Chapter 59: It Had to Be Xie Qiang
Sen Ji looked up in a daze, the surprise in his eyes unable to fade in time.
But soon, everything became clear to him. “The ‘little bit’ you like… is because as an SSS-class sentinel, I am willing to risk my life for the Empire, right?”
The noble daughters of the Empire had also confessed their love to him before. But what they loved, without exception, was his sentinel rank. Once they learned he was a “defective product,” their looks of adoration instantly turned into pity and disappointment.
As the Princess, her willingness to lower her head and make amends—wasn’t it also because he could guard the Empire for her?
Xie Qiang scratched her cheek awkwardly. “If I say no, and that I like some very shallow things, would you be angry?”
Was there anything shallower than that?
Sen Ji couldn’t imagine it at all, nor did he believe such a thing existed.
The man’s fingertip tapped the table as he stared intently at the girl. “Xie Qiang, there’s nothing wrong with admitting your own vulgarity.”
The two of them were bound by a political marriage of interest; he knew this very well. So, she could be more honest. There was no need to deny these facts just to appease him.
Xie Qiang, however, misunderstood his meaning.
“Well then, I am indeed quite vulgar.” Xie Qiang raised a fist to her lips and coughed lightly. Her eyes were too embarrassed to meet his. “I like your green eyes; they’re clear and noble like jade and emerald. I also like your hair color; it’s golden like soft, non-piercing afternoon sunlight. And of course, what I like most are your very squeezable tiger ears. The texture is really… great!”
After saying that, she looked up at the man with a hint of hope, her eyes seeming to be filled with the light of tiny stars. “When I purify you in a bit, can I touch them again?”
Sen Ji’s whole body suddenly froze. In an instant, it felt as if something had violently expanded in his chest, squeezing out the cotton that had previously filled it. A burning sensation rose from his heart, heading straight for his face.
He almost wanted to flee immediately, yet his legs were as heavy as if they had become completely attached to this space, urging him to stay and face a “fact” that he didn’t dare face but couldn’t help but crave.
“Is that… all you like?”
Just him as a person, and not his sentinel rank…?
“If you’re unhappy, you can be angry.” Seeing his expression that looked like he was about to explode at any moment, Xie Qiang couldn’t help but regret saying it.
She knew Sen Ji was sensitive; why did she have to say such shallow things to anger him!
Bad hands, it’s all your fault for wanting to touch his beast ears.
Xie Qiang couldn’t help but look down and glare at her own hands.
“No…”
To her surprise, the man opposite her slowly stood up, his fingers tightly gripping his arm. Upon closer listening, his voice was trembling slightly. “I… I’m not unhappy.”
His eyes seemed a bit moist, cleverly hidden behind his slightly lowered eyelashes. The man tilted his head down, like a low-achieving student with low self-esteem who had received the answers to an exam but didn’t dare to copy them, slowly groping for the other person’s sincerity and intent. “Why… do you like these things?”
“Because I’m shallow and vulgar?”
Xie Qiang answered weakly.
Sen Ji felt a pang in his heart. But what he wanted happened to be exactly someone who only shallowly liked him as a person and completely disregarded his sentinel rank.
It had to be Xie Qiang.
It had to be the Xie Qiang who, after humiliating him to the extreme, would also shed tears because of his death.
Sen Ji couldn’t confirm for a moment whether she really liked him or if she was deceiving him to toy with him.
The desire to confirm the answer made the man stand up abruptly, walk over to the girl, and kneel on one knee before her.
He looked up at Xie Qiang, who was sitting in the chair. His eyes were deep, like jade hidden in a deep pool. From his throat came the words: “Then, do you dare to touch me?”
With him looking at her like this, Xie Qiang really couldn’t refuse. Her fingertips seemed to have a mind of their own as they gently covered his eyes and brows.
His deep, almost Western-style eye sockets held a sharp edge that hadn’t been tamed. The curve of his high nose bridge carried the sharpness of a tiger king of the jungle. His thin lips, with a hint of light brown, restrained their sharpness and didn’t dominate his features at all, causing the viewer’s gaze to inevitably move upward and focus once more on those most captivating tiger eyes.
Because of the shadow cast by Xie Qiang lowering her head, those tiger eyes were gradually soaking into a deep green, like a wild tiger lurking in the dark night forest—quiet yet carrying a fatal attraction.
“So handsome.”
Xie Qiang couldn’t help but murmur softly, her gaze stuck like it was attracted by a magnet, unable to move away in the slightest.
Sen Ji trembled slightly, his throat tightening. Her gaze was truly too hot and focused, more difficult to handle than the tingling sensation from the purification through her fingertips.
He finally couldn’t help but reach out and grab her finger that was still tracing his brows.
He believed it.
She really did like him.
“Give me a temporary mark.” He avoided the girl’s confused gaze and rolled up his sleeve, revealing his arm. “Bite here.”
“Ah,” Xie Qiang nodded, “Okay.”
Opening her mouth, she took a bite of the flesh on Sen Ji’s arm.
A subtle stinging pain spread up through the veins of his arm. Sen Ji took a soft breath and watched as the girl, having finished the mark, opened her lips again. Her small, pearly-white teeth flashed by before being hidden once more by her pink lips.
She looked up, her cat eyes bright as she looked at Sen Ji. “Can we do the total purification now?”
“Mm…” Sen Ji turned his head away slightly, his heart trembling even more, not daring to look her in the eyes.
As soon as he finished speaking, several slender fingers slipped between his own. He glanced out of the corner of his eye and saw the girl’s hand tightly interlaced with his, their palms pressed together. A massive, thick surge of spiritual power poured into him, charging straight into his mental sea.
An exquisite and beautiful Ragdoll kitten landed on the ground. Its paws poked the transparent mental sea barrier in front of it, and the barrier shattered at the touch. It wagged its fluffy cat tail and, as if inspecting its own territory, strolled around with its head held high and chest puffed out.
The bottomless black mist was like a demon or ghost being scared away. Following the kitten’s paws landing, it receded to the surroundings in panic and fear, gradually revealing the injured king beast hidden within the black mist forest.
A golden tiger beast with white markings was lying on the ground, its claws fiddling with a withered little white flower. Its sturdy tiger body was covered in wounds; not a single patch of skin was intact.
Upon seeing the white Ragdoll cat, it suddenly trembled as if it had been startled. It dragged its lingering tiger body and ran toward the depths where the black mist was receding, completely merging itself into the darkness.
Only a pair of deep green tiger eyes remained visible, faintly emitting a threatening gaze, warning the little Ragdoll not to approach.
“Why won’t it come out?”
Xie Qiang wondered. She commanded the little Ragdoll cat to wave its paws at the white-gold tiger and let out a soft “Meow.”
In the black mist, the pupils of the green tiger eyes trembled violently. One front paw unconsciously stepped out of the black mist, but upon seeing its own rough and scar-covered tiger claw, it shrank back in retreat.
The little Ragdoll blinked its eyes.
Translator’s Note: Sen Ji is such a “tsundere”! He claims he doesn’t want a relationship, but the moment Xie Qiang says she likes his “shallow” features, he’s completely smitten. And his mental body, the tiger Bai Jin, is just as shy and sensitive as he is.
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