When Jiang Nuan woke up, her back was pressed against a scorching source of heat, and a strong arm was wrapped tightly around her.
The back of her head rested against Jiang Ce’s chest.
She tentatively shifted outward, hoping to slip away without making a sound.
But the moment she moved even a little, the arm tightened around her.
Jiang Ce’s chin brushed against her hair. When he spoke, his warm breath swept over her ear. “Lie down a little longer.”
It was… getting more and more obvious.
This was what he called lying down a little longer?!
“Jiang Ce,” she gritted out.
“Hmm.” He answered with a nasal hum.
“…It’s morning.”
“Hmm.” Not only did he not let go, but he pressed his chin more firmly against the top of her head. His voice was full of amusement. “So now I can see you clearly.”
Jiang Nuan’s ears burned bright red.
That was completely unfair.
Jiang Ce exerted a little force and turned her over so that she was facing him. Morning light happened to stream through the gap in the curtains and fall across her face.
Last night, there had been alcohol, wind and snow, the lingering warmth of their conversation—and the excuse that they needed to push the purification further.
But now it was morning.
The sun was fully up, and the room was so quiet that they could hear each other breathing.
There was no longer any excuse to run away.
Jiang Ce simply looked at her. His eyes were usually bright and sunny, but under the morning light, they seemed to sink into a darker shade.
Then he lowered his head.
Jiang Ce’s kiss was gentle, as though he were making sure she had no intention of pushing him away. But every time he confirmed that, he went a little deeper.
His large hand caught hers, threading their fingers together one by one and clasping them in his palm.
The heat of his palm was astonishing.
“W-wait…” Jiang Nuan turned her head away. “I’m hungry.”
“So am I.” Jiang Ce followed her movement and kissed the side of her neck, his voice muffled.
“I mean I want breakfast!” Jiang Nuan grew anxious. How could this man not understand plain English?
“I’m eating breakfast right now.”
Jiang Nuan was so exasperated by his sophistry that she almost laughed.
Where had that innocent young man gone—the one who had blushed as he asked, “Are you done confirming?”
This man was a wolf in sheep’s clothing!
A wolf with an astonishing appetite!
…
Later, he simply picked her up and carried her toward the bathroom.
“I-I can walk by myself.” Jiang Nuan buried her face firmly in the crook of his neck and protested intermittently.
“You can’t.” The corners of Jiang Ce’s mouth curved in smug satisfaction.
The morning light swayed around them.
Jiang Nuan opened her mouth, but no words came out.
The sound of running water soon filled the bathroom.
Steam blurred the entire room into a white haze. The mirror was completely fogged over, making it impossible to see anything.
The hand Jiang Nuan had braced against the wall slipped. A large palm immediately appeared at her waist, holding her firmly upright.
Streams of water slid over them in a tangled cascade.
“Jiang Ce…” Most of her voice was drowned out by the rushing water.
The large hand tightened around her.
“Don’t move around. Otherwise, we won’t even make it to lunch.”
*
Although the refrigerator was packed with ingredients, Zhang Qiang indeed came to deliver breakfast.
He was perceptive enough to place the steaming meal boxes inside the insulated container in the small vestibule between the front door and the inner door. He did not knock on the inner door, merely sending Jiang Ce and Jiang Nuan a message on their terminals.
[Zhang Qiang: Breakfast is in the insulated box in the vestibule. Enjoy, you two. Call me anytime if you need anything.]
When Jiang Nuan saw the message, she was still sitting on the edge of the bed, her damp hair draped over her shoulders.
Jiang Ce was holding a hair dryer and patiently drying her hair for her.
Looking at the message on her terminal screen, she couldn’t help sighing once again.
Zhang Qiang’s emotional intelligence was almost absurdly high.
*
Jiang Nuan stared blankly at the food on the table for a while.
When she shifted, an ominous soreness immediately spread through her waist.
She promptly sat back down and behaved herself.
Thinking back to last night—
Her first thought had been: No way. Someone’s going to die, right?
Her second thought had also been: No way.
And then… somehow, it had been possible.
But how should she put it?
The physical reserves of a defensive-type esper were simply unreasonable.
Jiang Nuan bit her lip and desperately tried to banish those scenes from her mind.
How had she ever thought this man wasn’t dangerous?
Jiang Ce sat down beside her with a bowl of porridge and naturally pushed it in front of her.
Then he placed his palm on her waist and began massaging it slowly.
Jiang Nuan’s traitorous waist relaxed slightly into his palm. She muttered under her breath, “…Is this your way of apologizing physically?”
Jiang Ce shook his head, never stopping his movements. “You apologize when you think you’ve done something wrong.”
Right. This man really had no shame.
“Actually…” Jiang Ce picked up a piece of ham, his tone utterly serious. “You might want to consider improving your physical training.”
?
Jiang Nuan set down her chopsticks, the corner of her mouth twitching. “…You want me to improve my physical training because of this?”
He lowered his head, rolled the ham into a pancake, and placed it on the plate in front of her. Looking at her, he smiled. “That was merely a general suggestion. It has nothing to do with anything else. What, is there a problem?”
There was a problem. A very big problem.
Jiang Nuan glared at him, picked up her chopsticks again, and took a vicious bite of the pancake. “Physical training isn’t suitable for me.”
“Not even running a couple of laps?” Jiang Ce raised an eyebrow.
“No. My legs have minds of their own. All they want to do is lie down.” Jiang Nuan refused with righteous conviction.
Jiang Ce laughed. “Then next time I’ll try to control the duration.”
“Next time?!” Jiang Nuan nearly choked on her porridge.
Jiang Ce patted her back. “Could there be no next time?”
His bright eyes were filled with innocence, like a large golden retriever abandoned by its owner on the roadside.
Jiang Nuan turned her face away, resolutely refusing to look at him. This man was cheating. It was shameful to act cute!
Actually, she had noticed before going to sleep last night that the river of supernatural energy within her was different from before.
The sensation was difficult to describe in words.
It was roughly as if abundant purification energy, like an undercurrent after the tide had risen, were slowly surging through the river, almost overflowing.
This wasn’t the first time.
Every time she entered into that kind of relationship with a member of Zero Squad and purified them, the amount of supernatural energy stored within her would recover and expand to a certain degree.
It was practically an invincible dual-cultivation technique from a demonic romance sect.
But this time… it was different.
The abundance was far too obvious.
Jiang Nuan slowly closed her eyes and sank her consciousness into the river of supernatural energy, sensing the flow of energy within her body.
The river’s water level was higher than at any other time she could remember, and the purification energy had also become denser in substance, transforming into something like liquid silver light.
After awakening her mental attack ability, she hadn’t never considered the possibility.
Since she could use her mental-type ability to mobilize the purification energy within her body and externalize it into an attack, then theoretically, couldn’t she use the same method to externalize the purification energy and output it for purification?
At the time, she had attempted it with enormous anticipation.
She had even specifically dragged Shen Wu in as her test subject.
She tried condensing her mental power to its limit, driving the purification energy within her body out of herself and giving it external form.
She had even made that silver purification energy circle around Shen Wu in a full three-hundred-and-sixty-degree loop before attempting to make it travel through his body once.
But it simply didn’t work.
What had Shen Wu said at the time, again?
“Oh, right.” He had said in that infuriatingly sarcastic tone of his, “Jiang Nuan, if your goal is to perform acrobatics for me, I’ll admit the results are pretty impressive. But if you’re trying to purify me, I suggest using a more practical method.”
After that, Jiang Nuan had temporarily put the matter aside.
But now…
She focused again on the river of supernatural energy within her, swollen to the brim, and a vague theory surfaced in her mind.
Every time she had deep contact with a member of the team, it had filled her river of supernatural energy. But with the same person, repeated contact over a short period seemed to have little effect.
This time, combined with her mental merging with Shen Wu a few days ago, it might have filled that river to some kind of critical point.
Perhaps… she could try again.
She no longer needed to use that method.
All she had to do was use her mental power to draw out and externalize the energy of her purification ability.
The thought made her heart beat a few times faster. Something almost like a premonition welled up from her chest.
If it really worked this time…
If purification could exist independently of that method…
Then she would no longer be someone pushed along by her own ability.
“Nuannuan?”
Jiang Ce’s voice pulled her back from her thoughts.
Jiang Nuan opened her eyes and met Jiang Ce’s concerned gaze.
“What’s wrong? Are you feeling unwell?” Jiang Ce asked nervously, placing his palm against her forehead.
“I’m fine.” Jiang Nuan shook her head. “I was just thinking about something.”
Jiang Ce studied her for a few seconds but didn’t press her. Instead, he put another piece of pancake in her bowl. “Eat first. You’re seriously too thin.”
Jiang Nuan nodded and picked up her chopsticks again.
But the theory in her mind refused to go away.
She needed to find someone to test it on.
If it really worked…
*
After breakfast, Jiang Ce sat down on the sofa and opened his terminal to review the mission files.
Jiang Nuan sat beside him and opened her own terminal as well.
A private message popped up before the messages in the team’s group chat.
It was from Zhou Mengmeng.
She said she had received the technical pen Jiang Nuan had mailed back and sounded delighted. She also mentioned that there would be an art exhibition in District E next month and asked whether Jiang Nuan might be able to go with her.
The technical pen was actually a perfect replica commissioned by Shen Wu. It had been made to match the original down to the last detail—even the engraving on the barrel and the marks left from use had been reproduced flawlessly. Once it was finished, he had arranged for it to be mailed out.
Jiang Nuan did feel a little guilty, but the original technical pen carried a considerable amount of anomalous energy. Keeping it by Zhou Mengmeng’s side would have been dangerous.
As for the art exhibition…
Jiang Nuan looked at the message she had sent at the time:
“Sure. If we get the chance, let’s go together.”
Her finger lingered over the screen for several seconds.
Would this world still exist by then?
And if it didn’t, what would happen to all these people…?
Jiang Nuan forced herself to switch to the team’s internal channel.
Ye Que and Qinian had set out early that morning to investigate the situation in District A. Since their group had arrived late the previous night, they were able to rest for half a day longer.
Lu Shiyan and Chen Ping'an probably wouldn’t be back for another two hours. It seemed the command center had a lot on its plate.
And Shen Wu…
Jiang Nuan projected her terminal into the air and opened the live information feed.
The moment the image appeared, she nearly spat out the porridge in her mouth.
Shen Wu was sitting behind the news briefing table in Qinian’s studio.
He was dressed in an immaculate suit, his expression cold and detached, with an untouched bottle of mineral water beside him.
Facing the throng of reporters below, he read from the prepared statement without a trace of emotion.
“Mr. Qi needs to take time off to rest and recover due to health reasons. All public activities have been suspended. This is expected to last one to two weeks, with the exact duration to be determined based on his recovery.”
The reporters immediately erupted.
“What illness does he have? Is it serious?”
“Has he been hospitalized? Which hospital is he in?”
Shen Wu answered each question with an impassive expression, giving nothing away.
Meanwhile, the comments flying across the livestream had already gone wild.
[This manager is so cold and handsome—help, I’m dying!]
[Why am I starting to stan him?]
[So what happened to Qinian?! Aaaah!!]
Jiang Ce glanced over, the corner of his mouth twitching.
“Shen Wu,” Jiang Nuan said sincerely, “is wasting his talents in intelligence work. He should be a news spokesperson.”
Jiang Ce thought about it, then nodded very seriously. “Agreed. He didn’t say a single false thing, but he also didn’t say anything useful.”
*
The snow outside had stopped.
When Jiang Nuan looked up, everything beyond the window was a clean expanse of white. Sunlight bathed the snow, making it glow with warmth.
The heating was turned up high indoors, so she was wearing only a sweater.
After reading through the files in the team’s internal channel for a while, her eyelids gradually grew heavy.
She had no idea how much time passed.
Her head slowly tilted to the side and came to rest on Jiang Ce’s shoulder.
Jiang Ce’s hand stopped halfway through turning a page.
He turned his head and glanced at Jiang Nuan, who was leaning against his shoulder.
Her eyes were closed, her breathing steady, her lashes casting a small shadow beneath her eyes.
Jiang Ce’s gaze softened.
He raised a hand and tucked the loose strands of hair behind her ear, moving slowly so as not to wake her. Then he continued reading the files.
