Chapter 112: Then I’ll Just Have to Give You This
Yue Junxiao’s eyes went wide. He exclaimed, "So Hu Yan robbed the major families?"
Sang Mo, who had arrived a step late, said with disgust, "...Use your brain! If you don’t, it’ll devolve."
Yue Junxiao: "..."
He turned and asked Yan Yichen, "Is Sang Mo insulting me?"
Yan Yichen nodded. "Sounds like it, yes."
Yue Junxiao: "..."
A moment later, an enraged roar echoed through the private residence. "Sang Mo!!"
Before a war could break out, Lang Qiu grabbed two Beast Cores and stuffed them into Yue Junxiao’s hands. "Two for each person. These are your two."
Yue Junxiao’s fiery rage was instantly extinguished. He stared blankly at the two Beast Cores that had suddenly appeared in his hands.
’I got Beast Cores too.’
After distributing the Beast Cores, Lang Qiu said, "These two Beast Cores should be enough for you to break through to S-Class. Sang Mo should be able to break through S-Class and reach Peak S-Class. Progress slows down after S-Class, but as long as you break through to Level 2S, you’ll rank among the strongest even on the Main Star."
Yue Junxiao said, pleasantly surprised, "S-Class!! I’m going to absorb my Beast Cores!"
Yan Yichen also couldn’t wait to return to his room. After receiving his Beast Cores, Sang Mo went back to his room as well, planning to make his breakthrough.
Lang Qiu had four in total. Hu Yan hoped he could break through to Level 2S.
High-level Beast Cores were rare; even the major families didn’t have many. Yet Hu Yan had taken out so many at once. They were meant to help him break through to Level 2S and return to his peak state.
But instead, Hu Yan took the Beast Cores out and distributed them, hoping they would improve and be able to protect Bai Zhi.
Lang Qiu glanced in the direction Hu Yan had just left, his thoughts unreadable, before heading back to his room as well.
Meanwhile, at the door to Bai Zhi’s room, Hu Yan knocked.
Bai Zhi was taking a bath. Hearing the knock, she sank deeper into the water until it covered her skin, then called out loudly, "Who is it?"
Hu Yan: "It’s me."
Bai Zhi paused, then asked, "Is something wrong? I’m in the bath."
"It’s nothing. Go ahead and finish your bath."
Bai Zhi: "If it’s urgent, I can get out now."
The other side of the door fell silent for a long time. Bai Zhi listened quietly for a moment. Hu Yan really wasn’t speaking anymore. She furrowed her brow slightly.
’What could Hu Yan want at this hour? Did he forget to tell me something earlier?’
As Bai Zhi mulled it over, another moment passed with no sound from outside. She decided to let it go, figuring Hu Yan must have left.
’Since he said it was nothing, it probably wasn’t important.’
The warm water flowed over her body, feeling incredibly comfortable. Leaning back against the tub, Bai Zhi suddenly remembered she hadn’t heard the system’s voice at all today.
Bai Zhi asked in her mind, ’System, are you still there?’
But there was no reply.
Bai Zhi called out again, ’System?’
Still no response. She frowned slightly. Other than its last upgrade, the system had never been silent for this long.
’Could it have unbound from me and left? But I don’t think I heard it say anything about unbinding.’
If the system really had unbound from her, Bai Zhi calculated that she now had just over one hundred million Star Coins, which was still more than enough for her to spend.
Thinking about how many Star Coins she still had, the sense of loss from the system’s disappearance wasn’t as strong.
Bai Zhi didn’t soak for much longer before getting out of the tub.
After drying her hair, Bai Zhi thought for a moment and decided to open the door and look for Hu Yan. ’What if he did have something to tell me but didn’t because I was in the bath and it was inconvenient?’
But as soon as Bai Zhi opened the door, she saw a figure leaning just outside.
In the darkness, he had his arms crossed, his back against the wall. One leg was slightly bent, and his gaze was fixed on the world outside, lost in thought.
The light from outside stretched his shadow infinitely long.
Hearing the sound, Hu Yan turned his head slightly to look at her. His hair cast a shadow over his forehead, obscuring his light blue eyes.
Seeing Hu Yan, Bai Zhi froze for a second before blurting out, "You’re still here?"
She clearly hadn’t expected Hu Yan to be waiting outside. She had been in there bathing and drying her hair for at least twenty minutes. ’Could he really have been waiting here this whole time?’
Hu Yan straightened up, his eyes falling on her hair, which was draped over her back and still slightly damp. "Hm? You’re done?"
"I didn’t hear you out here, so I thought you went back to your room. If you needed something, why didn’t you say so? Come on in," Bai Zhi said, turning slightly to let Hu Yan inside.
As Hu Yan walked in, he said, "Your bath was more important. I just had something I wanted to ask you. It wasn’t urgent."
Bai Zhi asked quizzically, "Sit wherever you like. What did you want to ask?"
Hu Yan: "Did I say something wrong earlier? It felt like you weren’t in a good mood."
Bai Zhi hadn’t expected Hu Yan to wait outside for so long just to ask her this question. Her feelings at that moment were complicated, causing her to press her lips together tightly. Her gaze as she looked at Hu Yan was also complex.
It was easy to fall for a Beastman like Hu Yan, but very difficult to control those feelings.
If it had been anyone else, they probably wouldn’t have even noticed her mood. And even if they had, they certainly wouldn’t have waited outside for so long just to ask such a question.
The composure Bai Zhi had just managed to regain was shattered by Hu Yan’s single question. She couldn’t help but sigh. "Hu Yan, are you like this with everyone?"
Hu Yan shook his head, a placid look on his face. "They aren’t worth the effort."
His words made Bai Zhi’s heart suddenly beat a little faster.
Even though she knew Hu Yan was just stating a fact—after all, those people only ever tried to curry favor with him, he never needed to do the same for them—her heart still raced at his words.
Hu Yan thought for a moment and said, "So is that why you were in a bad mood?"
Bai Zhi shook her head. "No. It’s not that I was in a bad mood, I was just... shedding some emotions I shouldn’t have."
Hu Yan didn’t know what emotions Bai Zhi was talking about. He didn’t have much experience consoling females, but he had seen other Beastmen do it.
So, after pondering for two seconds, Hu Yan held out his hands toward her. "Pick one."
Bai Zhi looked baffled, but she still pointed to his right hand. "This one."
The next instant, Hu Yan opened that hand in front of her, revealing a flower.
Bai Zhi’s eyes widened in surprise. She grabbed his hand and looked it over from every angle. "Where did you get that? It wasn’t in your hand a second ago! Do you have any more?"
Hu Yan held the flower out to Bai Zhi, smiling. "Nope, just this one. I went and picked it while you were bathing. It’s for you."
Hu Yan asked, "Is your mood any better now?"
Bai Zhi took it, gave it a sniff, and said with a teasing smile, "A little better. But I’m still not quite there yet."
Hu Yan played along, frowning as if troubled. "Then what should I do?"
Bai Zhi didn’t say anything, just kept looking at him with a smile.
The next second, the corners of Hu Yan’s eyes lifted, revealing a cunning smile. "Well then, I have no choice. I’ll just have to give you this."