Chapter 228.2: Food and Sex Are Human Nature (Extra 2)
A small island. The beach was covered in thick vines with oversized leaves, washed glossy black by the seawater. In the rainy night, the coconut groves and palm forests loomed over the ground like towering buildings.
A gray shadow stretched across the sea surface, and as the seawater dripped from it, its true appearance became clearer—Xie Chongyi carried the half-unconscious Wu Heng on his back, one hand supporting his thigh, while the other hand held both a dog leg and a bird leg at the same time. Clinging tightly to Wu Heng’s calf was the sea slug, looking like an irregular white knee pad.
After looking around, the sea slug shouted enthusiastically, “Red Sand Island!”
“What about Red Sand Island?”
The sea slug did not even react to the fact that someone other than Wu Heng could understand its speech. It continued talking to itself, “We’re at least as far from the migration fjord as the distance of going back and forth across four or five fjords combined!”
“I might get eaten on the way back…”
Xie Chongyi realized that the sea slug was even noisier than X and Shukui. Once they were fully ashore, he found a patch of dry sand that would not be flooded by the tide. He checked beneath the sand for hidden local creatures and surveyed the surroundings before using his ability to seal off the area, temporarily turning it into a resting place.
Above them stood a thick, curved coconut tree with several dark green coconuts hanging from it. They still looked far from ripe, so there was no danger of them falling.
Xie Chongyi left the spot and headed into the surrounding area. The island was overgrown with weeds—but not ordinary weeds. Mutated by supernatural energy, they had become completely unrecognizable. Any random blade of grass stretched through the air like a knife, waiting to slice flesh and draw blood from passing creatures.
It was not raining on the island, and the vegetation was dry. Xie Chongyi easily hacked down two large bundles and carried them back.
The place where Wu Heng lay was completely isolated from the outside world by spatial powers. Nearby, a group of large sea otters gathered curiously together, pacing around and observing the sleeping creature on the ground.
Splash—
The moment the sound made by Xie Chongyi appeared, they scattered all at once.
When Xie Chongyi returned, he glanced at the tangled trail of footprints nearby. Sensing no hostility, he ignored them. After clearing away a patch of thick vines, he set up a bundle of dry branches and used his ability to ignite the grass. The roaring flames instantly illuminated his expressionless face—as well as the two sea otter heads peeking out from behind the trunk of a massive tree that would take two people to wrap their arms around. The moment they realized they had been spotted, they immediately ducked back behind the tree and began chattering noisily.
Wu Heng’s clothes were taken off, wrung dry, and only put back on after being warmed by the fire. As for the dog and bird, they were merely squeezed out casually before being tossed back beside Wu Heng. The sea slug, meanwhile, shouted loudly, “I don’t need a fire! I want to go back to the sea!”
Buried in the damp sand, the sea slug suddenly realized something belatedly. “Why can you understand me?”
“Where is there food on this island?”
“What about my question?”
“Wu Heng can understand what you’re saying, so of course I can too. We were originally one being anyway,” Xie Chongyi said as he kept the fire at a steady size. “Keep watch. I’m going to find something to eat.”
Keep watch? On this island, any random creature that showed up could eat it as easily as jelly.
The sea slug wriggled out of the sand and climbed onto Wu Heng’s forehead, where it lay sprawled. Then it noticed the group of sea otters quietly creeping closer again.
“Why did you migrate here? Isn’t it too hot?” the sea slug loudly questioned the sea otters.
The roundest and fattest sea otter held its face in its paws. It had no idea what this thing was doing; it had only come closer out of curiosity.
When Wu Heng opened his eyes, the sea slug lying on his eyelids felt cool, sticky, and constantly squirming, with no intention of moving away—it was simply too emotionally agitated.
“Why are your ears so tiny? What a deformity.”
“Can you go back to your original homeland? Such a waste of all that white fur.”
“How did you get so big?”
Wu Heng grabbed the endlessly chattering sea slug off his head and sat up. The sea otters, which had only just relaxed, immediately scattered in panic again.
Wu Heng looked in the direction they fled, and only after a long while did his gaze finally focus. “Where is this?”
“Red Sand Island,” the sea slug said as it buried itself back into the sand to absorb moisture. “You were knocked unconscious by the waves earlier. We’re resting on this island now. That person went hunting for food for us.”
Only then did Wu Heng notice the fire still burning nearby. The air around it was dry and warm from the heat. He moved closer, warming his icy hands before waking X and Shukui.
“Go catch fish,” he told Shukui.
Shukui gently rested its head against the human’s knee. But that was the sea.
“The water near the shore isn’t deep, and there are sea otters around, so there should be plenty of fish. Go give it a try,” Wu Heng encouraged.
After Shukui finally took its first step toward hunting, Wu Heng also drove X “out of the house.” He had no expectations whatsoever for the sea slug, so he simply dug it out of the sand and used it as a pillow beneath his head.
“I want to sleep for a while.”
“Did you do a lot of work today?” The sea slug felt that ever since Wu Heng became human, he had grown increasingly incomprehensible.
Wu Heng was already asleep.
He had spent the entire day fishing without catching a single fish. The mounting psychological pressure alone had exhausted him, and afterward he had been caught in the chaos of battling marine creatures. Of course he needed rest. It did not matter that there was no bed, that he was outdoors, or that this was a deserted island. None of that bothered him. More importantly, Xie Chongyi was nearby, so the moment he lay down, he could fall asleep peacefully.
There were more wild animals on the island than expected, each occupying its own territory. Fortunately, most of them were already resting at this hour—those that slept on rocks were lying on rocks, and those that lived in caves had retreated into caves.
So Xie Chongyi only picked some naturally ripened fruit. He was planning to catch more fish—though Shukui had already caught a pile of wild yellow croaker and sea urchins. It lay behind Wu Heng, panting with its tongue out, with two sea urchin spines still stuck in its head.
X returned shortly afterward, carrying several puffins in its claws and tossing them together with the fish.
“So annoying, annoying, annoying!” It rolled into the sand, then rolled straight into Wu Heng’s arms.
Xie Chongyi knew Wu Heng had already woken up. Shukui was more sensible and had the instinct to hunt, but X definitely did not.
By the seaside, Xie Chongyi cleaned all the fish and sea urchins with quick, efficient movements. The sea urchins could be eaten raw, so he cracked them open one by one and stacked them into a tall pile. On the spread-out palm leaves were also half-ripe pineapples and mulberries. The fish was grilled, with the thick palm leaves serving perfectly well as makeshift grilling trays. The fish skin’s own oil quickly began sizzling over the heat, filling the air with a rich aroma—
So there was no need to wake Wu Heng deliberately. In a situation like this, he would naturally wake up on his own.
“Gege,” Wu Heng said after waking, accepting defeat as agreed.
Leaning against the nearby tree trunk, Xie Chongyi asked, “Do you want to stay on this island for a while?”
At first, Wu Heng did not understand why Xie Chongyi would suggest that. Casually, he picked up a sea urchin and tipped the soft golden flesh into his mouth. It was creamy, fragrant, and melted instantly on his tongue—far more delicious than any sea urchin he had eaten elsewhere before.
Then he ate the grilled yellow croaker with its crispy charred skin, the slightly sour pineapple flesh and mulberries that cut through the richness, and finally the roasted bird meat. While eating the bird, Wu Heng shot a sideways glance at X. The creature was tearing into half of one of its own kind without the slightest hesitation.
Fair enough, then.
“We can stay for a while,” Wu Heng agreed after eating for some time.
“Tastes good?” Xie Chongyi looked at him with a smile.
Wu Heng nodded and casually ate another sea urchin.
Xie Chongyi seemed physically incapable of resisting the urge to make things difficult for Wu Heng. Leaning closer, he asked, “Compared to me?”
“…”
Wu Heng still held the empty sea urchin shell in his hand. After thinking for a moment, he answered, “Different flavors.”
“…”
When the bonfire gradually died down, the two of them slept directly on the ground. The dog and bird, full and satisfied, sprawled on either side. Meanwhile, the sea otters that had been lurking nearby for a long time finally rushed in to fight over the leftover sea urchins.
Ignoring the reason they had come here, the two of them unanimously felt that this moment was like a brief honeymoon, as though the apocalypse had already drifted far away from them.
—
The very next day, they began building a wooden house.
Red Sand Island had basically nothing on it. Even the blueprint could only be sketched in the sand with a stick. Once they had a rough outline, Xie Chongyi directed the dog, the bird, and the sea otters to carry and drag wooden planks to begin construction. It was only natural for the dog and bird to do this kind of work, but if they wanted the sea otters’ help, they had to pay them in sea urchins—which was hardly difficult for humans at the top of the food chain.
Wu Heng, meanwhile, was responsible for providing lumber. Fortunately, the island’s vegetation grew wildly. Oversized sturdy leaves, highly flexible bark, and huge wooden boards that required no splicing were available in endless supply.
During the construction process, he cleared the woodland behind the chosen site into an open area with sparse trees. Sunlight poured down, and clear paths formed between the trunks. Poppies spread along the roots and pathways, driving away the mutated plants and animals that quietly approached nearby.
Xie Chongyi’s ideas were different from Wu Heng’s. What Wu Heng created was, on the surface, a peaceful and idyllic woodland, but underneath it was essentially a heavily fortified security zone woven from deadly poppies. Xie Chongyi, on the other hand, used his spatial powers to blast out an open-air swimming pool beside the cabins. He spent more effort on this than anything else and even built scenery around the pool.
Wu Heng stood beside the water wearing yesterday’s wrinkled clothes. His pale calves almost seemed to glow, and the grains of sand on his skin sparkled like crushed yellow crystals.
“This is already by the sea,” he said. “Why make a swimming pool too?”
Xie Chongyi guided seawater into the pool with his ability, washing and filling it until the waterline rose past his waist.
“Do you prefer the sea or a swimming pool?”
Wu Heng had never swum in a pool before. “I don’t know.”
“I want to play with you in the water.”
Xie Chongyi was all smiles; at least from Wu Heng’s perspective, there didn’t seem to be a single malicious thought behind his grin.
“What do you want to play?” Wu Heng was still lost in the joy of building a house with his own two hands.
Xie Chongyi reached out and pulled the young man—who looked absolutely delicious—into the pool, which had already been filled with more water. The pool showed little sign of human intervention; even the bottom was a thick, compacted layer of crushed gravel, making it feel no different from falling into the sea—Wu Heng was caught off guard, his eyes still open underwater. Broad, lush palm fronds swayed wildly above the surface, and before he could react, fingers slipped between his buttocks.
His nose and mouth broke the surface of the clear water. Xie Chongyi kissed him, pressing his body against the rough pool wall. Shukui lying behind them took the opportunity to lick his ear, wagging its tail happily. Xie Chongyi caught the mix of embarrassment and annoyance in his eyes and smiled as he continued kissing him.
Though he looked gentle, his hands were anything but tender. Wu Heng gasped against his mouth, clutching his arms helplessly, mumbling incoherently, calling him both “gege” and “class monitor.”
But if Xie Chongyi had actually stopped, he wouldn’t have wanted to.
When one’s basic needs are met, thoughts turn to lust; food and sex are part of human nature—it’s nothing more than that.
