Chapter 15

Chapter 15: Xu Qianqian’s Ambush

In the end, Su Ming managed to maintain his last bit of dignity and didn’t actually stand up. He allowed Xu Qianqian to suck him dry.

Of course, this had nothing to do with how Xu Qianqian had pounced on him and bitten him, making his legs go weak.

Even when he was lying on the ground, Su Ming still wore a look of defiance. This was enough to prove his unyielding spirit and determination.

As long as one ignored the faint smile that curled up at the corner of his lips.

“I’m sorry.”

Xu Qianqian knelt before Su Ming, her face flushed red as she explained in embarrassment, “I didn’t plan on doing this. Your blood is just too attractive to me. I can usually control my desire to drink blood, but when I face you it becomes hard to restrain my irrational side.”

Clearly, this was what had happened.

After all, Su Ming really did anger Xu Qianqian.

Su Ming shot a glance at Xu Qianqian. Her cheeks were flushed like a tomato, and he suddenly felt that this young lady of the Xu Family was quite naive.

The conflict in the outskirts could be explained by her injury and mental state, but after this encounter, Su Ming realised that perhaps this young lady wasn’t as cold and distant as others had imagined.

A truly cold and distant person would not reveal all the information others wanted to know before their goal was achieved.

Afterwards, when Su Ming tried to back out of the deal, she didn’t use a simple and crude method to keep him around. She even apologised.

This woman must have been spoiled by her family.

She clearly hadn’t suffered the harshness of society.

“Alright.” Su Ming could only say helplessly. “Tell me, what do you want for me to leave?”

“That’s very rude of you to say.” Xu Qianqian frowned. “I’m not threatening you.”

“Huh?” Su Ming raised an eyebrow. “In other words, even if I don’t agree to your request, you won’t force me?”

Xu Qianqian was silent for a while, then nodded.

“If you really don’t want to, I won’t force you.”

Xu Qianqian made a promise.

“You said it yourself!”

Su Ming immediately sat up.

Xu Qianqian was also a little speechless. How much did this man not want to help her?

If she were to ask for help from anyone else, there would be people lining up all the way to Longyao Base City.

But this person actually avoided her so much. It was really… incomprehensible!

However, it must be said that Su Ming’s attitude made Xu Qianqian feel some interest in him.

This attitude of avoiding her at all costs was something Xu Qianqian had never seen before in her life. So, Xu Qianqian couldn’t help but be curious.

“Go on.” Su Ming patted the dust off himself and asked nonchalantly, “What do you want me to help you with?”

Xu Qianqian’s expression immediately turned serious as soon as she brought up her request.

“I want you to help me investigate the suspicious group I encountered.”

Xu Qianqian finally had the chance to mention her own goal.

“What’s the reason?” Su Ming wasn’t surprised and instead asked, “You said it has something to do with your mission, right?”

“Correct.” Xu Qianqian nodded. “It was about a month ago.”

Xu Qianqian then explained the whole situation to Su Ming.

According to her, the suspicious group had been noticed about a month ago.

They suddenly appeared in Longyao Base City and seemed to be searching for something. They were active in the shadows while constantly causing trouble, attracting the attention of many people.

Just like that night, they had caught up with someone here and fought fiercely. 

In the past month, this suspicious group had caused large commotions more than once. It would be impossible for their actions not to catch the attention of others.

Especially when this group was made up of twenty to thirty professional hunters and warlocks, on a whole different level from students in training. Cautiousness was needed.

Such a powerful force could have become a highly respected and well-regarded combat unit in the top clans.

Now, this suspicious group was secretly searching for something and causing unrest. It was impossible for the Base City not to act on it.

Originally, the higher-ups of the Base City had planned to send people to detain and question them directly.

Who would have thought that every time the Base City made any targeted moves, that suspicious group would always retreat one step ahead, disappearing without a trace and leaving no clues behind?

If it was just once or twice, it would have been fine, but for nearly a month, the group had always been able to avoid the people sent by the Base City. 

Su Ming immediately understood.

“This group has someone backing them, and that person is likely in a very high position within the Longyao Base City.”

Only then could he explain why this group always knew about the base city’s actions beforehand and avoid them.

It could on be an inside job.

Or…

“It’s actually a private army secretly maintained by someone within the base city’s upper echelons, right?”

Su Ming pointed out the truth.

Xu Qianqian didn’t admit it, but she didn’t deny it either.

It was clear this was also one of Xu Qianqian’s guesses.

“I more or less understand the situation now.” Su Ming said to Xu Qianqian. “Someone within the base city’s upper echelons suspects there’s an ambitious person within their own ranks who’s taking shady actions, so they’ve decided to send their private army to secretly investigate.”

“Yes.” Xu Qianqian looked up at Su Ming, seeming both surprised and impressed. “This mission wasn’t assigned by the academy, but rather by certain members of the base city’s upper class. The difficulty is currently set as A-class.”

Even though they were at odds with a group of twenty to thirty professional hunters and warlocks, and even if the base city’s higher-ups were backing them, the mission was only a simple investigation. The difficulty level of the mission wasn’t high enough to be classified as an S-class.

“Why would a mission like this fall on your shoulders?”

Su Ming was puzzled. A mission like this shouldn’t have been assigned to a student of the Demon-Hunting Academy. Since it involved the higher-ups of the base city, wouldn’t it be more logical to send out their most trusted subordinates to carry out the mission?

Su Ming’s confusion was quickly resolved.

“If the enemy has the support of the higher-ups of the base city, then any action taken by professional hunters or warlocks could be detected by the enemy.” Xu Qianqian said. “Unless we use private soldiers with no records, there will always be a chance that they’ll be discovered.”

Clearly, humanity had gathered all of their forces to fight against the spirit demons and the Spiritual Demon Prison. Yet someone had secretly kept a private army that wasn’t recorded anywhere. Wasn’t this equivalent to telling everyone that the private army under their command wasn’t here to help all of humanity, but rather for some sort of secret goal?

If this were to be exposed and someone used it to create turmoil, using nationalistic sentiments to suppress them, it would definitely become a huge problem.

This time, the mission was merely an investigation. They couldn’t openly use their private armies and give the politicians around them a handle to use against them. That wouldn’t be a smart move.

Thus, this mission fell on the shoulders of a student who hadn’t yet become a professional hunter or warlock.

This student needed to have strength on par with professional hunters and warlocks, and they needed to be one of their own. They needed to know how to handle things and understand the implications.

In this situation, Xu Qianqian, the young lady of the Xu Family, was chosen.

Su Ming had his reasons to believe that among the higher-ups who issued this mission were members of the Xu Family.

Only then could they absolutely trust Xu Qianqian.

With this in mind, Su Ming didn’t hesitate to say, “Your family sure is careless. They dare to let a pretty little thing like you handle such a dangerous mission? Don’t they worry about you getting hurt?”

He had assumed that this young lady was the apple of her family’s eye, but could it be that the truth was the opposite?

“Don’t underestimate me,” Xu Qianqian said unhappily. “It’s just an investigation. I’ve completed A-class missions before.”

This was true.

Xu Qianqian had already been in school for two years and had long since completed more than one A-class mission.

Even if she had only completed two A-class missions, she had still proven herself capable of handling such tasks.

Su Ming also didn’t believe the daughter of the Xu Family wouldn’t have some sort of self-defence or hidden trump card. It wasn’t completely unreasonable for her to be assigned to this mission.

However, another question arose.

“If that’s the case, why do you need my help? And why did you get seriously injured that night?”

Su Ming finally asked this question.

Xu Qianqian’s face instantly cooled down.

“Because someone ambushed me.”

Xu Qianqian’s expression grew even colder.

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