Chapter 223

Zhou Zhouzhou laughed, "I'm afraid it's not about not receiving reward without merit, but rather that one cannot be without vigilance against people."

Yuan Yao said, "As long as you understand, that's fine."

Upon hearing that, Zhou Zhouzhou let out a light sigh, "If that's the case, then forget it."

The two of them had nothing more to say on that topic.

About an hour later.

An Eagle tribe guard walked out of the City Lord's mansion and said to Yuan Yao and the others, "The lord will stay two days in the Wolf King's territory; you stay here on guard, and if anything happens, first let the Wolf tribe guard pass along a report."

The Eagle tribe soldiers assented.

As Yuan Yao lowered her head, she couldn't help wondering what Eagle tribe commander Cangming had come this time to discuss with the Wolf King—was it because the human envoy party was about to arrive?

According to the schedule, the human envoy party will arrive at Tianrui City the day after tomorrow.

After the Eagle tribe guard finished giving his instructions, he entered the City Lord's mansion.

Meanwhile, the fifteen Eagle tribe soldiers remained on duty outside the City Lord's mansion, standing by.

Yuan Yao felt she couldn't waste two days here for nothing, so she couldn't help glancing at Zhou Zhouzhou beside her.

Noticing her gaze, Zhou Zhouzhou curled the corner of his mouth, lowered his voice, and asked softly, "What? Do you need my help now?"

His voice was somewhat overly alluring.

Yuan Yao simply said, "How about we stroll around Tianrui City together?"

Upon hearing that, Zhou Zhouzhou raised an eyebrow, then lightly tugged at the corner of his mouth and shook his head.

"No."

He was now clearly putting on the attitude of, "If you don't tell me about your plan, I definitely won't cooperate with you."

Yuan Yao fell silent.

She felt Zhou Zhouzhou was meticulous in his thoughts, possibly not a good person, and if she rashly told him her plan……

Yuan Yao gave him a sideways glance, then began to feign unbearable abdominal pain, clutching her stomach tightly with one hand, her face instantly turning deathly pale as she drew in breaths.

Soon, the other Eagle tribe soldiers noticed her abnormality.

"What's wrong with you?" one Eagle tribe soldier asked.

Yuan Yao bit her lower lip tightly, "My stomach hurts; I need to go relieve myself."

Upon hearing that, the other Eagle tribe soldiers exchanged glances, also unsure what to do, since they lacked the authority to let Yuan Yao leave.

"I'll go with you," Zhou Zhouzhou said, seeing her act so convincingly; he sighed inwardly, but his expression remained indifferent.

Yuan Yao furrowed her brows, "I can go alone; how could I implicate you in dereliction of duty?"

Upon hearing those four words "dereliction of duty," the other Eagle tribe soldiers silently averted their gazes, instantly pretending to be deaf and dumb.

"Let's go," Zhou Zhouzhou stepped forward, grabbed Yuan Yao's arm, and pulled her toward the street, saying as they walked, "Have you already gone? I smell feces."

Hearing that, the surrounding soldiers all held their breaths in disgust.

Yuan Yao: "……"

She retorted unwilling to show weakness, "Do you have some special fetish? You want to follow me even when I go to relieve myself?"

The surrounding soldiers' gazes at Zhou Zhouzhou also changed.

"Yeah," Zhou Zhouzhou laughed, a hint of pleasure appearing on his ordinary face, his voice tinged with nonchalance, "You didn't know? I've always liked you."

As soon as he said that, the passing monster tribe soldiers were all stunned.

Although they were on patrol, they couldn't resist the urge to gossip.

These two Eagle tribe soldiers actually have a same-sex relationship!

"Holy cow!"

Yuan Yao showed an incredulous expression, quickly trying to distance herself from Zhou Zhouzhou, but at that moment he reached out and pulled her into his embrace, leaning in, and in a voice only they could hear said, "You're too frigid; you're still a bit lacking to match me. Rest assured, I don't like men, I like women."

Yuan Yao had never heard such lewd words spoken near her ear before, and she widened her eyes.

Seeing her like that, Zhou Zhouzhou couldn't help curling the corner of his mouth.

"Really pure, huh."

"She's probably still young."

At that moment, a sharp pain shot through Zhou Zhouzhou's instep, causing his smile to vanish instantly, and he shot a sharp glance at Yuan Yao, who had seized the chance to push him away.

On Yuan Yao's ordinary male face, naked disgust showed through.

"Yuan Xiaoliu," Zhou Zhouzhou said with a half-smile, "You're the first person daring enough to step on my foot."

Yuan Yao couldn't be bothered to deal with him; she continued feigning stomach pain and quickly walked into the nearby street.

Zhou Zhouzhou furrowed his brows slightly.

He also followed after her.

Yuan Yao had intended to shake him off, but she hadn't expected him to stick so close.

After the two entered an empty room,

Zhou Zhouzhou leaned against the window, arms crossed, and spoke in a lax tone.

"Yuan Xiaoliu, what exactly do you intend to do?"

Yuan Yao ignored him, took out the map of the Wanli Plain, and studied it carefully.

Seeing Yuan Yao engrossed in the map, Zhou Zhouzhou couldn't help stepping closer, standing beside her, about to speak, but Yuan Yao beat him to it.

"The monster and demon tribes jointly occupy the Wanli Plain; then, which parts of the Wanli Plain are occupied by the monster tribe?"

Zhou Zhouzhou blinked slightly, then laughed, "Why are you asking that?"

"Do you know?"

"I do."

"Then could you tell me?" Yuan Yao tilted her head to look at him.

Zhou Zhouzhou brushed against her bright, beautiful eyes, his heart fluttering slightly, then he said: "Don't act coy with me."

"I didn't." Yuan Yao realized her tone might have softened a bit, and she immediately spoke in a rough, gruff voice.

Zhou Zhouzhou snorted: "How old are you?"

"Answer my question first."

"Fine." Zhou Zhouzhou raised his hand and drew a dividing line on the Ten Thousand Li Plain map, saying, "Starting from here in the middle, the right side is the Yao tribe, the left side is the Demon tribe, and the capital city of the Ten Thousand Li Plain, Azure City, is jointly occupied by both tribes; moreover, the Demon Sovereign of the Demon tribe and the Yao Sovereign of the Yao tribe will both gather in Azure City."

Yuan Yao listened while thinking about her plan.

"I'm done." Zhou Zhouzhou looked at her.

Yuan Yao casually replied, "Almost sixteen."

There's still over a month until her birthday. After the birthday passes, she'll be sixteen.

"Indeed, she's very young." Zhou Zhouzhou curled the corner of his mouth.

Upon hearing that, Yuan Yao decisively put some distance between herself and him.

Seeing this, Zhou Zhouzhou chuckled: "What? Do you really think I have a taste for male love?"

"Even if you did, it wouldn't be strange." Yuan Yao stared at him warily and on guard.

Zhou Zhouzhou: "……"

He said: "Even if I had a taste for male love, I could never be interested in you."

After a pause, he continued: "You really don't want to ally with me?"

Yuan Yao shook her head decisively.

"Go find someone else."

Zhou Zhouzhou had never before been so cautiously guarded against by a youth, even before revealing his true identity.

For a moment, he actually felt a sense of novelty.

"You don't need to follow me anymore." After Yuan Yao neatly put away the Ten Thousand Li Plain map, she said to Zhou Zhouzhou.

Zhou Zhouzhou, however, said: "Since we came out together, we naturally should return together."

Yuan Yao couldn't be bothered to argue with him; just as she was about to push open the door, Zhou Zhouzhou reached out to block her.

"Someone is watching this place from outside." Zhou Zhouzhou's gaze deepened, his eyes fixed through the door as if locking onto a certain spot.