Chapter 47

"Stone is not 'just some other sentinel'! An—and I didn't go to his house just to touch his abdominal muscles." Although Ji Xun's heart was in turmoil, he quickly regained a shred of reason to counter Fu Shuxing's accusation. "If you had arrived a little earlier or a little later, you wouldn't have seen anything..."

Fu Shuxing: "So it's my fault?"

"N—not quite either..." Ji Xun nervously tapped his toes, stealing a glance at Fu Shuxing.

Ji Xun simply couldn't understand why a joking gesture between good friends would make Fu Shuxing this angry.

Right now, he felt the nervousness and bewilderment of having caused trouble.

Seeing that Ji Xun had no idea of the severity of the situation, Fu Shuxing directly grabbed his hand with a cold face and strode toward his own house!

Ji Xun was yanked so hard he stumbled, instantly panicking. "Hey, Xing-ge! What are you doing, what are you doing?!"

Terrified, Ji Xun tried to grab onto anything he could reach along the way!

But his resistance was like a mayfly trying to shake a tree.

He was dragged into the Fu family residence and hauled upstairs.

Ji Xun grabbed the banisters and railings, braking all the way, while pleading, "Hang on, hang on, Xing-ge, calm down... You, you..."

How could Fu Shuxing possibly remain calm?

Zhao Zhanlei's unconditional indulgence, Ji Xun's innocent lack of boundaries...

The scene he had just witnessed kept repeating, relentlessly stinging his brain!!

His reason had snapped, leaving his emotions in complete control!

Fu Shuxing was still angrily dragging Ji Xun's hand as they walked upstairs, but his mind was already replaying what he was about to do—push the little guide into the bedroom, take off his own shirt, and corner him.

Make Ji Xun look his fill!

Anger completely consumed Fu Shuxing's sanity, and he turned a blind eye to Ji Xun's pleas all the way up.

Just as they reached the second floor, Ji Xun let out a loud scream!

Fu Shuxing snapped back to his senses.

Realizing what he was doing, Fu Shuxing instantly released his grip on Ji Xun's hand.

Yet once free, Ji Xun had no time to rejoice. Panicking, he ran back down the stairs to retrieve his schoolbag, which had slipped from his arm with a loud thud and bounced all the way down several steps.

In a flurry of panic, Ji Xun unzipped the bag to check if the Great King Egg was safe and sound.

Earlier, as Ji Xun struggled to save himself, the Great King Egg in the bag hanging from his arm had apparently sensed something was wrong. It had thrashed around anxiously, twisting and turning, until the strap slipped off Ji Xun's arm and it tumbled straight to the floor.

Ji Xun picked it up and inspected it thoroughly.

Fortunately, the shell of the Great King Egg was full of resilience and hadn't suffered any damage.

Ji Xun let out a sigh of relief, only to grow furious the next second. He looked up at Fu Shuxing. "What on earth are you doing?! You almost killed my Great King Egg!!"

It would have been better if he hadn't spoken, but the moment he did, Ji Xun's eyes welled up with aggrieved tears.

Still shaking with residual fear, he cradled the Great King Egg and stroked it soothingly.

The Great King Egg rubbed against his hand.

Fu Shuxing stood tall, his thin lips pressed tightly together.

A moment later.

Fu Shuxing walked down the stairs to Ji Xun's side, squatted down, and reached out to take the egg from the little guide's arms to check it.

"I'm not letting you look!" Ji Xun was still a bit shaken; once that wave of emotion passed, he was fine, but he decided to play it up to defuse his own crisis. Keeping his angry, indignant expression, he dodged Fu Shuxing's hand. "I'm going home!!"

"I'm sorry, Ji Xun. I... didn't know."

Ji Xun was very surprised that Fu Shuxing was apologizing to him again. He covertly peeked at Fu Shuxing's downcast eyes.

He no longer looked like that irrational, impervious, angry, and tyrannical person from moments ago.

Ji Xun secretly breathed a sigh of relief, then muttered, "Never mind. Fortunately, the Great King Egg is fine, so I'll forgive you this time."

Ji Xun had forgiven him, but the Great King Egg had not.

Held tightly in Ji Xun's arms, the Great King Egg suddenly lunged forward in a fit of rage, headbutting straight toward Fu Shuxing!

Fortunately, Ji Xun reacted quickly, pressing down on it just in time.

Fu Shuxing didn't pay attention to the egg; his gaze fell entirely upon Ji Xun's wrist.

Around that pale, slender wrist, a heavy, bruised ring of red marks had been pinched into the skin.

Fu Shuxing stood up. "Come upstairs. I'll put some ointment on your hand."

Ji Xun glanced at his own hand.

It had hurt badly when he was being grabbed, but now he couldn't really feel anything.

Ji Xun looked up at Fu Shuxing. "Have you calmed down?"

Fu Shuxing didn't speak.

To be safe, Ji Xun said, "Then I'll just go back and apply it myself."

Fu Shuxing pressed his lips into a straight line. "I've calmed down."

Due to the nature of their family background,

the variety of medical supplies usually kept on hand in the Fu household was so comprehensive it rivaled a small pharmacy.

Ji Xun sat inside Fu Shuxing's bedroom.

He watched as Fu Shuxing knelt on one knee before him. His normally towering frame shrank significantly due to the posture.

Although the angle was unusual,

Ji Xun didn't find it unfamiliar.

When Ji Xun was mischievous as a child, he would finally drag Fu Shuxing out of the study to play, only to run wild with endless energy, turning everything upside down, and then shifting the blame onto Fu Shuxing whenever trouble arose.

Anyway, his parents never scolded Brother Xingxing.

And every time, Fu Shuxing would accept the blame on his behalf; their coordination was seamless.

Whenever Ji Xun scraped himself somewhere, Fu Shuxing would apply ointment for him.

Ji Xun was afraid of pain—whether real or fake, he would always put on a dramatic performance and cry a couple of tears.

Sometimes Fu Shuxing would coax him with a few words, and he would sniffle and stop crying.

Sometimes the more Fu Shuxing coaxed him, the harder he would cry.

The spell cast was always the same.

Yet the result was like opening a blind box...

Although the current Fu Shuxing had become moody and a complete jerk, Ji Xun decided to cut some slack for the Brother Xingxing who had been so good to him in childhood.

After thinking for a moment, Ji Xun took the initiative to break the silence in the bedroom. "I won't look at other people's abdominal muscles anymore."

Fu Shuxing's motion of applying ointment paused.

Seeing this, Ji Xun added hurriedly in a fright: "I won't look at yours either!"

Fu Shuxing resumed his interrupted movement.

He neither agreed nor disagreed.

Ji Xun originally wanted to explain further why he went to Stone's house, why he had asked Zhao Zhanlei to make that phone call, and incidentally tell Fu Shuxing how distressed he had been lately...

But seeing Fu Shuxing's indifferent expression, as if he didn't care at all,

Ji Xun stopped himself.

He really didn't want to make a fool of himself.

Once the ointment was applied, Ji Xun left.

Fu Shuxing stood on the second floor, watching Ji Xun leave the Fu estate.

The expression on his face was no longer as calm and placid as before; instead, his brows slowly furrowed.

General walked over to Fu Shuxing, rudely headbutted him out of the way, and then stood on its hind legs to peer out the window.

Unfortunately, nothing could be seen anymore.

Upon returning home, Ji Xun felt compelled to urgently formulate a plan.

——If you can't afford to offend them, run away!!

Fu Shuxing's behavior was becoming more and more inscrutable.

Before the Great King Egg hatched, Ji Xun decided to avoid the sharp edge of his temper and minimize conflict with Fu Shuxing.

The simplest way to reduce conflict was to reduce contact.

If a few more incidents like today's were to happen, Ji Xun truly believed his life span would shorten!

Recalling Fu Shuxing's terrifying, deafening demeanor along the way, Ji Xun patted his chest. If the Great King Egg hadn't accidentally fallen to the ground...

Ji Xun honestly felt that Fu Shuxing would have dragged him into the bedroom and beaten him up!

Zhao Zhanlei was a sentinel and could take a beating.

But he couldn't!

If Fu Shuxing threw a punch, he might actually die...

Thank goodness, thank goodness.

Ji Xun stroked the Great King Egg, which had saved him once again. "Thanks to you just now, Great King Egg."

The Great King Egg nuzzled against his belly, acting coquettishly and rubbing close.

Ji Xun laughed.

Ji Xun's plan revolved around a single character—hide!

Ji Xun set an alarm for four o'clock and went to sleep early.

The next day, as soon as the alarm rang,

Ji Xun called Zhao Zhanlei. "Stone, wake up quick, we're heading to the Sanctuary."

Woken from his sleep, Zhao Zhanlei yawned, still half-asleep, but possessed a good temper. "Xunxun, are you sleep-deprived?"

What time even was it...

"I'm wide awake, it's exactly this time." Ji Xun changed his clothes as he spoke. "The early bird catches the worm. Look at Xing-ge, he's talented yet still works hard and rolls up his sleeves. Now look at yourself, always cutting it close and thinking you can just wing it. That kind of mindset is dangerous, and it's even more dangerous on the battlefield!"

Zhao Zhanlei: "..."

Zhao Zhanlei: "You waking up this early couldn't be because you want to avoid Xing-ge, right?"

"Big brain!" Ji Xun declared. "See? Waking up early really does make people smarter. Hurry up, I'm heading out right now to find you!"

He hung up the communicator.

Ji Xun ran to the window and picked up his binoculars to look.

The sky was only showing a hint of white.

There was not a peep of movement from Fu Shuxing's side; clearly, both man and spiritual beast were still fast asleep.

Perfect!

Opportunity must not be missed!!

On the other end, Zhao Zhanlei looked at the pitch-black sky outside.

His heart filled with quiet desolation.

You got up at the crack of dawn to dodge him, but how am I supposed to dodge him?

In a rush for time, Ji Xun skipped breakfast.

He went into the kitchen, grabbed two fresh tomatoes, rinsed them with water, and headed out into the dark with his schoolbag on his back.

When opening his courtyard gate, Ji Xun moved with extreme stealth, poking his head out to look left and right. Concluding that Fu Shuxing was indeed nowhere to be seen, he quietly closed the gate and bolted off instantly!

The early morning wind felt bitterly cold against his face.

Ji Xun sneezed!

Zhao Zhanlei, who had already stepped out of his own house, heard it from afar and turned back to grab a scarf and jacket.

Ji Xun had come out in such a rush that he packed the Great King Egg into his bag and completely forgot his coat.

Yet he didn't want to go back to retrieve it.

What if he got caught in the back-and-forth and woke Fu Shuxing up?

Ji Xun rubbed his arms.

Seeing Ji Xun walking slowly, Zhao Zhanlei caught up in a few strides.

Zhao Zhanlei draped the jacket over Ji Xun's shoulders and wrapped the scarf around his neck. "Don't catch a cold, or Auntie Ji will settle scores with me."

"I forgot to wear my jacket myself, what scores would she settle with you?" Ji Xun put on the jacket, took a bite of the raw tomato, and mumbled while chewing, "You're driving your flier, right? The driver probably hasn't arrived at this hour."

Zhao Zhanlei said, "The Sanctuary isn't even open yet. I'll have to scale the wall to get you in."

Upon hearing about scaling walls, Ji Xun recalled Fu Shuxing vaulting over obstacles effortlessly that night, and instantly grew excited. "Awesome, awesome!!"

In the end, Ji Xun didn't manage to scale any walls.

Before the flier even landed, Ji Xun had already dozed off and fallen soundly back to sleep.

Zhao Zhanlei was feeling sleepy too.

Seeing him fast asleep, he simply reclined his seat, sat in the pilot's seat, and took a nap alongside him.

Until the sunlight hit their eyelids...