Little Mushroom

An Zhe trembled violently the moment he was embraced.

He fell on Lu Feng, forehead against this person's shoulder. It was hard to describe his mood at this moment but he felt like his heart was being held tightly by one hand. Intense pain drowned him and warm liquid poured out of his eyes. He knew that he was crying, knew that it was tears—something that only humans could possess. However, he felt it for the first time—the feeling that his heart was being torn into pieces.

Why had it become like this? He thought that if it had been two months ago and his heterogeneous identity was revealed, he wouldn't be so sad and feel that he had betrayed Lu Feng's trust.

If it wasn't for Lu Feng's friendship these days, he might not be so scared when confronted with Lu Feng's gun. If Lu Feng hadn't hugged him, he probably wouldn't feel… so wronged.

He just didn't know why Lu Feng had dropped the gun. He had never experienced such a fierce emotion before and couldn't deal with other things. He didn't understand anything but he cried for a long time. Once no more tears came out, he was slightly exhausted.

The night deepened and once he finally calmed down, An Zhe noticed that there was silence all around them. It was like there was nothing in this world except the two of them. He was buried in Lu Feng's shoulder, chest leaning against Lu Feng's chest. The slight tremor of a heartbeat came across the fabric but it was unknown who it belonged to.

They were both alive.

He rubbed his eyes and his voice was a bit hoarse. "Why did it fall?"

"The engine is faulty." Lu Feng replied. "I'm going to get the black box."

An Zhe hummed and let go of Lu Feng. This hug seemed to have been too long. Once they separated, the wind from the wilderness poured in toward the places that had originally been intimately close. It was very cold and An Zhe shook slightly. Lu Feng placed his coat around An Zhe and walked toward the wreckage of the plane. This was a small fighter plane and the wreckage wasn't large. An Zhe watched Lu Feng pry the tail with parts scattered on the ground, taking out a bright orange box.

"I saw several planes falling down," he said as he recalled what happened during the day.

Lu Feng lightly hummed. Even if An Zhe was a mushroom, it knew it was strange for so many planes to have engine failures at the same time.

"Why?" he asked.

"I don't know. I can't analyze it until I return to the box." Lu Feng put away the box and walked back to him. "Where do you live?"

"On the ground."

Lu Feng raised his eyebrows. An Zhe shut up and stopped speaking. This phrase 'on the ground' really wasn't like something a human would say.

Then Lu Feng soon noticed the only unusual things in the wilderness—the black bee and the backpack on the ground. He went there, followed by An Zhe. However, the pain from An Zhe's ankle just arrived. Lu Feng glanced back at him. An Zhe bit his lower lip and limped to keep up.

—Then he was carried back by Lu Feng. He was familiar with the colonel doing this type of thing and found his place with ease. They were very close and it didn't seem to be the distance that a human and heterogeneous species should have. Just for tonight, the colonel wasn't a colonel and the heterogeneous wasn't a heterogeneous.

Holding Lu Feng's neck, An Zhe vaguely felt the outline of a string. His fingers lowered and he touched something warm and cool. There was a hard pendant hanging around Lu Feng's neck.

The escape from Lu Feng killing him seemed to have increased his courage. The shape of the pendant was too familiar so his fingers touched Lu Feng's neck and he gently fished it out. Lu Feng said nothing, seemingly acquiescing to this action. At the end of the silver metal chain, a brass-coloured bullet casing flicked in the faint dark light of the aurora.

His own shell casing pendant represented the missing spore. So what did Lu Feng's represent? An Zhe didn't know and only made a gentle sound.

He heard Lu Feng lightly stating, "My father."

An Zhe didn't say anything. After around three minutes, he put the pendant back inside Lu Feng's clothes. An Zhe lay his head on Lu Feng's shoulder, his arms holding on tightly and he didn't move anymore.

Through the clothing, Lu Feng felt the person on his back tense nervously before gradually relaxing, entire body leaning on Lu Feng. After what happened today, An Zhe could still lean on him without any precautions. This boy always did something unexpected.

An Zhe's warm breath touched his neck and shoulders. An Zhe had the normal weight for a person his age but he wasn't heavy for Lu Feng. He leaned on Lu Feng without any vigilance, as if all the dangers and fears in this world had nothing to do with him.

Lu Feng remembered the year he joined the Trial Court. There was no particular reason for entering the Trial Court. He just wanted to protect everyone. In fact, he protected some people and hurt many others. He didn't mean it but he became an object of hatred.

As they walked, An Zhe's breathing gradually became lighter and gentler. He had cried for a long time today and should be tired. Like all the little things in the world, this little heterogeneous might be able to fall asleep.

Lu Feng also remembered that time when the insects were raging in the city. He had received a call from An Zhe, whose voice had been soft and almost afraid. It was his seventh year as a judge and this was the first time he had ever received a request for help. No one else would do so.

In such an era, protecting everyone was just a doomed illusion. However, Lu Feng felt that if he could at least protected someone—when he was asked for help, such a fleeting expectation had risen in his heart.

By the time he was put down, An Zhe was about to fall asleep. Lu Feng placed his coat on An Zhe as a blanket but this person obviously hadn't taken care of anyone. The badge on the coat scraped against An Zhe. An Zhe took it off in a half-asleep state and found it was the one he had been holding in the base. When he escaped in mycelium form, his clothes, including this badge, had fallen on the ground. Now the badge had returned to Lu Feng.

Holding it, An Zhe sobered up a lot. He carefully asked, "What did the doctor say to you?"

Lu Feng looked down at him. "What do you want him to say?"

An Zhe's voice was small. "…Nothing."

Lu Feng did have a plan to explain it seriously but then he saw the little heterogeneous holding his backpack and curling up in a small manner. In the moonlight, the pair of dark eyes stared at him seriously, as if it was easy to produce emotional fluctuations.

Lu Feng sneered faintly. "Do you think you have that much ability?"

An Zhe completely turned his back to this person.