Xu Qianqian, Ambushed

In the end, Su Ming still held on to the last shred of his integrity and did not actually step forward willingly to let Xu Qianqian drain him dry.

Of course, this had absolutely nothing to do with Xu Qianqian eventually pouncing on him, biting him, and sucking enough blood to make his legs go weak.

Even though his whole body had gone limp on the ground, Su Ming still wore an expression of refusing to submit even in death, which was enough to demonstrate his unyielding resolve.

Provided one ignored the involuntary curve at the corner of his lips.

"Sorry."

With a suspicious blush on her face, Xu Qianqian crouched before Su Ming with her knees bent and explained somewhat awkwardly.

"I didn't mean to do that, but your blood is just too tempting to me. Normally, I can control the urge to drink blood. Only when I'm facing you is it possible for me to lose control when I'm not thinking clearly..."

Obviously, just now had been one of those less-than-rational moments.

After all, Xu Qianqian really had been angered by Su Ming.

Su Ming glanced at Xu Qianqian. Seeing her cheeks flushed like rosy clouds, he suddenly felt that this eldest miss of the Xu Family was genuinely rather naive about the ways of the world.

The conflict in this suburban area earlier could still be explained by her serious injuries and an unstable mental state, but after this encounter, Su Ming realized that perhaps this young lady was not as aloof and glamorous as outsiders imagined.

Would someone truly aloof and glamorous keep spilling information others wanted to know before achieving their objective?

Xu Qianqian had not even achieved her goal yet, but she had already explained everything Su Ming wanted to know. When Su Ming tried to back out and leave afterward, not only were this woman's methods of stopping him simple and crude, she had even apologized.

She must have been spoiled by her family growing up, right?

She had clearly never suffered a beating from society.

"Fine." Su Ming could only say helplessly, "Tell me, then. What will it take for you to let me go?"

"That's a very rude way to put it." Xu Qianqian frowned. "I'm not threatening you."

"Oh?" Su Ming raised an eyebrow. "So even if I refuse your request, that's fine?"

Xu Qianqian was silent for a while before nodding.

"If you truly don't want to agree, I won't force you."

Xu Qianqian gave her promise.

"You said it!"

Su Ming perked up and immediately rolled over into a seated position.

Xu Qianqian was somewhat speechless when she saw this.

Just how badly did this person not want to help her?

If she asked someone for help, the people willing to give everything for her without counting the cost would probably line up all the way outside Longyao Base City.

Yet this person was actually avoiding her so vehemently. It really was... incomprehensible!

Still, Su Ming's behavior did make Xu Qianqian somewhat interested in him.

This attitude of wanting nothing more than to avoid her was something Xu Qianqian had never encountered in her life.

So, inevitably, Xu Qianqian found it rather amusing. This attitude really is refreshing.

"Go on." Su Ming patted the dust off himself and asked casually, "What do you want me to help with?"

At the mention of business, Xu Qianqian immediately became serious.

"I want to ask you to help me investigate the suspicious group from that night."

Xu Qianqian finally had the chance to state her purpose.

"Why?" Su Ming was not surprised. Instead, he asked, "You said this was related to your mission, right?"

"Yes." Xu Qianqian nodded. "That was nearly a month ago."

Next, Xu Qianqian explained the entire situation to Su Ming.

According to her, the suspicious group had first drawn attention nearly a month ago.

They had suddenly appeared in Longyao Base City and seemed to be searching for something. While operating in secret, they kept causing considerable disturbances, attracting the attention of many interested parties.

Just like that night, they seemed to have caught up with something here and engaged the other side in a fierce battle. The commotion they caused then had not been small at all; it could even be called enormous.

Over the past month, this suspicious group had caused such disturbances more than once. It was impossible for them not to attract the attention of interested parties.

Naturally, their suspicious actions had also put many people on alert.

Especially since this suspicious group had gathered twenty or thirty Hunters and Warlocks, people had even more reason to be wary.

Those Hunters and Warlocks were not students still training at the Demon Hunter Academy, but professional Hunters and professional Warlocks.

Even among the top major families, a force like that could become a combat unit worthy of serious attention.

Now, this force was secretly searching for something and making such a huge commotion. There was no way the Base City authorities would not take action.

Originally, the upper echelons of the Base City had planned to send people to detain the suspicious group directly and question them face-to-face about the details.

Who would have thought that whenever the Base City made any targeted move, the suspicious group would always withdraw a step ahead and vanish without a trace, leaving no clues whatsoever.

Once or twice would have been one thing, but for nearly a month, the suspicious group had always managed to avoid the people sent by the Base City. It would have been strange if there were no problem behind it.

Su Ming understood immediately.

"Someone is backing this group, and that person may hold a very high position among Longyao Base City's upper echelons."

Only that could explain why the group always learned in advance whenever the Base City took action and successfully avoided it.

The only possible reason was that there was a mole among the Base City's higher-ups.

Or else—

"That suspicious group is actually a private force secretly maintained by someone among the Base City's upper echelons, isn't it?"

Su Ming pointed out the truth of the matter.

Xu Qianqian neither admitted nor denied it.

Clearly, this was also one of Xu Qianqian's suspicions.

"I think I understand." Su Ming said to Xu Qianqian, "Someone among the Base City's upper ranks has become suspicious, suspecting that some ambitious person among them is carrying out shady actions. That's why they plan to send someone to investigate in secret, right?"

"Yes." Xu Qianqian lifted her eyes and looked at Su Ming with apparent surprise and admiration. "This mission was not assigned by the academy. It was assigned to me by certain upper-ranking officials of the Base City, and its difficulty has been provisionally set at Rank A."

Although this meant becoming enemies with a group that had gathered twenty or thirty professional Hunters and professional Warlocks, and although someone in the Base City's upper ranks was suspected of backing them, the mission was ultimately only an investigation. Its difficulty therefore had not reached the highest Rank S.

"Why would a mission like this fall into your hands?"

Su Ming was puzzled.

Clearly, such a mission should not be carried out by a student still attending the Demon Hunter Academy, should it?

Since it involved the Base City's upper echelons, wasn't it only natural that they would send trusted subordinates of those higher-ups to carry out the mission?

Su Ming's doubts were quickly answered.

"If someone among the Base City's upper ranks is suspected of backing them, then deploying any professional Hunter or Warlock could allow the other side to discover it through their authority." Xu Qianqian said, "Unless they use unregistered private troops like that suspicious group, there will always be some possibility of being discovered."

And if unregistered private troops were discovered, the consequences could range from minor to severe.

All humanity was supposed to be gathering every available force to fight the Phantom Demons and the Spirit Fiend Abyss, yet someone was secretly keeping unregistered private troops. Wouldn't that be equivalent to telling everyone that those troops were not meant to serve all humanity, but some unspeakable purpose?

Once such a matter was exposed, if interested parties exploited it and used the greater good of humanity to apply pressure, the trouble would definitely not be small.

For that reason, the private troops secretly raised by certain people could not be exposed. Once exposed, they were finished.

And this mission was merely an investigation, at most. It had also been issued jointly by a portion of the Base City's upper echelons. There was no way they would openly deploy private troops and hand the politicians around them something to use against them.

That was why the mission had fallen to a student who had not yet become a professional Hunter or professional Warlock.

This student had to possess strength no less than that of a professional Hunter or Warlock, had to be one of their own, and had to understand the stakes and the connections involved.

Under such circumstances, Xu Qianqian, the eldest miss of the Xu Family, had been chosen.

Su Ming had reason to believe that among the Base City higher-ups who issued this mission, there were members of the Xu Family.

Only then could they trust Xu Qianqian completely.

Having learned this, Su Ming said without reservation, "Your family is really bold. They dared to let a delicate beauty like you handle such a dangerous mission. Aren't they afraid something might happen to you?"

He had thought this eldest miss was greatly favored at home. Could the truth be the exact opposite?

"Don't underestimate me." Xu Qianqian said unhappily. "It's only an investigation. It's not like I've never completed a Rank A Mission before."

That was true enough.

Xu Qianqian had been enrolled for two years and had now advanced to her third year. She had already completed Rank A Missions more than once.

Although this eldest miss had only completed two Rank A Missions, she had ultimately proven that she was capable of completing missions of Rank A difficulty.

Moreover, Su Ming did not believe that the eldest miss of the Xu Family lacked life-saving measures and hidden trump cards. It was not entirely incomprehensible that this mission had fallen to Xu Qianqian.

But another problem arose.

"If that's the case, why do you need my help? And why were you so badly injured that night?"

Su Ming finally asked this question.

Xu Qianqian's face instantly turned completely cold.

"Because someone ambushed me."

Xu Qianqian's expression was icy to the extreme.

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