The sharp blade spun around in Li Yixing’s hand, the back of the knife sliding down Feng Zhao’s neck before finally coming to a halt right over Feng Zhao’s heart.
In the dim private room, Li Yixing glanced at the shimmering alcohol on the table, then shifted his gaze to the half-draped bathrobe and swimwear in Feng Zhao’s hands, evaluating them with a smile that didn’t reach his eyes: “Fine wine, waiter. Major General Feng is truly boundless in his elegance, living such a joyous life!”
Feng Zhao: “()”
He looked at his nose and gazed into his heart, not daring to utter a single word.
With his guilty conscience running high, the lights in the private room suddenly flashed on!
The moment the lights flared, everything around them was laid bare. Feng Zhao blinked a couple of times against the sudden glare, only to find Li Yixing pinning him down in a state of near-nudity.
The half-draped bathrobe and the upper portion of the swimwear hung precariously off Li Yixing’s body.
Feng Zhao: “()”
For a moment, he had no idea where to cast his eyes, feeling as though wherever he looked was somehow inappropriate.
“Big Brother Feng!”
The voice of the manager of Mandara rang through the empty room. Simultaneously, the click of a trigger and the screech of a bullet tearing through the air pierced the space!
In the nick of time, Feng Zhao hooked an arm around Li Yixing’s waist and toppled him over onto the sofa, pressing half his weight against Li Yixing’s slim, resilient midsection.
A stray bullet grazed Feng Zhao’s back, and bright red blood dripped down drop by drop, landing beside Li Yixing’s chest before trickling along his smooth skin, pooling into a small puddle of blood on the leather sofa.
Li Yixing froze for two seconds before he heard Feng Zhao say in a deep, tight voice, “Is your brain stuck in a door, and did your brain matter leak out? Why are you randomly shooting guns!”
The thick stench of blood filled the air, drilling straight into Li Yixing’s nasal passages. His face turned pale, and he violently shoved Feng Zhao away, stumbling into the private room’s restroom.
Feng Zhao had just been grazed by a stray bullet, tearing his clothes and leaving a long, deep bloody gash across his back that made him wince in pain. Combined with his complete lack of guard against Li Yixing, that sudden shove almost sent him sprawling face-first onto the floor.
Inside the restroom, Li Yixing was hit by wave after wave of nausea triggered by the smell of blood, leaning against the vanity and dry heaving.
As usual, nothing came up, but his stomach felt uncomfortably bloated, his intestines squeezed as if they were about to tear apart. Breaking out in a cold sweat from the retching, Li Yixing felt dizzy and disoriented, nearly passing out from a lack of oxygen.
To make matters worse, Feng Zhao chose that exact moment to knock on the restroom door: “Li Yixing?”
The restroom door was semi-translucent, vaguely revealing Li Yixing’s posture.
The grey-black silhouette had its hands braced against the vanity, back arched in an expression of intense discomfort. Ignoring the wound on his back for the moment, Feng Zhao politely gave the door a couple more knocks and asked in a routine tone: “Did you throw up?”
Li Yixing didn’t have much energy to spare for a reply. The mere thought of that pool of blood outside made him retch all over again, bringing up some bitter bile and gastric fluids that left an indescribable, bitter taste in his mouth.
“It’s not possible that you’re motion sick, right? Or did you drink more before coming up here?” Puzzled beyond measure, Feng Zhao finally picked a plausible reason and asked, “Is your stomach upset, so you threw up?”
Li Yixing: “()”
The mere reminder that there was currently a child inside his belly, and a child carrying Feng Zhao’s genes at that, stirred up a nameless fury within him.
Gathering what little strength he had left, Li Yixing sneered through the restroom door at the silhouette standing idly outside: “No, I just find you disgusting, that’s why I threw up! Now get the hell away from me right this second! Otherwise, I’m opening this door and throwing up all over you.”
Feng Zhao: “()”
Tsk.
That scolding was delivered with plenty of spirit and breath, which meant he was probably fine, just a bit unappreciative of good intentions.
Feng Zhao obediently retreated a few steps, sparing Li Yixing from the sight of him while also buying himself some peace and quiet.
Realizing his good intentions had backfired into a disaster, the manager of Mandara nervously stepped forward. Glancing at the blood all over the floor and then at Feng Zhao’s actively bleeding back, he stammered, “Big Brother Feng, I am so sorry! I was too impulsive! Punish me however you see fit, but your wound, shouldn’t you step into the medical pod first?”
Only then did Feng Zhao register the grazing injury on his back. He gave an unenthusiastic hum, took a step toward the medical pod, but paused as if remembering something and turned back.
“Have someone bring up a clean change of clothes, and a cup of water, for that person in the restroom,” Feng Zhao hesitated for a moment on how to address Li Yixing, finishing with, “That Lord Li. And get this place cleaned up.”
The manager bowed and scraped in agreement, respectfully watching the VIP step into the medical pod before immediately barking orders to clear away the messy room.
Several managers exchanged glances, looking first at Feng Zhao inside the medical pod and then at the closed restroom door with collective sighs of relief. A group of servers had just bolted out of the private room in a panic, shouting about an assassin, which had scared the wits out of them.
Fortunately, it turned out not to be an assassin after all, just a misunderstanding. Although the boss’s deputy had been accidentally wounded, this big shot didn’t seem inclined to pursue the matter, meaning their heads and jobs were safe.
At that thought, a wave of survivorship bias washed over them, leaving them feeling rather sheepish about the whole farce. If these two wanted to engage in some incomprehensible flirting, why make such a huge spectacle out of it? It scared people to death!
Wounds caused by stray bullets could be staunched and healed within ten minutes inside a medical pod. By the time Feng Zhao emerged from the medical pod, Li Yixing had also stepped out of the restroom.
He had changed into the clothes provided by the manager: a standard server uniform consisting of a white shirt paired with black trousers, secured at the waist by a black leather belt studded with glittering rhinestones. He somehow managed to wear this simple outfit with the imposing aura of an Alliance uniform, making even the semi-translucent, cheap fabric look high-end.
Perhaps because he was still feeling unwell, Feng Zhao noticed that Li Yixing’s complexion looked somewhat pale.
Feng Zhao dismissed all irrelevant personnel, leaving just the two of them in the spacious private room. They sat facing each other as if preparing for an interstellar negotiation.
Feng Zhao cleared his throat, speaking first: “Minister Li, trust you have been well since we last met.”
Li Yixing took a sip of warm water, folded his hands, and offered a cold chuckle: “You’re the one who’s been well. I, on the other hand, am thoroughly unwell.”
Feng Zhao choked on the retort, his smile nearly slipping. He let out a couple of perfunctory, forced chuckles and remained silent.
That strained smile caused Li Yixing’s long brows to arch.
“Ah, wait, how careless of me,” he set his cup down, apologizing with a tone that sounded entirely insincere. “I accidentally forgot that you’re an injured party too.”
Whether it was truly an accident or entirely intentional was left for interpretation.
Too lazy to call Li Yixing out, Feng Zhao leisurely leaned back against his chair, waiting for Li Yixing to open his interrogation session.
“Why I am here, Major General Feng can probably guess eight or nine tenths of it, so I won’t elaborate,” just as Feng Zhao expected, Li Yixing began in a strictly businesslike tone, “whereas Major General Feng, why you are here, collaborating with space pirates of all people, certainly warrants some explanation.”
Getting down to business, Feng Zhao straightened up, assumed a posture of formal gravity, and said, “This is a rather long story.”
Li Yixing fired back with a deadpan expression: “Then cut out the nonsense and keep it short.”
Feng Zhao: “Minister Li, considering I just blocked a bullet for you, can’t you show a little courtesy?”
Li Yixing sneered: “Does Major General Feng not know why I nearly took a bullet? If it weren’t for Major General Feng’s smooth brain suddenly having a flash of brilliance to pull off such an idiotic stunt, how would anyone mistake you for an assailant and open fire in self-defense?”
Feng Zhao: “()”
Feng Zhao smiled through gritted teeth, knowing full well that Li Yixing’s venom-soaked tongue, sharp as a king cobra’s, would bite indiscriminately the moment it opened, practically capable of poisoning someone to death.
“You brought that upon yourself,” Li Yixing systematically pinned the blame on Feng Zhao. “Now speak if you have something to say, spit it out if you have to, and if you waste any more of my time, I’ll show you that my three years as Minister of the Security Department weren’t just for show.”
“Fine. Here is what actually happened: someone inside the Alliance colluded with the Oga Empire,” Feng Zhao said. “The intelligence on that defensive battle was leaked. The Fuxi, the ship I was on, was surrounded by the Oga Empire right after entering its designated operational coordinates. Furthermore, the Fuxi suffered an unexpected system failure during combat, rendering its offensive capabilities useless.”
“They intended to capture me alive, so they didn’t deploy high-lethal weapons capable of destroying starships. I had no choice but to initiate the self-destruct sequence, launching a suicide attack against the Oga Empire’s flagship. Fearing that the Fuxi would ram their main vessel, they fired several high-energy particle cannons at us.”
“At the same time, I stripped off all equipment capable of identifying my personal identity and entered the ecological pod.”
“At the time, I had no idea whether my pod would survive the explosion, so before entering it, I sent you a video. If I unfortunately perished, it would at least alert the Alliance to internal corruption.”
“Fortunately for me, my luck was evidently quite good,” saying this, Feng Zhao raised his eyebrows with a hint of smugness, displaying the exact expression Li Yixing detested most, which was thoroughly obnoxious. “My ecological pod was launched toward the edge of the battlefield before the Fuxi was blown to pieces, and it was eventually picked up by space pirates scavenging for wreckage and equipment.”
“I’ll skip the rest of the details; Minister Li should be able to figure it out.”
Li Yixing didn’t speak, simply giving a slight nod to indicate he understood.
The conversation came to a temporary halt, and silence settled over the private room once more. Sitting right across from him safe and sound, Feng Zhao suddenly recalled that explosive news report released by the Alliance Gazette.
Opening his mouth, Feng Zhao carefully weighed his wording and probed, “I know a bit about what happened back in the Alliance. Cough.”
He gave a meaningful cough. “About that pregnancy…”
A silent jolt went through Li Yixing’s heart, though his face maintained a mocking smile: “You’re quite well-informed.”
Feng Zhao spread his palms: “Of course I keep tabs on Alliance developments.”
“Even if it were true, you definitely got rid of that embryo,” Feng Zhao raised an eyebrow, his tone carrying genuine sincerity. “How could Minister Li possibly tolerate condescending to bear a child belonging to me and you? That’s completely impossible.”
“…” Li Yixing’s dark pupils flickered for a moment before he decided to play along with Feng Zhao’s assumption: “Consider yourself smart. Of course, I got rid of that embryo. I couldn’t possibly keep it, and I’d never give birth to a child for you.”
He truly couldn’t keep that embryo. He and Feng Zhao meant nothing to each other; he couldn’t let an innocent child get caught in the crossfire between them. Nor did he want to tell Feng Zhao that the embryo was still safely nestled inside his abdominal cavity. Disposing of it was a matter of time anyway, so telling him or not telling him made no difference. Better to keep quiet and avoid inviting extra complications, unwanted burdens, or muddying their pure hatred for each other.
Besides, his pride and self-respect wouldn’t allow him to utter a single sentence to Feng Zhao like: “Actually, I am pregnant, and the embryo is still inside me.” Saying that would feel like showing weakness and begging for pity.
That was entirely uncharacteristic of Li Yixing.
“Good.” Though he had anticipated this answer, hearing confirmation still allowed Feng Zhao to release a genuine breath of relief.
If the embryo were still around, he honestly wouldn’t know how to face Li Yixing.
The expected answer left Major General Feng feeling so lighthearted and cheerful that the wound on his back stopped hurting altogether.