The Temptation of Neighbors - Chapter 20

Soon, the spaceship was forced to land on a gas planet. Above, a shimmering atmosphere of red, yellow, blue, green, and purple drifted . While beautiful, it was also eerie.

The people on board were utterly icy, their faces pale with cold. Their muscles trembled, their jaws twitched, and their teeth chattered. They tried every possible way to stay warm: three people huddled together, four people huddled together. Tears streamed from their eyes, freezing instantly, like icicles dangling beneath their eyelashes.

Despite huddling together, the poor people on board froze to death, their bodies frozen stiff.

I clung to the window, my body also assailed by the cold air, and soon I, too, lost consciousness. I was completely transported into a world of silence, an icy death…

After an unknown amount of time, I regained some consciousness, feeling light and uncomfortably hot.

A massive fireball scorched the multicolored planet. I peered through the window of the spaceship. Sunlight streamed in, and the iceman began to melt. Water dripped onto the deck, creating a cascade of steam. A moment later, someone’s hand gently moved, and a thin layer of ice slid off his body with a crash. He woke up instantly. He was the captain. He knocked the ice off each of the other crew members, rubbing their hands and feet. After half a day, he had saved everyone aboard, and everyone was overjoyed at their resurgence.

Working together, everyone quickly repaired the spaceship, and the captain piloted everyone into the heavens. At the moment the spaceship took off, I tumbled from it, landing heavily on the ground.

The spaceship soared higher and higher, then vanished in a shimmering mist.

I lay on the scorching planet, the five-colored gas burning like a rising flame, burning me to a crisp. I could barely breathe. Beads of sweat, the size of beans, drenched my body.

I struggled to my feet, taking arduous steps. My feet felt like they were treading on red-hot steel, each step burning and aching.

Worse still, the fireball rose overhead, the multicolored “flames” rising even more fiercely. My body was nearly melting from the heat, choking with agony, my eyes blazing with fire.

I considered dying; living like this was a thousand times more painful than death.

I frantically searched the planet for cliffs, deep pits, and sharp weapons, but found none. I reached out to grab my neck, but the force was too weak to stop the breath.

I bit my tongue, but my teeth were too soft to penetrate the flesh.

I barely managed to survive the furnace-like heat of the day, only to be met with the chill of night.

Vapors of various colors condensed into a loose, cold layer, enveloping me from head to toe, preventing me from moving.

The cold air seeped into my flesh from the outside in, from bottom to top. I shivered with cold, feeling every muscle tremble and numb, slowly freezing and dying.

The icy cold and the scorching heat of a fiery pit were equally excruciating. I struggled feebly, enduring unparalleled physical torture.

What had I done wrong to deserve this hellish punishment? Gradually, my consciousness faded again.

In a trance, I lay on a bed carved from ice. Qiao Jiayi, naked, came over to me. She caressed my cold body with her burning skin, but I felt no passion, my cold jaw twitching.

I quickly pushed her away. Yuan Yaojin arrived, smiling charmingly and sitting beside me with deep affection. She undressed and gently embraced me, but for a long time, I couldn’t feel her warmth. The cold was almost unbearable.

At that moment, my wife, Fan Qili, with her innocent smile, arrived. She spoke to me with her large eyes, as if trying to reassure me not to be afraid.

Her small hands grasped one of mine, bringing it to her lips to breathe warm air and rub it. Slowly, I felt a small warmth, a warmth that quickly spread through her fingertips and into my heart.

Suddenly, the ice beneath me melted, steam rising, and I felt a warmth wash over me.

Just then, Fan Qili, smiling, suddenly vanished into a colorful mist.

I shouted, “Honey, don’t go…” But the sound was pitifully small, like the buzzing of a mosquito.

My wife, Fan Qili, suddenly turned around, and my heart ached.

Though she smiled back, I still felt the cold chill of a farewell.

She appeared and left so suddenly, leaving me no time to reflect. Why did she leave like this? She left so decisively when I needed warmth most? Did she already know I’d betrayed her?

Was she leaving me? No, no, my dear, don’t leave me, please don’t leave me…

My wife, Fan Qili, is gone too, and I’m alone again on this cold planet. I stand there, my legs trembling. The cold, combined with loneliness and helplessness, consumes my consciousness from all sides. I can’t hold on any longer, my body swaying, and I’m on the verge of collapse.

Then, the shuttle-shaped spacecraft suddenly turns back and stops in front of me.

Seven people disembark, led by the young captain. He’s tall and straight, his handsome face hidden behind a transparent helmet, his eyes twinkling. They approach me, and the captain extends his hand to shake mine, saying, “Master, come aboard with us.”

“Who are you? Do we know each other?” I ask, puzzled.

“I’m Lian Zhengyu, Master. Have you forgotten? We’re all characters in your novel,” he says, baffled.

“What? Characters in your novel, created by me?” I’m even more baffled.

“Yes, have you forgotten?” The captain pulled out a little boy from behind him. His dark hair and dark eyes, his delicate face, looked familiar. He continued, “This is Long Yuhan, the protagonist of the novel.”

I carefully examined the boy named Long Yuhan. Why did his appearance and demeanor resemble my childhood self so much?

“Your name is Long Yuhan. Do you know me?” I asked.

“Of course I know you. Don’t you recognize me? I’m your childhood self!” He looked at me with bright eyes.

The boy’s words were even stranger. What was my childhood self? It was completely incomprehensible.

“What are you talking about? I don’t understand?” I asked, frowning.

“Master, come aboard with us first. I’ll explain everything to you slowly,” the captain urged.

“Why should I come aboard with you?” I asked frantically.

“We need your help,” the female astronaut next to me replied.

“Who are you?” I tilted my head to ask her.

“I’m Ellie, he’s John, he’s Jordan, he’s Kov, he’s Alvin, have you really forgotten everything?”

“I have no recollection. I’m very sick and dying. How can I help you?”

“You can’t die. If you die, we’ll all disappear.” She said anxiously, with pleading in her eyes…