Xie Sen couldn't find the planet Adan mentioned on the map. After a moment's thought, he muttered to himself, "It's not on the map, could it not be recorded?"
Adan immediately agreed, "That's possible. There are countless planets in the universe; it's impossible to record every single one on a map... Ah, what should we do then?"
Xie Sen reassured him, "Don't worry, let me think of something... Could it be that it's not on a planet, but floating in space?"
"No way," Adan said, "I can feel it; its energy is abundant, and the surrounding natural atmosphere is rich. It can't be in space; it must be on a planet with lots of plants!"
Xie Sen pondered, "I understand, I'll find a way."
"Asen is the best! You'll definitely find a way!" Asen said encouragingly.
Xie Sen found it amusing; he always received compliments when in trouble. He said, "Don't worry, I'll find a way."
"Okay, then I'll go rest first."
Xie Sen stared at the map for a while, drawing a circle around Brant Star according to the distance Adan had given him, but still couldn't find a matching planet.
Just then, his communicator rang. He glanced at it and saw it was Mu Lin calling. He answered, "Dean Mu, what's up?"
"You forgot? It's been over a month. You should come in for a physical exam," Mu Lin said.
Xie Sen had completely forgotten: "Sorry, I'll go this weekend."
"If you're not busy, come over after work tonight. Gu Luo and I are working overtime tonight, but we have time."
Xie Sen said, "Okay, I'll come over after work."
After work that evening, Mei Yin came to pick up Xie Sen on time. Xie Sen was walking towards the parking lot when he received a call from Bai Jiao. As soon as he answered, he heard Bai Jiao say, "Ah Sen, are you free tonight? I'd like to treat you to dinner."
Xie Sen thought for a moment and understood: "A Teng gave you all the plants?"
Bai Jiao: "Yes, he gave them to me yesterday. I should have treated you to dinner yesterday, but it was already quite late after I finished dealing with the plants."
"It's alright," Xie Sen smiled, recalling the speed of the last inspection, "I have to go to the Contract Beast Research Institute now. Things should be sorted out quickly. Shall we meet later?"
Since he came here, there have been too few gatherings with friends like this, and he didn't want to miss it.
"No problem, I'll send you the restaurant address later." Bai Jiao said.
Xie Sen hung up the call and walked to the parking lot. He looked up and saw Mei Yin striding towards him. He smiled, and a message notification sounded from his bracelet; he saved the message.
Mei Yin walked up to him, put his arm around his waist, and kissed him on the lips before leading him towards the shuttle. "Was everything alright?" "
Very well. We'll go to the Contract Beast Research Institute first, then have dinner with Bai Jiao."
Mei Yin frowned, opened the shuttle door for Xie Sen, and then walked around to the other side to get into the driver's seat. He leaned over Xie Sen, half-pressing him down, his hand on Xie Sen's shoulder. "Why eat with him? I just want to eat at home with you."
Xie Sen looked up at him helplessly. "Bai Jiao is our friend. It's normal for us to have meals together; we all need to socialize."
"I don't need any," Maine said, gently pinching his chin with his fingers. "I have no friends, and I don't want any friends, I only want you."
Xie Sen grabbed his hand and looked him in the eye. "What you need is this: you admire Long Teng and Bai Jiao, and you've actually already considered them friends, otherwise you wouldn't have acted together time and time again. You just don't want to admit they're friends, afraid that they will eventually betray or leave for various reasons. You're just afraid of getting hurt, so you keep everyone at arm's length."
Maine's eyes trembled suddenly, and his voice hardened. "I'm not!"
Xie Sen deeply sensed that Maine had many psychological problems. Seeing his pale face, his heart clenched, aching and sore. Maine's childhood experiences had a profound impact on him.
He noticed Maine's tense body and saw him unconsciously showing a defensive look. He tilted his head and gently bit Maine's lips. "Relax, you don't need to be afraid at all. Don't avoid making friends because you're afraid of losing them. No matter what, I'll be with you."
Maine hugged him tightly. "You'll always be with me."
"Mm." Xie Sen hugged him back.
Maine was silent for a moment. "I'll try to make friends."
Xie Sen laughed and patted his shoulder. "Great, let's go to the Contract Beast Research Institute. If we delay any longer, Bai Jiao will have to wait a long time."
Maine kissed him before letting go, set the route, and started the shuttle.
The shuttle quickly landed in the research institute's parking lot. Mu Lin's assistant, Gu Luo, personally escorted them to the physical examination area. Gu Luo smiled at Xie Sen and said, "Don't be nervous. Just like last time, it'll be over quickly."
Xie Sen nodded and lay down in the examination pod.
After a while, he heard Gu Luo say, "All done."
Maine bent down and lifted him out of the examination pod. His face was slightly flushed. He patted Maine's arm. Maine glanced at his slightly red ears, put him down, but still held him close.
Gu Luo glanced down at the test results, reading them quickly. He was astonished after finishing: "I can't believe it! In just over a month, your health has improved so much!"
Xie Sen remembered A Dan's words and knew that the improvement was due to the recovery of the two types of energy. He smiled: "It's probably because my mindset is better now. Before… I was quite depressed."
Gu Luo glanced at Mei Yin and smiled: "It seems love really can nourish a person."
"Is that so?" Mu Lin walked in from outside, raising an eyebrow, his eyes deep as he looked at Gu Luo. Gu Luo met his gaze briefly, then quickly looked away, saying to Xie Sen, "Your health is very good. You don't need to worry about the taboos I mentioned before—just be careful with safety measures."
Xie Sen blinked, recalling the taboos he'd mentioned. One of them was—abstaining from sex. Suddenly, certain unspeakable images flashed through his mind, and he felt Mei Yin's hand around his waist become exceptionally clear. His heart raced uncontrollably.
Mei Yin's expression changed slightly. Taboos? Safety measures? He looked down at Xie Sen, noticing his flushed face, and a thought struck him. He unconsciously pulled Xie Sen closer.
Xie Sen's mind was filled with inappropriate images, and he felt incredibly guilty. Noticing his actions, he didn't dare turn to look at him and quickly greeted Mu Lin, "Dean Mu."
Mu Lin went to Gu Luo's side to look at the examination results: "The speed of recovery is astonishing. Did you take any special medicine or anything else?"
Xie Sen shook his head: "No, like I just said, it's mainly a change in mindset. Depression, although a psychological problem, can also affect the body."
Mu Lin pondered: "The change is too drastic. Perhaps it's related to you being a plant-type beast master."
Gu Luo chimed in: "Possibly." He smiled at Xie Sen, "Thank you for cooperating with our work. This is very helpful for our research on plant-type beast masters. I will look for more information on plant-type beast masters and compare it with your situation. I'll trouble you to come again in a month."
"Okay, I'll come in a month then," he said, bidding farewell to the two.
"Wait a minute," Guro said, glancing at Maine and then at Shesen. "Can I speak with you alone?"
Maine frowned. Shesen was very curious, wondering what he would say. He told Maine to wait a moment and followed Guro to the outside of the examination room.
Guro led him to a corner where no one could be seen, and whispered to Xie Sen, "You know your identity?"
Xie Sen was completely bewildered, a bunch of farcical scenarios flashing through his mind, immediately shocking him. He didn't believe life was so absurd: "What identity? Of course I know my identity."
Guro murmured, "Sure enough, if you didn't know you were female, how could you be with Maine, who is also male, as a male?"
"Wait," Xie Sen was speechless, "Assistant Gu, I don't understand what you're saying? What do you mean 'if I didn't know I was female?' I'm male!"
Guro looked at him in surprise: "Male? You still think you're male? Maine knows too?"
"I am, not just what I think!" Xie Sen suddenly felt a strange unease, his tone becoming more forceful, as if it were the truth, "Of course Maine knows."
"You... so you two males are in love?" Guro asked.
"Isn't it obvious?" Xie Sen thought Gu Luo should be renamed Gu Weiqi (Strange). "You're a bit strange…"
Gu Luo's expression faltered for a moment: "I'm sorry, but haven't you considered that males together won't have offspring? Even if you can have artificial insemination, it's still different from your own children."
Xie Sen was speechless: "What's there to think about? If you don't have children, you can just live together. If you like children, you can adopt. Artificial insemination is also an option."
Gu Luo looked at him, then at himself, his expression dim, and murmured: "We are different. You are soft and petite. Even if you mistakenly think you are male, you are still different from a hard male like me."
Xie Sen's lips twitched, and he sighed: "Assistant Gu…" "Why do you always say it's a misunderstanding? And I don't like hearing your comparisons. As a male, it's strange to make such comparisons, like... being concerned about not being soft enough."
He suddenly realized something: "Do you like a male?" Thinking about it this way, Gu Luo's behavior just now made sense. He chuckled, "Are you even a man? If you like him, just go for it! Stop hesitating. What era are we living in? Still thinking about offspring? Liking someone is liking someone, it has nothing to do with gender." Gu Luo
lowered his head and pondered for a moment: "You're right, but I... I'm afraid he'll regret it, regret not marrying a soft, fertile female."
Xie Sen thought to himself, "Does having the surname Gu mean such old-fashioned thinking?"
"What are you afraid of? If that's really the case, just break up. Do you think you can't live without him? Aren't you doing just fine being single? Besides, this is only the worst-case scenario. You should at least have some faith in the person you like, right?"
Gu Luo's eyes lit up, and he suddenly realized, "Yes, you're right. Thank you, I know what to do."
He turned around quickly, took a few steps, then remembered something and turned back, saying, "Sorry, your health was so poor last time. We were worried that emotional fluctuations would be bad for your health, so we didn't tell you the truth. The reason I always said you thought you were female is because—you are female."
Xie Sen stood there in shock, feeling like his ears were ringing.
After Gu Luo finished speaking, he rushed into the examination room and soon came out pulling a surprised-looking Mu Lin.
Xie Sen still had a slightly open, shocked expression. He must have been hallucinating, or Gu Luo must have said something wrong, or was he joking with him!
"Ah Sen?" Main waved her hand in front of his eyes, her expression worried. "What's wrong? What did Gu Luo do to you?" The word "what" was already laced with coldness.
Xie Sen snapped out of his daze and forced a smile: "Nothing," he wiped his face, thinking, how could this be? How could he look like a female? "Let's go to the restaurant."
As soon as the two entered the restaurant, they saw Long Teng standing in the corner on the right, waving at them with a bright smile: "This..." His voice trailed off, and he looked down to the left.
Xie Sen smiled. He saw that Long Teng's clothes had been tugged, and he knew that Bai Jiao had stopped him from shouting in time.
He and Main walked over and sat opposite Long Teng and Bai Jiao. Bai Jiao handed the menu to Xie Sen: "We've already ordered. See what you want to eat?"
Xie Sen looked at the food on the menu and desperately missed the small restaurant at the back gate of the school. He used to complain that the small restaurant had few dishes, but seeing this menu, he realized what "few" really meant.
He was initially taken aback when he first entered the restaurant. At first glance, the menu was packed full, leading him to believe there was a wide variety of food, but in reality, they were all quite similar. The food was divided into two categories: roasted meat or boiled meat. The reason the menu was so full was because there were so many kinds of meat, as well as various kinds of birds and animals, too numerous to count.
He ordered a grilled fish and handed the menu to Maine, who, without even looking at it, directly ordered a roasted meat.
Bai Jiao had the waiter pour four glasses of hot water and looked at Xie Sen: "I heard from A-Teng that you were captured. Are you alright?"
Xie Sen raised his arm and patted his rather flat biceps: "Do I look like I'm in trouble?"
Bai Jiao chuckled: "That's good." He took out a small spray bottle, about the thickness of a finger, and handed it to him. "This is a new antidote I developed. You can use it in case of danger; just splash water on it and it will neutralize the effect."
Xie Sen took it with delight, examined it, and put it in his spatial backpack: "You're amazing!"
Long Teng said excitedly: "Right? Right? I spent a day at his house and saw so many plants and medicines. I think he's incredible too!"
Bai Jiao said modestly: "Many of the prescriptions are family heirlooms; I just follow them."
Xie Sen's thoughts turned, remembering that Bai Jiao came from a family of doctors, and he asked softly: "Has your family researched any medicines related to contracted beasts?"
"Yes," Bai Jiao said, "the external injury medicine for contracted beasts has been thoroughly researched. Now, the main focus is on developing a mental sedative for contracted beasts. Contracted beasts are very powerful in combat, but their mental state is easily volatile. If the beast master is alive, they're fine, but if the beast master is injured, they can easily become agitated and cause tragedy. This has happened many times in historical wars."
Xie Sen asked, "Have you researched a medicine to break the bond between a contracted beast and its master?"
Bai Jiao looked at him in surprise, paused for a moment, and then nodded. His voice was very soft: "This is research that isn't open to the public. Exposing it would cause panic among many contracted individuals. The purpose of researching this medicine is to preserve the life of the other party after the death of one party in the contract."
Xie Sen's eyes lit up: "Yes, this medicine is really too important! It can also be used on those who forcibly form contracts with beasts to save them."
Bai Jiao sighed: "Yes, but there are also…" "The worry is that if it's used on two people who voluntarily form a bond, it could lead to tragedy."
Xie Sen rested his chin on his hand. "Logically, the synchronization rate between voluntarily formed bonds is higher, so the bond should
be more stable than one formed under duress. The medicine would have different effects on them, right?" Bai Jiao laughed. "I even suspect you've been involved in the research. This is the current research direction. After years of research, the bond-breaking medicine is only in its rough form; there are still many problems to overcome."
He sighed. "There are too few herbs in the world. Although our ancestors used various methods to preserve the seeds, my family has tried many methods but hasn't been able to promote their growth. Many herbs needed for the bond-breaking medicine are replaced with animal-derived medicinal materials with similar properties, which affects the efficacy."
Xie Sen thought to himself, once all the energy is collected, all kinds of plants can be grown, and medicinal herbs can naturally be grown too!
He said, "Haven't we collected quite a few medicinal herbs recently? This is a good start; it will only get better!"
Bai Jiao's eyes were bright as he tucked a stray strand of white hair behind his ear. "You're right, things will get better," he laughed. "By the way, we owe the discovery of these medicinal herbs to you. Next time you go somewhere, you must tell me. I want to go with you to find herbs."
"Haha, I already told Asen that he has to take me with him next time he goes somewhere. I want to go on an adventure!" Long Teng laughed.
Xie Sen thought about his next destination and sighed worriedly. "There is a place I want to go, but I haven't found a way to get there yet."
"Huh? Where is it?" Long Teng craned his neck and asked curiously.
Xie Sen simply opened the interstellar map, laid the virtual screen flat, and pointed to the mark he had made according to Adan's instructions: "The destination planet is here, but it's probably too small to be marked on the map."
Maine turned his head and asked, "When did you sense it?"
Xie Sen smiled at him: "This afternoon. I was planning to tell you when I got back tonight, but we happened to be talking about it, so I told you."
Bai Jiao was puzzled: "Sensed?"
Xie Sen smiled: "That's hard to explain, it's related to my beast markings."
Bai Jiao nodded. Long Teng stared at the map for a while, then pointed to the large planet not far away next to the mark Xie Sen had made: "I've been here for tourism. This is Blue Star. There's a lot of water in it, it's a lot of fun!"
Xie Sen's eyes lit up, and he quickly asked: "Did you see any planets when you passed through this area?"
Long Teng scratched the back of his head and laughed: "I don't remember. I went two years ago. I went to many places with my father and dad. I was probably sleeping at the time."
Xie Sen sighed: "Looks like we'll have to ask the observatory for help to observe it with a telescope."
"We can fly our own spaceship there, and we'll know when we get there!" Long Teng's eyes sparkled. "Isn't that what makes exploration more interesting?"
Maine glanced at him: "Without setting a course, we'll get lost in space."
"Is that so?" Long Teng's eyes darted around. "Then I'll ask my father. He flew the spaceship to Blue Star; he might remember the area."
"Your father can fly a spaceship?" Xie Sen was surprised. In his mind, flying a spaceship required extremely high technology and was incredibly sophisticated.
"Of course, he's amazing. He personally taught me how to fly the spaceship," Long Teng said proudly, raising his eyebrows as he contacted Long Yu via his bracelet. Long Yu answered quickly. "Hey kid, what's up?"
Long Teng was used to his father's affectionate nickname and asked directly, "Father, we went to Blue Star two years ago. Are there any small planets near Blue Star?"
"Are you kidding me? I've been to so many planets in a year that I can't even count them on one hand. How could I possibly remember any small planets?"
Long Teng muttered, "Father's memory is terrible."
"You…" Long Yu was about to scold his son when he suddenly stopped. Then An Ming's gentle voice came from the other end, "Teng, are you talking about the area near Blue Star?"
"Yes, Dad!"
An Ming said, "Wait a moment, let me look through the photo album from two years ago." He smiled, "I took photos along the way when we traveled together, so there should be some relevant photos."
"My darling/Dad, you're so good to me," Long Yu and Long Teng said at the same time.
"You brat, your dad's mine, don't bother us." Long Yu warned, and An Ming reminded him, "Yu, I told you, be gentle with your son."
Long Teng smiled brightly, "Father and Dad are both very good."
Long Yu smugly hummed, and An Ming chuckled, then said after a moment, "Found them! Wow, they're quite beautiful now. There are three small planets of different colors. I'll send you the photos."
A notification sound followed immediately, and Long Teng said, "Thank you, Dad."
An Ming asked, "What are you looking for these planets for?"
"I want to go there!" Long Teng said excitedly, "Going with Asen will definitely be a lot of fun!"
Long Yu said, "Don't be silly, there are no public spaceship stations there."
"I can fly a spaceship, and you taught me yourself, Father!" Long Teng wasn't worried at all.
Long Yu said seriously, "It will take at least four days to get there from Brant Star. There is no fixed route. We can use the route from Blue Star and adjust our position nearby to reach our destination. But can you do that? Can you fly for four days straight by yourself? Something bad can happen in space. You are not allowed to go."
Sen frowned when he heard this. The place where wood energy is located is not easy to reach. It seems that we may need to ask a spaceship pilot for help.
Long Teng pouted, "Father! I want to go, I want to go, I absolutely have to go! I can calculate the flight path, and as for the pilot, Father, you definitely have a way, right? We just need one person to take turns piloting with me. Father, you're the best!"
Long Yu laughed and scolded, "Where did you learn this pestering skill from? I've never seen your father pester me... Hey, baby, don't hit me..."
An Ming said, "Teng, we'll arrange suitable people to accompany you. You go home tomorrow, and I'll check if you really can calculate the flight path and test your ability to pilot the spaceship. If you don't pass, what I just said is null and void, and you're not allowed to go."
"Don't worry, Dad, I'm super awesome!" Long Teng said, "I'll go back tomorrow."
After hanging up, Long Teng opened the photo An Ming sent. The most eye-catching thing in the photo was a blue planet, Blue Star, with three smaller planets in front of it.
"Ah Sen, which one are you talking about?"
Xie Sen looked at the various colored planets and pointed to the nearest green one. He remembered Ah Dan saying it was a planet with lots of plants: "It should be this one, but I can't be completely sure."
Long Teng said, "Then let's go to this one first, we can change our route later if necessary."
The four of them finished dinner together and went home.