Upon seeing that he had single-handedly cleaned up the entire second meal box , Le Yao himself finally realized that something was wrong.
He would never eat so much normally, let alone such an amount for dinner. His Master used to pay a lot of attention towards maintaining one's health. His wife, a nurse, was always alert, so he was never able to eat too much at night. Although he didn't 100% follow their habit, he was still somewhat affected, so he had developed a habit of eating till he was at most 90% full every night, and he would not let himself have more than that.
But this time, his stomach was even obviously bulging a little.
He didn't know why, but he thought that today's food was particularly delicious and one box was not enough.
After Le Yao had finally put down his chopsticks, his first thought was: Could there be something inauspicious attached to my body?
However, he soon discovered that it wasn't so. If it was true, he wouldn't even have the energy to think about the possibility of its existence, and his consciousness would not be as clear as it was right now. Then, there were two other possibilities: one was that something was wrong with his body, and the other one was…
In his mind, Le Yao calculated how many days had passed since his estrus period. He arrived at a rather delicate number: four weeks.
It's been four weeks, which means… I might be… could I?!
Le Yao looked at Xu Yao and found that his husband was also looking at him. None of them spoke a single word. After finishing their dinner, they quickly went out to burn the library and the books, and then watched the undead soldiers move the books into the library in order. They chatted as they walked home.
"That meal…" said Le Yao, "I still think that it really was delicious."
"If it was that delicious, we can go eat it again next time. It's not that troublesome to go to the cafeteria anyways," said Xu Yao. "I'm just afraid that you'll feel uncomfortable after eating so much."
"Un." Le Yao thought that since Xu Yao was so attentive, he should probably make sure of it first, before he told Xu Yao. What if I'm not? Doesn't everyone say that Alphas value their offspring a lot? A wonderful person like Le Feishan being an exception to that of course. Thus, Le Yao would only tell Xu Yao about it only after confirming himself.
Xu Yao was also about to open his mouth, but in the end, he didn't probe. It was mainly due to the consideration that during their physical examination at the Marriage Center, the doctor had said that Le Yao might not be able to conceive easily. In the case Le Yao was not actually pregnant, the question might end up causing unnecessary pressure on him.
As if nothing had happened, the couple reached home after the long walk. One went to work in the study while the other secretly checked for information on the Internet in the bedroom.
_What is the probability of getting pregnant during estrus?
_Is it easy to get pregnant during estrus?
_How long will it take for male Omegas to show pregnancy symptoms? Will it start with a sudden craving for food?
_What should male Omegas pay attention to when they are pregnant?
After carefully reading through each article, Le Yao decided to bring along a thick mat to the mountain the next morning.
Although he was not psychologically prepared for pregnancy, if he really was pregnant, he would not insist on aborting the fetus. After all, he was an Omega, and he would end up getting pregnant sooner or later either way. He also didn't have the heart to end a life. It was… a bit awkward, but he could only convince himself that an Omega giving birth was a very natural process in this new world.
The next morning, Le Yao woke up before the sky had brightened. Originally, he had wanted to keep his movements restrained, so as to not affect Xu Yao's sleep. But upon opening his eyes, he found that Xu Yao had already awoken, and furthermore, had already left bed. This man had gone to sleep later than he did, but still woke up earlier than him. Le Yao went outside, and he saw that his husband was chatting with his students in the yard. The students, led by President Liu, had already arrived. Seeing him come out, President Liu smiled and greeted, "Good morning, Mr Xiao Le."
"Good morning," Le Yao said, "Please wait for me, I will prepare to leave as soon as possible."
Xu Yao asked, "Don't you need to eat anything before you go?"
"No, we are just going to practice for two hours and then either come back home, or go straight to the cafeteria for breakfast," answered Le Yao.
When Xu Yao thought about how his wife had to teach so early and didn't even get the opportunity to eat, he felt a bit distressed. He asked Le Yao, "How many days do you plan to teach in this manner?"
"Only two days. I just need to teach them how to do it. Later, they can practice by themselves whenever they have time," replied Le Yao.
Xu Yao nodded, "I'll go with you then."
Le Yao doubted whether Xu Yao had found anything strange about his behaviour, but it was impossible to reach a conclusion such as pregnancy only based on him eating too much at dinner yesterday. Of course, if Xu Yao would accompany him, he would be very happy about it. This was an Omega's natural instinct; after being marked, the Omega would have a greater sense of dependency on his Alpha. He also enjoyed the time he spent with Xu Yao, so it would be comfortable anyways.
Seven people climbed aboard the hover car and left the military compound.
Le Yao had said that the meditation spot should be further away from the masses, and the quieter it was, the better it would be, so Xu Yao had found them a mountain about 30 kilometers away from camp. It was surrounded by clouds, and was quite foggy, as dawn had just begun. Occasionally, you could even hear some insects and birds. It was quite a suitable place for meditating and understanding nature.
Le Yao found a relatively flat spot, laid the mat out for himself, and sat cross-legged on it before he said, "Everyone, please find a flat spot opposite me and sit down like I have. Don't sit too far away, you need to be able to hear my voice. Place your hands like I have."
President Liu and his entourage followed after Le Yao, put down their mats and then sat cross-legged across from Le Yao. Each of them had sat down like an unfolded fan about two meters away from Le Yao. Before they had gone to bed the previous night, they had all received a message from Le Yao. Thus, before they had arrived at Le Yao's house, all of them had already taken a bath.
Le Yao instructed, "Alright, now, relax your body first, then straighten your head, straighten your neck, and retract your jaw slightly… Everyone, pay attention to my tongue, so that… the tongue is placed against the palate. Take deep breaths… Let your heart calm down… Good, now close your eyes. You can close it all the way or leave enough space for a ray of light to enter… let's begin to count our breaths, each breath is counted once, and let's remember it in our hearts, starting from one to five…"
Except for Xu Yao, everyone followed Le Yao's instructions. At least, on the surface, what they were doing was no different from what Le Yao was doing.
At this time, Le Yao added, "Concentrate on the sound of your breathing to ensure that you are not being distracted. In addition, while breathing, you should pay attention to the softness, evenness and length of each breath, and remember not to rush. Try to count twice from one to five in your heart, then open your eyes and ask me if you have any questions. If you feel uncomfortable during the process of counting, be sure to stop and inform me first."
About a minute later, someone opened their eyes. It was Yan Jie, who complained, "Mr Xiao Le, I feel sleepy after counting two times."
Le Yao asked, "Did you sleep late yesterday? Maybe there's something wrong with your posture. Sit well, and slant your hips forward slightly, so that your waist and back are naturally straight."
Yan Jie said, "Ah, it seems to be better this time."
Le Yao said, "Then continue. Relax your body and mind, and integrate with nature. If you feel that something is wrong, stop and make adjustments, and then enter a new cycle."
Xu Yao leaned against a tree and watched his wife and his subordinates practice. He didn't bother to follow along, and just kept watch. In the beginning, he just looked at them. He also sent a message to Tang Ye to ask for his whereabouts. Later though, when he realized that everyone had become very quiet, so he felt curious about it. He then found a place to sit down.
He didn't use a mat and sat down directly on the ground. He mimicked how Le Yao had crossed his legs, was holding his hands, and then adjusted his breathing as Le Yao had said to do before, and slowly started to count in his heart…
At the end of two rounds of counting, everything seemed to start to drift away, and his heart became particularly peaceful. Occasionally, he heard a sound that suggested running water nearby, along with his own breathing. He seemed to really have become a part of nature. He couldn't feel his body. He felt light, as if he were flying.
Le Yao had long become accustomed to entering anattā, and it was just like eating and drinking to him, so he could enter if he wanted to enter, and leave if he wanted to leave. He opened his eyes to see if anyone had done anything wrong and to correct them. Instead, he found Xu Yao sitting next to him, with a steady breathing rate and peaceful expression. It was obvious that none of these people had successfully entered the selfless state apart from Xu Yao.
Le Yao looked at Yan Jie and Han Mo. They kept frowning and adjusting their sitting posture from time to time. It seemed like they hadn't understood the first step.
What is this? A situation of inadvertently throwing a willow twig onto the ground for it to become a shady tree?
Le Yao continued his observation, and realized that Xu Yao might really have talent for this. Or it could be that he was under no pressure, unlike the other students. He was studying it without any certain goal in mind, so was he able to enter the selfless state faster?
Le Yao said nothing. Soon, one after another, the other students opened their eyes. They saw Xu Yao also following along. They were interested at first, but soon, they became amazed.
Xu Yao suddenly opened his mouth and said, "None of you are practicing, what do you want to watch me do?"
However, Xu Yao hadn't opened his eyes at all!
Not to mention the five students, even Le Yao was a little stunned. "Husband you… how did you know all of us are looking at you?"
Xu Yao opened his eyes and casually uttered the word "Intuition."
It suddenly occurred to Le Yao that this was a true fact. This man could not see the dead, but could easily perceive the existence of the dead. He was sensitive to any kind of hostility and gaze directed at him, so almost no one could stare at him in the dark without being discovered, which applied for even Ji Fengyu, Song He and the other ghost brothers.
"It's hard trying to think about nothing for a long time. If you really don't think of anything, it feels as if you'll fall asleep," said President Liu.
Yan Jie also agreed, "Yes, I think if I don't remind myself of what I'm doing, I might fall asleep."
Han Mo didn't say anything, but he looked very upset. As for Chen Yingwei, he asked Xu Yao, "General, did you succeed just now?"
Xu Yao replied, "Maybe."
"He hasn't succeeded yet, but he followed the right path," said Le Yao. "Let's try again in this same way. And this time, let's lengthen each breath. Relax as much as possible, don't harbour any pressure. Also, no matter what you do, don't get distracted. Sit still, be still, and don't move even if the sky falls."
Everyone closed their eyes and started meditating again.
Le Yao observed everyone's expressions and as they worked hard to relax, he also relaxed and closed his eyes. After started to feel as if someone was staring at him. He thought it was one of the students, so he opened his eyes and turned around just to discover a pair of little Black! Beany! Eyes!
"Aaahhhhhh!"
Le Yao suddenly screamed loudly and immediately crawled to Xu Yao's side. His heart had almost popped out of his throat. His sudden shout led to the others naturally opening their eyes abruptly. Xu Yao quickly hugged and protected Le Yao in his arms. Yan Jie ran over and caught the snake. However, since the snake had been too close to Le Yao, he had gotten really scared. He lay prone in Xu Yao's arms and breathed very fast. His face was pale and his body was shaking slightly.
Xu Yao stroked Le Yao's back and soothed, "It's alright. It's gone. Don't be afraid."
Le Yao's body was a little stiff, it felt difficult to even move his tongue. He said, "I… I'm sorry. I… I may need to c… ca… calm down for a while."
Disregarding the people nearby, Xu Yao hugged Le Yao firmly and said, "It's okay. I'm here for you. The class ends here for today. I'll take you home."
Le Yao seemed to want to nod, but he couldn't move. His body was so stiff that he couldn't even slightly nod. He tightly grasped Xu Yao's shirt. Xu Yao tried to remove his fingers so that he could carry him up, but Le Yao wouldn't release them.
As soon as President Liu saw what was happening, he realized something was wrong with Le Yao. This was not a symptom that ordinary frightened people would have. "Hurry up! Take Mr Xiao Le to the hospital!"
…
The author has something to say:
And the veil slides away…