Stealing Pens: Travelers from the End of the World

The one who entered the courtyard earlier than Qin Yuchen was Qiuhe, who was carrying 007.

007 ran into the kitchen with ease.

Qiuhe went to Zhang Qiling and started rubbing against him.

Zhang Qiling sat under the eaves where Qin Yuchen often sat, put down the palm-leaf fan in his hand, bent down and took Qiuhe into his arms.

He touched Qiu He's face with the back of his hand and whispered softly:

"came back?"

"Meow~" Qiu He rubbed the back of Zhang Qiling's hand politely, then pricked up her ears and heard footsteps at the door. She jumped out of Zhang Qiling's arms and ran quickly to the door.

Zhang Qiling also stood up and followed Qiuhe's footsteps.

Before stepping out of the door, he saw Qin Yuchen squatting outside and holding Qiuhe steadily in his arms.

"came back."

Zhang Qiling leaned against the gate, watching Qin Yuchen's gaze fall on him. His brows and eyes reflected the sunset, tinged with tenderness, and he smiled and changed the question sentence into a statement.

"Good afternoon."

He smiled when he heard Qin Yuchen's usual way of greeting and waited for the person to come to him.

"Well, good afternoon."

Zhang Qiling paused in his attempt to reach out and grab someone's hand. He smelled a faint scent of blood and his lips curled up instantly.

"injured?"

"No." Qin Yuchen raised his arm and smelled a faint scent.

"It's in the tomb. It must be because I didn't take a shower, so I can still smell it even after changing clothes."

He walked into the house holding Qiu He and said:

"It's a bloody tomb, so the smell is inevitably a bit strong."

Hearing that no one was hurt, Zhang Qiling breathed a sigh of relief and went to the living room to pour a glass of warm water for Qin Yuchen.

"Where's the blind man?" Qin Yuchen put Qiu He down, took off his jacket and draped it on the stool, then took the warm water and looked around. He didn't see anyone else.

"I went to the desert with Wuxie." Zhang Qiling said.

Qin Yuchen raised his eyebrows: "You're taking action on your own so soon?"

"Yeah." Zhang Qiling sat on the sofa and nodded.

"Take the newly chosen ones with you."

"I wish him success." Qin Yuchen chuckled, drank the water in the cup, picked up his jacket and took Qiu He to take a shower.

"Go to the kitchen and get 007. It's time for him to take a bath."

"Okay." Zhang Qiling responded.

After putting hot water of suitable temperature in the bathtub, Qiuhe took the initiative to jump into the bathtub.

007 was carried by Zhang Qiling and came to the shower room with his fangs and claws bared.

Zhang Qiling put it in the bathtub and paid no attention to its complaints.

"Don't move." Qin Yuchen looked at the water splashed by 007's flapping and wet his clothes, and patted its head to tell it not to move.

[Oh...] 007 immediately became obedient and stood in the water obediently, waiting for Qin Yuchen to wet its fur.

Zhang Qiling squatted opposite Qin Yuchen and gave Qiuhe a bath.

Both are very well behaved pets, so bathing them is not a big deal.

After the bath, Zhang Qiling wrapped Qiu He in a towel, took it out of the shower room, and blew its hair at the sink.

007 returned to his own space.

Qin Yuchen threw the clothes he took off into the dirty clothes basket, closed the door and turned on the switch.

Outside, there was the sound of a hair dryer whirring, and inside, there was the sound of a shower.

The two of them were doing their own things. When Qin Yuchen put on his clothes and came out of the shower, Zhang Qiling had not yet completely dried Qiuhe's hair.

"Meow~" Qiuhe called out happily when she saw him.

Qin Yuchen leaned against the door, quietly looking at Zhang Qiling's serious expression.

The sound of the hair dryer stopped for a moment, and Zhang Qiling used a comb to comb Qiu He's hair. Qin Yuchen took this opportunity to joke:

"Would you like to blow dry my hair, too?"

Zhang Qiling didn't stop what he was doing. He looked up at Qin Yuchen and said seriously, "We have to wait."

"Okay." Qin Yuchen's tone rose at the end, sounding very happy.

"Yeah." Zhang Qiling blinked, his eyebrows curved and he quickened the combing action.

After a long while, Qiuhe was finally able to get out from under the hair dryer. It shook its head, raised its tail, jumped off the sink, and walked out of the bathroom with its head held high.

"Wait a moment." Zhang Qiling put down what he was holding, turned around and walked out.

When he came back in, he had a chair in his hand.

Zhang Qiling put the chair near the door, patted the backrest, and asked Qin Yuchen to sit over:

"It's cooler at the door."

Qin Yuchen raised his eyebrows, took two or three steps over and sat down.

The wind is a cool breeze, which is just right for the hot weather.

Zhang Qiling's movements were very gentle, and his fingers slowly combed Qin Yuchen's short hair.

"Summer is almost over." Through the buzzing sound of the wind, Qin Yuchen's voice was a little louder, chatting with Zhang Qiling.

Zhang Qiling looked up outside the house. The trees taller than the wall had dead leaves, and the flowers in the yard were gradually withering. However, the temperature was still as hot as ever, and so was the wind.

"Yes, it's August." Zhang Qiling replied.

“Time flies by so fast.”

"007 said that the collection mission is almost over." Qin Yuchen touched the hair on his forehead.

"When I went to this blood corpse tomb, they said that the creature was already the size of a seven or eight-year-old child, and its eyes were open."

"If it were any bigger, it might repel the Ultimate and produce a negative effect."

This was what 007 suddenly told him when he was resting with the gang in the tomb passage.

Everyone thought it would take some time for Him to open his eyes, but they didn't expect Him to wake up so suddenly and without any warning.

Qin Yuchen was very happy. When he heard the news that he would be leaving soon, the invisible shackles on his body seemed to loosen.

"So from now on, we don't have to go to those dangerous places anymore?" Zhang Qiling turned off the hair dryer and brushed his fingertips across the ends of Qin Yuchen's hair.

"Yes." Qin Yuchen nodded. "Once Wuxie's matter is over, 007 will take Him away."

"It even asked me if I wanted to go back to the old world."

Qin Yuchen noticed that the hand on his shoulder had increased its strength, and he added the second half of the sentence with a smile,

"It said it could take you with it if you wanted to go.

Whether I stay or not is up to me.”

"Then will you stay?" Zhang Qiling came to Qin Yuchen and squatted down, holding his hand and looking up into Qin Yuchen's eyes.

Qin Yuchen's eyes were smiling, soft and gentle when they fell on him.

Qin Yuchen asked back: "What about you? Do you want me to stay?"

Zhang Qiling wrinkled his nose and pursed his lips as he muttered, "You're asking even though you already know the answer..."

"To be honest, you were the one who asked the question even though you already knew the answer." A slightly complaining tone reached his ears. Qin Yuchen laughed, took out a hand and gently pinched Zhang Qiling's cheek, and found that this man seemed to be getting more and more lovely.

"There are only two reasons for asking this kind of question."

Zhang Qiling's eyebrows jumped, and he had a hunch that Qin Yuchen would not say anything good.

He looked at the man who raised two fingers seriously, and quickly covered his mouth to stop him from talking nonsense.

Qin Yuchen tilted her head, and her beautiful eyes smiled even more happily.

Zhang Qiling suddenly withdrew his hand, held the wetness in his palm and cast his gaze on Qin Yuchen's lips, discovering the tip of his tongue that had just retreated.

Zhang Qiling chased after him without thinking, held the back of Qin Yuchen's head and pried open his teeth with ease.

Zhang Qiling chuckled:

"Don't leave."