In the pitch-dark cave, Wang Luan had completely lost any sense of time, because the wave frequency used by the intelligent brain would be detected, and it had already been shut down the moment they entered the Blackstone Mountain Range tunnels.
But Yan Qiongyu was always able to tell her the time, for example whether it was daytime or nighttime outside, morning or afternoon, and could even be precise down to the exact hour.
Wang Luan would occasionally think that he might have fainted asleep on her back, but hearing the certainty in his tone when he spoke of the time, she would realize that he had not completely fallen unconscious at all — this person had clearly been silently calculating the passage of time in his head the entire time.
This was something ordinary people could not do, but she believed Yan Qiongyu was capable of it; after all, this was a man who had learned five thousand Chinese characters in a single day. She respectfully referred to him as the “Imperial Werewolf.”
Because they had left in such a rush, aside from Yan Qiongyu himself, Wang Luan had only grabbed an energy lamp for lighting and a large jug of water. The latter was mainly to replenish Yan Qiongyu’s fluids.
Judging by how much he sweated, let alone two days — even a single day without replenishing water, he might dehydrate to death.
When Yan Qiongyu noticed that she was carrying a water jug, he looked at the jug, then looked at her, and for a brief moment revealed an expression that Wang Luan could not quite understand.
Since they had crash-landed on this barren planet, this was not the first time she had seen this expression on his face.
It did not quite look like gratitude, nor was it surprise; it could not be called astonishment either. In short, it was very peculiar.
Wang Luan could not hold back and asked him, “What were you thinking just now? Your expression was really strange.”
“Strange?” Yan Qiongyu returned to normal. “But I wasn’t thinking about anything strange.”
They did not communicate much. Most of the time, Wang Luan led him walking or running through the labyrinthine tunnels, because Yan Qiongyu said that there might be tracking devices on them, so constant movement was the safest option.
Occasionally, when Yan Qiongyu’s reactions became more intense, Wang Luan would notice his uncontrollable rapid breathing, and would then take the initiative to stop. The two of them would embrace and lean against the dark rock wall, waiting for Yan Qiongyu to endure this wave.
As his reactions grew weaker and weaker, and the thick scent of pheromones on his body slowly dissipated, Wang Luan understood that his heat period was probably coming to an end.
From the very beginning, she had witnessed his suffering, almost accompanying him through the most difficult period.
Although in the first half she had not understood at all what condition he was in, when she saw that his pain was about to end, Wang Luan still felt deeply emotional. This had truly been a long week; it felt as if time itself had been infinitely stretched.
“That’s because a single day–night cycle on this barren planet is indeed a bit longer than on the Imperial Capital Star.” As Yan Qiongyu began to recover his strength, he initiated conversation more frequently.
“I only realized these past few days that you actually really like talking,” Yan Qiongyu also said with some feeling.
On the Imperial Capital Star, when he had first met Wang Luan, she had always been excessively silent, as if speaking even one extra sentence to others would exhaust all her energy, and all she wanted was to be alone without communicating with anyone.
But during these days on the barren planet, although it was hard, she spoke often — not only to him, but also to herself, and she even had things to say to the Fifth Prince after he had become an idiot.
“Do you like this barren planet that has nothing?”
Wang Luan’s tone was deep. “There’s nothing here, but there is freedom.”
This answer did not surprise Yan Qiongyu either. “I understand. I want to confirm something with you — you still don’t like the Imperial Capital Star, and you’re unwilling to live as a noble, right?”
Wang Luan: “The socialist people do not bow their heads to a feudal autocracy.”
Yan Qiongyu: “…Socialism?”
Wang Luan chatted idly with Yan Qiongyu about socialism for a full half hour. In the end, Yan Qiongyu said to her, “Perhaps after leaving here, you will discover that no matter where you go, it’s all the same — class never disappears.”
“Perhaps.” Wang Luan cleared her throat and continued with her red remarks. “From the people, to the people.”
In the first few hours after they entered the tunnels, they could often feel vibrations from above, and hear rumbling sounds that had been greatly weakened as they passed through the thick mountain rock.
“It should be the Fifth Prince’s legion and the Wang family’s people arriving together,” Yan Qiongyu made a conjecture.
“With this kind of commotion, are they fighting it out up there?” Wang Luan asked.
“Obviously,” Yan Qiongyu said. “But the Fifth Prince’s legion won’t stay here for long.”
Just as he said, this sense of vibration disappeared a few hours later, and no further movement came through.
Wang Luan continued heading deeper into the tunnels, because Yan Qiongyu said the Wang family would send people into the tunnels to search for them. What they were doing now was ensuring that the two of them would not be found before Yan Qiongyu recovered.
Finally, the very last trace of pheromones on Yan Qiongyu’s body was completely reined in by him, and the two of them stopped where they were to wait for others to come find them.
After resting for a bit, Yan Qiongyu opened his intelligent terminal, then suddenly sighed and said, “We may need to get out on our own. They probably won’t be able to find us in a short time.”
Why? Wang Luan also opened her intelligent terminal and took a look, then understood.
There was probably something wrong inside the Blackstone Mountain Range — the intelligent terminal malfunctioned here, so if the Wang family came in to search for people, the equipment they brought would very likely malfunction as well.
“No wonder they didn’t find us right away and let us delay things for so long,” Wang Luan sighed. Then she covered her face. “When I came in, I was walking randomly. I don’t remember the way out.”
“It’s fine, I remember,” Yan Qiongyu said, slowly walking to the front of Wang Luan.
Wang Luan didn’t know how he led the way, but he actually managed to bring her out of the tunnels. Judging from the traces on the rock walls, he had almost retraced their original route.
Feeling the circulating wind outside brush against her cheeks, Wang Luan looked at Yan Qiongyu. “Be honest — you’re actually a robot, right?”
Otherwise, how could he remember such a complicated route so clearly?
Yan Qiongyu lightly tapped his temple with one finger. “This is what 3S mental power is.”
The Wang family members stationed outside heard the movement and came forward, delighted to discover that it was the eldest young lady they were searching for, along with Yan Qiongyu.
A group of Wang family members whose official titles Wang Luan couldn’t remember but whose faces she recognized gathered around them, each with a solemn expression.
“Several search-and-rescue teams have already gone in, yet not a single one managed to successfully bring Miss Luan out. Truly useless.”
“How is Miss Luan’s condition right now?”
“Hurry, lift her into the treatment pod!”
Wang Luan was unable to resist. These people were not prepared to let her say much of anything either; they directly lifted her up and swiftly carried her into the space battleship, stuffing her into the treatment pod.
Her body did not belong to herself, but to the Wang family. Therefore, these people were even more nervous about her physical condition than she was.
Because of this sudden accident, the head of the Wang family was furious beyond measure and had already gone to the imperial palace several times to seek an audience with His Majesty. When they arrived, they had already received orders: they must bring back intact the Wang family’s currently sole heir.
After living on the barren planet for several days, Wang Luan and the other person didn’t even have time to take one more look. The largest space battleship hurriedly departed the barren planet with them and dozens of escort ships, leaving behind only two small spacecraft on the barren planet to handle the cleanup.
By the time Wang Luan was able to come out of the treatment pod, the battleship — burning massive amounts of energy — had already crossed many spatial nodes and was close to reaching the outer perimeter of the Imperial Capital Star zone.
The newly awakened Wang Luan sat by the porthole, looking at the sea of stars outside, eating the food delivered by a servant.
Yan Qiongyu walked to her side. His spirits looked much recovered, but it was still obvious that he had lost a noticeable amount of weight.
Like a student about to start school, Wang Luan stared blankly and let out a long sigh. “Going back again.”
Yan Qiongyu said, “Not necessarily. It’s also possible that we still won’t be able to go back right now.”
Wang Luan caught a trace of a mysterious smile on his face.
Yan Qiongyu bent down and whispered a few words by her ear. Wang Luan slowly chewed the food in her mouth. “Really?”
Yan Qiongyu tapped the back of her chair. “Go take a look.”
Wang Luan followed what he said and found a certain Wang family official in charge of the spacecraft’s affairs, and asked him, “Can we return to the Imperial Capital as soon as possible?”
The official showed a troubled expression, but still reported the current situation to her truthfully.
“Actually, not long ago, when we left that barren planet, we had just received news from the Imperial Capital Star. The Fifth Prince has led his legion to surround the Imperial Capital Star zone and has already occupied several permanent stars on the outer perimeter of the Imperial Capital Star zone. For the time being, we’re afraid that we… won’t be able to return to the Imperial Capital Star.”
“But please rest assured, Miss Luan. Patriarch Li has already brought the Li family’s legion over. This situation won’t remain at a stalemate for long.”
Hearing such unexpected news, Wang Luan felt utterly astonished by this almost fantastical turn of events. She returned to Yan Qiongyu’s side, unable to figure it out no matter how she thought about it.
“Is the Fifth Prince rebelling? But didn’t he become an idiot? Could it be that on the barren planet he was pretending to be stupid?”
“Who knows,” Yan Qiongyu said with a smile, not explaining what he had done, only telling her, “Look, I was right. We can’t return to the Imperial Capital Star for now, so you need to tell them that you’ve decided to land on Luxin Star, governed by Prince Luxin Qingjiang Xi, to rest and reorganize.”
Probably only Yan Qiongyu knew what had actually happened. On the barren planet, when he had used his mental power to destroy the Fifth Prince’s mind, he had planted an inducing suggestion in him. When this Fifth Prince, who had become an idiot, was found by his trusted subordinates, a thought would emerge in his mind: to besiege the Empire’s capital star.
This suggestion had been implanted very easily, because such a thought already existed deep within the Fifth Prince’s heart.
As for whether his legion would obey the orders of this mentally unsound Fifth Prince, Yan Qiongyu had once obtained information about the legion under the Fifth Prince’s command while at the omega academy.
He had two vice commanders who were extremely loyal. Whether out of loyalty or for some other reason, Yan Qiongyu believed that the Imperial Capital Star being surrounded by the Fifth Prince’s legion was very likely to happen.
As several princes and princesses successively came of age, the atmosphere within the imperial royal family gradually grew tense. Over the past two years, the Fifth Prince — who possessed a large legion — had become increasingly irreconcilable with His Majesty. His arrogance made His Majesty dissatisfied and wary, and the other adult princes and princesses were also happy to see this greatest threat bring about his own destruction. That a conflict would occur was simply unavoidable.
Yan Qiongyu’s mental suggestion merely brought this forward in advance. He needed it at this time; he needed such chaos.
This time, his plan did not encounter any accidents. The Wang family’s fleet did not dare to break through the encirclement of the Fifth Prince’s legion, and could only send a request to Prince Luxin, who had not yet been drawn into the war, to temporarily land on Luxin Star.
Given Wang Luan’s status, she was naturally invited to enter Prince Luxin’s residence.
Owning an entire planet, Prince Luxin’s residence occupied an area no smaller than the royal palace, and was even more magnificent than the palace itself.
As guests, Wang Luan and Yan Qiongyu walked across smooth crystal-stone floors. Leading the way for them was a beautiful female omega, who from time to time introduced this enormous palace, comparable to a work of art, in a gentle tone.
This omega, named Yun Li, let her gaze casually sweep over Yan Qiongyu several times, lingering on his face for several seconds each time.
Yan Qiongyu met her gaze for a moment, then smiled faintly.
Wang Luan didn’t notice their exchange of looks. After observing the surrounding environment for a while, she quietly said to Yan Qiongyu, “Everyone here seems to be omega — even the servants are.” Roughly counting, there had already been dozens along the way.
When a commoner alpha might not marry a single omega in an entire lifetime, just how extravagant was Prince Luxin.
Yan Qiongyu replied just as softly, “Prince Luxin is an avid omega enthusiast. It’s said he likes collecting and appreciating beautiful omegas of all types, to soothe his body and mind.”
Wang Luan understood. “You could’ve just said he’s an old pervert.”
