Ji Li, dressed all in black with a pale face, appeared in the doorway, the smell of blood was coming from him.
He seemed not to have expected anyone to be in the living room. He froze for a moment, then slowly sank down on one knee toward Jiang Wangyue.
Ji Li’s move gave Jiang Wangyue a fright, and she sprang straight up off the sofa.
She’d meant to rush over and pull him to his feet, but in her haste she tripped on the coffee table and went down with a thud, ending up on her knees too.
The two of them knelt there facing each other, like a bride and groom bowing to each other at a wedding.
That fall had Jiang Wangyue’s face twisting into a full mask of agony, her voice trembling a little.
“Brother… can you get up?”
Ji Li’s brain, sluggish from the heavy blood loss, hadn’t caught up yet, but his body made the choice for him a step ahead.
Watching the two of them help each other up, Lan Xue’s hand paused in midair, then slowly drew back.
Jiang Wangyue didn’t notice the change in Lan Xue’s expression. She’d grabbed Ji Li’s arm, and the moment she touched it she felt something slick.
She couldn’t help looking down, and at once saw the dark-red liquid covering her palm.
“Female master,” Lan Xue said softly, drawing Jiang Wangyue’s attention.
He stepped forward, helped her over to sit at the edge of the sofa, then gently rolled up her loungewear pant leg and pressed his warm palm against her swollen, reddened knee.
“You should be more careful.”
Jiang Wangyue wanted to tug at Lan Xue’s sleeve, but noticing the blood on her own hand, she pulled it back again.
“Um… I’m fine, but Ji Li doesn’t look so good. Why don’t you take him to see to his wounds first?”
Lan Xue’s lowered eyes flickered, and then he gave a soft sound of agreement.
Before that, though, he still took a towel and wiped Ji Li’s blood off of Jiang Wangyue’s hand.
Down in the basement, Lan Xue looked at Ji Li lying quietly in the treatment pod, his expression placid, his words sounding like concern but in fact laced with sarcasm.
“For someone to wound you this badly, the other side must be pretty strong. I just wonder how you’re going to explain yourself to that pack of old men in the Upper House.”
Ji Li gave no reaction at all, as if he hadn’t heard Lan Xue’s mocking words.
Lan Xue leaned against the cold wall behind him, toying with one of his braids with one hand, and went on as if talking to himself, “True, your species’ special ability can delay a mental-power rampage, but you’re just about due, aren’t you?”
“Ji Li, how about we cooperate?”
Ji Li slowly opened his eyes, his gaze cool and clear as he looked at Lan Xue.
The corner of Lan Xue’s mouth lifted slightly, his voice was low and gentle, yet carried a thread of cold.
“Don’t worry, I certainly wouldn’t do anything to harm the Federation, I wouldn’t dare.”
Ji Li’s hoarse voice sounded as he asked calmly, “What do you want to do?”
Lan Xue straightened up, slowly walked closer to the treatment pod, then bent slightly to lay his hand on the pod’s cover lid and said softly, “Last night the Female master performed mental sea soothing on me.”
The instant Ji Li heard this, his pupils contracted sharply.
A C-grade soothing an S-grade?
Even with the person saying it being Lan Xue, Ji Li still found it inconceivable.
Lan Xue raised an index finger and made a shh gesture. “Don’t get worked up, hear me out—”
In the kitchen, amid the rush of running water, an occasional yelp rang out.
Jiang Wangyue, bracing herself against the counter, was icing her swollen, red knee with her teeth bared in a grimace.
It hurt so much.
The cold towel draped over the knee eased the pain a little.
Thinking of how most of the beast husbands in this world, like Lan Xue and Ji Li, would drop to their knees at the slightest thing, Jiang Wangyue couldn’t help a soft click of her tongue.
Technology this advanced, navigating the whole universe with ease, and yet they clung to feudal ideas like this?
Maybe she should invent some kind of kneeling pad and promote it.
“Female master.”
Hearing Lan Xue’s voice, Jiang Wangyue looked up.
“How’s Ji Li doing?”
Lan Xue took the towel from her hand and gently iced her knee with it, saying in a low voice, “His wounds have all healed. It’s just—”
That “it’s just” sent the heart Jiang Wangyue had only just lowered jumping right back up again, say it all in one breath, big bro!
“Ji Li’s mental power is a little unstable.”
“I’ll go check on him.”
Jiang Wangyue patted Lan Xue’s shoulder, rolled her pant leg back down, and took two steps toward the kitchen door, then stopped short.
She glanced back at Lan Xue, a little embarrassed. “Um, which room does Ji Li live in again?”
Lan Xue’s expression didn’t change. He said lightly, “The one at the very end of the second-floor hallway.”
“Got it.”
Watching Jiang Wangyue start up the stairs, Lan Xue abruptly clenched the wet towel in his hand.
Water droplets sprayed out, soaking his pant cuffs and his shirt.
Following the directions Lan Xue had given, Jiang Wangyue found Ji Li’s room.
The door was pushed to but not latched, still, she knocked first.
“Come in.”
Jiang Wangyue cautiously pushed the door open and walked in, instinctively sweeping her eyes over the whole room.
The layout was similar to Lan Xue’s room, only there were very few things in it, which made it look rather empty, and a little cold.
Ji Li was sitting leaning against the window, steadying something within himself. When he saw her come in, a flash of unease shot quickly through his dark-golden eyes.
“Click—”
Jiang Wangyue reached back and shut the door, then walked over toward Ji Li.
“Lan Xue said your mental power’s a bit unstable, so I came to check on you.”
“Mm…”
Jiang Wangyue walked up to Ji Li and bent slightly. The instant her faintly cool hand settled on his forehead, he reflexively seized her by the wrist.
The very same scene as that day surfaced at once in both their minds. Ji Li jerked as if he’d been stung and hurriedly let go.
“I’m sorry.”
Jiang Wangyue blinked. Why the apology, out of nowhere?
Ji Li pressed his lips together and said in a hoarse voice, “That day I didn’t control my strength and hurt you.”
“Oh, you mean that. I forgot about it ages ago.”
Jiang Wangyue really hadn’t given the matter much thought. Seeing the faintly puzzled look on Ji Li’s face, she couldn’t help a soft little laugh.
“All right, there’s a good boy, hold still.”
Ji Li tipped his head back and looked up at her. The ears hidden beneath his messy black hair quietly flushed a faint pink.
A moment later, Ji Li felt a current of mental power that wasn’t his own slip along that pale, slender finger and burrow into his mental sea.
The hand he’d kept behind his back the whole time instantly gripped tighter.
Eyes closed, Jiang Wangyue carefully felt out Ji Li’s mental sea.
Unlike Yun Miao’s, Ji Li’s mental sea was so dark, wasn’t it? She couldn’t make anything out at all.
Jiang Wangyue knit her brows tight and tried to drive her mental power on to spread deeper, only to find she’d run out of mental power.
Pale-faced, she withdrew her hand, in a thoroughly foul mood.
This feeling of being shackled by a limited supply of mental power was just the absolute worst.
Jiang Wangyue drew a deep breath, told Ji Li to rest well, and turned to leave on unsteady, floating steps.
The room fell quiet once more. Ji Li slowly opened the left hand he’d been clenching shut, revealing the silvery-white sphere inside it.