chapter 36

Qi Mo nodded to himself satisfactorily at the sight of Li Xin eating the food she was given and turned back to Red Falcon . “How many of those devices have the Blue Clan manufactured? Have we figured out a way of countering them?” He wasn’t afraid of fighting with the Blue Clan; the two clans had been rivals for a long time and it was no secret that both parties wanted to drive the other into the ground . However, it was concerning and unforgivable that the other clan had come up with a technology that the Qi Clan was unaware of .

Red Falcon nodded . “No . White Falcon only caught on because of what happened . We’ve yet to come up with a way of intercepting the device . “

The overlord’s face tightened . Next to him, Yellow Falcon shifted his glance to Li Xin, who had her head buried in her bowl and was busy eating . As if reading his thoughts, Qi Mo also turned towards her . Somehow, she had discovered the device that day . What was the point of searching far and wide for a solution when the answer was sitting right in front of them?

“Li Xin—”

“Don’t even think about it,” she interrupted him without taking her attention off her meal . She hadn’t really been listening to their conversation, but she was still able to make out what they had been talking about and what Qi Mo wanted .

It turned out that he hadn’t only brought her here to eat . Clearly, he wanted her earring . She wasn’t against the idea of handing it to him, but she wouldn’t do so without bargaining .

Qi Mo’s face turned stone cold at her abrupt rejection . “Say that again,” he said icily .

She huffed in annoyance and stared at him . “I don’t care how many times you ask . The answer is no,” she clarified . “I’m not giving it to you . You refuse to even give me what I want to eat, and now you want my possessions? In your dreams . “

Her outright abrasiveness shocked Yellow Falcon . He had been wondering where her sudden prickly attitude came from — turns out, it was all because of a meal . He couldn’t help thinking that she was being short-sighted .

Dark clouds of anger gathered in Qi Mo’s eyes, causing them to darken significantly . Li Xin felt the thunderous storm brewing in the man next to her, but despite that, she turned her head sharply to the side . She wasn’t going to relent, no matter how much he threatened her . All of the resentment and anger she had pushed down over the past few days suddenly bubbled to the surface, and she threw all pretenses of compliance out the window .

Suddenly, she felt a weight on her arm and she yelped as she was practically yanked out of her seat with such strength that she felt herself falling towards the ground . The movement had triggered the pain in her chest once again, and she sucked in a sharp breath .

She braced herself for landing on the floor, but then, her arm was yanked in the opposite direction and she was falling the other way . She found herself sitting in Qi Mo’s lap as opposed to on the ground . Her face was pale as pain shot up and down her arm, making it difficult to breathe .

Qi Mo looked at the woman in his arms with a frown . He had intended to throw her onto the floor, but at the sight of her face twisted in pain, he changed his mind unconsciously and pulled her into his lap instead . She was painting heavily with pain . After a moment of oppressive silence, he reached a hand out and placed it over her heart . “Does it hurt?” He asked quietly .

“Yes,” she replied simply, nodding in affirmation . The pain wasn’t too bad to begin with, but Qi Mo was a physically strong man made of brute force . However, she felt some of her anger dissipate at the sight of his somewhat apologetic hand on her chest .

His frown deepened at her answer . He thought that perhaps he pulled her a little too hard just now; in respond, he pulled Li Xin closer to him and began unbuttoning her blouse, wondering if he had reopened her wound .

Over the last few days, Qi Mo had been in charge of changing her bandages every day . Thus, Li Xin had gone from being angry to shy to absolute apathy in regards to the man unbuttoning her shirts . This time, she didn’t react at his movements — she simply shifted her eyes to the side . Her wound had scarred anyway, there was nothing to see .

She suddenly threw a forced smile at the rest of the men at the table, an unreadable expression in her eyes . Instantaneously, she remembered that they could see her as well . As a result she felt her brain shut down and a blush spread across her cheeks . In one swift movement, she yanked her blouse closed and shimmied out of Qi Mo’s lap . How humiliating .

“What are you doing? Sit properly . ” Li Xin was fast, but Qi Mo was faster . The second he felt her leap off his legs, he pulled her back .

Her face was flaming hot . She struggled several more times, failing each time to get out of Qi Mo’s arms . Finally, she turned and buried her face in his chest . “I should be the one asking you what you’re doing,” she muttered quietly .

He frowned . “Sit properly, stop messing around . ” He forced her to turn back around . He was just inspecting her wound… the woman was clearly losing her mind .

Li Xin grabbed the front of Qi Mo’s shirt and refused to let go . She felt him beginning to lose patience and decided to push her head forward and sink her teeth into his skin . “There are others here,” she seethed .

At her comment, Qi Mo looked up at Red Falcon and the rest, knitting his brows together . He shifted his gaze back to observe Li Xin’s furiously blushing face and let go of her to wrap his arms around her back and began patting her reassuringly . “Tell me,” he said, “what it is you want . “

She put her humiliation aside and eyed him suspiciously at his sudden change of topic . It took a while for it to dawn on her that Qi Mo was asking her the price for her special earring . She laughed to herself because this was the opportunity she had been waiting for . She pushed herself so she sat up straight . “I want to know where Sui Xin is,” she demanded .

The overlord swept a cool glance at her, noting the return of her usual attitude . “It seems like your strength is back to normal and it’s stopped hurting . “

Li Xin took one look at the nonchalant expression on his face and stuck her arms out, pointing at the bruises . “It hurts, how could it not?” She smirked inwardly . She didn’t specify where it hurt; if he assumed wrong, then that wasn’t her problem . It was just that upon witnessing his flip-flopping attitude towards her and his attention to her injury, she couldn’t help but take advantage — even if her injury was nothing noble and completely her own fault .

“If you say so,” Qi Mo replied .

The look in his eyes was cold and stark, and his arms tightened around her waist . She cursed to herself, then smiled at the floor manager helpfully . “I’m not lying,” she whined .

Qi Mo pointedly ignored her acting . “Neither am I,” he said into her ear .

“What exactly do you mean by that? Mr . Qi, if you don’t tell me where Sui Xin is, then I won’t give the earring to you . His simple responses were infuriating . She glared at him .

Her sullen expression made Qi Mo feel somewhat indignant . “Don’t forget that you are mine,” he reminded her sulkily . “Your things are my things and vice versa . ” After he spoke, he suddenly reached out and got a hold of her, keeping her beneath him as he used his other hand to grab the earrings Li Xin was wearing .