As for why Miss Wang Luan always appeared all of a sudden in the most unexpected places, Yan Qiongyu was not very clear about it either.
After the two exchanged looks, they fell into a subtle silence.
In this brief silence, the people standing behind the two of them all grew tense without realizing it.
Captain Shanma and the others were on edge: could they really bluff their way through?
Those who had followed the hierarch here were full of doubts: was there really something wrong with the people on the other side?
In this hair-trigger, dangerous situation, Wang Luan was the first to relax, and she did not notice that her eyes had suddenly lit up.
When she realized that the person opposite her was Yan Qiongyu, certain heavy crises in her heart naturally dissipated, replaced by the joy of reunion.
Yan Qiongyu changed his posture, leaning his body slightly forward, looked at Wang Luan, and slowly opened his mouth to say, “I’m here to take over Fu Qi. Your captain should have told you already, right?”
Wang Luan: “Right!”
“Mm.” Yan Qiongyu nodded. “Then open the passage. I’ll go over and take a look at Fu Qi’s condition.”
Wang Luan: “Okay!”
Although she knew nothing at all, whatever—going along with what Yan Qiongyu said wouldn’t be a problem.
Someone standing behind Yan Qiongyu hesitated. “The hierarch is going over alone? But I think something’s off about them. We should still follow along together.”
Yan Qiongyu: “No need.”
“But didn’t you just say the situation seemed a bit off?”
“There’s nothing off.” Yan Qiongyu naturally took back what he had just said.
That person was glanced at by him, noticed the chill in his eyes, and immediately shut his mouth and said nothing more.
On the star pirate ship controlled by Captain Shanma and the others, the original crew members had not died. They were bound together in one place and had also seen what had just happened.
Seeing that the hierarch neither raised any questions toward the suspicious people nor asked about their identities, and was instead preparing to come over alone, they all panicked, twisting and letting out muffled sounds, trying to draw attention, only to be stepped on by Captain Shanma and silenced.
The communication ended. Captain Shanma worried, “That’s it, we fooled him? Wasn’t that a bit too easy? That person looks smart. What if he’s just trying to stabilize us first and then bring people over…”
“It’s fine.” Wang Luan pulled down the useless mask on her face, scratched her head, and for no clear reason felt a bit embarrassed. “He’s someone I know. He’ll help us cover this up.”
After saying that, she patted Captain Shanma on the shoulder. “Captain, you take the others to pack things up first. I’ll go receive him.”
With that, she hurried off to the docking passage of the ship.
She had only waited for a short while when Yan Qiongyu walked over from the other end.
After not seeing him for a period of time, he seemed to have grown a bit taller. Because of that added height, he looked a few degrees thinner than before, and his temperament also seemed sharper and colder.
But as he drew closer, a smile gradually appeared on his face, making him look as though an icy surface were breaking, revealing a gentleness beneath.
Wang Luan did not know that she herself was also smiling as she walked forward a few steps, and the two met in the middle of the corridor.
The moment he got close, Yan Qiongyu very naturally reached out to hold her cheek and kissed her on the forehead, asking her in a gentle tone, “How have you been during this time?”
“Huh? Pretty good. I’ve gotten more skilled at piloting ships, and I even went to the Salt River once. It was like a long trip—pretty fun.”
“As long as you’re happy,” Yan Qiongyu said. “You haven’t gone back in a long time. The vegetables in the garden have all grown too wildly, and I don’t know how to deal with them.”
He had gone back to look for her.
In Wang Luan’s mind, an image suddenly surfaced of Yan Qiongyu returning home, not seeing her, and wandering around the vegetable garden alone.
“I’ll go back right away. When the time comes I’ll tidy things up for a few days and plant some new vegetables… it’s just, can I go back?”
Hearing her say this, Yan Qiongyu understood what she was worried about. Feeling a bit apologetic, he gently rubbed his cheek against hers. He knew that the reason she had left home was likely more because she had discovered that there was some kind of connection between him and Zhu Xing, and she had been worried it would affect him.
“Of course you can. Don’t worry, Zhu Xing won’t come looking for trouble with you anymore.”
Wang Luan was startled, and her first reaction was: “Did you take her out?”
Yan Qiongyu paused for a moment, then smiled. “Of course not.”
She was still alive, it was just that she might never wake up for the rest of her life.
So no… for a moment Wang Luan didn’t even know whether she should be relieved or not.
“Why would you think that?” Yan Qiongyu was puzzled. “When have I ever killed anyone?”
At least, in front of her, he had never killed anyone.
Wang Luan: “…………” Why? Did he have absolutely no awareness of the dangerous, increasingly villain-like aura he was giving off?
Yan Qiongyu: “Was it Zhu Xing who told you that?”
Wang Luan: “…………” Although she really had said something like that before, this tone sounded very dangerous.
Yan Qiongyu: “So it really was… Miss Wang Luan, if you have something to say, say it directly to me. Don’t say it in your heart.”
Wang Luan gave a dry laugh. “Mainly because I figured even if I don’t say anything, you can still guess it.”
Seeing that in just these few lines, although Yan Qiongyu still had a smile on his face, his gaze had already cooled, she hurriedly said, “I bought you a gift at the Salt River.”
The other things weren’t on her, but she happened to have the pink snowflake salt crystal pendant with her. She took it out and showed it to Yan Qiongyu, hanging it on his finger.
“This is a salt crystal ornament. The patterns are naturally formed, and you can even eat it. They say it won’t melt even if you put it in hot water.”
“If you don’t like it, I have a lot more. You can pick one yourself.”
Watching him examine that small pink snowflake, Wang Luan quietly reached out and wrapped her arms around Yan Qiongyu’s waist. “I thought you might like this kind of natural salt crystal, so I also bought some ornaments to put at home as decorations, and there’s a pink crystal vase you can use to arrange flowers.”
“It seems that Miss Wang Luan has been thinking about me?” Yan Qiongyu held her hand, and a clear, pleased smile once again flowed out from his eyes.
Still not very used to directly expressing her feelings, Wang Luan suddenly remembered a language trick: when you don’t want to answer head-on, just ask a question back. So she asked, “You didn’t think about me?”
“I did,” Yan Qiongyu answered frankly.
Wang Luan: “…………” She lost—she had been losing ever since they met!
Logically speaking, she was an A, so between the two of them, didn’t that mean she needed to be more proactive? Wang Luan recalled Captain Shanma’s teachings from this period of time.
She suddenly turned her head to look behind her, confirmed that there was no one there, then, as if steeling herself like a valiant warrior, she drew Yan Qiongyu closer by the waist and leaned in to kiss him.
Shamefully, her technique had grown rusty—clumsy and awkward, she even bumped teeth, and her glandular fangs emerged involuntarily, scraping against her tongue.
Yan Qiongyu let out two soft laughs from his throat as he was kissed. Embarrassment surged up in Wang Luan, and she pulled back a little, saying awkwardly, “Sorry, I bit you.”
Not having learned how to control her sharp glandular fangs, it was very easy to scrape out a wound. In any case, she once again tasted the flavor of his blood.
Yan Qiongyu licked the wound inside his mouth and also said, “Sorry, I was just thinking that Miss Wang Luan has never learned how to use her glandular fangs from the very beginning, a bit more sluggish than ordinary people—somewhat cute.”
What was cute about not knowing how to use one’s own built-in organs? Wang Luan didn’t quite understand. “Then if I’m useless, wouldn’t that be even cuter?”
Yan Qiongyu: “Pfft—hahahahaha… sorry!”
He suddenly laughed so hard that his whole body shook. He barely managed to hold Wang Luan, resting his head on her shoulder to keep her from seeing how unrestrained his laughter was.
His nape gland was too close; she could smell a faint trace of pheromone. Wang Luan wrapped her arms around his waist and complained softly, “You never used to laugh at me.”
The tone didn’t quite sound like a complaint; there was also a hint of laughter in it.
Yan Qiongyu controlled his expression, returning to a smile, lifted his head, and looked straight at her. “Sorry, I won’t laugh anymore.”
Being so close, Wang Luan could feel his slightly low body temperature and his thin frame. Her hold around him tightened a little.
“If… you’re tired, then come stay at my place for a few days. I’ll stew soup for you.”
“…Okay.”
“Um… it’s not that I want to interrupt the two of you, it’s just that the pretty omega being held in the solitary cabin has a bit of a problem. His pheromones are out of control and leaking, what should we do now?” Captain Shanma said gloomily from the passageway, covering her mouth and nose.
Wang Luan caught a faint scent, seemingly some kind of floral fragrance.
Yan Qiongyu noticed it as well. The softness on his face was once again buried beneath an icy surface.
He released Wang Luan and, without needing to be led, strode straight toward the cabin where Fu Qi was being held.
Wang Luan followed behind and saw several alpha crew members on the broken ship reaching out and swaying like zombies, letting out dazed howls under the influence of the pheromones: “Smells so good! So good!”
Captain Shanma cursed, “Useless. Control yourselves. If you can’t, then hurry up and get down there—go back to our own ship!”
Several beta crew members forcibly dragged them away.
Following behind Yan Qiongyu, Wang Luan saw him press down on the unconscious omega and directly jab a needle into the gland at the back of his neck. The speed was so fast that Wang Luan didn’t even see where he took the injector from.
The out-of-control pheromones on Fu Qi’s body gradually dissipated. His body convulsed as he woke up, the back of his head still faintly aching.
When he clearly saw Yan Qiongyu in front of him, his expression changed several times before he finally said in a low voice, “Hierarch.”
Yan Qiongyu released him, wiped his hands, and asked coolly, “Fu Qi, I gave you a chance to escape. Is this all you could manage?”
“I didn’t expect Yan Lan’s people to find me so quickly. I was just a little short of escaping their pursuit—just a little,” Fu Qi said as he climbed to his feet. Seeing Yan Qiongyu’s expression and realizing he didn’t want to hear this nonsense, his tone shifted to pleading. “Give me one more chance. I can definitely do it!”
Yan Qiongyu, however, ignored him. He turned and left the room, bringing Wang Luan, who was standing at the doorway, over to one side.
“I forgot to ask—what exactly happened? How did you end up here?” Yan Qiongyu finally asked this question that should have been asked long ago.
Wang Luan organized her words and described her experience in the simplest terms.
Including how earlier they had encountered Yan Lan’s team and fired two energy cannons at them, then hid in an asteroid field to evade them, and later ran into this lone star pirate ship that tried to rob them and ended up being counter-killed.
The two of them happened to walk up to the control console. The captured star pirates were bound nearby. Yan Qiongyu smiled and glanced at the agitated star pirates. “I see. Understood.”
Wang Luan felt that his smile at this moment carried a very vicious, villain-about-to-kill-someone kind of feeling.
