Chapter 179: Fighting Dirty
Chapter 179: Chapter 179: Fighting Dirty
"Qing Sui, I..."
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK!
Just as Lu Jingyu made up his mind and began to speak, he was interrupted by a series of knocks on the door. Both of them looked toward the entrance simultaneously. Lu Jingyu glared at the door, wishing he could rip whoever was knocking to shreds.
Xu Qingsui didn’t notice his expression and immediately went over to open it.
"Why are you here? Is everything handled?" Xu Qingsui was a bit surprised to see Shen Yan.
After all, this incident had a massive impact. Even if it was resolved, they still needed to give the residents a proper explanation. Moreover, since they had brought back the corpse of the Mutant ancestor, the laboratory would surely want to conduct a thorough study on it.
Shen Yan smiled faintly, but his gaze intentionally bypassed Xu Qingsui, landing on Lu Jingyu inside the room. When his eyes met Lu Jingyu’s, the corners of Shen Yan’s lips curled up even further.
This subtle, easily overlooked gesture did not escape Lu Jingyu’s eyes. Instantly, he got the feeling that Shen Yan was doing this on purpose! He was here specifically to ruin his alone time with Xu Qingsui.
"Chu Tian is handling the rest. I came over to check on Captain Lu. After all, he’s a captain of the Heiyu Alliance, and we can’t afford to neglect him," Shen Yan said.
His gaze landed openly on Lu Jingyu as he spoke. Then, without waiting for Xu Qingsui to step aside, he squeezed straight into the room past her.
"Captain Lu, I’ve heard a lot about you. Please forgive any lack of hospitality during our first meeting."
Back in the cave, Lu Jingyu had caught Shen Yan’s attention the moment he appeared. Driven by a man’s unique intuition, he could sense that Lu Jingyu was also after Xu Qingsui. Unlike Lu Jingyu, Shen Yan had always focused solely on his laboratory and researching drugs to suppress Frenzy Power, paying little mind to the outside world.
So, after they got out, he had gone out of his way to make some inquiries. When he learned that Lu Jingyu was the captain of the Zone 9 Survival Team, he immediately remembered how Xu Ruming had framed Xu Qingsui earlier. Although Xu Qingsui had later slapped back with hard evidence, judging by Xu Ruming’s habit of twisting the truth, he could deduce that there was bound to be some complicated connection between Lu Jingyu and Xu Qingsui. This only further validated his gut feeling.
Therefore, after arranging everything, he hurried back. After all, Xu Qingsui had arrived only a few days before Lu Jingyu’s group. The only place she could possibly take them was her own dorm.
Seeing the rest of Lu Jingyu’s companions gathered by the camper van downstairs confirmed his suspicions once again. And when he noticed that only Lu Jingyu was missing, the thought of him being alone with Xu Qingsui made him quicken his pace.
Xu Qingsui was the woman he had his eyes on, and he absolutely would not let anyone else snatch her away.
Since it was hard to be angry at a smiling face, Lu Jingyu could only force out a polite smile and exchange a few pleasantries as he watched Shen Yan cheerfully greet him.
After the simple greeting, the two men extended their hands simultaneously. The moment their hands clasped, the first confrontation between them officially began.
Both maintained a composed demeanor, but they simultaneously exerted force in their grips. Upon feeling each other’s strength, their eyes met again, practically sending sparks flying through the air. Neither was willing to show weakness. As they continued to apply pressure, veins instantly bulged on the backs of their hands.
They were still evenly matched. A sudden determination to settle the score flared up, and Lu Jingyu slightly tapped into the power within his body.
Sensing that Lu Jingyu had activated his Frenzy Power, Shen Yan’s expression darkened. He didn’t think he was any weaker than Lu Jingyu. However, due to his body’s physical limitations, he didn’t dare to use his internal power so carelessly just for this.
Within a few breaths, beads of sweat had already formed on Shen Yan’s forehead. As proud as he was, even though a bone-crushing pain radiated from his palm, he kept his jaw clenched tight and refused to let go.
Fortunately, just as he was preparing to draw upon his own internal power, Xu Qingsui walked over.
"Since you two are introducing yourselves, I won’t bother making the introductions. Eh, why are you sweating? Is it that hot?"
Before Xu Qingsui could even finish her sentence, she noticed the sweat on Shen Yan’s forehead. She looked around with a bewildered expression. The ventilation in the room was quite good—surely it wasn’t hot enough to cause that, right?
The moment she spoke, the two tightly clenched hands finally released.
Shen Yan cradled his nearly crushed hand. Seeing Lu Jingyu’s completely relaxed appearance, he suddenly looked at Xu Qingsui and said, "It’s nothing. Captain Lu just has a rather strong grip. As expected of a captain from the Heiyu Alliance."
Lu Jingyu frowned. Shen Yan wasn’t playing fair! It was a private contest between men—if you lost, you were supposed to just bear it silently. Yet, he actually tattled to Xu Qingsui!
A trace of disdain flashed through his eyes. He hadn’t expected to encounter a man who could play the innocent victim so flawlessly!
Xu Qingsui paused, failing to react for a moment. Just as she was beginning to piece together what was going on, Lu Jingyu spoke up again.
"Boss Shen, you’re being far too polite. Seeing that you wanted to test me just now, I naturally obliged. However, I didn’t expect a laboratory boss like yourself to be so exceptionally strong. Since we were evenly matched, I had no choice but to use a little extra trick.
"But before you could use any tricks of your own, Qing Sui came over. Otherwise, it’s hard to say who would have come out on top!"
The moment Lu Jingyu spoke, he completely shifted the blame for starting the conflict onto Shen Yan. This made it seem like he was merely defending himself, ensuring that Xu Qingsui wouldn’t be able to pin the blame on him.
So what if the guy wanted to play the innocent victim? He knew exactly how to beat him at his own game! Lu Jingyu shot Shen Yan a smug look, tossing the thorny problem right back into his lap.
Xu Qingsui had only just begun to figure out what was happening when Lu Jingyu rattled off that entire speech, leaving her completely bewildered. But after roughly summarizing the situation in her head, she concluded that Shen Yan simply wanted to test his strength, and the two had engaged in a friendly match. Regardless of the details, it wasn’t a major issue.
Shen Yan hadn’t expected Lu Jingyu to defuse the situation so easily. Realizing he had met his match, he gave Lu Jingyu a faint smile. Then, glossing over the incident, he said, "I’ve heard that Captain Lu’s strength is formidable, so I simply couldn’t resist. But it was just a brief spar to test our skills, no harm done."
Seeing Shen Yan smooth things over, Lu Jingyu spoke up again. "Boss Shen, Qing Sui has been bothering you quite a bit lately. I’d like to thank you for taking care of her."
He had already learned from Xu Qingsui that she and Shen Yan weren’t involved the way the rumors suggested. However, sensing Shen Yan’s ulterior motives, Lu Jingyu hurried to declare his territory.
Shen Yan, however, furrowed his brows slightly and replied, "What are you talking about, Captain Lu? Although Qing Sui and I have just met, it feels like we’ve been dear friends for years. It’s my honor to host her, so how could I possibly trouble you to thank me on her behalf? Besides, that seems like you’re overstepping your bounds, doesn’t it?"
Shen Yan understood the hidden meaning behind Lu Jingyu’s words. But as far as he knew, Xu Qingsui wasn’t actually with Lu Jingyu, so he naturally wasn’t going to let him assert his dominance like that.
The two traded barbs back and forth, their pointed words clashing and striking sparks in the air.
However, Xu Qingsui, the very person at the center of all this, was thoroughly confused by the two of them. Not one to overcomplicate things, she completely failed to sense the hostility hidden in their exchange.