After Picking Up the Rival Boss, It Smells Really Good - Chapter 5

Qin Gou reacted swiftly, sidestepping to dodge the attack. The Tibetan Mastiff skidded to a halt and charged at him again. Qin Gou circled around and delivered a full-force punch to the mastiff’s body, but the blow felt like hitting cotton the mastiff remained unmoved and immediately lunged at Qin Gou once more.

At that moment, another powerful force struck the mastiff. Lu Lian had quickly caught up and landed a swift, precise, and ruthless punch directly into the mastiff’s eye.

Perhaps due to hitting the vulnerable eye, the mastiff roared and took a slight step back.

“Something’s wrong,” Qin Gou frowned. Although he lacked the strength enhancement from a Core Inhibitor, a full-force punch from a tall, grown man shouldn’t leave the mastiff completely unscathed, especially with Lu Lian’s added blow.

Just then, the mastiff threw its head back and let out a roar, unleashing a red-and-black Mental Sea from its body.

Lu Lian froze for a moment, then a gray-black Mental Sea seeped out from him. However, it remained tightly confined around his body, refusing to expand and confront the mastiff.

He glanced at Qin Gou.

Ordinary people simply couldn’t withstand the pressure brought by the Mental Sea domain unleashed by a high-level Core Inhibitor.

Yet Qin Gou seemed entirely unaffected by the mastiff’s Mental Sea, only expressing surprise: “Am I seeing things? Even dogs have a Mental Sea?”

The mastiff, empowered by its Mental Sea, swiped a paw fiercely at them. Both men leaped away quickly. Lu Lian turned to Qin Gou and said, “Take Mian Tiao and get out first.”

Qin Gou nodded without hesitation, scooping up Mian Tiao with one arm while clutching the small IV bottle with the other, backing directly toward the door. With a “clang,” Qin Gou thoughtfully closed the door behind Lu Lian.

The moment the door shut, the entire space seemed engulfed by the red-and-black Mental Sea. Only the small area where Lu Lian stood contained a suppressed gray-black hue.

Lu Lian’s eyes remained as still as a frozen lake. Then, in the next second, the ice seemed to crack. An intensely concentrated gray-black Mental Sea almost instantly shattered the red spiritual sea.

It wasn’t suppression it was outright annihilation. The mastiff collapsed stiffly before it could even let out a cry.

Step by step, Lu Lian slowly approached the mastiff’s corpse.

The Core Inhibitor of that Tibetan Mastiff should only be around D-grade, Qin Gou was certain. Lu Lian could kill it in an instant. The gap between each level of Core Inhibitors was like an insurmountable chasm, let alone the four-grade difference between S-grade and D-grade.

Yet, after waiting a full fifteen minutes, there was still no movement from inside the room.

Qin Gou: “?”

He stared at the door for a while, then set Mian Tiao down, hung up the small IV bottle, walked to the door, and knocked twice: “Lu Lian?”

No one answered.

Qin Gou paused, called out once more, and gently pushed the door open.

Inside the room, only the large Tibetan Mastiff lay on the ground there was no one else in sight.

Qin Gou scanned the surroundings but found no one. Cautiously, he stepped closer to the mastiff. Only upon approaching did he notice a small hole in the mastiff’s chest.

Disgusted, Qin Gou frowned. The next moment, an icy voice came from behind him sharper and colder than before, like a blade forged from winter winds: “What are you doing in here?” Simultaneously, an overwhelmingly oppressive Mental Sea crashed toward him.

“Hmm…” Qin Gou almost uncontrollably knelt as if pressed down by a tremendous force. He barely managed to brace himself with his hands, landing on one knee, and looked up.

Slender fingers lifted his chin, and Qin Gou met a pair of gray eyes that swept past like a cold wind. Lu Lian had already removed his mask, his entire expression as calm, dangerous, and filled with killing intent as a snow leopard.

After a moment, the corner of his lips curled into a faint smile.

“It seems you aren’t completely immune to the Mental Sea either.”

The atmosphere grew tense in an instant, but surprisingly, Qin Gou wasn’t entirely suppressed by the Mental Sea.

Qin Gou’s voice was low and muffled, carrying a subtle danger: “How truly annoying.” After saying this, he actually raised his fist under such immense Mental Sea pressure and threw a punch at Lu Lian.

Lu Lian intercepted the punch with a palm infused with his Mental Sea. The gray-black Mental Sea weighed down like a thousand pounds on Qin Gou’s arm, spreading throughout his body, once again restraining him.

This time, Lu Lian directly grabbed Qin Gou’s chin with his hand, looking down at him as if punishing his defiance.

Qin Gou looked up at Lu Lian, his eyes like those of an untamed tiger caught in a hunter’s grasp filled with unwillingness and ferocity. Suddenly, with immense force, Qin Gou bit down fiercely on the hand Lu Lian used to grip his face, like a wild beast tearing into its prey.

With a “thud,” the moment after he bit down, Qin Gou was flung aside by Lu Lian’s immense strength, crashing into the corner wall.

Qin Gou wiped the corner of his mouth, unsure whose blood it was. He shot a provocative glance at Lu Lian, then turned and slammed the door shut as he left.

Qin Gou sat on the sofa in the hospital lobby. Beside him, Mian Tiao, completely unaware of what had happened, was sound asleep, breathing peacefully.

Irritated, Qin Gou roughly ruffled Mian Tiao’s fur, not minding his strength. Mian Tiao twitched his ears, nearly waking up.

“Sleeping so carefree,” Qin Gou muttered, his mood lightening slightly as he looked at Mian Tiao.

Just then, Lu Lian finally emerged from the room. His Mental Sea had been completely reined in, and he appeared calm and composed once more.

Qin Gou ignored him, continuing to pet the dog, though his mood seemed to sour again.

Lu Lian walked over to the medicine cabinet, opening several drawers in succession.

Out of the corner of his eye, Qin Gou watched until Lu Lian opened the third drawer, then asked impatiently, “What are you looking for?”

Lu Lian held up the hand Qin Gou had bitten. “The hospital should have rabies vaccines.”

He was subtly mocking Qin Gou, implying he was a dog.

Qin Gou scoffed, but his mood actually improved a bit. He walked over just as Lu Lian found the disinfectant and cotton swabs.

Qin Gou snatched them away, his tone still gruff. “Looks like you’re having trouble with one hand. I’ll help you out.”

Lu Lian glanced at him but didn’t refuse.

The cotton swab, soaked in disinfectant, gently dabbed at the wound on Lu Lian’s hand. Qin Gou had bitten down with all his strength, leaving a rather gruesome mark, as if he’d been mauled by some wild beast.

“Maybe you should get that rabies shot after all,” Qin Gou said expressionlessly.

Lu Lian lifted his gaze to meet his eyes.

At this point, Qin Gou’s anger had truly dissipated. He even found a bandage to dress his wound: “If we were in the Main City, a wound like this wouldn’t even require a Medical Pod a simple Medical Device could fix it. Young Master Lu must find this place quite uncomfortable, right?”

Lu Lian replied expressionlessly, “It’s fine.”

Qin Gou muttered to himself, “I actually think this place is quite nice. Though it’s a bit backward, there’s none of the scheming and intrigue from the family. Sometimes, I feel the Main City is even filthier than this island.”

His hands paused while treating the wound: “Since you’ve investigated me, Young Master Lu, you should know I was kidnapped as a child. By the time I was rescued, the kidnappers had already illegally extracted my Core Inhibitor. You must have seen the scar on my lower abdomen.”

“Before, even though people called me a bastard behind my back, my Core Inhibition Level was high, and those kids still played with me quite openly. But after losing my Core Inhibitor, their attitudes changed completely. The way every one of them looked at me was like I was a piece of trash.”

“Oh, right.” Qin Gou looked up at Lu Lian. “Their favorite thing to do was use their Mental Sea to suppress me. To watch me, who once crushed them, forced to kneel at their feet.”

“I hate that feeling. Very, very much.” Qin Gou said each word deliberately. “I started countless desensitization trainings. Placing myself under the pressure of Mental Seas every day, struggling, resisting, and then getting used to it.”

Qin Gou paused, then shrugged at Lu Lian: “But when facing a high-level Mental Sea like yours, I still have no means to fight back.”

Lu Lian finally looked up at him too. His gray eyes studied him thoughtfully, then he suddenly took the bandage from Qin Gou’s hands and quickly wrapped it a couple of times: “If I were you, I would use every means possible, whether open or covert, to dig out all their Core Inhibitors too. So they would never have the chance to threaten me again. Instead of doing this useless desensitization.”

Qin Gou frowned: “There are so many forbidden core ability users in the world. You can’t possibly eliminate all of them. And this approach.”

“Why not?” Lu Lian interrupted him, his gray eyes seeming genuinely unable to understand Qin Gou’s perspective. “An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.”

“And,” Lu Lian directly gripped the bandage with his teeth, gave it a sharp pull, tied a clean knot, and revealed that dangerous snow leopard-like expression again, “no one can threaten me.”