Can Ci Pin - - - Chapter 96

Chapter 96 – Why Am I So Smitten By You?

Lu Bixing didn’t consider himself someone that was obsessed with the human body. He appreciated the aesthetics of a nice body like an average person that enjoys fine art, satisfied after a few looks and wouldn’t think too much of it afterwards. The young man was able to find endless excitement and joy in the vast universe and felt that his journey ahead was long and filled with surprises, so he didn’t quite believe in the ancient fascination with lust through hormonal reactions. As for the hidden implications of lust–fulfillment, conquering, and shame– they all seemed to be exaggerations that reflected the societal ideologies of the time to the young scientist.

Even when he picked up the completely exposed Commander Lin near Planet Beijing years ago, he was able to look at the man without an inch of questionable thoughts. The Lin Jingheng at that time was like a nameless model in fashion advertisements to him, even R-rated novels were more exciting than the body before him.

But at some point, this person became much different to him.

When one starts to find themselves deeply fascinated by another person’s small gestures from a smile to the lift of a hand, this carbon based flesh would no longer be an insignificant one of many in the world. To Lu Bixing, Lin Jingheng was like a great treasure that was worth all his attention and thoughts in every detail; even the smell of detergent left on the collar of the commander’s shirt could make his heart race. It was as if the smell itself was a vine that traveled its way into his soul, carefully binding him and forcing him to lean his head towards the source of the scent.

Lu Bixing subconsciously wanted to ruin and destroy that neat collar and suddenly leaned in to bite Lin Jingheng’s neck. He could feel the tip of his teeth touch the soft veins as Lin Jingheng trembled slightly in response. Lu Bixing immediately pulled his sense back and took a step backwards like a shocked puppy that got caught with some wrongdoings, pulled his teeth back and stared at Lin Jingheng nervously without a word.

He felt as if his limbs were numb and began to panic. W-what am I doing? What was I thinking? I-is, is he mad? Did Turan do something to me on the mech?

But Lin Jingheng didn’t get upset at him nor did he scold the young man. His sense of pain was numb from long periods of military training and could only feel as if Lu Bixing bit him lightly. It didn’t hurt, but it was quite shocking; Lin Jingheng held his arm up and glossed his hand over his neck only to smell a hint of alcohol: “You drank?”

“Oh, right! I had some wine!” Lu Bixing mind flashed with an idea–the two sips of rice wine gave him the answer. “People get more excitable when they’re tipsy and drunk, it’s normal that I lose a bit of self-control.”

Discovering a valid excuse for his actions, Lu Bixing very quickly tossed all his shame and pretentious social etiquette to take advantage of the situation. He shoved his face to the commander’s nose and gave a playful smile as he whispered in a daze: “Commander, did I meet you before I was born? How else can I explain why I’m so smitten by you?”

Lin Jingheng was stunned for a second.

Lu Bixing studied his face carefully and took in a small breath. Then, he closed his eyes and carefully pressed his lips down to meet the other’s as his hand made his way inside Lin Jingheng’s uniform jacket. As if exploring an unknown territory, Lu Bixing’s hand pressed gently against the thin dress shirt onto the commander’s waist.

In contrast to the mood of the scene, Lin Jingheng felt extremely awkward due to being connected to the small mech’s mental network.

Connecting to the mental network meant that the pilot had two sets of senses–when Lin Jingheng opened his eyes, he could see both the young man before him and the people outside of the mech through the network. Past the busy crowds in the station to the command post not too far away, he could even see Monoeyed Hawk still patrolling outside of the building…that grumpy old man also shot an unsuspecting glance toward their direction right now.

When that question of “have I met you before I was born” rang into his ears, he could also hear the broadcast of the mech station and the footsteps of the soldiers passing by outside.

Lin Jingheng felt himself engulfed in that sweet scent of the rice wine and sank into Lu Bixing’s presence as if he was drowning in this hidden and private space. At the same time, he felt as if he was standing out in public as he embraced the cherished person in his arms without restraint.

He felt as if the gaze of Lu Xin’s stone statue pierced through the Milky Way City, military base and the heavy doors of the mech onto his back.

He felt like he was floating in midair but also pinned down on the door of the mech. The young man’s breath was boiling but sincere while the coldness of the metal door seeped through his clothing from behind. A complex wave of senses swallowed him up like a storm that triggered an even more foreign sensation inside him–30 years of painful memories that haunted him in his dreams like an endless interrogation jumbled together and exploded at that instant. Those traversing, sizzling, and even decadent blood on the battlefield, the forgotten inscriptions on the tombstones in Wolto, the vibrant lives shining within the Eighth Galaxy…

He began to crave these emotions as he feared them; these precious and embarrassing feelings that had been hibernating inside his cold heart began to touch upon his numb senses. They were like sparks of flames that were thrown into the woods and spread uncontrollably like a wildfire inside him.

Lu Bixing suddenly spoke up in a gentle voice: “So you aren’t actually sexually apathetic as they said, huh, commander?”

Lin Jingheng grabbed the young man’s hand as the door to the inner control room of the mech opened up. Lu Bixing took a few steps back as he found himself pushed to the corner of a small sofa.

Lin Jingheng spoke quietly into his ears: “I have to leave soon, there’s not enough time.”

Lu Bixing didn’t catch the implication in the line and looked at him dumbly.

His gaze was pure like a clean spring of water that reflected his emotions as clear as a mirror. Lin Jingheng hesitated for once and felt like he was about to step onto a freshly formed layer of snow untainted by footprints, unsure where to place his feet.

“You……” Lin Jingheng paused awkwardly, “spent all this time in the Eighth Galaxy, haven’t you at least tried giving your heart to someone else? Maybe you should try.”

These words sounded ironic even to Lin Jingheng himself. He felt like Lu Bixing deserved better, but he also didn’t know what ‘better’ meant. At the same time, he also knew that he would be reluctant to let go of the young man he cared for as his treasure.

As brilliant as Lu Bixing was, he couldn’t possibly understand that split second of struggle Lin Jingheng faced and asked in surprise: “Huh? Hey Lin, aren’t you more of an ‘if you dare look at anyone else I’ll drag you away and blow you up’ type of person? Uh…wait, don’t actually kill me, please save me one last breath to reflect on my actions.”

Lin Jingheng lowered his head to laugh and shook his head. How could I possibly do that? He thought.

He slid the back of his hand down Lu Bixing’s chin and carefully undid the young man’s shirt button with a gentle touch of his finger.

Lu Bixing, who only managed to muster enough courage to freely harass his commander after pondering for almost half a century, was caught completely off-guard by the close touch. His goosebumps shot up as he suddenly realized what the commander was trying to do from either nervousness or excitement.

“Don’t worry,” Lin Jingheng said gently, “There’s not much time left, I’ll use my hands.”

Lu Bixing, the young scientist who spent decades of his life talking in theory and paper without any actual experience, could feel his soul shoot out of his body at the speed of Qiming’s second cosmic velocity as he digested these words. It was as if he broke out of gravity and transformed himself into a billiard ball that had to hit every planet within the Eight Galaxy until he completely lost his sense of reason, leaving him with only the ability to repeat Lin Jingheng’s name like a broken record.

However, this daze across the galaxy didn’t last very long before he was pulled back to reality. What happened next might not have been an actual disaster, but was close enough to be considered one.

Turan’s sour grapes about the commander were completely correct. Lin Jingheng wasn’t very good at ‘taking care’ of others–Lu Bixing suspected that this man was a true martyr of abstinence hiding in the middle of a bunch of hooligans that never even really tried dealing with his own needs. Perhaps it was out of nervousness, but the commander’s techniques were not quite on par to say the least. To make matters worse, Lin Jingheng wasn’t quite good with controlling his grip and somehow managed to completely turn the sensual atmosphere into an absolute mess and more with his unique inexperience.

Lin Jingheng: “……”

Lu Bixing couldn’t imagine what the appropriate response was under this situation. He held in his breath for two seconds before he decided to be honest with himself and laughed out loud.

Lin Jingheng picked up the uniform jacket he tossed onto the ground and threw it on Lu Bixing’s face: “What are you laughing at!?”

Lu Bixing found the situation funnier the more he thought about it and shoved his face into Lin’s jacket as he laughed nonstop. This flustered commander before him was suddenly much closer to him than the two ever were as a new sense of intimacy began to grow between them. It was indeed a strange feeling–though at least he knew that if he somehow had the desire to bite Lin Jingheng again, he wouldn’t need to worry about angering the commander.

“You can clean up after yourself, I’m leaving.” Lin Jingheng put back on his signature bitch face, “You…what do you want now?”

Lu Bixing reached for his dress shirt and pulled a bit of that neatly tucked-in shirt out as he wiped the tears from his face: “Hey, can you move out of that ‘closet’ beside the meeting room? How about moving in with me instead? I’ve told Minister Edward already, we’re planning on building a new residential area near the Milky Way City with direct transportation to the command post. All personnel working in the post can move there, so can I stay with you?”

“Stop with your nonsense,” Lin Jingheng pulled the corner of his shirt back, “What about your dad? Tie him up?”

Lu Bixing bluffed with confidence: “I’ll take care of him.”

Lin Jingheng had a complicated expression on his face. He rebuttoned up his shirt without a word, fixed himself up and walked out as quickly as he could with a blank face.

Lu Bixing sent him off with a smile on his face and whistled a tune as Lin Jingheng walked toward the main door of the mech. It took the commander until he disconnected from the mental network to realize something was missing: “Give my jacket back.”

Lu Bixing’s whistle tune took a turn as he clinged onto the commander’s uniform jacket like a monkey on a tree trunk, shoving his face into it and then responding with a playful voice: “Nope.”

Lin Jingheng’s expression darkened as he frowned at the response, but finally gave in to the young man in defeat after realizing he couldn’t win, then hastily made his way back to the command post without his jacket.

Lu Bixing finally crawled back up from the floor a while after Lin Jingheng had left, giddily holding the jacket in his arms. There was no particular reason why he felt so giddy, he simply couldn’t stop whistling his tunes and could almost write a song or poem for the empty mech. He stood around to ponder the possibilities only to come to the conclusion that he didn’t have the skills for creative arts as senseless words and phrases jumbled in his mind. The young scientist did find it amusing and wanted to jot them down to send to Lin Jingheng, but the moment he opened his personal device all words and phrases were lost from his mind.

Those chaotic words and lyrics in his mind died down like fireworks in his mind and left a calm soul in his body.

Why did stories need romance? Was there nothing else worth writing about?

Lu Bixing only sort of understood now that romance did deserve to be written down. He placed the jacket around his shoulders like a cape and quietly snuck out of the mech as he walked towards Monoeyed Hawk under the broadcast calling for all teams to get ready for boarding.

Monoeyed Hawk saw Lin Jingheng earlier making last appointments in the command post and took a team with him onto the Model 3. He felt like he accomplished his job and was about to leave his post.

That was when he saw Lu Bixing strolling over to him, and the sly old man purposely asked: “What do you want? Who are you looking for?”

Lu Bixing cleared his throat and said: “Commander Lin. I heard the blueprint for the new military factories are out, so I wanted to take a look.”

Monoeyed Hawk;s gaze pierced through the young man’s lie with the butt of the cigarette still in his mouth–the blueprint of the factories were designed by the engineering team, not the commander himself. He curled his lips up mischievously and answered: “Oh, Commander Lin? Sorry, man’s not here, I just saw him leave. He’s going out on an expedition, who knows when he’ll come back. You know him, he might even just take over the Seventh Galaxy while he’s at it.”

Lu Bixing let out an unamused “Oh” and slowly pulled the jacket on him like a walking advertisement as he shamelessly presented the details of the jacket before Monoeyed Hawk’s face.

Monoeyed Hawk looked at him in confusion for a few moments before he realized who the jacket belonged to. His gaze then fell onto Lu Bixing’s messy hair and facial expression that was lit up in joy, then yelled: “Lin Jingheng, that son of a….is he a damn weasel or something!? I can’t believe he has the guts to do such nasty things, does he not have any shame!?”

Lu Bixing only continued his whistling as he watched Monoeyed Hawk explode into a ball of fury.

The angry Monoeyed Hawk gave a slap on the young man’s head and complained: “Get the hell out of my sight you ungrateful brat, I might as well be raising a pot of plants than you!”

Lu Bixing leaned on the staircase by the entrance of the command post building and received that gentle slap of a cat’s paw on his head, then shook his head: “Dad, we’ve been through life and death together for so long already, can’t you just admit that your opinions on him are mostly wrong?”

Monoyed Hawk: “Wrong about him being a son of a bitch? Am I really wrong?”

Despite these words, the frustration on his face vanished. Monoeyed Hawk pulled out another cigarette as he glanced at Lu Bixing and saw the young man drowning in love like a foolish child. He realized that this ‘human tiger seal’ already belonged to Lin Jingheng and was out of his hands. The commander could make his way back to the Union with the young man, recall the Silver Ten and retrieve all of Lu Xin’s ex-subordinates that were currently fighting in the frontlines against pirates.

In a warring era where demons and monsters rampage the battlefield, cold-blooded warriors like Lin Jingheng could easily change the climate of the world with their own hands and didn’t need to take each step with caution.

Yet he chose to protect the secret of Lu Bixing’s identity with his life. He stayed in the Eighth Galaxy and even guarded this game-changing young man behind Prime Minister Edward’s government in fear that this fragile flower in the open field would break under the deadly storms of war. Lin Jingheng constantly threatened to leave the Eighth Galaxy behind yet continued to risk his life to protect this underdeveloped galaxy against his own words, proving time and time again that he was still too soft to hold onto his ambitions.

Monoeyed Hawk may be short-termpered but he wasn’t stupid. When he heard about the whereabouts of Lu Xin’s ex-subordinates in the Union, he slowly caught on to Lin Jingheng’s intentions. However, he still got frustrated when he recalled the commander’s actions; Lin Jingheng was too headstrong and his conceited attitude of “I have everything taken care of” without any explanations, his “I don’t trust anyone” mentality deserved a good beating in Monoeyed Hawk’s opinion.

Lu Bixing said: “You said he was Commander Lu Xin’s adopted son, wasn’t the late commander someone you admire? Lin even helped you all build the new plaza and government, why can’t you be a little more kind to him?”

Monoeyed Hawk muttered: “Lu Xin couldn’t possibly raise a bastard like that, I bet he grew up to be that way on his own…seriously what do you even like about him, are you a masochist?”

Lu Bixing answered without thinking: “He’s hot.”

Monoeyed Hawk choked as he couldn’t deny it.

“He’s especially handsome. Remember how I could drool over his picture all day when I was a kid? Admit it, dad.”

“Who’s your dad? Didn’t I say many times before that I’m not your dad, I picked you up from the garbage. There’s no way I can have a dumb horny son like you, now get the hell out!” Monoeyed Hawk waved him off lazily as he walked off in defeat despite being the one that asked the other to leave. He made his way towards Lu Xin’s statue with a plan to leave a few flowers to apologize for a hopeless child.

A researcher from the engineering team ran over as Monoeyed Hawk left: “Oh, there you are, Professor Lu, we’ve been looking for you!”

Lu Bixing answered in high spirits: “What is it?”

“We followed your suggestion to use the Port Circuit code to decode the protected document you found in the AUS headquarters and made some progress, come check it out.”

Lu Bixing got up and left.

20 minutes later, Turan also cleaned herself up and made her way over.

The researchers were all drowning in excitement as they surrounded themselves in the joys of decoding to the point where they almost forgot what they were decoding. Lu Bixing grabbed his team of engineers for a small meeting to focus on decoding the file and even decided to ignore the Prime Minister’s calls.

Turan borrowed a small break room beside the lab to go over the inventory of military supplies for Lin Jingheng. While she was writing comments on military drafting in the Eighth Galaxy, she heard a loud cheer next door and rushed over immediately as she closed her personal device.

She stepped into the lab to see a large 3D screen in the center of the room filled with lines of files and data.

A researcher opened up a video file to be greeted by a woman facing the camera.

She wore a long white lab coat with her hair loosely tied behind her head. A hint of fatigue showed on her face without any makeup, but her features were still elegant and beautiful by modern standards. Those cold grey eyes pierced through the screen and took everyone’s breaths away inside the lab.

Turan stared at the woman in dismay as a strange eerie feeling began to unfold within her.

“We have less than 15% of energy left, and the backup battery system has already been destroyed. Our missiles and cannons are completely out. I’m currently recording this under Lin Wei’s cannon.”

A loud explosion interrupted her words as the screen trembled a little, visibly showing that the tail end of the mech had been hit. Sparks of fire appeared in the background while the people on the mech ran off in panic.

The woman on the screen turned her head and lifted a slight smile: “Heavy nuclear missiles, looks like he isn’t even willing to say goodbye.”