Chapter 405 - 404: Two Great Green Teas Gather on the Battlefield

A warm touch wrapped around her shoulders from behind.

Jiang Qingli froze, finding it a little hard to believe. "Jing?"

"Such a clever baby, you guessed right away." The young man chuckled, gently pinching her earlobe as his hot breath fanned across her ear. "Did you miss your husband?"

The Black-winged Birds overhead shrieked, seemingly calling for their companions.

Yuan Liang was using his Superpower to protect the two Spiritual-type experts, so busy his hands were practically a blur.

But the few Black-winged Birds directly above them seemed frightened. They kept their distance, circling while their blood-red eyes stared warily at the embracing couple.

A dark mass of Mutant Beasts circled overhead, ready to attack again at any moment.

But Baili Jing paid them no mind. He focused only on caressing the girl’s cheek in his arms and sighed softly. "You’ve lost weight. Has it been hard for you lately? It’s all my fault..."

The scene was clearly dangerous.

But with him here, Jiang Qingli surprisingly didn’t feel scared at all.

She held his hand, and just as she was about to answer, a gloomy voice sounded from behind her—

"Uncle Baili, I think we should probably ensure Sister’s safety first before we continue filming this soap opera, don’t you?"

The dust settled, and a delicate-looking boy in a school-style uniform approached. His tone was sincere, like that of the purest, most innocent kind of boy.

...If you ignored the fact that he was single-handedly strangling a Black-winged Bird, crushing the ferocious Mutant Beast’s neck into a bloody pulp until it could only gasp for air.

"Nian, long time no see." Jiang Qingli looked at the Black-winged Bird in his hand, suppressing a laugh as she said, "That’s pretty impressive."

Gu Nian had been quite annoyed.

’The two of them had arrived together, but that sly fox beat him to Jiang Qingli’s side and stole all her attention. How was that fair?’

He had been about to make a few passive-aggressive remarks.

But after being so unexpectedly praised by Jiang Qingli, the fierce aura around him instantly softened.

The boy flung the dead bird from his grasp, hid his blood-soaked hands behind his back, and blinked his beautiful pink eyes. With the tips of his ears turning red, he muttered, "I don’t know why, but that bird just flew right onto my blade... It must be because I saw Sister. That’s why I’m so lucky, right?"

With that, he slowly walked forward and gently nuzzled the clean, bloodless side of his face against Jiang Qingli’s, looking for all the world like a well-behaved, harmless little pet.

Long since accustomed to his strange behavior, Jiang Qingli reached up and patted the top of his head. "I knew Nian was the most well-behaved."

"Of course."

Gu Nian smiled smugly. Just as he was about to discreetly push Baili Jing aside, a voice ground out through clenched teeth, "Are you two done with your act?"

Qin Muye was still irritably zapping birds with lightning.

He was already annoyed about the ambush, but seeing these two damned green teas made the lightning in the clouds intensify, instantly charring two Black-winged Birds to a crisp.

The birds fell with a shriek, kicking up more mud and dust.

Baili Jing stepped back, holding the girl. "Baby, there’s less dust over here."

Gu Nian raised a hand and waved it around. "COUGH, COUGH. Sister, my eyes hurt. Can you check if I got dust in them, please?"

Qin Muye: "..."

He couldn’t take it anymore. "What the hell are you two even doing here?"

Baili Jing blinked, feigning surprise. "Muye, weren’t you the one who asked me to come?"

Qin Muye had to admire this sly fox’s ability to lie through his teeth.

He had clearly told Baili Jing to find a reliable bodyguard. Yesterday, he had even specifically noted that a female would be best!

And what happened? Not only did the sly fox not find anyone, he came running over himself!

And if coming himself wasn’t enough, he even brought along that most troublesome green-tea rabbit!

One of the experts cried out in the distance. Qin Muye shot them a look that said, "I’ll deal with you two later," then hurried forward and took care of the remaining Black-winged Birds.

The skill level of this wave of Black-winged Birds was uneven, so Qin Muye quickly dealt with them all.

Yuan Liang, an Earth Element user, had been protecting several Spiritual System experts, leaving everyone covered in dust and grime.

Once Qin Muye finished off the Black-winged Birds, Yuan Liang was about to praise the Prince, but he turned his head and saw two males who shouldn’t have been there.

He was startled. "Baili Jing? And the other one is..."

"Marshal Yuan, long time no see." Baili Jing stepped forward and shook his hand, then introduced politely, "This is Gu Nian. He is also Qingli’s youngest Beast Husband. Like her, he is currently studying at the Royal Empire College."

Yuan Liang shook hands with Gu Nian, then frowned and asked, "Then why... are you here?"

He was already being quite diplomatic with his question, out of respect for Jiang Qingli and Qin Muye, and because they had indeed helped deal with the Black-winged Birds just now.

If it had been anyone else, they would have already been arrested as intruders for trespassing in a military zone.

Baili Jing, however, explained unhurriedly, "Gu Nian has a Space System Superpower. We received a message from Muye just now saying there might be danger, so we rushed over. Thankfully, we made it in time."

Yuan Liang looked at Qin Muye. "Prince?"

Qin Muye: "..."

’Damn that sly fox, how should I know what’s going on!’

’I didn’t send any message at all, okay?!’

"It’s like this. Last night, when Muye and I were messaging, he mentioned that the Mutant Beast tides have been irregular lately. He said he had a bad feeling." Baili Jing smiled. "Perhaps this is the intuition of a top-tier male."

An expert jumped at the chance to praise him, "The Prince truly has great foresight!"

"Ah... that makes sense." Baili Jing sighed and said slowly, "Ah Li, you should know that Baili Chengyan was created through unnatural means, right?"

Similar rumors had always surrounded the Baili family. Twenty years ago, regulations weren’t as strict, and it wasn’t unheard of for females with fertility issues to have test-tube babies.

However, without concrete evidence, it was all just speculation from the outside world.

After all, the Baili family was in the pharmaceutical business and spent a great deal on charity each year, so...

"At that time, my mother had already been confirmed dead, so she couldn’t provide the reproductive cells needed for a new life."

"So, Baili Chengyan is not, as the rumors claim, a newborn created through artificial in-vitro fertilization."

"He is, in fact... a complete genetic clone of my mother."

At this, Baili Jing’s thin lips curled into a sneer. "Unfortunately for them, they greedily wanted to make the clone stronger by adding superior genes. The technology was immature back then, and gender couldn’t be controlled. Out of dozens of embryos, the only one that survived was an incompetent male."

’No wonder.’ In Baili Jing’s memories, Jiang Qingli had seen the Baili Family Head dote on Baili Chengyan endlessly, even forbidding him from calling Baili Jing his older brother.

Even if one looked down on a family member, such an extreme denial of their relationship was rare.

’It was because she had always seen Baili Chengyan as a replacement for her dead daughter.’

’And from her perspective, Baili Jing was the culprit who caused her daughter’s death. His very existence was the reason the Baili family had no heir.’

’It also explained why someone as independent as Baili Jing was still willing to provide blood for Baili Chengyan after becoming an adult.’

’Even though his mother’s death had nothing to do with him, after being blamed day in and day out, he had unconsciously started to blame himself as well.’

"It’s fine. It’s all in the past now." Baili Jing stroked the girl’s cheek. "Now that I’ve stopped providing blood, the Baili family elders, not wanting all their efforts to be in vain, have no choice but to give him transfusions one by one."