Kissing The Horn

After coming to this fantasy-like planet, Xie Luan could see, from how the locals behaved, that the elder who brought them to this planet had a very high status among the saen people.

Unlike the other races that had an established parliament or a reigning emperor, the saen race had Prophets who held the leading positions, and Kelái was one of the saen's three current prophets.

Aside from the prophets, there were also priests whose statuses were higher compared to the ordinary saen people. In their everyday life, all the ordinary people seemed to have a lot of reverence for the priests and prophets.

For instance, as Xie Luan followed the elder, every time they passed by a saen, he would see the other lean slightly forward, bow their head, and place their right hand behind their back to salute him.

"Does that huge clock over there have any special importance?" Curiosity led Xie Luan to ask this as they walked towards it. Their destination happened to be in the same direction as this building.

The huge clock-like building appeared to be very old. The motionless clock hand was wrapped with several twisting green plants, blending harmoniously with the nature around it.

"That is a creation left by the ancient ones, our ancestors."

The prophet walking in front raised his head, his dark blue eyes gazed at the huge clock in the distance, "When a certain special person touches this clock, unpredictable things will happen, such as… reaching another world."

"——" Xie Luan suddenly stopped in his steps.

Perceiving that the sounds of footsteps had suddenly stopped, Kelái turned his head to look at the two following behind him. When he saw the expression on the youth's face change, he couldn't help but smile, "Of course this is purely a mere tale turned hearsay. Our people have touched the clock countless times over the years, and no abnormal phenomenon has occurred. When it comes to it's significance, it is more to commemorate the ancient ones."

Also noticing the expression on Xie Luan's face, Ya Yi said the name of the youth next to him in a low voice, "Ah Luan?" Something suddenly connected, Xie Luan stood in place for quite a while without responding.

Time ability, another world— The golden ball, who had established a link between him and this world, had said they had gone back to the past many times and tried to alter it in order to change the outcome of the future, but had failed without exception.

The original words weren't like this, however, the same general information could be inferred. No matter how you looked at it, the other's ability to go back to the past as well as reaching another world overlapped with the two things Xie Luan had caught just now.

The golden ball of light, Xia Zuo, could they be a member of the saen race? At this moment, Xie Luan came up with this very strong idea.

"It's nothing."

Xie Luan first shook his head and responded, then turned his gaze to the grayish blue skinned elder next to him, and said, "In the saen race, is there anyone by the name of—"

It was as if there was suddenly something stuck in his throat. When he tried to say "Xia Zuo", Xie Luan's voice stopped abruptly, and there was no way to go on speaking.

Unable to wait for the words to follow, Kelái cast a puzzled look at the other, but patiently continued to assume the role of a listener.

"…"

Xia Zuo.

He could not say it. After repeatedly trying several times, Xie Luan at last gave up.

"I suddenly forgot the name."

Xie Luan hastily waved his hand, showing an apologetic expression to the person in front.

Kelái nodded to indicate he didn't mind, then turned around and continued to lead the two to his residence.

It was already night now, and it was soon time to rest. Since he had brought the outsiders to their planet, he should always do his utmost to maintain his duty as the host.

In order to not seem strange, Xie Luan continuously controlled his expression along the way, keeping his usual appearance.

Why was it that every time he wanted to say the name "Xia Zuo", it was as if there was an invisible force obstructing him… This seemed to be an enforced prohibition, he couldn't reveal any information related to Xia Zuo.

He couldn't figure out the answer for the time being. The only thing Xie Luan could be relatively certain about right now was that Xia Zuo was connected to the saen race, if not, he really couldn't find a second race that met the requirements.

Kelái's residence was not far away. Although he was a revered prophet with high status in the race, his residence was not luxurious. He arranged a guest room for the two of them.

"What is the specific method of confirmation, can you tell us now?" They had already come to this planet, Xie Luan felt they should have the right to know.

This time Kelái did not answer in a roundabout way, but nodded and told them the method, "It's very simple, he just needs to personally touch the soulstone in the temple."

"The soulstone can reflect the essence of a person."

In the saen prophet's dark blue eyes, time and wisdom had settled. The other calmly said, "We need to confirm his essence, then we will decide whether to return the necklace or not."

The necklace which belonged to the nox in front of him had by chance been discovered by one of their people at the black market. Seeing the nox characters engraved on the ring, they had bought this necklace and taken it back with them to Chronos.

Because they felt the material of the necklace and the ring strung on it was very special, they had presented the necklace to their prophets, and after some research, they were amazed to discover the secret hidden within.

The necklace was indeed an ordinary necklace, even if the material was a little special. But the ring on it was different.

It may be in the form of a ring, but this ring was in reality actually a "key"— used to activate a certain object, a terrifying weapon that could instill fear and amazement in all the races of the interstellar.

Ya Yi, who was by Xie Luan's side, didn't react to hearing this. As if he didn't care about the things the other was saying, he merely accepted it with his usual indifferent expression.

Xie Luan gave a slight nod. From the other's words, he could roughly make out that the necklace was not an ordinary item, and the saen were afraid Ya Yi would do bad things after getting the necklace.

"It's good if you can understand." Kelái added, his gaze rested on the last surviving nox in the interstellar.

The saen was a race that had been on friendly terms with the nox. At that time, when a catastrophe occurred on their planet, it had been the nox race who had extended a helping hand.

Because of this grace, even now, when everything already seemed very clear, they still really didn't want to believe that the star field explosion more than thirty years ago was caused by the nox race's selfish desires.

Now thinking back to the time before the big explosion, the saen had actually taken the initiative to contact the nox race, which had gone into a closed state. The response they received made them wonder even now.

At the time, the nox responded there was no time.

It was unclear what the nox race was worried about back then. Kelái was one of the few people who still remembered this matter.

Although they didn't want to accept it, the fact that the explosion happened still remained. Now facing the last nox, they had to keep a certain degree of vigilance while continuing to remember the grace shown them.

Inside the arranged guest accommodations, there were actually two rooms. Xie Luan looked at the nox who followed behind him into the room and unexpectedly felt very used to this.

Thinking about how the other was going to touch the soulstone tomorrow to test his essence, Xie Luan lifted his hand and lightly stroked the nox's silver hair.

"Will it be even longer?" Cool hair brushed against his fingertips. When Xie Luan looked at the length of the silky silver hair, he couldn't help but ask this.

It was nearly to his waist. This length looked good, but Xie Luan wondered if the other would find it troublesome.

As soon as Xie Luan had finished saying this, he saw the nox touch his own hair, then cut a small space rift in the air on the right and wantonly take out a short weapon with pretty good sharpness from inside.

Before he could react, Xie Luan felt the handle of the dagger being stuffed into his hand. He then saw the nox, standing close to him, bow his head slightly and droop his silver hair in front of him.

"…"

Looking down at the dagger in his hand, and then at the silver hair the other deliberately presented to him, Xie Luan's mood switched between helplessness and amusement.

"Actually, long hair looks good too, although it can be a little troublesome to take care of. If you want to cut it, I will try to find a pair of scissors and cut it for you once we return to the branch."

He put down the dagger. Xie Luan naturally could not use such a simple and crude way to cut the other's hair.

The second after his voice fell, Xie Luan watched Ya Yi lift his head and nod at him, "Won't cut."

The face of the man before him was cold and handsome. His features were not soft, but Xie Luan now saw the other slightly lower his eyebrows. This made his cold expression ease a bit, and he showed him a kind of contradictory tenderness.

Xie Luan could not explain what happened next. He must have been possessed somehow, for when he saw this kind of docile appearance, he could not help but raise the hand that was touching the other's cool silver hair and placed it on the other's head where there should be a beautiful horn, stroking this place for a little while. [1]

[1] – The literal translation of the beginning of the paragraph is "demons and gods at work", it is an idiom that means "unexplained event crying out for a supernatural explanation".

After a moment, the nox revealed his hidden horn. Xie Luan didn't know what to think, so he just stroked it repeatedly. In the end he went as far as to… kiss the left horn.

Fortunately, at that time, when he felt the other's intense gaze, he was able to distract the other by touching his nearby tail. However, now that he woke up the next day, Xie Luan was actually still a little confused.

But there was no time for Xie Luan to be lost in thought, it was now time for them to go to the Temple of Kanya.

As soon as Ya Yi touches the soulstone and gets back the necklace, he would also know what it was about the necklace that made the saen treat it with such caution.