Netherworld Retrograde

“She seems… to be wearing only a T-shirt?”

Li Yelai struggled to stabilize his mind, suppressing his accelerating heartbeat. He placed the Doll in a chair next to the dining table, worrying about her wounds, and even specially cushioned it with a soft pad.

The Doll’s face was still red, sitting on the chair, she watched Li Yelai return to the kitchen.

After hesitating for a while, she raised her hand and gestured, and the Spiritual Energy Threads unique to the Divine Protection Path slid across, summoning the Communicator from the distant coffee table through the air.

Then, she secretly took a picture of Li Yelai, busy in the kitchen, and sent it to the [East City Branch Military Strategist Strategy Group].

[Tell you a secret, this is my boyfriend ohヾ(✿ﾟ▽ﾟ)ノ]

In the photo, Li Yelai, wearing an apron, had the kitchen knife leaving a trail of afterimages. His already handsome face, combined with a serious expression. Indeed, it was quite seductive…

Yes, she did want to show off a little… but she was also a bit shy, daring to share her joy only with her closest sisters.

But the military strategists looked at this photo and couldn’t help but laugh helplessly.

[This one is not bad, much better than the ones you took before]

[This kid…]

[Fine fine fine, he is your boyfriend]

[Where did you two go on a date today?]

[How’s the progress?]

[Did you hold hands?]

The Military Strategists comforted the Doll like they were humoring a child.

This made the Doll’s face even redder, and for the moment, she didn’t quite know how to explain.

She couldn’t just say that she was being forceful… and that it hurt them both, right?

[Anyway, this is my boyfriendヽ(°▽,°)ﾉ]

[Hahaha, alright alright!] The Military Strategists teased as usual.

Li Yelai took some time to prepare four dishes and a soup.

He divided it into two portions, one for the Doll and the other he brought over to Li Yunyan.

“Big bro,” Li Yunyan said inelegantly, munching on a chicken leg, “you remember to eat more too, you need to nourish your body. I remember someone in the branch bought Tiger Whip Wine, you should remember to get some.”

“You are really thoughtful,” muttered Li Yelai.

“Why are you still here?” Li Yunyan asked.

“What?” Li Yelai was puzzled, this is my house, where else should I be if not here?

“Isn’t it?” Li Yunyan widened his eyes and retorted, “Aren’t you supposed to dine with your sister-in-law instead of mooching off me? No way, I refuse!”

Saying so, he pushed Li Yelai out of the room. Watching Li Yelai return to the Doll’s room, Li Yunyan clicked his tongue.

“Damn, this straight guy, they really have it hard because of him.”

He slammed the door shut, as if kicking his brother out on the street.

…

After finishing the meal, the Doll, with a blushing face, whispered softly, “Xiao Ye, I want to take a bath, my body has a smell…”

This made Li Yelai’s face also turn a bit red.

Indeed, there was a certain subtle scent on both of them. And with their highly robust physiques, their sense of smell was very acute, which meant this scent was particularly intense.

When she was undercover at the Church before, Hong Zhuang had used Honeysuckle Liquid to disguise that scent…

“Okay, I’ll take you to the bathroom,” Li Yelai responded, his voice, for some reason, hoarse as he carried the doll towards the bathroom.

After some time.

Li Yelai carried the tired and sleepy Doll back to the bedroom, gently laid her on the bed, and covered her with the blanket.

“I need to step out for a while,” Li Yelai said, “you sleep first.”

“Come back early,” the Doll, now more exhausted after the bath, said faintly.

“Okay.”

Seeing the Doll asleep, Li Yelai exhaled deeply.

If it hadn’t been for the Doll’s unhealed wounds, the bath time probably would have lasted longer.

Then, golden spatial ripples twinkled around him as he took out a new set of clothes from the Ark Space, and afterward, he put on a black Armored coat.

After locking the doors and windows of the apartment, he left the family complex.

When the cold night wind hit him, Li Yelai finally felt the restlessness in his body gradually fade away.

He finally understood why so many people were corrupted by Jile… truly, Chaos was all-pervasive.

If he stayed by the Doll’s side, her injuries would probably worsen…

Yet, Li Yelai didn’t come solely for this reason; he indeed had matters to attend to.

Just last night was the Jing Family banquet, and he had agreed with Jing Lin that after the banquet ended, they would contact each other to discuss further.

Therefore, Li Yelai took an off-road vehicle from the logistic department of the East City Branch and intended to meet up with Jing Lin at the safe house.

He came face to face with the Epidemic Doctor Captain from the logistics team as soon as he stepped out; she too had just left the parking area, apparently having just gone on an emergency rescue.

The Epidemic Doctor Captain was a Spiritual Ability User of the Divine Protection Path.

Unlike other Divine Protections whose power was formidable, she was known throughout the Giant City for her intricate cell manipulation and her skill with flying needle sutures.

She had saved countless patients. Even an amputated limb could be reattached as long as it didn’t become necrotic before reaching the Epidemic Doctor.

“Long time no see, Night General Captain.” The Epidemic Doctor still wore her bird beak mask.

“Hello, Epidemic Doctor Captain,” Li Yelai nodded, “You’ve just returned from a mission?”

“Yep, someone was cut in half at the waist, and I went for a rescue. Lucky, it was a success,” the Epidemic Doctor said.

“Must’ve been tough. Your skills are indeed formidable,” Li Yelai praised.

“Well enough, when I can treat your team leader’s brain too, then you can praise me. But what about you, what are you planning? You’re the Doll’s neighbor, right? Do you know why she took leave today?” The Epidemic Doctor smiled, as one of the strategists. She had just seen Li Yelai’s photo.

“I’ve got some personal matters to handle. And the Doll… she’s feeling unwell. She might also need to take leave tomorrow,” Li Yelai coughed lightly, his face reddening somewhat as he spoke.

“Oh… Okay, women, they always have those few days,” the Epidemic Doctor raised an eyebrow and then nodded.

Only after Li Yelai left in the car did she suddenly realize: “Fuck! It’s not what I’m thinking, is it?”

…

Elsewhere, Li Yelai met with Jing Lin again at the safe house.

Jing Lin complained as soon as he saw Li Yelai: “Damn it, Old Li, if Ye Han doesn’t show up, neither will you huh? Not giving any face at all. You didn’t even reply to my messages, getting all high and mighty since becoming a captain!”

“Sorry, I was occupied last night,” Li Yelai grimaced; he had indeed planned on skipping the Jing Family banquet, not looking forward to the discomfort, especially seeing as Ye Han backed out.

Plus, he really couldn’t make it last night.

When Jing Lin sent the message, Li Yelai was still locked in by the air shackles.

It’s not like Li Yelai could break free from the air shackles by opening up a Li Yuanba face, cough…

“What a pity; there was quite a show last night,” Jing Lin poured Li Yelai a cup of tea and pulled him to sit on the sofa.

“What kind of show? Did someone cause trouble?” Li Yelai inquired.

“No, it’s rare for so many families to gather together. A few strong competitors sparred on the spot. The God Blood Ancestor made a move and defeated an elder from a family of Chuanshu Giant City,” Jing Lin said, “Although it was just sparring and neither used full power, by using Heavenly Eye I deduced that Jing Liang had an almost crushing advantage.”

“Jing Liang, huh,” Li Yelai nodded, not surprised; a God Blood Ancestor of the Jing Family would naturally be formidable.

Otherwise, the Jing Family wouldn’t be so fixated.

“Also, though Ye Han himself did not come, the Zhao siblings and the Snow Mountain Blind Hero did. The Blind Hero, a Sixth-sense Expert, even sparred with one of your official female captains.

It seemed like there was no clear winner, but many believe that in the end, the Blind Hero could have won. After the sparring, the female captain left without eating… a lot of people suspected she couldn’t accept defeat.”

“Female captain?” Li Yelai blinked, then asked, “Is she from the Netherworld Path? Is she quite tall?”

“Yes, with my Heavenly Eye, I observed she’s about one seventy-five meters tall, with a very voluptuous figure… do you know her?” Jing Lin asked.

“Mhm, she must be my friend and teammate.”

Suspected and distrusted by so many, and being a female leader of the Netherworld Path, in addition to the description of her figure…

It was the Little Mad King.

Her sparring with the Snow Mountain Blind Hero… must have been to obtain intelligence on his combat tactics?

This was a reliable teammate… Li Yelai thought.

“It’s too bad you missed out on the excitement…” Jing Lin expressed his regret.

Li Yelai could only nod. His own last night was quite lively, too…

“As for Zhao Lin, she found me, saying Ye Han indeed reached some kind of cooperation with the core Jing Family and even obtained some core intelligence. Too bad, she couldn’t find out more.”

“This core intelligence… aren’t you a Jing Family member who should know?” Li Yelai queried.

“Our three veins are quite suppressed, brother,” Jing Lin shrugged.

“But my grandfather also told me something. A palace within the Immortal Palace can only be opened by our Jing Family bloodline. That’s the core family’s target this time.”

“The Jing Family bloodline can only open it?” Li Yelai smiled, excellent! That was indeed very good intelligence!