IPC Chapter 8: Covering Up

Interstellar Power Couple

Translator: Leslie

Quality Check: Lala

Editor: Chesh

First Published on Chaleuria

Chapter 8: Covering Up

“Sh…” Xiao Lingyu subconsciously put his index finger before his lips, signalling Lei Jue not to make a sound. After that… well, after that had been somewhat hazy. He hadn’t thought that he would actually get to witness a beauty come fresh out of the bath when he suddenly decided to look for Lei Jue to help. Lei Jue had white, alabaster skin, and although he had no obvious muscles, his proportions were perfect, not to mention that the two pale pink dots on his chest were immensely lethal. At least when it came to him… a lecher without much experience to speak of. 

“You’re hurt?” Lei Jue, however, didn’t think much further when he saw Xiao Lingyu’s blood-soaked clothes and walked towards him, asking in a low voice, “Do you need me to call a doctor?”

“No need, don’t let my mum and grandma know. I want to- to rest for a bit first.” Xiao Lingyu grabbed a cushion with much difficulty and leaned against it. Although he looked as if he were about to collapse in exhaustion, he still remembered to point out the obvious.

“What’s wrong?”

“Aren’t you hemophobic?” Xiao Lingyu’s voice was still hoarse, as if he hadn’t drunk any water for a long time.  

“But you entered here anyway, right?” Lei Jue was somewhat speechless as he went to get some water for him. His room and Xiao Lingyu’s may have been next to each other, but this couldn’t be the reason that Xiao Lingyu had come into the house injured, right?

“My brother and the others are in the living room, I can’t let my mum and grandma find out that I’m hurt. However, I need my second brother’s help, so I can only come to you.” Xiao Lingyu let out a hiss of pain, his face deathly pale with a fine sheen of sweat covering his forehead. “Help me call for my brother, but whatever you do, do not alert my mum and grandma.” 

“Okay.” Lei Jue handed over the water to Xiao Lingyu. 

“Can you feed me?” Xiao Lingyu did not move.

Lei Jue had been thinking of simply pouring the water down his throat, but when he saw the hand that was completely drenched in blood, he held on to his patience and helped Xiao Lingyu to drink the water, before throwing on a jacket to find Xiao Lingshu. 

Xiao Lingshu and Xiao Linghua were chatting with their grandmother. Luo Yuling was there as well. When Lei Jue was going down the stairs, he rubbed his forehead, looking as if he were hungover. “Second Brother, the bathing equipment in my quarters seems to have a problem, could you help me take a look?”

Xiao Lingshu glanced at Xiao Linghua and dusted off the snack remnants on his hands. “Of course, let’s go.”

“Hold on, I’m going too.” Xiao Linghua followed them. 

Xiao Lingyu had only mentioned not to let the two ladies know, but he hadn’t mentioned that Xiao Linghua couldn’t know. So, it was only when Lei Jue had reached the door to his room that he lowered his voice to speak to the two behind him, “Whatever you see, don’t make any sound.”  

Xiao Lingshu and Xiao Linghua nodded in suspicion. Then, Lei Jue pushed open the door. 

Xiao Lingyu waved at his elder siblings while on the bed. 

Xiao Linghua, upon seeing the blood soaking through his shirt by his abdomen, rushed forward in large strides. Grinding his teeth while giving Xiao Lingyu the finger, he lowered his voice to chastise Xiao Lingyu, “You brat, did you decide to surprise me because you knew I’m coming back today? Damn this, which bastard did this!”

Xiao Lingyu ignored him. “Second Brother, help me figure out a way to handle this. We can’t let Mum and Grandma know about this injury.”

Xiao Lingshu nodded and tentatively lifted Xiao Lingyu’s shirt to take a look. Once he had done so, he frowned hard. “Little Jue, sorry to bother you, but please wash a towel and help your big brother Lingyu wipe the area down first. Just avoid the wound itself and you should be fine. I’ll go grab some stuff.”

Xiao Lingyu said, “Third Brother, you do it instead. Little Jue is hemophobic.” 

“I’m not particularly gentle with my hands, so you’d better not regret this.” Despite his words, Xiao Linghua still went off to wring out a towel. Once he had squeezed the water out, he did his utmost to carefully wipe down his younger brother. When it was done, he took the bloodied clothing and towel and balled them up before shoving them into the bag that Lei Jue had brought and setting it aside. “I think that the only place you can stay tonight is Little Jue’s room.”   

“Your third brother’s right. Tonight, don’t leave this room.” Xiao Lingshu brought over a toolbox filled with medical supplies and a new pair of underwear. He treated the most obvious wound on Xiao Lingyu’s abdomen and bandaged it. Then he made him take two tablets of a type of medicine that sped up healing. “We can’t stay here too long. If we take too long mum definitely can’t resist coming up here to look. Tonight…” Xiao Lingshu looked at Lei Jue. “Little Jue, looks like we’ll have to trouble you.”

“When you guys leave, just take everything that’s covered in blood,” Lei Jue said indifferently, his gaze sweeping over Xiao Lingyu.

“We can’t take Xiao Lingyu, but we will do our best to clear out everything else.” Xiao Linghua pushed Xiao Lingyu, and after he fell, he yanked at Xiao Lingyu’s pants with lightning speed. “Pants off!” 

“Pants off?! You can’t even see if there’s blood on it!” Xiao Lingyu knew that his brother was doing this on purpose the moment he saw the evil grin on his face. One of his hands pressed against his wound, while the other held tight onto his pants. “Hands off!”  

“There’s blood on your pants, hurry up!” Xiao Linghua yanked hard and pulled his brother’s pants off.

“You!” Xiao Lingyu stared dumbfounded in his underwear while the door shut with a slam. He turned his head to look at Lei Jue. “Did that startle you?” 

“It’s fine.” In actuality, he didn’t understand. He had stolen a few glances at Xiao Lingyu’s injuries before. It seemed to be caused by something forcibly ripping off a chunk of skin and flesh, and most definitely wasn’t a minor wound. The wound looked really hideous. This was the Northern Ling District, and even if the Xiao family weren’t all-powerful, they weren’t far from it. Although the elections were coming up, wasn’t Xiao Zhicheng still in power? Who would possibly dare to cause such grievous hurt to Xiao Lingyu? 

“Do you even have to ask? There are only the same few possible reasons as to why I’m injured.” Shortly after that, Xiao Lingyu was explaining to Xiao Linghua through his communicator, “Quit nagging. I just set my sights on the younger brother of the Great White Shark Naval Fleet’s captain… Little Jue? Little Jue’s as gentle as can be, he’s not going to bother me about this kind of thing.” Xiao Lingyu listened to Xiao Linghua say something, then smiled. “Anyway, I just had a chunk taken out of me by that brat’s livestock. Mm… but I did get to take advantage of this anyway, that kid’s butt was so nice to touch… hey, don’t hang up on me third brother!”

“Should I switch off the light?” Lei Jue asked Xiao Lingyu when he saw there was no more sound coming from the communicator.

“Sure. Hey, wait, hold on a bit!” Xiao Lingyu put down his communicator and abruptly looked at Lei Jue. His gaze swept from Lei Jue’s upper body to his waist. “Little Jue,” Xiao Lingyu licked the corners of his lips, “that bath towel of yours… I don’t suppose there’s nothing in there?”

Lei Jue forcefully squeezed out a smile. “I was rushing to get out earlier, so…”  

“It seems like I underestimated you earlier,” Xiao Lingyu said, laying on his side on the bed. “You’re actually fairly lewd.” He paused, then added, “A closet lewd!”

You damn well wish I was!

Lei Jue snapped his fingers and switched off the light. After he had entered the bathroom, he blow-dried his hair so it wouldn’t be uncomfortable to sleep later. When he came out at last, however, he saw that Xiao Lingyu had already hogged his bed and fallen asleep already, either because the medicine had sleep-inducing effects or because he’d lost too much blood and no longer had the strength to keep blathering.

He didn’t want to squeeze in with Xiao Lingyu, so he thought of getting yet another blanket to put on the ground for bedding. However, he didn’t expect the cabinet to be utterly empty of bedding. Since the house was completely taken care of by robots, all of the household’s clean blankets were put away in one place. The robot cleaners would change the bedding according to its cleanliness. Now that he wanted some new bedclothes, he could only find a robot to help him.    

Whatever. No bedclothes, then so be it. Lei Jue rolled up two pieces of clothing to act as pillows. With no mattress or covers, he wondered whether his healing powers would work if he were to catch a cold. While he wondered, he, too, unknowingly fell asleep.  

The next day, he was awakened by a strange sensation. He felt someone pulling on his eyelashes. He frowned, opened his eyes, and saw that it was Xiao Lingyu, that mentally ill jerk.

“They’re so long, I was checking whether they were real or fake.”

“Of course they’re real.” Lei Jue glanced at his communicator and sat up. “Are you still going to continue hiding?”

“There’s no need anymore, I’ve healed quite quickly. Besides, someone’s coming.” When Xiao Lingyu finished speaking, the sound of knocking immediately rang out. Luo Yuling shouted outside, “Little Jue, it’s time for breakfast. If you don’t come out soon, the tasty dishes will be eaten by your big brother Linghua.” 

“Coming.” Lei Jue shot a look toward Xiao Lingyu and saw him rip off his tourniquet to hide by the side before running behind him. He then opened the door. “Aunty, I apologize, I woke up late.”   

“It’s alright, it’s still…” Luo Yuling stared, stunned, at the person who was laughing gormlessly in nothing but underwear while waving behind Lei Jue. “Little Fifth, what are you doing here?” 

“Is it strange for me to be in my husband’s room?” Xiao Lingyu embraced Lei Jue from behind, borrowing Lei Jue to hide the wounds on his body. “Mum, you—” he abruptly stopped, a hint of suspicion flashing through his eyes.  

“Hurry up and get dressed for breakfast.” Luo Yuling flashed a glare at her son before smiling and patting Lei Jue’s shoulder. “If Little Jue is hungry already, then just go down first. Pay no heed to him.”  

“Alright, Aunty,” Lei Jue said, then closed the door after he saw that Luo Yuling had left. 

“Babe, your body has an especially fresh scent.” Xiao Lingyu sniffed deeply, somewhat reluctant to release his hold. For some unknown reason, it made him feel really good to hold Lei Jue. “Thanks for helping cover me. You’ve got to pay attention during the day, too—you absolutely cannot let my mum and grandma know that I’m injured.”  

“Okay.”  

“What are you doing today?” Xiao Lingyu asked after he had gone to the adjacent room to put on a set of clothes and came out again.

“I’m taking Loquat to his surgery. It’s this morning.”  

“Alright, I’ll follow you. Since you helped me this time, I’ll treat you to something delicious.”  

“No need. Besides, aren’t you hurt?” Lei Jue felt that having an extra person with an extra pair of eyes around on him would be a lot more bothersome when compared to wandering by himself, and would make him significantly uneasy. 

“I can act like I’m not injured,” Xiao Lingyu said. “Anyway, the bonding agent second brother gave me yesterday wasn’t bad. So long as I don’t make any excessive movements, it’ll be fine.”  

“That still…” Lei Jue was about to say that it wasn’t needed, but his communicator suddenly rang at that moment. A new text message was displayed at the top. After he read its contents, he resolutely nodded his head in Xiao Lingyu’s direction. “Then let’s go.”