On the way to Anda County,
Lin Qiye felt somewhat distracted and uneasy.
An Qingyu was his good brother. Although he had entertained certain thoughts just now, as long as he snuffed out that tiny spark in time, the two of them could still remain close brothers.
Right. He had to keep his thoughts under control.
An Qingyu was his brother, this was something that would never change.
After getting out of the car,
Lin Qiye composed himself.
“Let’s first go ask the local forest ranger about the situation with the ant-related mystery.”
He had just taken a few steps forward when he suddenly realized that An Qingyu was still holding his hand to warm himself.
Lin Qiye stopped and turned to look at An Qingyu beside him.
“Well… we’re about to meet someone. So maybe… you should let go first?”
His gaze dropped to their clasped hands.
Before, he hadn’t thought much of it.
But now, two grown men holding hands, it felt a bit… you know.
An indescribable sense of awkwardness.
At this moment, Lin Qiye had no idea there was a term in the world called “gay.”
Instead, An Qingyu tightened his grip on Lin Qiye’s hand and smiled.
“Qiye, what are you worried about? Isn’t this just normal interaction between two brothers?”
Lin Qiye seriously considered his words.
That did seem to make sense.
Maybe he was just overthinking it.
An Qingyu was quite open and natural about it.
Still, Lin Qiye felt somewhat awkward.
They walked along a forest path and arrived in front of a wooden cabin.
An Qingyu released his hand.
“Qiye, my hands are pretty much warm now.”
Lin Qiye let out a breath of relief and stepped forward to knock on the door.
An Qingyu nudged up the glasses that had slipped down his nose with his fingertip. Naturally, he hadn’t missed the change in Lin Qiye’s expression.
You couldn’t push someone too hard, doing so would only backfire.
Giving Lin Qiye a bit of space, a chance to breathe, would often yield twice the result with half the effort.
“Who is it?” A middle-aged man opened the door.
Lin Qiye gave a polite smile and spoke carefully.
“We heard there’s a primeval forest around here. We’d like to explore it and wanted to ask about its exact location.”
The man muttered,
“Why is it that one after another, people all want to go to that forest? What’s so fun about it?”
An Qingyu caught the hidden meaning in his words.
“Besides us, are there others who want to go to that forest as well?”
The man stepped aside, making room.
“Come in and talk. It’s cold outside.”
Lin Qiye and An Qingyu exchanged a glance before stepping into the house.
Watching the interaction between the two in front, Cao Yuan felt that an inexplicable atmosphere, a kind of magnetic field, had formed between them.
It wasn’t something others could simply insert themselves into.
Cao Yuan grew even more puzzled. Obviously, Qiye had met An Qingyu later.
Yet the familiarity in their attitude and the tacit understanding in their actions far surpassed that of the other teammates.
The middle-aged man in a green military coat poured them each a cup of hot tea.
“Have something warm to heat yourselves up.”
Lin Qiye picked up a cup from the table and handed it to An Qingyu. “You get cold easily. At least this will warm you up a bit.”
An Qingyu took the steaming cup and curved his lips in a smile. “Qiye, thank you for your concern.”
Lin Qiye paused for a moment, then said stubbornly,
“Who’s concerned about you? I just don’t want you freezing to death.”
An Qingyu only smiled without speaking, his gaze fixed intently on Lin Qiye.
Being stared at like that made Lin Qiye a little uncomfortable, as if the hidden thoughts in his heart were about to be seen through.
He hurriedly looked away and sat down by the table.
“By the way, sir, how much do you know about that forest?”
The middle-aged man set down his cup and looked at them seriously.
“I’m telling you, one after another, you all want to go to that forest. It’s very dangerous there.”
“Half a month ago, a girl in a white down jacket also came to ask me about the forest’s location.”
“I advised her not to go. She nodded obediently as well.”
An Qingyu rubbed the rim of the teacup with his fingertips and took a sip of the cheap tea, his gaze settling on the map hanging on the wall.
Lin Qiye let out a dry laugh.
“In that case, we’ll just have to head back.”
Baili Pangpang let out an “Ah?”
“Then wouldn’t that mean we came here for nothing?”
Meeting the middle-aged man’s deep gaze, Baili Pangpang could only nod obediently.
After finishing their tea, they bid the man farewell and left the shabby wooden cabin.
Baili Pangpang was somewhat unwilling to accept it.
“Are we just going back like this?”
Unable to eliminate that Mystery, Baili Pangpang felt unwilling to accept it.
This was the first mission their team had taken on; he truly didn’t want to give up so easily.
Lin Qiye looked at An Qingyu.
“Memorized it?”
An Qingyu nodded, his tone relaxed.
“It was just a map. A few seconds were enough to store it in my head.”
Baili Pangpang’s mouth formed an O.
“You memorized it with one glance? What kind of monster are you?”
Cao Yuan frowned deeply. The tacit understanding between Qiye and this An Qingyu was a bit too good.
Obviously, all of them had been together the whole time.
Yet it felt as though Qiye and An Qingyu had their own separate line of communication, able to converse without barriers.
An Qingyu pointed in a direction.
“The forest we’re looking for is over there.”
Lin Qiye immediately made a decision.
“Alright, then let’s head that way now. We can’t just let the Mystery roam free and disrupt the locals’ lives.”
“Wait a second.” An Qingyu called out to stop him.
Lin Qiye turned around.
“What is it?”
An Qingyu didn’t answer right away. He pulled a scarf out of his backpack and wrapped it snugly around Lin Qiye.
“Qiye, make sure to keep warm. I’m still counting on you to warm me up.”
Warm him up? Lin Qiye froze.
Cao Yuan’s eyes widened. This An Qingyu really did have improper intentions toward Qiye.
He was after Qiye’s body.
Seemingly sensing that his earlier words could be taken the wrong way, An Qingyu added,
“Qiye, after all, only if your body is warm can you better help warm my hands, right?”
As he spoke, he casually smoothed out the wrinkles on the chest of Lin Qiye’s down jacket.
Even though there was no direct physical contact, Lin Qiye inexplicably felt his heartbeat skip.
He took a deep breath and forcibly suppressed the strange feeling in his chest.
Baili Pangpang muttered under his breath,
“We’re all teammates, but An Qingyu only put a scarf on Qiye. That’s pretty unfair, isn’t it?”
Cao Yuan clenched his fist and placed it on Baili Pangpang’s shoulder.
“No. It’s obvious that An Qingyu has ulterior motives toward Qiye. I’ve already seen through him.”
Baili Pangpang formed a vague guess.
“He wants to curry favor with the captain and secure his position on the team?”
“Tsk, who would’ve thought? His scheming runs that deep.”
The muscles on Cao Yuan’s face twitched.
“Forget it. Even if I explained it to you, you wouldn’t understand.”