Chapter 139 - 143: Accountability
Jian Yu pursed her lips, her brow furrowed slightly.
The distance was too great. Although she could control the direction the smoke spread, she couldn’t yet control its speed.
Plus, with so many people sitting behind her, including many low-Level Half-awakened, it was incredibly difficult to manage.
She glanced at Xi Yu’s impassive expression and realized he might need a little push.
Jian Yu’s eyes shifted as she considered her options.
She toyed with Xi Yu’s fingers and asked tentatively, "Should we call Ayan over to take a look? Ayan should know what to do."
Xi Yu’s expression instantly darkened. His tone was no longer flat and wooden; it now held a competitive edge. "I know what to do, too."
’He just didn’t want to do it, that’s all.’
Xi Yu’s eyes turned cold. "I’m better than Ayan. If Ayan can do it, so can I."
He gently set Jian Yu’s hand down and quickly stood up.
"Shen Gu, open the shield."
Tentacles billowed from his back. Two black feelers shot out, extending vertically across the entire sector.
Xi Yu snatched a long-haired bat-like beast and flung it in front of the contestants.
When one didn’t get a reaction, he tossed two, then three at once.
The melee began.
Everyone’s attention snapped back to the arena floor.
Jian Yu let out a sigh of relief.
She blinked, her beautiful almond eyes wide open, her dark pupils stark and clear.
Her expression was cold, as if hiding a temper, yet her eyes were soft, revealing a hint of innocence.
Xi Yu stared, transfixed, and instinctively swallowed hard.
He sat back down, his clingy gaze fixed on Jian Yu.
Not liking all the people around, he whined and clung to Jian Yu’s hand. "What Ayan can do, I can do too."
The intermittent stares from those around them made the tips of Jian Yu’s ears flush red.
’I can’t believe I have a boyfriend who’s tall, handsome, and also kind of a public embarrassment...’ she lamented inwardly.
Xi Yu had a childish personality and needed lavish praise, otherwise he would get stuck on one thing and never let it go.
Jian Yu’s gaze drifted over his face, which was three parts gloomy and seven parts handsome. "Mhm. You’re both impressive."
She lowered her gaze to the floor, her long lashes casting lovely, curved shadows on her cheeks.
"GULP. GULP."
The sound of someone swallowing beside her grew more pronounced.
Jian Yu looked up at him.
Her round eyes should have looked cute and innocent, but paired with her icy expression, they created a stunning, indescribable visual impact.
Xi Yu loved all of her expressions, including her usual icy look.
But he also feared that warmthless gaze of hers, the one that suggested nothing ever truly reached her heart.
He wanted Jian Yu to have eyes only for him, just as his father took his mother everywhere. Bathing her, dressing her, taking her out to sunbathe—his father handled it all himself.
Father was good, but Ayan was better. Father only ever let him sit with Mother and talk to her, but Ayan let him do to his ’Baby’ the very thing his father loved doing to his mother most.
Raising the Soul Beast Cover, Xi Yu hugged Jian Yu tightly. "I don’t feel good. I want a kiss."
The soul shield was like Yang Zhang’s—a black fog. Jian Yu’s vision went completely dark.
’It’s so strange,’ she thought. ’Every time I do nothing, they get all worked up on their own.’
’But when I deliberately do something, they become as calm and composed as saints.’
Jian Yu couldn’t find a pattern, much less figure out the logic behind it all.
"Mmph..."
Her lips parted slightly, and her voice grew thick and muffled.
Xi Yu cradled the back of Jian Yu’s head, leaned down, and kissed her softly.
"Baby, why aren’t you crying?"
Jian Yu’s eyes narrowed, her gaze clear. "I’m not one to cry."
’Tears were her weapon, but she didn’t actually enjoy all the fake crying.’
’The only two times she’d truly cried, they were tears of pleasure.’
’Xi Yu and Ling Yanzhi’s forceful intrusion into her life had brought excitement, novelty, and fear.’
’They fulfilled many of her fantasies from the ’forced love’ novels she used to read.’
’With the power of her ’golden finger,’ the backing of the Primordial Beast Clan People, and the endless stream of recruitment offers on the Star Network, the anxiety and panic she felt when she first arrived in this world had gradually faded.’
’She no longer had to blindly chase after money, terrified of dying sick in a hospital, fearing that the director might be so caught up with Zhang Xin’er that she couldn’t even come to see her one last time.’
’Xi Yu’s obsession, Ling Yanzhi’s unconscious tenderness, Pei Yin’s begrudging protection...’
’Her special nature might still make her a test subject for someone, but never for an experiment initiated by Xi Yu and the others.’
’The matron of the orphanage had told her she was most beautiful when she cried, that it could make anyone’s heart soften and make them love her.’
’Jian Yu had cried for Ling Yanzhi and the others many times, and they did indeed seem to like it a lot.’
’But she didn’t like it.’
’Fake crying was exhausting. She wasn’t a crybaby, and she didn’t have enough tears to keep up the act.’
"Baby, cry. You’re most beautiful when your eyes are red," Xi Yu murmured, kissing Jian Yu’s lips.
He didn’t respond to her previous statement.
"I..." Jian Yu’s breathing grew ragged.
She pushed Xi Yu away. The corners of her eyes tilted up, her voice tight. "If I don’t cry, you won’t like me anymore. Is that it?"
Xi Yu’s eyes held only a hint of surprise, a touch of foresight, and a dose of obsession.
"Baby’s gotten so strong."
Jian Yu watched him in silence, her gaze direct and unwavering, her lips pressed into a firm line.
"Huh?" Xi Yu leaned in, a little flustered. "A baby who doesn’t cry."
His arms tightened around her, his chin brushing against her forehead.
"Wild baby, broken baby, gloomy baby, red-eyed baby... I like my baby."
’I must be getting warped, too,’ Jian Yu suspected. ’For a second there, I was on the same bizarre wavelength as Xi Yu.’
’A baby who doesn’t cry is still a baby.’
Jian Yu’s cheeks grew warm. The corners of her lips curved into a small smile, but she quickly suppressed it, afraid he would see.
She reached up to toy with the silver jewelry on Xi Yu’s ear, her fingers trailing down his long neck.
The man’s breathing hitched, his soft, heavy gasps sounding intimate and tantalizing.
Jian Yu pulled her hand back. "Take down the soul shield. And sit up straight."
"Okay." Xi Yu obediently retracted the Soul Beast Light Wall.
Her vision brightened. Jian Yu rubbed her eyes and stared at Xi Yu’s flushed face.
She couldn’t stop her eyes from crinkling into a smile.
"Yu." Having acquired two young beasts in the first half of the event, Shen Gu couldn’t resist running over to share his excitement.
Jian Yu asked curiously, "Did you have your ants fight the cubs?"
’I missed it.’
’I would’ve liked to see that.’
The corner of Shen Gu’s mouth twitched. "No, I gave some resources to a couple of upperclassmen from the incubation program to help me secure them. I’ll take them home after the competition."
He glanced at the zoned-out Xi Yu. "What’s up with Chairman Xi? You two were in there just now, and it was pitch-black. I didn’t dare disturb you."
"It’s nothing. He’s thinking," Jian Yu said, stroking the ear of one of the cubs.
"They’re both Moon Scroll Rabbits, C-level," Shen Gu explained. "My clan happens to have two C-level Half-awakened."
With a Contracted Beast, a Half-awakened can not only fend off ferocious, man-eating Alien Beasts, but also resist attacks from a Soul Ghost Body of the same or a lower Level.
There are too few controllable Mutated Beasts, which is why the status of Awakeners remains so high.
Jian Yu looked at the ring on Shen Gu’s hand. "Is that a Beast Ring?"
"Yeah." Shen Gu pointed to the pile of thank-you gifts in front of her.
"Looks like you have a few Beast Rings in there, too. The Beast Ring is a core technology from Emperor Wolf Star. They export a lot of them to us every year."
A Beast Ring automatically adjusts its internal environment based on the Alien Beast that enters, creating a space perfectly suited for its survival.
It’s similar to a virtual reality game; aside from not feeling full when eating or drinking, everything experienced inside feels completely real.
"The Beast Rings from Emperor Wolf Star have the most comprehensive range of environments, making them very popular with Half-awakened and aristocrats."
Shen Gu recalled the Moon Scroll Rabbits. "You just have to let them out for feeding."
He gave Jian Yu a strange look. "What’s the matter?"
Jian Yu patted Xi Yu’s hand reassuringly and glanced at the Beast Taming Arena. "The Contracting process isn’t as bloody as I imagined."
Xi Yu didn’t feel like talking, but he knew if he kept quiet, Shen Gu would have all of Jian Yu’s attention.
Xi Yu looked up, staring gloomily at Shen Gu. "Under normal circumstances, they’re controllable."
Not understanding the look in Xi Yu’s eyes, Shen Gu chimed in, "Right. The Alien Beasts in the Beast Taming Arena have all come back with humans voluntarily to find a Contractor."
Xi Yu was about to say something else to draw Jian Yu’s attention back to him.
Before he could speak, a furious accusation rang in his ears.
"Since you’re the Chairman of Weis Lan, you have a responsibility to protect all the contestants! How could you just stand by and let them get killed by Alien Beasts?"