Chapter 12

"Hmph!!!"

After listening to their conversation and hearing Nathan call out Ningguang's name, Keqing let out a cold snort. Fortunately, she was facing away from them; otherwise, Nathan would have surely noticed the danger in her puffed-up cheeks.

"Lady Yuheng, did something make you angry?"

Even now, Nathan could sense something wasn't right. After all, his foot was still being firmly stepped on by the girl's jade-like foot. The increasing pressure from above definitely wasn't his imagination.

"Hehe, perhaps our lovely Keqing... might be jealous!"

Ningguang, still close by, displayed an indescribable smile. Especially after noticing Keqing's actions, her crimson eyes gleamed mysteriously, clearly plotting something.

"Ningguang, who are you saying is jealous?"

This speculation made Keqing jump. However, the more she reacted this way, the more it seemed like she was trying to hide the obvious.

"Ahem-ahem!"

Realizing her impropriety, Keqing corrected her attitude after a few coughs. She hadn't fully confirmed if Nathan was her childhood friend yet, and she didn't want him to think she had such a silly personality.

"I'm just dissatisfied with A... Nathan's double standards!"

Pausing midway through her sentence, Keqing almost instinctively called him "A- Nate."

"Ah... I'm sorry, Keqing. I was mistaken."

Hearing this explanation, Nathan chose to apologize. According to his assessment, it was probably because of the poor relationship between Keqing and Ningguang. So after he called Ningguang by name, Keqing wanted to compete with her in this aspect.

"Fine... I'll let you off this time!"

With that, Keqing finally moved her jade foot from Nathan's instep. She then stepped forward, strategically blocking Ningguang's position. This way, the latter couldn't easily get around her obstruction.

Seeing this, Ningguang had no choice but to adjust her position.

"Phew!!!"

With both distinctively beautiful women moving away, Nathan could finally breathe normally.

"Nathan, you still haven't answered my earlier request?"

But before he could relax, Keqing brought up her initial question again.

"I..."

"Pardon me, Keqing, but I'll be borrowing young Nathan for a while!"

Before he could answer, Ningguang had already provided an answer from the side, smiling.

"Why... Ningguang, what business do you have with Nathan?"

At this, Keqing looked at her rival vigilantly. Even though she wasn't completely certain of Nathan's identity, she didn't want to hand him over to Ningguang. After all, Tianquan Ningguang had always been known for her mysterious ways.

Always strategizing from her Jade Chamber, she had that calculating style. Keqing truly feared that if Nathan went with Ningguang, he would be completely at her mercy.

"Hmm... Since young Nathan is a traveler from outside, I just want to learn some information from him!"

Facing the questioning, Ningguang paused briefly before giving such an answer. But judging from her smile, this seemed more like an improvised excuse.

"What's wrong? Even though we're both Qixing, Keqing, are you trying to interfere with my affairs?"

This counter-attack made Keqing's expression darken. Compared to the Yuheng's focus on infrastructure work, the Tianquan's responsibilities were greater, often requiring her to coordinate the bigger picture. If Ningguang used work-related matters as her reason, Keqing really had no way to refute.

"Then why can't you discuss it here?"

"Keqing, do you think this is an appropriate place for such discussions?"

During their exchange, Ningguang returned a meaningful smile. At the scene, only Captain Wang Hu felt extremely awkward. With two Qixing members in confrontation, subordinates like them didn't dare to interject.

"Hmph!"

Keqing looked around; indeed, the Millelith military camp wasn't a place for discussions. But even so, she still let out a defiant cold snort.

"Then Ningguang... where do you want to talk?"

"Why, at my domain, of course..."

Ningguang smiled, pointing toward the sky, and Keqing immediately understood.

"The Jade Chamber? No... then I must come too!"

Keqing immediately shook her head. If they really went up there, wouldn't Nathan be completely at Ningguang's mercy?

"What are you worried about, Keqing? Rest assured, I won't really eat young Nathan up."

"You..."

Hearing Ningguang's assurance, Keqing still found her reaction strange. If nothing else, why was she so fixated on Nathan? If he really was her childhood friend, there's no way he and Ningguang could have known each other.

"It won't take long, just half a day!"

Seeing Keqing's expression soften slightly, Ningguang immediately continued her explanation. However, in the Tianquan's heart, she was already secretly laughing. Half a day would be enough time for her to thoroughly win over Nathan.

Of course... not in the literal sense of consuming him. Rather, it was more about... winning him over completely, both body and soul.

"Well then, we'll be leaving now. I'll bring Nathan back to the Yuehai Pavilion later!"

Their confrontation ended with this dramatic conclusion. Only Nathan was passively leaving, still unclear about what had transpired even at the end.

Until he arrived at the floating stone, he finally realized he was alone with Ningguang.

"Are you ready? We're about to take off!"

Leading him onto the floating stone, Ningguang's delicate figure quietly drew closer.

"Oh... OH!!!"

Nathan belatedly nodded, recognizing the stone beneath his feet as the mechanism to reach the Jade Chamber. After all, this wasn't the game world where they could simply teleport.

"Whoosh!!!"

The whistling wind passed by his ears, bringing a strong centrifugal force. The floating stone ascended at incredible speed toward the Jade Chamber in the clouds.

"Ah!!!"

Nathan let out a surprised cry. Although he had mentally prepared himself, who could have expected such speed? It was absolutely ridiculous, almost twice as fast as in the game.

Due to the centrifugal force, Nathan's footing became unstable. Whether by coincidence or not, the massive floating stone suddenly began to shake. The direction of the turbulence happened to be toward Ningguang's position.

Caught off guard, Nathan's feet slipped, and he fell straight into that captivating embrace....