Chapter 99: Wantonness, Provocation; Taking First Blood / The Other Party is Hexed… part 1
The blood had completely drained from Xiao Chen’s face. His fingertips were trembling, utterly stunned by the terrifying presence of Xie Huaijin and Qi Bai.
He stammered in response, “The… the Boss?”
Under the collective gaze of a dozen Alphas, he barely managed to steady his breath and quickly added, “I’ll go right now. Please… please wait.”
Are all the people from the Alliance this scary?
A faint static crackled from Jiang Chenyan’s earring, and Ye Qingyu’s voice came through with a hint of urgency: “Jiang Chenyan, be careful. I’ve found out that Xie Huaijin and Qi Bai have secretly snuck over there. Don’t expose yourself…”
Jiang Chenyan’s fingertips curled slightly. He remained silent and didn’t respond.
It was too late; they had already come knocking.
He stepped forward and grabbed the person who was about to leave, lowering his voice. “I’ll go get the Boss. I’ll leave this place to you; deal with them for a bit.”
Xiao Chen’s pupils shrank, and he looked like he wanted to cry. “Man, are you serious? How am I supposed to deal with them?”
Jiang Chenyan: “I believe in you.”
Xiao Chen bit his lip. He felt that Jiang Chenyan was acting a bit strange—was his expression usually this cold?
At this point, he had no other choice. He would just have to manage and treat them like ordinary customers.
Almost simultaneously, the gazes of all the Alphas converged. The cold, scrutinizing looks intertwined into a net that fell entirely upon Jiang Chenyan.
Jiang Chenyan acted as if they weren’t there. Hiding the emotions in his eyes, he walked toward the spiral staircase step by step.
As he passed by Xie Huaijin, his wrist was suddenly grabbed with a force so great it almost crushed his bones. Xie Huaijin’s cold eyes narrowed at this person who had regular features but a strange face. “What are you doing?”
Jiang Chenyan turned his face away, his gaze devoid of any warmth.
He deliberately adjusted his voice slightly and said each word slowly: “Wasn’t it your idea? I’m going to call the Boss.”
Xie Huaijin’s fingertips paused. He felt an inexplicable sense of wrongness from the person before him, though he couldn’t put his finger on what it was.
An inexplicable surge of irritability rose in his heart, feeling suffocatingly heavy.
His grip loosened, finally releasing the force on Jiang Chenyan’s wrist.
Xie Huaijin couldn’t help but let his gaze follow Jiang Chenyan’s back, staring intently as the man walked up to the second floor.
Inside the room upstairs, Xiao Yi was by the bedside accompanying Ji Xuan.
Jiang Chenyan pushed the door open, walked over, and explained the situation downstairs.
“People from the Alliance are here.”
Xiao Yi’s face went pale instantly, and his heart skipped a beat. People from the Alliance…
He could vaguely guess that Ji Xuan’s identity was unusual. Seeing Jiang Chenyan’s expression, he understood immediately that the Alliance’s arrival was likely not in their favor.
“I’ll go down and deal with them.” Xiao Yi frowned, turning to open the door and head downstairs.
The bedding on the bed dipped slightly as Ji Xuan propped himself up with his arms, his knuckles turning a faint white. Since his sudden differentiation into an SS-rank Alpha, his body’s self-healing mechanisms had strengthened significantly. The injuries that should have kept him bedridden for weeks were much better after just a day; he could even get out of bed and walk now.
“I’ll go with him.”
He was worried about Xiao Yi.
Jiang Chenyan was quick, reaching out and giving Ji Xuan a hard shove that pushed him right back onto the bed. “Don’t be in such a rush. Listen to what I have to say first.”
Ji Xuan finally sat still. “Speak.”
“The fact that they could find this place so precisely means this wasn’t a whim; there’s a plot behind it. They might have already targeted you. You can’t show your face right now. Lie down and pretend to be unconscious. Tell them your injuries have worsened and you’re in critical condition, needing emergency treatment. Just stall for one day. Shen Shiyue is already on his way. Once he arrives, he’ll naturally take you away safely.”
Ji Xuan said deeply, “Pretending to be sick… Can I really dodge them just by faking an illness? Can I stop them from taking me away?” He knew their methods all too well; they wouldn’t back down for such a simple reason.
Jiang Chenyan frowned. “A normal illness won’t work, but a contagious, severe disease is different.”
“You’ve carried too many core burdens for Shen Shiyue over the years, blocking Qi Bai and the others’ paths. They’ve long wanted you dead. That sudden attack you suffered last time looked like an accident, but it might have been orchestrated by them. This capture is premeditated; only a contagious disease will make them wary enough not to touch you recklessly.”
Jiang Chenyan knew of a virulent biochemical plague in the interstellar world—a malignant disease caused by a mutated virus that corrodes the body. The virus hides in the air and can penetrate the respiratory tract with a single breath, entering the organs via the blood. It first burns the trachea and lungs, causing the throat to swell and rot, then slowly eats away at the nerves and marrow, causing consciousness to fade and scatter.
In the later stages, even autonomous breathing becomes impossible, and the body decays and dies bit by bit. Interstellar medicine has yet to develop a targeted treatment. From infection to the verge of death takes only a few days, and the entire process is agonizing. It is virtually incurable.
Jiang Chenyan looked at Ji Xuan. “We need to let them see you like this with their own eyes, convinced that you’ve contracted the virus and won’t survive.”
“I can concoct the external symptoms of this virus. I can mimic the aura and physical signs perfectly; it’ll be enough to pass for real and last through the day.”
Ji Xuan’s Adam’s apple bobbed. “Alright, let’s try it…”
Downstairs.
Qi Bai stood in the shadows, questioning the Omega before him.
Xiao Yi’s face was as pale as paper, his expression frozen into a numb mask. “The person you’re describing… I really don’t know. There are so many customers every day, I can’t remember them all.”
Beside him, Xie Huaijin’s brow was tightly furrowed. Losing his patience, he snapped, “What do you mean you don’t remember? Stop acting dumb. Don’t force us to use violence.”
As if taking a command, a subordinate reached out and grabbed Xiao Yi by the collar. Xiao Yi’s frame was slender and he couldn’t withstand the force at all. He stumbled backward, his back hitting the cold floor hard. He let out a groan of pain, and fine sweat broke out on his forehead.
Xiao Chen’s pupils shrank, and he lunged forward to help Xiao Yi up. “Boss! Are you okay?”
Xiao Yi shook his head. “I’m fine.”
Qi Bai spoke at that moment, his voice carrying no ripple of emotion despite the reprimand. “Who told you to use your hands? Don’t you know how to ask questions properly?”
With that, he walked slowly to Xiao Yi, looking down at him from above. His voice was still cold, but it had softened a fraction. “Boss, we aren’t bad people. There’s no need to make things difficult for you; we just want to know the whereabouts of our colleague. We’re all from the Alliance. We’ve learned he’s seriously injured and in bad shape. The higher-ups sent us specifically to coordinate and help save him.”
Xiao Yi froze on the spot, his throat too dry to make a sound. He had no idea how to respond.
Facing the scrutiny and pressure of this Alpha, he was instinctively terrified, repulsed, and disgusted to the point of wanting to flee.
“He is indeed seriously injured.” A cold, indifferent voice drifted down from the second floor. “He won’t last two days.”
Qi Bai looked up toward Jiang Chenyan. The depth of his dark eyes sank even further. His thin lips were pressed tight as he thought in silence.
The moment Jiang Chenyan appeared, the atmosphere changed completely.
It was an indescribable feeling, as if the other party had a sort of hex, like invisible silk threads entangling and luring. Xie Huaijin instinctively wanted to move closer, and he asked Jiang Chenyan directly, “He won’t last two days? Are you saying that on purpose to deceive us and stall for time?”
Jiang Chenyan didn’t even look up. “I have no reason to lie to you. He contracted a virulent virus, likely a side effect from a heavy chemical weapon attack.”
Xie Huaijin’s gaze darkened. Ji Xuan had indeed been ambushed by people Qi Bai had secretly sent; something had happened on the battlefield.
He took two steps forward, closing in on Jiang Chenyan. “Take us to see him.”
“Fine, but you must wear masks when you go in. This virus is extremely contagious, and you’ll be infected otherwise.” As he spoke, Jiang Chenyan deliberately met Xie Huaijin’s eyes.
Qi Bai and Xie Huaijin frowned, not believing him so easily.
Qi Bai commanded Jiang Chenyan: “Lead the way.”
Jiang Chenyan nodded.
As the group walked upstairs, Xiao Yi hurried to Jiang Chenyan’s side, whispering urgently, “What’s going on? Is what you said true?”
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