“Asshole! Beast! Pervert! Shameless! Disgusting! Filthy mutt!”
Lin Cheng watched as Lu Xiaoxiao’s cheeks flushed bright red, blinking at her innocently. “See? You’re getting all worked up again.”
Lu Xiaoxiao took a deep breath and looked at him. “Last time was one thing… that doesn’t mean it’s okay today…”
“There won’t be any babies,” Lin Cheng sighed helplessly. “I could never have kids in this lifetime.”
Lu Xiaoxiao froze for a moment. “Why not?”
“Reproductive isolation. I’m not exactly human anymore.” Lin Cheng stood up and moved to her side. “Come on, let’s get you cleaned up.”
Lin Cheng led Lu Xiaoxiao into the bathroom, where he patiently washed her from head to toe. She lounged lazily against the wall as he scrubbed bubbles over her back. But as he kept going… he ended up making a mess of her all over again.
“You pervert! You beast! If I trust you one more time, then my name isn’t Lu Xiaoxiao!”
“…”
Lin Cheng’s thick skin wasn’t something new.
That night.
Lu Xiaoxiao lay nestled in Lin Cheng’s arms, his chest marked with several bite marks from her teeth. The little minx bit hard, just like a puppy.
Lin Cheng pulled out his phone and started messaging Xu Wanyue, chatting about everything he and Lu Xiaoxiao had done that day. He kept the intimate details private—not because he wanted to deceive Xu Wanyue, but because they were Lu Xiaoxiao’s personal matters. Telling Xu Wanyue would shatter her sense of shame.
He was in the middle of a lively conversation when Lu Xiaoxiao, arms crossed over her chest, glared at him huffily from the side. But in an instant, the smile vanished from Lin Cheng’s lips.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
“Get dressed.” All the laziness drained from Lin Cheng’s voice in a heartbeat. “Someone just scanned the entire villa with energy detection from outside. We’ve got uninvited guests.”
Lu Xiaoxiao bolted upright, slipping into her uniform in under twenty seconds. Lin Cheng sat up, pulled on a pair of pants, and tugged a T-shirt over his head as they headed out the door together.
On the lawn outside the villa, two figures in black robes stood beneath a tree.
Lu Xiaoxiao recognized the emblem on those robes—it was the mark of the Nether River. She hadn’t put on her alchemy contact lenses yet when Lin Cheng spoke up. “One’s an S-Rank physical system ability user with 800 energy. The other’s S-Rank elemental system at 4,000—earth element, from the looks of it.”
“Good evening, you two,” Lin Cheng said with a cheerful grin.
The pair under the tree looked visibly stunned. They probably had no idea how Lin Cheng had detected them. Their plan had been to sneak in and complete the mission, but that clearly wasn’t happening now.
“That’s her, right?”
“Has to be. How do you mistake a beauty like that?”
They whispered to each other. Lin Cheng shrugged and glanced at Lu Xiaoxiao. “Looks like they’re here for you.”
Lu Lingling was off on a mission in neighboring K City, so it made sense that she’d asked Lin Cheng to keep an eye on Lu Xiaoxiao these past few days.
“Got confidence to take the 800 one?” Lin Cheng asked, turning his head toward her.
“Yes.” Lu Xiaoxiao nodded. In an instant, her eyes locked solely on the two intruders. The moment Lin Cheng finished speaking, his figure vanished. He reappeared behind the 4,000-energy earth ability user, snapping the man’s neck in less than two seconds.
Just one breath’s time.
Lu Xiaoxiao’s eyes widened.
Lin Cheng retreated to the edge of the swimming pool. “Miscellaneous trash taken care of. He’s all yours.”
“That… that fast?” Lu Xiaoxiao stared at him in shock.
“Killing’s just a flick of the wrist. If you can fight, don’t talk.”
Lin Cheng lounged casually on a stone sculpture in the courtyard. Lu Xiaoxiao took a deep breath, then charged at the 800-energy S-Rank physical system ability user with blinding speed.
Her current energy level was 300, putting her about 500 behind him.
The S-Rank physical ability user was clearly a battle-hardened veteran. Even with his partner killed in a flash, he adjusted his stance the instant Lu Xiaoxiao lunged, dodging her punch and countering with a whipping leg strike.
Lin Cheng had no worries. Over the past three days, Lu Xiaoxiao had died at least five thousand times in training. The razor-sharp combat instincts honed in those life-and-death struggles let her anticipate moves like she could see the future. She evaded the leg sweep effortlessly. Energy wrapped around her right fist, condensing into tangible ice lances in the darkness, glowing with a faint blue hue as they thrust toward her opponent’s eyes.
Lin Cheng had nearly fallen for that move before, saved only by his quick reflexes. Her opponent wasn’t so lucky. The ice lances blinded him in an instant. Without hesitation, Lu Xiaoxiao channeled all her energy through her body, gathering it into her left arm for a devastating punch that shattered every one of his ribs.
She wasn’t done. Instinctively, she grabbed his shoulder for an elbow strike, then hammered a fist toward his neck—like pummeling a sandbag. Even though his energy was more than double hers, any lapse would bring a storm of blows.
She shattered his kneecap with a whip kick. As he crumpled, she followed with an ice lance that pierced clean through his abdomen. She reared back for a final punch to the heart when Lin Cheng flickered to her side and grabbed her wrist.
“Wait. We haven’t asked who sent them yet.”
Clarity returned to Lu Xiaoxiao’s eyes. She looked down at the fallen physical ability user, at the smeared blood on her hands. Her cheeks paled slightly.
She’d seen blood on missions before and executed criminal ability users in extreme situations, but she’d rarely been this brutal and bloody. In her daze, Lin Cheng’s voice sounded in her ear. “Training side effect. Once you start, you go straight for the kill. That’s why I said take a good rest first. What I’m teaching you tomorrow is even more vicious.”
A trickle of water washed over Lu Xiaoxiao’s skin, cleaning her hand. Lin Cheng crouched down before the barely breathing physical ability user. “Want to live?”
The man could only wail in agony, his body convulsing from the pain. Lin Cheng patted his face. “Hey, can you still talk?”
He scratched his head—Lu Xiaoxiao had gone too hard. As he withdrew his hand, his fingers brushed the ear clip. A handgun materialized in his grip. He fired into the shadows behind the tree. The explosive bullet detonated on impact, toppling the tree with a crash. A masked figure in black robes emerged slowly from behind it.
“Looks like that Lu woman played us.”
The figure wore a White Tiger Mask beneath the robe. Lin Cheng stood and moved to Lu Xiaoxiao’s side, smiling at the newcomer. “Finally, someone who can talk.”
Lu Xiaoxiao blinked, realizing then why Lin Cheng had fired. He tugged her arm. “Get behind me, Xiaoxiao.”
“He…”
“45,000 energy. Physical system. Rubber Man.”
Lu Xiaoxiao’s pupils dilated at the number 45,000. That could only mean one of the Nether River’s three top seats.
From the intel she’d seen, that tiger-head mask meant his title was…
“White Tiger.” The man in the white tiger-head mask eyed them warily. “And you are?”
“Azure Dragon.”
Lu Xiaoxiao shot him a resentful look.
The eyes beneath the White Tiger Mask twitched. He raised a hand and drew a black long knife from his storage ring, its blade etched with red alchemy runes. A flicker of surprise crossed Lin Cheng’s eyes. “Qin Family?”
“Not anymore.” White Tiger shook his head.
“Figures. The Qin Family wouldn’t associate with gutter rats like you.”
Lin Cheng chuckled wryly. “I remember your Qin Family priding itself on unyielding integrity. How’d they produce a guy like you?”
“Those stubborn old fools are all short-sighted. A new era has dawned, but they cling to their crumbling village. I got tired of that dull life and wanted to see the wider world.”
“What’s so great about the outside world?” Lin Cheng sighed. “I think that kind of life sounds pretty good. Fewer desires, less suffering.”
“What would an outsider like you know?” White Tiger scoffed.
“Who said I’m an outsider?”
A black long knife appeared in Lin Cheng’s hand, etched with the same red alchemy runes. Lu Xiaoxiao followed their exchange in confusion, stunned when Lin Cheng drew the blade. Then he bellowed.
“Thirty-eighth generation inheritor of the Qin Family’s Burning Sun Blade Technique! Wielder of the thirty-eighth Sun-Shattering Blade! Juniors of the Qin Family, behold this blade as you would the patriarch—kneel!”
“What… what the hell?” Lu Xiaoxiao’s mind short-circuited.
In that instant, crimson flames erupted along Lin Cheng’s blade, bright enough to illuminate the entire courtyard. The searing heat forced Lu Xiaoxiao back several steps. She stared at his silhouetted figure, and suddenly… it overlapped with a photo from her memory. She remembered.
Lin Cheng glanced back and winked at her. “Don’t freak out. Before that lazy dog Si Ming retired, he handed me this blade to pass on. Said the owner would come looking for it. No one’s shown up in ages, so I’ve been holding onto it.”
Lu Xiaoxiao wasn’t the only one shocked. The moment Lin Cheng drew the blade, White Tiger’s pupils dilated massively. Sweat beaded on his knife hand.
He lowered his head, his grip trembling uncontrollably.
