Chapter 130: That’s Instinct

The Little Fox set his phone aside. The moment he looked up, his nose twitched instinctively.

He glanced in Wen Qian’s direction, then his gaze landed on the cheerful-looking man beside her.

Qi Ke’s eyes darkened instantly. He decisively tossed his phone aside, got up, and walked toward the dining table.

’He’d really underestimated this Young Master.’

"Hey! We haven’t finished the game yet!" Shen Mqing shouted excitedly. His eyes darted back and forth, unsure for a moment whether to look at his phone or follow Qi Ke’s retreating figure.

’He’d finally managed to team up with him for a round, and now this kid... What a useless teammate!’

Qi Ke paid him no mind, pulling out a chair and sitting down right next to Wen Qian without even giving him a glance.

Forcing himself to finish the game, Shen Mqing muttered a few things in frustration. Then, as if he smelled something, he immediately tossed his phone aside...

"Hey, do you have any idea? If you hadn’t suddenly gone offline... we could have won that game."

Tearing open the packaging for his Original Recipe chicken, Shen Mqing didn’t forget to turn his head and glare at Qi Ke.

Qi Ke couldn’t be bothered with him, just watching with cold eyes as Yin Zhi attentively tore open packaging and separated chopsticks for Wen Qian, even putting the straw in the strawberry milk tea by her hand.

’Just this afternoon, he looked like he was dead set on drawing a clear line.’

’Just this morning, he had that stinking expression like his world had ended.’

’What’s with this situation now?’

’They’ve made up?’

"I’m talking to you, you stupid fox..."

Shen Mqing was still muttering beside him. The Little Fox finally snapped out of it and shot him a cool glance.

’How is this guy’s brain filled with nothing but games?’

Looking at his expression—three parts chilly, three parts indifferent, three parts disdainful, and one part nonchalant—a giant question mark appeared in Shen Mqing’s mind.

’Am I imagining things? How could he, a noble of the Tiger Clan, be looked down upon by a fox?’

"Qianqian, this is delicious." Handing the strawberry milkshake to Wen Qian, Yin Zhi propped his chin on one hand, tilted his head, and watched her with narrowed eyes.

Wen Qian didn’t speak. As she reached for it, he brought the straw directly to her lips instead.

"..."

She took a sip of the milk tea and thought it was good, so she took another.

But when she looked up, she saw Yin Zhi staring blankly at her lips, the tips of his ears turning red.

?

’Is he okay?’

On one side, a cheerful Yin Zhi was doting on Wen Qian; on the other, Shen Mqing was chattering endlessly at a grim-faced Qi Ke.

Finally, annoyed by his rambling, Qi Ke simply pushed his own portion of Original Recipe chicken over to him.

"Really? Can I?" Shen Mqing’s eyes widened. When Qi Ke nodded, his complaining voice stopped abruptly, replaced by the young man’s ecstatic cry, "I knew I wasn’t wrong about you, fox!"

The Little Fox couldn’t be bothered to listen to his compliments. His deep gaze quietly fell on the bite mark on the woman’s neck. Although the skin was just barely broken, the Little Fox could still sense the intense possessiveness behind it.

This meal was incredibly noisy.

Yin Zhi’s voice, fussing over Wen Qian, never stopped.

Annoyed by his chatter, Wen Qian picked up a chicken leg with her chopsticks and stuffed it into his mouth.

His voice was a bit muffled. The man took the chicken leg in his hand and swallowed the meat in his mouth. Only then did he intimately rest his head on the girl’s shoulder and ask in a suggestive tone, "Is this my reward?"

BANG!

Chopsticks were slammed onto the table. The Little Fox leaned back in his chair, his arms crossed, staring blankly at this "heartwarming" scene.

’This is infuriating.’

’After lunch, he was still mocking Yin Zhi. He never thought he’d become the clown himself so quickly.’

The Little Fox was already tall with long legs and deep eyes, the kind of handsome that would stand out in any crowd. Now, with his lips pressed into a thin line, he looked so obviously displeased that he was impossible to ignore.

What’s more, when he shifted his chair, it let out a loud SCRAPE.

Wen Qian’s gaze was immediately drawn to him.

When the Little Fox saw the surprise in her expression, he immediately let out a cold snort. The way his lips were pressed into a straight line and his eyebrows were slightly raised was a complete departure from the obedient demeanor he’d shown that afternoon.

’What’s going on? Are he and Yin Zhi taking turns with these personality shifts?’

"Such a bad temper."

Glancing coolly at Qi Ke, Yin Zhi commented flatly, not forgetting to place more food in Wen Qian’s bowl.

"You... Hmph!"

Gritting his teeth, the young man’s gaze fell on her fair neck, and his expression darkened even more.

’Them being like that is one thing... but he even bit her neck?’

’No, wait. It seems she’s been bitten on the neck by him before.’

His last shred of reason vanished. Qi Ke shot to his feet and turned to walk upstairs.

Wen Qian didn’t know where all his emotion was coming from, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong.

’Just now, Qi Ke seemed to be staring at my neck.’

Narrowing her eyes, Wen Qian shifted her gaze back to Yin Zhi’s face. She smiled faintly, pointed to her neck, and asked, "What exactly does this mean?"

The man froze for a second, then covered his lips with a light cough, hastily changing the subject. "Qianqian, would you like to try this... Their sweet and sour pork ribs are pretty good."

Wen Qian didn’t say anything, just kept smiling as she stared at him. She had no intention of being fooled by Yin Zhi that easily.

’If I remember correctly, he’s bitten my neck before, too.’

’No, wait, it wasn’t just him. There was Gu Mian, too.’

’What did he say back then?’

’Something about... it being a personal habit of Beastmen?’

"Whoa! Have you two pledged your lives to each other?"

The one who spoke this time was Shen Mqing. He had finished gnawing on his Original Recipe chicken, and his gaze now fell on Wen Qian’s neck.

"Pledged our lives?"

As Wen Qian asked this question, she glanced over at Yin Zhi.

The man was looking down, shoveling rice into his mouth as if he were starving.

Shen Mqing put on a surprised "You don’t know?" expression, forcefully swallowed the food in his mouth, and explained in a crisp voice, "Where we come from, when a male leaves a bite mark on a female’s neck, it means that female belongs only to him."

"Only other Beastmen can sense the aura on it. You could say it’s... a mark."

"What if it was left without her knowledge?"

"Ahem..." Yin Zhi choked a little.

"How could she not know? The female’s not stu—" He stopped mid-sentence. Seemingly realizing something, Shen Mqing gave a mischievous laugh and glanced at Yin Zhi. "Well, then I wouldn’t know. The meaning of it in our Tiger Clan is really beautiful. It’s called ’You Belong Only to Me.’"

’So, this guy was lying to me from the very beginning.’

Wen Qian reached up and twisted his ear. "Your intentions weren’t pure from the start!"

’This guy acts all cute and spoiled with me on the surface, but he’s so scheming behind my back!’

’Could it be that our first ’chance’ meeting was also orchestrated by him?’

"If you take me home, you have to be responsible for me. I’m not just any tiger..." Yin Zhi’s eyes reddened from her twisting his ear, but he didn’t dare struggle.

"I thought of you as a pet back then..."

"Then why did you get a nosebleed looking at me?" Yin Zhi sniffled pitifully. Then he added, "It says on TV dramas all the time, only when a female feels... OOF!"

Wen Qian clamped her hand tightly over his mouth and said in a fierce voice, "That was instinct!"