Chapter 15 – Xu Qianqian Under Surprise Attack

In the end, Su Ming managed to preserve his last shred of integrity, refusing to step forward and willingly let Xu Qianqian drain him dry.

Of course, this had absolutely nothing to do with how their quarrel escalated to the point where Xu Qianqian actually pounced on him, bit him, and drained him until his legs went weak.

Even as he lay limp on the ground, Su Ming maintained an expression of unwavering defiance, which sufficiently demonstrated his unyielding spirit and determination.

Provided one ignored the involuntary curl at the corner of his lips…

“I’m sorry.”

Xu Qianqian, her cheeks tinged with a suspicious blush, knelt before Su Ming with bent knees and offered an embarrassed explanation.

“I didn’t intend to do that, but your blood is just too irresistible to me. Normally, I can suppress the urge to drink blood. It’s only when I’m around you that I might lose control during moments of irrationality…”

Clearly, that had been one of those irrational moments.

After all, Xu Qianqian had genuinely been provoked by Su Ming.

Su Ming glanced at Xu Qianqian, taking in her flushed appearance, and suddenly realized that this Young Miss of the Xu Family was truly somewhat naive about the ways of the world.

Their previous conflict in the suburbs could be explained by her severe injuries and compromised mental state. But after this encounter, Su Ming began to suspect that this Young Miss might not be as cold and aloof as outsiders imagined.

Would a truly cold and aloof person divulge all the information someone wanted to know before achieving their own objective?

Even though Xu Qianqian hadn’t accomplished her goal yet, she had already explained everything Su Ming wanted to know. Afterwards, when Su Ming tried to renege and leave, this woman’s methods of persuasion were not only simple and rough, but she even apologized.

She must be quite spoiled by her family, right?

This was clearly someone who had never experienced the harsh realities of society.

“Fine then,” Su Ming could only say helplessly. “Tell me, what will it take for you to let me go?”

“That’s very rude of you to say,” Xu Qianqian frowned. “I’m not threatening you.”

“Oh?” Su Ming raised an eyebrow. “So you’re saying I don’t have to agree to your request?”

Xu Qianqian remained silent for a moment before nodding.

“If you truly don’t want to agree, I won’t force you.”

Xu Qianqian made this promise.

“You said it yourself!”

Su Ming perked up immediately and flipped over to sit up.

Witnessing this, Xu Qianqian felt somewhat speechless.

Just how unwilling was this person to help her?

If she were to ask others for help, wouldn’t people willing to sacrifice everything for her line up all the way beyond Longyao Base City?

Yet this person was actually so reluctant… it was really… baffling!

However, it must be admitted that Su Ming’s behavior had sparked some interest in Xu Qianqian.

This attitude of actively avoiding her was something Xu Qianqian had never encountered in her life.

Therefore, she couldn’t help but feel a sense of novelty about “how fresh this attitude really is.”

“Go on,” Su Ming said while brushing the dust off his clothes, asking as if it didn’t matter. “What do you want me to help you with?”

As soon as serious matters were mentioned, Xu Qianqian immediately became solemn.”I want to ask you to investigate that suspicious group from that night.”

Xu Qianqian finally had the opportunity to mention her purpose.

“What’s the reason?” Su Ming wasn’t surprised, but instead asked: “You said this is related to your mission, right?”

“Correct.” Xu Qianqian nodded and said: “That was almost a month ago…”

Xu Qianqian then explained the entire incident to Su Ming.

According to her, that suspicious group was first noticed about a month ago.

They suddenly appeared in Longyao Base City, seemingly pursuing something while operating in the shadows. They continuously caused considerable commotions that attracted attention from many interested parties.

Just like that night here, they apparently chased after something and engaged in intense combat with the other party. The disturbance they caused then was anything but small – one could even say it was massive.

Over the past month, this suspicious group had caused such disturbances multiple times. It was impossible for them not to be noticed by interested parties.

Naturally, their suspicious actions had also raised many people’ s vigilance.

Especially since this suspicious group had gathered twenty to thirty Hunters and Sorcerers, making it even more impossible not to be wary.

Those Hunters and Sorcerers weren’t like the still-studying students at the Demon Hunter Academy, but rather professional Hunters and Sorcerers.

Such a force could become a highly regarded combat unit even among those top-tier great Families.

Now, with this force secretly pursuing something while causing such major disturbances, it was impossible for the Base City authorities not to take action.

Originally, the Base City higher-ups planned to directly detain this suspicious group and question them about the details.

Unexpectedly, whenever the Base City authorities took any targeted action, that suspicious group would always manage to withdraw beforehand and disappear without a trace, leaving no clues behind.

If this happened once or twice it would be understandable, but over the past month, the suspicious group had consistently avoided the people sent by the Base City. There would be something strange if there weren’t problems behind this.

Su Ming immediately understood.

“This group has someone backing them, and that person likely holds an extremely high position among Longyao Base City’s higher-ups.”

Only this could explain why the group could always learn about the Base City’s actions in advance and successfully avoid them.

The reason could only be that there was a mole among the Base City higher-ups.

Or perhaps…

“That suspicious group is actually combat power privately maintained by someone among the Base City higher-ups?”

Su Ming pointed out the underlying truth.

Xu Qianqian neither admitted nor denied it.

Clearly, this was also one of Xu Qianqian’s speculations.

“I think I understand now.” Su Ming said to Xu Qianqian: “Someone among the Base City higher-ups has become suspicious, suspecting that this incident involves some ambitious person among them taking covert action, which is why they want to send someone to investigate secretly, right?””Yes.” Xu Qianqian raised her eyes, glancing at Su Ming with a mix of surprise and admiration. “This mission wasn’t assigned by the Academy. It was assigned to me by certain Base City Executives, and the difficulty is tentatively rated as A-Rank.”

Although this meant opposing a group comprising twenty to thirty professional Hunters and Sorcerers—with suspected backing from Base City Executives—the mission’s focus on investigation kept it from being classified at the highest S-Rank difficulty.

“Why would such a mission fall into your hands?”

Su Ming was puzzled.

A mission like this clearly shouldn’t be carried out by a student still attending the Demon Hunter Academy, right?

Since it involved Base City Executives, wouldn’t it make more sense to dispatch their trusted agents to handle it?

Su Ming’s confusion was soon cleared up.

“If the other side is suspected to have Base City Executives backing them, deploying any professional Hunters or Sorcerers could be detected through their authority,” Xu Qianqian explained. “Unless we use unrecorded private forces like that Suspicious Group, the risk of being discovered remains to some extent.”

If unrecorded private forces were exposed, the consequences could range from minor to severe. While all of humanity was pooling its resources to fight Phantom Demons and the Spirit Demon Abyss, some were secretly hoarding unrecorded private troops—implying these forces served hidden agendas rather than the collective good.

If such actions were exposed and exploited by schemers using moral pressure, the fallout would be significant. Thus, privately trained forces by certain individuals had to remain in the shadows—exposure would be fatal.

This mission, after all, was merely an investigation and was issued jointly by some Base City Executives. Openly using private forces and handing leverage to political rivals was out of the question.

Hence, the mission fell to students who weren’t yet professional Hunters or Sorcerers. These students needed strength comparable to professionals, loyalty to handle matters discreetly, and awareness of the implications.

Under these circumstances, Xu Qianqian, as the Young Miss of the Xu Family, was selected.

Su Ming had reason to believe that among the Base City Executives issuing this mission were members of the Xu Family. This ensured absolute trust in Xu Qianqian.

Learning this, Su Ming remarked bluntly, “Your family is quite bold, sending a delicate beauty like you on such a dangerous mission. Aren’t they worried you might come to harm?”

He had assumed this Young Miss was dearly cherished at home—could the opposite be true?

“Don’t underestimate me,” Xu Qianqian replied with displeasure. “It’s just an investigation. An A-Rank mission isn’t something I haven’t completed before.”

That was true. Having been enrolled for two years and now advancing to her third year, Xu Qianqian had completed A-Rank missions more than once.Even though this Young Miss had only completed two A-Rank Missions, she had ultimately proven her capability to handle tasks of A-Rank difficulty.

Moreover, Su Ming didn’t believe that the esteemed Xu Family’s Young Miss would lack life-saving measures or hidden trump cards. It wasn’t entirely unreasonable for this mission to fall to Xu Qianqian.

But then another question arose.

“If that’s the case, why do you need my help? And why were you so severely injured that night?”

Su Ming finally asked this question.

Xu Qianqian’s face instantly turned icy cold.

“Because someone ambushed me.”

Her expression was frigid to the extreme.

(End of Chapter)