Jiang Wangyue tried keying a string of numbers into the terminal.
【Incorrect password. Please try again.】
Not the original host’s birthday, then.
Jiang Wangyue scratched her head. There weren’t many milestone dates in the original host’s memories to begin with, surely it couldn’t be the date the laboratory was destroyed?
Not even the Federation Military had a precise record of that. The original host had been unconscious when she was pulled out of the wreckage, so there was even less chance she’d know it.
Jiang Wangyue sat cross-legged on the carpet, thinking it over for a long while, then suddenly reached out and pulled open the desk drawer, where she found the Central Military Academy student ID.
“Student number 427-719…”
The instant she tapped in the final digit, the terminal screen abruptly went dark, then, a moment later, lit up again.
【Reboot successful. Welcome back.】
The rebooted terminal didn’t look any different. Jiang Wangyue went through it carefully, but she couldn’t find anything like a diary or an encrypted file.
So this thing was exactly like that brain-dead phone she’d had in her last life, making her re-enter the password every 72 hours, as if to keep her from going senile while she was still young.
Tossing the student ID back into the drawer, Jiang Wangyue propped her chin in her hand and gazed out the window.
The look in that little girl’s eyes inside the laboratory pod had left her chest a little tight. Jiang Wangyue could understand why she’d seen the original host as a child deep in this body’s mental sea, but what she couldn’t understand was why the girl had said long time no see.
It couldn’t be that the original host’s consciousness was still in here, could it?
Jiang Wangyue hurriedly shook her head.
Better not to go scaring herself.
At that moment her stomach, which hadn’t taken in food all day, lodged a protest.
So Jiang Wangyue simply got up and headed downstairs.
Afraid of disturbing Lan Xue, who lived on the ground floor, she crept softly through the living room and into the kitchen.
But the moment her hand touched the refrigerator, she heard a stifled gasp.
Jiang Wangyue’s heart instantly seized up, was there a burglar in the house?
She slowly drew her hand back, meaning to open her terminal and message Lan Xue.
Just then, a body radiating heat suddenly pressed up against her from behind.
Jiang Wangyue didn’t hesitate to drive her elbow back at him, only for the other party to catch her arm in a firm grip.
“Female master…” The slightly hoarse voice took Jiang Wangyue by surprise, but she lowered her guard at once.
It was Lan Xue.
Feeling the scalding heat coming off his body, Jiang Wangyue couldn’t help asking, worried, “Lan Xue, are you running a fever? You’re burning up.”
“A fever?”
Lan Xue repeated it low, then locked his arms tight around Jiang Wangyue’s waist and said with a soft laugh, “That’s right, Female master, I’ve got a fever. Won’t you help me?”
Jiang Wangyue shifted uncomfortably and was about to say something, then froze on the spot the moment she registered the strangeness behind her.
Only then did it click for Jiang Wangyue. Fever, her foot. By the look of it, this big cat was in heat.
The hem of her shirt was lifted gently, and the instant that scalding hand met her cool skin, Jiang Wangyue gave a hard shudder.
“Listen, you—”
Before Jiang Wangyue could finish, the hand at her waist gave a slight, deliberate tug, and in an instant the two of them were face to face.
The small of her back hit the cold edge of the kitchen counter, and as Lan Xue’s burning body pressed in close again, her breathing turned ragged in a heartbeat.
The faint rustle of fabric was magnified without limit in the silence.
In Lan Xue’s deep-sea blue eyes churned a desire he could barely hold back, the kind that left you weak just looking at it.
As if she’d been scalded by red-hot tongs, Jiang Wangyue instinctively flinched her hand away.
Lan Xue let out a muffled groan at once, his throat bobbing rapidly as he forced down the heat in his chest that was about to erupt.
He bowed his head, lashes lowered, and tenderly, solemnly kissed those lips, as soft as he’d imagined.
A lingering yet urgent breath passed back and forth between their lips and teeth, charged with an unspeakable feverishness.
The rapidly rising body heat and Lan Xue’s increasingly forceful plundering left Jiang Wangyue’s head spinning.
Somehow one of them knocked the faucet on, and the sound of running water rang out abruptly in the quiet, pitch-black kitchen, pulling Jiang Wangyue’s reason back with it.
Lifting a hand gone weak, Jiang Wangyue gave Lan Xue a light push, and only then did he reluctantly release her.
Their foreheads rested together, warm breaths spilling across each other’s faces as they each steadied their pounding hearts.
Lan Xue gripped her hand tightly, fingers laced through hers.
The clear, cold moonlight spilled through the glass onto the floor, lighting up the shame and indignation in Jiang Wangyue’s eyes.
She stared at Lan Xue’s long, slender neck right in front of her, and couldn’t resist biting down on it.
Lan Xue gave a soft hiss, but only raised a hand to pat Jiang Wangyue’s back gently, soothing her.
It wasn’t until the faint taste of blood spread through her mouth that Jiang Wangyue, her temper vented, let go.
“Still running a fever?”
The instant she spoke, Jiang Wangyue startled herself.
That sweet, soft, slightly husky voice, was that really a sound she could make??
Lan Xue was in the middle of looping an arm around Jiang Wangyue’s waist to draw her into his chest, afraid her weak legs would give out and she’d fall.
Hearing her challenge just then, he was first taken aback, then dipped his head slightly, his shoulders trembling lightly as he let out a soft laugh.
“No more fever. The Female master is going to make a fine doctor one day.”
Jiang Wangyue ground her teeth, the urge to bite him rising again.
But Lan Xue knew when to quit while he was ahead. He took her hand and washed it over carefully, thoroughly, before scooping her up and carrying her to the sofa.
Dropping to one knee, he tidied the loose strands of hair by her face and asked with a smile, “Would you like to take a bath first, or eat first?”
Jiang Wangyue gave him a resentful look. “So you do know I haven’t eaten? Just go ahead and starve me to death.”
“I wouldn’t dare. I’ll go make food right now.”
As Lan Xue rose to head back to the kitchen, Jiang Wangyue reached out and hooked a finger around his.
“Never mind, just grab any nutrient fluid. Don’t go to all that trouble.”
“All right.”
Biting into a peach-flavored nutrient fluid, Jiang Wangyue beckoned Lan Xue over.
He leaned in without the slightest defense, only to be caught off guard as she grabbed him by the collar. His foot slipped, and he hurriedly braced against the back of the sofa, just barely catching his balance.
Jiang Wangyue’s cold fingertip pressed to Lan Xue’s forehead, and her mental power bored straight in through the point where their skin met.
To his shock, Lan Xue found that his mental sea, restless until a moment ago, was gradually settling into calm.
In contrast, the color was draining rapidly from Jiang Wangyue’s face.
“Female master!”
Lan Xue quickly reached out to steady Jiang Wangyue’s swaying body, helpless ache welling up in his eyes.
“Why do this to yourself…”
The bit of mental power she’d worked so hard to build back up was spent down to nothing, yet Jiang Wangyue’s eyes were unusually bright.
She gave a light tug at the long hair draping over Lan Xue’s chest, the radiant smile breaking across her face stamping itself deep into his heart.
“Being able to help you,” she said, “is more than enough for me.”
Lan Xue bent down and hugged Jiang Wangyue tight.
He pressed a soft kiss to her cheek, one without a trace of desire in it.
“Thank you.”