Chapter 77: I’m Here to Join You
"She’s fine."
An instrument was taken from a Space Button to check on her.
Pei Yin pursed his lips.
"Sheng Yue is a coward. The medicine he used was the weakest kind."
He even lied to me at first, saying he couldn’t sleep at night and needed some medicine to calm his nerves.
If he hadn’t sensed something was off and followed him, he never would have known it was Jian Yu’s nerves Sheng Yue was trying to "calm."
Pei Yin’s mind raced with wild thoughts, refusing to admit that he had deliberately come over to peep and only accidentally stumbled upon Sheng Yue kissing someone.
Xi Yu leaned over the edge of the bed. "Baby’s face is all red. So cute."
He clutched his chest. "I think I’m about to pass out from the cuteness."
"Sorry, I’m the one who kissed her cheeks red," Pei Yin said, his words infuriatingly smug.
He provoked, "Still think it’s cute? If you pass out and need CPR, I won’t be the one kissing you."
"..."
Jian Yu quietly swallowed.
Xi Yu automatically filtered him out, completely ignoring him.
"Quiet," Ling Yanzhi gestured with his eyes.
His gaze landed lightly on Jian Yu, deep with meaning.
Xi Yu’s breathing instantly quieted.
Pei Yin’s expression shifted slightly.
His hand holding the instrument stiffened slightly.
The scan was complete.
Ling Yanzhi turned to leave.
After taking two steps, he noticed only a dazed Pei Yin was following him.
He turned back, grabbed Xi Yu, and deliberately lowered his voice. "Let’s talk outside."
Jian Yu grew nervous.
’I have a feeling the instrument already figured out I’m pretending to be asleep.’
’Should I open my eyes?’
’No, they might not have left yet.’
She cracked open her eyes to a sliver. The bedroom was empty.
’I’m sleepy.’
’Men’s problems are for them to solve on their own.’
Spiritually satisfied, Jian Yu listlessly closed her eyes and snuggled back under the covers.
’Time to sleep.’
...
Xi Yu sat opposite Pei Yin, his face dark and sullen.
Whenever he got agitated, angry, or enraged, a stringy mucus would ooze from his fingertips.
Ling Yanzhi had originally been sitting next to him.
When the mucus flowed to his feet, he was forced to get up and change seats.
Pei Yin stood up, walked over, and patted Xi Yu’s shoulder.
"Don’t be mad. I’m not here to break you two up. I’m here to join you."
Xi Yu’s fingers, slick with mucus, grabbed Pei Yin’s arm.
The toxin spread.
A section of his pale white arm turned black.
"Tsk!"
Pei Yin injected himself with a medicine to clear the toxin.
His words were sharp.
"Take it easy. I need this hand to hold our baby. She’s pretending to be asleep precisely because she likes me holding her, doesn’t she? If you ruin my arm, our baby will be sad."
Xi Yu’s voice was chilling. "The one Baby likes is me."
"Quiet down, Xi Yu," Ling Yanzhi crushed him. "The one Baby likes is Sheng Yue."
"..." Xi Yu’s face instantly turned pale.
He dejectedly walked to a corner, squatted down on his long legs, and resembled a gloomy mushroom.
No one paid him any mind, letting him have his breakdown in peace.
Pei Yin snapped back to his senses, his eyes narrowing in astonishment.
He said in disbelief, "What did you just say?"
’Jian Yu likes Sheng Yue?’
"She likes Sheng Yue? Then when I kissed her, she didn’t think I was Sheng Yue, did she?"
The mere thought of this possibility made Pei Yin explode.
"What’s there to like about an old-fashioned fuddy-duddy like Sheng Yue?"
Xi Yu’s tone was spooky as his voice drifted over from afar.
"He’s much better than someone who holes up in a research institute grafting beast tails onto humans."
’At least Sheng Yue doesn’t piss me off.’
’And he doesn’t call her ’Baby’ right in front of me.’
’He even did his kissing behind my back.’
’Baby is too cute; it’s normal for others to covet her.’
’It’s forgivable.’
Xi Yu concluded privately.
Pei Yin choked.
Remembering that his voice was completely different from Sheng Yue’s, he sat down, spread his arms, and comfortably rested his head on the back of the sofa.
"What kind of nonsense is that? Blah, blah, blah, I didn’t understand a single word."
Pei Yin crossed his legs, his bewitching eyes darting between the other two men.
He called her "Baby" more smoothly than anyone.
"I’m sure our baby wasn’t awake before I came in, so our baby probably doesn’t know Sheng Yue kissed her."
Xi Yu’s resentment radiated outwards, a dark aura practically seeping from his body.
"We can’t let Baby know."
The toe of Pei Yin’s crossed leg tapped twice.
He snorted. "Of course we can’t let our baby know. I just joined the party. If she finds out Sheng Yue likes her too, where does that leave me? She’ll probably only have eyes for Sheng Yue."
’Can’t have two people board the ship at once; it’s liable to sink.’
It was as if he were forced to see things through a new filter.
Pei Yin himself had a captivating, beautiful face, yet he suddenly found Sheng Yue’s face to be incredibly alluring.
He had a slip of the tongue. "With that pure and indifferent look of his, who knows how many female classmates he’s charmed to death."
Xi Yu’s neurotic gaze inexplicably returned to normal. "Celibate and detached. That’s a nine-point deduction."
He patted non-existent dust off his clothes and returned to his original seat.
"Calmed down?" Ling Yanzhi shot him a look.
"Mhm," Xi Yu nodded.
Pei Yin uncrossed his legs, propped himself up with his hands, and stared at them quietly.
"Our baby has too many secrets. In the future, the number of people watching her will only grow."
"You two are the backbone of the Alliance, the guarantee that the Imperial Capital Star’s rating will surpass the Emperor Source Star’s. The Alliance can’t do without you."
"Your absence today wasn’t the first, and it won’t be the last."
He raised a hand.
"Let me finish."
"The average lifespan of an Awakener is one hundred and fifty years. Her health is very poor, so she might not live to our age. I can guarantee I can make her live as long as we do."
"Also, you’re afraid to touch her for fear of making her bleed. You’re worried she’s immune to hemostatic potions, so you don’t dare try them often. This is a problem that I believe only I have the ability to solve."
Pei Yin leaned back.
"I know you’re waiting for the results of Yan Qin’s Awakening, hoping she’ll succeed and become a Half-awakened or a full Awakener."
"Setting aside whether you can even find a second S-rank Exotic Beast Egg for our baby, as for the probability of Yan Qin becoming an Awakener... I’d advise you to give up. Yan Qin cannot Awaken."
Xi Yu froze for a moment. "Are the results already in?"
"Not yet. But I suspect the S-rank Exotic Beast Egg you handed over to the Alliance isn’t a true Primordial Beast Egg. The medicine made from it doesn’t have the ability to make someone Awaken successfully."
Pei Yin didn’t want to jump to conclusions so quickly, but Yan Qin wanted too much.
"You received the information from Shen Gu, immediately had people investigate, and sent Sheng Yue to handle it. In the end, all for the sake of a slim hope, you didn’t dare to truly make a move on Yan Qin."
He spread his hands. "Remember the odds of a normal person forming a Contract with an Alien Beast? Yan Qin’s are even lower than that."
Xi Yu paused. "So you’re saying there’s still a chance."
"You could think of it that way, I suppose," Pei Yin shrugged.
He stood up, a cocky smile on his face.
"As the most talented medicine genius among you, you need me, and our baby needs me too."
Xi Yu couldn’t stand the sight of his detestable face.
Pei Yin knew he had agreed.
He turned his head to look at Ling Yanzhi.
Ling Yanzhi remained silent.
He’d long predicted this day would come.
’That Pei Yin is a sucker for a pretty face, completely unaware of his own feelings.’
’I never thought I could really exclude him, only that I could delay it a little longer.’
’That would have given me more time to pull some strings, to make Jian Yu afraid of them, to make her distance herself from them.’
’Then I could do more gentle and considerate things, and Jian Yu would open her heart to me alone.’
This day had come too quickly, catching him off guard.
Ling Yanzhi raised an eyebrow. "So, you were the one who sent the love letter?"
"What love letter?" Pei Yin’s brows furrowed. "Do I need to write a love letter to pursue our baby?"
He turned to leave. "I’m going back to write one right now. A long one."
’It wasn’t Pei Yin?’
Ling Yanzhi and Xi Yu’s eyes met, and their expressions instantly crumbled.
’It couldn’t be Sheng Yue, could it?’