Crouching in front of the door, Shen¹ Qingmei foolishly stared towards that brilliant man, finding her breath s.n.a.t.c.hed away in the breadth of a second.
It really was too beautiful. Even his back was so beautiful, how was he letting people live?
Hearing the sound of the door being pushed open, the man standing in front of the large French windows leisurely turned around, his solemn expression as cold and apathetic as ever. Yet even that couldn’t disguise his exceptional good looks.
This kind of appearance, even if it was scrunched up into an expression of great agony, would still affect the hearts of a hundred thousand men and women.
“Have you finished your ninety-ninth mission?”
His cold voice felt like ice water — neither sorrowful or happy, indignant or angry. Yet at the same time it had a magnetic quality to it that attracted the heartstrings of those who listened to it, like how it sank into Shen Qingmei’s deepest feelings.
“Yes. Bei Li-er’s death was very thorough; not even an immortal could save him at this point!”
Having Master’s piercing eyes focused on her, Shen Qingmei quickly turned away, restraining herself from looking at him with her greedy eyes. She lowered her head, staring down at her feet, respectfully delivering him the news.
“And the item I wanted, did you find it?”
“Found it.” In order to prevent herself from losing the treasure, Shen Qingmei had specifically attached a silver chain around the ring hidden in the secret room of the Kelangmuqi² manor around her own neck, ensuring that unless she died, it would be impossible for anyone to steal it from her. “Bei Li-er hid this ring away extremely secretively, plus he had at least ten different security systems defending it. I needed to go through three fingerprints scanners, three retinal scanners, and it took a lot of effort as well just to trick him into entering that secret room.”
“Mmm. You did well.”
Master nodded his head. After all, he did not need the ring urgently.
His clothing today did not differ from what he usually wore. As someone who holed up in his room for most of the day, his appearance was extremely neat. On his upper body he wore a dark blue shirt, with rice-colored trousers on his lower half. The bottom of his trousers were tucked inside of his favorite Marten boots, giving him a clean-cut and organized appearance, which emphasized his handsomeness.
Shen Qingmei removed the chain from her neck, holding out the ring.
“It’s this. Would you like to inspect it first, to ensure that it’s real?”
r walked over to her. Despite wearing a pair of heavy boots against wood flooring no sound could be heard as he moved, much like the steps of a cat.
Shen Qingmei raised her head to look at him, her gaze focused on his ethereally handsome face. No matter whether it was any of his features or the outline of his face, it all was impeccably perfect. Most striking of all were those two black eyes that looked like they had been drawn on by a masterful artist, accompanied by a pair of shockingly long and delicate eyelashes. If anyone were to see him, perhaps they would all have the same impression:
As long as he was willing to smile at you once, whether it was walking on water or treading through fire, being pierced in the harts by a million arrows, or being kicked with a pain equal to that felt in the worst depths , they would be willing to go through the tribulations with a smile on their face!
Walking to Shen Qingmei’s side, r reached out a hand and grabbed the legendary enchanted jadeite ring, holding it out under the sunlight.
The ring was extremely delicately and skillfully crafted. Under the sunlight the faint symbol of the ancient Eastern people could be made out — the image of the phoenix. From head to tail it was connected, the wings spread out, as if it could fly out from the image any minute.
Shen Qingmei had never seen such an elaborate jadeite ring before. She only knew that this treasure was extremely priceless, something that many millionaires and elites had clamored for.
However Master had never been one to h.o.a.rd treasure, and things like jewelry to him were unimportant. To him gold and silver or even drugs and arms were more valuable to him.
Which was why she was so curious why this time Master had asked for her to retrieve that ring, and what its purpose was.
After looking at the sunlight f or a while, r withdrew his hand.
“It’s real.”
Shen Qingmei inwardly let out a breath of relief.
Although she had long confirmed that the item she had retrieved was genuine, without Master’s affirmation, she couldn’t help worry that she had somehow messed up his task.
r pinched the ring, casting a glance back to Shen Qingmei. Suddenly he grabbed her hand, pulling open her palm. Gently, he set the jadeite ring on her right hand’s index finger.
Shen Qingmei became overwhelmed with the action.
“r…”
Before she could manage to say something, Master interrupted her.
“For now I want you to keep this ring, because I don’t feel safe keeping it anywhere else. This phoenix ring is actually in a matching pair with another dragon ring. When I find both items, I will tell you why I wanted them so much.”
“Yes…”
Shen Qingmei weakly nodded her head, expressing that she understood.
Towards what the Master was thinking, as his subordinate, it was not Shen Qingmei’s job to pry but instead fulfill any obligations he had. For Master to be patient enough to say so many words to her, that could already be considered a huge boon.
Raising her hand to feel the phoenix ring, still faintly imprinted with the warmth of Master’s hand as well as his unique fragrance, Shen Qingmei couldn’t help but feel her heartbeat speed up, unable to hide her sudden change in emotion.
However when she was about to convey that thought into words, she found herself unable to speak.
If she really were to speak to Master like that, it was hard to say if Master wouldn’t fly into a fit of rage and shoot her!
With her inner thoughts uneasy and scattered, Shen Qingmei cautiously raised her gaze upwards, stealthily observing Master’s expression.
But when she looked at that tall and imposing man staring down at her, his usually cold gaze seemed to hold a faint hint of warmth. His handsome face was indifferent instead of the coldness she had imagined, and under the light, it almost appeared slightly gentle and…
Eh, was she hallucinating?
He didn’t seem to have a single bit of anger or resistance on his face.
Did that mean that Master had completely forgotten their agreement then?!
What! How was she supposed to deal with this? How was she going to open her mouth and tell him I! Want!!! You!
Shen Qingmei stayed still. Master also remained still.
Though Shen Qingmei was not a calm person by any means, Master was like an iceberg that had remained in place for tens of thousands of years. If you were to give him a million dollars, he was capable of staring at you without blinking for three days and three nights.
In regards to patience, Shen Qingmei was definitely not the Master’s opponent.
If he didn’t speak, then Shen Qingmei was incapable of seeing through what he was thinking. She could only remain under his calm gaze, feeling her cheeks become more and more hot, until she was almost capable of spontaneous combustion.
¹Just realized her surname is Shen, not Chen. It’s my mom’s last name, and I didn’t even read it correctly TT
²克朗木齐. I don’t have the faintest clue to what it romanticizes to.