Chapter 672: Nothing to Lose (1/2)

[V6C202 – Sorrow of a Silent Parting]

Even though the scene was rather odd, Qianye still took the assignment letter and looked it over.

This was a genuine assignment letter. The patterns on the specialized paper were characteristic to the military department’s documents, and the seal therein contained its own origin array that could be easily discerned by experts of any level.

He would’ve believed the document to be entirely genuine had he not seen the lady fill it out right in front of him.

“This… this appointment order.”

“What? Could it be fake?” Ji Tianqing asked with a puzzled expression, almost as though she had no idea how it had appeared.

Qianye truly did not know what to reply.

From a certain perspective, the papers were real and immediately effective. However, Qianye simply couldn’t think of them as genuine.

The annoyance was stuck in his chest without anywhere to vent. This felt even worse than being blasted by Zhao Yuying’s cannon.

Qianye did learn a few things after mingling with Song Zining for a long time. “This… I often need to switch battlefields during fights. My aide-de-camp needs to be stronger and someone of a higher rank. I’ll accept if the military department has a better-suited candidate.”

These words were rather artistic. Asking the military to dispatch a new person over sounded simple, but the entire process was quite convoluted and required numerous layers of inspections. Moreover, certain people would definitely poke their noses into such personnel changes. In this manner, Ji Tianqing wouldn’t be able to conclude this matter in one month no matter how influential she was. And a month later, she probably wouldn’t even know where Qianye had run off to.

This was the secret art of delaying—dragging things out until things naturally became unfeasible.

Just as Qianye was secretly praising himself, he saw Ji Tianqing reveal a mocking smile. “So, it turns out that you want someone of a higher rank. That’s easy!”

With a flip of her hand, a handful of military rank insignias appeared miraculously on her palm. Then, she asked, “How about a lieutenant colonel? Colonel? Or would you rather have a brigadier general or major general?”

With every rank she mentioned, she would fish out the corresponding insignia, going all the way up to a major general. This was Qianye’s rank at the moment. A lieutenant general insignia then appeared in her hand, which she dangled in front of his eyes.

Qianye smiled ruefully. “Am I supposed to be your aide instead?”

“I’ll be the aide. Just tell me which rank you want me at, speak quickly!”

Qianye finally understood that this calamity was hardly avertable. He smiled wryly and said, “Just stick to major. Put away those... things.”

“That’s it? Make way then!” Ji Tianqing pushed Qianye aside with a satisfied expression and walked into the courtyard.

A surprised Qianye followed her as she toured all the rooms here. He watched as the lady picked a room adjacent to his own and tossed her backpack onto the bed. “I’ll be staying here.”

“Eh… live?”

“Of course, your personal aide has to live with you. Why else would it be called personal?” Ji Tianqing said matter-of-factly.

“This… it’s not quite appropriate.” Qianye looked rather miserable. He had a feeling things were wrong on so many levels.

“How so?”

Qianye’s mind was in chaos. He tried his best to sort out his thoughts and said, “For one, I don’t know your origins.”

“You don’t need to. It’s enough that I know about you.”

Such a tyrannical answer choked Qianye half-dead. Yet, he was still struggling. “Tianqing, look, you must be from an influential family. Staying with me like this will harm your reputation.”

“Ho! You’re afraid that I won’t be able to marry?”

“No...”

Qianye hadn’t even finished speaking when Ji Tianqing slapped his shoulder and said, “Rest assured, it won’t affect me. Even if I can’t marry anymore, I still have you, right?”

Qianye stood dazed for a while before saying, “Sorry, I’m already taken.”

Ji Tianqing looked at him with a spurious smile. “You had to think for a long time.”

Qianye was about to go mad. “No! I…”

“Enough, there’s no need to explain. I totally understand!” The lady waved her hand stylishly and brought an end to this topic.

Qianye wanted to explain but didn’t know what to say. He was startled not because of her words, but because of her pat on the shoulder. To his surprise, he had been caught off-guard and was actually struck.

Ji Tianqing’s background was mysterious, to say the least, with no way to make sure if she was friend or foe. That was why he had kept his guard up this entire time. Yet this lady had managed to slap him on the shoulder under such circumstances—this wasn’t normal at all.

Qianye thought back to that move and gradually discovered the profundity within. Her move resembled nature itself and was blended into the heaven and earth. It felt like a falling leaf landing on his body, something that would fall off naturally. Neither his origin power nor blood core showed any signs of reaction because they couldn’t sense any threat or enmity.

The truth, however, couldn’t be further away. That palm could’ve transformed into a devastating killing move before landing on his body. The ability to perform a rapid shift in power wasn’t rare among experts at this level; even Qianye himself could do it.