Dark Star Field [Interstellar]

From this day on, Xue Yelai's life changed.

People tend to think that a huge disaster will turn a person's life upside down overnight.

But that doesn't have to be the case.

Sometimes, disasters don't suddenly change a person's original track, but make it deviate bit by bit.It's like embarking on a never-ending downhill road, a slow but irreversible plunge into the abyss.

Today's Xue Yelai is walking on such a road.

On the surface, he doesn't seem to be implicated by what happened to his family, and he can even temporarily maintain his previous standard of living.

But he himself knows that every day from now on will be sinking.

The emperor's trial of Xue's family is still going on, he can't see his father, he can only look at the Tower of Blood every day.The tall tower with black spire is located in the west of the city, covered with sunset glow at dusk, like the tip of a spear soaked in blood.

In the history of the empire, countless people were imprisoned in this tower, and none of them came out safe and sound.The horror of the situation inside is beyond the imagination of ordinary people.Even if you save your life, your body will be disabled.

But what Xue Yelai could do was not to let himself imagine.

He has no source of income, and all his cards have been frozen.The friends in the past could not count on any of them. I'm afraid they will avoid the surname "Xue" when they hear it now.

Xue Yelai was a little lucky that he didn't hand over all the cash that he had on him to Qiangwei that night.Otherwise, he would have to ask Qiangwei for money with a shy face, and it would be better to kill him.

The three elders who survived the Baihua Temple incident reappeared to control the overall situation of the Xue family.

Xue Yelai paid homage to the Great Elder again.Compared with the last time we met, the Great Elder looked better, and he no longer coughed violently, but the wrinkles on his face were deeper.

"I heard that at first someone reported to His Majesty the Emperor that your father had hidden the relics of the Su family." The elder tapped his finger on the cup, his brows full of worries, "According to the informant, after the Su family was exterminated, , your father did not report all their family property to His Majesty, but secretly hid some things."

...Hide the relics of the Su family?

Doubts flashed across Xue Yelai's mind.If so, how could the final charge be defection?

Moreover, the incident itself does not seem to make sense.After the Su family was wiped out, the family property was divided up by the other three major families in the Senate, and most of it fell into the hands of the Xue family.The Xue family not only got a large amount of real estate, but also countless treasures and belongings.

What else could be so important that his father would take a huge risk and hide it secretly?

Seeing his thoughts, the Great Elder continued: "Your Majesty did not take these words lightly, and sent the Royal Gendarmerie to search your home. As a result, not only the relics of the Su family were actually found, but also the place where your father planned to defect. Evidence. It is not clear what it is, and many details are still in the confidential stage.”

Speaking of this, the Great Elder sighed, "You know, in the eyes of His Majesty, defection is tantamount to treason, and it is an unforgivable crime. In addition to what happened in the Hundred Flowers Temple..."

Xue Yelai lowered his eyelashes.

"Although you have reached this point, don't be too sad." The elder seemed to be unable to bear it, and tried to persuade him, "We will try our best to help you intercede with His Majesty, and maybe there will be a turnaround."

Xue Yelai didn't speak, but just nodded.

Seeing that he was silent, the Great Elder changed his tone and said again: "Son, I have something to ask. Did your father give you the badge of our family?"

Xue Yelai's eyes flickered slightly, and he asked back, "The family crest?"

"Yes, it is the badge representing the power of the patriarch. If it is in your hands now, you'd better give it to our three elders for safekeeping. You are still too young, and when you will be able to take over the position of the patriarch, I will formally hand it over to you."

This request is not unreasonable.But from the other party's expression or tone, Xue Yelai keenly caught a trace of cunning.It's just an insignificant trace, like a speck of dust flying in the sun, fleeting.

"You have considered it very carefully, and the reasoning should indeed be entrusted to you." Xue Yelai lowered his eyebrows and bowed his head, with a humble attitude, "It's just that this badge can only be passed down in the family and has never been handed over. The family rules are like this, I will never Dare to set this precedent.”

The elder was vaguely embarrassed, "It's true that the clan rules are like this, but it's not impossible to change them. The current situation is special, so there is no need to stick to the rules."

"My family's family history records very clearly. When the Empire and the Interstellar Federation fought for the first time, my family was responsible for guarding the palace. We fought until the last person was left, desperately keeping the glory of the empire and the family's emblem. This person is My great-grandfather is also a hero in my heart. Therefore, unless I encounter a more critical situation than before, I forgive me for not being able to hand over the badge. It's not that I don't want to, but I really can't."

In that war that year, the Interstellar Federation had been penetrating into the heartland of the empire, only one step away from entering the imperial palace.If the supporting fleet hadn't arrived at the last minute, the history of the Star Empire would have ended 100 years ago.

The so-called "more critical situation than before" in Xue Yelai's mouth naturally refers to the fall of the entire empire.

The Great Elder naturally understood his implication: "the glory of the empire" and "the power of the family" were bound together for him.Let him hand over the badge, unless the empire falls.

How dare the Great Elder show a little bit of "no confidence in the empire" at such a moment, and immediately follow suit: "Good boy. Seeing that you have such a sense of responsibility, I feel relieved. The future of our Xue family depends entirely on you." gone."

"Yes." Xue Yelai responded, but felt a little cold in his heart.The decline of the Xue family was doomed a long time ago.After the last war, in nearly a century of comfort, the inner cohesion of the entire family has long since disappeared.From the patriarch's father, to the elders, to distant relatives like Xue Ruheng, everyone is doing their own thing.

Like the ancestors, gathering the strength of the entire family to fight for the empire, and closely linking the fate of the family with the glory of the empire-such a thing will never happen again.

"Okay, please go back, it's time for me to rest." The Great Elder turned his seat and stared at the densely clouded sky through the gap in the blinds.

Xue Yelai got up to say goodbye.When he stepped out of the room, he suddenly heard the Great Elder muttering, as if he was talking to himself, but also as if he was speaking to him: "A house that accumulates goodness must have lingering celebrations. A house that has accumulated evils must have lingering disasters. "

Xue Yelai could hear clearly, but he didn't stop or look back.

In the evening, the sky became more and more gloomy, and thunder rolled above the thick clouds.Open the webpage with a communicator and see that the planetary weather station has issued several lightning warnings one after another, and there will be strong convective weather in the next few days.

Xue Yelai closed the webpage.Apart from the weather, he doesn't want to read any information online.With heavy steps, he walked slowly towards the residence.

He had already left Cao's residence, and lived with others in a temporary collective apartment.Because of the curfew task to be implemented every night, the Senate required that all alternate guards implement a joint accommodation and training system, living together, going out and entering together, which is convenient for training and management.This was a good thing for Xue Yelai, and it somewhat relieved the loneliness of being homeless.

It is more like a capsule cell than a group apartment.There is only one cabin-sized space for each person, and there are people up, down, left, and right.

Xue Yelai's bunk was in the middle of the third floor.He climbed in along the ladder, knelt on the hardwood bed, and spread out his quilt silently.

It was hot and humid, with a looming thunderstorm, and the air was stuffy and sticky.A strand of Xue Yelai's hair was stuck to his neck with sweat, making him very uncomfortable.But he didn't lift it.Somehow, he had a ridiculous and weird obsession in his mind: to give himself a special training, to make himself suffer.

He once read a very peculiar book called The Book of Lost Things.In the story, the mother of the little boy was seriously ill and died soon.So the little boy made a series of cumbersome rules for himself: which foot to walk first, whether the number touching the doorknob is double or single... The little boy forces himself to abide by these rules as strictly as possible every day, and convinces himself : If he suffered more, his mother's illness would be better.

When a person knows that he is about to lose something, and he has nothing to do about it, he will create some unreasonable superstitious laws for himself.Only those who have experienced it will understand that this may be a kind of self-anesthesia to prevent yourself from collapsing.

Xue Yelai discovered that he himself had unconsciously created a ridiculous belief: as long as he suffered more outside, his father would suffer less in the Tower of Blood.No matter what will happen in the future, as long as he can hold on, so can his father.

It must be so.It must be so.It has to be like this.

"Hey!" Someone below knocked on the bed board and shouted dissatisfiedly, "What are the people above doing? Can they be lighter?"

It was only then that Xue Yelai noticed that he was making the bed too hard, as if he wanted to smash the bed board through.He poked his head out and said to the following: "Sorry, I will pay attention."

Seeing him, the people below moved their lips and swallowed back the curse words, for fear of getting hurt.

The only happy thing is that the warriors also live with their respective sages since there is no room to spare.

Warriors are the weapons and bodyguards of the sages, and it is always reassuring to have them by their side.No matter how noble and sage they thought they were before, they now wish to be inseparable from warriors.Therefore, even though two people were squeezed into the bunk that could only accommodate one person, none of the sages complained.

When sleeping, Xue Yelai drew the curtains, barely enclosing a private space.

Bai Yang and him were wrapped in a thin blanket, facing each other, lying sideways together, without making a sound.In such an unobstructed place, even the slightest movement will be heard by the people around.

Xue Yelai asked with mouth shape: Are you used to it?

Bai Yang nodded slightly.He didn't bring Xue Ye, because both ends of the bed were connected.If the person in the next bunk wants to climb down the ladder, they will pass by them.So he just put one hand behind Xue Yelai's head and stroked that soft red hair.

Xue Yelai's hair hasn't been properly taken care of for a while, and the ends are a little knotted.Bai Yang's fingertips penetrated into the hair, and slowly slid down, with unparalleled patience and care.

Suddenly his fingertips paused and left Xue Yelai's head.Xue Yelai glanced from the corner of his eye, and saw Bai Yang's hand with a lot of falling red hair.They are entangled, shocking in the dim light.

These days, Xue Yelai has been covering up his emotions in front of Bai Yang.He quietly weakened the spiritual connection between the two, neither letting Bai Yang peep into his heart nor feel Bai Yang's heart.

He was afraid of seeing pity in Bai Yang's heart, which would make him feel ashamed.The Xue family's situation today seems to be a kind of late retribution.

He was even more afraid that Bai Yang would show no mercy to him, which would make him feel betrayed.

But a lot of hair that fell out betrayed him.They curled haggardly, lost their former lustrous luster, as if his pain had made them too much to bear and had to escape from his scalp.

Bai Yang brought the mess of hair in front of his eyes, and tidied them up neatly.His fingers were slender, and his movements were as deft as a barber's, and he quickly tied the hair into a bundle.

Xue Yelai looked awkward, and stretched out his hand, trying to grab them and throw them away.Reluctantly, Bai Yang's movements were faster than him, and with a flick of his fingertips, the bundle of hair disappeared.The other hand reached out and pressed Xue Yelai's hand.

Xue Yelai couldn't break free and couldn't get angry, and said word by word with his mouth: you, yes, fetish, object, obsession?

Bai Yang understood it, and answered two short words with his mouth: No.

Xue Yelai hated Bai Yang for not being enlightened.People with a little bit of love talk skills can blurt out something like "I'm not fetish but you" at such a time.

Bai Yang looked at him, and suddenly leaned closer to his face.Xue Yelai only felt a breeze-like breath blowing past his ears, accompanied by two vague words: not afraid.Before he could tell whether he had heard it wrong, his lips suddenly warmed slightly, and were held by two soft petals.

The kiss came so unexpectedly that Xue Yelai held his breath subconsciously, not daring to move.After reacting, he kissed back even harder.It was very difficult to bite without making any movement, so Xue Yelai had to press Bai Yang's lips as hard as possible, so as not to reveal a gap, so as not to leak a little sound.

The lips of the two were entangled silently for a long time, and then separated slowly and smoothly.Bai Yang's breathing was not disordered at all, but Xue Yelai was panting a little. He got into the blanket and buried his head in front of Bai Yang's chest, and took a set of deep breaths to adjust his breath.He strained his ears and listened to the left and right, but the beds on both sides did not respond, and no one noticed their actions just now.Xue Yelai felt a little itchy in his heart, as if he secretly ate a candy while the teacher was not paying attention during class.

Their turn to be on duty is in the middle of the night.Xue Yelai fell asleep in Bai Yang's arms for an unknown amount of time until she was woken up by the communicator.

Each person's daily duty point is not fixed, and the companions who take the shift are also not fixed, and are randomly assigned by the computer system.

Xue Yelai happened to work with Rose tonight, guarding the exit of a high-speed tunnel.The Royal Gendarmerie set up a roadblock here, and all aircraft coming out of the tunnel must stop and be interrogated.

Xue Yelai and Rose stood far away from the roadblock.Their mission is not to intercept the aircraft, but to prevent someone from jumping off the aircraft and escaping.There are mountains and forests outside the tunnel entrance, and those who run fast may get rid of the military police and get into the dense forest, so it is difficult to find them.

Rose leaned against a Metasequoia tree, and yawned listlessly.There was no real friendship between him and Xue Yelai, and it was more comfortable not to speak to each other.Xue Yelai was not very willing to strike up a conversation with him, so he took Bai Yang to a place closer to the forest.

The forest at night is very different from the daytime.In the darkness, those silent tree silhouettes are inexplicably strange and solemn, and even have a certain sense of fate, like a group of stone statues left by ancient civilizations.After watching for a long time, people will have an illusion: trees are the only real existence on this planet.Their tall bodies reach up to the sky where the gods are.Human beings crawl under their feet, just dusty passers-by.

Xue Yelai looked at the shadows of the trees and was fascinated.Is it accidental that the spiritual body of a warrior is a tree?

Suddenly someone pulled his arm.Xue Yelai stopped and returned to reality.

"Don't go further inside." Bai Yang held his arm, "It's easy to get lost in the forest, and it's even more unsafe at night."

"Oh." Xue Yelai's eyes were still lingering in the dark shadow of the trees, "Baiyang, don't you think the trees at night look very mysterious?"

Bai Yang shined his flashlight in that direction, and said lightly, "It's not the trees that are mysterious, but the darkness. No matter what is placed in the darkness, it will be mysterious."

"That's right." Xue Yelai nodded dutifully, "I think you are very mysterious because you are a dark warrior."

Bai Yang was noncommittal, and asked for a moment: "Do you like mysterious things? Why?"

Xue Yelai thought for a while, "Because mysterious things make me feel that there may be some unknown forces in this world that we don't know. Fate or something, maybe it really exists."

Bai Yang seemed to have smiled lightly, but didn't speak any more.

Xue Yelai was about to speak when suddenly there was a sharp metal scraping sound behind him, and many people shouted loudly.Looking back, I saw an aircraft rushing straight out of the tunnel.A row of barricades used as barricades hung on the buffer rod of its head, and it dragged along the ground at high speed, sparking dazzling sparks.

A gendarme was chasing after him on a flying motorcycle, calling through the intercom: "Location D1365-F! Location D1365-F! Emergency! Emergency! An aircraft broke through the roadblock and escaped!"

The aircraft that caused the accident, which was intercepted, did not have time to raise its altitude, so it made a sharp turn and crashed into the forest behind Xue Yelai.