Chapter 53: Punishing Ye Ling

Bao Jing's palm was very white, but that hand was even whiter than his palm by a degree.

Ye Xi'an slightly bent her waist, a head of soft, shiny hair fell onto her chest, making her look even more like a porcelain doll; her whole person glowed like a firefly in the dim slum alone.

Lin Zhi Jing instantly felt comfortable; this is what a normal person ought to see.

The moment her feet stepped onto solid ground, Ye Xi'an let out a satisfied sigh, excitedly taking in the slum's smell—though it was dilapidated and stinky, this was indeed her turf, and this relaxed feeling was something skyscrapers could not give.

Of course, if someone were willing to give her a skyscraper, she wouldn't mind moving her home in right away.

Ye Xi'an rushed to the door impatiently, lifted the curtain, but only Ye Ling was home.

Her smile instantly fell.

Seeing Ye Xi'an's instantly changing expression, Ye Ling merely gave her a dismissive look, somewhat regretfully saying, "I didn't expect your life to be so big; you wouldn't die even from this."

Then he looked behind her, but didn't see Bao Jing's figure: "Where's Bao Jing? He couldn't have died, could he?"

After saying that, he laughed like a madman, his pallid neck full of frightening veins.

Ye Xi'an gripped the curtain with her hand, it's all this person's fault that Bao Jing ended up so miserable! He still has the nerve to laugh!

Even a cornered rabbit will bite; when we social-anxious types get desperate, we'll slap people!

She violently flung the curtain open and strode into the room; Ye Ling was still laughing there, Ye Xi'an directly raised her arm to a 45-degree angle behind her, using her shoulder's strength to whip her arm out—this is the slap technique she learned from watching Thai dramas when bored, supposedly even Tyson couldn't withstand it.

The fierce slap carried a whoosh of wind, striking Ye Ling's face with the speed of thunder before one could cover their ears.

Ye Ling was slapped, spinning half a turn in the air before landing; when he lifted his head, his face was already swollen badly, the slap mark raised like a brand, especially prominent.

A trickle of blood flowed from the corner of his mouth; he touched his face in disbelief, glaring at Ye Xi'an, his pupils narrowed to slits, that gaze like a beast's wanting to kill Ye Xi'an.

Ye Xi'an felt intimidated by his stare, but she stubbornly kept her neck craned and shouted at him to vent, her words slightly stuttering: "What are you laughing at?! Look at what you're looking at—keep looking and I'll gouge your eyes out!"

While saying that, she made a gouging-eye motion.

Ye Xi'an felt that with this threatening gesture, she had already scolded him fiercely, but her delicate, cute appearance saying these words actually carried no real insult.

As soon as Lin Zhi Jing entered, he found her adorable and, somewhat amused, stood beside her: "Are you punishing someone or rewarding them?"

"Want me to help you so you know what a real punishment is?"

Lin Zhi Jing said this with a faint smile at the corner of his mouth, yet it made people feel a chill.

Ye Ling lay prone on the ground, his sinister gaze sweeping over Lin Zhi Jing, his snake-like pupils trembling with fear as he struggled to retreat, only stopping when he was backed into the corner, where he furtively glanced up at Lin Zhi Jing.

He could feel that the other party, regardless of species or ability, was extremely strong.

No wonder Ye Xi'an could survive—she had found a backer.

Numb despair showed on his face; why does someone as terrible as Ye Xi'an always have people protecting her—first Ji Jiangci and his two companions, now another terrifyingly strong fellow of the same kind—is it just because she's female that they favor her so much?

Lin Zhi Jing looked at the gloomy Ye Ling on the ground, his male face pallid to a frightening degree, cheeks sunken, his body almost skin and bones, his blond hair dry and split-ended.

He had never seen such a frail, disheveled male on Zhu Shen Xing before, and felt curious: "What crime did he commit?"

At that moment, Bao Jing stepped out from behind him, coldly fixing his gaze on Ye Ling in the corner: "Doctor Lin, this is our family matter; it has nothing to do with you."

Ye Ling saw Bao Jing also return, his previously numb expression showing shock: "You didn't die either!"

He had clearly seen with his own eyes Bao Jing's wings torn off and his skin ripped by that group; although males have strong self-healing ability, Bao Jing is only a second-tier ability, making survival absolutely impossible.

But this person before him is not only alive and well, he even has no scars on his body—how could this be!

Bao Jing's expression was disgusted: "You're disappointed I didn't die, huh?"

"'An'an, may I hit him?'"

On Zhu Shen Xing, males are not allowed to fight internally; minor scuffles don't matter, but later this won't be a minor scuffle—he must first get Ye Xi'an's permission.

Ye Xi'an wished someone would act for her: "Go ahead and hit him—throw in my share too!"

With Ye Xi'an's consent, Bao Jing clenched his fists, each step taken especially slowly, the low pressure making Ye Ling somewhat breathless, he shrank into the corner, unwillingly staring at Bao Jing.

If he weren't already weakened from three days without food, he wouldn't be letting Bao Jing lay a hand on him.

Bao Jing stood before Ye Ling, looking down on this family traitor, his voice low and deep like a demon from hell: "Ye Ling, this is all your own doing."

Ye Ling scoffed: "I don't believe you haven't had the thought of killing Ye Xi'an."

The two words "kill" hadn't even left his mouth when Bao Jing's fist came down; this punch wrapped in ability, the floor being fragile, Ye Ling's head was smashed straight into the floor by Bao Jing's punch.

Ye Xi'an was startled by this scene; she hadn't expected Bao Jing's punch to be so powerful.

Ye Ling's head was beneath the floor, his hand clenched in humiliation as he pushed against the ground to pull his head out.

But what greeted him was an even more brutal rain of punches.

Ye Xi'an didn't want to watch anymore, so she simply went outside.

"Can't bear to watch?"

Lin Zhi Jing followed her out and asked her this question.

Ye Xi'an shook her head; of course she wasn't unable to bear it. She wasn't a saint, so she couldn't possibly feel mercy toward someone who almost killed her and Bao Jing; she just couldn't accept this kind of beating.

After all, not long ago she was still watching Bear Boots and Pleasant Goat.

Lin Zhi Jing and Ye Xi'an stood side by side, their upright postures hardly different from a store mannequin: "As long as you're not unable to bear it, I just fear you'll pity the male again."

After saying that, he paused, then spoke meaningfully: "Pitying the male means a lifetime of misfortune."

Ye Xi'an turned her head, looking at him strangely, feeling he had a story: "But you're male too."

"I'm not like them," Lin Zhi Jing said, leaning close to Ye Xi'an's face, his gray pupils holding only Ye Xi'an: "They might betray you, but I won't."

"Really? They can be marked by my Spiritual Mark; unless they want to die, they won't betray me."

"On the contrary, you." Ye Xi'an recalled that soldier's words then: "You seem able to remove the mark on your own—totally an uncertain factor."

Lin Zhi Jing's eyes flashed; he silently noted the soldier who told Ye Xi'an these things, intending to make them pay when he had the chance.

(End of chapter)