Soft lips pressed against him, and Xie Yi’s words were instantly cut off.
Lin Zhiji had barely drunk any alcohol, but mixed with his faint natural scent, it became intoxicating, making Xie Yi momentarily dizzy.
The instigator was still clumsily rubbing against him, even brushing the tip of his tongue along his lips.
Xie Yi’s eyes darkened instantly.
Lin Zhiji, satisfied at having silenced him, smacked his lips.
But the next second, his lips were forcefully pried open.
A hot intrusion swept into his mouth. He tried to push it out with his tongue, but was instead tangled and sucked until his tongue went numb.
His strength quickly drained, his arms sliding down from Xie Yi’s neck.
He couldn’t fall back onto the bed as intended—instead, he was fully trapped in Xie Yi’s hands, forced into submission.
Xie Yi was still not satisfied. He licked the corner of his lips and moved down his neck…
Just as things grew hazy and overwhelming, he suddenly heard soft snoring.
He looked up.
Lin Zhiji had fallen asleep.
Even worse, he turned slightly and unconsciously rubbed his cheek against Xie Yi’s palm.
Xie Yi was left half-satisfied, half-frustrated, unable to do anything about it.
In the end, he could only bite his lip in annoyance before letting him go.
Lin Zhiji slept deeply. When he woke up, it was already late morning.
He stretched—finally a good night’s sleep.
The only problem was that it felt like mosquitoes had been biting him all night.
He scratched his neck and felt a slight sting on his lips too.
These mountain mosquitoes were vicious…
He walked to the mirror and was shocked.
His neck was covered in dense red marks.
First thought: I’m poisoned?!
Then fragments of last night surfaced.
A realization hit him.
Wait… is this… a hickey?!
A hickey.
Something he had only seen in novels and dramas, never in real life.
He leaned closer, more and more certain.
Then he remembered waking up days ago with a small red mark on his neck too…
Back then, everyone had looked at him strangely.
At the thought that he had been walking around in public like that—
Lin Zhiji nearly blacked out on the spot.
Social death was worse than death itself!!
Just then, there was a knock at the door.
Lin Zhiji jumped.
“W-who is it?!”
“It’s me.” Xie Yi’s voice came through the door.
Lin Zhiji: !!!
Before he could answer, Xie Yi simply walked in, even bringing him washing supplies.
Lin Zhiji shrank his neck. “Y-you… why did you come in without waiting for my permission?”
Xie Yi raised a brow. “Last night, when you wrapped your arms around my neck and kissed me first, you weren’t acting like this.”
Lin Zhiji: !!!
“Y-you’re talking nonsense!” How could he possibly do something like that?!
Xie Yi seemed entirely unsurprised by his shameless denial. He set down what he was carrying and walked toward him.
Lin Zhiji instinctively stepped back, trying to sound fierce despite his nerves. “W-what are you doing?!”
Xie Yi tilted his head, exposing several scratches on his neck.
Thin, vivid red lines stood out sharply against his cold pale skin.
Lin Zhiji was speechless.
He had been dazed at the time, but he hadn’t completely blacked out. He vaguely remembered at least a little of what Xie Yi was talking about.
He dimly remembered Xie Yi saying something over and over. He had gotten annoyed, and then…
Lin Zhiji: …
Xie Yi: “Remember now?”
Lin Zhiji covered his face. But then he suddenly realized—when Xie Yi had first walked in, there had been nothing covering his neck.
He wouldn’t have walked around outside all morning with those scratches showing, would he?
Lin Zhiji didn’t have the courage to ask.
All he felt was darkness closing in. And then even more darkness.
It was over.
The pure, heterosexual honor he had treasured all his life.
After washing up, he deliberately picked clothes with the highest collar he could find, doing his best to cover the marks before sneaking out the door.
Yet Xie Yi, who had been nowhere to be seen for days, shamelessly followed behind him.
Seeing the obvious scratches on his neck, Lin Zhiji couldn’t help lowering his voice. “You… are you done being busy?”
Xie Yi caught the meaning in his words immediately. “Trying to drive me away?”
Lin Zhiji: …
Crossing his arms, Xie Yi smiled lazily. “No rush. There’s still a good show to watch today.”
The moment he finished speaking, a group of men barged into Qilin Stronghold.
The man leading them had a face full of coarse flesh and cold, sinister eyes.
Having gotten the news, Chen Ben rushed over in a panic, not even wearing his shoes properly. “Brother Hu! Honored guest, honored guest—my apologies for not welcoming you sooner.”
Xie Yi chose that moment to explain to Lin Zhiji, “That man is called Chen Hu. He’s Chen Ben’s clansman and the Third Boss of Wolf Fang Stronghold. Wolf Fang Stronghold has always wanted to swallow up Qilin Stronghold. Since Chen Hu came personally, it looks like today will end with a definite result.”
Lin Zhiji wasn’t surprised that Xie Yi knew all this.
He had been laying plans for an entire year, thoroughly investigating these mountain strongholds inside and out. Rather than saying they had been robbed by Chen Ben and the others, it would be more accurate to say Xie Yi had chosen Qilin Stronghold from the very start.
And considering how mysteriously he had been coming and going lately, it was probably because of matters like this.
Lin Zhiji thought to himself.
Meanwhile, Chen Hu showed Chen Ben absolutely no respect. In a cold voice, he said, “Enough useless talk. Have you made up your mind?”
He swept his gaze across the shabby surroundings of Qilin Stronghold and sneered. “I’m doing you a favor here. Join Wolf Fang Stronghold, and from now on you’ll eat well and live well. Isn’t that better than barely scraping by meal to meal?”
His overbearing attitude left everyone in Qilin Stronghold furious, though none dared speak.
Chen Hu made it sound nice, but they all knew reality was nothing like what he described.
The strongholds swallowed by Wolf Fang Stronghold lived like slaves—doing the hardest labor while surviving on scraps and leftovers each day.
If this had been before, when there wasn’t even enough food in the stronghold, everyone would have had no choice but to accept being absorbed.
But now they had cement. Their good days were finally within reach. Who would willingly become slaves in Wolf Fang Stronghold?
Suppressing his anger, Chen Ben forced a smile. “Brother Hu, w-wasn’t it agreed that we’d have until the end of the month to consider it? There are still seven or eight days left…”
Before he could finish, Chen Hu kicked him to the ground.
Stepping on his chest, Chen Hu snarled, “Chen Ben, I’ve been talking nicely only because we share the same ancestors. Don’t refuse a toast only to drink a forfeit!”
Chen Ben’s face flushed red under the pressure of the foot on his chest, but he couldn’t get up.
The others in the stronghold tried to save him, only to be blocked by Chen Hu’s men.
Lin Zhiji jumped in fright and instinctively turned to Xie Yi for help.
But Xie Yi seemed to have predicted it already. “Want me to help save him?”
Just as Lin Zhiji was about to speak, he suddenly paused.
Because he realized there was no daily mission in the task list about saving people—which meant that, according to the system’s judgment, Chen Ben and the people of Qilin Stronghold didn’t actually need rescuing.
Even though Lin Zhiji often mocked the system for acting like a rigid AI, he had to admit its judgment was remarkably accurate. Up to now, it had almost never made mistakes.
And that made him realize something.
With certainty, he said, “You were planning to save them anyway.”
Xie Yi narrowed his eyes.
That Lin Zhiji had guessed his thoughts so precisely genuinely surprised him. But soon, a faint smile appeared on his face.
“So what if I was?”
He didn’t bother hiding his intentions.
“When they’re completely out of options and desperate, then I step in to save them. Wouldn’t that make the favor even greater—and benefit me more?”
After all, he was the officially certified villain of the book—cold, ruthless, someone who exploited favors for gain. Acting this way was perfectly normal.
Lin Zhiji blurted out almost immediately, “You’re not that kind of person.”
He had seen Xie Yi kill without blinking.
He had seen him scheme and manipulate people.
But for some reason, deep down, he had an inexplicable instinct that Xie Yi wasn’t that kind of person.
Xie Yi froze for a brief moment.
Even he himself couldn’t guarantee what kind of person he truly was. He had no idea where Lin Zhiji’s confidence came from.
Looking into those stubborn eyes fixed firmly on him, he clicked his tongue softly before leaping forward.
Chen Hu had still been throwing his weight around when suddenly he was kicked flying.
His bulky body slammed hard into the ground, and he spat out a mouthful of blood with a “wah.”
As for the other lackeys, they were even less of a match for Xie Yi. Within moments, they were all sprawled on the ground, forced to help the still-vomiting-blood Chen Hu limp away in disgrace.
Everyone in Qilin Stronghold—including Chen Ben, who had just been helped back to his feet—was stunned.
Because Xie Yi had acted in time, hardly anyone had gotten hurt. The worst injury was probably Chen Ben getting stomped on.
But for Chen Ben, that wasn’t the real issue. What worried him more was retaliation from Wolf Fang Stronghold.
The others in the stronghold, however, were far less pessimistic, all throwing out ideas at once.
“We’ve got cement now! Before Wolf Fang Stronghold comes back, let’s build the gates really high so they can’t get in!”
“Yeah, yeah! Then we’ll shoot arrows from the top. I heard storytellers say that’s how generals defend cities!”
“Even if we’re short on people, it’s fine—women can fight too!”
Chen Ben snapped irritably, “Enough, enough! Listen to yourselves. Shoot arrows? Have any of you even learned archery? Besides, if they surround the stronghold for ten days or half a month, we’ll run out of food and starve to death.”
Everyone immediately fell silent.
Only then did Chen Ben turn toward Xie Yi and Lin Zhiji. As if finally making up his mind, he said, “Brother Yi, Brother Lin—Chen Hu won’t let this go. You two should leave quickly.”
Lin Zhiji had thought he was about to ask Xie Yi for help, so hearing that left him stunned.
Xie Yi merely glanced at Chen Ben lightly before saying, “It’s not like there’s no solution.”
That one look made Chen Ben’s heart tremble, as if all his thoughts had been seen through.
Uneasily, he followed Xie Yi to the meeting hall. The moment he entered, he dropped to his knees.
“Th-this commoner greets General Xie!”
Xie Yi smiled faintly. “The Stronghold Chief truly is a smart man. I’ve always liked dealing with smart people.”
Those words practically confirmed his identity.
Chen Ben laughed bitterly inwardly.
He blamed himself for holding onto false hope. He had never imagined that the dignified General of the Western Expedition would truly lower himself enough to infiltrate a mountain stronghold with someone like Lin Zhiji, who knew absolutely no martial arts.
But he also knew that from the moment Xie Yi entered the stronghold, he had barely tried to hide who he was. Whether Chen Hu had shown up today or not, they had never really had a choice.
Chen Ben should have felt anger.
Or caution.
Yet somehow, his heart settled instead.
In a low voice, he said, “The Xu family and the Kou family already informed us about the imperial court’s bandit suppression campaign and about you, General. But this commoner knows those two families are no kind-hearted people. They only want us and the General to destroy one another so they can profit in the end. If the General does not disdain us, this commoner is willing to follow your orders.”
Xie Yi didn’t bother with politeness.
“When the time comes, my troops will need to pass through the road beneath the stronghold. I ask the Stronghold Chief to make things convenient.”
Chen Ben stared at him in shock.
The road Xie Yi referred to was obviously not the ordinary route merchants used, but a secret path known only to Chen Ben.
It led directly near Qingzhou City, less than twenty li from the city gates. But part of the journey passed through a maze-like underground cavern system, and only Chen Ben knew the way.
At present, Qingzhou was searching aggressively for the imperial troops sent to suppress the bandits. If soldiers could be hidden in that underground cavern, they could naturally avoid detection—and perhaps even launch a surprise attack right beneath Qingzhou’s walls.
This route was Chen Ben’s most valuable asset.
Very few people knew of it. Only a handful of merchant caravans he deeply trusted had ever been allowed to travel that way under his guidance.
And yet Xie Yi even knew about this!
A chill instantly ran up Chen Ben’s spine.
Xie Yi could sense the fear in Chen Ben’s gaze. He had seen that look countless times before and no longer cared.
Human nature was simply like that.
But as long as the benefits were great enough, he trusted Chen Ben to make the right choice.
Chen Ben didn’t hesitate long.
“Fine,” he said. “I agree.”
Xie Yi nodded, unsurprised by the outcome.
But then Chen Ben clenched his fists, as though finally making up his mind.
“Actually, I know another route,” he said. “One that can lead directly into Qingzhou City.”
Xie Yi abruptly looked up, nearly glaring at him. “What did you say?”
Having said it, Chen Ben seemed to have cast off some burden. There was even a smile on his face now.
“No one but me knows this path. If it were before, I definitely wouldn’t have revealed it.
“But now, Brother Lin helped us create cement. In the future, we’ll have a skill to rely on and won’t need to be bandits anymore. If General Xie can eliminate the real ‘bandits’ in Qingzhou City, then we can open a shop there and live peacefully and steadily.
“In that case, this road is useless to me now. I’d rather give it to the General so it can serve a greater purpose.”
Xie Yi’s heart trembled.
He had never expected the cement Lin Zhiji created to bring him such an unexpected gain, and for a moment, his emotions were too complicated to put into words.
But in the end, he suppressed everything and said lightly, “In three days, Wolf Fang Stronghold will descend into internal conflict. At that time, they naturally won’t have the energy to trouble you anymore.”
Chen Ben let out a long breath of relief. “Many thanks, General!”
To avoid problems from dragging on, Chen Ben brought them—along with several of Xie Yi’s subordinates—through the underground cavern and directly into Qingzhou City early the next morning.
The cavern was extremely dark, and the path difficult to traverse.
So the moment they entered, Xie Yi took hold of Lin Zhiji’s hand.
Lin Zhiji secretly glanced at him, feeling that ever since the conversation with Chen Ben yesterday, Xie Yi had been acting a little strange.
Happy? Not exactly.
Unhappy? Not exactly, either.
This new route Chen Ben offered led straight to Qingzhou City and saved them untold trouble. Wasn’t that a good thing?
Or was Xie Yi worried about something?
After thinking for a moment, Lin Zhiji spoke to him through their mental link.
【Host, I can spend points to activate the “real-time map.” If there are enemies, I’ll detect them immediately.】
Back when he first bonded with Xie Yi, he had used this “real-time map” feature once. It was incredibly powerful—its only flaw was the price.
At the time, he had very few points and had used them stingily. But now, with Xie Yi helping him complete missions, he had become much more generous.
Yet Xie Yi asked instead:
【You helped Chen Ben so much. I thought that meant you trusted him.】
Lin Zhiji replied matter-of-factly:
【Helping him is one thing, but you can’t let your guard down around people.】
It was like in modern times—if you helped an elderly person to the hospital, you still had to film it first to keep proof.
Xie Yi paused.
【Is it the same with me?】