MCL CH42

Chapter 042: “I Didn’t Expect Director Yan to Be So…”

By the time Lin Xi had finished showering and gone downstairs, Yan Xingzhou was already waiting in the dining room.

The red in Lin Xi’s pupils had completely faded, and his now-golden eyes were like exquisitely carved glass. The moment their gazes met, something seemed to pause for an instant in the silence.

Then he heard Yan Xingzhou speak: “You’re here.”

Lin Xi: “Mm.”

As if nothing had happened, Yan Xingzhou very naturally pulled out the chair beside him. “Eat something first.”

Lin Xi compliantly walked over. After sitting down, he accepted the plate Yan Xingzhou had already filled for him. He picked up a piece of potato with his chopsticks, and only after chewing and swallowing slowly did he give the man standing next to Ju Ze a look. “And this is?”

Only one night had passed, so of course, he hadn’t really forgotten the adjutant who had accompanied Gu Beiqiu during last night’s banquet. With this question, the man who had been observing from the side immediately introduced himself, “Mr. Lin, hello. Executioner Gu arranged for me to come and pick you up. Given that we are departing for J-City tonight, before we go back, the Executioner hopes to personally fulfill the promise he made and correct those errors that appeared in your ability file record for you.”

“If it’s just correcting errors, it doesn’t seem to necessarily require me to be there in person.”

Yan Xingzhou’s sudden interjection made the adjutant pause for a moment. He forced a smile and said, “If it’s just correcting some superficial ‘errors,’ you are indeed correct. But in order to save both our sides some unnecessary trouble in the future, if possible, it’s naturally for the best if this brand-new identity file is made as perfect as possible. The Executioner’s meaning is that something tailor-made for the individual is, after all, better than parading around in someone else’s clothes.”

Lin Xi caught a glimpse of Yan Xingzhou’s slightly furrowed brow and spoke first, “I agree with that. I was a bit too tired from all the activity yesterday. I’ll go with you after I finish eating.”

The unexpectedly explicit words made the adjutant’s face go blank for a moment. Only after a moment did he stammer a reply, “It’s fine, it’s fine. I’m not in a hurry.”

Sensing the somewhat delicate atmosphere, Ju Ze smiled and made a “please” gesture to the adjutant. “They’ve just started their meal here. Shall I take you to rest on the side for a bit?”

The adjutant hastily took the offered way out. “Of course. I’ll have to trouble Assistant Ju.”

Ju Ze smiled slightly. “You’re welcome.”

As the two left one after the other, Yan Xingzhou then looked up at Lin Xi. “Are you sure you want to go?”

“You should be very clear about what kind of person Gu Beiqiu is. I have to meet with him at some point for him to be at ease enough to go back,” Lin Xi said as he ate his meal unhurriedly, his expression calm. “Besides, a newly registered identity will indeed make future actions much more convenient. The authority to re-register an ability user is not something just anyone has. Since Gu Beiqiu has proactively offered this back door, only a fool wouldn’t use it.”

As he spoke, he noticed that Yan Xingzhou’s expression still hadn’t relaxed. He instantly understood his worry, and something in his heart stirred slightly. A calm smile appeared on his face. “Don’t worry. I’m very normal right now.”

Yan Xingzhou’s fixed gaze did not move in the slightest. “A normal person would not use the word ‘normal’ as a descriptor to evaluate themselves.”

Lin Xi was noncommittal. “In any case, I’m a little more normal than you.”

He looked up to meet Yan Xingzhou’s gaze, the corners of his lips curving into a half-smile. “Director Yan, for an ability user’s power to be as chaotic as it was last night, if there were people from the Supervision Administration on the scene, they could have taken you to that place at any time. So my suggestion is, it’s best if neither of us points fingers at the other.”

A brief silence fell around them.

A few seconds later, Yan Xingzhou said, “Indeed.”

Although that’s what he said, in the end, he still added, “I’ll have Ju Ze go with you later. Call me anytime if you need anything.”

Lin Xi tried hard to hold back a laugh. “Okay, great Director Yan.”

The car arranged by the United Administration was already waiting at the entrance.

After finishing his meal, Lin Xi went downstairs and got into the car directly with the adjutant. Ju Ze followed behind in Yan Xingzhou’s private car, and they all headed towards the Ability Supervision Administration’s building.

After getting out of the car in the parking lot, Lin Xi saw that familiar figure at a glance and was slightly surprised. “Executioner Gu?”

Gu Beiqiu was standing not far away at the entrance to the safety passage. Hearing his voice, he waved to Lin Xi from afar with a gentle expression.

Many people were gathered beside him. Judging from their equipment, they should be the leading personnel of the N-City Ability Management Administration. With this interaction, they couldn’t help but cast their attention over, clearly very curious about what kind of person had arrived to warrant a personal reception from an Executioner like Gu Beiqiu.

Intense, scrutinizing gazes followed Lin Xi all the way until he walked into the elevator with Gu Beiqiu. Only the adjutant accompanied them; the others tactfully did not follow.

As the elevator doors closed and it began to ascend, the surroundings finally quieted down.

“Actually, for such a small matter, there’s no need for Executioner Gu to make a trip in person.” Lin Xi wasn’t just being polite. He could roughly guess that Gu Beiqiu wanted to observe him, but all of this could have waited until after all the ability-related project tests and registrations were completed. There was no need to be so cordially accompanied from the very beginning.

“When you are entrusted with a task, you must be loyal to it. Since I have already promised Director Yan, then I must complete the matter perfectly,” Gu Beiqiu said, looking at Lin Xi with a smile. “Mr. Lin doesn’t seem to have slept well. I’ve already heard from Su Se. To come knocking on your door so early in the morning, it does seem like we’ve disturbed you too much.”

“You can’t say that. You can’t be blamed for this,” Lin Xi returned a smile. “Actually, before last night, even I didn’t expect Director Yan to be so infatuated with me. He kept me up all night, and I really couldn’t do anything about it. I was really tired, so I only managed to get up around noon. I did make Adjutant Su wait for quite a long time.”

“Cough, cough… cough, cough, cough…”

The overly explicit words made the adjutant on the side choke on his own saliva and cough repeatedly.

The expression on Gu Beiqiu’s face also stiffened for a rare moment. He paused for a full few seconds before he could adjust, and seemed to try very hard to lift the corners of his mouth. “Director Yan’s infatuation with Mr. Lin is something I have completely… seen.”

Actually, there was no need for the adjutant to come back and report. When they had met just now, Gu Beiqiu had already noticed the overly obvious mottled marks on Lin Xi’s neck.

These marks did not exist at the banquet last night. With a little imagination, one could completely guess whose handiwork it was.

This made Gu Beiqiu’s gaze towards Lin Xi even more complicated.

Actually, he had originally suspected whether the so-called lover relationship between these two was a means to cover up something. But now, looking at it, just as he had said earlier, Yan Xingzhou seemed to be truly very infatuated with this Mr. Lin.

In terms of looks, the man in front of him absolutely possessed enough beauty to move one’s heart. From the dazzling red hair to that pair of soul-stirring heterochromatic eyes, even a heterosexual like him couldn’t help but feel a trace of uncontrollable palpitation under a prolonged gaze. But while this could be a reasonable assumption for others, once it involved Yan Xingzhou, it always made one feel as if some important piece of information was missing.

After all, the four words “lust clouds the mind” were really hard to connect with Yan Xingzhou’s name.

“Executioner Gu, it seems we’ve arrived?”

It wasn’t until the reminder sounded that Gu Beiqiu suddenly came back to his senses.

Meeting Lin Xi’s half-smiling gaze, he then realized that he had unconsciously gotten lost in thought in such an environment just now.

“Mm, we’ve arrived. Let’s go,” Gu Beiqiu said, making a “please” gesture. He saw that Lin Xi didn’t stand on ceremony with him either. After returning a smile, he unhurriedly stepped out of the opened elevator doors. Then, perhaps because he felt it was too hot, he undid a few buttons at his collar in a seemingly casual manner.

With this action, the hickeys that were originally half-hidden were now even more openly displayed in everyone’s field of vision.

Gu Beiqiu: “…………”

Although many people at the Ability Supervision Administration still didn’t know Lin Xi’s origin, the fact that he had personally gone downstairs to pick him up was enough to arouse everyone’s absolute interest. With a little inquiry, it would be enough for everyone to associate these overly obvious and passionate marks with whose handiwork it was.

This man’s actions were completely as if he were afraid that others wouldn’t know about his ambiguous relationship with Yan Xingzhou.

Yan Xingzhou actually likes this type?

Gu Beiqiu felt a faint throbbing in his forehead, but in the end, he did not comment too much on other people’s sexual preferences.

Under the reception of several staff members, Lin Xi was taken to a room deep on the 16th floor.

Gu Beiqiu did not follow, but went to the central control room to wait for the test to end.

This was a process that every newly awakened ability user had to go through. Lin Xi’s situation was a bit special, but since he was someone brought personally by Gu Beiqiu, no one asked too many questions about why a second registration was needed.

Gu Beiqiu stood in front of the monitor, watching the person in the image complete one project after another.

The adjutant beside him was synchronizing the intelligence coming from the testing room. “Executioner, they said the test results are very stable, and no fluctuations in contamination values have been found.”

“Is that so,” Gu Beiqiu’s gaze was still fixed on the monitor screen. “Then it seems that perhaps I was indeed overthinking it.”

Actually, when Gu Beiqiu initially arranged for the adjutant to go and pick him up, he had expected to be rejected by Yan Xingzhou’s side.

After all, a normal ability user would never need to assume someone else’s identity. There were only two types of people who would conduct identity transactions on the black market. One was fugitive criminals who were using their abilities to commit crimes and were wanted by the government. After their verification, this Lin Ni was clearly not on the list. As for the other type, it was ordinary people who had become evolved species due to radiation mutation.

If Lin Ni had refused to come today, it would have basically confirmed his speculation from the side. But now…

Gu Beiqiu’s brow furrowed slightly.

Not an ability criminal, nor an evolved species. What secret is this Lin Ni hiding?

The adjutant relayed, “Mr. Lin’s side has already entered the final project.”

“Understood.”

Gu Beiqiu swept his gaze over the operating testing cabin in the image. Just as he was slowly standing up from his chair, he heard the adjutant beside him suddenly raise his voice. “What did you say?!”

He looked over questioningly and met the adjutant’s gaze, which was filled with incredulous shock.

Gu Beiqiu: “What’s wrong?”

The adjutant’s pupils had clearly widened in a short moment. He slowly opened his mouth, and only then did he manage to squeeze out a few words with some uncertainty. “Mr. Lin’s ability strength test results are out.”

His throat bobbed faintly a couple of times before his voice could maintain a relative stability. “…It’s, Special Grade.”