Que Zelian's finger gently brushed her right cheek. Xiao Jinsheng put down the handkerchief she was using to wipe her lips, remembering how Li's hand had also grazed her face just a moment ago. She worried if Li had left something on her face. Forcing herself to stay calm, she looked up and asked Que Zelian with a puzzled smile, "What's wrong?"
"There was a bit of dust on your face; I wiped it off for you," Que Zelian withdrew his hand, his gaze also shifting from the right side of Xiao Jinsheng's neck, where he had brushed aside her hair. Xiao Jinsheng's smudged lipstick, rather than being bitten off by her nervousness, looked more like it had been rubbed off, to Que Zelian.
Xiao Jinsheng's acting was good, but no matter how calm she appeared, she couldn't hide her inner turmoil, or rather, her guilt. Que Zelian didn't know why she felt guilty, and the entire situation of Xiao Jinsheng falling and then mysteriously appearing on the periphery of the tall building was already quite odd. Yet, he had checked, and Xiao Jinsheng did not have any contract totems on her body.
In the Misty Continent, females and transformed beings bound together through a terminal, establishing a legal marital relationship. When they engaged in intimate acts, they would also leave contract totems on each other. Influenced by different beast-husbands, each totem was unique, and their display locations also varied. However, there was one common point: the totem contracted with the first transformed being a female had intimate contact with would appear on the back of her neck. Even a simple kiss would leave the totem on both parties for twenty-four hours.
However, Xiao Jinsheng was unaware of this detail. After all, the original plot given to her by the system only highlighted her future death, and the content was incomplete. And the terminal didn't even specify how a female's mental energy could be improved, naturally, there was no explanation about the contract totems between males and females.
The fog corpses of the Misty Continent, upon reaching 6-star strength, would awaken some human-like thoughts. After Xiao Jinsheng's disappearance, the five men confronted the 6-star fog corpse but did not manage to kill it. At the time, they were anxious to find Xiao Jinsheng, and the 6-star fog corpse had created an illusion to trap them.
After this sneak attack by the 6-star fog corpse, everyone's wristband durability had dropped by four digits. Having started with ten thousand durability, and due to their evading fog corpse groups and fighting the 6-star fog corpse, it was only the second day in the west of the Misty Continent, and their wristband durability was down to only 5360 points.
Her own ten thousand durability wasn't lasting long in the west of the Misty Continent. Xiao Jinsheng couldn't even imagine how those 1-star and 2-star mental energy females, whose wristbands only had one thousand or two thousand durability, could survive in this part of the Misty Continent. However, this confusion stemmed from Xiao Jinsheng's first mission, and her lack of familiarity with the west of the Misty Continent. After all, normal task-takers would avoid fog corpses and search for the rare star stones. This way, wristband durability would only be used for resisting the toxic mist, and even with just a thousand durability, it could last for four days.
Who would be like them, spending over four thousand durability in two days? And who would be like their group of six, only charging into piles of fog corpses, even attracting a 6-star fog corpse?
Fortunately, danger and opportunity coexisted. In just one morning, they had already harvested over two hundred star stones. If compared to a team with 1-star mental energy females, their half-day harvest was equivalent to four days' harvest for other teams.
Xiao Jinsheng was deeply conflicted, especially after learning the method to improve mental energy. She didn't know why she had provoked Li, a 10-star transformed being. If Li had agreed to marry her directly, she wouldn't have so many worries. But without a marital bond, Li's demonstrated personality was clearly uncontrollable. With her current insufficient strength, unable to threaten Li with shared life and death, Xiao Jinsheng was also afraid of overplaying her hand.
Now she could absorb star stones to strengthen her physique, and she had discussed with Su Ye about guiding her combat skills. The five beast-husbands who initially harbored hostility towards her, regardless of their current intentions, at least Que Zelian was on her side. Su Ye had also changed his hostile demeanor towards her, and even Yu Yunxiao was now deeply ashamed for not protecting her. Huai Qing had a gentle yet indifferent nature, so he could be set aside for now.
Now, the only difficult and troublesome one remaining was Mo Jiao, with whom she had enmity. Xiao Jinsheng tightly clutched Que Zelian's belt, following him step by step back to their shelter from last night, all while planning in her mind. So... her current primary focus was to improve her mental energy.
She lowered her head, her gaze falling on Que Zelian's slender waist, cinched by an embroidered belt, and swallowed, her throat feeling dry. Because Xiao Jinsheng was walking beside him, Que Zelian, who had been paying attention to her, turned back to ask, "Thirsty?"
Xiao Jinsheng nodded numbly. Her gaze met Que Zelian's eyes, which resembled the evening glow. Like the vast sunset sky, where fiery reds and oranges converged, each cloud seemed like a burning flame. And those orange-red eyes always held an elegant smile. Just looking at that handsome and noble face, Xiao Jinsheng found it pleasing to the eye.
Among the five men, Mo Jiao still had killing intent towards her, so he was out first. Huai Qing was gentle but aloof, Su Ye was handsome but fierce, and Yu Yunxiao was a tsundere cat who needed frequent petting. Only Que Zelian remained—an elegant, polite, and humble gentleman. Xiao Jinsheng thought to herself, she was a woman who, in her original world, could play games and browse the internet, and shamelessly boast about being able to handle just a few pretty faces. Now, facing five beast-husbands, there was no reason to back down. Just based on the faces and bodies of these beast-husbands, and the fact that they could help her improve her strength, Xiao Jinsheng felt it was a worthwhile endeavor.
"I remember you still have water," Que Zelian gently reminded her, seeing her staring at him without speaking.
Xiao Jinsheng pursed her lips and shook her head, "My water's all gone." Her gaze fell to Que Zelian's water bottle, looking at him expectantly, "You still have water, can I have some?"
"But... I've already drunk from this one," Que Zelian's ear tips flushed red as he hesitated to remind her.
"It's fine, I don't mind," Xiao Jinsheng noticed his red ear tips and chuckled more freely inside. Seeing that she truly wanted water, Que Zelian had no choice but to turn around and let her take the water bottle from his bag herself. He turned back and saw Xiao Jinsheng holding his water bottle, taking small sips. The thought that he had drunk from this water just a moment ago caused the flush from his ear tips to spread directly to his face. He quickly averted his gaze, not daring to look at Xiao Jinsheng again.
Xiao Jinsheng wasn't thirsty and just took two casual sips. She observed Que Zelian's face, flushed red from her closeness, with satisfaction, chuckling inwardly. Although all five men could be utilized, she had only been an online braggart before; this was her first real-life experience. As a first-time "sea king," she definitely needed to find someone innocent and easy to handle first.
Clearly, Que Zelian was her perfect target.
"I'm not thirsty anymore, thank you," Xiao Jinsheng said with a smile, returning the water bottle to his hand.
"Next time we go out, I'll prepare the food and water resources in your bag," Que Zelian's blush hadn't faded. He took his water bottle back, his voice noticeably softer as he replied.
"That would be too much trouble for you! I'll give you 10 extra points," Xiao Jinsheng replied with a smile.