Why Do All the Villains Look at Me Like This? - Chapter 101

With Yao Huai by his side, obtaining the healing needles proved surprisingly easy. Meng Xuexiao had initially planned to take only one or two, but they ended up exceeding their mission, returning with a full five.

The five glass needles, each about the length of a middle finger, were neatly arranged in a handbag they’d conveniently grabbed on their way out. Anxious about the needles breaking during the bumpy journey back, Meng Xuexiao deliberately stuffed several tissues between them to keep them secure.

Thanks to the cushioning, the needles didn’t even make the slightest clinking sound during the trip. Yao Huai and Meng Xuexiao remained silent the entire way, the silence between them almost suffocating. Meng Xuexiao avoided looking at Yao Huai, fearing his guilty gaze might betray something. Instead, he kept his eyes fixed on the pale brown liquid sloshing back and forth inside the needles.

Five healing needles… it was far too many.

Not that having more was a bad thing. On the contrary, the more Meng Xuexiao had, the easier it would be to save Huai Sui. But… Meng Xuexiao had never forgotten the reason he’d persuaded Yao Huai to help him obtain the needles. He had claimed he needed them to treat Yao Huai’s injuries.

Meng Xuexiao had also examined Yao Huai’s wound. It was only two inches long and not particularly deep—a minor injury by the standards of any student at the Federation Military Academy. Why would he need five healing needles?

At most, half a needle would suffice. In peacetime, even using half a needle for such a minor wound would be considered a wasteful extravagance.

Yao Huai’s insistence on taking five needles was highly suspicious.

Had Yao Huai… discovered something?

The more Meng Xuexiao thought about it, the more anxious he became. In the end, he decided to test the waters.

He quickened his pace, walking so close to Yao Huai’s wheelchair that his feet nearly brushed the rear wheels.

“I figured healing needles are rare, and since we had five, I grabbed them all. Just in case we need extra for emergencies.”

“You did most of the heavy lifting in this operation, and you’ll likely be the one carrying the burden in future battles too. Why don’t you keep them? It’ll be more convenient for you to use them.”

Hearing Meng Xuexiao’s words, Yao Huai turned his head to look at him. Meng Xuexiao forced himself to meet the man’s gaze, feeling like a criminal smuggling contraband through airport security.

On one hand, Meng Xuexiao hoped Yao Huai would agree, proving his own innocence and dispelling any doubts the other man might harbor. On the other hand, he genuinely didn’t want Yao Huai to accept the healing needles.

If Yao Huai did, Meng Xuexiao would have to lie again to retrieve them when saving Huai Sui, adding an unnecessary layer of complication.

“There’s no need. Keep them,” the Silver-Haired Man said softly. “Just as you said, what if they come in handy?”

Yao Huai didn’t take the healing needles, which brought Meng Xuexiao a small measure of relief. However, the direction of the conversation filled him with even greater anxiety. The veiled meaning in Yao Huai’s words was unmistakable.

Meng Xuexiao wanted to turn and flee, but his entire body had frozen. He couldn’t lift his feet, forced to watch helplessly as Yao Huai raised his hand toward him, palm facing upward.

The movement caused Yao Huai’s sleeve to slide down, revealing a strong forearm and wrist. Meng Xuexiao could see the pulsing blue veins and intricate network of purplish blood vessels beneath the man’s skin.

Yao Huai’s arm appeared no different from a human’s at first glance, even brazenly exposing the artery at his wrist.

The wrist artery is one of a human’s vital points. Meng Xuexiao didn’t know if this held true for Yao Huai as well, but he couldn’t forget that this was the very arm that had pierced through the Dragon Clan’s nearly indestructible chest.

What is Yao Huai trying to do?

Sensing Meng Xuexiao’s confusion, Yao Huai’s gaze lingered on the paper bag in Meng Xuexiao’s hand. Meng Xuexiao immediately retrieved a healing needle from the bag and offered it to him.

In such a critical moment, even a second of hesitation would be irresponsible toward his own life and goals.

But the next moment, Yao Huai said, “Wrong.”

Then, he didn’t take the healing needle from Meng Xuexiao.

Wrong? What’s wrong? Yao Huai must have noticed something!

Meng Xuexiao’s brain throbbed frantically, blood rushing to his head until it ached. Yet the glass syringe he gripped tightly felt icy cold, nearly slipping from his grasp.

He clung to his last reserves of composure and rationality, straining to catch Yao Huai’s next words.

Now, more than ever, he couldn’t afford to lose his nerve.

Then he heard Yao Huai say, “I can’t inject myself.”

Huh? What do you mean you can’t?

Meng Xuexiao was genuinely bewildered.

Perhaps the young man’s confusion was too obvious, because Yao Huai raised his arm slightly, allowing Meng Xuexiao to clearly see the wound on his forearm.

Then, he flexed his arm slightly, causing the wound to distort momentarily under the muscle strain. “I can’t inject myself. It would pull on the wound.”

His tone was calm, his analysis logical.

But… that was just a wound that even a Military Academy student wouldn’t think twice about!

Fine. Since Yao Huai was hinting that he wanted Meng Xuexiao to inject him, he’d do it. For now, he could only take things one step at a time.

Following standard injection procedure, Meng Xuexiao first expelled a small amount of liquid from the syringe. Then, he aligned the needle with the vein on the man’s wrist. The vein was easy to locate, and he shouldn’t have hesitated, yet Meng Xuexiao lingered, unable to press the needle into the man’s skin.

Although the man had told him to just inject him, this was right next to a major artery—a highly dangerous spot.

It was like how zookeepers rarely touched a tiger’s neck or its vulnerable abdomen unless absolutely necessary.

Even if the zookeeper was familiar with the tiger, and even if the tiger might tolerate such contact, attacking anyone who touched its vital points was an instinct ingrained in all predators.

The beast might not even realize it—in the blink of an eye, the zookeeper’s neck could be snapped.

Meng Xuexiao genuinely couldn’t predict what would happen when he plunged the needle in.

But… there was no choice.

He closed his eyes, steeling himself with a fatalistic resolve, and thrust the needle in.

Unexpectedly, he encountered no resistance whatsoever. The needle slid smoothly into the man’s vein as if guided by its own will.

He had assumed Yao Huai’s skin would be much tougher.

During the earlier fight between Yao Huai and Zhuoyue, Zhuoyue’s sharp claws had struck Yao Huai’s arm with tremendous force, yet left no mark.

So, not only was Yao Huai now allowing Meng Xuexiao to touch his vital areas directly, but he had also… deliberately softened his skin?

This realization made Meng Xuexiao involuntarily shift his gaze from the pricked skin back to Yao Huai’s face. The man’s expression remained unchanged, as if this were the most ordinary thing in the world.

Fine then…

As long as Yao Huai is happy.

Meng Xuexiao couldn’t help but miss the faint ability he had once possessed—the ability to hear Yao Huai’s thoughts. But since some time ago, he seemed to have lost it, perhaps blocked by some unknown force.

Tentatively, Meng Xuexiao grasped Yao Huai’s wrist, the one he was injecting. When the man showed no sign of resistance, Meng Xuexiao adopted a proper stance, securing Yao Huai’s wrist with one hand while using the other to push the liquid from the syringe. “It might feel a bit cold,” he warned.

After a moment’s hesitation, Meng Xuexiao added, “That’s normal. These healing needles were taken straight from the Medical Base’s freezer.”

“It’s not cold,” Yao Huai said.

Hearing this, Meng Xuexiao simply nodded. He hadn’t really expected someone as powerful as Yao Huai to be bothered by the cold, but he’d offered the reminder just to be cautious.

However, he failed to notice Yao Huai’s eyes narrowing slightly as he spoke.

It wasn’t the reaction of someone feeling the chill; rather, it was the languid sensation of a snake basking on ice, feeling the first rays of sunlight break through the clouds.

Yao Huai was practically a cold-blooded creature himself, insensitive to cold but acutely sensitive to heat. Just moments ago, a warm current had mixed with the medicinal fluid as it entered his body.

He surmised it was likely Meng Xuexiao’s body temperature.

When Yao Huai had requested the injection, Meng Xuexiao had hesitated for a long time, clutching the glass syringe. By then, the liquid inside was no longer as icy as when it had been freshly retrieved from the Medical Base’s freezer.

And now—

Yao Huai’s gaze lingered on Meng Xuexiao’s hand gripping the syringe. The young man’s fingertips were pale with tension, and his exhaled breath clung to the glass, giving it a frosted appearance, as if it were soaking in a hot spring.

It made Yao Huai feel a twinge of jealousy toward the syringe.

As the only being in this world who could stand on equal footing with it, Yao Huai possessed an inherent exclusivity. To Him, everything else in the world was tainted with impurities. Even the healing fluid recently injected into His veins, though within His body, was being rejected by His own blood. By the time Meng Xuexiao withdrew the needle, it would likely seep out through the injection site.

That would be such a waste.

Yao Huai seized the rejected fluid and forcefully pressed it back into his bloodstream, like hammering a nail into wood. Though complete fusion remained elusive, at least now, you were in me, and I was in you.

Even the faint warmth from Meng Xuexiao’s touch had been completely enveloped and devoured by his blood.

A warmth so faint Meng Xuexiao himself couldn’t feel it, yet it seemed to burn from His arm all the way to his core, then spread through every limb and bone.

He couldn’t help but let out a satisfied sigh before seizing Meng Xuexiao’s hand, who was about to withdraw the needle.

Meng Xuexiao’s hand jerked, nearly dropping the needle.

The Silver-Haired Man pointed to his arm, “It seems you’ll need to give me another injection.”

Meng Xuexiao followed the man’s gaze to the several-inch-long wound, which was still there, oozing blood.

It hasn’t healed at all?

No, wait. It couldn’t be that the healing needle was ineffective.

Meng Xuexiao calmed himself and examined the wound closely. He noticed irregular new flesh at the edges—clear evidence of a fresh wound created by tearing apart partially healed tissue.

Meng Xuexiao, “……”

Frowning, he grabbed another syringe, his mind racing.

Could it be… that Yao Huai took five healing needles not because he sensed something was wrong with me, but simply because he enjoys getting injections?

In the end, Meng Xuexiao and Yao Huai used two healing needles. After consulting Yao Huai, Meng Xuexiao returned the remaining needles to the bag.

Although they had used one more than he’d anticipated, three needles should still be enough for Huai Sui to recover sixty to seventy percent of his strength, right?

Now the problem was: how to contact Huai Sui.

Meng Xuexiao’s first thought was to consult the Smart Brain within the Recorder. Due to Yao Huai’s influence, the Smart Brain couldn’t detect his location, but Huai Sui should be outside this range.

He glanced at Yao Huai and, seeing the other man wasn’t paying attention to him, pulled out his Recorder again.

Meng Xuexiao silently warned himself not to reveal his eagerness to recruit Huai Sui, lest the Smart Brain refuse to disclose Huai Sui’s location. He needed to be subtle, gently coaxing the information out.

After quickly organizing his thoughts, Meng Xuexiao prepared to activate the Recorder’s screen.

But no matter how he pressed the power button, the screen remained pitch black, as if the device had run out of power. Even his previous chat logs with the Smart Brain had vanished.

What’s going on?

Had the Smart Brain used up the remaining energy stored in the Recorder?

When did this happen?

Meng Xuexiao stared blankly at the Recorder for a long moment until—

“Is something wrong?”

Yao Huai’s voice startled him. Meng Xuexiao instinctively glanced to his side. Yao Huai was sitting a few arm’s lengths away, looking in his direction.

Given Yao Huai’s position, he likely hadn’t seen what Meng Xuexiao had been doing. Still, Meng Xuexiao remained uneasy. Sometimes, it was better to reveal a little than to hide everything. After all, the more he concealed, the more suspicious he would appear.

He took a deep breath and waved the Recorder at Yao Huai, “I just picked up this abandoned device. I’m trying to figure it out.”

“Oh,” Yao Huai replied, his gaze barely lingering on the Recorder.

Meng Xuexiao immediately knew his gamble had paid off. Yao Huai had little interest in such mechanical devices.

With the immediate crisis averted, Meng Xuexiao turned his attention back to the Recorder.

Without the Smart Brain, how could he contact Huai Sui?

Wait… if he remembered correctly, the idea of “go find Huai Sui if anything happens” had actually been Huai Sui’s suggestion in the first place.

Given Huai Sui’s personality, would he really leave the initiative to the Smart Brain, letting it decide whether Meng Xuexiao could learn his location?

Absolutely not. Huai Sui would know better than anyone that the Smart Brain would never choose such a risky plan.

Therefore, Huai Sui must have given him a way to contact him long ago.

During that battle, Huai Sui had given him something…

Meng Xuexiao’s gaze returned to the Recorder. Gritting his teeth, he pried it open.

As expected, a silver scale lay nestled among the Recorder’s intricate wiring.

Meng Xuexiao remembered learning in the Federation that members of the Dragon Clan could communicate telepathically.

Could a scale and a Dragon also communicate across such distances?

Within the ruins of a collapsed building, glass and rubble lay scattered across the ground. A massive silver dragon coiled atop the debris, half its body stained crimson with blood, making it difficult to discern whether it was alive or dead. Yet the dragon’s golden eyes, though warm in color, swiveled with a venomous glint.

A scale on its body flashed, signaling a message from an Imperial general.

“Lord Huai Sui, the Federal Military Department has launched a counterattack. Our forces are losing ground on the eastern front. At this rate, we won’t hold out for more than a few days. Requesting reinforcements! Requesting reinforcements!”

Immediately afterward, an adjacent scale lit up with another message.

“The Federal Marshal’s location has been locked. Should we strike immediately? If we delay any longer, it will be too late!”

Since being wounded, Huai Sui had received countless such messages, yet he remained utterly motionless.

In truth, even in his weakened state, he could have swept across the battlefield and annihilated the enemy. But he simply couldn’t be bothered to move.

Better to let these Imperial Beasts, clinging to life by clinging to me, die out completely.

Just a bunch of whining trash, disturbing my rest.

Besides, the Emperor of the Empire is my brother, not me.

This was precisely why Huai Sui had never contested the throne with his brother.

“Reinforcements requested~ If we don’t attack soon, it’ll be too late~~~” Huai Sui drawled out the words, then burst into laughter.

“I’m not their babysitter.”

Then, in a rare moment of diligence, he began replying to the Alien Beasts one by one.

“Oh, oh, oh! Oh my God, what should we do? My brother’s dead! He was killed! Sliced like tofu! It scared me to death! I tried to escape, but I couldn’t! I don’t think I’ll survive either!!!”

Having finished his replies, he completely ignored the Imperial Beasts, whose morale had collapsed, and closed his eyes, humming a tune.

But before even a few seconds had passed, a scale near his chest lit up.

Huai Sui instinctively reached for the simplest copy-paste method, intending to send the same mass-distributed message to this particular whiner. He was halfway through the process when he suddenly realized something was wrong.

He squinted his golden Dragon Eyes at the scale for a moment before abruptly sitting up. His massive dragon body lumbered through the ruins, smashing down another crumbling wall.

Well, well, well, he thought. Isn’t that Meng Xuexiao on the other end of this scale?

Huai Sui recalled the young man’s resolute refusal to communicate earlier, and a smug satisfaction bloomed in his heart.

Didn’t Meng Xuexiao trust Yao Huai? Didn’t he distrust me? This slap in the face came fast, didn’t it? Only now does he remember me.

Meng Xuexiao is begging for my help now! Just thinking about it is so satisfying! If I don’t seize this opportunity to tease him, it would be such a waste! My injuries would have been for nothing!

Huai Sui narrowed his eyes, propped his cheek in his hand, and grinned. The sharp fangs of the Dragon Clan glinted in the ruins.

He answered the call, deliberately remaining silent to force Meng Xuexiao to speak first.

Meng Xuexiao’s voice was indeed panicked. Through the scale, Huai Sui could even sense the young man’s frantic heartbeat.

He’s absolutely terrified!

Imagining the other party’s eyes, misty with tears and the corners slightly reddened from anxiety, Huai Sui couldn’t help but lick his lips, like a demon who feasts on despair raising its knife and fork.

Then he heard the young man speak, his voice even softer and more tremulous than Huai Sui had anticipated, so faint that Huai Sui had to strain his ears to hear him clearly.

“Are you… alright now? How bad is your injury?”

The golden dragon eyes widened involuntarily.

In Huai Sui’s imagination, the moment the connection was established, Meng Xuexiao would have dumped a whole pile of problems on him, just like those whiny generals from the Empire.

But Meng Xuexiao didn’t.

No cries for help, no desperate demands, but instead…

He was concerned about Huai Sui?

Huai Sui’s ear fins twitched, gradually flushing pink.

Meng Xuexiao was concerned about him!

The venomous words churning in the Silver Dragon’s throat froze, stuck fast. After a long pause, he finally managed to croak out, “What could possibly be wrong with me…?”

“What’s the situation on your end?”