Chapter 110

Chapter 110

After the fluttering, Xu Qiao let the lotus flower descend into the large blue vase, and the fire dragon naturally coiled towards it.

There was still an hour and a half until eight o'clock. Exhausted from a day of intense training, Xu Qiao lay down on the comfortable sleeping pad that Qinchi had specially prepared for her before they set out, and fell asleep.

The fire dragon silently chatted with the lotus flower using water currents: "When Qinchi comes in, he'll probably ask me to stand watch outside again. Will you keep me company?"

Lotus flower: "Sure, has Qinchi decided how long he plans to kiss?"

Fire dragon: "He hasn't thought about it, but he did consider going out after you fall asleep, and he won't stay inside the whole night. That would affect your mental recovery."

Lotus flower: "That's good. If he decides to stay the night with Xu Qiao, I'll only be able to stay with you for an hour before returning to the crystal core."

The fire dragon dived into the blue vase, swam around twice, and then coiled up the lotus stem from bottom to top, its face pressed against the outer petals: "I don’t like training. If we were at home, you could stay with me all night."

The lotus flower pushed its head away with a leaf: "You’re already amazing and don’t need training. I still want to reach S-rank."

The cool lotus leaf felt refreshing, and the fire dragon, as if driven by some unseen force, licked along the veins of the leaf.

The lotus leaf, which had been pushing forcefully, suddenly sagged, and in the next second, the entire lotus flower disappeared.

When the spiritual being returned to the psychic's body, the five senses of both synchronized.

The lotus flower trembled gently inside the crystal core, and Xu Qiao, in a shallow sleep, shivered all over. The fire dragon, who had just raised its head from the blue vase, witnessed this moment and also heard the almost inaudible soft moan escaping Xu Qiao’s lips.

The fire dragon thought of the scene Qinchi had recalled many times. Back then, Xu Qiao would make such sounds, and she would hold Qinchi very tightly.

The fire dragon left the blue vase and began to coil around Xu Qiao, starting from her calves. Just as it had wrapped around a section, a lotus leaf protruded and almost hit its face with water current words: "Get down. You're not allowed to touch us tonight."

The fire dragon froze and asked grievously: "Xu Qiao seems to like it when Qinchi kisses her. Don't you like it?"

Lotus flower: "He can, but your tongue is too big."

Xu Qiao and the lotus flower could tolerate Qinchi’s kisses, but the stimulation brought by the fire dragon far exceeded that level of sweetness and comfort.

With just a moment of recollection, the water current words wavered.

Xu Qiao furrowed her brow slightly, as if she were about to wake up at any moment.

The lotus flower shooed the fire dragon away again.

Helpless, the fire dragon returned to the blue vase and watched the lotus flower disappear. The fire dragon extended its long tongue and examined it carefully, feeling even more aggrieved.

Although it and Qinchi were one, its physique was clearly more impressive, right? So why did both Xu Qiao and the lotus flower prefer Qinchi’s smaller form, which was less than two meters tall?

Time passed in silence. The fire dragon, dozing off to the scent of the flower, suddenly felt a slight vibration.

It opened its eyes and saw Xu Qiao wake up, pressing a button on her wristband.

Fire dragon: "Is everything okay?"

Xu Qiao: "...It’s nothing. You can return now."

The fire dragon shrank and flew onto Xu Qiao's shoulder, seeing the wristband displayed 7:50.

It was puzzled: "Qinchi is coming at eight. Why are you up so early?"

The lotus flower extended a leaf, and Xu Qiao quickly covered it, allowing only the fire dragon to leave.

The fire dragon, still very obedient, flew out of the vent full of confusion.

Xu Qiao waited another minute before taking out the comb.

Outside the camp, the fire dragon was surprised to find that Qinchi had somehow taken off his battle armor and changed into a pair of long pants and a shirt he commonly wore at home. As it landed in front of Qinchi, it even smelled the distinct lotus fragrance in Qinchi's hair—something that only appeared after a shower. Since Qinchi and Xu Qiao became partners, Qinchi had switched his bath and hair products to lotus scent. He specially extracted this fragrance from the lotus spirit and had an A-rank fragrance master from Southeast Base develop it.

Fire dragon: “Why change clothes?”

Bathing, it could understand. Qinchi was a man who loved cleanliness. But outside the base, shouldn't he still be wearing his battle armor? Xu Qiao slept in her battle armor.

Qinchi looked towards Xu Qiao’s tent: “Is she awake?”

The fire dragon nodded.

Qinchi looked at his wrist device; there were still eight minutes to go.

Fire dragon: “Lotus said you can only stay outside with me for an hour. So at nine, you have to come out. I don’t want to be on night duty by myself.”

Qinchi finally glanced at his spiritual being and, after a few seconds of silence, said: “Fine, but you need to focus on night duty. If any alien insect approaches within a hundred meters of any tent, that counts as a failure.”

The fire dragon scornfully spat a burst of fire at him and then transformed into its hundred-meter-long normal form, coiling around the four tents in a large circle. Its dragon head returned to rest in front of Xu Qiao’s tent, lying on the ground as if sleeping. Despite its size, it landed silently, not disturbing the already asleep Meng Li and Sun Fushan.

Seated in a recliner, when the time on Qinchi’s wrist device hit exactly eight o’clock, he looked towards Xu Qiao’s tent. A thin line of flame silently slipped through a vent and, with the gentle breeze, gently brushed Xu Qiao’s face and her thick, parted lashes. The flame descended and formed words in front of Xu Qiao: “Open the door?”

Xu Qiao bit her lip and approached the door, slowly pulling the zipper. Once the flap was wide enough for an adult man to slip through, Xu Qiao stopped and quietly peeked out. She saw the massive dragon head lying one meter away.

Xu Qiao: “……”

The giant dragon exhaled a small line of flame words: “Let Lotus come out.”

Lotus extended a leaf: “Why make yourself so big?”

Fire dragon: “For night duty. I’ve coiled a large circle, ensuring not a single bug can get in. This way, chatting with you won’t count as a failure.”

Lotus’s leaf pointed to the area between the dragon’s horns: “Place the blue vat there.”

Qinchi directly moved a large blue vat over.

Only then was Lotus satisfied.

After settling both spiritual beings, Xu Qiao glanced at Qinchi as he silently approached and shrank back inside.

Qinchi entered the tent, turned, and zipped the door closed.

Xu Qiao sat on the edge of the sleeping pad, her combat boots stepping on the moisture-proof mat below, watching the outline of Qinchi’s waist and back, accentuated by his shirt. As Qinchi finished zipping and was about to turn around, she lowered her eyes.

Qinchi turned, and because his eyes had grown accustomed to the darkness, he saw his girlfriend in her battle armor, the armor collar encircling half of her neck.

Qinchi walked to her, sitting on the moisture-proof mat. This way, he was slightly lower than Xu Qiao.

He asked with flame: “Did you also sleep in your battle armor before, or is it only tonight?”

The golden-red flame lit up Xu Qiao’s face. As she looked up to read the message, Qinchi’s features were faintly visible behind the flame.

After reading, Xu Qiao glared and formed the words with water: “I always do.”

Qinchi looked at her, and the flame flickered on its own: “When I’m on night duty, you can change into your pajamas to improve your sleep quality.”

Xu Qiao: “It’s okay. I’m used to it.”

Qinchi: "Can we skip the battle armor for just this one hour?"

Xu Qiao felt her face burning along with his flames. She turned her head away. "Do as you please."

Qinchi's flame drifted over: "I want to kiss your neck. With the collar so tight, I might lose control and take it off. That would be more offensive than asking you to remove the armor."

As soon as Xu Qiao finished reading, the flame changed to a new line of text: "I'll turn around and won't peek."

True to his word, Qinchi turned around, facing the door of the tent.

Xu Qiao felt as if she were being roasted over a fire. She didn’t want to comply with her boyfriend’s request, but she feared he might actually act when they kissed.

Should she kick him out? But she couldn’t bring herself to.

In the end, she stood up.

Her battle armor was a one-piece, and underneath, Xu Qiao wore a black combat suit, comfortable and the preferred choice for most psychics. Thanks to the suit, removing the armor wasn’t too embarrassing, not the same level as undressing directly.

Placing the armor aside, Xu Qiao glanced at her wrist device. It was 8:10 AM.

She was still annoyed at Qinchi, so after sitting back on the sleeping pad, she punished him by conjuring a small rain shower directly above his head, just enough to wet his upper body. After all, he was of the Fire Element; a thought could dry his hair and shirt.

But Qinchi didn’t dry himself. He simply turned around, his dark eyes calmly meeting Xu Qiao’s.

Xu Qiao had already turned away, but from the corner of her eye, she saw him raise his hand to the third button of his shirt. With a gentle pinch, the button came undone. His slender fingers moved down to undo the fourth button.

He was unhurried, which only made Xu Qiao more anxious. She pounced on him, pinning his hand down. Through gritted teeth, she said, "No, don’t undo it."

Xu Qiao slapped his hand away and, as she refastened the third button, glared at him again. "You can dry yourself."

Qinchi: "You helped me that night, remember?"

Xu Qiao's hands hovering over his chest trembled as his flames completely enveloped her, making her dizzy and weak.

She tried to pull away, but Qinchi pulled her closer, in a similar position to that night, except they were both sitting this time.

His large right hand cupped the back of her head, forcing Xu Qiao to tilt her head back involuntarily.

Unable to dodge Qinchi's kiss, Xu Qiao, frustrated, grabbed his shoulders. Her hands touched the cool dampness she had drenched him with earlier.

She had no intention of helping him dry off. Annoyed by his words, she slid her hand inside his collar and doused him with more water.

Qinchi seemed unfazed, only holding her tighter, pressing her fully against him.

The water soaking Qinchi now spread to her as well. Realizing Qinchi’s plan, Xu Qiao tried to escape, but he suddenly lifted her and turned to the side, laying her down on the sleeping pad. He pressed down on her, drenching her further with his wet body.

Xu Qiao looked up at him, disbelief in her eyes.

Qinchi propped himself up with his left elbow, kissing her burning cheek and murmuring, "I'll dry you."

His right hand slid between Xu Qiao's back and the sleeping pad, where a pool of water had formed, and it began to evaporate.

His large, broad palm moved tightly over her shoulders and back, drying the excess moisture on her clothes and skin.

At first, Xu Qiao only felt the comfort of being dry again, until Qinchi's palm pressed against her waist.

Instinctively, she arched up, realizing the implication of the gesture, and hurriedly grabbed his hand. "I'll do it myself."

Qinchi didn’t insist.

As he kissed her, he guided her limp hand to his own damp back. Under the thin shirt, his muscles tensed as he braced himself over her.