Chapter 81 – How Can Someone Be This Much of a Hypocrite?

At this moment, Li Wei had no idea that the situation wasn’t developing as smoothly as he had imagined.

His two henchmen had eagerly rushed off to find Su Ming, only to return crestfallen shortly after.

The reason was simple.

“You’re saying Xu Qianqian is with Su Ming right now?”

Li Wei listened to his henchmen’s report, his voice completely darkening as anger surged within him.

How long has it been since she arrived?

She just met him, and now she’s already running off to find that man again?

Where’s your aloofness?

Where’s your indifference?

When it comes to me, you act like some goddess, but with Su Ming you’re this proactive? How can someone be this much of a hypocrite?

Li Wei’s mood couldn’t be worse.

And if his mood was bad, his two henchmen’s moods were even worse.

“Damn it, we went to teach him a lesson, but instead he showed us up.”

“What exactly does Academy Beauty Xu mean by this? She’s from our Hunter Department and on our team, yet she doesn’t interact with us at all, instead running off to find that Su Ming.”

The henchmen felt truly unbalanced.

Thinking back over these past few days, although they had been staying in the same team and under the same roof as Xu Qianqian, they had faced countless rejections from her.

While other teams were bonding over hotpot and playing games together, their team was always missing Xu Qianqian.

When other teams were laughing, joking, and playing around together, in their team, Xu Qianqian would always just silently watch from the sidelines, extremely aloof.

Xu Qianqian only interacted with them during missions or when necessary. The rest of the time, she would either coldly observe from the side or simply disappear into her room.

This had poured cold water on many in the team who had been secretly pleased to be teamed with Xu Qianqian, including Li Wei.

It could be said that Xu Qianqian only stayed with them because of the mission.

Originally, although everyone felt somewhat regretful, they didn’t see it as a problem.

After all, Xu Qianqian’s coldness wasn’t a recent development.

For a woman rumored throughout the Academy to be frigid, wasn’t such aloofness to be expected?

But when Xu Qianqian treated someone else completely differently, especially a specific man, any man would feel unbalanced.

What these constantly complaining henchmen and the perpetually grim-faced Li Wei didn’t know was that Xu Qianqian’s visit to Su Ming wasn’t without reason.

“Sorry, I’ll probably end up involving you.”

The moment Xu Qianqian showed up at his door, she blurted out these words without preamble.

“Uh…”

Su Ming was almost caught off guard.

At that moment, Su Ming was still holding the door open, with Xu Qianqian standing outside.

“Senior!”

Inside the room, Lei Hao immediately scrambled to his feet upon seeing Xu Qianqian.

“Fuck!”

Ye Bai let out a national curse before covering his entire body.

There was no helping it – he had just stripped down and was about to change clothes, wearing nothing but his underwear.Appearing before the renowned goddess senior of the Demon Hunter Academy in such a state, even though Ye Bai’s heart belonged to An Zijin, he still felt a wave of embarrassment.

Unfortunately, Xu Qianqian merely glanced at the two of them before saying:

“I have something to discuss with Su Ming. Could you two lend me the space?”

With these words, Xu Qianqian actually drove Lei Hao and Ye Bai out of the room.

BANG!

Amidst the loud slamming sound, the door was shut heavily, leaving Lei Hao and Ye Bai standing dumbfounded before it, completely petrified.

Especially Ye Bai, who was nearly in tears.

“At least give me some clothes! Senior!”

Ye Bai’s composure had shattered.

And if Ye Bai was like this, one could easily imagine how Lei Hao—who regarded Xu Qianqian as his goddess—must be feeling.

However, these two individuals’ affairs were no longer important at the moment.

What mattered was Su Ming.

“Wh-what are you doing?”

Su Ming was pressed onto the bed by Xu Qianqian, his entire body beginning to tremble.

Ignoring Su Ming’s expression—which resembled that of a young bride about to be forced—Xu Qianqian stared straight at him and said:

“The Upper-Rank Professional who will be arriving at this defense line should be from the Xu Family.”

Xu Qianqian abruptly uttered these words.

“Someone from the Xu Family?”

Su Ming was slightly taken aback.

“Mm.” Xu Qianqian nodded, her expression somewhat cold as she continued, “You must have heard as well, right? The Upper-Rank Professional assigned to this defense line is a Four-Star Hunter from a major Family, and he even exerted influence on the Academy to have my squad assigned here.”

Su Ming grasped the implication of her words almost immediately.

“You mean he’s targeting you?”

Su Ming looked at Xu Qianqian.

“Most likely.” Xu Qianqian replied coldly, “If he uses the pretext of protecting the Xu Family’s next-generation heir—ensuring I don’t meet with any mishaps during this war—then neither the Base City higher-ups nor the Academy leadership would refuse such an assignment.”

Otherwise, how could the Academy’s most elite squad, composed of its strongest students—including the Xu Family’s Young Miss and a Genius from the Li Family’s branch line—be so easily reassigned at someone’s mere suggestion?

Even if that someone was an Upper-Rank Professional, their influence wouldn’t be that extensive.

Unless, of course, that person was connected to Xu Qianqian and had a fully justified reason.

Surely, whether it was the Base City higher-ups or the Academy leadership, considering the safety of someone with Xu Qianqian’s status, they would selectively compromise, wouldn’t they?

Not to mention that Xu Qianqian’s squad also included a Genius from the Li Family’s branch line, with the rest being top-ranked elite students. They could truly be called the most promising rising stars in the future Professional circle. Sending such a group to a relatively safe defense line for protection might indeed be a wise choice.

Thus, the matter was settled.

However, this wasn’t necessarily a good thing.

At least, not for Xu Qianqian.

“If it were truly just for protection, the Family should have informed me in advance.” Xu Qianqian stated, “But before this, I hadn’t received even a hint of such news.”

This was rather intriguing.Su Ming had a rough idea of why Xu Qianqian had come to find him and why she said he might have been implicated because of her.

“The person who came is from the Xu Family, but he’s probably not on your side—rather, he’s your enemy, right?”

Su Ming hadn’t forgotten how he first met Xu Qianqian.

She had been ambushed.

She was being targeted.

Someone wanted her dead.

And this person was very likely from within the Xu Family itself.

This wasn’t surprising.

As mentioned before, in a large Family, the intricate relationships were far from simple.

In such a prominent Family, Su Ming didn’t believe there weren’t any power struggles going on.

Especially since Xu Qianqian had been reluctant to say much about it before—given her personality, she probably didn’t want to air the Family’s dirty laundry in public.

So, Su Ming was almost certain that Xu Qianqian was in trouble.

This Defense Line mission was no longer just a straightforward defense against external races; it was now mixed with the internal conflicts of a major Family.

In other words, this Defense Line might very well have to face threats from both within and without.

For everyone on this entire Defense Line, this was an extremely deadly hidden danger.

At any rate, Su Ming’s mood had soured.

Because from now on, he might not only have to deal with Phantom Demons and defend the line, but also guard against internal issues and the possibility of being stabbed in the back.

The fact that Xu Qianqian had come to him so quickly and so forcefully cleared out all the bystanders probably meant she was feeling the pressure.

Simply because Su Ming was very likely unable to stay out of it.

“Those people definitely know about our interactions,” Xu Qianqian said with lowered eyes, seeming somewhat apologetic. “If they’re really coming for me, then there’s a good chance you’ll get dragged into this.”

This was why Xu Qianqian couldn’t help but come to apologize.

“This is indeed a problem.”

Su Ming also began to take it seriously.

Although he felt a bit like an innocent bystander getting caught up in the mess, seeing Xu Qianqian’s unusually guilty expression made it impossible for him to get angry.

Oh well.

He wasn’t unaware of the troubles that came with beautiful women.

As an avid reader who had browsed countless online novels in the past, given Su Ming’s personality, it would be fake to say he hadn’t realized that getting involved with people like Xu Qianqian and An Zijin would bring trouble.

So, in a way, Su Ming could say he had already mentally prepared for this.

Plus, he still owed Xu Qianqian a huge favor, so he really didn’t feel that angry.

The only question was what to do next.

“Who’s the one coming?”

This was Su Ming’s first question.

He needed to know who the potential enemy was.

Xu Qianqian might not have found out for sure yet, but she probably had an idea.

Sure enough…

“It’s probably someone from my uncle,” Xu Qianqian said. “In the Xu Family, only my uncle’s faction can rival my father’s.”

In other words, they were the biggest threat to Xu Qianqian’s father.

Of course, the reverse was also true.

Therefore, the person they most urgently wanted to deal with was Xu Qianqian’s father.So, no matter how Xu Qianqian thought about it, it was impossible for her not to be targeted.

Su Ming didn’t specifically ask about the intricate web of conflicting interests involved.

“Then, have you told your father about this?”

That was all Su Ming wanted to know.

But Xu Qianqian’s face clouded over.

“I can’t reach my father.”

Xu Qianqian didn’t know what kind of emotion she was holding onto as she said this.

“It’s very likely that something has happened on his end, too.”

That was all there was to it.

(End of Chapter)