3 – A Few Elders with Powerful Auras
His bodyguards immediately closed in around him.
Li Ziyin pulled two stacks of cash out of her bag and threw them onto Huo Yu’s handsome face.
“If I ever see you again, I’ll beat you every single time. After all, in your eyes, beating someone into a vegetative state only costs ten million.”
Perhaps her expression was too fierce—Huo Yu’s burly bodyguards didn’t even react in time.
Li Ziyin walked straight off.
The onlookers who had just heard the commotion and were coming over didn’t dare stop her either.
But after only a couple of steps, Li Ziyin spotted a group of people standing at the corner, watching her.
Every one of them stood ramrod straight, their expressions stern.
Even in plain clothes, it was obvious they’d been through years of military training—even their skin was bronze.
They looked like elites who got baked in the sun every day.
By comparison, the man leading them, though he stood just as straight, carried an air of aristocratic refinement. The same movements, performed by him, were as pleasing to the eye as a painting.
His skin was fair too.
When the man saw that Li Ziyin had noticed them, he stepped forward first and extended his hand.
“Hello. Xie Rongyu.”
His hand had well-defined knuckles, with calluses on his index finger and thumb, but that didn’t detract from how handsome it was.
Li Ziyin slowly batted her lashes and reached out to shake it. “Li Ziyin. You and Elder Xie…?”
Her hand, by comparison, was even fairer—and far too slender.
No matter how you looked at it, she didn’t seem like someone with the strength to casually throw a six-foot-tall man over her shoulder.
Xie Rongyu’s gaze swept over her in a flash, his face perfectly calm. “Grandfather and granddaughter.”
Oh~ So he’s Elder Xie’s grandson.
Third-generation elite.
No wonder he carried himself so remarkably.
“Miss Li, please come with us.”
Only three days.
Li Ziyin hadn’t expected Elder Xie to move this fast.
Nor had she expected the higher-ups, who’d believed in science all their lives, to be persuaded so easily.
Li Ziyin was ushered into a car.
In the passenger seat sat an elite soldier armed to the teeth.
The moment Li Ziyin got in, the soldier and the driver both formally saluted her.
Li Ziyin: “…”
Was it necessary to be this serious?
She returned the salute and sat down in the car.
Xie Rongyu, surprisingly, was the most easygoing of them. As he sat down beside her, he offered a word of comfort. “Don’t be nervous. It’s just a protective measure.”
He was truly handsome, with the crisp, commanding presence that came from years of training.
Li Ziyin had transmigrated through so many worlds and seen all kinds of male leads, but not a single one surpassed him in both looks and bearing.
Li Ziyin kept feeling that Elder Xie had sent him over with some ulterior motive.
As if reading her mind, Xie Rongyu said on his own initiative, “From now on, I’m responsible for protecting you.”
“…” Protection, my foot. More like seduction.
Li Ziyin had managed to extricate herself unscathed from world after world, so naturally her brain worked just fine.
It took only a moment’s thought to figure it out.
Elder Xie was probably afraid that while carrying out her missions, she’d grow attached to the wide world out there and refuse to come back.
So he’d placed a piece of bait by her side to keep her hooked.
Apparently, in those three days, Elder Xie hadn’t just persuaded the higher-ups—he’d also done a lot of research into transmigration novels.
Then, sacrificing himself for the cause, he’d offered up his own grandson.
Hss—
Li Ziyin’s peripheral vision drifted over Xie Rongyu’s face once more.
She had to admit—it worked.
Very good-looking.
Xie Rongyu naturally noticed her gaze, but his expression didn’t change. He sat upright, not moving a muscle.
The modified car looked utterly unremarkable on the outside, but as it drove along, not a single jolt could be felt.
There were fewer and fewer cars on the road, until not a single one remained in sight.
The scenery along the road grew increasingly suburban.
In other words, they were headed somewhere very remote.
Li Ziyin couldn’t help but feel suspicious, her gaze sweeping over the elite soldiers in the front seats.
She began plotting the best escape route.
Xie Rongyu clearly noticed her wariness and explained, “The chiefs want to show you something.”
Only then did Li Ziyin relax. This time she looked at him openly. “Thank you.”
Xie Rongyu gave a slight nod, dignified and elegant.
Thirty minutes later, the car drove into a restricted zone.
Inside, there were guards every few steps and sentries every ten—security was extremely tight.
It looked like some kind of military base.
When the car stopped, Xie Rongyu personally opened the door for Li Ziyin, thoughtfully shielding her head with his hand.
Who knew whether he was naturally this smooth, or had just learned it on the spot.
Elder Xie came hurrying over from a distance, radiant with excitement.
“Xiao Yin, you’re here! Come with me, quickly.”
Elder Xie addressed her so affectionately, as if greeting his own granddaughter.
Li Ziyin smiled sweetly. “Hello, Elder Chen.”
Elder Chen shot Xie Rongyu a glare, then turned back to Li Ziyin. “This boy doesn’t know the first thing about taking care of people. Such a hot day, and he didn’t even think to hold an umbrella for you.”
The June sun hung right overhead—it really was scorching.
Li Ziyin’s fair skin had already flushed red after just a short while in the sun.
Xie Rongyu’s gaze paused on her face. “That was my oversight.”
Li Ziyin didn’t mind. “You’re too kind, Elder Chen. I can handle a little sun.”
Xie Rongyu’s fingertips twitched.
For some reason, he found himself thinking again of that over-the-shoulder throw she’d given Huo Yu.
Li Ziyin was led to the training grounds, where several imposing elderly men stood at the edge.
They were the very figures who appeared most often on the evening news. Li Ziyin drew a sharp breath.
Though she had met emperors plenty of times, and even a few immortal sovereigns, she had always been a spectator.
Only now, standing before the powerhouses of her own world, did it finally feel real.
But at the moment, they were all watching a magnificent tank on the training field.
Its treads rumbled as it proudly circled the field, moving faster than Li Ziyin had imagined.
The moment the tank stopped, the chiefs burst into applause.
Li Ziyin clapped along a couple of times.
Then the chief at the center—the top chief—turned to look at her.
The other chiefs followed his gaze.
Li Ziyin’s heart lurched, though she struggled to keep her smile.
The top chief walked over with a kindly expression, extending his hand with a smile. “Comrade Li Ziyin, what you brought us is excellent.”
Li Ziyin hurriedly shook his hand. “You flatter me, Chief.”
She stood at exactly 1.65 meters, and her frame was overly slender. Having just come out of two years as a vegetable, her complexion was visibly pale.
Compared to the elites around her, all over 1.8 meters tall, she seemed as frail as a willow sapling.
Her voice was soft and delicate too, as if it would scatter with the wind.
The other chiefs came over to greet her as well.
Every one of them looked at Li Ziyin as if she were a young seedling—
with tenderness and brimming expectation.
Li Ziyin did her best to project some presence.
Elder Xie said, “That tank just now runs on the energy stones you brought back. Both its speed and performance have improved by a huge margin.”
Li Ziyin had guessed as much the moment she saw the scene.
No wonder things had progressed so quickly. With tangible benefits already in hand, no matter how much the higher-ups believed in science, they would rather take her word as true.
Sure enough, Elder Xie’s next words were, “Xiao Yin, is that energy stone the only one you have?”
The others also watched Li Ziyin quietly, without betraying their thoughts.
It made her feel instantly as if she were surrounded by a pack of hungry wolves.