The Emperor’s Runaway Lover

TW: Self harm, blood.

Under the blood-colored sunset, the golden sand dunes shifted endlessly like waves in the ocean.

Fu Yucheng closed his eyes and stumbled slightly.

Bai Mo noticed immediately and hurried to support him. “Are you okay? Do you need to rest?”

Fu Yucheng breathed in and muttered, “I’m fine, no need to rest.”

The hot and dry air from the desert burned Fu Yucheng’s lungs fiercely like a flowing flame, and his usually low and pleasant voice was now hoarse beyond recognition.

At this moment, they had been walking at a brisk pace for two entire days and two nights across the boundless desert, a full 48 hours.

“No way, you don’t look alright at all… you have to take a break,” Bai Mo said with a frown.

This time, Fu Yucheng didn’t insist—to be honest, he really couldn’t keep walking anymore. The two of them sat down on the sand.

Fu Yucheng, a little dizzy, leaned against Bai Mo’s shoulder, his head hanging low.

“Yu-ge, drink some water.” Bai Mo untied his water canteen, moving it towards the man’s mouth.

“No…” Fu Yucheng stretched out a hand to push it away, but the other refused to let go and forcefully poured the few remaining drops of water down his throat.

The boy threw the empty water canteen aside, then took off his jacket and threw it over both of their heads, slightly shielding them from the harsh sunlight.

After drinking a little bit of water, Fu Yucheng’s mood improved slightly.

He smiled with difficulty. “Little Mo, unexpectedly, it seems you’re better than me at enduring thirst. Is it because of your constitution?”

“Perhaps. I… I’m a product from a genetic experiment, after all,” Bai Mo said softly. “Back when I first met you, you insisted on making me eat all of the potatoes, saying that you had once spent four days and four nights in the desert and endured out of sheer willpower… So, you were bragging back then, weren’t you?”

Fu Yucheng didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “Ahem, why are you bringing up old stuff now? Besides, it’s been years since back then, how come you still remember that?”

Bai Mo stared at the other man intensely, the depths of his eyes overflowing with affection. “I remember everything that has happened these years.”

Fu Yucheng was so dizzy that he didn’t notice anything wrong with the other’s eyes. He just nodded. “Ah, you have a good memory.”

The boy looked at the man’s chapped and pale lips, struggling to endure his emotions. He was silent for a while, and then he looked down at his hands.

“Hey, hey, don’t waste your energy. Your psionic power is still unstable. The more you worry, the less it works. Anyway, ice can’t appear from thin air… You need to change the condensation point of the humidity in the air to form ice. The air in this cursed place is dry as hell, where would you get enough humidity to condense into ice?” Fu Yucheng shook his head gently.

Bai Mo frowned. “But you said earlier that the essence of psionic powers is being able to change the laws of physics with your consciousness… So, since everything is composed of atoms and electrons, of course it’d be possible to convert sand and water into each other…”

“While that sounds reasonable… whether it can be done is a different matter. Perhaps, one day, you’ll be able to turn the desert into an ocean.” Fu Yucheng looked at the sand dunes that rose and fell like waves and laughed softly. “Don’t tell me, it’s a bit like…”

His voice was getting softer and lighter, and his whole body slumped down softly.

Bai Mo hurriedly supported the man, gently placing him on his lap, and shook him. “Yu-ge, Yu-ge!”

Fu Yucheng’s eyelashes trembled extremely gently, but he gave no signs of regaining consciousness.

“Don’t- don’t fall asleep… please, please…!” Bai Mo stared at the man’s unconscious, pale face, his voice trembling uncontrollably.

The young man felt as if he had been thrown into a cold, terrible nightmare under the bright blazing sun. All of his body’s blood had frozen and turned to icicles, piercing his veins and heart arbitrarily.

He pressed his eyes closed, took another deep breath, and forced himself to calm down.

They had been walking for two days and two nights. They couldn’t be too far from the edge of the desert… Just hold on for a little longer…

Bai Mo gritted his teeth, carried Fu Yucheng on his back, and began to walk forward.

He panted slightly, moving forward at a slow pace, step by step. Fu Yucheng’s head rested on his shoulders, the man fully unconscious.

After a while, the boy’s legs felt as if they were made of lead, and every step he took required using up all of his strength and willpower.

The last time he had felt like that was two years prior, when he had been wandering the desert… Back then, he had almost given up and accepted his fate of dying there… And then he met Fu Yucheng.

However, this time, he could not give up.

Because on his back, he was carrying his whole world.

After who knows how long, a vague black spot appeared in the distance.

Bai Mo blinked his dry eyes with effort and realized that he hadn’t seen wrong. He felt ecstatic – it was a car!

If there’s a car, there must be people, water and food…

The boy’s spirits were lifted and he rushed forward, speeding up his pace. However, as the vehicle came closer and closer, his heart slowly sank to the bottom of the sea, piercingly cold.

It was their own car – that very familiar, all terrain off-road RV.

They had gone in a big circle and returned.

A sweet and warm liquid ran down his throat… Fu Yucheng felt dizzy and couldn’t resist sucking it in. He took two more gulps, feeling the sweet and cloying taste of raw meat, scalding hot.

Fu Yucheng could vaguely sense that something was wrong, some kind of extremely ominous feeling… He couldn’t… it couldn’t be…

Practically using up all of his strength, he finally opened his eyes slowly.

The young man moved his wrist away from Fu Yucheng’s lips and weakly said, “You’re awake.”

Struggling, Fu Yucheng’s eyes moved to the other’s wrist — it was covered in several deep cuts, the gruesome scarlet wound bleeding without stopping.

What he had drank just now was… Fu Yucheng’s head spun.

He closed his eyes. He wanted to say something, but there was nothing he could say.

The boy looked at him. His voice was terribly hoarse. “Yu-ge, we came back again.”

Fu Yucheng also spotted the off-road vehicle behind him and gave a low ‘hm’.

They were back.

And this time, they didn’t have even a drop of water left. Even if they guessed the direction right, they had no chance of getting out of the vast desert.

Fu Yucheng felt a bit disappointed.

He lay on the hot sand, looking up at the deep blue sky, all kinds of confusing thoughts swirling inside his mind.

Was he going to die?

But… but there were so many things he still had to do.

Very important things…

Things he was willing to spend his entire life fighting for, and even put his life on the line for…

As if he could read what Fu Yucheng was thinking, the boy whispered, “Yu-ge, you still have a chance. You can get out of here.”

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Fu Yucheng didn’t reply, the dehydration throwing his mind into disarray.

Bai Mo continued calmly, “A human body contains about 4000 to 6000 milliliters of blood… if you save it and drink it, it’s enough to support you for two to three days.”

Fu Yucheng was frozen for a long time before realizing what the other meant.

For an instant, he almost choked.

The boy’s dark eyes were unwavering. “I know you still have things to do, very important things. And this… this is the only way I can help you achieve them.”

Fu Yucheng asked hoarsely, “Little Mo, what nonsense are you saying?!”

Bai Mo opened his mouth. He wanted to say something more—some words that had been in his heart for a long time, some insignificant, ridiculous thoughts, things he had imagined that he would tell the man personally, some time in the future… But in the end, he said nothing.

At this point, he didn’t want to disturb Fu Yucheng’s state of mind anymore.

The young man looked at the other carefully, his eyes slowly sweeping from the smooth forehead to the pale lips. He wanted to keep this face that was engraved in his bones and his heart1 and keep it safely in his mind, until they met in the next life…

And then, he brought his wrist to the opening of the water canteen and, without hesitation, he cut down on it forcefully, blood suddenly gushing out like a fountain.

“Don’t, don’t do this…” Fu Yucheng could only see darkness before his eyes, and, although he wanted to rush to stop him, he didn’t have any strength to do so.

Bai Mo ignored him completely and focused on pouring the blood into the water canteen. At the same time, he said calmly, “Later, in case I faint, you should slice open my carotid artery and get out as much blood as possible, don’t waste any of it… there are some anticoagulant pills in the car, remember to throw two in.”

Fu Yucheng was about to go mad with anger. At that moment, with strength he didn’t know he had left, he raised a hand and gave him a slap. “Are you fucking crazy?! I won’t drink it!”

The young man was momentarily dumbfounded, looking at the other in a daze, five bright red fingerprints marked on his face.

This kid… Fu Yucheng’s heart suddenly twisted violently, and the dizziness became heavier…

Yes, that was correct, he still had many important things that had to be done… something very important that concerned everyone… the White Rose Palace… the Dyson Cloud… he could give up everything to achieve his purpose… but, to sacrifice this kid’s life?

He took a low breath and shook his head vigorously. “No, no, I can’t…!”

Bai Mo roared hoarsely, “There’s no ‘I can’t’! It doesn’t matter if I live or die, but you… You have to live! Yu-ge, listen to me just this once, okay?!”

“Fuck you! How old do you think you are?! Why should I2 listen to a brat like you?!” Fu Yucheng roared.

He gasped again and laboriously tore off the bottom half of his T-shirt. “Ah, bandage it yourself!”

Bai Mo held the torn piece of cloth and looked at Fu Yucheng blankly, letting the blood flowing from his wrist sink into the yellow sand, drop by drop.

“Wrap it up! Didn’t you hear me?!” Fu Yucheng felt nothing but pain and drowsiness in his head, his throat as rough as if it had been burnt. “Listen, even if you drain the blood, I won’t drink it!”

Bai Mo looked at him and knew that, once the man decided something, just like at that moment, no one would be able to persuade him. After hesitating, he ended up bandaging his wrist haphazardly, but the cut from a moment ago was too deep and the blood kept dripping down the fabric.

Fu Yucheng coughed and pointed to a cluster of poplar trees nearby: “Pick up a branch from over there, a thin one.”

Bai Mo picked up a branch and handed it to him. Fu Yucheng broke a part off, inserted it into the cloth tied around the other’s wrist, and twisted the branch fiercely. “Here, now it’s fine. Hold onto the branch yourself to stop the bleeding, you can let go of it after some time has passed.”

The two sat on the sand, relatively wordless.

After an undefined amount of time, they heard a very soft squeak.

Bai Mo quickly turned his head around, only to spot a big, fat rat suddenly slip out from under the vehicle!

The young man was taken aback for a moment, and then he reacted. It was food delivered right to their doorstep! He immediately drew his knife and threw it at the rat fiercely.

Sadly, he had lost too much blood, and so, he didn’t have a lot of strength in his hand. The knife flew slightly off center.

The fat rat was frightened, squeaked in horror, and ran away.

Bai Mo said quietly, “Such a shame.”

“No way, how can there be mutant hamsters at a place like this?” Fu Yucheng murmured.

Mutant hamsters3 were a common type of mutated rodent. Their bodies were 20 to 30 cm long, and they fed on small insects, fruits, and grass roots. Usually, these hamsters lived near an array of criss-cross tunnels, caves or underground rivers, and they were almost impossible to find in the desert.

“Maybe it came from somewhere else?” Bai Mo was also a little confused.

“No, the range of hamsters is usually less than three kilometers.” Fu Yucheng’s eyes gradually lit up. “Little Mo, maybe we’ve been saved… There must be something under this sand, perhaps an underground river!”

He paused, and then took a breath. “Little Mo, follow the traces of that hamster and look for it. There should be an entrance.”

Bai Mo walked around in a wide circle and, as expected, he found a cave near the roots of the trees behind the car. The cave was hidden by a large cluster of camelthorn bushes, and, unless someone looked very closely, they wouldn’t notice it at all.

“Yu-ge, there really is a cave here!” The boy was shocked.

“Help me get over there, let me see,” Fu Yucheng muttered.

Bai Mo carefully supported Fu Yucheng, and the two arrived at the front of the cave.

Reluctantly, Fu Yucheng stretched out a hand to push aside the camelthorn bush4 that covered the front of the cave. He strained his eyes for a while, but the inside of the cave was too dark and he couldn’t see anything.

Fu Yucheng, after some thought, picked up a small stone and threw it into the cave, listening carefully.

The stone rolled down and the noise gradually faded away. It sounded very empty.

“The bottom is very deep and it should be a slope, with a drop of more than 50 meters,” Bai Mo whispered.

“Let’s go down,” Fu Yucheng said solemnly.

Bai Mo nodded. “I’ll go down first, you follow me. Be careful.”

Fu Yucheng didn’t argue with him either, and the two slid down, one after the other.

After an unknown length of time, hitting multiple bumps along the way, they finally fell onto the ground.

The underground area was pitch black, and they couldn’t even see their own fingers.

“Noob, turn on the light,” Fu Yucheng said in a low voice.

“Beep beep beep – lights are on.” Noob produced a sharp sound, and its entire body lit up with a faint blue color.

Under the soft light reminiscent of a magical sphere, their eyes suddenly went wide.

Bai Mo blinked, almost speechless from the shock. “…Yu-ge, what is this place?”

Looking at the dilapidated scene in front of him, Fu Yucheng took a deep breath. “This is a subway station. A subway station from two centuries ago.”

There was a wide hall in front of them, surrounded by deep walkways. A thick layer of sand covered the ground. The corners of the roof were full of ancient cobwebs, and all sorts of lamps, equipment and signs swayed around.

This was a long-abandoned subway station.

It was also one of the large structures that were buried in the newborn desert after the lock-in day.

Bai Mo’s eyes suddenly lit up and he rushed to a wall a few steps away. He smashed the glass of a vending machine with a single blow and took out a bottle of purified water.

Ignoring the pain from the wound in his wrist, the young man unscrewed the bottle cap, hurriedly turned around and handed it to Fu Yucheng.

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Fu Yucheng took the bottle and swallowed the cold purified water greedily.

His sense of taste had always been very sensitive. Now, he drank this bottle of purified water with extreme thirst, two years past its expiration date, and, surprisingly, he didn’t notice any strange taste.

Author’s note:

The food preservation technology of the 22nd century became very advanced. Everything is vacuum sealed and the outer packaging also uses a new type of material that allows for long term storage~ Chengcheng and Little Mo, feel free to drink it~ You can drink until you’re full, and you can also go to the subway station’s supermarket and stock up on snacks or something, haha

This chapter’s angst was *chef’s kiss*

Just to lighten up the mood, I hope everyone realizes that Fu Yucheng is, at the end of this chapter, wearing a crop top.

Important notice! Due to my incoming exams, I’m temporarily slowing down this translation’s fixed updates to Wednesdays only! I will still attempt to do two updates a week, but I can only promise one for the next three or four weeks! After my exams are done, we’ll go back to biweekly updates!

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Footnotes

刻骨铭心的脸 the idiom means remembered with profound gratitude, but it sounds much more snazzy if we go literal and I didn’t want to miss that in the translation.Fu Yucheng addresses himself as 老子 here, it’s an arrogant way to refer to yourself as senior to someone else.地鼠 literally earth rodent, it’s the Chinese name for… the pokemon diglett. It doesn’t appear to be any specific real life animal. However, a dictionary gave me hamster as an option and so I’m running with it because it’s the closest thing in tone I could think of.骆驼刺杂草 specifically, Alhagi sparsifolia according to online articles, it’s a desert plant with deep roots.