Jun Lin had a mission tomorrow and still had plenty of preparations to do—he didn’t even have time for a meal, so he could only hurriedly walk her back to her dorm and order takeout.
Originally, Sui Ning thought her dorm was pretty nice—small but fully equipped—but with a tall male added to the mix, it suddenly felt cramped.
With her permission, Jun Lin curiously wandered around, then tried to pull his old trick and surprise-hug her from behind. But Sui Ning had been on guard the whole time; the moment he pressed close, she spun around and held her cup up against him!
“Sui Sui, I’m leaving for a mission soon, and we won’t see each other for about half a month.
As my Wife-Lord, giving me an encouraging hug isn’t too much to ask, is it?”
As he spoke, not only did his ears pop out and flatten like an airplane’s wings, but a fluffy, glossy tail also emerged behind him, swaying about, its tip pure white—just like a snow mountain at sunset. He tentatively leaned forward, then decisively pulled her into his arms, wrapping his arms around her!
Contentedly nuzzling his Wife-Lord, Jun Lin felt the pain from his extremely high Mental Irritability Value ease a little.
Females really were as his subordinates had said—holding soft warmth in his arms made his whole body go weak, drained him of all fighting spirit, and made him want nothing more than to lose himself in it.
“What should I do, Sui Sui? Suddenly I don’t want to leave…”
Sui Ning was nestled perfectly against his chest, listening to his strong heartbeat that had lost its rhythm. An unprecedented sense of safety made her unconsciously soften in his embrace.
He was, after all, the first Beast Husband she’d met, the one who had stood up for her and demanded compensation on her behalf. Naturally, she hoped he would return safely!
She asked in a muffled voice, “When are you leaving?”
“Early tomorrow morning. Sui Sui, when I come back, I’ll accompany you to school, okay?
You go to class during the day, I’ll go to work, and in the evening we’ll go home together!”
Jun Lin kept nuzzling her affectionately, like he had some kind of skin-hunger, until Sui Ning didn’t even have the heart to be annoyed anymore.
The word “home” felt both foreign and heartwarming to Sui Ning. With no family, the empty, cold house was nothing more than a place to stay to her. No one kept a light on for her at home, and even if she didn’t return for ten days or half a month, no one would miss her.
Her lips curved slightly as she nodded. “Okay.”
Jun Lin nuzzled her again and said with a soft laugh, “Sui Sui, Jun Qian’s aptitude isn’t as good as mine. To secure his position as the Red Fox Clan’s Young Lord, he still needs me to pave the way for him.
At least for the first nine missions, nothing will happen to me.
Since I know he’s after a Level-12 Crystal Core, I’ve already contacted a mercenary group and hired a dozen or so powerful high-tier warriors to accompany me on the mission.”
It cost a bit more, but at least his life would be safe!
Hearing this, Sui Ning’s heart finally settled a little.
She grabbed his hair and yanked him out of her arms, saying irritably, “You had a solid plan all along but kept it to yourself until now? Was watching me worry that entertaining?”
Jun Lin was a bit dazed from being yanked. Back when he was Young Lord, who would have dared? And now, with his strength on display, no one dared touch his head either.
He hissed while shielding his head, baring his teeth cooperatively. “It’s just that I didn’t have time to explain before you got all anxious and started demanding we dissolve the engagement!”
Sui Ning was momentarily choked by his words. She let go of him and sat down on the sofa. “Jun… Jun Lin, what’s your Mental Irritability Value at now?”
Jun Lin sat down beside her, his arm resting on the back of the sofa. Tall and broad, he practically loomed over her, as if he had gathered her into his embrace.
Sui Ning’s nose was filled with the crisp lemon soap scent on him.
“Ninety-two percent,” Jun Lin said unconcernedly. “I exchanged quite a lot of Soothing agents with my contribution points this time. That should keep my condition stable.”
Sui Ning had looked into it—Male Awakeners’ need for a Soother was a matter of zero times or countless times. Once soothed, they tended to seek out a Soother whose Mental Power matched their own to be their Wife-Lord.
Jun Lin had been suppressing his Mental Irritability Value with Soothing agents all along, but this method only treated the symptoms, not the root cause. At best it would maintain the status quo or drop a few points; it would be very hard to bring it back below the safety threshold.
If something unexpected happened and his Mental Turbulence spiked, he could easily degenerate into one of the strange beasts!
She lowered her eyes slightly. The original owner had been pushed beyond her natural growth by her family from childhood, her Mental Power Level artificially raised so she could soothe the males of the clan, so she was quite familiar with the procedures.
But her current C+ Mental Power was a full three major ranks and nine minor ranks below Jun Lin’s S+.
“Send me a message an hour before you depart tomorrow morning,” Sui Ning thought for a moment and instructed.
Jun Lin smiled and nodded in agreement.
Just then, someone contacted him about a mission, so he could only reluctantly drag himself to his feet and was unceremoniously pushed out the door by Sui Ning…
As soon as he was gone, Zhang Yunwei pushed the door open and poked her head in, smiling. “So Ning Bao’er is family of Jun Lin’s squad. No wonder you have a private stand.
Look how discerning Jun Lin’s squad is—they set their sights on our Ning Bao’er. Unlike some people, who started getting smug the moment they got promoted to squad leader!
Males matched by the system are no ordinary ones—they’re all lucky ones, like winning the lottery…”
Although they had only known each other for half a day, Sui Ning’s calm, gentle aura made it easy to feel fond of her.
Especially when she spoke—Sui Ning’s beautiful azure fox-like eyes fixed on her, listening attentively like an obedient child. Who wouldn’t adore that?
The door on the other side opened, and a teal-haired Female leaned against the doorframe with her arms crossed, sneering. “That’s just Mo Che knowing what’s good for him—he knows choosing an A+ Wife-Lord offers a better future than a C+ one.
If I were you, I’d be sensible and let go of Jun Lin’s squad too.
If you don’t have the ability yourself, don’t hold back his future!”
Sui Ning smiled. “I understand how you feel. It’s just a pity you weren’t matched with a Beast Husband like Jun Lin, whose Mental Power is S+.
Our marriage is blessed by the Beast God. Pointing fingers here like this—what a classic case of sour grapes.”
“I—I’m just stating facts!” the Female’s face flushed red with anger. “Anyway, Jun Lin’s squad’s missions are highly dangerous. Without a Wife-Lord to soothe him, sooner or later he’ll become one of the strange beasts, and then you’ll be the one to blame!”
With that, she slammed her door shut.
Zhang Yunwei spat under her breath. “Ning Bao’er, don’t listen to her yapping.
That Ruotang is her clan elder sister. Her Beast Husband was something the family let slip through their fingers, so of course she’d take Mo Che’s side.”
Sui Ning asked, surprised, “You know her?”
“No,” Zhang Yunwei shook her head and said with a low chuckle, “my Qingyue is well-informed. He was worried about me, so he looked into all the neighbors.”
Speaking of which, Zhang Yunwei leaned in and whispered a few more tidbits to her—which classmate had a wealthy family, who had a violent temper, which girl living in which room was petty-minded, and which Female loved to snatch other people’s Beast Husbands…
Sui Ning was preoccupied with her thoughts, so she only listened to about ten minutes of gossip before returning to her room to take stock of her belongings.
The space in her Optical Brain held very few cultivation resources—mostly daily necessities, plus a Star Car.
But the Storage Ring Jun Lin had given her contained Crystal Cores of every attribute, ranging from level one to level ten in varying quantities—never mind everything else!