With His Flesh, He Hid His Mark

The energy patterns on Lu Mi's face flickered faintly. His nails lengthened and sharpened for an instant before vanishing again.

Lin Luo and the other two hurried over and grabbed Lu Mi's arms.

"Warden Lu, please calm down!"

"You don't have the strength to kill anyone right now!"

Qi An lay on the floor, showing none of the discomfort of having his throat choked. Though his voice had changed slightly, the smile on his face remained unchanged.

"Warden Lu, you don't seem to be in very good condition."

Lu Mi withdrew his hand through gritted teeth, his voice hoarse. "Qi An, you'd better pray to your ancestors and make sure nothing happens to him."

Qi An climbed to his feet. "Don't worry, Warden Lu. Deputy Chief Inspector Tian knows Yu Tu's limits under pressure very well. He personally guaranteed that Yu Tu won't die."

Qi An raised a hand and straightened his uniform. "However, Warden Lu, as your senior, I feel obligated to remind you that there's nothing wrong with keeping a serious criminal as a pet, but don't let your feelings cloud your judgment. In our position, acting on emotion can get you killed."

"Get out!"

Qi An chuckled. "I only came to Second Prison as an observer. The observation is over, so I'll be leaving. Warden Lu, you should treat your injuries too. You look badly hurt yourself."

Lu Mi pulled the leather whip from his waist and lashed it at Qi An's back, but he sidestepped it with ease.

Qi An left. The door to the special interrogation room closed, leaving only Lu Mi, Yu Tu, and Ming Qiuxue inside.

Ming Qiuxue said nothing.

Lu Mi walked over to Yu Tu. He raised his hands, wanting to embrace him, but Yu Tu's wounds left him nowhere to place them. In the end, he could only reach out and feel for Yu Tu's breath.

There was still a faint breath.

Lu Mi let out a small sigh of relief.

The instant his fingers moved away, Yu Tu slowly lifted his head. His red eyes seemed veiled in mist, blank and unfocused. He was clearly not fully conscious.

After staring at Lu Mi for a long while, he tilted his head and smiled. His eyes brightened for an instant.

Yu Tu's voice was especially hoarse.

"Lu Mi, is it time? Did you come to take me home?"

Then he lowered his head, looking distressed.

"It hurts so much. They hit me. They want me to leave Calamity Planet. They're really awful... I don't care. I won't leave anyway..."

Yu Tu reached out to touch Lu Mi, but suspended in midair as he was, he could not reach him. Lu Mi quickly stepped closer and let him touch him.

Lu Mi's eyes were red-rimmed. "Mm... I came to take you home."

Yu Tu lowered his head, his chin resting right atop Lu Mi's head. He gently rubbed against him.

"Lu Mi, let me tell you something. I've been good. I've been obedient.

"I controlled myself."

Lu Mi's nose stung, and his voice caught. "Mm. Big brother has been the best."

Before long, Second Prison's doctors rushed over. Lu Mi wrapped an arm around Yu Tu's waist and said,

"Big brother, I'm taking you away. It will hurt. Bear with it. If you can't, bite me."

Lu Mi said to the doctors, "I'll pull out the hooks. Stop the bleeding immediately. Lin Luo, Mo Ke, Luo Wei, come help me."

Lu Mi took a deep breath. "One, two, three... pull!"

As the final word fell, all four of them exerted force at once. Every hook piercing Yu Tu's body was pulled out simultaneously, and blood splattered everywhere!

"Stop the bleeding!"

The doctors, drenched in sweat, rushed forward.

Throughout the entire process, Yu Tu remained in Lu Mi's arms without making the slightest sound. Lu Mi reached out to check his breathing again. Once he confirmed that Yu Tu was still alive, he hurriedly carried him outside.

On all of Calamity Planet, there was no healer more capable than Yu Tu himself.

After leaving Second Prison, Lu Mi glanced at the hovering Ship 01 and tilted his head slightly. "Lin Luo, Mo Ke, Luo Wei, you go back to First Prison first."

After giving his orders, Lu Mi carried Yu Tu toward Ship 01.

The hatch closed. Ship 01 rose into the sky and slowly headed toward First Prison.

Inside the ship, Lu Mi placed Yu Tu on the soft bed in the resting cabin. Pale-faced, his fingertips trembling, he removed the five Energy Lock Rings from Yu Tu's body and turned on the ship's humidifier.

Yu Tu remained quiet. Lu Mi raised a hand and patted his face.

"Big brother, there's no one else here now. Open your eyes and heal yourself."

Yu Tu did not react. Lu Mi did not know how to wake him and could only rub his head against Yu Tu's neck.

"Please, big brother..."

"Big brother, wake up..."

"Big brother, get up and heal yourself. Use your little sprouts..."

Again and again, until suddenly, something lightly brushed across Lu Mi's cheek. It tickled a little.

He turned to look, and his eyes lit up.

Yu Tu was still unconscious, but white vines slowly emerged from his wounds one after another. The tips of the vines began helping him heal.

"That's wonderful..."

Lu Mi let out a long breath.

The moment that breath left him, endless exhaustion washed over him. He struggled to his feet, brought over the medical kit, slowly took off his coat, and then his shirt.

At the left side of his chest was a fist-sized penetrating wound.

An ordinary ship explosion should not have injured Lu Mi this badly, but Yi Que's ship had actually been equipped with the latest energy self-destruct system.

The only reason he had made it back to Calamity Planet was because he was tough as nails.

However, though Lu Mi had taken a hemostatic agent, this was a fatal wound. The damage to his body was terrifying.

Lu Mi bit his lip as he treated himself and stuffed gauze into the wound. When the gauze was only halfway in, his hand trembled. He completely lost his strength and fell flat onto his back.

Ship 01 arrived above First Prison and hovered there.

The ship was quiet. In the resting cabin, Yu Tu lay on the bed, his body's self-protection system activated as it healed him on its own.

On the floor, the effects of Lu Mi's hemostatic agent had worn off, and blood began pouring wildly from the wound in his chest.

The white vines branded on his left chest and left arm glowed with a faint, pure light.

After a Partner Mark was branded, it would glow as a warning if its owner's life was in danger.

If the partner was on the same planet, the Partner Mark on their body would glow in response.

The instant the white vines lit up--

Through the opening in the abdomen of Yu Tu's prison uniform, a dark golden light could faintly be seen glowing beneath the flesh of his lower abdomen.

A Partner Mark could only be removed by damaging one's own origin.

If Lu Mi had seen that light, he would have known that Yu Tu had never removed his Black Panther Brand.

He had merely once cut away the flesh from his abdomen, then regrown it.

With his flesh, he hid his mark.

The dark golden glow of the Black Panther Brand continued to flicker. Yu Tu lay on the bed as his waist-length white hair suddenly began visibly growing longer.

It kept growing and growing, until it reached Yu Tu's ankles. Then, his long lashes trembled, and he slowly opened his eyes.

They were a pair of completely white eyes.

Yu Tu pushed himself up and quickly locked onto Lu Mi on the floor.

The bloody hole in Lu Mi's chest made him look weak and frightening.

Yu Tu got out of bed barefoot, picked Lu Mi up, and placed him on the bed. Lowering his head, he kissed Lu Mi's cheek.

Yu Tu's lips curved gently, his expression tender.

"My Lu Xiaojiu, long time no see."

Lu Mi took a moment to check the comments, and his world came crashing down.

Lu Mi: Darlings, my waist hurts, but I really am the dominant one. Got it?