you to the Tower of Light. We’ll go together to pick up your brother.”