Chapter 141: Everyone’s Playing Dumb

The black python snuggled against her affectionately, but when Wen Qian raised a hand to push it, it grew displeased.

It deliberately coiled its tail around her until her entire body was enveloped in its coils...

’Doesn’t he have any sense of time or place!’

Annoyed, Wen Qian gave its body a squeeze. "Can you get smaller?"

She distinctly remembered him being small enough to coil around her wrist when she was a child.

He gave an obedient nod and snuggled against her again. Then, right before Wen Qian’s eyes, he shrank bit by bit into a small snake, no thicker than a thumb.

’This size is much more convenient...’

Letting Gu Mian coil around her wrist, Wen Qian walked toward the door in satisfaction.

The Fuyi that had been knocked out had reverted to their beast forms. They lay slumped in a corner, looking pitiful and helpless.

After searching the lab for a while, Wen Qian finally found a tote bag. She tossed the two Fuyi inside, picked it up, and left.

In the short time she’d been gone, the Beastmen had already grown impatient. The Little Fox was especially antsy, pacing back and forth, one moment complaining something was an eyesore, the next that something else was bad luck. In the end, Li Jiu had to flutter his tiny wings and land on the fox’s head in an attempt to calm him.

When he finally spotted a familiar figure, a look of delight flashed across the young man’s face. He immediately dashed over and pulled Wen Qian into a tight hug.

The small black snake poked its head out from her sleeve. A green light flared in its usually black eyes, and the next second, it opened its mouth to bite the Little Fox’s arm.

The quick-eyed Chi Heng yanked the Little Fox aside, motioning for him to look toward the black snake.

"This little thing is the giant python you were talking about?" The Little Fox dangled Li Jiu by the wings, holding him up to eye level.

"..."

Li Jiu shook his head frantically. ’Now they’re not just going to doubt my strength, they’ll be questioning my eyesight too...’

After Yin Zhi’s repeated urging over the phone, the group returned to the villa in South City.

After briefly explaining what had happened, Wen Qian took out a key and a shard. All the known pieces were now gathered, but she didn’t know if they would be enough to assemble the complete Critical Stone.

"What’s this key for?" Yin Zhi asked, looking up.

The key’s shape was rather unique; the top was a rhombus, and the bottom half was an oval.

"I don’t know. My adoptive mother left it to me, so I thought it might be useful..." Wen Qian said, rubbing the head of the key with her fingertip.

By this time, Gu Mian had changed. He came out of his room and sat down next to Wen Qian, his long legs crossed naturally. A dark gray suit accentuated his tall, trim figure.

Yin Zhi had originally planned to settle the score with the Little Fox...

When he first came in, he’d seen the mark on the Little Fox’s neck, and his eyes had turned red with fury. But before he could say anything... the black snake had emerged from Wen Qian’s sleeve.

’Having one rival was one thing, but was it too much to ask not to have more and more of them?’

Just as Yin Zhi was debating which one to deal with first, Chi Heng sidled up as well. Yin Zhi no longer had the luxury of worrying about the mark... He decided to secure the spot next to Wen Qian first and deal with the rest later.

They picked up the shards one by one, carefully trying to fill in the gaps... As the final piece was fitted against the cold crystal, a look of disappointment spread across their faces.

It was still missing two pieces.

Though they couldn’t complete the Critical Stone now, at least they knew the total number of shards.

A slender claw poked out from the woven bag. Ling Xuan immediately went to the kitchen and brought out the pig’s blood she had prepared earlier.

The two Fuyi scrambled over each other to drink it, not forgetting to steal a cautious glance at Gu Mian.

’It seemed they weren’t so afraid of Shen Mqing anymore. The truly terrifying one was right here...’

Everyone wore an indifferent expression as a blanket was draped over the Fuyi, who had now shifted back into their humanoid forms. Knowing they were at fault, the Fuyi’s voices were much weaker.

"There’s another piece of the Critical Stone in the lab in Area B... but we don’t know its exact location."

"We’ll go check it out tomorrow," Gu Mian said decisively. "Li Jiu, you’re coming with us."

Having been called upon, Li Jiu flapped his wings cheerfully. ’See? See? I am a useful Beastman.’

"Take the key, too," Wen Qian said, handing it to Gu Mian. She then reasoned, "The key and the shard were found together, so they might be related. My adoptive mother was involved in the experiments, and her lab was also in Area B. If we can find the lock that matches this key, it might help us..."

The man smiled faintly. "Alright."

By now, it was very late. Gu Mian invited Wen Qian to his room to watch him transform.

Wen Qian couldn’t figure out the connection for the life of her, but she still found herself wavering under his calm gaze.

As soon as she entered the room, Gu Mian revealed his tail and coiled it around her. It was only later that she learned the Snake Clan’s heat was a continuous state...

After his shower, Yin Zhi knocked on Wen Qian’s door for a long time. When there was no answer, he climbed in through the window, only to find that she wasn’t in her room at all. He instantly blew a fuse.

His eyes red, he went to knock on Gu Mian’s door. After a long wait, a man’s cold voice came from within. "Asleep."

"I’m not here for you."

"She’s asleep, too."

"..."

Yin Zhi was livid. He demanded that Wen Qian speak to him herself.

Wen Qian was exhausted, but the person outside was incredibly persistent, so she had no choice but to rub her eyes and climb out from under the covers.

"What..."

Before she could finish her question, Yin Zhi pulled her into his embrace.

Then, the Little Fox’s chilling voice piped up from behind Yin Zhi. "I thought you were here to break them up. What’s this... planning to join them instead?"

His gaze instantly turning sharp, Yin Zhi turned to glare at him.

Wen Qian listened in a daze, and it took her a long moment to understand what they were talking about...

’No, she was really just sleepy...’

She had just been playing with his snake tail for a bit before she’d drowsily fallen asleep.

"I know you’re upset, but please, calm down..." Wen Qian said, trying to soothe the bristling little tiger.

"You two were already doing... things, and you’re telling me not to be upset?" Yin Zhi’s eyes were glistening with unshed tears.

Gu Mian frowned at him in displeasure. "If I recall correctly, the first one to do so was..."

"Shut up!" Yin Zhi cut him off.

Then he put on the shameless expression of someone who would deny everything no matter what was said.

The Little Fox, standing in the back, looked completely stunned. He had been hoping Yin Zhi would storm off in a rage and free up a spot for him.

’What was his deal now... was he just going to pretend nothing had happened?’

His narrow, fox-like eyes instinctively narrowed. The Little Fox’s lips curled into a meaningful smile.

He cleared his throat and, under the cold glares of the other two men, spoke nonchalantly, "Qianqian left a mark on my neck. I’m sure you all saw it."

"Who can prove that?"

"Who can prove that?"

Gu Mian and Yin Zhi said in unison.

The Little Fox’s eyes widened. ’Wait... this wasn’t how the script was supposed to go.’

"In any case, Qianqian said she’d take responsibility for me," Yin Zhi said, tilting his head up proudly.

The Little Fox ground his teeth. "Well, she said she would keep me!"

"What kind of respectable fox needs a woman to provide for him?" Yin Zhi sneered.