editors: alamerysl & juurensha
— NOTE: the second half is NSFW —
Xie Minhang turned and left, passing by five youths – four men and one woman – on the way out. As the personnel manager, it was easy for him to recognize who they were. Just now, he had been too unsettled to ask about why Brother Sa was looking for the Hope Team. God knows how much he also wanted to get out of the base for a trip; after staying at the base and dealing with trivial matters all day long, he felt like even his bones were getting rusty.
However, regardless of how he felt, there was no chance to slip away now. He needed to find a successor first and take precautions so that he would have a way to step away if the opportunity arose.
While Xie Minhang was busy scheming, the soldier brought the team to the room and quickly withdrew, leaving only the five somewhat restrained youths who appeared to be university students. Their gazes carried a sense of wariness, their thoughts written on their faces – it seemed like they had not yet seen much of the world.
Sit down.
Xiao Sa beckoned.
The five of them did not stand on ceremony. They looked at each other, and although they were uneasy, they unconsciously relaxed when they saw the situation inside the room. No wonder they all said Jing Sa City was a good place – just look at how they were living their days! Not only was there water and electricity in the base, even the rations they distributed consisted of real rice, unlike other bases that only offered one meal a day, which was either cold porridge or hard dry bread. They felt like there was nothing they had to defend against here, and nothing that they had to hide.
Where did you guys get this crystal nucleus from?
Bai Jing got straight to the point and did not go around in conversational circles with them as he immediately pulled the nucleus from his pocket.
The Hope Team’s expressions changed as they all looked towards one of the members of their group – a very steady looking youth. The only woman in their group’s expression showed anger and ultimately only held her tongue after her teammates held her back.
Bai Jing raised his eyebrows as he took in all their reactions.
The young man was silent for a moment, a trace of pain flashing through his eyes. He finally spoke after thinking carefully,
We passed through Li City and encountered a powerful zombie. The crystal nucleus fell out of his brain, and we picked it up.
Li City? Where is that?
Please forgive Bai Jing for his poor geography – he might have an impression of big cities, but who could remember those little towns clearly?
At the junction of L Province.
Hmm…
Bai Jing nodded. Although he still wasn’t quite clear where that was, it was fine to hand over things like figuring out directions to other people. He only needed to know the specific location. He thought for a moment, then asked,
Other than the zombies, was there anything else?
No.
The young man’s answer was firm, and the look in his dark eyes dulled.
Bai Jing frowned. He could tell that the youth was lying. It made him a slightly unhappy, and his expression cooled as he spoke indifferently,
How many powerful zombies were there?
I don’t know. At the time, we saw two. Their actions seemed to be more agile, more powerful, and it was very difficult for ordinary weapons injure them.
The young man was sharp enough to discover that Bai Jing was unhappy and hesitated for a moment. Then, as though he had made up his mind, began to speak about the changes in the zombies without reservation.
Bai Jing was surprised. Hadn’t he been on guard just now? He thought about it, then suddenly understood; seeing how anxiously they were staring at him and taking in Xiao Sa’s dark expression, he couldn’t help but laugh as he asked,
Who else did you say these things to?
The youth was slightly embarrassed, but did not hide it,
We were in the Yunshan area and told Elder Brother Fei’s Tushan Base.
Bai Jing smiled blandly. So it turned out to be like this. People always insisted on only believing what they wanted to believe. No wonder they were so alert – this team must have suffered a lot. But Yunshan seemed to be not that far away from Pingyuan County.
When Bai Jing didn’t speak, the youth also turned silent. Only, the people around him seemed anxious. They were a group of students, and even though they had experienced a lot, they were unable to stay calm. Otherwise, they would not have been so honest in a bandit’s nest place like Yunshan. They really were a group of hot-blooded youths.
You guys believe us?
It was obvious at a glance that the female student had an impatient character. She had been unable to completely hold back earlier, and now she also felt the need to question when they had been silent for a while.
Bai Jing glanced at her, and his lips curved slightly,
Why wouldn’t we believe you? If ability users can evolve, zombies will certainly evolve.
The group all turned pale. The woman forced herself to be calm and asked,
I… I beg your pardon? Ability users can evolve? And what we saw was an evolved zombie?
Bai Jing chuckled, but did not say anything else about the topic. If he really answered, they would have too many questions, and the relationship between them was not good enough for that. He might have liked hot-blooded youths like this in his previous life, but now, it was better to stay further away. Hot-blooded meant trouble.
Seeing them act as though they still wanted to talk, Xiao Sa opened his mouth to send them away,
You guys can go back now. If you need help in the base, you can find Personnel Manager Xie for help.
He meant Xie Minhang.
Bai Jing simply smiled and did not speak, quietly watching as the few of them left. The female student still wanted to ask something, but was dragged out by the youth.
After they all left, Xiao Sa called Zhou Ji over and had him investigate everything about the Hope Team. Even though he already mostly believed them, it was still better to err on the side of caution. Currently, Jing Sa City was still a very attractive target for other bases.
Seeing that there was nothing else to do, Xiao Sa returned to their rooms with Bai Jing in tow and brought out two translucent jade ornaments from a drawer.
Bai Jing’s eyes shone brightly. The jade ornaments were cool when he held them. One was a leaf-shaped piece of jadeite, while the other carried red streaks that appeared to be bloodstone. After studying jade for so long, Bai Jing had now developed some appreciation for them, and when Xiao Sa saw his excitement, he felt very proud inside. But very soon, he couldn’t smile any longer.
He could only watch as Bai Jing took the jade and immediately placed it into his space. Then, without considering him at all, he relaxed his body and laid down on the bed.
Xiao Sa choked, and his breath was stuck in his throat. He swore, there would be a day when Bai Jing angered him to death. If he’d known it would be like this, he would have taken the jade out later. How could he have forgotten that on the entire way from C City to here, every time Little Jing had jade, he would forget everything else around him? He had finally woken up today, and Xiao Sa hadn’t even managed to get intimate with him a second time before this fellow passed out again.
Having experienced this once, Xiao Sa was not anxious this time even if he was felt rather depressed. His lover was lying on the bed, his posture attractive, and this was clearly such a good opportunity with him so close, but he simply couldn’t get closer or touch; being able to see but not eat, it was simply a test of his endurance. Next time, he definitely had to ‘eat’ Little Jing first…
No matter how wonderful his thoughts were, Bai Jing was already immersed in a profound state. His spirit remained quietly at the bottom of the spring as it greedily absorbed the spiritual power around him.
With the passage of time, the spiritual power in his space became denser; the bloodstone seemed to have taken on new life as the red streaks began to glow, and create rings of light that spiralled underwater, twisting the spring water into a miniature waterspout. The spiritual power contained within the spirals became more and more compressed, and the spinning force grew stronger. Accompanied by the glow from the jadeite, it constantly impacted the meteorite lying at the bottom of the spring. Bai Jing didn’t even have time to be surprised when he felt that the spiritual power in his body was rapidly flowing out. He did not dare to be careless now, and hurriedly began to meditate and eliminate all distractions. He had never encountered such a situation before, but although his intuition told him that there was no danger, his rational self would never allow him to sit there and wait for death!
Gradually, the spiritual power he had lost returned and gently washed through his meridians. Bai Jing could clearly feel that while the amount of spiritual power was much less, the quality of the power had made a quantitative leap. Impurities that he hadn’t even know remained from the last time his body had cleansed itself were washed out, and his spiritual power became more stable.
Bai Jing felt rather dejected. He didn’t know whether to be sad or happy. It could be said that this was a good thing, as he now had more than three times more spiritual power than other level one ability users, and there was no doubt that he would be the last one standing if they had to fight an extended battle.
But the problem was, he was clearly about to enter level two. Once that happened, his spiritual power would lessen. The nearly full amount that he had originally stored up was now only half-full. If he wanted to rank up, other than collecting jade and practicing his abilities while waiting for the conditions to be ripe, he could only look for an opportunity to stimulate his potential. But how could such opportunities be so easy to find? Bai Jing just felt that he was really pitiful; god knows how much jade he had already put in before his spiritual power filled up. And now he was back at the start…
There was nothing he could do about his gloomy mood. Bai Jing did not dare to relax and carefully ran his spiritual power through his body.
Two weeks later, he slowly opened his eyes. However, his expression quickly darkened as he discovered that he was not wearing a single stitch of clothing. There was also a large, rough hand at his waist that was wilfully roaming everywhere.
What are you doing?
Bai Jing was indignant, his face red as he turned around, completely forgetting that he wasn’t wearing any clothing and exposing his naked self to Xiao Sa.
Xiao Sa swallowed hard. He was staring but couldn’t shift his eyes away. He was afraid that Bai Jing would become angry, and spoke in a justified manner,
I just helped you take a bath. Your body was too dirty.
As he spoke, he pointed to the clothes piled up in the corner that were stained with black; it was indeed very dirty, but it had not reached the point where he absolutely needed to be washed. There were far fewer impurities this time than the first time he had soaked in the spring water.
Then why are you groping everywhere?
How could Bai Jing not know what he was thinking? He hurriedly dove under the quilt and stared at Xiao Sa as though guarding against a wolf.
You’re my wife, why can’t I touch?
Xiao Sa decided that he definitely could not be soft-hearted. This little fox was too cunning; he would eat it first and then figure everything else out later.
Who’s your wife?
Bai Jing raged and gritted his teeth. Although he was angry inside, his eyes unconsciously slid over Xiao Sa’s body. Xiao Sa had just helped him bathe, and his upper body was stripped bare. His hair was still dripping, and his strong abs were on display. There were some faint scars on his chest and abdomen, making him appear exceptionally masculine. Bai Jing started to get lost in his perusal, and then his cheeks turned red as he shook himself. What was he thinking?
You’re my wife.
Xiao Sa stopped holding back. He lifted the quilt and directly leaned in with his body. Without saying another word, he wrapped his hand around Bai Jing’s member, his thumb pressing gently against the tip. Where did he think he could escape to now?
This body, which had never experienced the pleasures of the flesh, had no way to withstand Xiao Sa’s provocation and his member soon hardened under his touch.
Xiao Sa chuckled, then caught his lips. He was even more determined to stick to his decision not to let Little Jing slip away with the excuse that there should be a time and place for such things. He could now see that there were some people that simply couldn’t be allowed to have their own way.
Bai Jing groaned. He felt tingly and limp, his whole body trembling all over; he wanted more of this feeling. Xiao Sa unyieldingly pulled on his hand and placed it on his own member.
So big.
It gave Bai Jing a start. It was not the first time he had come into contact with Xiao Sa’s hugeness, but he still felt fearful about it; he could imagine that if this thing was really inserted inside, he would certainly end up in a mess.
Having perceived Bai Jing’s intention to retreat, Xiao Sa kissed him even harder, going from his neck all the way down, his lips heading towards his lower body, constantly licking and sucking as he quietly probed at the edge of his entrance with one hand…
