CR CH77

Chapter 77: The Dark Side

In the quiet, Ling Kongmiao lowered his eyes faintly, remaining silent.

His intensely suffocating gaze drifted inch by inch across Jiang Tianji’s face, ultimately looking deep into those eyes that resembled a dark, fathomless pool. If it were anyone else subjected to this kind of look—one that seemed to see through everything while deliberately inflicting slow torture—their psychological defenses would have collapsed long ago.

Yet Jiang Tianji maintained a natural smile, his tail lazily, almost casually sweeping across Ling Kongmiao’s thigh.

“Is the meeting over?” Jiang Tianji asked, clearly knowing the answer, without uttering a single word about what had just transpired.

Ling Kongmiao reached out, grabbed his tail, and yanked it hard. Caught completely off guard, Jiang Tianji tumbled forward. As his hands caught hold of the other man’s arms to steady himself, he suddenly froze.

A hand held the middle section of his dragon tail, a spot densely packed with nerves. Without wasting any words, Ling Kongmiao exerted force and bent it while Jiang Tianji was still dazed.

“Ngh!”

Numbness rushed through his entire body alongside waves of sharp pain. Jiang Tianji bent over, his tail snapping back instantly.

Ling Kongmiao calmly withdrew his hand and strode outside.

“Officer!” Behind him came Jiang Tianji’s uninhibited voice, much deeper than usual.

Ling Kongmiao had no intention of responding to him; he glanced at the message on his device, faintly knitting his brows.

Suddenly, a hand yanked at his arm. Ling Kongmiao turned back with a cold expression.

Jiang Tianji looked like he was in immense pain, a trace of tears left in his eyes from the harsh shock. Upon preliminary analysis, exaggerated acting accounted for 20%, while genuine feeling accounted for 80%.

“Can you just squeeze that place recklessly? What if it breaks?”

His tail hung cautiously behind him, temporarily losing its former swagger.

With a blank expression, Ling Kongmiao was just about to speak when out of the corner of his eye, he caught a shadow and froze in place.

He looked past Jiang Tianji; on the other side of the glass window was a garden.

Jiang Yan and Lu Hengyi were standing side by side, their gazes calm, completely unaware of how long they had been watching.

Ling Kongmiao: “…”

He slapped Jiang Tianji’s hand away, turned around, and walked toward the glass door on the side.

Sensing the shift in atmosphere, Jiang Tianji turned his head along Ling Kongmiao’s line of sight. Upon meeting Jiang Yan’s subtle gaze, he froze for a moment as well. Saying nothing more, he lowered his head and followed Ling Kongmiao out.

“Commander Jiang, Master,” Ling Kongmiao greeted them.

Jiang Tianji stayed silent for a second, doing his best to minimize his presence: “Officer.”

Lu Hengyi cleared his throat, just about to chat with the Jiang family kid, when his beloved disciple forcefully cut him off.

Ling Kongmiao: “Master, why were you looking for me?”

Now he was being proactive, when earlier he was hiding around just to avoid people.

Lu Hengyi gave a cold snort, though he didn’t expose him in the end, turning his head to speak to Jiang Yan instead.

“I’m going to have a chat with this boy.”

“I happen to have something to discuss with Xiaotian too.” Jiang Yan’s gaze lingered on Ling Kongmiao for a moment. “Let’s gather later when we’re free.”

“Contact me anytime if anything comes up.”

Lu Hengyi waved his hand, and as if afraid Ling Kongmiao would pull a fast one and run off, he grabbed him by the arm and dragged him deep into the garden.

The Jiang mother and son watched the two leave before slowly turning to face each other.

“Don’t act like a rascal for no reason.” Jiang Yan appraised her son in his uniform, making no attempt to beat around the bush. “He is your superior after all, pay attention to the occasion.”

“Last time in the observation room, a whole group of people watched you gnaw on his neck. Do I not need my dignity?”

Jiang Tianji let out a soft cough: “Right.”

He paused for a beat, asking as if realizing something: “The observation room… when my consciousness was unclear?”

Jiang Yan made no sound, crossing her arms as she looked at him sideways. Jiang Tianji shifted his gaze away.

“I won’t interfere with your choices, I’m just a bit surprised,” Jiang Yan said. “I want to know your reason for staying by his side.”

“No outsiders come here.” Seeing Jiang Tianji’s gaze sweep across their surroundings, she waved her hand. “You can fool others, but you can’t fool me. After all, I raised you myself.”

“Acting impulsively out of feelings might happen to you in the future, but the current you wouldn’t do something so cute.”

Jiang Yan: “In the way you look at him, the larger portion consists of probing and possessiveness.”

“With his capabilities, do you think he can’t tell?”

“That’s the second point I can’t figure out. That child isn’t a soft-hearted person—at least, not from how I see him.”

Jiang Yan pondered and said, “Your undisguised probing—on one hand blatantly telling him ‘I know you have an agenda,’ while on the other, acting as an Alpha performing… improper behavior toward him—if it were me, I’d feel like you’re provoking me.”

“He doesn’t seem like someone who would make such sacrifices, nor does he have any need to.”

“Mom, what kind of talk is that?” Jiang Tianji couldn’t help but refute. “Your son is handsome and properly pursuing him. How did it become provocation and sacrifice?”

“As if I wouldn’t know what kind of character you have?” Hearing him cracking jokes to avoid talking, Jiang Yan raised an eyebrow. “Someone should have already brought the message to you. As long as you understand in your heart, that’s enough.”

“We cannot confirm which specific faction he belongs to. Too much is involved; his own situation is very dangerous, and to others, he is a figure to be wary of.”

“These crises around you wouldn’t happen without his tacit approval and assistance, yet he can calculate the exact time to arrive just in time,” Jiang Yan stated objectively. “I guess there are more than three factions involved with him. It’s unclear how exactly he maneuvers among them, but the only thing that can be confirmed is that currently, he needs you alive.”

She raised her eyes as she spoke: “The reason behind this is also one of the things you want to figure out, right?”

Jiang Tianji didn’t answer, taking it as a silent confirmation.

“You’re taking a risk too. As long as you can take responsibility for the consequences yourself… greedy enough to want both.”

Jiang Tianji let out a long sigh: “Mom, my sincerity is very precious too. Don’t think of people as so bad.”

Jiang Yan gave a soft laugh, showing him no face.

“When you were little and liked a certain toy, you’d use all sorts of methods to get your hands on it, but you wouldn’t sleep holding it like other kids. You’d casually toss it into a box for safekeeping, and might never open it again. When I thought you didn’t want it anymore and wanted to give it to someone else, you got so angry that you turned around and wrapped the box with three layers of tape.”

Jiang Yan reminisced, “You liked stray animals. When I suggested raising one, you refused without a second thought.”

“It’s not that others aren’t tying you down; no one can tie you down. You always pretend to hand the leash to others to test their reaction, but deep down you know very well that you’ll only do things you’re interested in.”

“When you’re in a good mood, you act obedient, as if you’re so well-behaved. But when someone actually grips that leash, that’s the exact moment you’ve truly tied that person down.”

Jiang Yan’s tone was somewhat complex: “You like taking the lead while assuming the posture of depending on someone else.”

The toys and stray cats reflected his attitude toward feelings; the result of not needing an equal response was that his core nature was indifferent. Jiang Tianji didn’t really know how to rely on others, but he would use this “I need you” posture to let people get close to him.

Whether the other end of the leash was tied to a soaking-wet, pitiful puppy or a scheming hunter—a matter that required risking one’s life—had to be left to a brave person.

When his personality underwent this shift was something even Jiang Yan couldn’t pinpoint clearly. In any case, by the time she snapped back to reality, he had already grown up into this demeanor.

“People are different from toys and animals.” Jiang Yan closed her eyes. “You’re still young. When you throw your whole mind into this, have you ever considered that you might sink into it yourself?”

“In affairs, one can strive for victory or defeat. But if the two of you want to declare a winner and loser in a relationship, extrapolating from your current state, there will ultimately be only two losers.”

A brief silence followed.

Jiang Tianji linked arms with her, curling his lips upward: “Perishing together? Sounds like quite a nice ending too.”

Having said all there was to say, Jiang Yan stared at his still-placid expression, and for reasons unknown, let out a low laugh.

“In a way, the two of you are quite a match.”