Chapter 83: Healing
Her soft breath mingled with the cool touch of the chain as it brushed against her warm skin.
The brilliant red against the striking white.
Jian Yu tentatively raised a hand, pressing her fingers against his well-defined chest.
Pei Yin’s low, pleasant gasp was a titillating whisper in her ear.
He bent one leg, his hands shifting half an inch.
Jian Yu controlled the threads of smoke, letting them wind around the strands of hair falling across his forehead.
Her golden touch, following its master’s will, showed a particular fondness for the red mole on the bridge of his nose, lingering there for several light kisses.
The drifting smoke intimately clung to the man’s back, slipping under the folds of his shirt.
A frivolous pink mist swirled around his jaw, filled with a lingering affection, and gently teased his half-closed eyelashes.
Pei Yin opened his eyes. They were hazy, his pupils slightly unfocused. "Baby, can you kiss me?"
White robes for abstinence, pink for seduction.
The chains clinked together, a sound that, paired with the faint rise and fall of his chest, added a touch of wildness.
Jian Yu’s breathing grew ragged as she unabashedly admired the sight.
’So pale.’
She couldn’t help but lean down and kiss the corner of Pei Yin’s lips.
A strong wind blew outside the window, sending her hair flying.
Xi Yu’s deep, gloomy voice was filled with grievance. "Why didn’t you include me?"
Her heart skipped a beat. Jian Yu plopped down onto the bed.
She slowly turned her head.
Ling Yanzhi was leaning lazily against the wall, his expression unreadable.
Xi Yu was shrouded in black energy, a malevolent aura the pink mist couldn’t conceal.
"You were seducing Baby, and you didn’t even include me."
Xi Yu’s tone was chilling, full of blame.
’As long as they’re strong, pleasing to the eye, and can protect Baby, he won’t stop others from getting close to his Baby.’
’The only condition is, why didn’t they include him?!’
Jian Yu listened to the sound of his defenses shattering and his heart breaking, and she embarrassedly avoided their gazes.
The amorous pink wisps rapidly retracted back into her body.
"What’s the big deal? Such a low tolerance." Pei Yin’s wrists broke free from their restraints.
He took off the chains one by one and set them aside.
He pulled his shirt together, buttoned it, picked up his jacket, and put it back on.
"The two of you get to kiss Baby. Have I ever told you to include me?"
Xi Yu’s tentacles writhed wildly.
Ling Yanzhi narrowed his eyes, sizing up Pei Yin’s outfit.
’I’m used to seeing him in a white lab coat, and this morning his pink outfit blinded me. I really didn’t notice until now.’
He scoffed. "Such a schemer."
"As long as it works. Speaking of which, I learned it from you," Pei Yin said, straightening his collar.
Outside, Ting Ying was spinning around, performing a series of leaps and bounds.
Jian Yu was listening with great interest until a cramp shot through her calf, bringing waves of pain.
She lay on her side, clutching her leg, her brow tightly furrowed.
A shadow fell over her.
She looked up as her body was lifted into the air and seated on Ling Yanzhi’s lap.
Meeting his eyes, she felt inexplicably guilty.
’It’s fine. I’ll just apologize first.’
"I’m sorry," Jian Yu said, leaning into his embrace as tears of pain welled in her eyes.
Her lips, hands, and feet were trembling. She blinked and licked her lips involuntarily.
"There’s nothing to be sorry for." Ling Yanzhi chuckled, though his smile was a bit strained. "Baby, you have three official consorts."
"..."
Jian Yu averted her head shyly.
Her fingers habitually clutched his clothes as she looked out the window with teary eyes. "Is it raining again?"
Xi Yu retracted his tentacles and sat on the edge of the bed.
He looked worried. "It’s not raining today, Baby."
Ling Yanzhi lowered his gaze, silently massaging her calf.
’It’s so soft.’
’She’s stumbled several times while walking.’
He glanced at Pei Yin, who was bustling about, and volunteered the information. "For the past three days, it’s hurt in the morning and evening, but not around noon. What’s going on?"
"That’s how gene modification works. Things tend to quiet down around noon. The beneficial parts of her system are Awakening too slowly, and she can’t bear the strain from the other parts."
An instrument wire was taped to the side of her leg. Pei Yin turned on the machine next to them.
’Wait, all my equipment is at Ling Yanzhi’s villa.’
He shut off the instrument. "Let’s go to your place."
Pink veils descended, and restraints dropped onto the large bed.
With her limbs secured, Jian Yu shifted uneasily.
Not long ago, Pei Yin had claimed he was never short on composure.
Who would have thought his hands would be faintly trembling now?
He sat before the instrument console, his eyes fixed on the readings.
"Gene Awakening is bound to be a bit painful. You two should talk to help distract her."
A warm touch on her ankle.
Jian Yu lifted her eyes slightly and saw Xi Yu holding it.
The fingers on her waist tightened. She turned her head.
Ling Yanzhi lowered his head and kissed her forehead. "Should we talk about the love letter?"
A sharp, stabbing pain, like needles, shot through her leg.
"Ngh..."
Jian Yu broke out in a cold sweat, her lips trembling. "I don’t know who wrote it."
Her eyes reddened. "Is there anyone at our academy named Chen Sheng?"
Wiping the wetness from the corner of her eye with his thumb, Ling Yanzhi pondered, "I’ll look it up. Baby, you suspect he’s the one who sent it?"
"Maybe," Jian Yu said vaguely.
"There’s no Chen Sheng, but there is a sophomore named Xu Sheng."
Ling Yanzhi frowned slightly as he looked at the information he’d pulled up.
"This person was born a Half-awakened and was adopted by the Xu Family. At seventeen, his Beast Soul Awakened, and he enrolled in Weis Lan Noble Academy. You could say he and Xu Shaoqing are childhood sweethearts."
Jian Yu’s eyes narrowed.
’Childhood sweethearts?’
’So, he’s going to get revenge for Xu Shaoqing?’
A sob escaped her throat, and her face was flushed from crying.
She no longer had the energy to maintain any so-called sense of beauty. Curling up, she nuzzled against Ling Yanzhi’s chest.
Tears dripped from the tip of her nose. Jian Yu lifted her head, her vision blurry.
Ling Yanzhi’s eyes were frighteningly red.
But she wasn’t afraid. She dazedly watched him blink, and a large tear fell onto her face.