# 114
**Chapter 114 – Close Protection**
In a daze, Lin Qiye opened his eyes.
Staring at the familiar ceiling, he blinked a few times before slowly sitting up. His head still felt heavy, but it was much better than before.
This place… Hongying’s house?
Lin Qiye had stayed here for over a month, so he recognized the room. Rubbing his temples, he got out of bed.
Creak.
He pushed open the door and saw a circle of people already seated in the living room.
Chen Muye, Wu Xiangnan, Hongying, Wen Qimo, Si Xiaonan, Instructor Hong…
Hearing the door open, everyone looked up. Hongying’s face darkened, and she slapped the back of Wu Xiangnan’s head.
“I told you to keep your voice down! Now you’ve woken Qiye up!”
Wu Xiangnan: ???
“Qiye, feeling better?”
“Yeah, I’m fine now…” Lin Qiye said as he walked down the stairs, still puzzled. “How did I end up here?”
“You overdrawn a massive amount of mental energy in a short time and passed out,” Chen Muye said, shifting to the right on the sofa to make space. “Later, Hongying and Qimo arrived in time and brought you back from the car.”
Lin Qiye sat down beside Chen Muye and looked at Instructor Hong in confusion.
“I dropped the recruits off and went straight to Captain Chen. They were heading here, so I tagged along,” Instructor Hong said with a smile. “Lin Qiye, you saved the entire bus of people this time. I’ll report your merit. If nothing goes wrong, you’ll probably receive a medal.”
“A medal?”
“The Night Watch’s merit system is a bit different from the military. You’ll understand when the time comes.”
“Oh…” Lin Qiye nodded, his brows slowly furrowing. “But why were we attacked with missiles? Shouldn’t that be under military control? Who would attack us?”
Instructor Hong and Chen Muye exchanged glances. The latter sighed and said, “It wasn’t an attack on all of you. The target was just you—or that little fatty.”
“The Church of the Ancient Gods?” Lin Qiye wasn’t stupid. Wang Mian had warned him before that as the proxy of the Six-Winged Seraph, he would inevitably attract the attention of the Church. And now, he was the unprecedented dual proxy of both the Seraph and the Goddess of Night.
It made sense that the Church of the Ancient Gods couldn’t sit still.
“Based on what we know now, they were likely involved,” Instructor Hong nodded. “We just received intel from the military—Missile Launch Base 39 has fallen. Most of the missiles there require dual-key authorization, so even if the base was compromised, they shouldn’t have been able to launch without central approval.
But five missiles were under maintenance and only had one key active. She exploited that loophole.”
“Someone from the Church of the Ancient Gods?”
“When our people arrived, they found shattered stone statues, blood and flesh, and a snake eye drawn in blood…”
“Stone statues and a snake eye?” Lin Qiye thought for a moment. “Medusa?”
“Yes. Most likely the Medusa proxy who recently joined the Church—codename ‘Snake Woman.’”
Lin Qiye nodded thoughtfully. “So this vacation was actually…”
“To protect the recruits,” Instructor Hong said. “Their targets are you and Baili Tuming. By sending you out of the training camp under the guise of a holiday, we can scatter the targets, prevent other recruits from getting caught in the crossfire, and shift from open to covert, hiding you so they can’t use large-scale weapons again.
Besides… the training camp might not be airtight anymore.”
Lin Qiye sighed. “No wonder we ended physical training early, unlocked our Forbidden Ruins, and were allowed to bring our blades out of camp…”
“Anyway, be careful these next few days. And… try to go out more.”
Lin Qiye was stunned.
Logically, he and Baili Pangpang were the primary targets. They should be hiding, not going out. So why…
“You want to use me as bait to lure them out?” Lin Qiye instantly understood.
“Exactly. Running forever won’t solve the problem. They’ve waited five months—they can wait longer.
But we can’t.
So we have to use these four days of vacation to wipe them out completely!”
Instructor Hong added, “But don’t worry too much. We’ve deployed a number of absolutely trustworthy instructors into the city to protect you in secret. Chief Yuan, a Sea Realm powerhouse, is also monitoring the overall situation. They won’t be able to cause any real trouble.”
Hongying leaned in and patted his shoulder. “Don’t be scared, little Qiye. With us in Cangnan, no one’s laying a finger on you!”
“Right now, Leng Xuan is hiding somewhere nearby with a sniper rifle. Nothing escapes his eyes,” Wen Qimo said with a grin.
Lin Qiye blinked, then smiled. “Actually, I’m pretty strong now too.”
“Where’s Baili Tuming?” Lin Qiye turned to Instructor Hong.
“As soon as he got off the bus, he headed straight for a five-star hotel in Cangnan. His butler had already booked the room… Oh, and he asked me to tell you—room 9039. Drop by when you’re free.”
“…Got it.”
“Alright, since you’re fine, I’ll head back to camp,” Instructor Hong said, standing up and addressing everyone.
Lin Qiye asked in surprise, “Wasn’t the training camp bombed?”
“With Chief Yuan there, the camp’s safe. But we do need to root out the traitors quickly…” Instructor Hong waved at Lin Qiye. “See you back at camp.”
“Yeah.”
After Instructor Hong left, Chen Muye also stood up. As if remembering something, he turned to Lin Qiye.
“Qiye, tomorrow’s New Year’s Eve. Any plans?”
Lin Qiye looked up, his eyes lighting up slightly, then dimming again.
“No.”
“Then go grocery shopping with Hongying and the others in the morning. Come to the office for New Year’s dinner tomorrow night.” Chen Muye walked over and smiled faintly. “I’ll cook.”
Lin Qiye blinked, then smiled again and nodded.
“Captain, aren’t you staying to protect Qiye?” Hongying pouted, clearly unhappy.
“With you, Xiaonan, and Leng Xuan here, what do I have to worry about? The office isn’t far. If anything happens, I can be here in minutes. Besides… do you even have room for me here?” Chen Muye said helplessly.
“People have to grow, Hongying. You can’t protect Lin Qiye forever,” Wu Xiangnan added as he stood. “One day, he’ll leave here and become a powerhouse in his own right. Overprotecting him now won’t do him any good.”
“Hmph, you’re just lazy!” Hongying stuck her tongue out at Wu Xiangnan.
Wu Xiangnan ignored her and walked up to Lin Qiye, squeezing his arm with a grin.
“You’ve gotten stronger, kid!”
He waved and followed Chen Muye out of the villa.
Suddenly, he turned back to Wen Qimo, who hadn’t moved from the sofa.
“Why aren’t you leaving?”
Wen Qimo said solemnly, “I can sleep in the same bed as Lin Qiye. Close protection!”
…
…
PS: Went to the doctor today. Might be neuritis caused by anxiety. Either way, Sanjiu needs to rest for a few days. From now on, I’ll have to rely on my stockpile…
Since it’s running low, updates will drop to two chapters a day starting now.
Once I recover, I’ll make it up to you all. Thanks for understanding~