The Obligations of the Elderly - Chapter 18

Holding a carton of milk in his hand, Xi Liu looked across at Gong Si.

Gong Si was wolfing down his boxed lunch. It was lunchtime, and the sun wasn’t too harsh today. The two of them had found a couple of lounge chairs by the school swimming pool to eat their lunch.

Students could either bring their own food or buy lunch at the school’s mini-mart. Gong Si was naturally in the bring-your-own camp, but Xi Liu wasn’t. Still, he never bought anything from the school store except milk.

“Can you really get full just drinking a carton of milk every day?” Gong Si frowned out of habit.

“More or less.”

“Want an egg?”

“Thanks, but no need.”

“No wonder you’re so skinny, and you’re not growing taller.” Gong Si tossed the boiled egg he’d meant to give Xi Liu into his own mouth and raised his eyebrows. “When you first got here, you were about as tall as me. Now I’m half a head taller than you!”

“No way, it’s just a little bit.”

“It’ll be half a head soon.”

Teenage boys care a lot about height. The two of them stood up and debated the issue for a while, then both lay down on a single lounge chair. The autumn sunlight shone warmly on them.

The temperature in Lengshui Town dropped faster than elsewhere. The thin, shirt-like school uniforms were already starting to feel a bit chilly.

“Your second brother transferred schools?” Xi Liu asked.

“Yeah.” Gong Si replied softly.

“You went with him, right? How is it? What’s the Specialized School like?” Xi Liu asked curiously.

Gong Si was silent for a moment.

“It’s bigger than our school, but there are fewer people.”

He paused. “As I thought, I still don’t like the world of Users and Vessels.”

“What’s wrong? Weren’t you just recently trying to learn more about that world?” Maybe the sunlight was too bright, because Xi Liu fished around in his pocket and pulled out a pair of sunglasses to put on.

Seeing this, Gong Si was momentarily speechless.

“I ran into someone really annoying there, that guy named Wang Gongming.”

“Who’s Wang Gongming?” Xi Liu asked, his memory no better than Gong Si’s.

Gong Si: …

“Our former classmate, the one who suddenly had his Awakening and transferred to the Specialized School. Never mind, who he is doesn’t matter. I just think he’s pretty pitiful.”

“I never thought there was anything to brag about in that, but seeing it for myself, I just felt sorry for him.”

He could even overlook and forget the things he used to dislike.

When he saw Wang Gongming, out of control, shivering and kneeling before Qiu Xia, what surged up in Gong Si’s heart wasn’t pleasure, but an indescribable, strange feeling-something like pity, and a touch of sadness.

“It’s very hard for a Vessel to resist the Energy of a User.” After thinking for a moment, Xi Liu explained, “A Vessel is like an empty container. When facing a User, there’s this… um… urge to drain all the other’s Energy, to absorb it completely into themselves.”

“It’s innate. Vessels are born with a craving for Energy. You can think of them as new cars without fuel. Without fuel, they can’t run; with fuel, they can go wherever they want.”

“Once a car is filled up, it can’t take more fuel. So Vessels who already have a Contracted User don’t have this problem. The ones who do are all Vessels without a User. Their bodies are always in a state of ‘absorption.’ Especially when the User is also a novice and doesn’t know how to restrain their Energy, the Vessel’s body will be overwhelmed by the other’s Energy. If the User’s Energy is both vast and pure, the Vessel will go weak in the knees from both being unable to bear it and craving it.”

“That’s what you saw.”

“Of course, there are also Users who maliciously use their Energy to overwhelm a Vessel, making them temporarily lose control of their bodies.”

Gong Si listened quietly, not saying a word. After a long time, he sighed, “No matter what, I don’t have to worry about Qiu Xia being bullied.”

Bullied? Far from it. With Gong Qiuxia’s Initial Ability Assessment Level, he would definitely become the top priority for cultivation at the entire school-without exception. Every Vessel in the academy would fight to become his Vessel, and the whole school would become a battlefield. Unfortunately for them, none of them would ever get Gong Qiuxia.
His initial value already reached Dominator Special-A Grade, an achievement outstanding even among big cities and great families. In a small place like Lengshui Town, at most this would only allow him to keep a low profile for a few years. It wouldn’t be long before all kinds of people, through all kinds of means, would learn about his ability. Those who want to make him their Vessel would flock to him, and people who want to hire him would come one after another-there would be all sorts of opportunities and temptations…

“You’ll have a lot to deal with in the future,” Xi Liu softly said to Gong Si.

“Hm?” His voice was too quiet, and Gong Si didn’t hear him.

After a short nap by the swimming pool, the two of them returned to the classroom. Halfway through the afternoon class, Xi Liu suddenly fainted.

At first, he just looked pale. With the teacher’s permission, Gong Si took him to the school infirmary to rest. On the way, Xi Liu actually lost consciousness!

Gong Si carried him horizontally all the way to the infirmary! It was the first time he’d been this close to Xi Liu. Before, he had just thought Xi Liu was thin, but he hadn’t realized he was this light. Even Qiu Xia, who was skinny, was heavier than Xi Liu!

The rumors about this guy’s poor health might really be true-Gong Si vaguely thought.

Fortunately, Xi Liu woke up after a short while. Lying on the bed, he let the school doctor examine him. His face was still exceptionally pale.

The simple equipment in the school infirmary couldn’t figure out what was wrong. The school doctor originally wanted to call Xi Liu’s parents and have them pick him up immediately.

Xi Liu refused.

“Let him watch over me. I’ll be fine after a bit of rest,” Xi Liu softly told the school doctor.

Here, “him” naturally referred to Gong Si.

Gong Si stayed in the infirmary to accompany Xi Liu, without hesitation.

Honestly, Gong Si didn’t have much experience keeping a patient company, but Xi Liu was a quiet and well-behaved patient. He just lay there quietly, chatting idly with Gong Si from time to time.

When it was nearly time for school to end, Gong Si still needed to take him home.

“Hey! Buddy, you really look a bit scary like this, as if you could faint at any moment~” Gong Si even wanted to carry Xi Liu on his back, but Xi Liu refused.

He didn’t want anyone’s support either.

But he still staggered unsteadily…

In the end, the two of them walked home hand in hand.

The hand he held was bony and ice-cold-this was Gong Si’s impression of Xi Liu’s palm.

Hand in hand, they walked to the bus stop and chose to take the bus home this time.

“Ah… Autumn in Lengshui Town is truly beautiful. I thought so last year when I came here too.” Sitting by the window, quietly watching the scenery outside, Xi Liu suddenly said to Gong Si.

“Really? I guess I’m just used to it.”

“It really is beautiful,” Xi Liu said.

After that, he seemed to recite two lines of poetry. The language was obscure; Gong Si heard but didn’t understand.

Then the two of them chatted about all sorts of things all the way home.

When the bus reached the stop near Xi Liu’s house, they got off together.

Gong Si walked Xi Liu all the way to his doorstep. Just before opening the door, Xi Liu suddenly turned around:

“Gong Si, I’ll remember you. You are my only friend.”

“Hey… Why are you suddenly saying something like that…” Gong Si was startled. “That’s so cheesy!”

But Xi Liu just looked at him for a moment longer, then turned and went inside.

“Hey!” Gong Si suddenly called out loudly, “Don’t you like the fish stew I make? I got four more fish. Tonight, I’ll make you one and bring it over!”

With a little smile, Xi Liu waved at him, turned, and went in. The door closed behind him.

That night, Gong Si really did stew a big fish. He used the biggest pot in the house and brought both fish and pot onto the bus. But when he reached Xi Liu’s door, he found the front door tightly shut.

Not only was the door tightly closed, but not a single light was on inside.

The whole house was silent-no one was there.

It was as if they’d moved out overnight. Just like that, Xi Liu had disappeared.

“Hey… Don’t just leave like this…”

“You’re my only friend, too…”

Standing in front of the dark, silent two-story house, holding the fish, Gong Si murmured to himself, lonely and dejected.