Chapter 30: Pillow Talk
Seeing that Xie Wu had averted his gaze, Mo Qi naturally continued walking forward.
Although he could sense that Xie Wu most likely had no special feelings toward Mo Xiu, the warning that needed to be given still had to be given.
If he wanted to join the team, fine.
But if he wanted to compete with him for his meal ticket—absolutely not!
Mo Xiu, this long-term meal ticket, belonged to him. His alone. He could only support him.
He was a Demon Lord. Back in the cultivation world, he had been the strongest existence. If he still had to share his meal ticket with others, that would be far too humiliating.
Besides, just imagining Mo Xiu showing concern for others, speaking gently to them, treating them with warmth and care—an uncontrollable violence rose in the man’s heart.
He realized that his possessiveness toward Mo Xiu seemed to be quite strong.
But Mo Qi didn’t think there was anything wrong with that. Since when did demon cultivators follow rules? If he wanted something, then it was his.
Besides, Mo Xiu was the one who had come to his side first.
Thinking this, the man walked with Mo Xiu into Cheng Cheng and the others’ house. Seeing the large table full of food, Mo Qi raised an eyebrow.
Lu Pingwan was setting out bowls and chopsticks. When she saw them arrive, she cheerfully called out, “You’re finally here!
Look, these rice balls were all made by Xie Wu. They’re all different colors, and there are even little animal shapes. I’ve never seen anything like this before!”
Xie Wu scratched the back of his head shyly when he heard this. He really didn’t know how to cook, but he was used to preparing food for the small animals he used to care for.
He was quite skilled at shaping vegetable-and-meat rice balls, though Lu Pingwan had helped with the seasoning.
He was worried that ordinary rice balls wouldn’t impress them, so he had deliberately shaped them a bit, hoping to leave a better impression.
“They really do look good,” Mo Qi said with a smile as he sat down beside Mo Xiu.
Hearing Mo Qi say this, Xie Wu finally relaxed and sat down to eat with everyone. It had been a long time since he’d had such a decent breakfast. After drinking a bowl of hot soy milk, he even felt a little moved.
Seeing that Mo Qi didn’t seem unhappy about Xie Wu’s presence, Mo Xiu also smiled. When he noticed a cat-shaped rice ball, he immediately picked it up and placed it into Mo Qi’s bowl.
“Here, this one suits you the most!” he said with a grin.
“Hm?”
Mo Qi looked at the cute cat-shaped rice ball in his bowl and glanced at the young man in confusion, even tilting his head subconsciously.
He was tall and imposing—how exactly did he resemble a little cat?
The smile in Mo Xiu’s eyes deepened. Seeing the other’s puzzled head tilt, he felt even more that Mo Qi resembled a big cat.
“What are you laughing at?” Mo Qi muttered softly in confusion.
He picked up the cat-shaped rice ball and took a bite, then narrowed his eyes. The taste was unexpectedly good.
If Xie Wu’s cooking skills were like this, then maybe he could stay after all—just to make these little rice balls for him.
After eating a few bites, he glanced at Mo Xiu beside him, who looked extremely pleased, smiling happily. Mo Qi didn’t ask any further questions.
The reason didn’t matter. As long as Mo Xiu was happy, he was happy too.
While everyone at this table enjoyed their breakfast in harmony, things were very different elsewhere.
Xu Liang was in a terrible predicament.
Early in the morning, someone had discovered Yang’s corpse. That man had always followed Bian Tai around, something many people knew.
Combined with the earlier murder of Ren Zha in the middle of the night, Xu Liang immediately sent someone to find Bian Tai—only to discover that his room was completely empty.
A bad premonition rose in Xu Liang’s heart, and he quickly sent more people to search everywhere for Bian Tai’s whereabouts, but they found nothing.
The man had been working under him for so long. Judging by the situation now, something had most likely happened to him.
“Damn it! I already told him to lie low for a while and stop causing trouble outside,” Xu Liang said angrily.
If Ren Zha’s earlier death had only made him suspect that it might have been due to a personal grudge or some accident, now Bian Tai was also dead. Even the lackey who usually stood beside him had been killed.
Most likely, that person had seen something or discovered who the mastermind was behind everything—and had been silenced as well.
Looking at it this way, the recent murders were probably aimed at him.
Although Xu Liang’s fire-type ability had already reached level three, making him a strong figure in the base, the feeling of danger lurking in the shadows and constantly watching him was unpleasant.
After Ren Zha’s death, he had strengthened the guards but hadn’t made any major moves. This time, however, things were different.
Xu Liang spared no effort, carefully investigating every possible lead around him, determined to drag the murderer out.
But the results were disappointing.
That night, Mo Xiu and the others had cleaned up very thoroughly. Mo Qi’s spiritual sense had also blocked and intercepted the people nearby.
Everything they had done had gone completely unnoticed.
It was like a sudden unsolved mystery. Xu Liang hadn’t expected that even with the influence he possessed, finding a murderer could still be so difficult.
Having no other choice, Xu Liang temporarily swallowed his frustration and began considering other possibilities.
However, he wasn’t going to bear this loss alone. So he went to find the base chief, Xiong Mingyuan.
Xiong Mingyuan was now the leader of the Shanhe Base. Like Bian Tai, he was a strength-type ability user, but his ability level was higher, and he fought extremely fiercely. He also had many followers.
Xiong Mingyuan and Xu Liang maintained a balance of power within the base. On the surface they appeared harmonious, but privately both wanted to eliminate the other.
Although the Shanhe Base wasn’t very formal, it still had its own order.
If it had been ordinary people, the matter might have simply been ignored. But when it came to rare ability users, their deaths couldn’t just go unexplained.
Xu Liang easily found an excuse. Claiming it was for the base’s safety, he forced Xiong Mingyuan to cooperate in conducting a large-scale investigation.
At the same time, he conveniently placed some of his own people into Xiong Mingyuan’s faction.
Xiong Mingyuan was naturally displeased, but he had no reasonable excuse to refuse and could only swallow the loss silently.
At the same time, he couldn’t help wondering who exactly had killed those two lackeys around Xu Liang.
If the person targeting them was only Xu Liang, then he could sit back and reap the benefits. But if that wasn’t the case…
It seemed that besides putting on a show publicly during this investigation, he should also take some actions privately.
Xu Liang stirred up another round of trouble within the base. Although he still couldn’t find the real murderer, he did gain some advantages.
Since there was still no progress on the case, he could only temporarily let it go.
Soon after, he shifted his attention back to expanding his own power. Mo Xiu, a dual-element ability user, had always been on the list of people he wanted to recruit.
Finally finding time to ask his subordinates about Mo Xiu’s recent situation, he learned that Mo Xiu had taken in a man named Xie Wu.
Immediately, he felt that sending that person over had indeed been the right decision.
He could completely use Xie Wu to persuade Mo Xiu to stand on his side.
After all, Xie Wu had originally been carefully selected by Bian Tai under his instructions—to influence Mo Xiu through pillow talk.
So, just a couple of days later, Xu Liang had someone “invite” Xie Wu over.
After praising him and painting a few grand promises about the future, he naturally urged him to put in more effort, promising that there would be plenty of benefits later.
Xie Wu agreed on the surface, but as soon as he returned, he immediately told Mo Xiu and the others about it.
Everyone gathered in the same room, each with different expressions.
Only Cheng Cheng looked completely confused.
After listening, he turned to Xie Wu with a puzzled expression.
“What exactly do you mean? Why are you talking about pillow talk? Isn’t that something said between a couple? Whether Brother Mo joins the vice-base leader’s side or not—what does that have to do with you? Weren’t you people sent here to do chores for us?”
One question followed another.
But just as he finished speaking, he noticed Lu Pingwan’s complicated expression beside him, and suddenly it dawned on him.
“So the people they sent over weren’t here to work… they were sent for Brother Mo?”
Cheng Cheng scratched his head halfway through the sentence, his mind suddenly thrown into chaos.
With his previously limited life experience, carefree personality, and happy, worry-free childhood, he had never encountered such things before.
“So… what exactly does that Xu Liang mean? You and Brother Mo aren’t that kind of relationship, so how are you supposed to do that ‘pillow talk’ thing?”
For some reason, after realizing that Xie Wu had been sent here for that kind of purpose, Cheng Cheng felt strangely uncomfortable.
“Brother Xie, what do you think? You’re not actually going to follow that guy’s orders and try to seduce Brother Mo, are you…?”
Cheng Cheng looked straight at Xie Wu and blurted it out without caring that others were present.
Xie Wu quickly shook his head when he heard this.
Especially after noticing Mo Qi’s gaze fall on him again—bringing that intense pressure back—he immediately waved his hands anxiously.
“No! I never had any such plan! Back then, the only reason I wanted to join your team was because Bian Tai left me with no other choice. I just wanted a place to hide. You saved me and helped me. I’m grateful already—how could I possibly have such improper thoughts? I swear, I absolutely have no other intentions toward Mo Xiu!”
After he finished speaking, the sudden pressure finally disappeared, allowing Xie Wu to breathe a huge sigh of relief.
When he came back to his senses, he realized that his back was already soaked with cold sweat.
After hearing Xie Wu’s explanation, Cheng Cheng finally smiled again.
After staying in this base for a while, he had also realized that the Shanhe Base might not actually be a good place.
On the surface it looked peaceful, but the people here lived very difficult lives—not the kind of hardship caused by the apocalypse, but suffering deliberately created by others.
Someone was intentionally exploiting the survival resources and space of ordinary people.
The one advocating this situation was none other than the vice-base leader, Xu Liang.
Just from the fact that Bian Tai—the guy they killed earlier whose name perfectly matched his vile personality—was Xu Liang’s trusted subordinate, it was obvious that Xu Liang was definitely not a good person.
“Brother Mo, I think Xu Liang isn’t a good guy,” Cheng Cheng concluded quickly.
Mo Xiu nodded when he heard this, somewhat surprised that the kid was actually quite perceptive.
Turning to look at Xie Wu in the distance, he felt satisfied that Xie Wu had honestly told them about Xu Liang summoning him and giving him orders.
If he could do this, then their help to him hadn’t been in vain.
After thinking for a moment, Mo Xiu said to Xie Wu,
“No need to rush. If he comes to you again, just play along and stall. Drag this matter out for as long as possible.”
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