Lu Shiyan nodded, his expression unchanged. “Jiang Ce arrived two days before you. As for Qi Sui—”
He paused.
“He’s still missing.”
Jiang Nuan’s heart tightened.
“However, Qinian can sense his vital signs through sensory sharing,” Lu Shiyan added. “Shen Wu is also trying to pinpoint his exact location.”
Jiang Nuan slowly let out a breath. As long as they were all alive, that was enough.
The moment she heard that everyone was more or less safe, the huge stone that had been suspended in her chest for hours finally dropped.
The tension that had been wound tight for hours released all at once, and her knees even went a little weak.
Then she suddenly realized something.
When had this heartfelt, instinctive concern become so natural to her?
“Grrrr—”
A highly inappropriate rumble rang out in the quiet apartment without warning.
It came from her stomach.
In the vast, silent penthouse, the sound was so clear it was practically deafening.
Lu Shiyan’s finger, which had been sliding across the holographic map, stopped in midair.
His eyes shifted toward her.
Jiang Nuan didn’t feel embarrassed in the slightest. She stared right back at him, perfectly justified.
She had been evacuating the Sea God Building with Lu Shiyan since early that morning. Then they had entered the restricted zone, been wanted, pursued, forced to the ground and handcuffed, and strapped into an interrogation chair.
All told, it had been at least ten hours.
She had every reason to be hungry.
Then—
The Zero Squad Captain, who had been calmly analyzing the situation only a moment earlier, closed the holographic map.
He turned around with complete naturalness.
As he walked toward the open kitchen, he raised a hand and undid the cuff at his black shirt sleeve, rolling the fabric up to his forearms one fold at a time, revealing the clean, powerful lines of his arms.
His muscles were not the flamboyant, bulky kind. They carried the restrained strength forged through years of intense ability use and close-quarters combat.
He opened the refrigerator.
“What do you want to eat?”
Jiang Nuan stood frozen.
The man who, only moments ago in the interrogation room, had used a whip to lift her chin was now standing by the counter, opening the refrigerator with practiced ease and choosing ingredients.
The contrast was so devastating that her heart skipped a beat. “Anything… I’m not picky.”
Lu Shiyan didn’t ask anything else. He began taking out ingredients.
“Go take a shower. The bathroom is the second door on the left.”
He paused, then added, “There are clean clothes of mine in the cabinet. You can wear them for now. I’ll have someone buy you clothes tomorrow.”
With that, he walked straight over to the sink and began washing the ingredients.
Water rushed steadily.
A hot shower and a change of clean clothes—
After being wanted, pursued, forced to the ground and handcuffed, and strapped into an interrogation chair, the offer held an almost irresistible allure.
She turned and walked toward the bathroom.
As she pushed the door open, she couldn’t help glancing back.
Under the warm yellow light, the man was standing with his head lowered, cutting vegetables.
His profile was stern, yet his movements were practiced and effortless.
Not far behind him, a four-person dining table stood quietly in place.
The protective film on the legs of three of the chairs glimmered faintly in the light.
Something slammed hard into Jiang Nuan’s chest. Before she could see what it was, it had already sunk to the deepest part of her heart.
She realized that her feet had stopped at the threshold.
She should have turned and gone inside.
But she stood there for several seconds, watching the back of the man cutting vegetables alone in the empty kitchen.
Jiang Nuan bit down hard on the inside of her lip.
Then she turned into the bathroom and closed the door.
She shut it quickly and as gently as she could.
As though, if she were even a second too late, something she wasn’t yet able to name would follow her in through the crack beneath the door.
