Memories (Seven)

It was as though a pebble had suddenly been suspended above a calm sea.

After that, every time Yu Tu and Lu Xiaojiu met, the pebble fell into the sea again.

At first, it stirred only faint ripples.

Later, small waves began to rise.

As Lu Xiaojiu's birthday approached, Yu Tu finished a killing spree on a planet light-years from Polaris Star.

He was spotless, but the sharp smell of blood still filled his nose. He rubbed his brow, leaned against a wall in exhaustion, and took out his communicator.

The moment the call connected, Lu Xiaojiu's voice rang out.

"Brother!"

Yu Tu lowered his long lashes. The chill in his red eyes vanished, and a faint smile touched his lips. "Xiaojiu, what do you want for your birthday?"

"Anything is fine, Brother."

"What do you like best? Or what do you want most?"

An unnatural silence fell on the other end.

Across the vast distance, Yu Tu heard Lu Xiaojiu's breathing suddenly grow heavier.

It was barely noticeable, yet it felt like a kitten's claw raking across his heart.

Yu Tu gently rubbed the communicator with his thumb. He found a chair and sat down, tilting his head back slightly. His long hair fell straight behind him, and his Adam's apple rose and fell like a ridge in a snow-covered landscape.

Yu Tu heard his own heartbeat, different from anything he had known before.

A little rose had suddenly grown in the desert. Yu Tu crossed the sand barefoot to reach it. After gazing down at it for a long time, he crouched and carefully cupped it in his hands.

He leaned in to breathe in its fragrance, and the smell of blood lingering in his nose vanished at once.

The bare vines burst into bloom. Yu Tu had