“…we will discuss this matter in detail,” Mrs. Campbell continued talking, her eyes cold and firm. She did not pay much attention to Shen Yun and Kai, who had just entered the hall.
But this did not mean others wouldn’t be curious. All of them were cultivators with high degree of assimilation, and they had been to several mission worlds before. Even the inexperienced newbies had more experience than Shen Yu.
So it was inevitable that their mentality was inquisitive and open.
Shen Yu noticed that Kai and himself were being stared at by several different factions, and for a while whispers arose in the crowd despite Mrs. Campbell’s domineering suppression.
This restless behaviour gave the speaker a headache, and Mrs. Campbell even wanted to scold these unkempt brats.
As if they knew they were in the wrong, these cultivators dared not raise their voice or be too blatant, so the hall was still manageable and solemn.
Shen Yu had always known that Kai was infamous, but this time he also felt it for himself. Even if he avoided others intentionally, there was no guarantee that they would do the same. Maybe he was sharing the same hate as Kai, but he wasn’t too bothered by it.
What Shen Yu failed to notice was the increasingly subtle atmosphere within the onlookers. Most of them had heard of and seen Hunter at some point of time, so he wasn’t their main focus. What made them pause was the one next to the man, a petite little elf who followed Hunter like a little tail.
His aura was in sharp contrast with Hunter, who looked like he was taking a stroll in his back garden.
The little elf looked a bit out of place among their fierce composition.
“Who is he?”
“I think I have seen him somewhere before.”
“…hey isn’t he similar to that golden ticket loser who hadn’t been able to cultivate for who knows how long?”
“Yes Yes, I heard he knew Hunter, they were close buddies …”
“Is he the one? He looks a different…”
“That’s assimilation in work-”
“Really? I think he looks the same.”
“Are they a pair…?”
“They look pretty close to me.”
“Maybe he sold his ass…”
The more people whispered the more unscrupulous their comments became.
However, Shen Yu did not hear their malicious comments, because Kai blocked it with a slight flick of his aura.
And those who were speaking the loudest, were frightened when they felt his stare. It wasn’t unusual or cold, but in fact it gave them goosebumps. The calm and deep gaze was like a bottomless pit of abyss, so sticky and cloying that it made them uneasy and shiver from the bottom of their hearts.
So within a few seconds those heavy gazes receaded like a tidal wave, no longer making Shen Yu uncomfortable, because despite not being able to hear what they said, Shen Yu’s sharp elven eyes were able to see their hidden interests. They kept chattering but none of their words reached him…
Shen Yu looked up from his peripheral vision, at the silent Kai next to him, whose figure was shrouded with an air of aloofness, as if be wasn’t the one protecting his people. Seeing him like this, Shen Yu turned away from him, not asking about anything.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
When they finally found their seats, nobody dared to look their way again.
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Shen Yu soon started to look around after he got the feel of the environment, he was subtle enough and didn’t arouse much interest in others. But he notice Kai being rarely serious about something as he listened. God only knew what he was thinking as he watched her.
“You know her?”
He leaned even closer, asking in a whisper, not wanting to disturb anyone else.
“Hm” Kai made a sound of acknowledgment, still looking at the lady as she talked about the importance of group task and team arrangements.
Shen Yu looked as well, silently noticing the rhythm of energies around them and the subtle changes in the air.
Since getting used to the subtle touches between the two of them, Shen Yu did not react when Kai encircled his waste with his left arm, leaning backwards to take rest against the seat.
“Don’t be so tense, just sit back and listen.”
Shen Yu followed his words and leaned back as well, pushing against Kai to find a suitable position for himself.
But it wasn’t long before Shen Yu felt a sense of peeking.
At first he ignored it, thinking it was he himself who was thinking too much because he was a bit too close to Kai. It was a bit embarassing to always lean against him.
But the more time passed, the more Shen Yu felt he was being stared at, not just by one pair of eyes, but several.
Before he could react belatedly, Kai tightened his arm around his waist and spoke in a low voice.
“Don’t mind them, they always look when they see me, you are also the same this time.”
“Because I am with you?”
“Yes.”
“Oh.”
Simply put, the others were not to be minded. That is what Kai believed.
Suddenly, a wave of condensed aura flooded the hall as the speaker cleared her throat, “I know we have important gossip to discuss, but please pay attention to what I am saying. This is more important.”
Although Shen Yu didn’t really gossip, he felt as if he was the one being reprimanded, and decided to listen to his elder’s teachings.
“First, we will tackle clues that we have found so far, and it may take some time, so before we start, I will give you 20 minutes break. Sort out your findings to a brief few points and those who are feeling sleepy, find yourself some cold water and stay awake for the later period.” Mrs. Campbell seemed almost like a senior professor giving lecture, and Shen Yu decided he would go back and search her work profession, he was pretty sure she was an assigned professor to some famous academy.
As soon as she was finished speaking, most of the crowd relaxed as if being pardoned.
Snorting, Kai turned away and looked back at Shen Yu.
“Do you want to eat something?” he asked, gesturing towards the buffet area which was lined up with several cold dishes, probably a refreshment for people to eat once the main event was over.
“Will it take a lot of time?” Shen Yu asked while smelling the sweet fragrance coming from that direction, his senses were keen as an elf. He had eaten a healthy breakfast in the morning, but knowing that the discussion would be long, it would be awkward to interrupt it due to hunger later on.
He was pretty sure no cultivator would touch these delicacies, unless they were eager to try foreign dishes.
“The staff must have prepared it before hand,” Kai hummed, “Don’t you like sweets?” He pointedly looked at the pink cake like things, they were decorated with rare cherries and fruit nuts.
Shen Yu wanted to taste, but he hesitated, it would look odd if one lone person went there and picked up refreshments like a mere mortal. It would be eye catching no matter how Shen Yu thought about it.
And those dishes were all very cute in colour and shape, very feminine. Will it clash with his image if he held them in little pink plates?
Seeing the constipated look, Kai chuckled and stood up, startling Shen Yu.
Shen Yu looked at the tall figure suddenly moving down the side stairs and his heart skipped a beat. Although he had stopped caring about others and didn’t want to complicate things, in his heart there still lingered the mockery of others who looked down on him.
“Isn’t he very useless? What can he do other than eating and shitting.”
“Crazy, he needs to eat? Isn’t that too old school? Does that mean he can’t cultivate?”
“Look at his body, so tiny, my one finger can squeeze him to death.”
“Don’t get too close to him, maybe he would infect you with his disease.”
“Shh… he is unlucky, he would suck away your luck just as he did to his family.”
Shen Yu recalled the whispers he heard whenever he walked past those chittering bunch, with his head held low, his shoulders bunched up to secure himself against those dirty words and meaningful eyes. The only wrong he did in his life had been his birth, and for as long as he could remember, he had faced criticism of all kinds.
Watching the straight back of the tall figure leaving his seat just to get him some snacks, Shen Yu suddenly felt very emotional.
He also wanted to protect others, but it was just so difficult… Shaking his thoughts away, he quickly made up his mind to stop being so whimpy and just go for it.
He stood up jerkily, with his back ramrod straight, his eyes not looking at anyone other than Kai, who had left not long ago.
Finding his way down, Shen Yu trotted after the other, and reached him on time before he could pick up a plate.
It was actually much easier than what he thought, all Shen Yu had to do was look only at Kai, and all his worries would disappear.
“Let me do it myself, you can take a walk outside if you want,” Shen Yu hastily said, looking up at that handsome face which was very calm but still very expressive.
He saw his own shadow reflected on those black pools of eyes.
“I will collect them for you,” Kai stated indifferently, “Aren’t you just scared of girly things.”
Shen Yu choked, “How can that be? I am the one who is going to eat this, I can choose myself.” He felt ashamed of his thoughts being seen through. “And pink isn’t girly, colors have no gender.”
Kai chuckled, his deep voice making Shen Yu feel a little shy, “What?” Shen Yu asked defensively, clutching at the plate which Kai had been eyeing this whole time.
It was pale pink in colour, with rounded patterns on it, a very delicate ceramic style. But not at all clashing with Shen Yu as Shen Yu had imagined. Instead he looked particularly adorable, holding a tiny plate in hand.
“You have to learn your lesson, little kitty,” Kai teased in a low voice, “you missed your chance when you kept sitting and hesitating.”
Shen Yu almost puffed out his cheeks in anger, reluctantly releasing the plate and standing aside as Kai moved around him and walked by each dish to see if it was edible for an elf.
Sighing, Shen Yu followed Kai, at times even standing on his tip toes when Kai blocked his view.
Mean!
So by the time Kai was done loading that small plate with several sweet servings, Shen Yu was subconsciously leaning over Kai to take a whiff of those delicacies. It was very flavorful and rich, despite all of them being sweet.
When Kai suddenly moved to add another spoon full of some rare sweet soup, Shen Yu almost stumbled into the buffet bowl because he was leaning too closely against Kai’s shoulder smacking his lips, as his saliva smeared against Kai’s shoulder.
Seeing the suspicious liquid stain shining on the black shirt, Shen Yu felt was so embarrassing, he found himself rubbing it away with a shaky finger. His face hot and burning.
Before he could apologize, he heard Kai’s mean laughter coming from the front and froze.
When Kai only laughed louder without stopping, Shen Yu punched his back with a solid fist.
Since the day when Kai held his hand, Shen Yu found that touching Kai gave him a deep sense of comfort and security.
Naturally, given their nature of weird partnership, Shen Yu chose to ignore the rigid mindset of before and actively sought Kai to see how intimate a degree would make him uncomfortable.
Once the mind was calm, certain things didn’t bother him. As easy as eating and sleeping, Shen Yu stopped minding Kai’s closeness.
He stopped concerning himself with what others thought or what they would think of the two of them…
“Come,” Kai urged, and Shen Yu took the opportunity to take a quick glance around just to make sure no one noticed his little situation.
The sight that met his eyes made him take in a cold breath of air.
Perhaps.
He shouldn’t have done that.
But.
It was hard not to.
Shen Yu peaked another look, and indeed, saw that by now even the immortal madam was glancing their way. It was a bit difficult to ignore.
“Stop looking there, you will get scared,” Kai suggested, offering the plate to Shen Yu, “Hold this, and bring it up, I have to greet Mrs. Campbell.”
Shen Yu nodded, eagerly holding the plate by both hands, and carefully going up the stairs as the hall buzzed with low whispers and gestures.
His face started to heat up again.
Ah.
They saw it all.
They must be talking about his clumsiness again.
~
A/N: I started my own AWA discord server, link here. So any chats, notices, etc, I will ping there.
I love these two. ☺️ Thanks for the chapters!!
Thanks for the new chapters! 🙂
Thank you for the chapters 😍 ❤️ ❤️ ❤️ ❤️
what an incredible story! very good 😊😊 looking forward to the next chapters 😃