Chapter 19 "Secret Base

One weekend afternoon.

The warm, suffusing sunlight spilled onto the expansive, deserted balcony, making even the rusty water bucket and the moss-covered walls look warmly inviting.

Xu Xiangyang cradled his homework notebook, while Lin Xingjie held a science fiction novel. The two lay shoulder to shoulder behind a short wall, under the water tank on the asphalt ground, with just a newspaper as padding.

This was the closest resident building to the alley, and its rooftop, long unused, had recently become their Secret Base.

Today, the girl had taken the initiative to invite him up to the rooftop, claiming she felt bored at home and wanted his company. Xu Xiangyang had felt that her behavior these past few days was a bit strange, as if she was "too enthusiastic". But deeply wishing to get along well with her, he readily agreed.

"The end of the world, huh..."

Xu Xiangyang, deeply engrossed in puzzling over two math problems, heard the girl's exclamation by his ear.

She turned her head, and asked him a strange question in a low voice.

"Hey, Xu Xiang Yang, if one day the end of the world was coming, what do you think it would be like?"

"More important than the end of the world is the next monthly exam." Xu Xiangyang looked up with a serious face, "Have you memorized all the key points I drew up for you last time? Starting from the next one, you'll have to pick them out yourself. You must pay close attention when the teacher is lecturing the texts, I will regularly check..."

"Alright, alright, I know, Master, stop lecturing!"

Lin Xingjie immediately covered her ears with her hands, shook her head in displeasure and glared at him.

"I was just asking casually; are you going to answer or not?"

"..."

He took his pen from between his nose and upper lip, looking somewhat helpless.

"What do you mean by 'what kind'?"

"Like, why it would be destroyed. It could be the alien invasion written about in this book, or maybe a robot revolt, or even a zombie crisis."

"Hmm..." Xu Xiangyang thought for a moment, "I think it's more likely to be human error. Things like a nuclear war, disasters caused by the misuse of genetic technology, and widespread epidemics hard to treat due to the overuse of antibiotics..."

"Hey, you really lack imagination," Lin Xingjie casually flipped another page, puffing her cheeks slightly in discontent after hearing his response, "and you've even met Xiao An."

"What you're saying, is it capable of destroying the world?"

Xu Xiangyang couldn't help but laugh.

He admitted that it was an incredible... he wasn't sure if "creature" was the right word to describe it—Xiao An's existence had shown him a previously unseen side of the world, a fantasy that was once only observable in movies and novels now didn't seem so unreachable. But this was still far from the topic of "the end of the world", which felt too vast and intangible.

"Why not? It's still young, but when it grows up, maybe it could do just that!"

"Who would ever hope their pet could destroy the world when it grows up..."

"Well, I would."

She huffed lightly, a look of smug satisfaction on her face.

At that moment, Xu Xiangyang remembered the first time they met and smiled, saying:

"Student Lin, you seem quite interested in this kind of topic."

"You noticed?"

"Yeah. Let me guess, because of Xiao An's existence, you feel unique and chosen, so you worry that one day something significant will happen to you?"

"Hey, you're pretty smart."

Lin Xingjie's voice sounded a bit elusive. However, Xu Xiangyang felt that he had probably hit the nail on the head.

Being friends, the most important thing was to learn to "put oneself in the other's shoes". That's what Xu Xiangyang did. He imagined if he were Lin Xingjie, knowing that he had special abilities yet having to keep them secret from everyone, what his feelings would be; and what he would be concerned or fearful about regarding the future.

"I think you don't have to worry too much."

Xu Xiangyang put down his notebook, sat up straight, and looked at her face very seriously as he spoke. In fact, he had wanted to say these words for a long time.

"There must be other people in the world with special abilities, not just you. When the sky falls, there will be tall people to hold it up. The real world wouldn't let a high school girl save the world."

"Is that so? But I seem to have never met any. You are the only person I can talk to about this."

Lin Xingjie smiled, not seeming to take his words too seriously.

"That's because we're both still students and what we can witness is inevitably limited." He answered confidently, "When both of us are adults, I'll help you look for them, we're sure to find others."

"...Thank you."

Lin Xingjie sighed and sat up, but her gaze did not fall upon him; instead, it drifted toward the distant, murky horizon. The earth was gradually being swallowed by a forest of steel and concrete, and even the bright, cheerful sunlight could not completely evaporate the haze enveloping the city.

"However, you're wrong."

"What?"

"You're wrong," Lin Xingjie repeated, "The reason I'm interested in this topic is because..."

The girl turned her face, her smooth cheeks taut as though she were smiling, but there wasn't a hint of mirth in her pitch-black pupils. Her lips parted slightly, revealing a row of glaringly white teeth.

"I hope the end of the world comes one day. At the very least, it could destroy this city."

Xu Xiangyang was stunned for a moment, unable to discern whether she was joking or serious; simultaneously, a gigantic breathing sound rose behind him, carrying a greedy scent. A chill crept up his spine.

The black whale glided over Xu Xiangyang's head, hovering around the edges of the balcony, wandering above the cylinder block of the building, occasionally opening its massive mouth to let out a silent, prolonged moan.

Unbeknownst to him, she had let Xiao An out.

"Hey, you got scared just now, didn't you?"

The gloom on Lin Xingjie's face that wasn't befitting her age vanished like a magic trick, leaving no trace. The girl leaned in, nudged him with her shoulder, and wore a smug grin of a successful prankster.

"...I did not," Xu Xiangyang furrowed his brows, "I'm used to it by now."

One day he woke up in the morning, opened his eyes, and saw an enormous gaping maw right next to his bed, facing him. Now that was a shock, he was so scared he nearly had a heart attack.

Because Xiao An could pass through solids, and since Xu Xiangyang was the only one who could see it, using it for pranks was all too convenient. He even didn't spare himself during showers and toilet visits.

Of course, the increasingly over-the-top nature of Lin Xingjie's pranks was eventually stopped by him.

"Are you still mad?"

"I was never mad to begin with, I'm worried about your head... You won't be able to find friends if you keep this up."

"Haha, don't I already have one now?"

"Just me, right?"

"Having only you is enough."

Lin Xingjie replied nonchalantly. She stood up and dusted herself off. The jeans she wore highlighted the long and straight lines of the young girl's legs, revealing only a section of her white ankles. She hopped on the spot to limber up, her movements as light as a deer in the forest.

"Alright, it's getting late, let's go back."

Xu Xiangyang was about to follow her out when he suddenly remembered something.

"Ah right, Xingjie, I need to run an errand downtown later, do you want to come along?"

She agreed without hesitation.

"Sure. I can pick up some stationery on the way. Where are you headed?"

"I'm going to rent some discs," Xu Xiangyang replied, "My sister wants to watch them when she's resting at home."

At this point, he hesitated before asking:

"Your family won't mind, will they? Shouldn't you let them know?"

Xu Xiangyang had this freedom because his guardians were always working overtime, and his sister trusted him a lot, so he arranged his own schedule after school, which was relatively free compared to his peers.

"You mean my mom?"

Lin Xingjie blinked, her lips slowly curving into a smile.

"She's busy every day, she probably doesn't have time for me."

Xu Xiangyang felt there was something odd about his friend's expression.

Come to think of it, he had never been to Lin Xingjie's home; whenever they hung out and chatted, it was usually at his place.

Xu Xiangyang had seen Lin Xingjie's mother a few times, always in a hurry, barely having a chance to speak, but she seemed quite gentle, appearing to be an ordinary middle-aged woman.

A mother who had given birth to a beautiful daughter must have been a great beauty in her youth, and even now, retained her charm. Yet the merciless passage of time had left its mark, and the thick makeup could not hide the weary wrinkles on the woman's face.

However, living in an environment teeming with gossiping neighbors in the cylinder block, Xu Xiangyang inevitably heard some not-so-flattering rumors about the mother.

Nonetheless, since Lin Xingjie almost never mentioned her family situation, Xu Xiangyang wouldn't ask either. It was an unspoken agreement between friends.

"Alright then, let's go."