Chapter 53 – Lord Xuan, I’ll help you suck out the poison

The next morning, Tang Qing found Xiao Mi with its two front paws on the edge of the bed, meowing incessantly at him.

“Xiao Mi, what’s wrong?” Tang Qing asked with concern.

He picked up Xiao Mi and carefully examined it. Xiao Mi had no injuries on its body, its belly was round and there seemed to be no issue. However, Tang Qing noticed a faint fragrance amidst the dense fur on Xiao Mi’s body, subtle yet present.

“Meow meow meow!” Xiao Mi spun around anxiously, as if wishing it could turn into a human on the spot to express a thousand words.

Tang Qing looked at Xiao Mi in puzzlement.

“Why, Tang Tang, can you communicate with cats?” Gu Mijing, who was about to leave, seemed curious and casually asked, turning back.

Tang Qing smiled, “No, I’m not a cat now, so I can’t understand cat language.” Of course, even when he was a cat, he couldn’t understand cat language. But he had never told Lord Xuan that he was actually a human; he couldn’t reveal the secret of the system.

The man nodded, seemingly indifferent.

Tang Qing asked in confusion, “Lord Xuan, have you noticed a faint floral scent in the room at night? Xiao Mi seems to have a slight fragrance too, do you know what it is?”

Gu Mijing’s eyes darkened slightly, but his expression remained unchanged as he shook his head, “No. It might be because your abilities have awakened, enhancing your senses, allowing you to smell more scents.”

Tang Qing nodded, unsure if it was just his imagination.

But today, he felt an itch on the sole of his foot. Unable to resist, he reached down to scratch it.

Gu Mijing asked with concern, “Is your foot uncomfortable?”

Tang Qing felt awkward scratching his foot in front of the man, so he withdrew his hand, saying, “I just feel a bit itchy, not sure why.”

Gu Mijing approached, bent down, and firmly held the bare foot in his hand.

Tang Qing was startled, attempting to pull his foot back, but the man held it firmly.

Feeling nervous, Tang Qing’s foot involuntarily arched beautifully, feeling embarrassed as he said, “Uh… Lord Xuan, I’m fine, I just feel a bit itchy.”

The silver-haired man’s eyes were inscrutable as he carefully examined the young man’s fair and delicate foot before releasing it and saying calmly, “Perhaps it’s a mosquito.”

His hand felt a bit cold.

Tang Qing retracted his foot, nodding shyly. Unsure if it was his imagination, he couldn’t shake off the feeling that Gu Mijing’s actions were a bit too intimate.

Gu Mijing had mentioned that he liked girls, so Tang Qing must have been overthinking things.

Gu Mijing returned to the main hall to meet a new group of ability users who had joined him.

Feeling bored, Tang Qing stood on the second-floor corridor watching.

This group of ability users consisted of over twenty individuals, led by a Level 3 gold elemental named Li Ruiming, who could turn his entire body into steel, making him a formidable fighter in solo combat.

Among them was a familiar face, surprisingly, it was the guy who had tried to approach Gu Mijing during the “Divine Punishment” incident, Lu Yining. It seemed that after getting a beating that day, Lu Yining had been expelled from Xuanming City and had joined another base using his abilities.

Curious, Tang Qing asked, “99, why is Gu Mijing accepting so many ability users?”

System 99 replied, [Host, the villain is expanding his influence. He needs to maintain the safety of the area around Xuanming City and regularly goes out to clear out large mutant animals. While he can handle most things with his abilities, there are some particularly nasty creatures he doesn’t want to deal with personally, so he sends these absorbed ability users to take care of them.]

Tang Qing suddenly understood, realizing that Gu Mijing was essentially recruiting workers, assigning tasks he didn’t want to do himself.

He couldn’t help but send a sympathetic look towards Li Ruiming.

At that moment, Li Ruiming happened to look up, his eyes inadvertently sweeping over the person upstairs, filled with amazement. Even though the person was wearing a hood, only half of their face visible, just from their delicate fair chin and slender neck, it was evident that they were a great beauty.

After questioning him, Gu Mijing received satisfactory answers from Li Ruiming.

In the afternoon, the group was set to depart to clean up mutant hyenas to the north.

Considering he was also a ability user now, Tang Qing felt it was a bit embarrassing to lounging around Xuanming City all day without contributing. So, he proactively asked, “Lord Xuan, can I go along as well?”

Lord Xuan disagreed, “It’s too dangerous…”

“I’ve awakened a healing ability now, I can be of some help. I want to train a bit.” Tang Qing finished speaking, looking at the man with pleading eyes, his hands clasped together in a gesture of supplication.

Even the coldest heart would soften at the sight of those blue-purple heterochromatic eyes filled with hope. Gu Mijing didn’t want Tang Qing to leave him unable to protect himself, and occasional training would also be beneficial for Tang Qing.

He compromised, “You can come along, but you must stay close to me and not use your abilities without my permission.”

“Okay, thank you, Lord Xuan!” Tang Qing happily thanked him, then rushed back to his room to pack.

Watching the cheerful figure of the young man, Gu Mijing couldn’t help but chuckle.

Indeed, little kittens had to go out and play occasionally.

The hyenas they were going to deal with this time weren’t too difficult, and there weren’t as many people as last time. Qi Jingsheng and Shen Miao didn’t go. They only brought along Chen Ji and a few others, along with the newly joined ability users led by Li Ruiming.

The newly joined ability users saw the dignified and terrifying Lord Xuan, along with a long-haired beauty wearing a hood, both riding a majestic lion together.

There was something special about this long-haired beauty as Lord Xuan protected him throughout, even almost feeding him water, showing extreme affection.

Lu Yining couldn’t help but feel extremely jealous. In the post-apocalyptic world, everyone was exhausted from running around every day, their feet blistered and calloused from the toil. Just being able to survive was a blessing. The beauty in Lord Xuan’s arms clearly didn’t have to endure such hardships, even their ankles were fair and delicate, resembling a work of art.

Back when he had failed to get close to Lord Xuan and had been beaten, could this beauty have succeeded? What was so special about this person that allowed them to get close to Lord Xuan?

The group soon entered a dense forest. The surrounding undergrowth was thick, almost obscuring their vision.

The hyenas here were ugly in appearance, numerous in number, and mutated for speed. Each one had a hungry gleam in their eyes, often attacking humans near Xuanming City, stealing food. Additionally, hyenas were scavengers, carrying viruses and bacteria, causing trouble for the villagers.

The group began to unleash their full power, attacking the hyenas.

These hyenas weren’t particularly strong and were soon scared off by the ability users, hiding away.

Gradually, the group moved deeper, chasing after the fleeing hyenas.

The forest was dense with vegetation, and many vibrant, unnamed flowers bloomed.

There was a rustling sound in the trees. Tang Qing looked up and saw a snake.

“Everyone, be careful, there’s a snake in the tree,” Tang Qing warned.

Lord Xuan instructed everyone to leave the area under the tree, avoiding any creatures that might appear in the trees.

Lu Yining carefully searched and indeed found the woodsy fragrance of the snake flower nearby. In the pre-apocalyptic days, they used to brew snake wine at home for sale. They would set up mechanisms in the yard and sprinkle snake flower pollen inside to attract the snakes.

Watching the ability users attacking the hyenas, the fire elemental abilities sizzling and roasting them, their golden brown bodies emitting a fragrant aroma, Tang Qing couldn’t help but think of the lines ‘adding some cumin powder, making the neighboring children cry out in hunger’. However, as hyenas were scavengers, their meat was inedible.

At that moment, someone bumped into his shoulder.

Turning around, Tang Qing saw that it was Lu Yining.

Pointing at the ground, Lu Yining looked pitiful and innocent, with a face full of apology, saying, “Sorry, I tripped on a stone.”

“It’s okay,” the young man’s voice was clear and pleasant.

At that moment, a well-defined hand reached out to Tang Qing, and the silver-haired man said calmly, “The path is hard to walk, let me lead you.”

Tang Qing wanted to explain. Although he was a bit clumsy, he could still walk; he was just tripped by someone.

But looking at the man’s unquestionable gaze, Tang Qing still took the strong hand, being firmly led. When they encountered difficult paths, that gentle yet firm hand would pull him along.

Behind them, Lu Yining couldn’t help but feel a pang of jealousy. Lord Xuan truly doted on this young man. If he had managed to get close to Lord Xuan that day, would he be the one being held in such high regard now?

As the group reached the depths of the forest, Lord Xuan ordered everyone to rest on the spot.

They took out food from their packs and sat on the ground to eat.

Suddenly, a group of snakes emerged from the ground, approaching them.

Everyone quickly used their abilities to attack the snakes.

Gu Mijing shouted, “Start a fire.”

Several ability users immediately conjured small fires. Indeed, the snakes were afraid of light, so when they encountered fire, they hesitated and dared not approach.

Tang Qing was startled and stood carefully by a fire, guarding against snake attacks. Unseen to him, a thick arm-sized snake, seemingly ignoring the threat of the fire, spat venom and lunged towards Tang Qing’s back.

A strong hand blocked in front of Tang Qing.

Turning around, Tang Qing was shocked by the scene before him, “Lord Xuan…”

Gu Mijing grabbed the snake by its neck, crushing the large snake to death. He coldly stared at the snake, his eyes dark.

Approaching, Tang Qing noticed a bite on the man’s arm, two small puncture wounds oozing black blood, clearly indicating a poisonous bite.

Feeling guilty and nervous about the man getting injured while protecting him, Tang Qing momentarily forgot he was a healing ability user. He lifted the man’s arm and moved towards the wound, lowering his head.

“Lord Xuan, let me suck out the venom for you.”

His soft lips touched the wound¹my first thought was… wow that perverted piece of garbage probably wished it was his d!ck that got bitten instead so Baby Tangtang can suck on it.

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  my first thought was… wow that perverted piece of garbage probably wished it was his d!ck that got bitten instead so Baby Tangtang can suck on it ↩︎