Chapter 229 - 228: You Don’t Want to Live Anymore?

Jian Yu looked away and pulled Sheng Yue to the bow of the boat.

She asked, "Is there a way to get the Star Brain to receive a signal?"

Sheng Yue stared at their clasped hands, dazed.

Jian Yu squeezed his hand.

"Hm?" Sheng Yue looked up, the corners of his eyes crinkling. His usually cold blue eyes held a new softness.

He was so handsome it was distracting.

Jian Yu snapped back to her senses and repeated her question.

"Is there any way to get the Star Brain to receive a signal?"

Sheng Yue pursed his lips as a stray thought crossed his mind.

’Is she bored of being with me? Does she want to message Ling Yanzhi and the others?’

Yin Jiu sensed its master’s bitterness and lifted its chubby face. [Don’t be scared, the Ultimate Eye can’t possibly receive a signal. We’re out of the service area anyway. We can use these next few days to build a good foundation for your relationship. No need to panic!]

Sheng Yue was exasperated.

Yin Jiu’s voice trembled, and it was clearly more panicked than Sheng Yue. "We can’t, dear. Even if we were in a service area, we still couldn’t."

Sheng Yue looked at Jian Yu and told her the truth. "Yes, the Ultimate Eye is a bit special."

Jian Yu picked up Yin Jiu, pulling it into a soothing embrace and holding it close.

She got straight to the point. "Have Pei Yin and Duan Feiye ever been in contact with Yan Ying?"

The tips of Sheng Yue’s ears turned red.

Once he snapped out of it, he frowned slightly. "No. Why?"

Jian Yu told Sheng Yue about her discovery. "When Yan Ying died, the energy fluctuations I felt on her body seemed to belong to Duan Feiye and Pei Yin."

Sheng Yue’s pupils constricted.

His thoughts scattered for a moment before he refocused. "They’ve only been in contact with Admiral Yan. The few times Yan Ying came to the Imperial Capital Star, Ji Shiyin and I were the ones stationed at Weis Lan."

Yin Jiu asked anxiously, "Did something happen to Feifei and Eagle?"

Jian Yu shook her head. "I’m not sure."

She analyzed, "Yan Ying... she’s been right here for the past two days. Even if something happened to Pei Yin and the others, it couldn’t have been recent."

She was still a little worried something might happen to Pei Yin, even though she felt the timeline didn’t make sense.

Sheng Yue was too preoccupied to be jealous. "I’ll find a way to contact them."

The fur on Yin Jiu’s cheeks rustled in the wind. [We still have to figure out what’s going on. Master, let’s go grab Zhao Jiangyou tonight and sound him out.]

Sheng Yue: [Yes.]

The boat docked.

Zhao Jiangyou planned to wait until everyone else had left before getting off.

But as soon as he stepped off the boat, Jian Yu, wearing a dress, flitted toward him like a little butterfly.

Sheng Yue stood behind her.

Sheng Yue’s expression was cold, and he exuded an aura of detachment.

Zhang Qin and the others, who had been about to leave, turned their heads in unison. "What’s wrong?"

They looked menacing.

Zhao Jiangyou took two steps back, his eyes red like a little rabbit’s.

He pursed his lips.

For some reason, he subconsciously lowered his head and stared at his boots.

Lin Hai waved a greeting and steered the boat away.

The atmosphere was a bit awkward.

The harsh sun made it hard for Zhao Jiangyou to open his eyes, and his palms began to sweat.

’What’s coming will come.’

"I..."

Zhao Jiangyou didn’t know what he should say.

’Promise not to tell Admiral Yan? But with what happened to Yan Ying, Admiral Yan will definitely investigate.’

He wanted to live, so he didn’t dare go back.

Zhao Jiangyou was terrified of pain.

He meekly made a request, "If you’re going to silence me, can you make it quick?"

"?" The words Jian Yu had prepared got stuck in her throat.

Wang Hu staggered. "We’re not some vicious wanted criminals. Why would we silence anyone?"

Lu Yi, with her round, doll-like face, asked, "You don’t want to live?"

Zhao Jiangyou: "..."

’I do.’

Zhang Ziyue was worried and glanced at her younger sister.

The two sisters said in unison, "We were just defending ourselves. We didn’t hurt anyone on purpose. You’d better think carefully about what you say when you go back."

Their tone carried a threat.

Zhao Jiangyou nodded quickly. "I won’t say anything I shouldn’t."

He said hesitantly, "Actually, I don’t plan on going back."

Jian Yu’s eyes widened, and they darted around cleverly. "Were you also hired to protect her?"

Zhao Jiangyou nodded, then violently shook his head a second later.

"I wasn’t hired."

He had simply grown up, become capable, and wanted to repay a debt of gratitude.

Zhao Jiangyou cut a long story short. "Admiral Yan didn’t want my gifts. I could tell the Admiral cared a lot about Miss Yan Ying, so I offered to stay with her and act as her personal Healer."

At the time, he had wanted to just leave the gifts and go, but when Admiral Yan saw them, he must have sensed his sincerity and chatted with him a bit more.

During their conversation, the Admiral mentioned that Yan Ying’s Spirit Domain and soul domain were prone to rampages, and that he’d been looking for a Soul Beast with a Healing Attribute to stay by her side.

Hearing this, Jian Yu’s brow furrowed deeply.

The higher the Level, the more painful a spiritual power rampage is.

Yan Ying had the aura of a Level 3S, but only B-level strength.

Logically, for a B-level, the effects of a spiritual power rampage shouldn’t be that severe.

Jian Yu pressed, "So you stayed?"

"Yes." Zhao Jiangyou nodded.

Soul Beasts with the Healing Attribute are rare. Even if they aren’t high-rank, they are highly respected.

Zhao Jiangyou had come to repay his debt. Seeing that his specialty was a perfect match, he offered to take care of Yan Ying for five years.

He said in a small voice, "This year was the fifth year."

Yan Xu’s gaze was sharp. "You offered to stay?"

Zhao Jiangyou nodded again. "I was the one who suggested it."

’Thinking about it now, I really regret it.’

Zhang Ziyue frowned. "What kind of gifts did you bring?"

She couldn’t put her finger on what was wrong, but she felt as if Admiral Yan had deliberately hinted that Zhao Jiangyou should stay.

Zhao Jiangyou faltered. "They were all... Healing Attribute items..."

Yan Xu’s expression showed he understood.

He scoffed. "He didn’t want your things because he saw your ability and wanted you to stay and work for him. ’Sensing your sincerity’? More like he was just sizing you up."

Zhao Jiangyou had been with the Yan Family for five years and couldn’t accept them talking like that. "Admiral Yan was very good to me."

Every time he was mistreated by Yan Ying, Admiral Yan would comfort him and even have people send him Beast Crystals to replenish his energy.

"The Admiral saved me. If it weren’t for him, I wouldn’t be here today. You shouldn’t talk about him like that."

Zhao Jiangyou was angry that his savior was being misrepresented, but his voice was so quiet that no one would think he was actually mad.

Going from a Healer who was popular everywhere to a good-for-nothing who could be beaten and scolded by anyone had given him a strange sense of inferiority when talking to people.

"Hmph." Yan Xu’s face was filled with anger, and he looked like he wanted to say something.

Yan Yi grabbed him and shook his head.

Zhao Jiangyou shrank back. "Miss Yan Ying is Miss Yan Ying, but Admiral Yan is still a good person. He saved many people back then, and I was one of them."

Yan Xu sneered.

’He used to think so, too.’

’Now, he only believed what he had experienced himself.’

Yan Xu wanted to curse someone out.

He looked at Zhao Jiangyou’s face, as young and inexperienced as his own younger brother’s, and the words on the tip of his tongue took a turn, coming out as a single, light word: "Idiot."

Zhao Jiangyou’s face flushed, but he didn’t dare to voice his anger.

Words were wasted when they couldn’t see eye to eye. After Yan Xu fell silent, no one else spoke.

Jian Yu’s gaze shifted between the two Yan brothers.

’Perhaps these two know something as well.’

’Zhao Jiangyou might be slow, but he was there for five years. If he shares some details, there might be an unexpected discovery.’

Jian Yu put on an innocent expression. "So, do you want to come with us?"