“Captain, someone’s here to see you.”
Vail opened her eyes and emerged from her meditation. “Who?”
“Blake.”
Vail furrowed her brow. “What does he want?”
“I’m not sure. Seems like it’s about the year-end assessment. He said he wants to talk to you in person.”
“Fine.” Vail got up and walked out, glancing at Blake in the living room. “What do you want?”
Blake gave a faint smile. “Can’t I come see you if there’s nothing important, my fiancée?”
He seemed to be in a great mood, but Vail felt the exact opposite—because not long ago, the Western Divine Church and the United States had reached an agreement to hold their wedding next year.
Before that, she had protested multiple times, all to no avail, since this directly determined whether the two major supernatural powers could successfully collaborate.
“Blake, even if I do marry you, I will never love you. Don’t kid yourself.”
Blake’s eye twitched slightly, and he gave a bitter smile. “Do you really have to be so absolute about this?”
He took a step closer, his expression turning a bit agitated. “Su Mo is never going to fall for you. Why can’t you see that?”
“And I’m never going to fall for you either. Why can’t you see that?” Vail raised an eyebrow, her tone growing a little sharper. “Blake, if you keep pestering me like this, we can’t even remain friends.”
“You’re not like this in front of him.” Blake felt a pang of bitterness.
In front of “Su Mo,” Vail was so gentle—so docile she looked like a lovestruck fool. But when it came to him, she was like this…
It wasn’t fair!
“You two are different.” Vail shook her head, unwilling to say more, and gestured toward the door.
Blake didn’t push it. As he left, he said, “The year-end assessment is coming. I’ll prove with my strength that I’m better than him, and more worthy of you!”
Vail remained silent, lost in thought.
At the same time, in another standalone apartment in the Prodigy Camp, Su Mo was being pinned to the floor by Ye Qingyi.
The two of them were tangled together in a “top-and-bottom” position.
“Heehee, the boost from this seventh snow-capped mountain is really something! You’re no match for me now.” Ye Qingyi loomed over him, looking quite pleased with herself.
Su Mo’s face darkened as he completely gave up struggling. He snapped, “How old are you, seriously? Still acting so childish. Let me go.”
“I won’t! I’m not letting go! No way!” She tilted her head, her attitude incredibly smug and cocky. “Unless you beg for mercy, and call me ‘big brother’ all sweet and gentle-like.”
No sooner had she said that than her face flushed bright red, and she quickly added, “Don’t get the wrong idea—I’m just messing around with you.”
“Messing around?” Su Mo raised an eyebrow. “Oh, fine. Really, if you don’t get a beating for three days, you start tearing the roof off. You’re already laying hands on such a pretty girl like me—when I turn back into a man, you’ll probably be walking all over me!”
Before she could react, Ye Qingyi’s grip on Su Mo’s hands loosened just enough for him to break free. Caught off guard, she took a direct hit from his finger.
“Bahahaha…” Her laughter sounded more painful than crying.
Su Mo took the chance to escape her clutches, standing off to the side watching her laugh hysterically in that awkward state, and even pulled out his phone to snap a few photos.
“Su Mo… hahaha… uncuff me now… hahaha… stop laughing at me… hurry up… hahaha… SU MO!!!”
Ye Qingyi’s face was bright red, and she looked genuinely miserable. Su Mo’s heart softened. “I’ll undo it for you… hey, don’t dodge!”
Every step he took forward, she took one back, always keeping a meter between them. “Too late… hahaha… just let me… hahaha… laugh myself to death, why bother… hahaha… undoing anything!”
“Wait, hear me out.” Things had spiraled far beyond what Su Mo had expected.
He was certain—she was genuinely angry this time.
Ye Qingyi turned her head away, refusing to give him a chance to explain.
And so they went back and forth, chasing each other all over the room.
She was clearly in discomfort, but out of sheer stubbornness, she wouldn’t let Su Mo undo it—until she was distracted by a strange woman’s voice calling from outside the door. Su Mo seized the moment and tapped her on the back, finally stopping the laughter.
Ye Qingyi’s chest heaved violently. All that running had left her breathless, and she coughed every now and then.
Su Mo felt guilty and cautiously tested the waters. “You okay?”
Congratulations to Su Mo for earning himself a death glare…
Meanwhile, the woman outside called out, “Qingyi, open up! It’s your cousin.”
Cousin? What cousin?
Su Mo froze for a second, then immediately realized it was Hong. He hurried over and opened the door.
As the door swung open, a slender woman smiled at him, then quickly turned serious. “You two are having quite the fun, huh.”
Following her gaze, Su Mo could see Ye Qingyi with her clothes in disarray, one hand clutching her stomach, her face flushed and breathing heavily.
That scene carried a whole lot of implications. From Hong’s perspective, she’d clearly interrupted something intimate.
And that person inside seemed a bit… fragile. The clothes were still on, and yet she was already—
Heh.
“Cousin, you’re teasing me.” Su Mo gave an awkward smile, pulled Hong inside, and then asked curiously, “Sister Hong, is there something you came here for?”
“There was. I came to tell you how to fix the soul-transfer failure. But now, never mind.” Hong said with a cold smirk.
Su Mo’s expression stiffened. He glanced at Ye Qingyi, who had fled into the bedroom, and had no choice but to face this alone. “Sister Hong, please don’t joke with me. You know what this means to me.”
“I thought you’d use the King’s orders to force me to tell you. But you didn’t mention it at all.”
No way—it was just a joke, nothing that serious.
Su Mo knew this was his moment to shine, and blurted out, “Sister Hong is loyal. If I brought up the King’s command for you to protect me, you’d help me without question. But you’re a living person, not a tool. I’d much rather you help me willingly—after all, we’re friends, aren’t we?”
Su Mo’s words sounded hollow, but they were pleasing to the ear. Hong couldn’t help but curl her lips upward. “Fine, I’ll let it slide this time.”
Su Mo barely held back from rolling his eyes, thinking: Women really are something else, huh. What did I even do? You’re always ‘letting it slide’ with me.
“Achoo!”
That sneeze was especially loud. He sniffled hard, feeling incredibly guilty, and immediately stopped his wandering thoughts.
Just then, Hong suddenly moved closer to Su Mo and, with lightning speed, lifted the hem of his skirt and peeked down.
“Huh? She’s actually wearing something?”
“Ah!” Su Mo shrieked, stepping back in horror. “What are you doing?!”
He felt like he was dealing with a total pervert. I mean, just listen to what she said!
Ac! Tu! Al! Ly! Wearing! Something!
What kind of outrageous talk is that? Isn’t wearing something the normal thing to do?
Su Mo’s brain short-circuited.
Hong pursed her lips and said matter-of-factly, “I saw you two still had your clothes on, so I thought you hadn’t—”
“STOP!!!” Su Mo knew exactly what she was about to say. His face and neck turned crimson as he pleaded, “Please, Sister Hong, I’m still a kid here! Don’t expose me to this kind of filth, okay?”
