Chapter 74: Chapter Seventy-Four: The glaring contest

"What do you think you are doing?" Qin Mo roared.

The sheer volume of his voice shattered the lingering quiet of the village square. Lin Wan flinched violently in her wooden chair, her shoulders tensing up as a massive wave of pure guilt washed over her.

,,,

Her face flushed hot, and she looked down instantly. At that exact moment, she felt precisely like a fiancée who had just been caught red-handed having an affair by her actual fiancé.

Panicking slightly, she tried to pull her swollen legs down from Long Zhan’s lap, wanting to separate herself before a full-blown war broke out on the porch.

But to her surprise, her legs wouldn’t budge. She looked down and saw that Long Zhan’s large, scarred hands were gripping her ankles tightly.

He wasn’t squeezing hard enough to cause her any pain, but his hold was completely solid, locking her feet firmly against his thighs.

Long Zhan didn’t even look at her as she struggled. Instead, he kept his chin raised, his set jaw locked in place as he glared directly at Qin Mo with absolute defiance.

His violet eyes were cold and sharp. In his mind, he scoffed at the sight of the silver-haired male.

’What right does that damn snake have to talk to me like that?’ Long Zhan thought, his pride flaring up fiercely. ’He thinks he can order me around in front of my female? We are at the exact same power ceiling in this lower realm now. I have absolutely no reason to back down or hide from him.’

Long Zhan tightened his grip on her ankles just a tiny bit more, making his position perfectly clear.

He barked back, his voice a low, heavy rumble that vibrated through the wooden porch. "What do you think I am doing, damn snake? I am obviously tending to my female. She is tired, her feet are swollen, and I am relieving her pain. Do you have a problem with that?"

Qin Mo’s silver eyes widened slightly as the words hit him, and a sudden look of sharp realization flashed across his dirty face.

He looked at the way Long Zhan was kneeling so comfortably, the way Lin Wan was looking flustered, and the smug aura rolling off the dragon’s shoulders. It clicked in his mind instantly.

’That stinky dragon!’ Qin Mo thought, his chest heaving with a sudden surge of irritation. ’He used the exact time I was out scratching through the dirt in the jungle to play the pity card! He stayed behind just to coax Wanwan into giving him his official approval while I was gone!’

Qin Mo took a sharp step forward, his fists clenching at his sides. He glared furiously at Long Zhan, his silver aura sparking faintly around his shoulders.

Long Zhan didn’t flinch; he leaned forward slightly, narrowing his violet eyes as he matched the intensity of the gaze.

Neither of them spoke a word. The entire courtyard fell into a suffocating silence as the two legendary sovereigns locked themselves into a dead-serious, incredibly intense glaring contest.

The air between them practically crackled with invisible static, each of them trying to crush the other with their raw, predatory presence alone.

Lin Wan sat in her chair, looking back and forth between the two most feared males in the territory.

They were supposed to be ancient, powerful rulers who controlled entire realms, but right now, looking at their tense shoulders and puffed-out chests, they looked exactly like two petulant toddlers fighting over a favorite toy in a sandbox.

The sheer absurdity of the scene broke through her guilt. Lin Wan covers her mouth with her hand and snicker softly out loud.

The small, amused sound immediately shattered the heavy, suffocating aura on the porch. The two males froze. Almost instantly, a bright, vivid crimson color rushed up from their collars, staining Long Zhan’s neck and Qin Mo’s cheeks in absolute, deep embarrassment.

They both looked away from each other quickly, coughing into their hands as their proud facades completely crumbled.

In a desperate attempt to hide his utter embarrassment, Qin Mo shifted his stance and stepped closer to the chair, smoothing down his dirty robes.

He looked at Lin Wan, trying to make his voice sound casual, though his silver eyes were still spinning with residual jealousy. "Where exactly did you go, Wanwan? When I came into the room and saw the bed empty, I thought... we all thought someone had taken you. What happened?"

Lin Wan cleared her throat, rubbing her heavy stomach to distract herself from their blushing faces. She decided to stick strictly to the exact same vague explanation she had given the dragon earlier. "I just went to get something, Qin Mo. I didn’t mean to cause an alarm. I was just checking on a few things."

Qin Mo narrowed his eyes slightly, his sharp mind picking up on the exact same lie that Long Zhan had noticed. 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

He knew her habits perfectly, and he could tell without a doubt that she was keeping a massive secret locked away in her mind.

But instead of pushing her or demanding answers like an aggressive beast, he immediately dropped his shoulders, his expression twisting into a pathetic, deeply wounded pout.

"It is okay if you do not want to say it, Wanwan," Qin Mo murmured, his voice dropping into a soft, hollow whisper. He looked down at the floorboards, looking thoroughly dejected. "I will just take a look at myself."

Lin Wan blinked, completely stumped by his sudden shift in attitude. "What do you mean by that? Take a look at yourself for what?"

Qin Mo raised his long, elegant hands and placed them gently on both sides of his head, letting out a dramatic, heavy sigh that made his silver hair fall over his face. "The fact that Wanwan does not feel comfortable enough to confide in me must mean that I am still lacking somewhere as a male. I went into the forest like a fool, tearing up the bushes to find my female, only to return and find that I am not even worthy of hearing where she went. I am clearly a failure of a beastman."

The sheer, ridiculous drama of his mock act was too much. Lin Wan threw her head back and burst out into a loud, genuine laugh. Her clear, bright laughter echoed across the quiet square, completely wiping away the tense atmosphere.

She knew exactly what the clever snake was doing; he was being completely shameless and dramatic just to make her relax so she wouldn’t feel cornered by their questions. He was giving her a safe way out of the conversation without forcing her to lie further.

While Lin Wan was laughing happily, Long Zhan was sitting on his knees, literally gnashing his teeth so hard his jaw ached. He glared at the silver-haired male with absolute fury burning in his chest.

’I knew it!’ Long Zhan thought fiercely, his inner voice screaming with bitter irritation. ’This damn snake is always playing these cheap, pathetic tricks! Look at him acting like a scolded cub just to make her laugh! He is completely shameless!’

Long Zhan let out a small, irritated huff through his nose, but internally, a wave of pure satisfaction and smugness quickly took over his anger.

He gloated silently to himself, a small smirk pulling at the corner of his lips. ’Humph! Thank the heavens I was quick enough and got Wanwan to confirm my status before this damn snake came back from the jungle. No matter how much he makes her laugh now, my title is already locked in!’

Feeling Qin Mo’s eyes on him, Long Zhan looked up and rolled his eyes heavily at the snake, making his utter disdain perfectly clear.

Qin Mo caught the gesture instantly. Instead of flaring up, the Teng Snake King simply returned the look with a tiny, incredibly smug smirk of his own, knowing he had successfully changed the mood.

Qin Mo stepped forward gracefully, completely ignoring the dragon as he reached down and gently took Lin Wan’s hands, helping her stand up from the wooden chair. "Come, Wanwan. Let us leave this smelly porch. You have been cooped up inside for too long, and you need some fresh air to help with the pregnancy fatigue."

Lin Wan let him guide her down the steps, her movements slow and careful because of the immense weight of the triplets. As they walked slowly near the edge of the square.

Qin Mo looked down at her with a soft, attentive gaze. "It is already past midday, Wanwan. What do you want to eat for lunch? I will prepare whatever your heart desires."

The moment the topic of food came up, Lin Wan’s eyes instantly lit up with a wild, ravenous hunger.

Ever since she had swallowed that memory pill and walked through the massive storage vault in her pocket space, her body had been screaming for a heavy, comforting meal from her original world.

"I want to eat braised pork chops," Lin Wan said, her voice filled with an intense, desperate craving.

She stopped walking, her eyes turning glossy as she imagined the dish. "Rich, thick, savory pork chops smothered in a dark, sweet sauce... and I want to soothe it down with a massive, steaming bowl of white rice. The rice needs to be completely soaked in the gravy."

At the mere thought of the savory meat touching her tongue, Lin Wan audibly swallowed her saliva, a thoroughly greedy, deeply focused expression overtaking her pale face. She looked exactly like a small, starving beast cub staring at a piece of fresh prey.