Yan Qing Shan"s feet dangled up, swinging playfully atop a tree branch. Strangely enough she was even humming as she observed the men who was cautiously checking out their surroundings. She directed a sharp gaze at the man beside her and looked at him derisively. Zi Jue seeing her expression sighed helplessly and glared with disappointment at the men below. These people weren"t content with barging in on his date, they even disappointed their Madame. It seems like Zi Jue has been too lenient to them these past few days. He sensed his beloved standing up and leaping off silently to a further tree. Zi Jue figured there were things that she wanted to say and was being careful by distancing herself from their uninvited guests. He gave a chilling glare to the men one last time before following her tracks.
---
20 minutes earlier.
Hades" generals disembarked from the car and followed the path directed by the map locking onto their master"s location. The four of them gazed at each other and nodded with tacit understanding. They concealed their presences and proceeded to approach the flower field barely concealed by thick overgrowth.
Tartarus saw a carefully laid out blanket with a basket and a couple of flask set on it underneath a large tree. He knew immediately that that was where his Master and Yan Qing Shan rested at. Except the couple in question were missing. His heart dropped to his stomach when he saw a conspicuous note lodged in the tree by a small dagger.
Overcome with worry he approached the place with disregard for safety. His companions sensing his urgency ran in to follow. Upon reaching the tree, Tartarus who was prepared for the worst case scenario stiffened at the contents of the notes.
"Since you all are so free let"s play a game of tag, shall we? We"ll be hiding within the forest. Will you all be able to track us or will we get to you first? A reward shall be given if you win. Punishment, if not. Best of luck."
Tartarus" eyelid twitched violently.
"This couple! Can"t they have a more concrete sense of propriety? Do they think of their safety a freaking game?" Tartarus sucked in a deep, frustrated breath. Honestly, he knew that it was most likely Miss Yan who came up with this... activity. And his wife-doting master gave in to her whims gladly, with his whole heart and soul.
"Tartarus, what do we do now? It seems like Master already knew we were coming beforehand." Asphodel asked, his arms crossed in resignment. His master seems to be bored these days and turned them into his personal amus.e.m.e.nt. Why wasn"t he surprised? Despite his ruthless demeanor, his master also exhibited hedonistic tendencies sometimes. He also in fact enjoyed the feeling of schadenfreude. Good for him. A pity for them.
"We"ll go along with what they want. There"s four of us here. I don"t think we"re that lousy. I know the two of them are really good, but I have to give them a piece of my mind this time. I so graciously arranged for this date of theirs taking into account every single contingencies they might face yet they find it delightful to overlook my concern. I"m kind of offended, so I will be taking this seriously." Tartarus answered, his scathing glare about to bore a fiery hole unto the note unceremoniously stabbed on the poor tree.
"Oh well, this is also nice. It"s a chance to loosen up as well." Cerberus licked his lips excitedly as he directed his gaze at the looming forest.
---
Before the arrival of the Generals.
"So how do we go about this hunt of yours my darling? Do we just let them look for us and pounce as soon as they are unaware?" Zi Jue asked expectantly at the beautiful woman in front of him.
"Hmm. Doing just that would be boring. Let"s give it a bit more thrill. Let"s leave them a note and rile them up. The first half an hour will be their handicap. But if they can"t even engage us by that time or even make out our tracks, I"d be really disappointed in them." Yan Qing Shan grinned as she rummaged the square body bag she had with her. She was pretty sure she had a memo pad and a pen with her. It was a habit she had formed as a novelist. Sometimes ideas would just unceremoniously strike and Yan Qing Shan did not want to waste such opportunities. Hence, she always ensured to bring the necessary tools of her trade.
She found them easily and then started to write. Zi Jue stared at Yan Qing Shan in slight surprise and interest. He was curious as to why she brought such things during a picnic but then he got preoccupied by the way she wrote the note. Aside from her beautiful script, Zi Jue also found the way she had phrased the challenge quite amusing. He was pretty sure the rigid Liu Ying would get really worked up by that. He could guess as much why Tartarus would lead the other four generals on his date. Zi Jue did sneak out and implicitly denied security. He knew that the man was worried for him being caught up in ambushes or a.s.sa.s.sinations by his enemies in the underworld or the rivals he had in business.
"His worry is certainly misplaced. As if I"d ever let myself be in that kind of situation especially since he was with Yan Qing Shan at the moment. Did Tartarus really think he would risk even a fraction of chance and let Yan Qing Shan be embroiled in any type of danger? Honestly, the only danger she was in was him. Yan Qing Shan was in danger of being devoured by him seeing how she being so cute and dangerously attractive at this moment.
"Hey, did you just think of me in a naughty way?" Zi Jue was pulled out of his thoughts when Yan Qing Shan"s visage magnified in his eyes. She was so close that he could breathe in her pleasant scent.
Zi Jue gave her a lop-sided smile. "I was thinking of how beautiful you are right now. I"m an awfully lucky guy."
Yan Qing Shan raised her brow at Zi Jue"s blatant sweet-talking. Not that it was working on her anyway. Despite her saying that, she could still feel the traitorous warmth rising up from her neck to her cheek unto her ears. This Zi Jue was really good at getting ger all fl.u.s.tered.
She scoffed audibly at this. "Hmm. You and your flowery tongue."
Yan Qing Shan ignored Zi Jue altogether and promptly pulled out a pair of black sportswear from the bag. She stuffed this pair of clothing as a mere afterthought. Since they were going on a date, she opted out of her usual pants and blouse combo and donned a comfortable one piece pastel yellow dress. It was a good thing that she had them since it was a bit absurd running around and doing parkour with a dress on. That sight was a bit disorienting even for her. As for Zi Jue, the guy was wearing clothes acceptable enough for such a workout. Yan Qing Shan had an inkling of how st.u.r.dy his expensive, tailor made clothes are.
"You actually brought on a change of clothing?" Zi Jue remarked in a strange, disbelieving tone. In his heart he was suspecting if Yan Qing Shan had forseen this scenario. She was quite prepared. He didn"t whether to laugh or to pity himself for expecting this date to turn out as he had envisioned. This was the least romantic turnout alright?
"Yeah. I thought it would come in handy." Yan Qing Shan replied nonchalantly as she pulled the pants over her calf. Zi Jue"s eyes widened in astonishment.
This woman. This woman was really changing his clothes right in front of him, her lover? Does she not have any idea that she was teetering in a thin line right now?
Zi Jue was frozen and merely gazed at her as she moved about. Halfway to her knees, Yan Qing Shan stoop low and felt up legs, her skirt hitch up a little high revealing their fair, creamy complexion. Zi Jue"s throat bobbed up and down as he sucked in air.
"Yan Qing Shan! How dare you be so unguarded?" Zi Jue fumed in his heart and tried to avert his eyes from her legs. Tried, being the operative word. He couldn"t completely do so, the sweet temptation of ogling them tickled his ear.
Skriiiit.
Zi Jue"s sanity was brought by the sound of a velcro strap being undone. That was when he saw Yan Qing Shan remove a pair of dagger and tiny pistol from a secure garter on both of her legs.
"Aiyah... This woman is truly amazing. How am I so lucky to have her as my woman and mine alone?" Zi Jue murmured in his heart, all this while noting how swiftly Yan Qing Shan changed into her sportswear pants. He shook his head lightly and voiced out the pressing thoughts in his mind.
"You are probably the only woman who would bring a complete a.r.s.enal of weapons despite being on a picnic with a head of an underworld organization, no less. Most people would a.s.sume they won"t meet any mishap having a capable man around. Really, darling. Can"t you even give me this chance to show off?" Zi Jue complained bitterly. Yan Qing Shan darted her widened eyes unto him before breaking out in laughter.
"Ah Jue, I"m not that type. I don"t need you to protect me. If it comes down to a fight, I want you to rely on me just as much as I rely on you. You can show off in other ways." Yan Qing Shan comforted him. Zi Jue was rendered speechless with her reply and then slowly broke out into a delighted grin.
Yan Qing Shan seeing him pacified then continued.
"Now then, I need to change into this s.h.i.+rt so I"ll be removing my dress. Are you still going to ogle me while I do so or you"re going to finally turn around?"