Chapter 50#

The Innocent and Naive Fool#

Autumn arrived.

When the first fallen leaf drifted onto the windowsill, Lin Xiaodong found that the time Gu Xi spent at home with him had grown longer.

Except for instructions on some critical matters, he basically didn’t go out much now, and rarely handled work at home, seemingly having handed everything over to his subordinates.

But the clinical trials at the research institute were slow to produce results. Because of the interruption of the live broadcasts, the brain bug crisis, which had been temporarily alleviated, made a comeback. Parliament could not open normally, social order was teetering, and the people’s resentment grew day by day.

Changes in political power were nothing new; it didn’t matter who was on stage.

The key was that this time, the crisis was not a problem that could be solved with war.

“At this rate, humanity will perish sooner or later.”

Finally, one day, even Xu Feng, who had always followed Gu Xi, couldn’t help but make such a lament.

Although he was quickly forced to shut his mouth by a sharp look from the man, Lin Xiaodong knew that the situation was already very bad.

He couldn’t wait any longer.

And just this evening, news came from the villa on the outskirts of the capital—

The former Empress of the Empire had passed away.

The funeral was scheduled for three days later in the early morning. Since the Empress had not done anything harmful during her lifetime and was instead devout in her faith and kind to others, Gu Xi had arranged the best living conditions and medical care for her in the final years of her life.

However, the Empress herself insisted on refusing treatment. She said she was very tired and only wanted to have a good sleep, and did not want to be disturbed by anyone.

When a person has a firm will to die, no matter how advanced the technology is, it cannot save her life from the hands of the Grim Reaper.

She had endured so many years in the back courtyards of the palace, until her friends and relatives had passed away one after another, until father and son turned against each other, and the empire collapsed. She finally obtained the permanent peace she wished for this autumn.

On the day of the funeral, Lin Xiaodong went along.

After more than half a year, he finally saw Lu Xing again.

The young man sat in a wheelchair, his lips pale and dry, his body weak and feeble. He even needed someone to push the wheelchair forward. His arms were so thin they looked like they would break with a snap, like a flickering candle flame teetering in the wind.

“I don’t understand,” Lin Xiaodong said to the system, “I’ve felt like this guy was going to kick the bucket since the first time I saw him. How has it been so long, and those healthy nobles have mostly bit the dust, but he can still linger on? Is it true that bad people live forever?”

System: “Don’t forget, Lu Xing traded his research institute with Gu Xi in the beginning. The research level of this institute is at least twenty years ahead of the military. It wouldn’t be hard for them to help him prolong his life.” Though the moral level was also far below normal standards.

Lin Xiaodong hmphed: “Lucky him.”

He wondered if, in this scene, Lu Xing would remember that there was once a mermaid who loved him with all her heart, who was now completely disheartened and sleeping forever underground?

…Probably not.

They brought two bouquets of white chrysanthemums, and after bowing their heads in silent mourning, they placed them gently in front of the Empress’s tombstone.

The atmosphere was oppressive. In addition to the military bigwigs, some down-and-out nobles also came to the funeral, glaring at them from outside the crowd.

Gu Xi didn’t want Lin Xiaodong to stay long at the funeral. After bowing, he prepared to pull him home. But suddenly, a disheveled, slovenly man squeezed in from outside the crowd and fell to his knees with a “thud” in front of Lin Xiaodong’s flyer. Before anyone could react, he grabbed the little mermaid’s tail fin—

“I don’t want to die, please sing another song! Save us…”

His mind seemed to be unclear; one moment he was pleading with tears, and the next he was babbling curses. The words were so unpleasant that the people present couldn’t help but turn their heads away, finding them unbearable to hear.

“Where did this madman come from?” Gu Xi forcefully pulled the startled little mermaid into his arms, his large hand covering his ears, and shouted with a grim face, “Where is the security? How was he let in!”

Hearing the commotion, the security guards finally arrived in a hurry.

This was the funeral of the former Empress of the Empire. It was thought that no one would deliberately come to cause trouble, so the security was not that strong, but they didn’t expect such a slip-up. Although the person in charge repeatedly apologized to Gu Xi and the others, the man’s face remained cold throughout. He carried the little mermaid directly onto the flyer and left the scene without a word.

Lulu, who arrived at the same time, frowned hard. She glared at Lu Xing who was sitting beside her: “Did you arrange this person!?”

As the Speaker of the Parliament, she was naturally one of the people who knew Gu Xi’s plan. Although it was difficult, she had also tacitly allowed Gu Xi to spend this final period of time accompanying the little mermaid. But she didn’t expect Lu Xing to be so despicable as to calculate even this!

“If I say no, would you believe me?” Lu Xing asked back instead of answering.

Lulu didn’t speak, but just stared at him with suspicious eyes.

Lu Xing sighed and smiled: “Forget it, even if I deny it, you won’t believe me. Sister, I indeed can’t stand Gu Xi and hope he dies soon so he doesn’t hold Xiaodong back, but I’m not narrow-minded to this extent.”

He indeed didn’t specifically arrange a so-called “actor.”

He only needed to release some rumors to the outside and bribe a few security guards to achieve it. Those victims would naturally take the initiative to come to the door, the young man thought with a smile. This way, he could also distance himself completely. No matter how much they investigated, they wouldn’t find him.

The autumn wind was bleak. Lu Xing’s eyes were covered with a white cloth. Although he received the news of the Empress’s death immediately, he could not see the white tombstone in the distance, nor could he see his mother for the last time.

But his mood at this moment was actually strangely pleasant. Lulu, standing beside him, even heard the sound of the young man slowly tapping the armrest with his knuckles and humming a song softly.

“Madman,” she whispered, trying hard to keep her expression from showing anything unusual in front of the crowd. “Can you really not feel what normal human emotions are? Do you never know what empathy is, what sadness is?”

The humming stopped.

“Sadness, empathy?” Lu Xing seemed to really think seriously for a moment. “I’ve experienced the former. As for the latter… look at that man just now and you’ll know. Why should I empathize with a group of mental patients?”

And after going through today’s incident, the little mermaid would probably never easily bestow his kindness on others again.

For some people, Lu Xing thought, sympathy is not worth it for them.

—This, of course, included himself.

“You seem very tired lately.” On the flyer, the little mermaid reached out and gently smoothed Gu Xi’s furrowed brows. “Don’t be angry anymore, I’m fine.”

“It’s not because of that…” Gu Xi sighed deeply.

He held the little mermaid’s slender white wrist and bowed his head in silence for a long time.

If the brain bug problem wasn’t solved, situations like this would only intensify. But no matter what, Gu Xi would never let Lin Xiaodong be the sacrifice.

Although he was the Marshal, in order to protect the little mermaid under his wings, the pressure the man bore was beyond ordinary people’s imagination. Even with illustrious military achievements and a heart for the people, it was inevitable to be gossiped about behind his back, or even resented.

Gu Xi had never taken these to heart.

But when those people finally couldn’t help but bypass him and aim their spearheads at Lin Xiaodong, Gu Xi really couldn’t bear it.

“Actually, I’m much better now,” the little mermaid leaned on his shoulder and said in a very soft voice. “Let me sing. Today I saw many children playing near that statue in Central Park. Looking at them, I always think of how I was when I was a child.”

Gu Xi uncontrollably tightened his grip around his waist.

“Every time I encounter such a thing, I think you would resent humans because of it,” he said with difficulty. “Why do you never complain?”

“Because I have you.”

The little mermaid looked up at him with sparkling eyes.

“I like you, and I also like Sister Lulu, Adjutant Xu, the Empress, and the others. They are all good people,” he wagged his tail fin and counted on his fingers very seriously. “Isn’t your job to make people live better lives? So of course I have to help you. Although that uncle just now was a bit of a moral kidnapper, it’s actually understandable.”

Gu Xi gave a bitter smile and said in a low voice: “You always understand them, but who will understand you?”

“Hmm?” Lin Xiaodong didn’t hear clearly. “What did you say?”

“…Nothing.”

The man shook his head and didn’t continue the topic, but instead inserted his fingers shallowly into the little mermaid’s smooth hair and combed it gently.

Nowadays, seventy percent of his body was already covered by bug armor. When he went out, he had to be fully armed, from a turtleneck sweater to a long trench coat to black leather gloves. He even didn’t allow anyone except Lin Xiaodong to get close to him, otherwise a small oversight would lead to the truth being discovered.

Feeling the relaxing pleasure of the fingertips brushing against his scalp, the little mermaid squinted his eyes in enjoyment. But in this quiet atmosphere, he suddenly heard Gu Xi ask: “If… I mean if, you were to live with Xu Feng and Lulu, what would you think?”

“What?” Lin Xiaodong opened his eyes sharply and sat up to look at him. “Are you going away? Where to?”

“A business trip to an outer galaxy.” Gu Xi said very vaguely, but in fact, they both knew the reason behind it. “I’m not worried about you being home alone. It just so happens their child is also a year old. I’m just asking for your opinion.”

The little mermaid looked at him fixedly for a long while. It wasn’t until Gu Xi almost couldn’t help but look away that he nodded gently, as if agreeing.

As if he hadn’t noticed anything, he said very obediently: “It’s fine. Come back early, I’ll wait for you at home.”

As he spoke, he also held up his little finger and shook it at Gu Xi: “Don’t forget, you promised me. No lying.”

“…Mm.”

Gu Xi lowered his eyes, pressed the back of the little mermaid’s head, and gently took those two soft thin lips.

The man’s voice was as light as if it had melted into the murmurs between their lips and teeth.

In the seemingly ordinary kiss, there was a trace of lingering and tenderness at the end of the road.

“Not lying to you.”