...Zhi?

“Does it mean branches?” the woman asked curiously.

But the mental power didn’t understand what branches were.

As if sensing that confusion, the woman brought over a bottle.

Inside the bottle was a seedling.

The seedling was still very small. Only a slender little stem was set into the propagation medium, but roots had already grown below it, and above it were two tender young leaves.

“It’s only a seedling right now,” the woman said, pointing at the bottle. “But do you believe that one day it’ll grow into a huge tree?”

As she spoke, she projected an image from her light-brain.

In the projection was an enormously lush tree, towering into the clouds. Even the distant buildings looked exceptionally tiny against it, let alone the little seedling in the bottle.

Placed side by side, the striking contrast made Wen Yuzhi’s mental power go still at once.

But the woman patiently continued, “Isn’t it amazing? This little seedling will slowly grow up inside the bottle. Its roots and stem will grow thicker and stronger, and its leaves will grow bigger and bigger. It’ll go from a tiny little seedling to a towering tree.”

“But that’s what’s so extraordinary about life.”

Then she pointed at the place where the leaf connected to the stem and told Wen Yuzhi, “And this part is the zhi—the branch.”

“Do you know what the most important part of a tree is?”

The woman had probably grown used to this sort of question-and-answer exchange. It was only after asking that she remembered she was talking to a little child, not chatting with her assistants.

This little child still understood nothing. Unlike those assistants, he couldn’t answer her question.

The moment she realized that, the woman was just about to correct herself.

But the mental power holding the doll was like a good little student listening obediently in class. Even though it couldn’t answer, it could still “raise its hand” to ask a question.

The dolls on the floor were knocked into disarray.

That chaotic mess seemed to mirror its feelings at this very moment.

The mental power was using that method to express its confusion.

Looking at that slightly childish, clumsy way of doing things, the woman’s gaze softened as well.

“It’s the branch,” she said.

The branch was the most important part of a tree.

While the mental power was still in that hazy, half-understanding state, the woman lowered her head to look at the bottle. Her expression was gentle, but her tone was certain.

“Because it represents life without end.”

As long as even one branch remained, the tree would not die.

The branch was very important.

The branch represented life.

The soft little mental power keenly caught those two meanings in the woman’s words.

Even though it still couldn’t fully understand them, the mental power became very, very happy.

As though, because of the woman’s words, its name was something special, something with a very beautiful meaning.

The joy was so strong that even Wen Yuzhi inside the egg could feel it.

He could feel the seedling in the bottle, and he could also feel that tiny life slowly growing.

The woman placed the bottle inside the toy house.

The mental power liked the seedling very much. Every day it would go look at the bottle, checking to see whether the seedling had grown.

If it had grown, it felt happy. If it hadn’t, it would quietly cheer it on.

And so the days passed one after another. Life in the laboratory was very boring.

Most of the time, Wen Yuzhi could only stay inside the egg and sleep.

As for exploring the laboratory, that became his only source of fun here.

He would quietly send out his mental power.

The soft mental-energy feelers were like a little kitten, full of curiosity about the world outside.

But because he had no family by his side, he could only feel uneasy and wary, so every time he went out he only dared to explore the outside world little by little, very carefully.

Sometimes, when he didn’t control the direction well enough, he would accidentally knock over the test tubes on the table.

The woman never got angry when she saw it. She only set the test tubes back in place and reminded him to be more careful next time.

Wen Yuzhi learned his lesson.

And sure enough, the next time, he didn’t knock over any more test tubes.

The woman couldn’t see his mental power, but she could sense its presence.

Sometimes, while she was doing experiments, a soft touch would lightly brush against her feet, and she would know that the little one had come out to play again.

Unfortunately, the little one was very shy. Every time the woman tried to find it, that strand of mental power would hide.

But the moment she stopped paying attention to it, it would come out on its own again and lightly brush against her feet, as if trying to attract her attention that way.

It seemed to love this game and never got tired of trying to make the woman notice it.

It treated her like its mother.

Because the woman made it feel warm.

And every day, Mother would bring it presents too.

Almost all of them were all kinds of dolls and toys.

Whatever children liked, she bought and brought back.

Gradually, there were more and more things inside the toy house, and the mental power’s range of movement grew larger and larger.

But no matter how much that range expanded, it never once left the laboratory.

Because Mother had told it that the outside world was dangerous. If it rashly ran out there, it would run into bad people. Only here was the safest place.

It was very obedient.

So it never ran around recklessly, and it never left the laboratory. This place was {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} like its entire world.

But that situation did not last very long. As the mental power became more and more lively, Wen Yuzhi also began to feel himself growing weaker and weaker.

No, not that he was growing weak.

It was that something was gradually slipping away.

A vast amount of life.

Like a seedling: its roots and stem were still very tender, but the leaves kept growing bigger and bigger. When the weight of those leaves exceeded what the fragile roots and stem could bear, the delicate stem would snap.

The little life inside the egg was now facing that very same problem.

His mental power was growing far too quickly, far faster than his body was.

If this kept up, he would snap just like that stem.

But Wen Yuzhi couldn’t stop it.

He still didn’t understand how to control that power. He could only let the mental power rampage through his body.

The overwhelming force felt as if it were about to tear his body apart.

His temperature was also rising rapidly.

Xi Heyan noticed that something was wrong with Wen Yuzhi.

He got up and came to the bedside.

The young boy who had been having a pleasant dream just a moment ago was suddenly breathing unevenly. An unnatural flush spread quickly across that snowy-white face, and his body curled up in discomfort.

Xi Heyan hurriedly reached out and touched Wen Yuzhi’s forehead.

The burning heat made him freeze for a second.

Then Xi Heyan realized what was happening—Wen Yuzhi had a dangerously high fever.

The bad part was that with the medical shortages on Blackrock Star, medicine had long been scarce. Xi Heyan did carry medicine on him, but all he had were sprays for external wounds.

Colds and fevers were things rarely seen anymore in the interstellar age.

And yet Wen Yuzhi really did seem to be burning up right now.

His silver-white hair was already damp with sweat and stuck to the side of his neck. Wen Yuzhi’s eyes were shut tight, his brows faintly drawn together, and the breath spilling onto the back of Xi Heyan’s hand was burning hot.

“It hurts...”

A blurred little whimper escaped the young boy’s lips, his soft voice carrying a note of grievance.

He struggled, trying to scratch at his back.

As though something there was hurting him badly.

Xi Heyan looked over there. He couldn’t see anything on Wen Yuzhi’s back, but he didn’t dare let him claw at it carelessly.

He could only pin Wen Yuzhi’s hand with one hand and use the other to steady his body, stopping the uncomfortable young boy from hurting himself.

Wen Yuzhi’s consciousness was enduring that swelling mental power when all at once, a huge rush of energy appeared inside his body.

He felt as though his whole body was full of strength.

The feeling was almost the same as when he had hatched.

Like he’d eaten too much.

The only difference was that his wings—his back where the wings were—hurt, hurt terribly.

That was why he kept desperately trying to scratch at it, to ease the pain.

But just as his hand was about to reach his back, a force suddenly caught his wrist and stopped him from touching it.

Then Wen Yuzhi felt himself being pulled into a warm embrace.

And he caught a faint scent of bitter orange.

The smell was very, very light, yet it carried a sense of safety.

In the dream, a gentle touch fell upon the trembling eggshell.

From outside the shell came the woman’s voice.

She said, “Go to sleep. Once you sleep, it’ll be all right.”

And in reality, Xi Heyan looked at the uneasy, struggling young boy in his arms and softened his voice too, murmuring in comfort, “It doesn’t hurt. Relax. Just relax... there’s nothing there... I’m here with you... I’m staying with you...”

After saying that, Xi Heyan thought for a moment, then awkwardly began humming the lullaby his mother used to sing to comfort him.

It was a song passed down through generations of the Damian family. His grandmother had hummed it to his mother too.

And now, to soothe Wen Yuzhi, Xi Heyan followed the memory and softly hummed that gentle melody.

Unfortunately, his voice was too low and deep, and what came out sounded nothing like his mother’s warm, beautiful voice.

Fortunately, there was only one listener in the room.

And that one listener was unconscious.

Yet after hearing Xi Heyan’s humming, Wen Yuzhi really did slowly calm down.

He stopped struggling. His brows gradually eased, and his breathing slowly steadied.

Xi Heyan had just begun to let out a breath of relief when he suddenly froze.

Because a pair of wings suddenly spread from the young boy’s back in his arms.

They were sacred and beautiful.

The feathers upon them were white and soft, every single one carrying a hazy sheen.

The moment they appeared, they wrapped around Wen Yuzhi.

Just as Xi Heyan began to wonder whether he was seeing things, he suddenly felt the weight in his arms sink. The instant he lowered his head, the wings that had just appeared were already gone.

And yet there was now a slender, beautiful young man in Xi Heyan’s arms.

“!!!”

This time, Xi Heyan was truly stunned.

His pupils contracted sharply, and several traces of shock and disbelief colored the usually calm, composed face.

Before he could react, the person in his arms stirred, and Wen Yuzhi abruptly opened his eyes.

He had awakened from the dream.