Chapter 53 · Cover Blown
Duan Ke Ball threw himself onto the glowing blue screen, exiting the interface in disbelief, then clicking back in again.
He repeated this action in vain, each time more desperate than the last. After the fifth time, Duan Ke finally gave up deceiving himself.
He clutched his head with two short front paws, staring at the screen as he broke down silently.
It wasn’t a bug in the machine! The person responsible for supervising him really was the In-quis-i-tor!!
And, he had personally listed him as a [Key Surveillance Target]—the kind of one-on-one surveillance where the supervisor couldn’t even be switched!!
The Bureau’s surveillance was very covert; Duan Ke knew this very well.
He had once asked Xu Jue if he had sensed Ji Qing’s surveillance. Xu Jue’s answer was not at all. His magic was already very strong, yet he hadn’t noticed a human following him constantly—even persisting for nearly three months, following him even when he went to bars to find food.
Since the Inquisitor was the one monitoring him, his methods must be similar to Ji Qing’s. Lingering around him like a ghost, evaluating risks based on his behavior, and then reporting to the Bureau’s archives.
But why??
Duan Ke Ball couldn’t figure it out no matter how hard he thought.
Although he was a monster, he had always been law-abiding. He rarely contacted humans, spending most of his time glued to Qin Huai.
Could it be that secretly using charm magic on his boyfriend when hungry in the middle of the night, pretending to be a kitten to trick his boyfriend, or letting his boyfriend feed him magic… were all classified as major violations by the Inquisitor??
Impossible, right? Then this person must be too idle—what was he doing staring at people dating every day?
Duan Ke Ball hovered in mid-air, flapping his wings. The more he recalled, the more terrified he became.
Some of his past behaviors instantly turned into boomerangs, stabbing right back into him.
If this person had really been following him all along, knowing his daily interactions with Qin Huai like the back of his hand…
Duan Ke didn’t dare think back anymore; his heart went cold.
When he watched movies with his boyfriend, when he complained that the Inquisitor was a homicidal maniac, when he confessed his identity as a succubus, when he said he could blow up three Inquisitors with one punch…
Was the Inquisitor himself present at the scene??
That was terrifying.
If given a chance to turn back time, Duan Ke swore he would never badmouth anyone behind their back again—at least not a petty bad guy.
But it was too late. There was no chance to salvage it now; the Inquisitor had heard everything!
Duan Ke didn’t dare stay at the Bureau a moment longer. He had to run immediately.
The thought of that guy staring at him from the shadows made Duan Ke feel his life was under severe threat; even breathing felt suffocating.
The small ball didn’t stay in front of the screen any longer. It squeezed out of the Bureau through a window, skipping the taxi, and flew whoosh straight toward the apartment.
Duan Ke rushed home in a panic. He opened the bedroom door to wake Qin Huai, only to find Qin Huai wasn’t there at all.
Duan Ke stared blankly at the empty bed for a few seconds, then wandered around the large villa a few times. Not in the kitchen, not in the bathroom. Duan Ke finally confirmed that Qin Huai had gone out.
Qin Huai had gone out at two or three in the morning once before; it was sudden overtime.
That night, Duan Ke had just been fed full by him. Cuddled with Qin Huai, burying his face in his boyfriend’s chest, he was sleeping in a daze.
Qin Huai’s phone had rung suddenly at that moment. Although he had set it to vibrate in advance without a ringtone, it still woke the light-sleeping Duan Ke.
Qin Huai had patted the kid’s back while answering the call. His voice was pitched very low, carrying a rasp of half-sleep.
Duan Ke heard he had to work overtime and originally wanted to act coquettishly to make him stay. But worried that Qin Huai wouldn’t bear to leave, he held back and said nothing, silently letting go of Qin Huai’s waist.
Qin Huai stuffed Duan Ke’s dinosaur plushie into his arms, letting the pillow keep him company. Qin Huai was too petty; this pillow usually wasn’t allowed on the bed—only that night was it allowed to be hugged by its owner once.
Is he working overtime again tonight? This job is really so busy.
Duan Ke sighed in his heart.
Anyway, Qin Huai would be home by five or six in the morning, so there was no need to rush him too much. Afraid of disturbing him, Duan Ke didn’t call Qin Huai immediately, only sending a WeChat message asking him to come home as soon as possible.
After sending the message, Duan Ke opened his contacts and called Heracles.
Heracles answered quite quickly with a “Hello.” He seemed to be at a bar; the background noise was somewhat loud and distorted.
“What, did you get the data?” Heracles said bluntly. “You wouldn’t be looking for me for anything else at a time like this.”
Duan Ke’s tone was extremely serious, his speech faster than usual. “Hele… I’m in trouble, big trouble! I need you to do me a favor.”
“Oh, you got caught?”
Heracles sounded casual, not surprised at all. The noisy background sound faded away; Duan Ke guessed he had walked out of the bar to a quiet place outside.
“Don’t be scared. I’ll come bail you out now. Just consider it a night out at the Bureau.”
There was a bang on Heracles’ end, seemingly the sound of a car door closing. “Who is guarding you right now? Give the phone to him.”
“No need… I’m at home right now,” Duan Ke’s voice was a bit strained.
Heracles let out a surprised “Ah.” “You didn’t go to get the data? Then why are you looking for me in the middle of the night? Something else?”
Heracles wasn’t unhappy; he didn’t care when Duan Ke contacted him.
It was just that Duan Ke’s schedule was too regular. When they shared a dorm, this kid would be in bed before twelve, basically never staying up late. Why would he reach out suddenly at this hour?
“I already got it,” Duan Ke said weakly. “But I saw something more terrifying than the monster that attacked me…”
Duan Ke spent a few minutes explaining the sequence of events to Heracles. The amount of information was a bit overwhelming; Heracles fell silent on the other end for half a minute, clearly as incredulous as Duan Ke.
“So what do you plan to do? Fight him?”
“No, I’m going to make a run for it.”
“…”
Duan Ke dragged a huge suitcase out from under the wardrobe, whispering, “He’s been monitoring me for so long, and I didn’t notice at all… This person must be ridiculously strong. Plus, he’s killed so many A-ranks in a day; his strength is a bit too freakish… I’m afraid even if I drained my boyfriend dry, I couldn’t beat him. Running away is more cost-effective.”
“…”
Heracles face-palmed silently. The succubus mechanism of relying on humans for magic was truly troublesome. If Duan Ke really fought the Inquisitor, his boyfriend would indeed have to make a huge sacrifice.
“Then you’d better run. I’ll handle things here in City A. Where are you running to?”
“I don’t know… Where do you think is good? Somewhere safer.”
Heracles thought for a moment. “How about my turf? The scenery is good, and it’s far away. The Bureau over there falls under the Inquisitor’s jurisdiction too, but enforcement is much looser than in City A. It’s very safe.”
Duan Ke thought it was feasible and hummed in agreement. Heracles worked fast; he sent the flight information within two minutes.
[By the way, remember to ask your boyfriend for reimbursement. His share isn’t free.]
If it were any other time, Duan Ke might have joked with Heracles, saying his gold coin profile picture was practically him in person. But his heart was heavy right now; he couldn’t smile at all. He could only search the room for things like a rabbit hopping everywhere.
He didn’t know when he could return from this trip, so Duan Ke wanted to pack thoroughly.
The dinosaur plushie had to come… although Qin Huai usually didn’t let the plushie on the bed, this was the trophy from his first time playing the claw machine; it was precious.
Snacks had to come too; he was afraid of getting hungry on the road. After all, the journey was long, and he couldn’t have a meal with his boyfriend anytime, anywhere. Between the stomach and the reproductive cavity, one had to be full, right?
Duan Ke packed more and more. He was too anxious, and the more anxious he got, the more he wanted to hoard, looking as if he were fleeing a famine.
As he was packing the third suitcase, the villa’s front door opened.
Duan Ke was stuffing the last bag of potato chips into the compartment. The suitcase was stuffed too full; afraid of breaking the zipper, Duan Ke pressed his knee against one side of the suitcase, using both hands simultaneously, too busy to even lift his head.
The room was in chaos. The person at the door saw the scene and seemed to freeze for a moment.
He didn’t know what he thought of, but his breathing was a bit heavy. Qin Huai asked Duan Ke, “Baby, where are you going?”
Duan Ke was glad he had educated his boyfriend about the Inquisitor and the Bureau before, otherwise explaining would waste a lot of time.
He didn’t turn his head, continuing to pack the things in front of him, his voice urgent.
“Brother, let’s run away quickly! That demon is coming to catch us! He’s been staring at us!”
“Don’t ask for details yet, I’ll explain on the way. Brother, go help me pack the things in the bathroom.” Duan Ke said, “We must leave immediately. That bad guy could catch up anytime; he’ll definitely kill us all…”
Duan Ke wasn’t that scared before he spoke, but the more he spoke, the more cowardly he became. It was as if he had imagined some bloody scene himself; his voice carried a crying tone by the end, pitiful to the extreme.
Qin Huai: .
He looked at the mess on the floor, the dark thoughts in his heart suddenly dissipating, and he even felt a bit like laughing.
He had thought Duan Ke was breaking up with him and preparing to pack up and run away from home.
Qin Huai had already planned how to lock Duan Ke up and how to coax him back, but the little guy hadn’t figured it out yet.
With this posture of practically digging up the house to take away, did he want to elope with him?
Qin Huai lowered his eyes, his gloved fingertips rubbing gently. The scene of the two escaping five years ago flashed through his mind. Qin Huai suddenly felt that hiding his identity like this wasn’t bad.
Pretending to be an ordinary person, escaping with Duan Ke to a place where no one knew them, making up for the regrets of five years ago… it was quite tempting.
Despite the temptation, Qin Huai certainly wouldn’t choose to continue hiding.
First, he couldn’t hide it; second, if he kept hiding… the kid would probably get really angry. If he ran away then, he wouldn’t be able to coax him back.
Better to plead guilty early and hope for leniency.
Thinking that he might be given the cold shoulder by Duan Ke, Qin Huai sighed with genuine feeling. He walked forward unhurriedly and squatted down beside Duan Ke.
Duan Ke was focused on sorting the snacks into categories, having no time to look at Qin Huai. He reached out his hand in front of Qin Huai, very skillfully ordering his boyfriend around.
“Brother, give me the chestnut kernels over there; I want to eat them on the road.”
Qin Huai obediently handed them to him.
“Brother, give me that strawberry candy… Wait, what is this… Condoms?? Where did we get this kind of thing at home, Brother??”
Qin Huai said honestly, “I bought them yesterday. Wanted to try with you, but didn’t have time.”
“Why do we need to wear this? It’s such a waste of food. No, no. Brother, give me that… Brother, what are you doing??”
A cold sensation on his wrist made Duan Ke shudder, as if something circled his wrist bone. Duan Ke turned his head in confusion, only to hear a click.
The sound of handcuffs opening and closing.
Duan Ke stared at the silver handcuffs on his wrist, simply speechless.
“Don’t think about that kind of thing at a time like this! Didn’t we play with handcuffs just two days ago? If you want to play, I’ll play with you when we get to Europe. We really don’t have time right now… Huh??”
Duan Ke finally realized something was wrong.
Faced with such a sudden situation, Qin Huai hadn’t asked a single word. Was his boyfriend a bit too calm?
Duan Ke shivered unconsciously.
He turned his head slowly in disbelief. When he met Qin Huai’s eyes, he froze completely.
Cap, uniform, epaulets, military boots—nothing was missing. Shockingly exquisite and sharp, making the already tall man appear even more fierce and handsome, leaving Duan Ke unable to look away.
If it were any other time, Duan Ke would probably be eager to try playing something exciting with Qin Huai.
After all, this uniform really suited him, showcasing his perfect figure to the extreme—deadly and dangerous.
But, but…
There was no surprise in Duan Ke’s pretty pupils, only horror. Even his rosy lips turned pale white.
On the center of that well-shaped black military cap worn on Qin Huai’s head, the Bureau’s emblem shone brightly, gleaming silently under the cold white bedroom light.
Neither Duan Ke nor Qin Huai spoke. The two were in a stalemate; the air in the bedroom seemed to stagnate.
Qin Huai smiled quietly, looking at Duan Ke. His smile was ambiguous, his ink-black eyes holding a hint of playfulness as his large hand rested on Duan Ke’s lower back.
“You…” Duan Ke could barely squeeze out a word, the hand pointing at Qin Huai trembling. “You are…”
Qin Huai smiled. He lowered his head and kissed Duan Ke as if begging for mercy. He gently licked the little guy’s cold, soft lips, trying to coax him.
“Don’t worry, Baby. He won’t kill you,” Qin Huai said in a low voice.
This was a tacit admission; not a shred of room for negotiation remained.
Duan Ke was completely dumbfounded. The overload of information turned him into a little robot without a wind-up key.
A few more seconds passed before he finally snapped out of the chaos. He threw off Qin Huai’s hand holding him in exasperation, attempting to flee.
But it was too late. Qin Huai’s purpose for the handcuffs lay here—to prevent escape.
The other cuff was locked on Qin Huai’s wrist bone, linking the two together. Qin Huai gave a gentle tug, pulling Duan Ke into his arms. He lowered his head and kissed him, the kiss heavy and deep.
〓 Author’s Note 〓
First Little Ke interrogates Qin Huai, then Qin Huai interrogates Little Ke [Milk Tea]. Stealing data can’t just be let go; you’ll be dragged into the office by the Inquisitor for interrogation [Lop-eared Rabbit Head] Hehe.
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