Chapter 2896: Town Infrastructure Construction Proceeds Happily 16/17

The sky gradually lightened, and the post‑rain wilderness was filled with damp mist.

Jin Chen leisurely came out of the tent and stretched.

He changed into clean clothes, the spare garments Huo Zhao Ye had found in his equipment pack, and his eyes showed a hint of fatigue.

Outside the cave, the townspeople were already busy, gathering belongings, checking the wounded, and preparing to return.

Jin Chen leaned against a relatively dry stone at the cave mouth, his gaze wandering idly.

Of the two leaders, only Lu Jun was still directing the camp; Huo Zhao Ye was nowhere to be seen.

Yan Tenggu had also woken, sitting leaning against the stone wall; Lu Jun crouched before him, holding half a clean fruit, urging him to eat something.

Hearing the movement, Lu Jun turned his head, saw it was Jin Chen, and nodded, saying, "Teacher Jin Chen, Huo Zhao Ye took two people nearby to look for food and scout the route."

Jin Chen nodded.

Lu Jun felt a bit creeped out being watched, his whole body felt awkward, not to mention the previous embarrassment he'd suffered at Jin Chen's hands.

"Teacher Jin Chen, I always feel your gaze toward me is strange."

Jin Chen twitched the corner of his mouth at the words, not denying it, and said, "I've said before that Lord Lu looks like an old acquaintance of mine."

Lu Jun nodded, "Yes, and?"

Jin Chen looked at him and said leisurely, "That old acquaintance owes me a considerable favor."

"Now that I see Lord Lu, I can't help but tell you this."

Lu Jun: "……"

What does that mean?

Lu Jun wondered whether he was really too illiterate, why he could never understand what Jin Chen was saying.

Jin Chen, however, did not continue the topic; his gaze swept past Lu Jun toward the forest path.

Huo Zhao Ye returned with two North Town team members, bringing some edible fungi and wild fruits, and fortunately found a nest of bird eggs.

Huo Zhao Ye also rolled a large clean leaf into a tube to catch the nearby spring water.

Seeing Jin Chen waiting by the cave, Huo Zhao Ye handed him the leaf‑rolled water tube, saying, "The spring water we found nearby is fairly clean; drink a little, then wash your face."

Jin Chen took it, rinsed his mouth and washed his face with the spring water; the cold water made his skin turn slightly red, while Huo Zhao Ye stood before him, watching.

After washing his face and hands, Jin Chen casually wiped them with his sleeve, turned, wrapped his arms around Huo Zhao Ye's waist, and pressed his forehead against Huo Zhao Ye's upper back, yawning.

"Sleepy."

It seemed that this embrace, this dawn light, the cool morning breeze, and the person before him were destined to be his, everything belonging to him.

Huo Zhao Ye relaxed, letting him lean on him.

"Just hold on a bit longer; once we're back in town we can rest properly."

"Mm…"

Jin Chen answered, his arms not loosening at all.

Huo Zhao Ye's lips curled upward, feeling pleased.

【Villain Heartthrob Value +5, total 42!】

The way down the mountain was harder than the way up.

After the thunderstorm ravaged it, the wilderness was a mess, broken branches and leaves scattered everywhere.

The group helped each other, avoiding fallen trees, moving very slowly.

However, danger and opportunity often go hand in hand.

They trudged on, passing a slope where lightning had split the ground, exposing the damp soil below; Jin Chen stopped and took Huo Zhao Ye's hand.

"Lord Huo, there's Lei Gong's Beard here."

Huo Zhao Ye and Lu Jun both stopped and looked in that direction.

It was indeed Lei Gong's Beard, a rare medicinal plant that only sprouts briefly after a violent thunderstorm.

In the barren land after the heavenly disaster, medicine is scarce; this moss, which alleviates mutagenic toxins, is worth a fortune.

"Indeed!" Huo Zhao Ye pinched a small amount, brought it to his nose to sniff, then hurriedly scanned the surroundings; the area plowed by lightning was not small, with many scattered patches.

"Be careful, try not to damage the roots, gather the stems and leaves." Huo Zhao Ye whispered, pulling back Jin Chen who wanted to squat, "This place is dirty; let them do it."

"All right." Jin Chen chuckled lightly.

The gathering work lasted about half an hour, yielding a plentiful harvest.

They carefully wrapped it in the clean leaves and cloth they carried, also packing it into a large bulging bundle.

When dividing the supplies, Huo Zhao Ye hesitated little, pushing most of the gathered Lei Gong's Beard toward Lu Jun.

This thunderstorm, South Town failed to prepare in time, and the losses are estimated to be heavy.

"You take it back."

The South Town folks were stunned.

By rights, the supplies were found together on the return route, and with the North Town lord leading the team, the North Town should have gotten the lion's share.

Huo Zhao Ye's action was truly unexpected.

Lu Jun looked at Huo Zhao Ye, didn't raise an eyebrow to make a provoking remark as usual, took it, and said, "Thanks."

The tense atmosphere between the two young lords, which had lasted a long time, seemed to have eased slightly after this life‑and‑death journey through the wilderness.

——

Since that day, whenever the South Town people mention that North Town's Teacher Jin Chen, their attitude has changed, and they now envy North Town from the heart.

They have personally seen the strange devices made by North Town's children that can observe the sky; when the thunderstorm came, North Town had therefore prepared in advance, and its losses were far smaller than theirs.

In private, many people complain to Lu Jun, asking again and again whether they could also invite Teacher Jin Chen to give a few lessons, even offering grain or trading goods; if not, they'd sneak over to the bridge to listen.

The bold and thick‑skulled, while North Town is in class, sneak up to the end of Silence Bridge near North Town, or find a high spot, prick up their ears hoping to catch a few words.

North Town's Patrol Team remained vigilant, but after seeing they were merely listening, occasionally taking notes in a little notebook, they just turned a blind eye.

After all, their lord said that knowledge, once heard, if it could actually be used, would not be a bad thing for either town.

Yet the envied Huo Zhaoye has had no mind these days to savor South Town's envy.

He raised the town's outer defenses to the highest level.

That black shadow that could silently abduct many, swift as a ghost, seemed more like a strange creature than any other base's forces according to survivors' descriptions, but Huo Zhaoye dared not be careless.

He personally led the reinforcement of the walls, added watch points and warning traps, went out before dawn each day, and often returned only late at night.

Such high-intensity busyness also left him hardly any time to dwell on his thoughts about Jin Chen.

His pity and possessiveness made his gaze soften when he saw Jin Chen; he felt urges to touch, approach, and shield him under his wings.

Huo Zhaoye vaguely knows what that is, but he instinctively feels that indulging in personal feelings while facing daily crises and bearing a town's safety is neither appropriate nor responsible.

——

That evening.

Huo Zhaoye finally finished laying the last batch of new warning traps, patrolled once to confirm everything was in order, then headed toward the school building exhausted.

Past school dismissal time, Jin Chen was slowly wiping his homemade blackboard.

Huo Zhaoye walked in.

"You came so early today." Jin Chen heard the footsteps and asked casually.

"Hn." Huo Zhaoye answered, walked to his side, and pulled Jin Chen's hand to wipe the powder from his fingertips.

Jin Chen let him wipe, slightly turned his head, twitched his nose, and again smelled that herb-mixed scent.

"Have you been smoking?"

Huo Zhaoye raised his eyes, gave a vague reply, but didn't let go of his hand, just kept holding him.

The two walked out of the school building together; on the way, Huo Zhaoye and Jin Chen talked about recent developments in South Town.

"Lu Jun's side sent word that they want to send a few children over to attend lessons, offering to exchange some grain and tools."

He glanced at Jin Chen and said, "I'm thinking that you alone teaching those little rascals in North Town is already enough trouble."

"Adding more people, I'm afraid you'll get too tired."

They passed by the banks of the Old World River.

After the thunderstorm, the river water was especially turbulent; the evening sun's afterglow reflected on the surface, kneaded by the waves.

Here it is intense, grand, desolate yet magnificent.

But on both riverbanks, people have already begun daily labor and restoration.

Upon the ruins, new hope always sprouts.

"Teaching a few is teaching, teaching a dozen or so is also teaching; I'm not that easily tired either; if they're sincere, exchanging some practical things is fine."

Huo Zhaoye gripped his hand tighter, suddenly feeling somewhat relieved.

"Okay, I'll listen to you." Huo Zhaoye said, his tone unconsciously softening.

——

Returning to Jin Chen's small building, the sky was already growing dark.

Huo Zhaoye leaned back in the chair, closed his eyes, and pinched the bridge of his nose.

He was still thinking about his affairs with Jin Chen, but his body honestly protested and he began to doze.

Jin Chen went to wash his hands at the backyard water basin, came back, and saw Huo Zhaoye sitting in the chair with his head leaning to one side.

He stepped over lightly, and when Huo Zhaoye's head was about to tilt, he reached out to support his cheek.

Huo Zhaoye opened his eyes, still heavy with sleep and red veins, looking dazed; apparently utterly exhausted, he didn't sit up straight but leaned into Jin Chen's supporting hand, his forehead resting against Jin Chen's waist and abdomen.

Jin Chen lowered his gaze, his fingertip touching his slightly furrowed brow and tracing the brow bone.

Huo Zhaoye's eyelashes twitched again, but he did not dodge.

Jin Chen looked at him, suddenly chuckled, his fingertip still resting beside his lips, "Lord Huo is indeed handsome."

Huo Zhaoye: "……"

He usually hates hearing the teasing about his looks in town, but hearing it said so seriously from Jin Chen's mouth now made him feel uncomfortable all over and a bit inexplicably embarrassed.

"Don't say it." he muttered.

"Why not say it?" Jin Chen insisted, "What to do, I just feel that way."

His fingertip slid along Huo Zhaoye's jawline to his earlobe, gently pinching it, and he said, "Lord Huo is the best-looking person I've ever seen."

Huo Zhaoye saw Jin Chen's smiling appreciation, his pale lips uttering words that made his heartbeat lose rhythm.

Huo Zhaoye stood up, their noses touching.

But Jin Chen, at the instant before contact, slightly tilted his head back to avoid it.

The last light of dusk streamed through the window; Huo Zhaoye lowered his gaze, his eyes fixed on Jin Chen's pale lips, and asked, "Why do you avoid?"

Jin Chen looked at him leisurely, still that lazy appearance, as if the person who just teased wasn't him.

His eyes still held smiles, not diminished but even deeper, and he countered, "Why kiss?"

Huo Zhaoye fell silent.

A few seconds of silence were infinitely stretched in the small room.

Because he wanted to kiss.

Because he is good-looking.

Because his way of speaking is both aggravating and alluring.

Because when he leans in, his scent is pleasant.

Because… because those messy emotions in his heart always lose control when he sees him.

Huo Zhaoye has lived over twenty years, accustomed to using action instead of words, to charging ahead, and to fighting for what he wants.

But facing Jin Chen, those habitual methods seem to have lost their effect.

This person is like an elusive mist, seeming soft and fragile, yet with clear boundaries.

If you advance, he might retreat; if you retreat, he will unconsciously draw near.

【Detected Villain Heartthrob Value +5, total 47!】

Huo Zhaoye stared at Jin Chen for a few seconds, the wildness and abandon in his eyes unleashed without restraint; he didn't want to answer.

He pressed his tongue tip against his cheek, grabbed Jin Chen's collar, pulled him forward, and simultaneously gripped the back of his head.

Huo Zhaoye bit Jin Chen's lower lip; as their lips and teeth tangled, he muttered an answer that wasn't really an answer.

「You should know, Teacher Jin, what I want to do, I will do it. 」

Jin Chen: "……"

What words.

But despite that, such a Huo Zhaoye, soaked in desire and fatigue, is genuinely sexy.

Jin Chen decided to forgive, slightly raising his brow, curling the corners of his eyes, and embraced Huo Zhaoye's waist.

They stumbled, kissing from the table edge to the bedroom door, then tangled their way into the bedroom; Jin Chen was pressed against the door by him, enduring a kiss that threatened to consume him, while his fingers slipped into his sweaty hair, stroking intermittently.

Huo Zhaoye nearly pressed his full weight onto Jin Chen, pulling them both onto the not-so-spacious wooden plank bed.

In the intense kiss, Jin Chen slightly opened his eyes, saw the dark circles under his eyes, and actively withdrew from the kiss.

Huo Zhaoye didn't even think of chasing after him, his arms tightening as he tried to grasp something.

But Jin Chen moved first, seizing his fumbling hand, interlocking their fingers, their temperatures mingling. In the dim light, this simple gesture felt especially intimate.

Jin Chen brushed Huo Zhaoye's cheek, his thumb gently rubbing the slightly swollen corner of his mouth.

「Huo Zhaoye, sleep. 」

Huo Zhaoye stared, met Jin Chen's eyes in the dimness, relaxed, and fell into deep sleep within a few breaths.

But that hand remained stubbornly locked with Jin Chen's.

Really, he was exhausted—how could someone be ferociously kissing like they wanted to devour someone one second, then the next be able to fall asleep so defenselessly in his arms?

Jin Chen chuckled, furrowed his brow slightly, got up, and rummaged through Huo Zhaoye's coat pocket, finding a cigarette case.

The cigarette paper was rough, the tobacco inside dark brown, mixed with herbal powder.

Jin Chen picked one up, held it to his nose to sniff; most were calming herbs that soothed anxiety.

Huo Zhaoye rarely lost control of his emotions; even moments of irritability were seldom seen.

He was like an ever-vigilant alpha wolf—calm, fierce, leading the whole pack—so why would he need to smoke something obviously sedative, and then inevitably feel drowsy afterward?

Jin Chen looked at the bed where Huo Zhaoye lay in deep sleep.

He slept deeply, yet his brow remained slightly furrowed, as if even his dreams offered no peace.

Though clearly this young, between his brows lay a heaviness far beyond his years—he was the mainstay on which the entire town, its few hundred inhabitants, relied for survival.

Jin Chen closed the iron box, slipped it back into Huo Zhaoye's coat pocket, returned to the bedside, bent down, and placed an extremely light kiss on Huo Zhaoye's furrowed brow.

Without desire, only concern.