Chapter 339: Difference
A bullet cut through the air.
In the blink of an eye, Yuan Shiyao grabbed Jiang Qingli by the waist and lunged to the side, just barely dodging the sneak-attack bullet aimed at ending his family line.
After tumbling across the ground, they looked toward the direction the shot came from, only to see the rustling of green leaves.
But the prickling sensation of being watched still lingered.
Yuan Shiyao helped Jiang Qingli to her feet and placed a hand protectively in front of her. He scanned their surroundings with a frown, his gaze finally locking onto a particular direction.
He took a deep breath, tightened his grip on his weapon, and was just about to step forward when he felt a sudden tug on his sleeve.
"You’re hurt." The girl’s voice was soft, her dark eyes filled with worry. "Let’s go back. I remember Yueyue asked the staff for sterile gauze before we came. We should bandage it."
Yuan Shiyao glanced at his arm. The fabric of his sleeve had been grazed open by the bullet, revealing a startlingly bright red scratch on his fair skin.
The simulated bullets were specially treated and normally shouldn’t have been so potent, unless the user knew a tricky way to maximize their impact.
For an S Level Beastman, however, it was just a flesh wound that would heal on its own in a few hours.
"I’m fine." Yuan Shiyao’s voice softened slightly, but his piercing, jade-green eyes remained fixed on that spot. "First, we deal with the ambusher."
Just as he was about to turn, Jiang Qingli grabbed his wrist, her voice urgent. "But if we don’t treat it... I... um... I’ll worry. What if it gets infected?"
"You can’t just ignore it because it’s a small wound. A lot of people in ancient times died from infections they got in the wild." Jiang Qingli said, lifting his hand to inspect it from all angles with a very serious expression. "Besides, didn’t you say you would listen to me?"
Although citizens of the Empire were vaccinated from a young age and rarely got infected, Yuan Shiyao felt a genuine sense of delight at being fussed over by Jiang Qingli.
His lips curved into a smile, and he said obediently, "Mm, okay. I’ll listen to whatever you say."
With that, Yuan Shiyao took her wrist in his own and began walking back, remaining vigilant of their surroundings.
Because of this, he completely failed to notice that Jiang Qingli, whom he was leading by the hand, was looking back as she walked. She made a shooing gesture with her hand toward the spot he had just been staring at.
The bushes parted, revealing a young man’s delicate and handsome face.
Gu Nian shook his head and gestured that he would continue following to protect her.
Jiang Qingli shot him a glare and mouthed, "If you don’t go, I’m going to ignore you! Follow the rules of the game!"
Pressed hard, Gu Nian could only nod. He pouted with a wronged expression and reluctantly departed.
Jiang Qingli felt a sense of resignation as she watched Gu Nian disappear silently into the jungle.
’Don’t think I couldn’t tell,’ she thought. ’That black-hearted little rabbit... all those shots just now were aimed at a *certain part* of Yuan Shiyao.’
’Normally at school, he gives off the impression of being honest and timid. He’s perfectly adept with weapons in both hands, yet he manages to act just as clumsy as the other special admission students and barely scrapes by in his physical fitness classes.’
’But the moment he sees me with another male, he gets so jealous he drops the whole act and tries to end the guy’s bloodline.’
’It’s better if a dangerous rabbit like that doesn’t stick with our group.’
’Otherwise, what if he breaks that part of Yuan Shiyao? How could he ever get married then?’
...
When the two of them returned to the rest area, they found no one was there.
The area showed signs of a firefight, with bullet holes piercing the leaves. They had likely been ambushed.
"It doesn’t look too bad. The other team probably only sent two or three people," Yuan Shiyao concluded after a moment of observation.
Jiang Qingli nodded. Spotting a mark left on a nearby tree, she headed over with Yuan Shiyao.
After walking for about fifty meters, they pushed aside some bushes and found the rest of the group taking a break.
Lin Xiyue was poking her Beast Husband’s head with her index finger, her complaining tone laced with concern. "...Your points have dropped so much! What are we going to do later on? I told you to just leave me!"
Chi Yan’s head wobbled from the poking, but he was grinning from ear to ear. "Honey, it was only 20%. I’ll be more careful from now on. Besides, I couldn’t just stand by and watch you take a bullet to the head, could I?"
"I think you just wanted an excuse to hold me," Lin Xiyue snorted.
"Ah, you saw right through me. That’s my wife for you!" Chi Yan laughed, continuing his explanation. "A guy’s got to have a few little tricks up his sleeve to get close to a top-tier beauty like you!"
As soon as he said this, Jiang Qingli heard Secretary Yuan beside her give a quiet, slightly uncomfortable cough.
Yuan Shiyao pressed his lips together, his expression a little guilty as he looked away. He pretended to be observing their surroundings for threats, but his gaze was so unfocused he couldn’t have made out a single leaf.
Chi Yan shot them a glance but didn’t seem to think much of it. He leaned in to whisper to Lin Xiyue, "Honey, let’s not talk about stuff like that next time. It’s fine if we both know, but there are so many people around. Save me a little face, huh?"
As he spoke, he reached out to wrap his arms around Lin Xiyue, but Jiang Qingli cleared her throat, interrupting the impending public display of affection.
"Qingli—"
Lin Xiyue looked up and saw them, her eyes brightening. But as she was about to call out, her gaze fell upon the pair and she blinked, looking a little stunned.
The others, who had been scouting the perimeter while simultaneously watching the couple’s antics, all turned to look when Lin Xiyue’s voice died abruptly.
Then, as if on cue, their eyes all went wide.
It was only then that Jiang Qingli belatedly realized something wasn’t quite right.
She glanced down and saw that Yuan Shiyao was still holding her wrist.
His long, slender fingers were wrapped around her wrist, neither too tight nor too loose. They had walked the entire way back like this.
Being stared at by so many people, even though Jiang Qingli knew they weren’t in that kind of relationship, the tips of her ears grew inexplicably hot. She gave her hand a little shake, signaling for him to let go.
The warm pads of his fingers brushed against the inside of her wrist before he slowly released his grip.
Yuan Shiyao looked up, his expression already back to its usual calm.
He briefly summarized what he and Jiang Qingli had found, then asked about the damage everyone had taken during the ambush.
One member had been too careless and was hit. Chi Yan had lost 20% of his points, Xia Qingqing had lost 30%, and two others had lost 10% each.
Of the Blue team’s attackers, Ai Li had been in the front taking the hits, so she was the first to be eliminated. Chi Yan had taken out one opponent with a headshot, and another had been hit in the abdomen.
Currently, the Blue team had nine survivors, while their Red team had ten. They were in the lead for now.
Over an hour had passed. The bombing could start at any moment, so they urgently needed to find shelter.
Chi Yan and two other males got up and left, splitting up to search in three different directions.
While the others were searching, Jiang Qingli took the opportunity to ask Lin Xiyue for antiseptic, sterile gauze, and medical tape. She sat Yuan Shiyao down under a tree to bandage his arm.
In truth, Jiang Qingli knew that an S Level Beastman didn’t need his wounds bandaged. But she had said it to distract him from Gu Nian, and now she had to follow through.
Jiang Qingli undid Yuan Shiyao’s cuff and rolled up his sleeve, revealing his arm. She hesitated, feeling a little awkward.
She often got hurt during training herself. Yi Nuo usually took care of the minor cuts, while a medical machine handled the major ones. As a result, she wasn’t very good at bandaging. She could only try to recall Yi Nuo’s movements as she picked up a cotton ball soaked in antiseptic and dabbed it on the wound.
Feeling Yuan Shiyao’s eyes on her, Jiang Qingli’s face grew warm. She thought it was from embarrassment and tried to save face by saying, "I’m not very good at this, so just bear with me."
Yuan Shiyao seemed to chuckle softly. "Just the fact that you’re worried about me... is enough to make me happy."
The young man’s voice was low, tinged with an unidentifiable emotion.
Jiang Qingli’s fingertips trembled, and she pressed the cotton ball down hard on his wound. The young man let out a sharp hiss, as if in great pain.
Startled, she was about to apologize when she looked up and met his smiling eyes.
Yuan Shiyao looked at her, his eyes filled with mirth. "I’m just kidding. It doesn’t hurt."
Jiang Qingli suddenly realized that whenever he smiled, he had a habit of staring right into your eyes.
In that respect, he was completely different from Yuan Shimo.
At that moment, Chi Yan’s voice echoed from behind them. "I found a cave!"