Chapter 279: Oops

Chapter 279: Chapter 279: Oops

Returning to the Qingjiang Financial Center Building, Feng Ling felt a strange sense of nostalgia.

The moment she stepped into the area, her whole body relaxed, and she felt a sense of peace and comfort.

It was a bit like finding a safe house inside the Maze.

’Could this be what they call the feeling of home?’

She suspected the Nest was influencing her. All her life, she had only wanted to live freely and without ties, never yearning for the concept of a "home."

But now she had changed. She was starting to value her own territory, wanting to build a sturdy and safe nest.

"Tsk, the power of genetics is a scary thing~"

Feng Ling mused as she walked through the sheet metal gate.

She hadn’t been back in a few days. The greenery was overgrown with weeds, looking lush under the streetlights. The floor-to-ceiling glass doors of the sales hall were no longer transparent, and the tiles inside were covered in a thin layer of dust.

But no matter how she looked at it, she wasn’t put off. In fact, the more she looked, the more she felt an affinity for it.

Her Pets seemed to feel the same way. The Cat Owl flapped its wings and flew up toward the top of the building, and the Little Thirds followed it, swarming inside in a dark cloud.

The Cat Spider was a bit more trouble. It took both Feng Ling and Xu Yiming to move its large silk cocoon into the building’s underground parking garage.

The cocoon was white and thick, and it twitched from time to time. This creeped Xu Yiming out. As they carried it, he asked Feng Ling, "It’s not going to hatch a whole brood of little Cat Spiders, is it?"

"No way—" Feng Ling’s eyes widened. "It’s still just a baby!"

’She had accepted her role as a mom, but she wasn’t quite ready to be a grandma.’

Xu Yiming joked, "I wonder if it’ll get a shock when it comes out and finds it has a bunch of little brothers and sisters."

"Sigh, who knows when it’ll come out." Feng Ling gently patted the cocoon, then turned to leave the parking garage with Xu Yiming. "Go pick an empty room on the second floor later," she added. "When Su Yuqing helped me with renovations, he fixed up several rooms up there. There’s more than enough space."

Xu Yiming rubbed the sticky spider silk from his hands. "No thanks," he said with a smile. "I’m going to crash at Old Su’s house for the night. I can also get some tips from him on how to write my speech."

"Oh, right. You have that press conference." Feng Ling asked him, "When do you leave?"

"I’ll rest tonight, work on my speech tomorrow, and fly out the morning after," Xu Yiming said with a laugh. "It’s my first time on TV. I’m actually pretty nervous. Do you think I should buy a suit to look more formal?"

Feng Ling shook her head. "The place will be full of guys in suits. You need to wear something distinctive, otherwise you won’t stand out."

"Good point." Xu Yiming asked earnestly, "So what should I wear? Any suggestions?"

"Easy~" Feng Ling said. "People at press conferences usually wear dark suits, so you should wear a brightly colored one. Like, lemon yellow or fluorescent pink. You’ll definitely steal the show."

Xu Yiming: "..."

"Don’t think I’m joking," Feng Ling said seriously. "Clothes like that might look a bit jarring in real life, but trust me! On camera, you’ll look amazing!"

"Is a press conference really the place to try and look cool?"

At some point, Ye Zheng had drifted up behind them. Her tone was utterly scornful. "It’s not like he’s performing in an opera. His attire needs to be appropriate. If he dresses all flashy and gaudy, how is he supposed to gain the public’s trust?"

Xu Yiming nodded eagerly.

Feng Ling snorted. "At all the past press conferences, everyone’s been in the same cookie-cutter dark suits. The public is probably face-blind by now; they can’t even remember who’s who. How can you build trust like that?"

Ye Zheng said, "You don’t have to wear an outlandish outfit to be memorable."

"When did I tell him to wear an outlandish outfit? I just told him to wear something a little brighter!"

"Lemon yellow and fluorescent pink, and that’s not outlandish?!"

"Tsk, your taste is so old-fashioned~"

"It’s called propriety! You dress for the occasion, and a press conference isn’t the place for a fashion show!"

"Oh, please. It’s precisely at these events that you need to show some personality. If even the Hunters dress so drably, how are you supposed to inspire people?"

"Hey! Would it kill you to be a little serious and dignified?!"

Standing between the two of them, Xu Yiming felt extremely awkward.

’Oh, geez...’

’Geez, please don’t... don’t fight over me...’

Feng Ling rolled her eyes, planted her hands on her hips, and said impatiently, "Fine. Then you tell us what he should wear that’s dignified, eye-catching, and will inspire public trust."

Her face still flushed with anger, Ye Zheng turned her blood-red eyes to Xu Yiming.

His chest tightened under her gaze, and he instinctively took half a step back.

Ye Zheng told him with a grave expression, "Listen to me. Wear normal, plain clothes to the press conference. But you need to let the public see at a glance that you’re a capable and trustworthy Hunter. So, you should..."

Ye Zheng lifted her sharp-clawed right hand and gestured above her own head. "Your Card is the Four-horned Sheep. You can reveal a feature of your Card. Just let the four horns grow out of your head. Got it?"

’Go to a press conference with four sheep horns sprouting from my head???’

Feng Ling immediately started clapping. "Brilliant! Do that! It’ll be absolutely unforgettable!"

The corners of Ye Zheng’s mouth lifted in a smug smile.

Xu Yiming gave an awkward laugh. "Right. Well... I think I’ll go find Old Su and ask him about writing that speech..."

He turned and beat a hasty retreat.

In his heart, he didn’t feel Ye Zheng was any more reliable than Feng Ling.

Feng Ling and Ye Zheng stood at the entrance to the underground parking garage, watching Xu Yiming walk away.

A moment later—

"Do you think he recognized you?" Feng Ling asked.

"Yeah, probably." Ye Zheng’s smile faded.

Feng Ling glanced at her. "What makes you say that?"

"When we were roping that Black Flood Dragon, we were both pulling on it. A Mouse Monster attacked me, and he blocked it for me," Ye Zheng said nonchalantly. "Generally speaking, a Hunter wouldn’t go out of their way to protect a Pollution Body. So I think he’s probably figured it out."

"So what if he has? As long as you deny it to your dying breath, he doesn’t have any proof," Feng Ling replied dismissively.

Ye Zheng snorted coldly and shot Feng Ling a sidelong glance. "You were the one being too obvious. In the Maze, the moment I mentioned the weapons application process, you sent Xu Yiming to get explosives. He’s usually pretty slow on the uptake, but it was so obvious you were trying to send him away. How could he not have noticed?"

Feng Ling looked aghast. "Are you serious? I couldn’t have been more subtle! You were a hundred times more obvious. You just started spouting off about all that Inspection Bureau business like you were afraid Xu Yiming *wouldn’t* recognize you. Why couldn’t you have been more discreet?"

Ye Zheng flared up. "You’re the one who invited him into the Maze! How was I supposed to be discreet?! Did you expect me to pull you aside every time I needed to speak? What about operational efficiency?!"

"I invited Xu Yiming into the Maze, yes, but I didn’t expect you to be so damn unreliable!"

"I’m unreliable?! Feng Ling! Who was it that helped you kill the Maze Master?!"

In the distance, Xu Yiming was chatting with Su Yuqing and Zhou Diao when a sudden BOOM erupted behind them!

Everyone whipped around, stunned to see Feng Ling and Ye Zheng fighting!

Su Yuqing was shocked!

He started to rush forward to break up the fight, but Xu Yiming quickly grabbed him, shaking his head and waving a hand. "It’s fine, it’s fine. They do this all the time."

Su Yuqing’s voice went shrill with disbelief. "All the time?!"