Before breakfast was even finished, the shouting outside returned.
An Chang’s father insisted that the woman’s husband had run away with An Chang. The woman claimed that An Chang had seduced her husband. They argued back and forth, their voices so loud that they hurt the ears.
Ji Chaoxi ignored the commotion and silently continued eating.
Suddenly, Ye Jiming said, “Let’s buy a house in the center district of the base.”
The Safe Zone was divided into the outer district, the inner district, and the central district.
The central district consisted of individual courtyards. The people who lived there were mostly senior base officials, scientific researchers, and some permanently established squads with powerful ability users.
Ji Chaoxi had been there several times.
It was clean, with dedicated staff responsible for maintenance. It was almost identical to an upscale residential community before the apocalypse.
“I don’t have enough contribution points or mission points.”
Contribution points could be earned by working within the base.
Mission points were accumulated through the number of tasks completed by Ability User Squads.
In order to complete the system’s missions, she had never considered those things important.
Ye Jiming asked, “Do you want to live there?”
Ji Chaoxi paused with her chopsticks and glanced at him.
“Of course. Water flows downward, and people strive upward. Who doesn’t want better things?”
Ye Jiming nodded.
“I understand.”
After a brief silence, Ji Chaoxi cautiously asked,
“You have a way?”
A certain idea was growing larger and larger inside Ye Jiming’s mind.
He took a sip of water and smiled at her suspicious gaze.
“If I manage it, you’ll agree to one condition.”
Something in the man’s eyes made her heartbeat quicken.
Ji Chaoxi knew she should not agree.
But she had no other choice.
She nodded lightly.
“Okay.”
The light in Ye Jiming’s eyes immediately deepened.
“If you agree, then you have to keep your word.”
Ji Chaoxi bit the end of her chopsticks.
“I know.”
It definitely would not be anything good.
Was this another method of revenge against her?
Ji Chaoxi’s grip on her chopsticks tightened slightly.
Perhaps this trip to Yuzhou would present an opportunity…
Rapid footsteps approached from afar.
Soon, someone began pounding heavily on the door.
“Ji Chaoxi! Open up! Open up! Open the door!”
Ji Chaoxi stood up.
Ye Jiming reached the door before her and opened it.
Standing outside was An Chang’s father, An Zhiye.
His face was covered with unkempt stubble.
The moment he saw Ye Jiming, his eyes widened.
“Where’s Ji Chaoxi?”
His gaze shifted and landed on the figure standing by the dining table, as well as the food spread across it.
His pupils instantly contracted.
He shoved Ye Jiming aside and strode into the house.
In an aggressive tone, he said,
“Ji Chaoxi, my daughter was definitely harmed by you. From now on, as long as you give me a little food every day, I won’t report this to the base security center. Otherwise, I’ll drag you down with me. Nobody’s getting away clean.”
Ye Jiming lowered his eyelashes slightly.
Faint gray-black mist began to stir around him.
Ji Chaoxi calmly walked forward and stopped directly in front of him.
Her expression remained composed.
“Where’s your evidence?”
An Zhiye shouted,
“Evidence? I am the evidence! I’m warning you not to play any tricks. Don’t think being an ability user means I can’t do anything to you. I—”
With a thought from Ji Chaoxi, a vine shot in from outside the doorway.
It wrapped around one of An Zhiye’s legs and suddenly tightened.
Completely unprepared, he did not even have time to scream before he was violently dragged outside.
Ye Jiming looked surprised.
As he watched the girl’s calm face, he suddenly thought she looked incredibly cool.
Ji Chaoxi walked outside and stopped.
Her gaze swept across the gathered crowd before finally landing on An Zhiye.
He was hanging upside down from a large tree.
Vines tightly bound his body and face, preventing him from speaking. All he could manage were muffled sounds.
Ji Chaoxi curled her lips slightly.
“If I kill you right now, who would avenge you?”
An Zhiye’s muffled noises became even more frantic.
The spectators instinctively stepped backward, fear evident on their faces.
Several thick vines appeared behind Ji Chaoxi.
They twisted and waved menacingly, radiating intimidation.
She smiled.
The smile appeared gentle, yet it never reached her eyes.
“Anyone else want to try?”
The crowd immediately scattered.
Every single person fled.
Even An Zhiye, hanging upside down from the tree, instantly fell silent.
There were other sixth-rank ability users living in this area who were not affiliated with permanent squads.
But anyone with a functioning brain knew better than to offend a Wood Ability User who possessed offense, defense, and healing abilities all at once.
Ji Chaoxi turned around and returned inside.
One sixth-rank ability user glanced at the suspended An Zhiye before leaving as well.
Ye Jiming closed the door.
Walking over, he pinched her chin and lowered his head to kiss her.
“So cool.”
Ji Chaoxi felt her ears grow warm.
From the compliment.
When she had saved people during squad missions, they would thank her.
They would say she was amazing.
But no one had ever called her cool before.
After breakfast, Ji Chaoxi stood by the window and looked at the sun’s position.
“Ye Jiming, it’s almost time. I need to meet up with Feng Ruijie and the others.”
Ye Jiming emerged from the kitchen.
“I’ll go with you.”
Ji Chaoxi’s heart skipped.
“Aren’t you supposed to be figuring out how to buy a house in the central district?”
“I am. But that doesn’t conflict with your mission.”
“Then are you just taking me to the meeting point, or are you coming to Yuzhou with us?”
“Which would you prefer?”
Ye Jiming stood before her, leisurely watching her.
Ji Chaoxi looked away.
“I don’t have a preference.”
Ye Jiming pinched her soft earlobe and gently rubbed it.
His voice was low.
“Then does Master want me to go?”
Alarm bells instantly rang inside Ji Chaoxi’s head.
That form of address was a warning.
She raised a hand to push his away, but after hearing those words, she lowered it again.
The heat in her ears spread down her neck.
Instead, she threw the question back.
“Do you want to go?”
Ye Jiming watched as her pale neck gradually turned pink.
His fingertips slid from her earlobe and wandered up and down her neck.
“If Master wants me to go, then I’ll go.”
The question was tossed back once again.
It sounded like he was giving her a choice.
In reality, he wasn’t.
Ji Chaoxi bit the inside of her lower lip.
She turned her head, trying to avoid his fingers.
The movement stretched her slender neck, accentuating its delicate and graceful lines.
Ye Jiming’s eyes darkened.
He wanted to bite it.
He wanted to leave marks that belonged only to him.
Ji Chaoxi carefully considered the best possible answer.
“Why don’t you stay at the base and do what you need to do? Once I finish this escort mission, we can work hard together. Then we’ll be able to buy a house in the central district sooner. Doesn’t that sound good?”
A smile suddenly appeared on Ye Jiming’s face.
Dark.
Dangerous.
Almost insane.
“Sure.”
“We’ll work hard together and buy a house that belongs to the two of us.”
“That’s really romantic.”
“I like it very much.”
Ji Chaoxi stared at him in surprise.
He had actually agreed?
Yet instead of feeling relieved, her heart climbed even higher into her throat.
She could not tell whether it was simply her imagination, but there was something very wrong about Ye Jiming at that moment.
She turned toward him and cautiously asked,
“Then… are you going to take me to the meeting point?”
Ye Jiming traced the shape of her lips with his long fingers.
“No.”
“I’m afraid I won’t be able to let you go.”
Ji Chaoxi’s heartbeat accelerated.
“It’s almost time. I should leave.”
She took a step forward.
Suddenly, her arm tightened.
A hand firmly grasped it.
Her heartbeat missed a beat.
Holding her breath, she turned around.
Ye Jiming lowered the corners of his eyes and looked at her pitifully.
“Wife, this mission is going to take so long.”
“For so many days, I won’t be able to hold you.”
“And I won’t be able to kiss you.”
“Before you leave…”
“Can you give me a kiss?”