Chapter 402 - 401: Investigation

Jiang Qingli stared at the report, her brow furrowing tighter and tighter.

A fingertip gently smoothed the space between her eyebrows.

"Don’t frown." Qin Muye gently caressed her cheek. "Why don’t you just ask him?"

That was the very thing troubling Jiang Qingli. She couldn’t get in touch with Ye Linyuan at all right now.

When she told him as much, Qin Muye scoffed. "He dares to ignore his female master’s words? Does he have any male virtue left?"

He stroked Jiang Qingli’s hair and said earnestly, "Don’t worry. After my meeting tomorrow, I’ll go with you to investigate Region X-09-7."

’It’s just a missing person case. I can help my female master solve it. There’s no need for that useless piece of trash, Ye Linyuan.’

Jiang Qingli considered it for a moment, then nodded. "Alright. I suppose that’s our only option."

Once they had a plan for the next day, Jiang Qingli found the contact information for Ye Linyuan’s subordinates and had them investigate the incident.

After receiving a confirmation, Jiang Qingli decided to wash up and get some rest.

But just as she stood up, Qin Muye grabbed her by the wrist.

With a gentle tug, he pulled her down into his lap.

Qin Muye held her wrist and asked, "Aren’t you going to explain what happened tonight?"

’I can’t believe he’s still hung up on that "incident" from earlier tonight.’

Jiang Qingli knew she couldn’t bluff her way out of this one. Steeling herself, she answered vaguely, "What do you want to know...? It’s just... well, you know."

"Don’t try to fool me." Qin Muye wasn’t so easily fooled now. He ground his canines. "How did that snake end up here? If I recall correctly, his public identity is the youngest son of the current Ye Family Head. He only got his teaching position at the Royal Empire College because of his family’s connections and his marksmanship."

"Sure, he doesn’t have to work during the summer break. But an unvalued, publicly F Level piece of trash like him shouldn’t be able to just show up in the heavily fortified Twelve Districts, right?"

Qin Muye had long sensed that Ye Linyuan’s Superpower was not F Level at all. In fact, his Superpower Level was extremely high. He’d harbored many suspicions about him, but since the Jiang family hadn’t said anything and Ye Linyuan had never publicly stepped out of line, he had simply turned a blind eye.

But tonight, not only had Ye Linyuan appeared silently in the Twelve Cities, but he had also provocatively pulled Jiang Qingli into a hidden elevator right in front of him, intending to have his way with her (and most likely already had). On top of that, he had even concealed an important clue from Jiang Qingli.

Ye Linyuan could come and go from the Twelve Cities as he pleased, all without the military sector noticing.

His identity was a mystery. What if he was secretly colluding with some faction to make a move against the military? It wouldn’t just be one or two people who would be affected.

The Twelve Cities were home to not only Jiang Qingli and aristocratic military officers, but also hundreds of thousands of civilians.

He looked directly at the girl in his lap and asked, "Can’t you tell me? Who is he, really?"

The question left Jiang Qingli speechless.

She didn’t know how to explain.

She wrestled with her thoughts for a moment. Just as she was about to speak, Qin Muye suddenly held up a hand. "Wait. The alcohol’s suddenly hitting me. My head is spinning. I’m going to go take a shower."

He clutched his head, looking genuinely unwell.

Jiang Qingli poured him a glass of hot water. He took two sips before heading into the bathroom.

The moment the door was locked, Qin Muye dropped his dizzy, weak act. He pulled out his terminal, found the contact saved under "Foxy," and started typing. At the same time, he sent messages to a few other people.

All terminals belonging to military officers in the Twelve Cities were monitored by Command. Every outgoing message was intercepted and reviewed, which made sending them a very slow process.

He couldn’t send a direct message about Ye Linyuan, so Qin Muye had to switch to another system.

This system could bypass Command’s surveillance, but its drawback was that the connection speed was even slower than the standard network, and there were limits on the messages.

A buddy had given it to him a while back, telling him he could use it for sexting his female master without the embarrassment of being read by the censors.

Back then, Qin Muye never imagined that before he even got to use it with his female master, he’d be using it to dig up dirt on a rival.

It took three minutes just to send the message, and the reply was just as slow to arrive. The loading icon in the chat window just kept spinning, making Qin Muye see red, but there was nothing he could do but wait.

When it finally loaded and he read the replies, his anger flared even hotter.

Foxy: [Hm? Why the sudden question? Did you see something?]

AAA Plumbing - Master Lu: [Dude, why are you asking me about this? Shouldn’t you ask your woman? She’s on the inside, she’d know way more about it.]

’These two have got to be idiots,’ Qin Muye thought.

Jiang Qingli had looked like she was about to tell him just a moment ago.

But then it occurred to Qin Muye that Ye Linyuan’s identity couldn’t be simple. It must be a secret for a reason. If Jiang Qingli told him, it would be a leak, and who knew if Ye Linyuan would retaliate against her for it?

Snakes hold the worst grudges.

’I’m a dignified Prince, completely different from that classless snake. I have male virtue.’

’As long as I’m around, I won’t allow my female master to be put in danger.’

’Better to ask Baili Jing. That fox’s Superpower Level isn’t low. He’s tough. A few hits from the snake won’t kill him.’

Perhaps having come to the same conclusion, Baili Jing replied quickly.

Qin Muye was gargling. He read the message and almost spat out his mouthwash.

He knew that snake was no good, but he never imagined he was an absolute monster!

...

When Qin Muye finished in the bathroom and returned to the bedroom, Jiang Qingli was still studying the internal military report he had pulled up earlier.

He tiptoed over, wrapped his arms around her from behind, and planted a loud kiss on the side of her face.

Jiang Qingli glanced to the side, her eyes meeting the young man’s smiling gaze. She grinned and pinched his cheek. "Find out everything you wanted to know?"

Qin Muye was just about to nibble on her fingertips and froze when he heard her.

’How does she know?’

Jiang Qingli reached up and tugged the tip of his ear. "How could I not know? I’m your master."

"Can’t you just pretend you didn’t know?"

Qin Muye nuzzled the side of Jiang Qingli’s neck, whining softly.

This big snow leopard was far cuter now than when he’d been trying to force his pouting act in the car earlier.

Jiang Qingli raised a hand to stroke his cheek, then leaned in to place a kiss on it. "I know you did it for my own good. Thank you, my little puppy."

The corners of Qin Muye’s lips curled up, and he leaned in, begging for another kiss.

They fell asleep in each other’s arms, sharing a night of sweet dreams.

-

「The next day.」

Qin Muye had a lot on his plate lately.

High Level male Beastmen like him were groomed to become senior commanders. In addition to carrying out missions, they also needed to shadow high-ranking generals to learn about strategy and deployment.

Thus, as soon as his leave was over, Qin Muye immediately joined Yuan Liang to attend a meeting.

As a special advisor, Jiang Qingli attended most of the meetings as well.

Their schedules were packed the entire day, and they didn’t have any free time until evening.

After downing two bottles of nutrient solution, Jiang Qingli set off for Region X-09-7 with Qin Muye.

When they arrived, they happened to see several sentries changing shifts.

She was about to approach them to talk, but her eyes landed on one of the men, and she froze.

The man had a shock of green hair and moved with a light-footed grace... ’Isn’t that Green Hair, the one who was standing guard with another male when we captured the Weaving Nightmare Beast?’