Chapter 368: The Face of a Wife Slave
The room was silent for a moment. Jiang Qingli’s fingers tightened.
Meeting Sun Ruida’s expectant gaze, she nodded but couldn’t help but say, "But Yi Nuo hasn’t been to the Lower District in a long time, and he doesn’t have much combat experience. I’m afraid..."
Jiang Qingli struggled to get each word out.
Saying something like this now seemed a bit selfish, but Yi Nuo rarely used his Superpower and had a psychological trauma associated with the Lower District. She was worried something would happen to him.
If another S Level Beastman were to get injured, the loss would far outweigh the gain.
Sun Ruida also considered this and quickly said, "My apologies, Miss Jiang. I wasn’t being thorough. The danger level of capturing the Weaving Nightmare Beast is too high. Since Yi Nuo is inexperienced, it’s true that something could easily happen to him."
Qin Shu said, "Send a few more teams. The military district has plenty with the Wood Ability, and one or two with the Gravity System. Que Feiling is in a hospital room right now, under layers of protection. He’s not in life-threatening danger for the time being."
After the plan was confirmed, Sun Ruida and Yuan Liang went out to find suitable candidates.
The researchers and the attending physician stayed behind to continue their research.
"Let’s go. We’ll check on the patient together." Qin Shu took Jiang Qingli’s hand.
Qin Shu had rushed all the way here only to hear that Que Feiling had been in an accident. Now that there was some progress, she remembered that the reason she came to the hospital was to visit her good-for-nothing younger brother.
Pushing the door open, Jiang Qingli felt a gaze fall upon her.
She lifted her eyelids and met a pair of gray pupils.
In the hallway, the young butler stood not far away, like a silent shadow, waiting for Jiang Qingli to finish.
’Wolves have excellent hearing. I wonder if he heard our conversation just now.’
You couldn’t tell from his face. Like many military officers, Yi Nuo rarely let his emotions show.
As they got closer, Qin Shu stopped, looked him up and down, and seemed to sigh with emotion. "You’ve grown so much."
"Marshal Qin," Yi Nuo said respectfully.
Qin Shu raised an eyebrow. "Yi Nuo, your military registration hasn’t been canceled. When you see me, you should give me a military salute."
Yi Nuo slowly lifted his slightly bowed head.
He glanced at Jiang Qingli, then after a few seconds, he raised his hand and gave Qin Shu a crisp military salute.
A flash of approval passed through Qin Shu’s eyes. She stood up straight and returned the salute.
The sky of the Twelve Cities was always dark and gloomy. Looking out from indoors, one could vaguely see lightning flashing within the dark clouds.
For the first time, Jiang Qingli saw a different emotion on Yi Nuo’s face.
It was as if some instinctual memory had been awakened; the gray wolf youth’s gaze was sharp and tenacious.
But in the end, his gaze still landed on the girl not far away.
-
In the spacious room, the young snow leopard sat on the sofa, legs crossed, chin propped on one hand. He stared listlessly at the screen in front of him, yawning from time to time. The screen full of text was making him drowsy, so much so that he didn’t even notice someone entering the room.
"Has the sun of the Empire started rising in the west? The Seventh Prince is actually reading historical essays?"
A teasing voice came from the side.
Qin Muye jolted. "Qin Shu, you motherf—"
Before he could finish, he suddenly saw the girl following behind her (the other one with them was negligible).
The moment he saw Jiang Qingli, Qin Muye was like a fluffy animal grabbed by the scruff of its neck. The impatient look he’d been giving his cousin vanished completely, replaced by an entirely different expression.
The arrogant Prince pushed the screen away, walked over to Jiang Qingli, and scratched the back of his head. "What are you doing here? Have you eaten breakfast? I have a limited-edition nutrient solution, want to try some?"
As he spoke, he wrapped an arm around Jiang Qingli’s shoulder, pressed her down onto the sofa, then sat next to her, took both her hands in his, and looked at her with sparkling eyes, completely ignoring the other two people in the room.
Jiang Qingli suspected that if there weren’t other people here, Qin Muye’s snow leopard tail would have already popped out and started wagging frantically.
But compared to Qin Muye, Jiang Qingli was much more rational.
She looked at the two who were being ignored and said, a little embarrassed, "You two should sit down as well."
"You guys sit over there," Qin Muye said, pointing to another sofa.
Qin Shu folded her arms, watching Qin Muye’s face-changing performance with great interest. As if a thought occurred to her, she rubbed her chin and gave a slightly wicked smile.
Her gaze made Qin Muye’s hair stand on end. "What are you looking at?"
"I was just thinking... shouldn’t we let the Emperor appreciate our dear Prince’s whipped expression."
As she spoke, Qin Shu took out her terminal, opened the camera in selfie mode, held it up high, and made a V-sign herself. "Here, give us a smile."
The moment he heard it was going to be sent to his mother in the First District, Qin Muye became completely uncomfortable and angrily reached out to grab it.
Qin Shu’s lips curved into a smile.
The terminal spun in her hand, flying backward in a graceful arc. She turned to dodge, and the small terminal landed in the hands of Yi Nuo, who was standing behind her.
Qin Muye and Qin Shu sparred often. Just now, Qin Shu had adopted a fighting stance, so he instinctively balled his fist and threw a punch.
He hadn’t expected the terminal to be tossed to Yi Nuo, or that Qin Shu would dodge.
His fist was only a few millimeters from the other’s face, and it was too late to pull it back.
Qin Muye gritted his teeth, about to forcefully pull back, when he saw Yi Nuo raise a hand and easily catch his wrist.
In an instant, his limbs felt as if they were filled with lead.
It was Yi Nuo’s Gravity Superpower.
A few seconds later, Yi Nuo released Qin Muye’s fist, took a step back, and placed the terminal in Qin Shu’s hand.
He kept his eyes downcast, as if just recovering from the surprise, and said in a low voice, "Prince, forgive my impertinence."
Qin Shu’s gaze shifted between the two of them. "Not bad," she teased.
Who exactly she was complimenting was anyone’s guess.
Qin Muye rubbed his wrist and shot Yi Nuo an extremely annoyed glare.
’That kid did that on purpose, didn’t he?’
’He could have caught my punch with his bare hands, but he just had to use his Superpower.’
’What? Trying to show off in front of Jiang Qingli?’
’Hasn’t he shown off enough already?’
’If it weren’t inconvenient to use my Superpower in a hospital room, I’d have fried that shameless mutt’s fur into an afro.’
Qin Muye snorted. Ignoring whether Qin Shu had sent the message on her terminal, he turned and stood in front of Jiang Qingli, blocking her completely from view.
From Yi Nuo’s angle, not even a sliver of her was visible.
He was more ridiculous than a large dog guarding its food.
Seeing this, the Gray Wolf Butler tugged at the corner of his lips, lowered his head, and walked to a corner. Just as always, he watched the girl’s back.
Qin Shu sent the photo she had just taken to the Emperor, picked up Qin Muye’s medical report to look it over for a bit, then stood up to leave.
Qin Muye still had to get a shot later, so Jiang Qingli didn’t stay long either.
She had other things to do.
The three of them walked out of the hospital room. After waving goodbye to Qin Shu, Jiang Qingli looked at Yi Nuo. "Did you hear everything we said in the office?"
Just now, besides wanting to see how Qin Muye was recovering, Qin Shu had also tested Yi Nuo’s abilities on the side.
Although Qin Muye hadn’t fully recovered and didn’t use his Superpower, he was still an S-Level male. Yet, Yi Nuo’s strength was comparable.
The young man had always been by her side, silent as a shadow, but his Superpower was much stronger than she had imagined.
He and Qin Shu probably knew each other from before, which was why he hadn’t hidden his strength.
Jiang Qingli asked, "Yi Nuo, do you want to go back to the military district?"
The young man didn’t answer directly, but suddenly lifted his eyes.
As a dutiful butler, Yi Nuo rarely looked his master in the eye, let alone held their gaze.
When he looked at her, Jiang Qingli realized that he looked at people with such focus and sincerity that it was easy to get the mistaken impression of being adored.
Their eye contact only lasted a few seconds before Yi Nuo lowered his head again and asked in a low voice, "Miss, can you take a walk with me?"
Jiang Qingli was taken aback for a moment, then nodded. "Of course. Where do you want to go?"
"Zone F-07."
Yi Nuo paused for a moment before adding:
"It’s also... the zone where my parents died."