Chapter 152: Chapter 105: Serving Ah Yao Is a Blessing They Couldn’t Even Beg For

"Look. That’s the gift your father brought for you. You nearly destroyed it."

Huo Shenming pointed to two girls in the distance who had been knocked unconscious by the blast of Energy.

During this time, the legion had rescued over forty women in total. And these two girls had been handpicked by him for Jun Yao.

Both girls were commoners, not yet of age, and had no Contractors. Shortly after being abducted by bandits, they were lucky enough to be found when the 21st Legion attacked the Land of Calamity.

The bandits were in a panic, busy fighting back, so they were rescued before anyone could lay a hand on them. The two girls were still pure.

"Don’t forget, you’re the Commander of a legion. Forcing commoner girls like this—how does that make you any different from those bandits?"

Jun Yao’s blood-red eyes glared at him in fury.

Hearing this, Huo Shenming just chuckled, completely unconcerned.

"Of course there’s a difference. Those bandits treat them as playthings for everyone to vent their frustrations on. If they don’t die from the abuse, they’ll be abused until they die. I’m not so cruel. I’ve only arranged for them to serve Ah Yao and Ah Yao alone."

"Ah Yao is young, handsome, and has a powerful Cultivation. He will inherit the entire Tiger Clan one day. He’s countless times better than those bandits. Being able to serve Ah Yao is a blessing they couldn’t even dream of."

It was twisted, heretical logic. Jun Yao couldn’t break free, so he gave up struggling. He closed his eyes and turned his head away, wanting nothing more to do with him.

Rebuffed, Huo Shenming’s expression soured. He turned to the two Elders behind him, his voice tinged with a hint of pride.

"Ah Yao has broken through to a new Realm again. Today, I must thank you two Elders for your assistance. Otherwise, I really wouldn’t have been able to handle him. Elders, allow me to see you back."

Hearing the boast in his words, the two Elders smiled, their gazes falling upon the tightly bound Jun Yao with satisfaction.

"The Young Master’s talent is indeed unprecedented, terrifyingly so. His future achievements will surely surpass all imagination. It is the great fortune of our Tiger Clan. We’ll have to ask the Clan Leader to keep a close watch on the Young Master. As for us two old-timers, we can see ourselves back."

*

「Central City, Fifth Star Zone.」

Si Xie rested his head on Jiang Yunnuan’s shoulder, his eyes narrowed as he became lost in his memories.

That day, he had happened to see a Jade Spirit Frost Flower and wanted to pick it for her. Unexpectedly, a venomous snake was hidden in a rock crevice. In a moment of carelessness, he was bitten on the hand.

The snake’s Poison entered his body, causing hallucinations. He saw her crying for help below and jumped down.

Jun Yao must have thought he had fallen and immediately followed him.

Under the influence of the hallucinations, he mistook Jun Yao for the snake that had bitten him. Seeing the "snake" dare to pursue him, he unhesitatingly launched a vicious, lethal assault.

In mid-air, Jun Yao was forced to defend himself, and the two began to fight. In his daze, Si Xie heard Jiang Yunnuan calling his name repeatedly. He was distracted for a moment and took a kick to the chest, sending him falling.

He vaguely remembered Jun Yao grabbing his arm, but he saw it as the snake biting him again. He forcefully slapped his hand away and headed toward the "Jiang Yunnuan" he saw.

The "Jiang Yunnuan" in his eyes at that moment was actually the churning waters of the Nine Nether Abyss.

After that, he lost consciousness.

When he came to, he was in his Beast Form in a valley. He encountered people from the Mei Family’s auction house trying to capture a ball of golden light. But the golden light flew toward him, pried open his mouth, and voluntarily entered his stomach.

Instantly, wild Energy surged through his body. The sheer force of it overwhelmed him, and he passed out.

When he woke up, he was in an iron cage in the Underground Dark Prison of the Beast Fighting Arena. He had been injected with many kinds of drugs. He couldn’t revert to his human form, couldn’t use his Soul Power, and had also lost his memories.

From the conversations of the Dark Prison guards, he learned that the golden light he had swallowed was called the Nine Spirits Essence. It was supposedly something the Mei Family auction house had been searching for for a long time.

They had finally found a trace of it and gathered a large group to capture it, only to have him swoop in and swallow it.

The people from the auction house had failed their mission. Afraid of being punished, they captured him while he was unconscious to use him as a scapegoat. And so, he was forcibly sent to the Beast Fighting Arena.

"And that’s more or less what happened..."

After he finished, Jiang Yunnuan felt incredibly conflicted, not knowing what to say.

’If Jun Yao didn’t hurt Si Xie, then why didn’t he deny it when Fu Yuan accused him?’

’I clearly told him that if he denied it, I would believe him. But he still chose to tacitly admit it. Why?’

Thinking of the dozen or so slaps she had given him across the face back then, she couldn’t stop a wave of regret and guilt from rising in her heart.

"Why the sudden long face?"

Noticing her sudden dip in mood, Si Xie gave her a peck on the cheek and looked into her eyes as he spoke.

Jiang Yunnuan snapped out of it and shook her head. "It’s nothing. Let go, I want to take a shower."

Si Xie was speechless.

He grumbled in dissatisfaction, "But you still haven’t answered my earlier question!"

"There’s plenty of time. You’ll find out about all those things eventually. Don’t be impatient. There’s something more important right now. I haven’t eaten in two days, I’m starving. Aren’t you hungry? Let’s get washed up first. After that, I’ll go make us something to eat."

His body, covered in scars, was noticeably thinner than before. In some places, his bones jutted out.

During this time, although his Cultivation had soared, he had also suffered a great deal. Now that she finally had him back, Jiang Yunnuan decided to nurse him back to health properly.

’He’s too thin. It doesn’t feel good to touch, and it doesn’t look good either.’

"Alright then. I want to shower with you."

The thought of her cooking made Si Xie’s mouth water.

’It’s a good thing I had amnesia back in Uguria and couldn’t remember anything about her. Otherwise, the thought of her food alone would have been enough to break me.’

’Shower... together?’

Jiang Yunnuan blinked. Before any other thought could form, he swept her up and carried her toward the bathroom.

Under the spray of the shower, he suddenly pressed her against the wall, grabbed her chin, and leaned in for a kiss. Jiang Yunnuan quickly turned her head to dodge, but there was no escape. She could only glare at him and warn him with her thoughts.

’We can’t do this again! Your body hasn’t recovered yet. If you keep going, you’ll really hurt yourself! And like I said, I’m starving to death! I never should have agreed to shower with you!’

After kissing her for a good while, he finally lifted his head slightly, his hot breath brushing against her face. He raised an eyebrow and chuckled.

"Don’t worry, I won’t. I just wanted to kiss you. Nuannuan, my love, let me kiss you..."

’I have to make up for all the kisses I’ve missed during this time.’

Si Xie’s gaze flickered. Without waiting for her response, he lowered his head and kissed her lips again.

Jiang Yunnuan was speechless.

And so, a shower that should have taken ten-odd minutes dragged on for more than half an hour.

It was as if he was touch-starved. For that entire half-hour, he clung to her, refusing to let go for even a second. By the time they finally finished, she felt more exhausted than if she’d been in a battle.

They used Energy to dry their hair and bodies. Jiang Yunnuan took some clothes out of her storage space and started to get dressed.

"I’m going to make food now. Are you coming with me, or are you going to rest in the room?"

"I can’t let Nuannuan work all by herself. I’ll go help."

He replied, then reached out and lifted her face. He stared at her with a burning gaze and suddenly sighed.

’Sigh... now I kind of understand why Jun Yao did what he did. I don’t want anyone else to see this face either.’ Thinking of Fu Yuan and Ming Ye outside, he couldn’t help but feel a surge of irritation.

’Before my accident, those two were dead set on Contract Termination.’

’I don’t know if their attitudes have changed, but what if they see how beautiful Nuannuan has become and get ideas, refusing to terminate the contract?’

’Maybe I should follow Jun Yao’s example, knock Nuannuan out, and put that birthmark back?’

’Nuannuan doesn’t know about this yet anyway. If I copy him, besides Jun Yao, no one else would ever find out.’