Having his good time interrupted, Xin Jian’s expression twisted slightly. He let go of his grip, his voice roaring out with suppression and rage, “Useless trash! Do I have to step in for every little thing?”
The person outside the door answered with trembling fear, “It is… it is intelligence regarding the arrival of a zombie horde! It is of the utmost importance, so I had no choice but to disturb you!”
While desperately trying to lower his presence and gather intelligence, You An frowned in confusion.
A zombie horde? How could that be? Shouldn’t this be something that happens in the late stages of the plot?
Hearing this, Xin Jian smoothed out his breathing and put on a pleasant expression once more. He put on his coat and wanted to stroke the youth’s soft cheek, but his hand was slapped away by the latter without the slightest bit of mercy.
“You really are a handful.” It felt like being scratched by a cat’s paw pad, not painful, but enough to make his palms itch with impatience.
However, since someone was still waiting outside, Xin Jian could only retract his hand with regret, making sure to urge him before leaving, “Be a good boy and wait in bed for me to come back.”
Ugh.
[Master, are you okay?!] Tangyuan asked in sheer panic.
Shouldn’t this count as a work-related injury for me? You An’s complexion looked rather poor from being disgusted.
By now, Xin Jian’s label in his mind had completely shifted to touchy-feely, shameless, greasy man.
Yet he also knew that his current safety was only temporary, and there was no telling when the other person might return. The most pressing matter right now was to find a way out.
With a headache, You An looked down at the slip dress he was wearing. Fortunately, there were clothes in the room’s closet, and this was no time to be picky. He casually grabbed a shirt and a pair of trousers to put on.
Yet right at that moment, he realized a very serious problem.
He couldn’t reach the zipper.
The subtle sound of a door handle being depressed made the youth stiffen all over like a cat with its fur standing on end. Just as he wanted to duck into the bathroom and lock the door from the inside, he heard a familiar voice.
“Don’t be afraid, it’s me.”
Xin Zhou walked in with an exhausted expression. Glancing at the pile of clothes on the bed, he instantly understood what the youth was trying to do.
“Do you need help?”
You An’s feelings were somewhat complicated; he found that he simply couldn’t see through Xin Zhou. Why could a person who had thrown him straight into the tiger’s den help him zip up his dress as if nothing had happened?
The young man’s fingertips were slightly cool, and as they gently brushed against his skin, it felt like a feather sweeping across. You An’s body was truly sensitive, especially around his waist, abdomen, and back. Even the slightest touch could send electric-like shivers through him.
“Aren’t you done yet?” He could barely stand this sensation, and since he didn’t want to lose his composure in front of someone else, he had to bite down hard on his lower lip to keep himself from letting out any embarrassing sounds.
Those light-colored pupils stared unblinkingly at the exquisite physique wrapped in the black dress beneath him. Even before seeing his full face at the ball, he had already figured out the tall girl’s true identity because he knew the youth had two parallel cinnabar moles near his shoulder blades.
At this moment, those two small moles set against skin as white as milk were shifting along with his finely trembling spine, resembling the fluttering wings of a butterfly and carrying an utterly defenceless fragility.
The young man’s Adam’s apple bobbed up and down imperceptibly, his voice growing somewhat low and hoarse, “Sorry, it’s a bit stuck.”
It was a clumsy lie; even he himself felt like despising it.
As the zipper was pulled down, the youth slipped out from under the water-smooth skirt hem. From his angle, he could catch a glimpse of that snow-white back and slender waist, with the smooth waistline curving outward into an arc.
Xin Zhou abruptly turned his head away, not daring to look any further.
Once You An had finished dressing properly, he realized that the protagonist shou had a look of must not gaze upon impropriety on his face. Feeling mildly odd yet choosing not to dwell on it, he simply asked with a cold face, “Why did you…”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t know my brother… Xin Jian would treat you like this. Song Chengyu killed a lot of people at the ball, and I was afraid you would get hurt too, so I took you away.”
He was lying.
Of course he knew Song Chengyu couldn’t possibly harm You An, and he could also tell that the other’s possessive urge to protect the youth had far exceeded the boundaries of friendship.
He was equally well aware that Xin Jian favored handsome youths, especially someone like You An who looked delicate yet possessed strong principles. But his selfish desires had ultimately triumphed over reason, and he had still made his move.
Even if it was just to satisfy his own selfish urge of being able to lay eyes on him.
Though the expression of apology he wore was very sincere, You An remained frantic.
He had been doing quite well as an underling by Song Chengyu’s side; anyone suddenly kidnapped at a time like this would find it impossible to keep a calm mindset.
Not to mention having his body lusted after by a hopeless villain like Xin Jian.
Yet You An knew very well that right now, he knew nothing at all, and Xin Zhou was the only person he could rely on.
He had learned to use his beauty a long time ago. It was a survival rule he picked up from that place, where he had nothing back then except himself to leverage.
Later on, when he gained everything, he no longer needed to compromise or play along.
You An braced himself mentally, never expecting that after all these years, he would still have to resort to this trick to save his life.
“But I don’t like your brother.” He clutched the young man’s collar, lifting his chin slightly. The once-clear youthful voice came soft and slow, casting a siren-like bewitchment. “You will protect me, won’t you?”
Xin Zhou froze for a fraction of a second. Looking into those eyes, he always felt that those misty blue pupils looked somewhat damp. He raised a hand intending to wipe them, only to discover there were no tear tracks.
“Of course, I will protect you, until death.”
This weapon, which had always worked wonders, proved effective once again.
The young man’s hand instead wrapped around the youth’s slender waist with a sense of restraint. The other stiffened for a moment, but did not pull away.
This was what he deserved, merely a small reward for a knight protecting a princess.
The youth, carrying a cool and distant fragrance, fell into his embrace like a late-blooming cherry blossom gently settling into the palm of a hand.
Once caught, he never wanted to let go.
“Leader, the zombie horde is almost within firing range!”
“Load the shells immediately, prepare to fire.”
Lying on a hospital bed, Zhuang Yujiang gazed at the densely packed and steadily approaching crowd of zombies in the distance. The person who had ambushed him from behind showed no intent of delivering a fatal blow, but his injuries were still quite severe, with the back of his head requiring several stitches. Naturally, he was in no condition to face the enemy head-on in this state, though he still participated in the tactical discussions.
Though the number of zombies was staggering, it wasn’t quite as large as anticipated. Zhuang Yujiang surmised that part of the reason was Song Chengyu’s frantic slaughter over the past half-month. After all, judging by the current rate of zombie evolution, absorbing nearly a thousand crystal cores meant he alone had likely slaughtered thousands of zombies.
What a terrifyingly horrific humanoid weapon.
First, deploying long-range artillery shells to eliminate low-level zombies, followed by concentrating ability users to wipe out high-level ones. As for that blond, red-eyed Zombie Emperor in the middle, it would be left to Song Chengyu himself, the strongest person at the City A base, to handle.
The young nurse beside him had been frightened out of her wits by the scene outside the window. Taking the nearly dropping tray from her hands, Zhuang Yujiang said in a gentle voice, “Don’t worry.”
A rare trace of a smile flickered in his eyes. “The ones who win this time will be us humans.”
Yu sensed the location of the crystal core and looked in the direction of the City A base.
The towering cloud-piercing fortress was constructed from stacked stones. Built over a decade ago to cope with emergencies, this structure was finally coming in handy today.
The blond, red-eyed man narrowed his eyes. “Truly incredible. Do humans grow at such a fast pace, Lan?”
A strange brilliance flashed within the brown-haired young man’s red pupils. “Indeed. I saw in your memories that half a month ago, he was merely an ability user with exceptional talent… I never expected him to have already become a leader-level figure in such a short time.”