Comment by andrewsleftballsacksdriedcumhair on Little Mushroom - Chapter 37

Scene 1, part 1: The muzzle of the gun suddenly trembled. "… Please stay tuned." The final sound of the broadcast played. Everything went silent. The fire of the wreckage went out, and the sound of the communicator stopped. All communications had been cut off. Here, there was no trace of human existence, only open country all around and unbroken desert that connected directly to the night sky. Just like humankind had never existed. No humans, no human culture, and no human base. All of the—all of the exhausting entanglements and all of the painful struggles disappeared along with the signal, suddenly dissipating like ashes and smoke. Upon this ancient desert, only the two of them remained. With a muffled thump, the gun fell to the ground. Lu Feng closed his eyes and held An Zhe tightly in his arms.

Scene 1, part 2: The moment Lu Feng wrapped his arms around him, An Zhe began to tremble violently. Slumped against Lu Feng, An Zhe's forehead was pressed to his shoulder. He was completely unable to describe his emotional state in that moment, only feeling like a hand had curled around his heart and tightened its grip. Fierce pain inundated him, and fat droplets of a warm liquid gushed from his eyes. He knew that he was crying and that those were tears, something that only humans had, but this was his first time experiencing this sort of feeling—the feeling that his heart was being torn to pieces. Why did things become like this? He thought, if Lu Feng hadn't spared him two months ago, had his identity as a xenogenic been revealed and had Lu Feng taken him out, then he wouldn't feel so sad about betraying Lu Feng's trust. If he and Lu Feng had not established something akin to friendship over these past several days, then when facing the muzzle of Lu Feng's gun, perhaps he would not have been so afraid. And if, supposing Lu Feng hadn't held him in the end, perhaps he would not have felt… so hurt. Why Lu Feng put down the gun, he did not know. He had never before experienced such intense emotions that he was even unable to take care of other matters. He understood nothing at all, but just like that, he cried for a very long time. Even when no more tears came out, he was still sniffling sporadically.

Scene 2, part 1: Lu Feng stuffed him underneath the quilt. "Many things can't be seen." "Oh," An Zhe said. It was a little warm under the quilt, so he uncovered his arms and shoulders. Lu Feng looked at the collar of his soft white T-shirt, where a blue bruise was showing. Then he reached out and pulled the collar down. Beneath the collar, upon the skin that was originally a smooth and flawless milky white, blue-purple bruises were everywhere and evenly spaced out, so evenly that one could not find which particular bruise was the source. Saying nothing, An Zhe pried Lu Feng's hand off and silently pulled his collar back into place. Lu Feng's gaze still lingered there. Of course he recognized this kind of mark. When the base approached serious criminals whom they needed to extort confessions from via torture, they would use high-intensity electrocution. Nobody could get through it without confessing. The sequelae left by electrocution were varied, ranging from physical to psychological. Marks on the skin were but one of them, and still more people would never be able to cast off this painful nightmare in their entire lives. But after An Zhe wrapped himself tightly in the quilt, he only dropped his eyelashes a little and said quietly, "It doesn't hurt anymore." Looking at his peaceful expression, Lu Feng sometimes wanted very much to bully him and sometimes wanted to treat him well. Then he saw An Zhe wriggle toward the inner side of the bed, making room for him to lie down.

Scene 2, part 2: The bed was not big. After Lu Feng lay down on his side, they were very close to each other. An Zhe also spotted a wound on his arm that seemed like it had come from being struck by a blunt instrument, but that wasn't all, for there were faintly visible bruises and scratches on his shoulder as well. He reached out to touch the longest one, but halfway there, afraid of hurting the Colonel, he retracted his hand and docilely shrank back into the quilt. The expression in the Colonel's eyes seemed gentle. "Sleep." "Mm," An Zhe said, then closed his eyes. His eyelashes cast faint shadows in the light, giving his expression a softer and quieter cast. He was also completely relaxed, something Lu Feng was very easily able to recognize. This little xenogenic seemed certain that Lu Feng would not hurt him—even after his body was covered with electrocution marks. This was not the first time Lu Feng felt puzzled by his actions. When they had just met, on that disorderly night when he had left the city gates and had nowhere to go, An Zhe had also said to him, unguarded, "you can stay with me." At that time, he had thought either that this boy had hidden motives or that he was as pure as his exterior, as though he didn't know people did not often invite strangers to stay overnight. Having had these thoughts, he voiced them as well. "… You aren't afraid of me?" At that question, An Zhe slowly opened his eyes. Beneath the dim glow of the gas lamp, his eyes seemed to be covered with a layer of soft, beautiful mist.