Chapter 2904: Town Infrastructure Construction Proceeds Happily 26

"Do you want to kiss me?"

Huo Zhao Ye said, feeling around to grasp Jin Chen's wrist, his fingertips brushing the edge of the tattoo, and he kissed that spot of skin.

From the moment the kiss landed to its end, Huo Zhao Ye kept his eyes raised, firmly locking onto Jin Chen's eyes, his gaze filled with anxiety and pleading.

Jin Chen lowered his eyes, glanced at the kissed wrist, then looked at Huo Zhao Ye.

He was thinking, but it was only a brief moment.

Then he slightly tilted his head, and a kiss landed on Huo Zhao Ye's corner of the lips—just the corner, but it was enough.

To Huo Zhao Ye, this was like a signal of consent, and he immediately deepened the kiss on his own.

When Huo Zhao Ye was kissed by Jin Chen, he always seemed a little obedient, almost intoxicated in his compliance, lost in the thin mist woven from agarwood and desire, drifting, unable to grasp reality, beautiful to the point of unreality.

Until the kiss ended, Jin Chen released his hand gripping Huo Zhao Ye's neck, then moved to gently caress his tight waist.

Huo Zhao Ye moved in again, lightly kissing Jin Chen's closed eyelids.

Jin Chen's eyelashes trembled, and he did not dodge.

Huo Zhao Ye maintained his embrace of Jin Chen and finally said, "I don't absolutely have to smoke that herb."

"But it can calm me down."

"My mother, the former leader of Peace Town, also had this habit; I'm not sure if it's hereditary, but it likely is."

"Later her episodes became more frequent, and she could less and less control herself—anger, frenzy, sometimes deep despair… the townspeople all feared her."

"Jin Chen…" "Hmm."

Huo Zhao Ye lifted his head, playing with Jin Chen's brows and eyes; though he was usually unrestrained and domineering, his eyes now showed sorrow.

"If one day I also become like that, losing control and turning terrifying, don't approach me, stay away from me, the farther the better."

Jin Chen wrapped his arms around Huo Zhao Ye's waist, kneading his already flushed earlobes, which were soft and hot, like the owner's turbulent, uneasy heart at this moment.

"Huo Zhao Ye," Jin Chen's voice sounded near his ear, carrying a slight vibration from his chest, "I also have a secret to tell you."

Huo Zhao Ye tilted his head, his nose brushing against Jin Chen's soft hair, "What?"

"I'm good at convincing people with reason," Jin Chen said slowly, his fingertips sliding from the earlobe to the side of the neck, lightly circling near the pulsing artery, "and even better at tracking."

Feeling the pulse beneath his fingers, Jin Chen whispered, "So, Lord Huo, don't do anything that would make me unhappy."

Huo Zhao Ye: "……"

He guiltily lifted his eyes, trying to see something from Jin Chen's face.

But Jin Chen leaned against his shoulder, eyelids drooping, only the corner of his lips curved in an extremely shallow arc.

Huo Zhao Ye first avoided his gaze, "Oh, oh."

The restlessness in his heart that had just been soothed by the kiss quietly rose again because of Jin Chen's meaningful words and their ambiguous posture.

He wanted to kiss Jin Chen again, any way, anywhere, but as he leaned in, Jin Chen avoided his lips, the hand lingering on his neck sliding down, lifting his clothing and probing inside.

Cool fingertips touched the warm skin at his waist, Huo Zhao Ye shuddered all over, the kiss about to reach his lips broken off into a muffled groan.

Jin Chen didn't kiss him either, just lightly, with a sense of control, using his fingertips to play with many sensitive spots on his body.

The waist, lower back, and the hollow of the spine.

It was more like another form of taming.

Huo Zhao Ye felt somewhat uncomfortable from this, his body slightly trembling, muscles tensing then relaxing.

He couldn't escape, nor did he want to.

Finally, Huo Zhao Ye's heated forehead could only weakly rest on Jin Chen's shoulder, and he stopped wondering what Jin Chen actually knew and what he was hinting at.

【Detected Villain Heartthrob Value +5, total 77!】

——

Huo Zhao Ye now spends nine out of ten days staying in Jin Chen's small building.

This had almost become an open secret in North Town; everyone tacitly understood, and later, whenever something in the town required finding Huo Zhao Ye, the first reaction wasn't to go to his shabby lord's office, but first to peek at the door of Teacher Jin's house.

Eight or nine times out of ten, he's inside.

That afternoon, the rain began to patter down again.

The rainy season climate on the New Continent is capricious; this rain had fallen for several days, varying in intensity, the water always carrying a fishy, astringent taste, mixed with radioactive dust or mutant spores, carrying toxins; the town's elders call it poison rain, and unless necessary, everyone tries to stay indoors.

Jin Chen had just finished giving the new teachers a training session, holding up his old umbrella, walking back along the dirt road turned muddy by the rain.

The rain was fine, the sky overcast, and the town was much quieter than usual.

As he approached his own house, he saw a youth squatting under the eaves by the door, idly scratching the ground with his fingers.

Jin Chen recognized him; he was a member of the Patrol Team under Huo Zhao Ye.

Hearing the footsteps, A Li quickly stood up, "Teacher Jin! You're back!"

"You came to find Zhao Ye?" Jin Chen put away his umbrella, shook off the water droplets, and asked casually.

"Yeah, yes!"

A Li nodded, pulled out a damp sheet of grass paper from his pocket, unfolded it for Jin Chen to see, "This is the duty roster for the Patrol Team this month; originally Huo Lao Da said it was set for these two days, but today a few more kids signed up to join the Patrol Team, so we need to reshuffle the schedule."

"I looked around but couldn't find him; none of his usual haunts had him, and I even checked the field by Professor Yan's side—still no trace."

Jin Chen took the grass paper, glanced at it, "The writing is not bad."

A Li's face turned red, he scratched the back of his head, and chuckled, "It's what Huo Lao Da said; our Patrol Team needs to be able to fight, as well as read and calculate—can't be blind—thanks to Teacher Jin's teaching us."

"I'll hold onto the list." Jin Chen folded the paper and put it in his pocket, "I'll go tell him; you head back first."

A Li took it, hesitated a moment, "You…… know where Huo Lao Da is?"

He'd searched all afternoon without success, yet Teacher Jin, just returned, knows?

Jin Chen twitched the corner of his mouth, making A Li inexplicably feel a chill down his back.

"I'll go look."

"I'm also helpless; he's running off again."

A Li: ……

He looked at Jin Chen's face, which in the overcast rain grew ever more clear‑cold and fair‑skinned, keenly sensed that Teacher Jin's words seemed to have more meaning, and silently lit a stick of incense for his own big brother in his heart.

"Thank you, Teacher Jin!"

A Li turned and ran.