IPC Chapter 19: Scaredy Cat

 

Interstellar Power Couple

Translator: Vemmy

Quality Check: Leslie

Editor: Chesh

First Published on Chaleuria

Chapter 19: Scaredy Cat

In truth, Lei Jue hadn’t thought too much about it in the beginning. Initially, when he saw Xiao Lingyu the first time, the other had gifted him Emily’s severed arm. Although he had just been attacked by Emily, he had thought that it might have been a coincidence.  

Later on, he asked Xiao Lingyu some questions about the use of the communicator’s special functions. Xiao Lingyu had given him very clear and logical explanations, which made him feel that the other a better understanding of this than him.

And after that? After that was the night before the wedding. After he witnessed Xiao Lingyu’s fiery and passionate kiss with a certain someone, Emily began attacking him. Originally, he thought he was definitely going to be screwed, but then someone stopped the rest of Emily’s punishment toward him.

At the time, he thought it was Xiao Lingshu and had even given the other his thanks, but evidently, he had misunderstood.

If Xiao Lingshu really had that kind of ability, why didn’t Xiao Lingqi find the former to fix his communicator when he was still at home? From what Xiao Lingqi said, it was possible to determine that that communicator of his had already been broken for some time. If Xiao Lingshu could control robots remotely, then wouldn’t it be easy to fix a few problems in a very simple program? They spent so much time together, it wasn’t possible that he forgot to mention it every single time, right?”

Also, that time at the pet service center, Xiao Lingyu actually immediately guessed that the person who had messaged him was Feng Gu. Could someone with such a deft mind really be a complete hedonist?

Each and every instance seemed innocuous when taken alone, but what if they were linked together?

For some reason, Lei Jue recalled that kiss in front of Lord Lyneil; Xiao Lingyu’s kissing technique was so bad that it made Lei Jue want to beat him. This Xiao Lingyu was practically a completely different person from the one that Lei Haige had shown him images of. At that time, the images Lei Haige showed him were very clear; he still remembered that Xiao Lingyu was skilled in kissing, definitely not a novice. But the Xiao Lingyu that kissed him, ignoring how he directly crashed into his front teeth, he’d actually gotten hard from just those few moments!

What part of this looked like a seasoned veteran? Could it be that this kind of thing could be staged according to the situation!

Lei Jue had always felt that Xiao Lingyu wasn’t what outsiders described him as; or at least, he wasn’t completely like that.

So Lei Jue carried a belly full of doubt as he finished his lunch and returned home with Xiao Lingyu. Xiao Lingqi sent them back, but he seemed to have forgotten that Lei Jue’s physical ability was trash as he parked the aircraft about ten meters above the ground out of habit. A problem then presented itself: Xiao Lingyu could effortlessly descend with a jump, but what about Lei Jue?!

Xiao Linggyu wasn’t stupid; he naturally understood when he saw Lei Jue stand dumbfounded by the exit, so he picked the latter up in a princess carry, leapt out of the aircraft, and landed firmly on the ground below.

It only took an instant. Lei Jue was completely unprepared, so it was only after they landed that he discovered he had actually subconsciously wrapped his arms around Xiao Lingyu’s neck.

“Scaredy cat. Look how frightened you are, it’s not like I would drop you, right?” Xiao Lingyu teased Lei Jue.

“Why would he stop so high?” Lei Jue lightly coughed. “Is Eldest brother in a rush?” He got down from Xiao Lingyu’s arms and suddenly felt that he wasn’t as thick-skinned as he thought. He hadn’t even felt this awkward during the kiss earlier.

“He’s not in a rush, he’s just a germaphobe. He won’t land when it snows because he wants to make sure that his aircraft is as clean as possible.” Xiao Lingyu replied., “Is there anywhere you want to go? If not, then we’re going inside.”

“I want to link my communicator with the aircraft, can you help me?” Lei Jue glanced towards where the Xiao family aircraft was parked. “When I tried it myself earlier, it kept failing.”

“Okay, I’ll set it up for you. Do you want to link both?” Other than the one they had bought while preparing for the wedding, there was also the communicator gifted by the Lei family, both of which were currently left at the Xiao residence.

“Just the one you got me.” Lei Jue did not trust the moral conduct of the Lei family members from the beginning, and really didn’t want to have this aircraft to suddenly fall from the sky and smash into a pancake with them inside one day. “As for the one from the Lei family, see if you can disassemble and sell it or something. I don’t plan on using it, in any case.”

“Oh hey, is it because you feel that the one hubby got for you is the best?” Xiao Lingyu embraced Lei Jue with one arm and paired Lei Jue’s communicator to the aircraft with the other. Once he was done, he turned his head. “Babe, shouldn’t you give me a kiss as a reward at times like this?” 

“That’s right, but do you think a kiss on the nose is better or a kiss on the lips? Or…” Lei Jue glanced at Xiao Lingyu’s crotch and smiled wickedly. “A kiss down below?”

“…Babe, this isn’t lewd, this is lascivious.” Xiao Lingyu continued, “A kiss on the nose first. You haven’t kissed me on the nose before; let’s take it step by step.”

“Mhm, you’re right.” Lei Jue took a step closer to Xiao Lingyu after speaking, and then he lowered his head slightly, seeming very shy. “Hubby, can you close your eyes?”

“Eh? Oh, okay.” Xiao Lingyu closed his eyes, slightly distracted by the title as his heartbeat was also thrown into momentary disarray.

Lei Jue quickly raised the communicator and, a short moment later, a little scorpion crawled onto Xiao Lingyu’s nose and stung him without so much as a warning. Lei Jue instantly took a picture.

Xiao Lingyu howled, “Lei Little Jue!”

Lei Jue sprinted towards the house. “Granny, Auntie! Brother Lingyu wants to hit me!”

“What?!” Luo Yuling immediately set down the things in her arms and came out. “Xiao Lingyu! I dare you to try to hit him! See how I’ll deal with…” Upon seeing her youngest son, Luo Yuling froze. “Little Five, you—what happened to your nose?” The tip of his nose was bright red and seemed as if it was about to swell; no matter how you looked at it, it resembled a clown!

“What else could it be, Little Jue did this. Damn brat, you actually dare to play this trick on me.” Xiao Lingyu fanned at his nose and looked into a mirror, only to discover that the swelling was getting larger and larger and his nose was becoming numb. What was even more infuriating was that everyone in the room was laughing, and not a single person was concerned about how to get rid of the sting!

“Why did you call for Little Jue? He wouldn’t do this to you without a reason, right?” Xiao Lingshu laughed. “You must’ve deserved a beating again.”

“All I did was tell him to give me a kiss. He actually set a scorpion to sting me.” Xiao Lingyu didn’t know whether he should laugh or cry as he looked at Lei Jue, who was acting obedient as he sat beside granny while eating fruit. “Hurry up and get rid of it for me.”

“I refuse. I’m timid, what if I also get poisoned when I heal you?” Lei Jue had a look of ‘I’m so scared’, but his eyes were bright like stars and it could be seen at a glance that he was up to no good.

“You…” Xiao Lingyu nodded, deflated. “Alright, alright, I’m a coward. I’m the cowardly one, okay?” This was too vengeful; all he had done was call him a scaredy cat. Was it really necessary to use tricks to get revenge!

Lei Jue beckoned with a finger. “Come, squat down a little; I can’t reach that high.”

Xiao Lingyu moved his face closer. Lei Jue placed a finger against his nose and the bump quickly disappeared.

Although everyone sitting here had seen Lei Jue’s capabilities before, they still thought it was amazing whenever they see it again. Only Xiao Lingyu couldn’t help but wonder if the boils on Lei Haige’s face had also appeared because of this. 

But metallic-backed wolf wasps… he couldn’t have caught and placed them one by one on Lei Haige’s face, right?

Xiao Lingyu’s gaze subconsciously lingered on Lei Jue’s, but then felt that he was probably overthinking. Although it was true that wood element ability users could attract all sorts of organisms, he had never heard about one who could control these animals.

***

Once he had been treated, Xiao Zhicheng’s complexion was much better than before. He had received countless well-wishes at the military headquarters that morning, and for the entire day a joyous and excited mood had permeated the atmosphere. It was as if one could still feel it after they closed their eyes.

To tell the truth, this was understandable. They were bound together in glory and in failure, after all; now that the situation had been turning around, how could this news not make people happy? In the last confidential meeting regarding the election, all the core figures in the North Ling military district, including Xiao Zhicheng’s confidants, gathered together. They weren’t able to hide their excitement when they spoke of the events of the wedding. Despite getting on in years, they couldn’t even control their expressions.

“These wood element ability users are as rare as Abyssal Comet Fire, and now one has directly joined the commander-in-chief’s family.” The highest ranked marine commander under Xiao Zhicheng, Qi Min, chuckled. “Whenever I think about this, I get so excited that I can’t sleep at night. I’d like to see if anyone still dares to go against the North Ling army!”

“That’s right. I had thought about it in the past: who in the world would be able to match Little Lingyu’s Abyssal Comet Fire? This is absolutely terrific, two rare treasures have ended up together.” The commander of the ground forces, Si Wannian, smoothed his moustache. “They’re really the perfect match. However, Commander-in-chief, in this case, regarding Little Lingyu’s… shouldn’t we make a move? We can’t have him continue to be known as promiscuous forever, right? He may be able to shoulder the slanderous gossip outside, but what if it angers our little marshal’s wood ability husband away?”

“That’s right, this is a major issue. Commander-in-chief, you have to quickly think of some ideas.”

“I’m thinking of sending him to the mecha corps at Wannian, but I haven’t mentioned it to him yet.” Xiao Zhicheng also didn’t tell these old subordinates that Xiao Lingyu and Lei Jue’s marriage was simply for show; every family has some things that they wouldn’t reveal to outsiders, after all. However, he did indeed want to take this opportunity to improve his son’s image. After all, this was his own son; no matter what the final result was, he should still grab all the opportunities he can.

“Commander-in-chief, although my thoughts may be too forward, have you considered having Lei Jue join the army?” Xiao Zhicheng’s confidential secretary spoke. “Firstly, he’s an element ability user. Secondly, just based on the fact that he didn’t give Lei Jianying any face in front of such an audience, he probably isn’t on the Lei family’s side. So if this child really is trustworthy, wouldn’t it be alright to have him grow in the North Ling army? We shouldn’t let our talents slip away into the hands of outsiders.”

“Of course I’ve considered this before, but we should respect his own opinions,” Xiao Zhicheng answered. “At present, the election is still the most crucial thing. We should wait until the election results come out before discussing anything else.”

The four generals agreed in unison, then watched Xiao Zhicheng and his guards board the fighter aircraft to fly toward the army’s highest ranked medical center at the center of the compound.

Although the people who were paying attention to Xiao Zhicheng knew that a wood element ability user had entered his family and could help heal him, he still needed to go for a routine checkup before the election to let the concerned parties know that he could still perform the duties of his current position.

Lei Jue had just treated him that morning, so he was currently quite well. Although he wasn’t certain that he could definitely continue commanding the North Ling Army, he felt that with Lei Jue here to help treat him there was absolutely no problem in preserving a portion of his power.

However, the medical staff had expressions of utter surprise after examining him.

Seeing this, the director of the military general hospital hurriedly asked, “Little Liu, what’s the matter?”

The doctor called “Little Liu” was almost leaping in excitement. She had always felt that metal element abilities were the coolest. For this reason, Xiao Zhicheng had always been her the idol she looked up to the most, an untouchable god! She couldn’t hide her excitement as she spoke, “If you maintain the way you are now, you could even fight in difficult conditions for ten or so days without any problems! Looking at the results, Commander-in-chief is almost at his prime state.”

Hearing this result, the old director was a bit shocked. “Are you certain?”

Little Liu nodded quickly. “I’m certain! Very very certain!”

“Old Xiao, did you get Healer Elder Ming to treat you as well?” the old director asked doubtfully.

Elder Ming’s name was Ming Linxiu, the only A level wood element ability user on Casweir. An elderly man who was over 90 years old, he was also the strongest of the people who had come to treat Xiao Zhicheng before Lei Jue popped up. Only his wood ability could achieve the effect of Xiao Zhicheng’s current situation.

Xiao Zhicheng knew that his state was excellent; however, he never thought that it would be this good, so he too was momentarily stunned. Moments later, he shook his head. “I didn’t seek out Elder Ming this time. It was my family’s son-in-law who did this; the effects of his ability’s treatments are extremely lasting.”

He could practically imagine how livid the Lei and Feng families would be when they found out about this.

The old director nodded. “So that was the situation. However, no matter what the reason is, this is good.” Having finished speaking, he immediately gave an order. “Little Liu, what are you still standing there for? The inspection team is still waiting, hurry and report the results!”

Little Liu hurriedly gave an acknowledgement and scurried out. She knew that once she went out, many things were going to be different!