What's Wrong With Leopard Print? I Like It!

"Do you know K9 District is taking part in the Joint Combat Exercise this year?"

Xin Lan watched Yu Yuan put on the leopard print too, then gave him a pat and suddenly turned serious again.

Mo Yilai nodded, looking jealous. The thought of more people seeing her soon made his tone even more sour.

"Yeah. You're the only S-rank guide in K9 District, so, to be fair, the Federation made an exception this time and allowed you to bring an additional sentinel team to the competition. But as far as I know, you haven't formed a guard team yet, have you?"

Xin Lan didn't answer him. Instead, she scoffed, her dark eyes cold as frost.

"Heh, how interesting."

If Qian Che hadn't mentioned it, she wouldn't have known at all that she was supposed to bring sentinels to some competition.

Leaving aside whether she would even agree to participate, Mo Xiao hadn't so much as informed her or asked her about it, yet he had gone ahead and decided for her.

Wonderful. Just wonderful.

The chilly air surrounding her gave Mo Yilai goosebumps. He swallowed nervously and asked, "A-Lan... what's wrong?"

Since regaining consciousness, this was the first time Yu Yuan and Chao Bai had seen Xin Lan angry.

Although her face was always cold and her smiles always seemed full of mockery and scorn, this time they could truly feel her anger.

Without a word between them, the two of them silently stood to the side and faded into the background.

Only Mo Yilai thought something he had said had upset her and kept trying to make up for it.

"Uh, A-Lan, do you not really want to take part in this competition? Actually, if you don't want to go, you don't have to. No one will force you, really. Just go back and tell Mo Xiao. He'll know what to do."

"Heh."

The smile on Xin Lan's face grew colder.

This time, it wasn't just Mo Yilai. Yu Yuan and Chao Bai got goosebumps too.

The dilapidated little house suddenly fell silent, leaving only the sound of their cautious breathing.

Finally, Xin Lan moved.

But she didn't say a word. With a dark look on her face, she drove away in the hovercar, leaving the three of them standing there, looking at one another.

Chao Bai scratched his head, a hint of secret delight flashing through his mismatched eyes.

"Wow, you're done for. You made big sister guide angry. She definitely won't want you anymore."

"You're asking for it!"

Mo Yilai threw a punch at him.

But Chao Bai was an SSS-rank sentinel just like him, and his leaner build made him more agile. A punch with such an obvious opening had no chance of landing.

Yu Yuan, on the other hand, had a vague idea of what had happened. He reminded them thoughtfully, "Stop it. If Xin Xin were really angry with you, she would have punished you on the spot. Why would she just leave like that? Find us somewhere to settle down first. And I've put up with these leopard-print briefs for long enough. What kind of taste do you have? How could you buy such tacky underwear?"

"What's wrong with leopard print? A-Lan likes it! Are you questioning A-Lan's taste?"

Even Mo Yilai's long grayish-pink hair suddenly turned frizzy.

He stared at the two wild sentinels with hostility in his eyes for several seconds, mentally slicing them to pieces a hundred, ten thousand times over. But bound by Xin Lan's instructions, he could only suppress his anger and take them to the hovercar, veins throbbing all the while.

"Don't fucking complain after getting such a good deal. If you don't want to wear it, I'll wear it for her myself next time. I'm sick of looking at you! Get in the car!"

Seeing them dawdle as they got in, still looking reluctant to leave the shabby house, Mo Yilai rolled his eyes, promptly started the hovercar, and warned them in a low voice, "I don't care who you were before, what attachments you had, or who you knew. Starting today, you have to make a clean break with everything from your past. And when you're out, you absolutely can't tell anyone that A-Lan rescued you. Otherwise..."

"You don't need to tell me that."

Yu Yuan cut him off coldly. He leaned against the leather seat with his arms crossed, the aloof, noble bearing of a superior seeming entirely natural to him. Yet the words that came out of his mouth were so obsequious they were astonishing.

"From the moment I opened my eyes again, I became Xin Xin's. In this life, I belong to Xin Xin in life and will be her ghost in death. Even if she told me to die right now, I would immediately break my own neck for her to see. Instead of warning me, you should feel your own heart and see whether it can beat for Xin Xin alone, as mine does."

What an epic declaration from a simp.

Even Mo Yilai, who was used to shamelessly acting flirtatious and begging Xin Lan to touch him, felt somewhat inferior when he suddenly encountered such a wholehearted simp.

After all, when it came down to it, his own heart really wasn't as pure as Yu Yuan's.

Because he wanted things from A-Lan.

He wanted her love, her Guide Pheromones and mental power, and he wanted her to help him fulfill his lifelong ambition. For those things, he truly was willing to give her everything, but that devotion came with demands. It wasn't pure.

So was that why A-Lan blew hot and cold toward her and refused to make any promises...?

"Lanlan, you're back so early today. Are you hungry? Shall I make you something to eat?"

Xin Lan had only just arrived home when Chi Ming came looking for her, as though he had caught her scent.

Xin Lan gave a dispirited "Mm" and didn't say another word to him.

But Chi Ming was considerate. Although he noticed another unpleasant scent on her, he didn't ask anything. He went into the kitchen of his own accord and made her three dishes, a soup, and a little dessert for after the meal.

After Xin Lan had eaten and drunk her fill, her mood finally improved a tiny bit.

At that moment, the others came up together.

They were all carrying luggage.

Only Mo Xiao was empty-handed, standing out from the rest.

Xin Lan: "Heh."

Wu Xi, who had just put on a smile and was about to claim a good room first, froze. He gave an awkward laugh.

"Miss Guide, what's wrong? Did someone make you angry? Tell me, and I'll beat him up for you!"

"Go on, then. He's right on your left."

His left?

Everyone turned to look and realized that the person standing on Wu Xi's left was the administrator.

Wu Xi: ?

Wait, how was he supposed to beat him up?

Even three of him together couldn't beat the administrator!

"Why aren't you doing it? Are you too scared, or are you afraid you'll get hurt because you can't beat him?"

A mocking smile curved Xin Lan's lips, and the look she gave them was colder than ever. "Or were all those promises you made me nothing but empty words?"

As soon as her last words fell, Wu Xi's fist flew without a second's hesitation and struck Mo Xiao in the face.

With a bang, Mo Xiao's body swayed, and blood immediately seeped from the corner of his mouth.

He didn't fight back. Instead, he calmly wiped the blood from his mouth, still wearing a polite, proper smile.

"Guide Xin Lan, I'm willing to accept punishment, but before that, could you please tell me what I did wrong to make you angry? Once I know what the problem is, I can correct it properly in the future."

Correct it properly, indeed.

Xin Lan scoffed, a mocking smile suddenly spreading across her face. "You're so clever and attentive, Administrator, yet you don't know what you did wrong? In that case, I don't think there's any need to try to save you."

"Wu Xi, the four of you, take your luggage and come home with me."

With that, she got up and left first, without giving him any chance to argue. Before long, she had taken the four of them off the ninetieth floor.

The spacious living room fell silent at once.

Mo Xiao paid no attention to his already reddening, swollen face. A rare look of bewilderment appeared in his azure eyes.

He sat down on the sofa, breathing in the lingering lily-of-the-valley fragrance of her Guide Pheromones in the living room, and replayed every word she had just said over and over in his head.

His confusion soon cleared. "Promises..."

So that was what she was angry about.

But he hadn't promised the Federation that she would take part in the Joint Combat Exercise this year. Had she misunderstood something?

Looking at the problem with the answer in mind, Mo Xiao quickly figured out what had happened.

The discussion on the Star Network had been too heated.

All the sentinels were guessing which sentinels she would take to compete and whether she could place in her first competition, but not one of them had considered whether she was willing to go.

She might not even have known such a competition existed before today...

Thinking about it that way, it was understandable that she was angry.

He had been too idealistic, thinking only of discussing it with her at length when he moved in that evening. But he hadn't kept his promise to let her know about the competition at the first opportunity, and he hadn't managed the direction of public opinion on the Star Network, letting her hear such unpleasant news from someone else.

Once he knew where he had gone wrong, Mo Xiao immediately got up and headed to the ninety-first floor.