Chapter 53.2
Could it be… that this entrapment plan would have something to do with the exchange?
He hopped off the floor on his bare legs and walked out of the bedroom in slippers.
Mu Heng’s residence in the Aiwen District was large and it took Shi An two turns before he found the location of the study. He pushed the door open and walked in after ensuring that nothing was arranged inside for magic-tracking precautions.
The study was tidy and did not look like there was any sign of work or any vital mission documents left behind.
But Shi An wasn’t discouraged and finally found an object that looked a little suspicious.
It was a simple map with many strange symbols and lines drawn.
Shi An tilted his head and looked left and right but couldn’t identify any clues as to what it was or where it was.
Although he couldn’t figure out what the map was for, he took a picture of it with his cell phone and saved the image in a photo album to be on the safe side.
Maybe it would prove helpful later on.
***
Mu Heng was handling official business within the Bureau.
After the incident of the attack on Lu Yuanyi, it was only the second day. Still, many influential people in Aiwen who had attended the meeting yesterday had already come to contact them privately and agreed to cooperate with their plans in exchange for the Bureau’s protection.
They seemed to have caught wind of the clash between the Aiwen District Governor and Mu Heng the previous day. This time, no one dared to make a similar request of wishful thinking.
At that moment, Wen Yao knocked on the door and walked in.
“Although Lu Yuanyi’s injury isn’t light, his vital sign is already stable.”
She reported briefly to Mu Heng on the current liaison process. More than half of those willing to cooperate had already done so and it would not matter that the rest did not participate.
“The bait has already been prepared.”
To trap a formidable fantasy species, relying on the right bait alone was not enough. The opponent was unlikely to stick its head directly inside the lasso, so all they needed to do was to set up the illusion to make the opponent think they could get away in one piece. When the dragon let down its guard, that was when they would close the net…
Wen Yao said, “The Aiwen District’s side proposed that we could use the Aiwen Academy’s academic exchange this time…”
Unexpectedly, Mu Heng barely gave it much thought and outright rejected it. “No.”
The exchange was a good time, with the diverse magical power sources and participants coming from all over the continent, making it very convenient to set up and conduct operations secretly. It wasn’t that he hadn’t considered this direction.
However, the problem was that the participants of the academic exchange were all students. If the dragon were lured here, it would probably cause uncontrollable casualties and losses.
Mu Heng tapped the desk with his fingertips. “Do it according to the initial plan and release the auction’s news.”
Wen Yao said, “Yes.”
She turned around and walked out the door but hesitated before she left, turning her head to look at Mu Heng. “Chief, do I need to dispatch people to protect Shi An?”
Mu Heng’s eyes flickered.
He shook his head. “No need.”
Wen Yao said, “But–”
Mu Heng said calmly, “I’ve already fetched the person to my place.”
Wen Yao: “…..”
Well, it was indeed unnecessary then.
After Wen Yao left, the office was quiet again.
Mu Heng lowered his eyes, his gaze falling on the document in front of him, but he didn’t move an inch for a long time.
The name Wen Yao had unintentionally mentioned just now was like a stone that disturbed his already calm state of mind.
He could barely contain himself as he recalled last night’s scene.
Mu Heng had initially assumed that with another person at his side, he wouldn’t be able to fall asleep. But he did not expect that, as the young man’s deep, steady breathing sounded out from his side in the darkness, he slowly fell into a deep sleep.
He accepted it as if his body had long remembered this feeling.
When Mu Heng opened his eyes at the scheduled moment, the morning light outside the window spilled hazily.
A furry head rested on his shoulder and the sound of tiny breaths tickled the side of Mu Heng’s neck like a feather, bringing a delicate tickle.
Mu Heng stiffened and his mind went blank for a moment there.
He discovered as an afterthought that his hand… was currently pressed tightly against the other man’s lower back.
The hem of the young man’s shirt was lifted because of his improper sleeping posture, revealing a narrow and soft slight curvature as if it was suitable to be pinched with the palm of one’s hand and played with delicately.
H-How…
Exactly…
Mu Heng had frozen under extreme shock and had completely lost the ability to think.
He slowly turned his head and looked to his side.
–The previously sparse distance before falling asleep had long since disappeared.
The quilt had fallen apart at some point, leaving the two of them in a single bed and the young man was close enough to bury a small part of his face in his loose hair.
The other man’s body temperature was low but cool like a snake in fear of the cold, nestling intimately against his side.
Mu Heng’s fingertips moved subconsciously for a moment.
The skin beneath his palm was delicate, soft, and warm from being covered with the quilt as if it could melt into his palm.
In the next second, a mumble spilled out of the young man’s throat and he subconsciously curled himself up a little tighter, frowning slightly as he murmured softly and in a grievance.
“D-Don’t touch it anymore…”
***
Inside the office.
Scrap–
Mu Heng’s gloved fingers tightened abruptly and uncontrollably.
Mu Heng’s expression was stern, his lips pursed, his body taut as if a bowstring that was about to fire.
The man’s eyes were grave and gloomy and a cold, murderous aura radiated from his body.
The document in his palm was crumpled, the edges torn by uncontrollable force, and fine scraps of paper fell and scattered on the table.
He honestly didn’t think that he could be such an asshole.
To think that… he would act indecently in his sleep.