The Feeling of Someone Being Home Is Quite Nice

"Damn it!"

Shen Qing's eyes widened as he realized in an instant what was wrong; in his rush to get off work, he had forgotten to return his handgun to his personal locker.

Regulations strictly forbade carrying it outside of patrol or mission hours.

"Take care, buddy. You'd better pray the Chief doesn't find out."

Xie Chong patted Shen Qing's shoulder with a look of schadenfreude, though he couldn't hide the smirk on his face.

"Um, you two..."

Seeing that the two seemed ready to chat, Chen Chen finally couldn't help but reach out and interrupt, "What about me?"

Shen Qing's attention was pulled back, "Right, what's the situation with Chen Chen? Did he awaken an ability too?"

He couldn't help but feel like there was something wrong with the feng shui of their university—it was either Supernaturalists, Living Corpses, or Tree Demons.

Xie Chong nodded, "Pretty much. The base detected energy fluctuations.

Since you were the only Supernaturalist living here, and he moved in on top of that—plus the area is remote and lacks human activity—the monsters naturally came knocking."

As he spoke, he looked at Chen Chen, "I haven't asked you yet, do you feel anything?"

Chen Chen said thoughtfully, "Does being too lazy to move during the day count?"

"..."

The corner of Shen Qing's mouth twitched uncontrollably, "If you're too lazy to work, just say you're too lazy to work. We're all the same."

"Then I guess that's it."

Seeing Chen Chen's blank expression, Xie Chong rubbed his chin and said:

"So it's passive again, or perhaps not fully awakened? The headquarters testing team has already left. Forget it, let's just head back to the base first."

Shen Qing didn't move. He patted Xie Chong's shoulder, handed over the handgun, and said with a smile:

"Then many thanks. Do me a favor, and I'll see you tomorrow."

"Heh."

Xie Chong let out a cold laugh and grabbed his arm, "Where do you think you're going? You can't run from the Chief. Better to get it over with sooner rather than later."

Chen Chen also shook his head, looking at him with pleading eyes, "Brother, you can't leave me behind!"

Who knew what they were going to do? Having a familiar face around would at least make him feel a bit more at ease.

"...Fine."

Shen Qing sighed, having no choice but to accept his fate.

A handgun not being returned on time was, for them, a matter that could be big or small; after all, they were walking weapons themselves.

But their Chief was a stickler for rules, and because of this, Shen Qing saw the branch bureau chief for the second time.

However, the Chief seemed busy, and after confirming the handgun was returned, he didn't nag too much.

The base didn't have dedicated testing staff on hand, so by the time they finished checking all of Chen Chen's attributes and returned, it was already midnight.

"I'm home."

Shen Qing shook his head as he pushed open the door. Truly, no profession was immune to overtime and being nagged by a boss.

The living room lights weren't on; only a small lamp by the entrance was lit, casting a dim glow.

He suddenly felt quite miserable. Coming home from overtime to a dilapidated house, cold and quiet enough to hear his own breathing, he felt a sense of hopelessness for the future.

Indeed, the night was a time that easily made one emo, even for a Supernaturalist.

"Damn, humans really aren't meant for overtime."

Slumping onto the sofa, Shen Qing looked at the closed door of the guest bedroom. It would be a miracle if an ancient person wasn't asleep at this hour.

He opened a food delivery software and searched around, but unfortunately, in the middle of the night, even KFC was closed.

Just as Shen Qing was lying on the sofa questioning his existence, the guest bedroom door suddenly opened. Shen Qingtang walked out, still wearing his clothes, "You're back?"

"You're still awake?" Shen Qing was stunned for a moment.

He remembered that among the clothes Su Xiaoxiao had helped buy, there seemed to be a set of pajamas... wait, no, he hadn't specifically asked for pajamas.

Who buys clothes for someone and specifically picks out pajamas? He didn't get it.

"You haven't eaten yet, have you?"

As Shen Qingtang spoke, she turned on the main living room light. The sudden brightness made Shen Qing instinctively squint.

She walked into the kitchen, and when she came back out, she was carrying two plates of stir-fried dishes that were still steaming.

"I saw you hadn't returned yet, so I kept the food warm."

Shen Qing froze.

In just a few days, Shen Qingtang had learned how to use common appliances; after all, the ancients were just inexperienced, not stupid.

But he truly hadn't expected her to save him hot food, or that she hadn't even eaten herself yet.

"You haven't eaten yet, have you?"

He looked at the dishes on the plate; the portion size didn't look like leftovers at all, but rather like they hadn't been touched.

"You hadn't returned yet."

Shen Qingtang said it as a matter of course, pulling up a stool to sit opposite him. They usually ate dinner together; she couldn't very well let the master of the house eat leftovers, could she?

"This is all I could make for now; the rice is in the rice cooker."

She had nothing to do all day and was staying in someone else's home, so after thinking it over, she could only handle some chores.

Shen Qing looked at her and suddenly laughed.

"No, this isn't just 'all you could do.' This humble one must properly thank you for your great kindness."

Seeing Shen Qingtang's blank expression, he continued with a straight face:

"As an official operative, one cannot fight demons on an empty stomach. If I'm hungry, I might not be able to defeat the demons, and if I can't defeat the demons, the people might be threatened. You are contributing to the people—your merit is immense!"

"Hm?"

Shen Qingtang quickly caught on, frowning, "You're teasing me."

Watching the female bodyguard—no, the female knight—put on a stern face, Shen Qing only found it amusing, the corners of his mouth curling higher.

"Not at all."

"But you don't need to wait for me next time. If I eat out, you'll have waited for nothing. Just eat by yourself."

Though he said this, he truly felt a sense of warmth in his heart.

The feeling of having someone at home seemed quite nice.

It was different from going to his eldest brother's place. No matter how well his brother and sister-in-law treated him, he had to be aware that they had their own lives.

But in his own home, it was a completely different feeling... although the house wasn't his. If only he had a place of his own.

He picked up his chopsticks and was just about to eat when Shen Qingtang noticed the injury on his hand.

"Your hand?"

"It's nothing, just a scrape from working overtime. See? It's already scabbed over."

A Supernaturalist getting a scrape?

Shen Qing didn't want to say, so Shen Qingtang didn't ask further. After all, besides being a guest and a host, there was no other relationship between them.

After dinner, Shen Qingtang instinctively went to clear the dishes.

Shen Qing reached out to stop her, shaking his head, "You steamed the rice, I'll wash the dishes. It's fair, right?"

As he spoke, he gathered the dishes and headed toward the kitchen.

Shen Qingtang followed behind, "But..."

"No 'buts'," Shen Qing poked his head out from the kitchen, "You wanted to find something to do, right? Given your status, it was originally almost impossible."

Shen Qingtang's footsteps faltered; she had long expected this result.

After all, who would hire an undocumented person like her who knew nothing and could do nothing? Still, she felt a bit dejected.

"However, I did think of a way."

Shen Qing's next sentence made her look up again.

Not long after.

Accompanied by a stirring piece of music on the phone, the five large characters "Delta Force" flashed across the screen.

"This is called a video game. You know what games are, right? Like cuju or pitch-pot; this is just a different way of doing it."

"The currency inside can be sold and exchanged for the money we use in reality. You can use my ID for the registration."

Watching Shen Qingtang hold the phone with both hands, looking completely bewildered, Shen Qing laughed:

"It's fine, no rush. For now, just treat it as a way to pass the time."

He began to guide the "person from the past" in front of him on how to interact with a video game.

However, for someone who had never touched a video game before, how should he put it?

"Forward, the enemy is in front, slide the screen—no, you flew! Slide down, yes, downward."

The result was that she couldn't even find the perspective; it drifted wildly, and the character kept bumping into walls.

There was only one path, yet she managed to turn in circles as if she were in a maze, and it took forever to finish the tutorial.

She looked like she was starting to overheat.

Shen Qing looked at Shen Qingtang's slightly puffed-up, flushed cheeks, then checked the time, "Alright, let's stop here for today. It's time to rest."

He was afraid the female knight might smash the phone in a fit of rage.