Bai Xingluo bent down.
Tong Sui furrowed his brows, recalling the large Golden Retriever his neighbors used to keep. The dog would be particularly enthusiastic whenever it saw him, jumping over and rubbing its fluffy tail against him. After finishing the small snacks he would give, it would lick his palm clean, looking unsatisfied.
At least, Tong Sui felt this way strongly now.
To Bai Xingluo, he was more like a little snack exuding the aroma of food.
Dogs seek to please people, but they can also be quite greedy.
The quilt was pried open at one corner, not belonging to him yet still clinging to him. “Please don’t hide from me.”
It was too close.
Tong Sui said, “I’ve already kissed you.”
“Mm, so now it’s my turn to return the favor. Don’t be afraid, you’ll like it.”
The soft, fluffy quilt felt like a natural shelter from the wind. Tong Sui looked up at the shimmering crystal chandelier on the ceiling, the sound of delicate fabric rubbing against each other tickling his ears.
Sweat beads rolling down his forehead dampened Tong Sui’s eyelashes, his vision slightly blurred. The crystal chandelier seemed to have transformed into countless points of light, like a starry sky.
He tilted his head slightly, the view from the expansive floor-to-ceiling window revealing a scattered sea of lights, reflecting their shadows.
It felt as if something had shifted with the refraction of light.
Suddenly, he felt something.
Tong Sui opened his mouth and bit down hard on Bai Xingluo’s neck, expending his last ounce of strength.
“N-No more, I’ll really get angry.”
Having his first kiss and his first time on the same day seemed too absurd.
He wasn’t mentally prepared yet.
********
After Bai Xingluo and Tong Sui left, this celebration banquet turned into a complete farce.
The entire banquet hall fell silent, enveloped in a strange and gloomy atmosphere.
Xie Feibai directed his subordinates to hoist the severely injured male insects onto the military ship for transport to the empire’s central hospital.
As for the female insects with less severe injuries, they posed a more troublesome issue.
One by one, they looked lost and dazed, with no serious wounds, yet they refused to leave.
The air was almost devoid of the delightful aroma, but it felt like a form of spiritual comfort; as long as they remained there, they could feel that tingling sensation coursing through their scalp.
Xie Feibai had no choice but to forcibly have these female insects bundled up and sent onto the military ship as well.
Perhaps a shot of suppressants at the hospital would alleviate the situation.
Xie Feibai sensed a gaze upon him; he turned his head and saw Lu Ting standing at the doorway.
Before that attack, he hadn’t thought much about this well-known duke.
And it was precisely because of him that the general fell into this unwarranted disaster.
Xie Feibai’s expression became less respectful. “Duke, you seem to be in good health; it appears you weren’t injured?”
Lu Ting approached. “It seems that you are quite hoping I would end up hurt and sent to the hospital, just like those male insects?”
Xie Feibai had to lower his head, “I meant no such thing.”
Lu Ting raised his chin, shedding a layer of pretense as he coldly raised his hand. With his uninjured left hand, he gripped Xie Feibai’s arm, sneering, “You’re merely a dog bred by the empire, a lowly military female; who gives you the right to speak to me like that?”
Cold sweat broke out on Xie Feibai’s forehead, a sharp pain coursing through his upper arm.
He could easily shake off that hand, but just as Lu Ting had said, he was lowly, his identity incapable of affording him the right to resist.
“Duke Lu Ting, please calm your anger.”
Lu Ting let out a cold snort, as if finding it uninteresting, withdrew his hand, and used a handkerchief brought by a nearby attendant to wipe the bloodstains from his fingertips, coldly tossing it at Xie Feibai’s feet.
“I could take care of even that one on your head; what do you count for?”
As Lu Ting turned to leave, the nearby attendant hurriedly shook out the duke’s long robe, draping it over him, bowing low as he quietly suggested, “Sir, should we go to the hospital to check on His Highness Lu Yuanzhao?”
“Check on him?”
Lu Ting smiled, adding a smug undertone, “Given that Bai Xingluo beat him like that, his mental core is probably ruined. Let’s just go home now and wait until tomorrow morning to put on a show.”
A male insect without a mental core loses his most significant advantage; even if he is a prince, his esteemed status will be of no use.
Without Lu Yuanzhao’s identity to maintain, he becomes useless for exploitation.
Watching them walk away, Xie Feibai finally let out a muffled groan.
He rolled up his sleeve; the flesh on his arm was a sight to behold, displaying distinct finger marks that made the subordinate beside him rush to support him.
“Chief, are you okay? Should we go see a doctor?”
“No need.”
Military females have a strong self-healing ability; this injury would heal on its own. Xie Feibai said, “Notify everyone; once they finish transporting the insects from the banquet hall, they can return to their posts.”
“What about the general?” the military female asked worriedly. “If we can’t capture him, you may face severe penalties.”
Xie Feibai replied, “If I face severe penalties to ensure the general’s safety, I will consider it fortunate; at least I’ll finally be able to do something for him.”
The injured noble insects transferred to the empire’s top central hospital were in such large numbers that even the hospital director was astonished.
In decades of management, this was the first time he had received so many high-status patients.
The top-tier medical bays were almost overwhelmed.
In contrast to the crowded medical bays for male insects, the injection department was extraordinarily busy, almost resembling a restroom.
The female insects were enveloped in an electrifying pleasure.
The suppressants merely temporarily subdued their insect markings but had no substantial effect.
Females exiting the restroom would head to the designated smoking area, lighting up a post-coital cigarette, replaying the image of that esteemed gentleman in their minds, cursing softly as they pondered.
The suppressants were ineffective again.
News of the attack on the celebration banquet quickly spread through the star network.