Qin Jiuzhen was so fragile. If he didn’t protect him, anything could happen out there, and…
That was an outcome Xia Liansheng simply couldn’t accept. And considering how Qin Jiuzhen could barely feed himself, sharing his rations with his parents, if it weren’t for Xia Liansheng secretly sending him food, Qin Jiuzhen might have starved to death already!
Fine. He’d secretly continue sending food and clothes to Qin Jiuzhen, making sure Qin Jiulin didn’t find out. Qin Jiuzhen would just have to keep quiet about it.
Besides, Qin Jiulin was always busy doing missions with Liu Zhongyuan’s team. He wouldn’t be paying attention to how the Qin family was faring, so as long as Xia Liansheng was careful, there was no way he’d be found out.
With that in mind, Xia Liansheng quickly chased after Qin Jiulin, who hadn’t yet made it back to the compound. “Jiulin! Don’t worry. I’ll definitely cut ties with them from now on. So… can we still be friends?”
Qin Jiulin looked at him deeply, remained silent for a moment, and finally said, “If you can really do that, then I’ll continue to consider you a friend. But… as for romantic feelings, that’s impossible.”
Xia Liansheng knew that getting this far was already quite good. Afraid that Qin Jiulin might change his mind, he quickly nodded. “Of course, no problem. Let’s just be good friends.”
After all, when the time came to ambush Qin Jiulin, it would be most advantageous to be in a romantic relationship. But if not a lover, being a close friend would work too. All he needed was the chance to get close.
Qin Jiulin squinted his eyes slightly. “Alright, stop following me. I’m heading back.”
Xia Liansheng responded, “No problem. I’ll head back as well. There’s still some follow-up work needed on the mission. I’ll handle that. We’ll be in touch. Oh, by the way, can we exchange contact information?”
Qin Jiulin thought for a moment, then took out his phone and exchanged numbers with him. If they were going to be friends, they needed to exchange numbers; otherwise, Xia Liansheng would become suspicious.
After Xia Liansheng had handled some minor tasks related to the mission, he saw a giant snake carrying several crates approaching from the distance. The snake was none other than Liu Zhongyuan, and those crates…
Wu Feiyang saw Liu Zhongyuan returning and was overjoyed. “Good, you’re back! Is this everything? Wait, isn’t this only half?”
Liu Zhongyuan finally reverted to his human form, stiffly putting on his clothes. “Yeah, the other half is still on the way. We ran into a pack of monkeys and had to hurry back. If I’d carried everything, I would’ve been too slow.”
“But now, it seems like I’m still late. Did Jiulin and the others make it back?”
Wu Feiyang chuckled. “Oh, they made it back, alright! They did great, too. You should go wash up. Once you’re done, you can go pick up the rest of the crates. By the way, Jiulin is already back, so you three can head over to Captain Gao to report on the mission. I won’t keep you any longer.”
Liu Zhongyuan replied, “Got it. I’ll head back now.”
Before leaving, Liu Zhongyuan discreetly glanced in Xia Liansheng’s direction. But this time, Xia Liansheng seemed preoccupied with his own tasks, a faint smile of relief on his lips, as if something good had just happened.
As Liu Zhongyuan hurried back, he couldn’t help but wonder why Xia Liansheng seemed so pleased. The reason had to be simple—most likely, it had something to do with Qin Jiulin!
Wait! If Xia Liansheng had been here handling the aftermath of the mission, then he must have been around when Qin Jiulin returned. Which meant he had noticed that Qin Jiulin had come back without Liu Zhongyuan by his side.
Could it be that Xia Liansheng had taken advantage of Liu Zhongyuan’s absence to talk to Qin Jiulin alone and say something unpleasant?
Liu Zhongyuan’s heart was filled with anxiety. He couldn’t afford to waste any more time thinking about Xia Liansheng and rushed back as quickly as possible. Following behind him, Qi Yue was full of questions. What’s going on?
When Liu Zhongyuan finally returned to their residence, he saw Qin Jiulin sitting on the sofa, looking at him. “Why are you in such a rush? Did something happen?”
Liu Zhongyuan, on the verge of tears, exclaimed, “Of course something happened!”
Seeing Liu Zhongyuan’s exaggerated expression, Qin Jiulin knew it couldn’t be anything too serious. “Alright, tell me what happened then.”
Liu Zhongyuan wailed, “Did you rekindle your relationship with that Xia guy?”
As he cried, he shuffled over to Qin Jiulin, sitting down beside him. Qin Jiulin’s mouth twitched. “What nonsense are you talking about?”
Liu Zhongyuan persisted, “Just answer me! Did you?”
He continued his mock sobbing, pretending to wipe his tears. If Qin Jiulin didn’t know him better, he might have thought Liu Zhongyuan was really heartbroken. “Come on, where’s this coming from? Who told you that?”
Liu Zhongyuan blinked innocently. No one had told him anything. Xia Liansheng certainly hadn’t come over to boast, nor had he even spoken to Liu Zhongyuan. So, how was Liu Zhongyuan supposed to explain it?
His eyes darted around as he came up with an excuse. “When I came back earlier, Xia Liansheng was there. He smiled at me. I thought it was strange, but I didn’t ask him about it.”
“But the more I thought about it on the way back, the more it didn’t sit right with me. And finally, I figured out it had to be because of you!”
Qin Jiulin blinked, feeling a bit guilty. In truth, his actions had been a calculated move to gain Xia Liansheng’s trust. Only after gaining his trust would he have the chance to take him down.
But he hadn’t expected Liu Zhongyuan to misunderstand.
Seeing that Qin Jiulin wasn’t explaining himself and had guilt written all over his face, Liu Zhongyuan’s pretend sadness turned real. “Jiulin, you… you wouldn’t really… just because I wasn’t by your side for a little while, would you let Xia Liansheng talk you into something?”
Qin Jiulin sighed. “What are you even talking about? Stop overthinking it.”
Liu Zhongyuan pouted. “I don’t believe it. I don’t believe it! Unless…”
Qin Jiulin rubbed his temples. “Unless what?”
Liu Zhongyuan touched his face. “Unless you kiss me.”
Qin Jiulin was silent for a moment before realizing that Liu Zhongyuan was trying to trick him.
Liu Zhongyuan smirked. “Just one kiss. Don’t tell me you can’t even grant me this small request? We’re in a relationship now. Or should I kiss you instead? No, actually, I’ll kiss you twice!”
Qin Jiulin, at a loss, leaned in and gave him a light peck on the cheek. “Is that enough? Stop messing around, will you?”
Liu Zhongyuan suddenly felt like they were living out a scene from a cheesy romance, where the exasperated CEO is tangled up with his clingy little lover.
Of course, Qin Jiulin wasn’t a CEO, and he wasn’t some delicate lover. “Hehe.”
Qin Jiulin asked, “Are you thinking about something inappropriate?”
Liu Zhongyuan quickly shook his head. “No, no.”
He gingerly touched the spot where Qin Jiulin had kissed him and inched closer. “How about one more?”
Qin Jiulin stared at him in silence. Feeling a bit guilty under that gaze, Liu Zhongyuan backtracked. “It’s okay if you don’t want to. Anyway, there’ll be plenty of chances in the future.”
Qin Jiulin changed the subject. “By the way, when are we going to retrieve the weapons we left behind?”
Liu Zhongyuan replied, “Tomorrow, I guess. It’s part of the mission. If we don’t bring everything back, we won’t get the full contribution points. By the way, after this mission, we should have at least 1,000 contribution points, right?”
Qin Jiulin nodded. “I’ve got over 600 on my side, and you’ve got over 700. After completing this mission, I should have about 1,000, and you’ll probably have around 1,200 or 1,300 since you’re the team leader. You should get more contribution points. Oh, how much does Qi Yue have?”
Qi Yue had just walked in and overheard them discussing contribution points. Without thinking, he answered, “I’ve got around 500, definitely not as much as Brother Liu and Brother Qin.”
Qin Jiulin said, “500 is not bad. I heard that Xia Liansheng, as the captain of another team of beast-shifters, only has a little under 400 points.”
“Also, regarding the monkey horde, we should get quite a few contribution points for that as well. Since I played a major role in killing those two atavistic monkeys, I’d say at least half the credit is mine.”
Qi Yue blinked. “Does that mean I’ll get some too?”
Qin Jiulin responded, “You’ll get a little, at least.”
Of course, Mo Xinghui, who assisted Qin Jiulin in killing the atavistic monkeys, would likely receive a decent share of contribution points as well. The only one who wouldn’t get any was Liu Zhongyuan, since he had been busy traveling the entire time.
Liu Zhongyuan wasn’t concerned about that right now. He was just relieved that Qi Yue hadn’t seen him acting all clingy with Qin Jiulin earlier. Otherwise, he would have lost all his dignity.
Though Liu Zhongyuan had a thick skin, that was only when he was around his significant other. As for others… forget it. The most they could see was his usual playful demeanor. But the intimate moments between him and Qin Jiulin? Qi Yue was better off not knowing about those.
Qin Jiulin patted Liu Zhongyuan’s shoulder. “Alright, you guys should go freshen up. Later, we’ll report the mission to Captain Gao. Zhang Yuankai and Mo Xinghui must’ve arrived much earlier than us. Let’s not keep them waiting.”
Liu Zhongyuan slowly rose to his feet. “Okay.”
When the three of them arrived in front of Gao Siyang, they felt a bit puzzled.
Liu Zhongyuan cheerfully asked, “Hey, Captain Gao! Did you change locations? Why are you here?”
Gao Siyang smiled and said, “I suddenly felt a bit of danger, so I moved to a safer house.”
Qin Jiulin was confused. “Danger? How could there be danger here at the base? As long as the defensive lines aren’t breached, this place should be quite safe.”
Qi Yue didn’t understand either. Was someone trying to kill Gao Siyang on his own turf? Or were there spies among the soldiers planning to kill Gao Siyang and replace him with someone else?
But even if that were the case, they’d probably wait until after recovering Modu before making a move, so they could reap the full benefits of the city. Taking action now would be a waste.
Gao Siyang shook his head and then turned serious. “That’s not important. What’s important is your mission report. Tell me in detail; how was the situation at the military base?”
Liu Zhongyuan asked, “Hasn’t Zhang Yuankai and Mo Xinghui already told you? They’re more familiar with the place and can describe it in more detail than we can.”
Gao Siyang said, “I didn’t let them report yet. I wanted to wait for all of you to be here.”
Qin Jiulin said, “Let them speak first. If there’s anything they miss, we’ll fill in the gaps.”
Gao Siyang nodded. “Alright, go ahead.”
Zhang Yuankai and Mo Xinghui began by describing their arrival at the military base. Throughout, Liu Zhongyuan and Qin Jiulin added certain details only they knew about, while Qi Yue shared what he had observed from above.
