Chapter 18 — The Eve of Return (Clean Version)
Shao Leyan’s cheeks turned pink. Her small, pale hands waved in flustered denial, and even her speech became unsteady.
“No… no need. If someone didn’t know better, they’d think you were the test subject.”
A hint of sly amusement flashed through Fu Xingyan’s eyes, but his expression remained unreadable as he let out a low laugh.
“It’s fine. There are only the two of us in the lab. No one else will see.”
Only then did Shao Leyan realize—she had been here for so long, yet had never seen anyone besides Fu Xingyan. It was almost as if he were the only researcher in the entire facility.
But she remembered Fu Xingchen’s secretary and Li Ming both calling him “Director.” Someone of such rank surely couldn’t be working without a single assistant.
Curious, she asked, “Do you… not have any assistants?”
“Of course I do. But each of them handles different categories of experiments. Yours are handled only by me.”
After saying so, Fu Xingyan deliberately leaned closer. His focused gaze made her feel unbearably warm, unsure where to place her eyes.
She wasn’t unfamiliar with being stared at directly, but Fu Xingyan’s eyes were identical to Fu Xingchen’s—and that resemblance always triggered memories she didn’t want to revisit. The thought alone made her tense.
Desire for deeper contact, longing for sensation—perhaps it was all a side effect of her awakened ability. She felt her self-restraint thinning day by day.
But her averted gaze and silence were completely misinterpreted in Fu Xingyan’s eyes as rejection and hesitation.
His expression darkened, voice low and cool—like a black mamba locking onto its prey.
“Are you dissatisfied with me? Do you want someone else in charge?”
Shao Leyan, unaware of his internal assumptions, panicked at his misunderstanding and hurriedly waved her hands.
“No, no! I was just curious, that’s all.”
Fu Xingyan didn’t dwell on it. He rose from his seat, his tall figure blocking the soft white light that had been shining down on her.
“Get dressed. I’ll take you back.”
For the next three days, Shao Leyan woke each morning only to be taken from the City Lord’s palace back to the lab for experiments, and every night Fu Xingyan would carry her, exhausted, back to Fu Xingchen’s room to sleep.
To her, the palace served only as a place to rest her head.
She bathed, ate, and did almost everything else in the lab—and always with Fu Xingyan present.
At first, she felt self-conscious, but over time she realized he treated her wholly as a subject requiring constant supervision. His attentiveness eventually became something she adapted to.
He helped her wash, helped her eat—he even supported her when she needed the bathroom.
After three days, Shao Leyan felt like she had become someone completely incapable of living independently. Her ability was valuable, but she herself felt utterly useless.
Today, Fu Xingchen was supposed to return from Central City.
Shao Leyan thought that with him back, Fu Xingyan would finally stop insisting on more experiments.
But just before dawn, while she was barely awake, she felt her blanket being lifted. Her body was lightened as someone picked her up.
A faint lavender scent brushed past her nose—familiar and calming.
She was exhausted from yesterday’s physical-stimulation tests and barely had the strength to move. She still had to receive Fu Xingchen later today.
She truly didn’t have time nor energy for more experiments.
With her voice thick with sleep, she mumbled, “We’re… still continuing today? But Xingchen is coming back.”
Her only reply was the quiet hum of the intelligent bed she was laid upon—its shifting temperature and contours familiar.
She felt cold hands touch her leg, adjusting her posture for the experiment’s preparation steps. Her thin sleepwear slipped aside, layer by layer.
Fu Xingyan finished the preparation process before finally responding, his voice tinged with rare displeasure.
“What does my brother coming back have to do with the experiment? You’re not planning to abandon this bed just because he’s home, are you?”
Shao Leyan had no words.
She couldn’t deny that Fu Xingyan’s smart bed was something she almost wished she could bring back to her original world. It adjusted temperature, height, and shape, supported her body perfectly, and even had different functional modes. No matter how much she perspired on it each day, it always remained dry and comfortable.
It was undeniably more comfortable than Fu Xingchen’s bed.
Then—
“Come on. Open your mouth—ah.”
Fu Xingyan gently tapped her chin, and she opened her mouth reflexively. He placed something small and smooth inside.
Her mind registered it a moment too late.
“This is a crystal core from a mid-level shapeshifting zombie.”
Shao Leyan stiffened, trying to spit it out in shock—but Fu Xingyan quickly covered her mouth, soothing her with a hand on her hair and cheek.
“Don’t. I sanitized it thoroughly. It’s perfectly safe.”
Unable to speak, she could only nod faintly.
He continued placing the remaining crystal cores according to the experimental procedure, each one meant to test her ability’s reaction to shapeshifting energy.
“Stay still. This experiment won’t take long. If you cooperate, we’ll finish quickly.”
Shao Leyan tried her best to endure the uncomfortable sensations, though her breathing grew uneven.
Seeing her distress, Fu Xingyan paused and gently wiped the moisture from her face with tender, careful motions—far too gentle for someone in the middle of an experiment.
After all the preparations were complete, the crystal cores began reacting to her internal ability, expanding slightly as her anxiety grew. Her endurance was stretched thin.
Fu Xingyan calmly picked up his notebook and explained:
“Shapeshifting abilities allow the host to alter their size, form, or even transform parts of the body—like forming spikes or roughened surfaces on the skin.”
He glanced up at her. At this stage, the core placed in her mouth had changed shape, elongating as the energy activated.
His gaze deepened, carrying a mix of scientific focus and something more instinctive.
