Although an immense strength was applied onto her, but Shangguan Bing’er was not torn into shreds by Zhou Weiqing as she expected, instead he grasped onto her shoulders, and hugged her closely.
Shangguan Bing’er was being choked by his grasp, and was gasping for breath; Zhou Weiqing’s body was fiery hot, and she could feel it clearly even through the internal armor. Furthermore, his whole body was shivering constantly, and the heat was being transmitted to Shangguan Bing’er who was also starting to feel hotter. In her mind, she was subconsciously remembering that embarrassing day, he… he… shouldn’t be doing that again…
Xiao Ru Se was also rather shocked at the side, in her heart she mused: This boy has turned bad…
Actually, what Xiao Ru Se did not know was that in the instance that Shangguan Bing’er appeared, Zhou Weiqing who had been semiconscious then had subconsciously grabbed hold and hugged Shangguan Bing’er totally by instinct. As he hugged her, he instantly felt a cooling breath flood into his body from her, allowing his dazed state of mind to slowly awaken; although his body was still in extreme pain, but that tyrannical, cruel and crazy mood actually started to subside.
The reason for his present condition was naturally once again the black pearl that he had swallowed. The black pearl was not from this world, and the vast amounts of energy it contained was comparable to that of those top Heavenly Jewel Masters in this world. Although Zhou Weiqing had already went through the process of absorption once, and Awakened his Heavenly Jewels in that process, but it had by no means been able completely absorbed. Earlier on, while he was fighting with Xiao Ru Se, he had almost totally exhausted his own Heavenly Energy. In addition to that, he had a strong innermost feeling to of wanting to grow stronger, and that combined had caused the black pearl to act up once again, starting the process of them fusing for the second time.
As compared to the previous time when he had Awoken his Heavenly Jewels, this round of fusing was much lighter. The main reason that he felt the extreme pain in his body was because the energy in the black Pearl was actually improving and evolving his body forcefully, his bones, meridians, muscles, flesh and blood were all going through changes of varying degrees, it was as if he was having his bones broken and re-knit together in a unique way, how could this not be painful? Luckily, Shangguan Bing’er’s appearance had allowed him to stabilize his feelings, otherwise Zhou Weiqing might have actually gone crazy.
Zhou Weiqing had taken Shangguan Bing’er as a sacrifice to Awaken his Heavenly Jewels, therefore Shangguan Bing’er’s aura was very complementary and linked in some degree to himself. When he hugged Shangguan Bing’er, their auras merged, and the power from both her Heavenly Jewels helped alleviate his pain and stabilize him, allowing his state of mind to sober up. This was the factor that pulled him back from the brink of danger.
*Peng* Zhou Weiqing fell down while still hugging Shangguan Bing’er, his whole body pressing down onto her, almost causing this delicate and exquisite young girl to faint from lack of air. The strangest thing was that his right leg was still curled in a weird angle, although the sounds of bones breaking and moving had obviously lessened.
Both of Shangguan Bing’er’s hands fell on Zhou Weiqing’s waist, at first to push and resist him, but now they fell into an embrace as their bodies were just too close together. Zhou Weiqing’s unique manly scent1 as well as that strong dark aura were mixed together, causing Shangguan Bing’er to feel rather giddy. Although being crushed together with him almost made her faint, but a strange feeling also arose in her heart.
He, he won’t do that, that again right? Xiao Se is still at the side too! Suddenly, Shangguan Bing’er felt both ashamed and angry, but Zhou Weiqing’s strength was too great, how could she possibly break free?
Luckily, this time, Zhou Weiqing was not doing anything untoward like she imagined, but was only hugging her. Time seemed to stand still, as Xiao Ru Se stood at the side staring dumbfoundedly at them. However, Zhou Weiqing’s heavy breathing started to return to normal, the muscles reducing, sounds from his meridians and bones were also gradually quieting down.
Zhou Weiqing’s face was pasted right to Shangguan Bing’er’s cool tender little face, making her feel constant intermittent gusts of heat emitting from him, though the anxious feelings in her heart had started to relax. He did not violate me, he did not violate me luckily. In Shangguan Bing’er heart she was thinking like that, but she also discovered that this time it felt rather different when Zhou Weiqing was holding her, and she did not feel as repelled as before, but instead had a feeling of being protected, as if that big and tall body would defend her and bring her safety.
Zhou Weiqing’s right leg which had been awkwardly arched upwards finally came down slowly, and as it fell down onto Shangguan Bing’er’s leg, all the sounds of bones moving and breaking also stopped, and the black tattoos on his body disappeared as well.
“That really hurt.” Zhou Weiqing let out a sigh of relief as he slowly opened his eyes, the bloodshot colour had also resided by now, as did the intense pain earlier. What replaced it was an extremely comfortable feeling, as if his whole body was full charged with energy, each and every cell glowing with vigor. It felt as if there was something different with his body, although he could not tell what the difference was exactly. The only feeling he had now was that there was something soft and substantial in his arms.
He subconsciously tightened his arms, moving his body around, and felt that the soft and pillowy object pressed against his body was extremely comfortable, as if it were made to be melded against his, and his heart was indeed full of satisfaction, as he even rubbed his face against it.
“En.” A soft cry shocked Zhou Weiqing awake, causing him to finally look up, only to see Shangguan Bing’er with both her eyes shut tightly, that movingly beautiful and tender face so close to his own.
“Errr.. Battalion Commander, why did you run into my arms?” Zhou Weiqing asked in surprise2.
Only then did Shangguan Bing’er realise that he had recovered his state of mind, and she quickly opened her eyes, saying in embarrassed anger: “Let me go now!”
A look of vigilance flashed through Zhou Weiqing’s eyes as he said: “I’m not letting you go unless you promise not to hit me.”
“You…” Shangguan Bing’er nearly fainted from anger, what made her most helpless was that as Zhou Weiqing recovered his senses, she could feel something below prodding her ‘unmentionables’3.
“Oi oi, if you guys want to flirt with each other, you should find a place where no one else is around?” Xiao Ru Se’s exasperated voice sounded out. This time though she had finally used her female voice.
“Ah! Ru Se Elder Sis, you are here!” Zhou Weiqing realized that Xiao Ru Se was still at the side, and quickly let loose of Shangguan Bing’er, jumping to his feet and darting sideways to hide behind Xiao Ru Se.
Shangguan Bing’er was breathing rather heavily as she stood up, her beautiful face was deep red as she flushed bashfully. Furthermore, she was also shocked to find out that this short period of time that she had been hugged by Zhou Weiqing, her eighth level Heavenly Jing Energy had been drained by nearly half unexpectedly, and she did not even know when or how it had vanished.
Zhou Weiqing poked his head out from behind Xiao Ru Se, saying with a wronged looking face: “Battalion Commander, I really did not do anything intentionally. This absolutely is another misunderstanding.”