Chapter 1423: His Gaze
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
[Shut up!] Xia Yingluo told it off in her heart. [Annoy me further and I’ll eat you up!]
[You can’t do this! You can’t—!] The World Tree began screaming even more loudly, but Xia Yingluo wasn’t attending to it anymore.
She looked up at Wei Lingnan and smiled. “Alright, then. We’ll use energy.” This decision was made solely because the World Tree angered her. She was not a puppet at anyone’s mercy!
Wei Lingnan could not hear the conversation between her and the World Tree and felt pleasantly surprised to see her smile at him.
He carefully cupped her face in his hands and planted a kiss on her forehead. After the kiss, a thread of faint white energy began spreading out and soon, the air around her face became distorted. To other ordinary humans, all they saw was another ordinary face. Only those of the Skatana species like her could see her actual look through the distorted air particles.
He then wiped his face with his hand, repeating the procedure.
Xia Yingluo looked at him and felt like they’d gone back to those days. The day before each battle, he’d always go about his preparation systematically, making sure everything was in place and that he was ready. On that thought, she went a little dazed.
He locked the car doors and looked straight at her. “What’re you looking at? Ah Luo.”
She avoided his line of sight and casually said, “I was just curious about how you’ve transformed yourself.”
“Want to have a look?” He asked, ready to wipe his hand on his face again. The Skatana species had several different levels of facial modification, but the lowest level sufficed when it came to fooling a species as weak as the humans. If he wanted to hide his actual look from a higher-order species like her, he’d have to use more energy and more advanced technology.
She grabbed his hand. “Don’t.”
Although she was annoyed at the World Tree, there was no need to use up so much energy unnecessarily. After all, it wasn’t easy gathering it.
Wei Lingnan placed his other hand over hers and smiled. “Alright.”
She wanted to shake him off, but he grabbed her hand tighter. “Let’s go and collect our tickets, and the popcorn too. What’s life like for a normal human being? I’ve never experienced it.”
She looked up at him. “Never?”
“Since I came to this planet, I’ve been building the underground base and conducting experiments, where did I have the time to do other things?” Wei Lingnan casually explained. “Then when you came along… we’ve mostly experienced the high life, but never gone shopping or watching a movie like ordinary people.”
She wanted to ask if he’d experienced this with Gu Jinxiu.
But she shot that thought down right away. She was a rich girl too and probably didn’t enjoy large crowds of people in public areas.
She looked at him closely. His usually cold expression was now lined with some childlike happiness and excitement. She felt a pinch in her heart. Just how had he been living through these millions of years? Had he ever had a moment of leisure, where he wasn’t uptight about anything?
She followed his lead and allowed him to hold her hand as they streamed into the theater lounge with the crowd.
He was just like an ordinary human male, collecting the tickets for her, and getting the drinks and popcorn for her as well. Around them, countless other couples were doing the same; some girls were smiling and thanking their boyfriends while others were rebuking them for minor mistakes. This scene seemed surreal to Xia Yingluo, as if… as if a dream that she’d kept buried in her heart for millions of years had finally come true…
“Ah Luo.” She heard Wei Lingnan’s voice while in her daze.
He put an arm over her shoulder and guided her through the crowd. “Walk slowly.”
She remembered a mission from millions of years back. She’d gone to the most romantic beach in the universe and had seen couples enjoying their time on the shore. A young man had held his girlfriend close as they chatted and laughed, and with junk food in their hands, they looked so blissful.
She stood on that shore for a long time.
At that time, she’d already become strong enough to kill everyone with just a snap of her finger. But she hadn’t done that. She’d envied all these ordinary couples and wanted them to live in bliss forever, even if that bliss was out of reach for her. She’d let everyone on that beach off and allowed them to live on as she faced the Queen’s punishment.
Nobody understood why Princess Ah Luo would make such a mistake. Nobody, except her.
When there was love, there was vulnerability.
That was why all of these blissful people were so small and weak.
Today as she was wrapped in Wei Lingnan’s embrace, she’d become one of the many ‘weaklings’. And yet, she felt more peaceful and at ease than when she was invincible.
It went dark before her eyes as they entered the theater.
The Skatana species had an incredible night vision. He spotted their seat quickly and guided her to it.
They were in a theater full of other couples.
When the film started, everyone went quiet and allowed themselves to be immersed in ‘Star Wars Era 2’.
It was the first time Xia Yingluo was watching herself on a big screen. Her beauty, as well as her outstanding acting skills, made her an attractive actress. But Wei Lingnan was even more outstanding. He did not even need much acting skills; his one movement, or one gaze, was enough to set their hearts pounding with excitement. Especially his expression in the scenes where he looked at her.
When they were filming, Xia Yingluo hadn’t even noticed that this was how he gazed at her.
It was packed with devotion, infatuation, and the pain of loving and wanting her but not being able to have her. And yet it also screamed of passion and desire… those eyes were full of too many emotions at once.
She did not know how she managed to sit through the entire film.
She didn’t even touch the popcorn in her hands as she watched him with all her attention.
When the film was over and the lights went on, the couples around them began discussing the film as they made their way out. “I never expected Wei Lingnan to be this good at acting, his eyes were full of emotions! Did you see the way he looked at Xia Yingluo? I just don’t believe that he doesn’t actually love her.”
“He surely loves her.”
“Exactly, no wonder they changed the male lead. He’s so much better at acting than Jiang Yu in the first film.”
“Acting? Jiang Yu is the King of Film, how could he be bad at it? I’d say that Wei Lingnan genuinely likes Xia Yingluo, that’s the only reason he was able to look at her with that gaze. As for Jiang Yu, he was just acting, and however good he might be, he can’t be better than someone who means it from the bottom of his heart.”
“That makes sense…”
The voices trailed off.
Wei Lingnan looked at Xia Yingluo, who was still rooted to the ground. “Let’s go.”