The Alien Prince Has Fallen for Me

Chapter 10: The Human Furnace at Minus Twenty

Time resumed its flow.

Yue Yao, still shaken, gasped for air.

Xing Hun walked over to the trash can, confirmed what was inside, and said calmly, "A little black snake. Doesn't look venomous." He turned to look at Yue Yao.

Her gaze landed on his bare chest and abs, still glistening with water droplets. Her heart, which had just begun to settle, raced out of control again. Her cheeks flushed crimson, and she let out another scream: "Ah—!"

Xing Hun was baffled by her outburst. He wiped the water from his face and said helplessly, "What are you screaming for? Never seen a handsome guy before?!"

Yue Yao pointed at his upper body, stammering, "You... why aren't you wearing clothes?"

"Who wears clothes while showering?!" Xing Hun found it both exasperating and amusing.

Yue Yao realized he had a point, but she still couldn't bring herself to look at him. Blushing, still terrified, she pleaded, "C-could you check if there are any more snakes in this room?"

Seeing her trembling like a frightened little rabbit, his heart softened. He nodded. "Alright! My dear lady, just don't startle me with any more weird screams."

He began to thoroughly inspect the room—under the bed, behind the curtains, beneath the covers. When he bent down to check under the desk, he suddenly came face-to-face with a pair of densely packed compound eyes and a furry body—a black spider the size of a palm was crouched there!

"Ah! A giant spider!" Xing Hun let out a startled cry almost reflexively, leaping back and instantly hiding behind Yue Yao. He grabbed her arm tightly, his voice trembling.

Yue Yao was startled by his reaction at first, then followed his gaze and spotted the spider. She paused for a moment, looking at the man hiding behind her—a full head taller than she was—with such a terrified expression, and couldn't help but let out a snort of laughter.

The fear was somewhat diluted by this absurd scene. She slipped off her slipper, mustered her courage, stepped forward, aimed, and with a sharp *smack*, flattened the spider cleanly.

"Hahaha," Yue Yao turned around, looking at Xing Hun, who was still visibly shaken, and laughed so hard she doubled over. "You're actually afraid of spiders!"

Xing Hun's handsome face flushed slightly. He forced himself to stay calm, stealing a glance at the dead spider, and stubbornly retorted, "Hmph, I just got startled because I didn't see what it was clearly. I'm not scared of such a little thing!"

Yue Yao decided to tease him. She deliberately pointed at another corner of the room and pretended to shout in terror, "Oh! There's an even bigger one here!"

Xing Hun believed her without even looking. He immediately jumped to the other side in fright and let out another yell: "Ah!"

Yue Yao watched his agile dodge and laughed so hard she could barely stand. She mimicked his earlier movements and imitated his scream: "Hahaha! Still saying you're not scared? You screamed 'ah, ah' in fright!"

Xing Hun finally realized she had tricked him. He was both amused and annoyed. To save face, he imitated the way Yue Yao had screamed when she saw the snake, exaggerating it: "Ah! You screamed louder than me just now! I'm imitating you, ah!"

"You're so annoying!" Yue Yao laughed, grabbed another pillow, and threw it at him.

This time, Xing Hun didn't catch it. The pillow flew straight toward the door and hit Fu Yuan, who had just pushed the door open with a look of panic on his face.

Fu Yuan caught the pillow and took in the scene: Xing Hun, half-dressed in only a towel; Yue Yao, laughing with flushed cheeks, wearing childish pajamas; the flattened spider on the floor; and the snake in the trash can. His face instantly turned grim. He wailed in a tearful voice:

"Xiao Qiang! Xiao Hei! How could you both leave me! Wuwuwu!" He rushed over, looking heartbroken at the spider and snake corpses, then abruptly turned his head and glared viciously at Xing Hun. "Xing Hun! Why did you kill them! They were pets that Mei Guo and I raised!"

The smiles on Yue Yao and Xing Hun's faces froze instantly. They exchanged glances, their minds reeling as if a herd of ten thousand alpacas were stampeding through. *Pets?! A snake and a spider?!*

Yue Yao inwardly cursed, realizing the trouble. To cover up her ignorance of these bizarre "pets," she quickly followed Fu Yuan's lead, pretending to be angry as she scolded Xing Hun: "Yeah, honey, you scared me to death just now. Xing Hun is way too cruel." As she spoke, she shot Xing Hun a meaningful look.

Xing Hun caught on immediately and responded in a serious tone, fully committing to his role of "protecting the client": "I have to ensure Ms. Mei Guo's safety. This kind of snake and spider have some level of aggression. Leaving them in the bedroom is unsafe—they had to be dealt with!"

Fu Yuan wasn't listening to explanations. He carefully picked up the spider and snake corpses, grief-stricken: "Xiao Qiang, Xiao Hei, you poor things. Come, I'll hold a grand funeral for you." He stood up and glared at Xing Hun. "Put some clothes on!" Then, looking at Yue Yao with a mixture of reluctance and grievance, he said, "Honey, take care of yourself. See you tomorrow. Good night!"

"Good night." Yue Yao watched him walk away, cradling the "pets'" corpses in a bizarrely comical yet eerie manner, her emotions a tangled mess.

After Fu Yuan closed the door, Xing Hun looked at Yue Yao, his tone returning to calm: "I'll go finish my shower."

Yue Yao let out a sigh of relief and whispered sincerely, "Thanks..." *Thank you for not exposing me.*

"It's my duty." Xing Hun gave her a long, meaningful look, then turned and went back to the bathroom.

By the time Xing Hun finished his shower and came out in neat pajamas, Yue Yao had already fallen asleep on the sofa, exhausted from the extreme tension and subsequent relaxation. She was still clutching the McDull pillow. She slept deeply, but her brow was slightly furrowed, as if even in her dreams she couldn't find peace.

Xing Hun walked over to her, crouched down, and quietly watched her for a moment. His eyes were filled with tenderness and a hint of barely perceptible pain. He reached out, lifted her with extreme gentleness, and placed her on the soft bed. He tucked the blanket around her. His fingertips inadvertently brushed her cheek, and the warmth of her skin sent a tremor through his heart.

He gazed at her sleeping face and whispered to himself, his voice as soft as a sigh: "I'm sorry. It's my fault for being useless, making you endure the pain of death over and over again..."

He lay down on the sofa bed nearby, but didn't fall asleep immediately. Instead, he remained alert, his ears tuned to any unusual sound inside or outside the room.

The night deepened. Silence reigned.

After an unknown amount of time, Xing Hun was jolted awake in his sleep by a bone-chilling cold. The room temperature was plummeting rapidly! He sat up abruptly and saw that his breath was turning into white mist.

"Xiao Zhi," he tried calling the smart home AI, "turn up the air conditioning temperature!"

The AI assistant Xiao Zhi's voice came through with a faint crackle of electrical interference. "I'm sorry, the system has been infected by a virus. I cannot control the central air conditioning temperature."

Xing Hun's heart sank. "Xiao Zhi, open the windows and doors!"

"I'm sorry, the system has been infected by a virus. I have lost control over all smart home functions in the villa."

Xing Hun immediately got out of bed and tried to manually open the windows and the heavy door, but they were as immovable as if welded shut! He walked over to the temperature control panel. The numbers on it showed that the room temperature had already plummeted to minus ten degrees Celsius and was still dropping!

"Damn it!" he cursed under his breath, realizing this was another meticulously planned murder. Using a vulnerability in the smart system, they were trapped in this frozen prison, meant to freeze to death.

He quickly walked to the bedside. Yue Yao was curled up in her sleep, her lips turning blue from the cold. Her body trembled slightly as she murmured unconsciously, "So cold..."

Without a second thought, Xing Hun lifted the blanket and crawled in. He pressed his warm body tightly against her icy skin. He activated some strange energy within himself, and his body rapidly emitted an astonishing amount of heat, like a human furnace.

In her daze, Yue Yao felt this source of warmth and instinctively burrowed into his arms, seeking the warmest spot.

Xing Hun held her tightly, wrapping the blanket around both of them, trying to drive away the chill from her body with his own heat.

Yue Yao, numbed by the cold, muttered in broken fragments, "Am I going to die again... After I wake up from death, I'm never sleeping in this room again... It's freezing..."

Xing Hun's heart felt as if an invisible hand were squeezing it, filled with pain and self-blame. He lowered his head and whispered a firm promise by her ear, even though he knew she couldn't hear him: "As long as I'm here, you won't die."

"Why won't I just die... Dying would make everything better..." Her voice was choked with tears, and her consciousness began to fade again, wanting to sink into eternal sleep.

"Don't sleep!" Xing Hun held her tighter and gently shook her. "Wait until you're warm again before you sleep."

"Mmm... Sorry for dragging you into this..." she mumbled vaguely.

Xing Hun rested his chin on her cold hair and spoke in a low, guilt-laden voice: "No, it's me who's selfish. I don't want you to forget me again, so I keep turning back time."

Bathed in the continuous warmth he radiated, Yue Yao finally stopped trembling. Her breathing became steady and deep, and she fell into a heavy sleep. She unconsciously nuzzled against him and murmured, "You're so warm..."

Xing Hun maintained his embrace, not daring to move a muscle, continuously channeling his energy to keep his body heat. And so, in the bitter cold of minus twenty degrees Celsius, he used his own body as her only shield, guarding her through the entire night. Thick frost formed on the windowpanes. The room was like a giant ice cellar, with only the small area where they held each other still retaining the warmth of life.