Chapter 12: Twelve Whales
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Su Zile was so furious that flames seemed to shoot from the top of his head. His limp fox ears drooped, then sprang upright, only to droop and rise again several times. At last, he managed to calm himself—
No! He absolutely could not calm himself down!
A spanking might carry an element of punishment, but it was also an intimate touch. Why was Ruan Mianmian allowed to have it while he was not?
He refused to accept this!
“I didn’t do it on purpose. I only meant to pat Mianmian on the back.” Under the astonished or aggrieved gazes of his colleagues, Jing Chengyun forcibly pulled Ruan Mianmian off herself.
Her face burned with embarrassment over the little misunderstanding. Certain peculiar proclivities were better indulged at home.
“Mianmian, stop clinging to me. Go sit on the sofa.”
Ruan Mianmian obediently took tiny steps toward the sofa. He sat with his legs pressed tightly together, the very picture of docility and decorum.
He cautiously glanced at Mr. Samoyed.
Wow. This big brother’s ears were soft too.
Without realizing it, Ruan Mianmian let his own long ears emerge as well, his gaze fixed unwaveringly on Su Zile. Mr. Samoyed was handsome, and his ears looked soft too. Which kind of ears did his master prefer, then?
“H-Hello, Brother Samoyed…”
Su Zile’s brows shot up at once, and every trace of gentlemanly grace vanished. Who? Who was Brother Samoyed? Him?
What nonsense!
He was the noblest Nine-Tailed Fox!
Before he could object, Su Zile felt an unfriendly gaze upon him. Sure enough, Jing Chengyun was glaring at him with an expression that clearly said, “If you scare that rabbit into squealing again, I’ll beat you.”
“Hello.” Forced into submission, Su Zile gave a stiff, fake smile, swallowing the bitter fruit of humiliation.
Back when he had worked as a drinking companion at a nightclub, he had met Jing Chengyun by chance and lied that he was a Samoyed rather than a white fox. She had seen through him in the end.
Now his comeuppance had arrived. It had arrived!
He was furious beyond words, yet he could not give vent to his anger. For one thing, Ruan Mianmian’s mother, Ruan Hui, was a veteran employee of the Time-Travel Bureau. For another, Su Zile had to maintain his dignity in front of Jing Chengyun and could not afford the slightest loss of composure.
Come to think of it, Ruan Mianmian had inherited none of Ruan Hui’s cleverness or boldness. Su Zile silently shook his head and shifted a little farther away from him.
Ruan Mianmian did not notice the tiny movement. He only felt a fiery pain in his bottom, as though something had set it ablaze.
The pain and burning sensation spread all the way to his chest, leaving him intoxicated and addicted. He stared dreamily at Jing Chengyun’s long, powerful hands.
He wanted so badly for his master to spank him again. So badly…
If only he could immediately practice dual cultivation with his master, then his master could touch him and spank him all over!
His rabbit ears suddenly sprang up, trembling in disarray. Excitement filled Ruan Mianmian, and bright light spilled from his limpid eyes.
But his good mood quickly collapsed, replaced by shame over his own thoughts. His fair, spotless face flushed crimson, and the redness even spread down to his chest.
The Time-Travel Bureau was where his master worked. He must not think about such filthy things here!
He ought to be a pure little rabbit. No one would like a filthy little rabbit!
Ruan Mianmian touched his lower abdomen, his heart surging with anticipation. Once he told his master that little secret, his master would surely be very happy, wouldn’t he?
Before long, both reports had been completed. Yet the team leader, Du Yishui, asked the two members to wait while she submitted the reports to the archives. Afterward, she would convene their first team meeting.
Jing Chengyun checked the time. It was still well before the funeral home opened, so waiting a while was no great inconvenience.
Still, she disliked Du Yishui wasting her personal time merely to file the reports. They could have done it later. Why not hold the meeting first?
After Du Yishui left, only the orca, the fox, and the little rabbit remained in the office.
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With some annoyance, Jing Chengyun launched the mobile game Blue World. Blue World, commonly abbreviated as BW, was a multiplayer online battle arena in which the winning side was the first to destroy the enemy’s base.
As the game client started, an automatically playing video popped up, announcing that some team had won the spring championship. Jing Chengyun rarely watched BW competitions and cared even less about who had won. She closed the video and entered a match.
Jing Chengyun’s specialty was the jungle position.
There was no particular reason for it. She simply loved tearing through the jungle, because it felt remarkably like tearing through the open sea. Whenever she entered the enemy’s jungle, Jing Chengyun felt completely at home.
Her teammates were not very skilled this match, and Jing Chengyun was hardly an exemplary player herself.
Everyone in the Jing family had a violent temper, so the household was always stocked with various stress-relief toys. Jing Chengyun’s favorite was a steamed-bun-shaped cushion. One savage blow would make it collapse, as though every ounce of pressure could be released at once.
This time, she did the same. When yet another teammate died, she viciously slapped the stress toy beside her—
Two sharp smacks rang out. Her own stress was relieved, but Su Zile’s heart leapt into his throat.
His—his thigh…
Jing Chengyun had slapped his thigh?!
Did this mean she had feelings for him but was too embarrassed to say so outright, and could only hint at them through her actions?
Su Zile wanted to laugh, but did not dare. Throwing back his head in hearty laughter would hardly suit his gentlemanly image. Still, he could immediately send a message to his cousin Wen Fan:
“Your ex-girlfriend can be rather reserved sometimes.”
Wen Fan: “?”
Su Zile: “Get ready to pay the balance, Cousin. Watch me win her over completely. I’m going to carry her through a game right now. Just wait and see.”
After sending the last message, Su Zile confidently turned off his phone without noticing his cousin’s warning:
“I strongly advise you not to.”
He turned his head and focused on Jing Chengyun’s game.
Hmm? The match was not going well.
Orcas were combative by nature, and Jing Chengyun had brought that nature into the game. She was a jungler who enjoyed and excelled at provoking fights. Such a playstyle generally led to one of two opposing outcomes: a swift victory or a swift defeat.
Su Zile chuckled. “You can’t play like that. You’re far too aggressive.”
Jing Chengyun snorted, which served as a warning.
Ruan Mianmian had never played BW before, but he cried out in delight and periodically exclaimed with heartfelt admiration, “Sister Yun, you’re amazing!”
After patiently watching for a while longer, Su Zile could no longer sit still.
“Why don’t we queue together? Shall we play as a duo?”
“No need.”
“I’m fairly good at the game. I should be able to carry you to victory?”
Jing Chengyun was not incapable of humility. If she encountered a problem at work, she was perfectly willing to accept Su Zile’s help or advice.
But games and work were two entirely different matters. She was already displeased with Du Yishui’s arrangements, and now her temper was rising rapidly.
“Who do you think you are? Don’t take yourself so seriously.”
Su Zile choked for a moment.
Fine. He would endure it once. He must not let five hundred thousand get in the way.
The second game began.
This time, Su Zile went even further, pointing out every little thing.
“Miss Jing, your jungle route is completely aimless. Have you lost your head?”
“Anyone who dares point out my faults to my face shall be executed without exception!”
With a furious roar, Jing Chengyun’s fist struck Su Zile beneath the jaw and sent him flying straight upward, where his head slammed into the ceiling.
When Du Yishui returned, this was the terrifying scene that greeted her.
Su Zile was still tumbling through the air. Jing Chengyun remained frozen in her punching stance. As for the timid Ruan Mianmian, he had been frightened directly back into his original form and was trembling miserably.
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Chunks of ceiling plaster lay scattered everywhere, crunching beneath their feet. Du Yishui stood dumbfounded.
Very good. Jing Chengyun had truly inherited the style she had possessed in her own green youth.
As team leader, she had no choice but to speak sternly.
“The repair costs will be deducted from both your bonuses. No more fighting in the future. Our team must remain united!”
A Nine-Tailed Demon Fox was still a Nine-Tailed Demon Fox. No matter how many times his bewitching arts failed him, he was at least capable of scrambling to his feet after suffering a grievous blow.
Su Zile desperately wanted to pretend that nothing had happened, but the punch had left him dizzy and disoriented. His mouth would not even close properly.
Du Yishui had plenty of experience with such injuries. At a glance, she diagnosed a dislocated jaw and personally reset it for him.
“Thank me. I gained this skill from my early years as a champion in underground fighting rings.”
Su Zile thanked the team leader for her kindness. At last, he understood why he was a Nine-Tailed Fox. If he had been an ordinary little demon, he might not have survived Jing Chengyun’s earth-shaking punch.
Hmph. Wen Fan probably could not have taken it either. He would have been sent straight to the hospital.
In the end, Su Zile was simply more blessed. Even his reincarnation had been so extraordinary. As expected of him!
Speaking of which, the force and momentum behind Jing Chengyun’s punch had both reached astonishing levels.
Su Zile’s flesh and bones ached, but his heart felt warm. To have received such a swift and ferocious punch was an honor granted only once in three lifetimes.
Once he successfully separated Jing Chengyun from Ruan Mianmian, he would be able to take her place at her side.
His cousin? What cousin? Did he have relatives of such an inferior species?
Du Yishui understood her team members’ physical constitutions and trusted her own sharp eye, so she was not in a hurry to send Su Zile to the infirmary for further examination.
Standing amid the debris that had fallen from the ceiling, she cleared her throat.
“This is our first team meeting since Yunyun joined us. It also concerns everyone’s safety during future missions, so let’s all take it seriously. Yunyun—”
She turned toward Jing Chengyun, whose anger had yet to fade.
“You should have undergone training before going on a mission. You—”
Jing Chengyun belatedly realized the truth.
That was right. She had already completed her first mission, yet she had never received any formal pre-service training!
Du Yishui asked, “Have you ever systematically studied boxing, martial arts, or any other form of combat?”
“…The Jing Family Style.”
“?”
Jing Chengyun explained, “It’s a fighting method passed down through the generations—from my grandmother’s grandmother, and from her grandmother before that… In short, it’s an unsystematic, self-created form of combat inherited by our family for generations?”
Du Yishui fell silent for a moment.
That was perfectly consistent with what she knew about the orca clan’s tradition of passing skills down from one generation to the next.
“As long as it can effectively defend you, it qualifies as a combat art. Come on, let’s spar.”
Jing Chengyun leapt to her feet without hesitation and accepted at once.
“Let’s go!”
What followed was an intense and exhilarating bout that nearly turned the world upside down.
Ten minutes later, the two of them were sitting together in a taxi bound for the city’s general hospital.
Du Yishui’s assessment of the Jing Family Style was that it was fast and powerful, but its accuracy left something to be desired. She would give Jing Chengyun further instruction another day.
Covering her left eye, she gritted her teeth and spat out each word with deliberate emphasis.
“You might as well have punched both my eyes until they bled. Then they’d match. Wouldn’t that be beautiful?”
Jing Chengyun’s brows were knotted with pain. She cradled her broken front tooth as though it were a priceless treasure, and her speech had taken on a strange accent.
“Orcas only get one set of teeth in their whole lives. Didn’t you know that?”
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