IRDLZ Chapter 7

Chapter 7

No one knew how much time had passed.

Xiao Fu woke up under the assault of massive amounts of steam.

To his horror, he felt scorching heat beneath his egg-shaped rear. Wave after wave of steam was making his shell feel as if it were about to boil. Although his shell looked like an egg, it wasn't as fragile as a chicken egg—it was actually composed of over a dozen special hard metals mixed together.

Metal conducts heat extremely well, and Xiao Fu was almost dizzy from the heat.

But at the same time, he could sense his bodily functions slowly recovering.

What did this mean? Was it that simulating the humidity and temperature of Kelafulin allowed his abilities to return?

Earlier, Xiao Fu had either been exposed to cold, freezing rain or curled up next to a dry oil heater. He had never tried staying in a hot, humid environment before.

Clearly, this kind of environment was helping him.

Xiao Fu was pleasantly surprised by this discovery.

However, the temperature beneath his shell was truly too high and rising by the minute.

If he didn't leave soon, he might actually get steamed alive.

Xiao Fu struggled to roll to the edge of the steamer tray, then mustered his strength to jump onto the marble countertop, rolling forward with a rumble.

Finally, he leaped to the floor.

If anyone had been in the kitchen at that moment, they would have witnessed a terrifying sight—

A pale golden-gray egg hopping and bouncing across the countertop and the floor.

It was already late at night. All the lights in the villa were off, save for a few nightlights that cast a soft, warm glow.

The pale golden-gray egg crawled along the floor, slowly transforming into a young boy in a blue hoodie. His complexion was usually deathly pale, unlike that of a human, but under the steam's effect, a rare flush of color now appeared on his face.

Xiao Fu had recovered a tiny bit of strength not as much as during the day, but enough that he wasn't wobbling all over the place.

Using his teleportation ability might drain his energy.

Xiao Fu decided to walk.

He tucked in his arms and was about to tiptoe downstairs when a sudden "smack"—the sound of a cup hitting the floor came from the largest bedroom at the southernmost end of the third floor.

Xiao Fu was so startled that he froze mid-motion, nearly turning back into an egg.

But after that, there was no sound for a long time.

Complete silence.

In the darkness, Xiao Fu's heart pounded wildly.

A small figure suddenly rushed out of that room, it was Feifei.

Xiao Fu turned his stiff neck and watched him dash to his feet, skidding to a halt, then grabbing his pant leg and trying to drag him toward the room.

Kelafulins were naturally better than humans at understanding the intentions of various creatures.

Xiao Fu immediately realized that something was wrong with Ming Qingqing.

His heart tightened. In an instant, he appeared outside Ming Qingqing's bedroom door.

—Xiao Fu had never entered a girl's room before.

Not once.

On Kelafulin, entering a girl's sleeping quarters without permission was an extremely rude act.

Although Xiao Fu had been staying in this villa, he had also set up permissions to block his own view of Ming Qingqing's room, bathroom, and other private areas—not daring to look even once.

Even now, he felt too embarrassed to go in.

Just standing outside the door, his pale face had already flushed a faint red.

And what if—what if Ming Qingqing was awake?

...But Feifei kept tugging him inside.

After a moment's hesitation, Xiao Fu crouched down, turned into an egg, and rolled gently and quietly into the room.

Soon, he realized his worries were unnecessary.

Not only was Ming Qingqing not awake, she was practically unconscious.

She lay on the bed, her seaweed-like wavy hair spread across the pillow, nearly soaked through with sweat. Her face was unnaturally flushed, red from a high fever. Her forehead was drenched with sweat, and she was burning up to the point of delirium.

Humans clearly didn't have the same robust vitality as Kelafulins. On such a cold winter day, after falling into that icy lake, she had probably felt some slight discomfort in the afternoon. But Ming Qingqing was the type to push through, she rarely realized something was wrong with her body until she collapsed from exhaustion.

Xiao Fu had absolutely no idea how to handle a fragile human with a high fever who was unconscious.

On their planet, there was no such thing as getting sick.

He crouched by the bed, his gray-blue eyes reflecting Ming Qingqing's suffering expression, pacing around anxiously.

...Ming Qingqing's friends!

Xiao Fu had met two of them in total. One was a slightly older man in a suit, Xiao Zhou; the other was a younger one, dressed like a courier or driver, Xiao Cheng.

He quickly determined that he should call Xiao Zhou.

The older one was always more reliable.

Xiao Fu waved his not-so-agile hands, trying his best to move faster, and grabbed the black flat machine on the bedside table.

Kelafulin didn't have "cell phones." On Kelafulin, pigeons flew as fast as light, so they used pigeons to communicate.

The phone nearly slipped out of his stiff fingers!

Once again, Xiao Fu cursed his own clumsiness!

He didn't know what he pressed, but eventually, the black flat machine lit up. However, it also reflected Xiao Fu's pale, handsome face, and the screen immediately displayed—"Face Unlock Failed."

Feifei jumped onto the bed and meowed at Xiao Fu, but the little cat had no idea how to use the device either.

After much effort from both the alien and the cat, they failed.

Xiao Fu glanced at Ming Qingqing, burning up with fever on the bed. Sweat beaded on his forehead from anxiety.

He abandoned the phone. Teleporting to the refrigerator, he struggled to bend his knees, which creaked audibly, and managed to take out two new ice packs. Then he moved to the room, replaced the ones on Ming Qingqing's forehead and face with fresh ones.

Next—fever reducer and cold medicine!

Three minutes later, a cashier at a 24-hour pharmacy noticed a flicker in the surveillance footage. He immediately grabbed his electric baton and stood up to patrol. Then he discovered that a locked glass cabinet had been inexplicably pried open, and a box of fever reducer and a box of cold medicine had vanished into thin air!

He was so terrified he almost called the police.

But before he could pull out his phone, he noticed that in the empty spot lay a thin piece of platinum-like material, as if scraped off some kind of shell.

As if witnessing a supernatural event, the cashier felt faint with fear and hid in the bathroom.

Back at the villa, Xiao Fu boiled some water, imitating what Ming Qingqing usually did. But the temperature was far too hot for him to handle. Realizing that his near-zero body temperature would quickly bring it down, he simply kept his hands wrapped tightly around the cup, waiting for it to cool.

By the time she had a high fever, Ming Qingqing was barely conscious.

In a daze, she felt someone clumsily grab her pajamas and pull her up, then she swallowed some fever medicine.

Half-conscious, her lashes fluttering, she seemed to see a pair of gray-blue eyes. Above those gray-blue eyes were dark forehead hair damp with sweat, and pale skin. As if sinking into the ocean, Ming Qingqing's consciousness floated and sank; she could hardly tell whether she was dreaming or awake.

Her whole body ached. One moment she was shivering with cold, the next she felt as if she had been thrown into a furnace.

...

It seemed that, in a trance, she had returned to the age of twelve or thirteen.

She had a high fever then too. Her parents were fighting. Her father's face was twisted with rage as he slammed the door and left.

She lay in a daze on the bed, her lashes wet with sweat, peering through the crack in the door. In the living room, her mother knelt on the floor, sobbing into her hands, surrounded by shattered porcelain cups and bowls.

The twelve- or thirteen-year-old Ming Qingqing had struggled to sit up, gotten out of bed, and picked up the broken pieces so that her mother, who was barefoot, wouldn't step on them. Her mother was lost in her own world of sorrow and had no attention to spare for her.

In truth, Ming Qingqing hadn't thought anything of it at the time. This woman had given birth to her; it was only right that she take care of her. Cooking, washing dishes, mediating arguments, handing her mother tissues when she cried, getting up to make hangover soup or warm milk when she was too drunk to sleep.

She had learned from a young age to handle many things, to take care of others.

She processed her own emotions and understood others.

But in her memory, no one had ever taken care of her.

Not her father, not her mother, certainly not any boyfriend.

...

But now, whether it was her imagination or not, she felt someone moving a cold ice pack clumsily across her forehead.

It was an indescribable feeling.

Like being crushed beneath the sea, on the verge of drowning, yet feeling someone steadily pulling her up, little by little.

It felt so good.

Sick people were always a little more fragile. The corners of Ming Qingqing's eyes grew wet, and instinctively, she raised her hand, grasping the hand that was resting on her forehead.

She held on tightly, like clutching a lifeline, terrified of that hand disappearing.

"..."

Xiao Fu, whose hand she had grabbed, widened his eyes.

And it wasn't over.

With Ming Qingqing gripping his hand tightly, apparently finding his cold temperature very soothing, she slowly slid his hand down and pressed it against her cheek.

She turned on her side, her face pressing against his hand, and gently nuzzled it.

Feifei: ...Huh?

Xiao Fu: ...!!!

In that instant, Xiao Fu's heart raced like a motor, beating nine hundred and ninety-nine times per second.

He he he he he touched Ming Qingqing's face.

He he he he he he he had touched a female's face for the first time.

What should he do? Ahhhhhhh!

Xiao Fu's Adam's apple moved. Under the overwhelming shock and disbelief, he didn't notice that his pupils had turned a deep blue—an early symptom of "heating up."

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