Exclusive Possession – CH 026

Chapter 26. Hold Me Tight

The moment I opened my eyes, I saw a fair and handsome face standing in front of me. Dark, round eyes were fixed on me, and his lips looked wet.

I shrank back slightly, only then realizing that he had somehow adjusted our seats to be side-by-side, with no space between us. Then he leaned over and looked at me.

Seeing that I was awake, he did not move and even moved his face forward a little more.

“Did I wake you up?” A deep, gentle voice.

“No, I woke up on my own,” I replied.

He looked at me, a hint of a smile in his eyes.

I suddenly realized: his question was clearly a test, and my answer exposed that I was pretending to be asleep—”I was not woken up by your licking”.

I felt slightly embarrassed, but he remained silent.

Our faces were very close, noses touching, and our breaths seemed to intertwine, tickling and soft.

He remained motionless in that position, and I figured he was about to kiss me. Of course, he’d been holding back for so many days. I waited calmly.

To my surprise, he remained silent for a moment, then suddenly straightened up and turned to look ahead. Without his oppressive aura, I felt a sense of relief. His expression was indifferent, as if nothing had happened, though his cheeks seemed slightly flushed.

After a while, I suddenly understood.

He was still holding back, resisting the urge to kiss me.

I paused for a moment, then turned to look out the window.

Upon seeing this, my breath caught in my throat.

This is……

“Hua Yao, this is the Pillar of Time, the origin of the universe.” His deep, gentle voice rang out.

I was somewhat lost in thought.

I’ve seen ethereal, pristine nebulae, rapidly flashing binary stars, and the dreamlike constellations of the Milky Way. But I never imagined that such magnificent and ancient scenery existed in the universe.

Rows of grayish-brown pillars stand against the deep black sky, resembling stubborn spines standing silently from afar. A pale blue dust cloud, like mist, shrouds the area, while sparse red starlight, like fireflies, punctuates the scene.

I could not make out what the columns were made of; it was a chaotic, pure, and profound place. They were all different shapes; some resembled ferocious giants standing tall; others looked like wild horses rearing up and neighing. None of them had a regular shape, but they all had the same rugged and unruly edges. Like a painting created by freehand splashing of ink, it was bold, unrestrained, and magnificent.

I gazed at them silently, my heart at peace. Before such a vast and magnificent view, everything else seemed small and insignificant.

Suddenly, I felt that something was wrong.

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed that Mu Xian was not looking ahead at all. One hand was resting on the back of my seat, and the other hand was propped up on the armrest, supporting his chin. He was looking at me intently, and I wondered how long he had been staring at me.

I froze instantly.

I had not noticed or felt anything before, but now I felt his gaze burning like flames, making half my cheeks feel hot. The magnificent scenery before me seemed unable to hold my attention.

“What are those stars?” I asked, pointing to the starlight floating on the pillar of time. He then turned to look ahead and replied, “Supernovae.”

I had no idea what a supernova was, but I nodded anyway. I felt much more comfortable without his gaze.

After a while, he suddenly said very gently, “There are more supernovae here.”

“Oh? Where is it?” I turned to look at the cabin in his direction, but it was just a vast expanse, and I could not see anything.

“You can see it as soon as you sit down,” he said softly.

past?

I watched as his tall figure occupied the seat, showing no intention of getting up to give it to me. His handsome, serene face was framed by dark eyes that seemed to hold a deep, unfathomable quality.

He… he did not want me to sit on his lap, did he? After all, it was not the first time.

Under his gaze, I felt my cheeks burning. I did not move but silently turned my head to look ahead.

His gaze remained sharp and menacing.

The cabin was quiet, seemingly stuffy and oppressive. After a while, he said calmly, “Let’s return.”

“Okay.” I nodded, glancing at him out of the corner of my eye, and saw that his profile was quiet and handsome, seemingly without any expression.

I breathed a sigh of relief for no reason.

“Beep beep beep—”

A sudden, clear alarm sounded in the cabin. I looked down and saw a flashing UFO symbol on the galactic radar screen of the cockpit. What was that?

“Put on your helmet and fasten your seatbelt,” Mu Xian suddenly said.

I looked at him, only to see him gazing out of the cockpit. Far to our left, several dark gray fighters, just like ours, were emerging from behind a patch of rubble. The Imperial Air Force insignia were faintly visible on their fuselages—were they our own?

I prepared as he instructed.

At that moment, a light on the control panel flashed, and Mu Xian picked up the communicator.

“We are the 14th Patrol Squadron of Helen’s Fortress, identification code…” The other party recited a string of numbers. “What are your identities?”

Without pausing, Mu Xian calmly replied, “We are His Highness Nuo’er’s Third Fleet Robot Guard.” He then recited a string of identification codes.

I found it a bit strange—why was Mu Xian hiding his identity? Perhaps he did not want to alert the other party.

At this point, the other party politely stated that due to safety requirements, they should leave this star system immediately. Mu Xian agreed, turned the aircraft around, and began to travel at a constant speed.

I noticed he still had a cold expression, so I asked, “Are you alright?”

He frowned slightly, did not even glance at me, and said calmly, “Quiet.”

His sudden cold tone made my heart clench slightly. Had I upset him by refusing to sit on his lap?

I simply shut up and stopped talking.

He picked up the communicator again, entered the channel code, and said in a deep voice, “This is the commander. Order all troops to be on alert and prepare for defense. I encountered five suspicious aircraft near the Pillar of Time. At this time, the Fourteenth Patrol Squadron should not be in this star system. Contact Bai Lang immediately…”

I heard his words clearly and was secretly startled. Suspicious fighter jets? Could those people not be Imperial Air Force personnel? Then who could they be? Mercenaries?

Moreover, Mu Xian said that the patrol team “should not have appeared”—how could he remember where the patrol team should have been? His memory was too good!

At that moment, the onboard system was voice came through the helmet: “Attention, laser cannons and rocket launchers are in position. Safety devices disengaged. Entering launch preparation mode.”

My heart skipped a beat: Mu Xian had prepared weapons? Was a firefight about to break out?

Before I could ask anything, I heard Mu Xian shout, “Hold on tight.” As soon as he finished speaking, the plane suddenly veered off course, and a tremendous force threw me violently to the right, but I was immediately pulled back by the seatbelt.

I was so dizzy from the jolting that I felt nauseous. I looked up and saw a white light flash past the right side of the plane like lightning. A few seconds later, it exploded into a ball of fire in space.

Those were artillery shells! Someone was attacking us!

Directly in front of our plane, those five suspicious fighter jets were fanning out towards us! Their conversation with Mu Xian just now was probably a decoy; we were almost hit. Clearly, Mu Xian was on guard; we just narrowly avoided that shell.

At that moment, several beams of intense light shot out from under our aircraft. They traced floating, curving arcs in space before finally striking a fighter jet ahead. The jet suddenly burst into a ball of red and black flames and instantly exploded into several pieces.

I stared blankly at the wreckage—Mu Xian had destroyed an enemy plane? But before I could recover, I saw the enemy’s equally fierce artillery fire coming towards us.

For a long time afterward, I could not see anything clearly.

Because the plane began to glide and flip through the air at incredible speeds. All I could see were streaks of white light flashing past outside the cabin.

I felt like I’d been thrown into a washing machine, tossed around and spun at high speed. It was more terrifying than any roller coaster I’d ever been on. I felt dizzy, started gagging, and my ears hurt terribly.

I could not help but glance at Mu Xian. He had a cold expression, staring intently ahead, as if nothing else mattered. I knew he was fighting five opponents alone and could not afford to be distracted, so I had no choice but to continue to endure.

Just then, the plane suddenly rolled violently, and I screamed in fright, breaking out in a cold sweat. Suddenly, I heard Mu Xian’s short, urgent voice: “Hua Yao, Hua Yao!”

I gripped the armrest of the seat tightly, managing to turn my head to look at him. He glanced at me quickly, his tone slightly surprised: “Are you scared?”

I realized my lapse in composure just now and bit my lip, remaining silent.

“Two more ships, and it will be over.” Mu Xian stared straight ahead, his gaze cold. “If you are scared, come and hug me. My mental energy field can help you balance.”

“No, no need. It is alright,” I replied with difficulty.

Mu Xian did not speak again, probably because he could not concentrate.

The battle continued, and I continued to endure his terrifying flight speed and tricky flight angles.

Finally, when the plane plunged into the dark abyss of space again without warning and began its high-speed fall, I could not take it anymore. I started screaming, yelling desperately with my eyes closed, as if only in this way could I release the extreme fear in my heart. Every second felt like torture.

“Come here!” A cold, low shout came from beside me, and I snapped back to reality, opening my eyes to look at Mu Xian. He was still staring ahead with a cold face, his handsome features and dark eyebrows revealing a strange kind of determination.

My heart suddenly settled.

His seat was right next to mine, so I leaned over and grabbed his waist. Maybe my movement was too sudden, because he was jolted against the back of his chair, but he quickly regained his balance. I held him tighter and tighter, burying my face in his chest, wishing I could disappear into him completely.

The plane was still shaking violently, but perhaps his mental strength really worked. After a while, I felt much better and could not help but hug him tighter.

“There is one more.” A calm voice sounded overhead. “Do not be afraid.”

I looked up and was slightly taken aback.

His face, normally strikingly handsome, now seemed shrouded in a chilling aura. His eyes were calm, his lips tightly pressed together, giving him an arrogant and cold demeanor. He was completely different from how he was with me. I looked at him for a while, then lowered my head again.

I did not know how much time had passed, but the plane seemed to have leveled off. His incredibly soft voice sounded in my ear: “It is over.”

He looked at me calmly through his helmet, his gaze filled with…pity?

“Is it over?” I murmured repeatedly.

“We are already on our way back. We will enter a star system where we can make a jump in half an hour,” he said softly.

I breathed a sigh of relief and whispered, “Thank you.” I tried to get up, but he pressed me down.

“The crisis is not over yet,” he said, staring at me.

I immediately froze, clinging to his waist and refusing to let go.

A glint of amusement flashed in his eyes: “You are not as daring as I thought.”

I suddenly remembered how I had practically thrown myself on him, and I felt a little embarrassed. But then I heard him say, “But considering you have not had any space training, your performance was pretty good.”

Just as I was about to ask him who the enemy planes were, I suddenly saw his smiling face turn cold again.

At the same time, the alarm suddenly sounded, becoming more and more urgent and frequent.

I froze, followed his gaze, and turned around, only to see a dense array of fighter jets slowly approaching from a distant nebula.