Chapter 67: Confession
Jian Yu had no intention of struggling. She even secretly reciprocated.
At the height of the kiss, a euphoric, weightless sensation would cause her to lose herself in it.
She liked hearing the man’s pleasant gasps right by her ear. Whether they were heavy or light, just having them there was enough; their presence didn’t need to be strong.
Only at times like these would Jian Yu feel she wasn’t alone.
There were too many children in the orphanage. She was special, but not so special that the director’s gaze was always fixed on her.
Even though she knew there might be something wrong with Ling Yanzhi and the others, she was willing to get lost in it all.
It wasn’t that she wasn’t smart; it was that she didn’t want to be, wasn’t willing to be, and refused to be smart.
’It’s just a story, after all. No need to be so painfully aware.’
’It’s exhausting.’
’If she stayed a little clueless, the whole world would love her. What was so bad about that?’
A watery mist filled her vision, making it blur. Jian Yu couldn’t move her fingers, so she could only fix her gaze on the spreading pink fog.
’She wasn’t sure if it would work, but she wanted to try.’
’She really wanted to.’
The ethereal pink smoke obediently gathered, twining around Xi Yu’s shoulders and neck like a soft veil before gently creeping past the overly long hem of his clothes.
In Jian Yu’s eyes, every wisp of smoke, every moment of its dispersal, seemed to stir with subtle, amorous ripples.
They exchanged breaths between their lips, and she caught the faint scent of a sweet fragrance.
She gazed at Xi Yu’s flushed face, watching as she led him, bit by bit, into a fall from grace, sinking deep right alongside her.
"Baby, baby loves me."
Xi Yu was both narcissistic and insecure.
His eyes reddened at the rims. He kissed her intermittently, stopping to speak. "Baby, you don’t love me. Why don’t you love me? I’m so strong. I’m a hundred, a thousand, ten thousand times stronger than Sheng Yue."
’He just kept piling it on.’
’Jian Yu couldn’t be bothered to count.’
’Tears are a man’s best dowry.’ She felt her heart soften a bit as she watched.
’But being soft on others is being cruel to yourself.’
A tentacle crawled over her eyes, covering them completely. Jian Yu squirmed uncomfortably.
Her vision gone, the cold touch of the appendage felt even more grotesque. A strange sense of panic enveloped her.
Her breathing grew ragged, and her soft whimpers took on the growing tone of a plea for mercy. A faint tremor ran through her chest.
In her daze, Xi Yu seemed to stagger.
Perhaps to avoid crushing her, he crashed down to her right.
Her limbs were freed. When Jian Yu opened her eyes again, the person she saw was a thoroughly displeased Ling Yanzhi.
She turned her head and saw Xi Yu brushing the dust off his clothes.
"Did you accidentally mutate into a wild boar, Yang Zhang? All that rooting around. Try it again, and I’ll still kick you."
Pei Yin’s voice was cold as he retracted his foot.
"I’m not saying you two lovebirds can’t kiss. It was just so ugly, I didn’t want to watch!"
Jian Yu couldn’t stop gasping for breath.
She leaned against Ling Yanzhi’s chest, her tear-filled eyes lifting listlessly. She looked rather frail.
Pei Yin frowned, a complex emotion flashing in his jade-green eyes.
His tone wasn’t harsh. "You don’t look ugly. I said *he* does."
He moved as if to kick Xi Yu again.
Xi Yu dodged and countered with a leg sweep.
"Baby, look at me! I was just so desperate to kiss you that I let him get a cheap shot in. I can beat him."
His gaze was obsessive as he insisted, "Sheng Yue is on his level. I can take them both down with a single finger."
"Pah! Let’s take this outside! I’ve been itching for a fight with you for a long time!" Pei Yin was the first one to fly out.
His two large black wings went FLAP, FLAP.
’Out of sight, out of mind.’
Ling Yanzhi decided to help him out, letting him step onto the Red Snake’s back and ride it outside.
Xi Yu followed close behind.
And just like that, the two of them started fighting.
Jian Yu stared blankly.
’CRASH! BANG! So this spacious, high-ceilinged research hall was designed for fighting?’
She pulled back her gaze, her attention falling on Pei Yin, whose face was bruised and swollen.
"Is... is it over?"
’That was fast.’
"Yeah." Xi Yu raised an eyebrow and rotated his wrists.
Bracing himself with one hand, he leaned down as Jian Yu looked up and gave her a light kiss.
His streaked silver hair dangled before her eyes.
He copied Ling Yanzhi’s signature move, blowing on his handsome silver hair and watching it trace a cool arc through the air.
"I’m always this fast."
Pei Yin, who was neither innocent nor simple, sneered.
His words were dripping with cutting sarcasm. "Oh, I hope you’re that fast your whole life. Fast in *every* way. The ’Fastest in the Interstellar’ award is all yours."
It was rare for Xi Yu to receive praise from him, so he offered a polite, "Thanks."
It was like punching a pillow.
Pei Yin scowled. "He cheated."
’Why is he looking at me?’
"Oh? Oh!" Jian Yu didn’t say whether she believed him or not.
’She could still tell who had won and who had lost.’
Blood trickled from the corner of Xi Yu’s mouth, and a piece was missing from the hem of his cool trench coat, but he looked a lot better off than Pei Yin.
’No matter how you looked at it, Pei Yin was the loser.’
Ling Yanzhi didn’t look at their injuries. They would recover in a minute or two; there was nothing to worry about.
Her faint fragrance lingered around him.
He let out a soft breath, took Jian Yu’s wrist, and rubbed the faint red marks on it. "Where’s your bracelet?"
Jian Yu repeated with an honest-looking face, "It broke again."
She said only three words.
In reality, she had already prepared a full speech in her head.
Ling Yanzhi wasn’t like Xi Yu, who only had thoughts of kisses, hugs, and being held up high.
He pinched Jian Yu’s adorably dazed face and called out to the two bickering children beside them.
"Xi Yu, quiet. Pei Yin, come here."
Pei Yin walked over. "Why should I listen to you?"
He glanced down at the docilely seated Jian Yu and reined in his hostility. "What’s up?"
"You guys said before that there was a problem with my genes, that something was modifying my body."
Jian Yu used their own words, refining the script she had prepared.
She subtly altered her voice, lacing her feigned weakness with a thread of fear.
"I didn’t believe it at first. How could I possibly not be human?"
’I overdid it.’
Jian Yu observed their expressions and quickly changed her tone. "But now I have no choice but to believe it. I saw a very strange phenomenon today. My bracelet broke because of it, too."
She took out the bracelet.
One was in two green pieces. The other wasn’t completely broken, but it was covered in cracks.
The impatient Pei Yin couldn’t hold back. "What did you see?"
"Smoke. A lot of smoke. It was pink." Jian Yu swallowed hard, staring right back at their astonished expressions.
She didn’t mention the other two colors of smoke, nor did she bring up her speculations about the hatching or the reason the ling beast was afraid of her.
She needed their help, but she also wanted to keep some cards up her sleeve.
"Can you control it?"
The three men asked in unison.
Jian Yu hesitated. "I’m not sure."
Pei Yin guessed, "You’ve tried it and succeeded, but trying to control it a second time was more difficult?"
"Yes." Jian Yu nodded.
Having asked his questions, Pei Yin fell into thought.
He asked in all seriousness, "Get ready. Should I check your eyes?"
Jian Yu looked at him in silence.
Ling Yanzhi gave her shoulder a reassuring squeeze. "Check her brain area. If that doesn’t work, do a full-body scan."
Pei Yin pursed his lips and took out one of his expensive, single-use instruments.
"Stand up."
He gave Jian Yu a thorough scan from top to bottom.
As his fingers brushed against her fair neck, Pei Yin’s Adam’s apple bobbed.