Chapter 265
Chapter 265: Their Fingers Interlaced, Full of Ambiguity
Jiang Tea Tea took a step back, crossed her arms, and shot him down with words that could make a dog whimper. “Hard pass. You’re ugly.”
Huang Da Zhuang’s tail drooped. He looked genuinely wounded as he rushed to defend himself. “Sister Tea, I’m not ugly. In our canine family, I’m one of the handsome males—thick brows, strong build, long legs.”
“I can prove it.”
Cheng Xiao Ting and the other five immediately crowded over and picked up the thread for him. “Sister Tea, with Huang Da Zhuang’s size, looks, coat color, and long legs—forget his big yellow dog clan. In the entire canine family, he’s the kind officials approve of and females like.”
Cheng Xiao Ting flicked his gaze over with blatant pride. “Of course, compared to a wolf like me, he’s still a little worse. Not as handsome as me, not as long-legged, not as cool!”
Huang Da Zhuang: “!!!!”
That damn wolf.
Did he have to step on him, praise himself, and crush him in the same breath?
Wolves and dogs weren’t that far apart. They shared an ancestor.
His legs were only a tiny bit shorter. His beast form was only a tiny bit shorter!
Jiang Tea Tea burst out laughing. “Yes, yes, yes, Cheng Xiao Ting, you’re right. Our Huang Da Zhuang isn’t as long-legged as you, not as handsome as you—”
Sui Xuan Chu, Cheng Lin Yue, and the others jumped in at once, gleefully fanning the flames.
“Huang Da Zhuang, keep it up. Eat more, move more, crush Cheng Xiao Ting.”
“Otherwise he’ll keep getting longer-legged than you, and his beast form will be longer than yours.”
Huang Da Zhuang yelped and barked in outrage. That only made them howl with laughter and tease him even harder.
Their jokes and loud laughter echoed through the military department, drawing plenty of people to stop and watch. Young people were bright and fearless, loud without a care in the world—and honestly, that wasn’t a bad thing.
After she’d had her fill of laughing with them, Jiang Tea Tea strolled into the military department’s indoor training grounds. Seventy men and women were already waiting inside, including one of Chong Ming’s guards: Major General Xia Wei Yi.
Xia Wei Yi recognized them right away. He walked over to greet Jiang Tea Tea and chat a few words.
Among the seventy, Jiang Tea Tea and her group of eight stood out like they’d wandered into the wrong world. Their clothes, their age, their whole vibe—everything looked out of place.
The seventy were the model of powerful, accomplished adults. Jiang Tea Tea’s group felt like a handful of grains that had somehow rolled into a royal court.
But Jiang Tea Tea was a great demon who’d seen far bigger scenes. To her, every so-called powerful person was just someone who’d been alive longer. That was all.
Sui Xuan Chu was the Empire’s crown prince. In terms of rank, no one here stood above him.
Yan Yu, Ju Que, Huang Da Zhuang, Cheng Lin Yue, Zhang Ting Zhou, and Cheng Xiao Ting came from decent families too. And most importantly, newborn calves weren’t afraid of tigers. Standing beside Jiang Tea Tea, they stared—quietly but boldly—at the people they normally only saw on the news.
Up close, though, they were just… people. Two eyes, one nose, two ears. Not nearly as scary or severe as they’d imagined.
When Xia Wei Yi spoke with Jiang Tea Tea, he was extremely respectful, treating her like a true superior. Jiang Tea Tea liked him. He vaguely resembled her grandmother, and he was handsome besides. She chatted with him easily.
About ten minutes later, Chong Ming arrived.
He wore his military uniform, golden hair loose and flowing. Two large golden dragon horns rose from his head. He came with Zhong Li He, Kong Que, and several medical staff members, including Cheng Yuan.
The entire training room snapped to attention and saluted. “Commander-in-Chief, greetings!”
Under the crisp collar of the Commander-in-Chief’s uniform, fresh bite marks showed at his neck.
So the princess consort was in the military department.
No wonder nobody knew who the princess consort was. She was under the Commander-in-Chief’s eyes the whole time.
A bold princess consort left bite marks on him, and now he walked around the military department wearing them openly. The Commander-in-Chief clearly adored her.
Chong Ming nodded and strode toward Jiang Tea Tea.
Xia Wei Yi, standing to Jiang Tea Tea’s left, stepped aside to make room.
On Jiang Tea Tea’s right, Cheng Xiao Ting started to shift too, but Sui Xuan Chu pressed him down with a silent warning not to move.
Cheng Xiao Ting, startled, pressed down on Cheng Lin Yue. Cheng Lin Yue, flustered, pressed down on Huang Da Zhuang. One by one, all seven of them froze in place.
Chong Ming stepped into the space Xia Wei Yi had yielded and stopped beside Jiang Tea Tea. He faced the crowd.
“Hello, everyone,” he said. “I called you here today because Healer Jiang Tea Tea will groom your psychic power and soothe your mind-sea.”
“She can groom a hundred people at once, so I brought you all together instead of having her run around.”
Then he added, tone flat as if discussing paperwork, “Classmate Jiang Tea Tea’s treatment is not free. After grooming everyone, an invoice will be sent to your accounts within twenty-four hours. Review it, then transfer the treatment fee to the invoice account.”
“Of course, if anyone objects to the fee and refuses to pay, you may apply to leave now.”
Leave?
Impossible.
Absolutely impossible.
The people summoned here had been anxious on the way over, convinced they’d done something wrong. Some of them had nearly replayed their ancestors’ sins for eighteen generations.
Now they realized it wasn’t punishment at all. It was the Commander-in-Chief valuing them—handing them a rare shortcut benefit.
Besides, across the entire M31 star system, who had a healer who could treat a hundred people at once? Nobody.
Even healers who could treat two or three at once didn’t exist. If Jiang Tea Tea could handle a hundred, and the Commander-in-Chief trusted her, then she was even stronger than the news suggested.
Seeing no one speak, Chong Ming continued. “If no one has objections, prepare yourselves. Wait a moment.”
Everyone answered in unison. “Yes!”
Chong Ming looked at Jiang Tea Tea. “Are you ready?”
Jiang Tea Tea glanced at him. “I’m ready.”
The moment she said it, Sui Xuan Chu and the other seven immediately flopped onto the ground one after another and echoed together, “Sis—Sister Tea, we’re ready too!”
Zhong Li He asked, baffled, “Classmate Jiang Tea Tea, what are they doing?”
Jiang Tea Tea explained casually, “Oh. When I stabilize abilities in a group and soothe the mind-sea, I’m pretty rough. Most people can’t stay standing. It hurts like hell—they collapse, scream, and clutch their heads.”
She nodded toward the seven sprawled out. “They’ve been thrown down too many times, so they’re lying down in advance.”
Zhong Li He hesitated. “Then can I sit in a chair?”
“You can bring a bed to lie on,” Jiang Tea Tea said. “No problem.”
Zhong Li He immediately looked at Kong Que.
Kong Que didn’t even need a second glance. He pulled a chair from his storage button.
Zhong Li He sat down, leaving half the seat open, and patted the empty space. “Kong Que, sit here.”
No matter where he was or what the occasion, he never hid his favoritism toward Kong Que.
Under many eyes, Kong Que sat. The Chief Executive’s face had to be honored in any situation.
Xia Wei Yi sat on the floor too.
Cheng Yuan did the same—dropping flat onto the ground, clean and decisive.
The others, who’d never been treated by Jiang Tea Tea before, still stood. They didn’t sit or lie down.
Someone brought a chair for the Commander-in-Chief as well. Adjutant Ai sat nearby, close to Xia Wei Yi.
The moment Chong Ming sat, a powerful healing psychic force surged from Jiang Tea Tea. It split into dozens of streams and struck everyone present.
Then came the thuds.
One person collapsed. Then two. Then three. Then four—until dozens fell. Their mind-seas were invaded and groomed so sharply that even the tough ones couldn’t stay standing.
Zhong Li He, who wasn’t tough at all, laid a hand over Kong Que’s to comfort him and wordlessly say he was here.
Kong Que flipped his hand and interlaced their fingers, gripping tight as if he used all his strength to lock Zhong Li He’s hand to his.
Zhong Li He’s reflex wasn’t romantic. Jiang Tea Tea’s treatment was too fierce, and Kong Que was in so much pain he was clinging to Zhong Li He’s hand to endure it.
What Jiang Tea Tea called healing psychic force was really just her magic power. Demonic magic wasn’t gentle. It was like knives. No matter a person’s level, it cut straight into their mind-sea.
It automatically and forcibly groomed ability backlash, restless psychic surges, and impurities with brutal, cleansing cuts.
People clutched their heads, rolling on the floor without dignity, screaming like they were dying.
Jiang Tea Tea lowered her eyes to Chong Ming. He looked fine. Her gaze sharpened, and a single focused stream of magic power struck Chong Ming alone.
Chong Ming lifted his head and met her eyes. He curled a finger at her, silently ordering her: lower your head. Come here.
Jiang Tea Tea frowned, stepped forward, and stopped in front of him. She bent at the waist, blocking the writhing crowd from view, and mouthed, “What?”
Chong Ming tapped his lightbrain and showed her the message he’d typed.
“My psychic power and mind-sea at the first hotel—you did a deep grooming.”
“Every time you calm backlash and soothe my mind-sea after that, it hasn’t been as deep as what you did back then.”
Jiang Tea Tea read it and shot him a glare sharp enough to draw blood.
That bastard. Old Loach. Scum.
That night at the first hotel, he’d taken her first time as a great demon.
A great demon at her age was treasure from head to toe. If a stronger great demon killed and ate her, even if they couldn’t ascend, they’d gain thousands upon thousands of years of magic power.
Throw her into an alchemy furnace and refine her into pills… even mortals, if they didn’t burst, could live for centuries, even millennia.
Chong Ming ignored her glare. His gaze swept over her blazing ears, and he smiled with quiet satisfaction. Then he asked, perfectly serious, “How long will it take for these eighty-plus people to finish grooming, so they stop rolling around in pain?”
Jiang Tea Tea straightened and answered loudly, still glaring. “It depends. It depends on their levels. Some are fast, some are slow. At least thirty to one hundred twenty minutes.”
Chong Ming pointed to Zhong Li He and Kong Que nearby. “Classmate Jiang Tea Tea, those two are sitting so close. Their fingers are interlaced so tight. They’re supporting each other so steadily.”
His eyes gleamed. “Can you make them roll on the floor too—embarrassed and miserable—so I can film it and blackmail Chief Executive Zhong for more benefits?”