You Zhengping had just guessed Yu Hua’s true identity. He didn’t quite dare to go home. 

It wasn’t that he didn’t want to see Yu Hua. He just didn’t know what kind of expression to use to face his husband. He knew he ought to act like he always had, but he was worried that he couldn’t act as naturally as he had in the past. 

So when he left the base in the morning, he went right to work with his team, changed into his uniform, sat in his chair, and zoned out. 

Cen Xiao reached out a hand and waved it in front of his eyes. “What are you thinking about? We’re going on patrol at ten, get motivated.” 

“Okay.” You Zhengping drank a mouthful of water. He wasn’t especially motivated. 

He hadn’t gone home in the morning, so he was missing breakfast personally made by Yu Hua. You Zhengping felt that his energy was lacking. 

In fact, it was because of Yu Hua that he could formally participate in battle. 

Yu Hua seemed to only be doing normal housework, but he was You Zhengping’s safe haven. No matter how tired he was, how hard he had worked, when he came home and saw Yu Hua, hugged him, ate a mouthful of familiar home cooking, he would be full of energy. 

Seeing You Zhengping looking listless and sick, Cen Xiao said in concern, “Are you not feeling well? Did you pull a muscle playing basketball yesterday?” 

“Playing basketball” was a term they used to cover up their operations. This was their job; there were many ordinary people here, and the walls had ears. Cen Xiao couldn’t speak as freely as he did at the base. 

Cen Xiao was asking You Zhengping whether he had been injured during yesterday’s operation in some way that hadn’t been noticed. The fight yesterday had been fierce, and You Zhengping had developed a new use for his spatial ability at a critical moment. He may have received a hidden injury. 

“I’m fine, just a little disinterested.” You Zhengping shook his head. 

He had been somewhat worn out by yesterday’s breakthrough, but when the black-cloaked man had held his waist, You Zhengping had felt his body fill with energy. It had definitely been the black-cloaked man restoring his energy for him. 

No matter the circumstances, Yu Hua was always his mainstay. 

There was still some time before they went on patrol. You Zhengping lay unmoving on his desk, his eyes fixed on the screen of his phone. The screen displayed his and Yu Hua’s chat log. 

Yu Hua must have been disappointed when he didn’t come home in the morning. I should have gone home to see him, You Zhengping was thinking unhappily. 

Cen Xiao shook his head. To protect his friend, Cen Xiao hadn’t reported You Zhengping’s ambiguous relationship with the black-cloaked man. He believed that as an outstanding Protector, You Zhengping had enough conviction to resist this sort of emotional danger. Cen Xiao was willing to give You Zhengping time to recover. 

At a time like this, he couldn’t struggle on his own. Yu Hua also had to act. 

Cen Xiao picked up his phone, wondering whether to warn Yu Hua not to always be busy at work and to pay some more attention to You Zhengping. 

While he was considering it, the door guard came over carrying two lunchboxes and said, “A runner just delivered these. They’re for You Zhengping.” 

You Zhengping slowly got up. He walked over and saw the familiar handwriting on the lunchboxes and instantly felt warm. 

He opened the lunchbox with his name stuck onto it. The smell of sweets instantly filled the whole room. Cen Xiao and the others swallowed involuntarily. Yu Hua had made delicious food again. 

Before, Cen Xiao would have wanted to snatch some. But You Zhengping’s emotions were going through a dangerous period. He couldn’t destroy this sweetness; he could only endure starvation and hold back his teammates. 

Fortunately, You Zhengping pushed the other big box in front of them just then. “Yu Hua says this is for all of you. He says everyone has been working hard to protect the people, he can’t do anything to help, and giving presents is against regulations. He can only send some food to display the gratitude of a common person.” 

Yu Hua knew just what to say. Cen Xiao and the others charged over, happily picked up the sweets, and started to eat. 

The Protectors’ energy consumption was large. They had strong cravings for sweets. Among the ordinary policemen, there were those who didn’t like sweets, so Yu Hua had considerately made some savory cakes. Everyone was pleased. 

You Zhengping in particular had been grinning from ear to ear since he had seen the lunchboxes. He picked up an egg yolk pasty and began to eat blissfully. 

He had eaten breakfast at the police station’s dining hall. He had gotten full, but he hadn’t felt satisfied. But after eating only a mouthful of egg yolk pastry hand made by Yu Hua, his motivation soared. 

The sweet but not cloying taste spread through his mouth. As he tasted the familiar flavor, You Zhengping envisioned the black-cloaked man. He saw the black-cloaked man in front of him, taking off his mask and black cloak, holding a cup of hot black tea, and putting it in front of him. 

You Zhengping shook his head, recalled his thoughts, and thought that he could face Yu Hua again. 

Those years of small, steady efforts hadn’t been pretend, and his feelings for and reliance on Yu Hua were heartfelt. There was no need to think about acting. As long as he knew that he was facing Yu Hua, that was enough. 

You Zhengping, smiling, ate all of the cakes, adjusted his police badge, and went to line up at the door full of vigor, ready to start his patrolling assignment. 

Seeing him hold up his head and puff out his chest, Cen Xiao relaxed considerably. 

Today they would be patrolling in some heavily populated areas in the Xuyang District. They would use motor scooters for transportation; this was quick and convenient. 

When they arrived at the job center, You Zhengping saw Yu Hua at the door holding a briefcase and knew that he was making a filing because of Huan Zixu. He didn’t know how Yu Hua had gotten Huan Zixu to knuckle under. 

When Yu Hua walked out of the job center, he acutely sensed someone’s gaze on him. He turned his head to look and saw You Zhengping wearing his uniform, his back straight, riding a police issue motor scooter, stopped by the side of the road and looking at him. 

This was his first time seeing Xiao You at work. Yu Hua was pleasantly surprised. He waved to You Zhengping across the street. You Zhengping couldn’t come over while he was on assignment. He tipped his cap and nodded in acknowledgement. 

Yu Hua’s mood instantly improved. He watched Xiao You leave with his team, the corners of his mouth turning up uncontrollably. 

He had been planning to go to his psychologist after putting the contract on record, indicate that his husband was too busy, the two of them were apart very often, and he was troubled and losing faith in his married life. His psychologist had been sent by the organization. If he heard this, he would definitely report it to the organization, and then maybe Xiao You would hear about his feelings and come to cheer him up. 

But now…never mind, he should support his husband’s work, be a good family member. Yu Hua’s feelings calmed considerably. The anger he had been holding in all morning vanished. 

Meanwhile, in the studio, Huan Zixu was demonstrating to Yuan Luori how to use the arms of his glasses. That night, Feng Kui had altered Yuan Luori’s glasses for him, but Huan Zixu had changed the segment of memory, so Yuan Luori didn’t know about the mechanisms contained in his glasses. 

After fixing his glasses in place, Yuan Luori moved his neck in satisfaction. “Now they may as well be welded to my ears.” 

“But you can’t wear your glasses while I’m doing your makeup!” Zhen Li said in desperation. The show group would be there in two hours, and Yu Hua had ordered him to do Yuan Luori’s makeup. He had changed his clothes now, but the makeup hadn’t been done. What was he supposed to do if Yuan Luori didn’t take his glasses off?! 

“You should get used to contact lenses,” Lian Yufan said. “If you get involved in battle one day, contact lenses will be more convenient.” 

“The great master promised to heal my eyes in the future,” Yuan Luori said stubbornly. “I can’t get used to those things. They’re very uncomfortable to wear.” 

“Then how are you going to film the show?” Zhen Li said helplessly. “Have you ever seen a talent show where the contestants wear glasses while they dance?” 

While Zhen Li and Lian Yufan persisted in trying to get Yuan Luori’s glasses off, Huan Zixu sat in a corner hugging his knees and protesting. “I’m not going to do the ship, I absolutely won’t!” 

Lian Yufan said, “Are you going to listen to Yu Hua? At the beginning, he tried to get me into a triangle with Zhen Li and Yuan Lori, but I didn’t cooperate, so eventually it came to nothing. You’re so clever, you’re sure to think of something.” 

More than he hated the idea of the ship, Huan Zixu was having a hard time dealing with losing in the exchange with Yu Hua. 

In this chaos, Zhen Li finally plucked off Yuan Luori’s glasses. Yuan Luori blinked and said quietly towards the sky, “Why is it so gloomy outside?” 

Lian Yufan didn’t notice this, but Zhen Li felt that something was wrong. He looked at the bright and clear sky outside and waved his hand around in front of Yuan Luori’s face and saw that Yuan Luori’s eyes followed his movement. So there was probably nothing very wrong with his eyes. 

“What are…” Yuan Luori lowered his head and saw a hole where Zhen Li’s stomach was. There was a black whirlpool in the hole, as though it wanted to suck in everything around it. 

Zhen Li saw Yuan Luori staring at his stomach and instantly gestured for him to be quiet. He typed on his phone: Your special ability may have awakened. Don’t say it out loud. 

Yuan Luori didn’t understand why he couldn’t say it out loud. This was a good thing. Of course he had to let everyone know that he had an ability, especially Huan Zixu. He wanted to establish his position in front of the new guy. 

Seeing that Yuan Luori didn’t understand, Zhen Li pointed to Director Ha. Yuan Luori looked that way and saw that the little husky had a pair of human eyes, and there was a bomb inside it.  

“!!!” Yuan Luori was startled and was about to cry out. Zhen Li covered his mouth. 

Zhen Li quietly told him, “It’s a bright sunny day. It’s not gloomy.” 

But…in Yuan Luori’s eyes, black clouds covered the sky outside the window. The sky above the whole Xuyang District was shadowed, and the direction that the job center lay in was entirely shrouded in black. There wasn’t a shred of light to be seen. 

Yuan Luori’s fingers tapped wildly on the phone, writing down everything he was seeing for Zhen Li to read. 

Zhen Li read it and understood why Yu Hua had told Yuan Luori to weld his glasses on before leaving. When Yuan Luori had taken his glasses off before and the sky had gone dark, the problem hadn’t been with his eyes. It was that he could see special ability users’ powers. Yu Hua had been in the studio then, and the whole room had been shrouded by his energy field. It wasn’t that Yuan Luori’s vision had gone black, it was that he had seen Yu Hua’s power! 

Yu Hua didn’t want more people to know his identity and had hidden it from Yuan Luori. He had been worried that Yuan Luori would say something right in front of Lian Yufan and reveal his identity. That was why he had left the studio. 

Yuan Luori blinked hard. He said soundlessly to Zhen Li, Whose power is this strong? Is this the great master? Is he at the job center now? 

Zhen Li worked out what he was saying through sheer guesswork, turned his eyes away in pain, and nodded slowly.  

Yuan Luori walked up to the window and looked at the sky full of black clouds in astonishment. It covered the whole Xuyang District…no, the dark clouds covered the whole city as far as the eye could see, focusing on the blacked out job center. He sighed inwardly. How powerful was the great master clearer? This was on a different scale from their little dribs and drabs.  

Suddenly, he remembered that when he had taken his glasses off before, he hadn’t been able to see. Yu Hua had been in the studio then, and now Yu Hua had gone to…the job center? 

Yuan Luori looked at Zhen Li. He pointed in the direction of the job center and silently pronounced a name: Yu Hua? 

Zhen Li nodded heavily. He put his index finger to his lips to signal for Yuan Luori to keep silent. 

Yuan Luori froze and went dumb as a wooden chicken. After a long while, leaning on the wall, he crawled over to the acupressure mat and very properly knelt down. 

“What are you doing?” Lian Yufan asked. He had just gotten through settling Huan Zixu, and now Yuan Luori was starting to act up. 

Yuan Luori looked up at Lian Yufan. He saw Lian Yufan’s face fall apart, then completely piece itself back together, symbolizing his repair special ability. 

“Just…exercising my knees,” Yuan Luori said sadly. 

---

Author's Note

Yuan Luori: I’ll never see the sun again.