Chapter 63: True Face

The man was beaten, and cried out, “I dare not!” Suddenly, he raised his voice, “Help! They’re coming!”

Pei Yutu stopped beating the man for a moment, and heard a sound from afar. He looked for the sound, and suddenly saw a group of white fluffy things that whistled.

“Run! They eat people! Theyl eat people!” 

Ping Mo darted out like a lightning bolt, pulled out Pei Yutu’s dagger, and without waiting for Pei Yutu to get up he raised his voice, “Watch him. Don’t let him get away!”

Those white fluffy things were actually giant white rats! Smaller than the rabbits, but in densely packed groups as they waved their long, thin tails, bean-sized black eyes, blood on the white fur of the leading ones, and extremely aggressive.

Pei Yutu wasn’t comfortable leaving Ping Mo alone to defend the enemy. He sorted through the options, then suddenly lifted the corner of his mouth at the man. “Bear with me.”

He intended to dislocate his joints, so he could not run away, but in that instant, things took a turn. The group of white rats came raging up, but the next moment the tide retreated.

He looked at Ping Mo, as he stepped on the corpse of a white rat with his bare feet. Blood dripped from the tip of his dagger, bright red blood that spilled onto his long, bare, white legs, which made them even redder and whiter.

Pei Yutu, “…”

The man, “…”

“Ah!”

Pei Yutu cracked his knuckles. “Don’t fucking look! Cover your eyes!”

After he confirmed that the man had obediently covered his eyes, Pei Yutu rushed to Ping Mo. “How’s that? Don’t worry, he won’t get away!”

Ping Mo shook his head. The cat ears on top of his head followed with an involuntary shake, full of ‘was was that?’ He said, “I just killed one, and they all ran away.”

Pei Yutu carefully examined Ping Mo up and down, left and right, to make sure he did not have a single scratch, before he looked at the man with contempt. “A group of rats scared you like this?”

The man was also confused. A few moments later, with his eyes covered, he stumbled as he argued, “They are very ferocious! I saw them eat my companion with my own eyes. There were no bones left. Also, it may be because of Instructor Ping. You are a cat and it’s a mouse’s nature to be afraid of cats.”

Pei Yutu, “…” It seemed to have some truth to it?

Ping Mo thoughtfully waved the tip of his tail. “I remember you. I saw you yesterday. You’re from White Hole.”

“You, how do you…?” The man covered his wounded leg. “Forget it. Since you already know, I won’t hide it. We are indeed from White Hole. I’m called Slingshot. I followed Brother Bomb to carry out the mission which was to bring you back. “

Ping Mo, “Be more specific.”

Slingshot stammered, “I’m just a little minion. I don’t know much.”

Ping Mo, “Then let me prompt you. Who is ‘sir’? Why is he after me? Are those nasty gilt roses from him?”

Slingshot, “Can I get my leg fixed up first?”

Having caught the ‘nasty gilt roses’ statement, Pei Yutu was in a good mood, and scolded him in a pleasant way, “Don’t make fucking conditions. Tell me, or I’ll break your other leg too.”

“…” Slingshot, “‘Mister’ refers to our Prince Long Lang. He likes to be called ‘Mister’ or ‘Teacher.’ He’s different from the average pirate, and often boasts about giving you those roses. As to why the Crown Prince wants to capture you, I really don’t know.”

“Long Lang?” Ping Mo chewed on that name. He wasn’t unfamiliar with the Prince of the White Hole. In recent years, White Hole business was run by him, and he was a pretty smart guy. For Ping Mo as the captain of the Raptor team, his main duty was to do battle with extraterritorial pirates, so he’d naturally heard of his name, but they’d never crossed paths.

No, there was one face-to-face, in Star City, on Taiping Street. At Leng Li’s underground casino when, in order to capture one of the leaders of the White Hole, Colonel Lu Feng laid a net, which really caught Long Cha,1 but let Long Lang escape.

This incident was later reported to him by Cheng Cheng.

Ping Mo, “Long Lang and I only met once in the underground boxing ring. Why does he want to capture me?”

Pei Yutu, “!!!”

Underground boxing ring? Pei Yutu instantly remembered that guy who had been looking at Ping Mo wrong. So it turned out to be him, the flower-delivering douchebag!

Slingshot said pitifully, “I’m just a small minion. I really don’t know what’s going on at the top. I’m just following orders to make a living. I’ve actually just joined the industry, so I’ve never done anything bad. I ran into you on my first mission. Please help me get my leg back in place, and let me go.”

Ping Mo was good at killing and capturing alive. He had no experience with interrogating prisoners, so he was almost fooled by this emotional speech, and had a disappointed look on his face.

Pei Yutu led Ping Mo a few steps away, and whispered, “Listen to his bullshit. What’s this about a small group of guys and meeting you on a first mission? This is as untrustworthy as a KTV girl saying she’s a virgin–“

Ping Mo gave Pei Yutu an impassive look. Teaching Assistant Pei’s words stopped abruptly, and he swore, “Blah, blah, blah! I never ordered one! It’s all from my buddies. Those friends are no good! I’ll never hang out with them again! Swear to God!”

Ping Mo, “…” I didn’t say a word. “Actually, I don’t have to meet any of your friends–“

Pei Yutu interrupted him, “I’m experienced in talking to POWs. I’ll take care of this. You stand here…yeah, yeah. Don’t come over.”

Ping Mo thought that Pei Yutu was afraid that he wasn’t professional enough to interrogate him, so he nodded seriously and agreed. To his surprise, Teaching Assistant Pei looked at him, and explained rightfully, “Our things are not for others to see.”

Ping Mo looked at the military dagger still stained with blood in his hand, and then looked down at his own bare legs and feet, and suddenly reacted.

“…”

“Crap! It hurts! Ping Mo, why so violent?”

Pei Yutu willingly took the beating, then full of energy went to Slingshot. Since Pei Yutu broke Sligshot’s leg with his bare hands, he had tried to move a few meters, but simply couldn’t run away. He saw Pei Yutu, and began to pathetically beg for mercy, “Big brother, I really told you everything I know. Give me a way out.”

“Heh.” Pei Yutu sneered. Without saying a word, he began to search his body. A moment later, he threw a small transparent bottle at him. “Pretend all you want. What is this?”

Slingshot’s face was ashen.

“You kept this because you were afraid to encounter Ping Mo again, and kept it to save your life, right? It’s a clever mistake. That Brother Bomb is a front. You’re the one who’s in the heart of some bullshit prince, right? If you can live long enough to go back, tell Long for me that Ping Mo is my man. Tell him not to think about it, and if he dares to send a flower bouquet again, I will open his head with my own hands.” Pei Yutu pulled out a pistol. “We use empty shells in our drills, but guess what? If it hits you in the eye, will it only blind one eye, or will it actually pierce your brain?”

The deserted Legacy Base was covered with vegetation, quiet and vast, so that even the insects couldn’t be heard, only the rustling of the wind blowing through the leaves. Thus, soon after, Slingshot’s painful cries became particularly sharp and mournful. Having been beaten up, Slingshot was obviously much more honest.

“Prince – no, Long Lang he asked us to come to catch and invite Instructor Ping back because he was dealing with the ‘old master’s’ afterlife outside the domain and couldn’t get away. He said, ‘because Instructor Ping, you are in danger.’ That’s why he asked us to take you back.”

Having heard this, Ping Mo and Pei Yutu looked at each other. Both remembered the team of camouflaged men. Unfortunately, during the firefight with the White Hole people, those people died or were injured, then immediately after that, the electronic protection network broke. There was no chance to catch them and ask them clearly.

“What danger is he in? Do you know who that group was?”

Slingshot shook his head, looked at Pei Yutu, and shivered in fear, “I really don’t know. I only heard that because ‘the time has come’, the group wanted to snatch you. We only received orders to act at the last minute. I confess, I used the inducer because the situation was unclear. I couldn’t be sure whether the group of camouflaged men had no more reinforcements. Then your omega pheromones attracted too many alphas. In case we couldn’t successfully take you, the prince commanded us to have you go into rut in front of everyone, so that everyone would know that you are an omega.”

“…” Ping Mo, “Why is he obsessed with getting me to reveal my identity? Was Long Lang the same person who sent me Therian-specific inhibitors on time all these years? Why did he send me gilt roses and say he wants to ‘take me home’. Is there a symbolic meaning?”

Slingshot rubbed his hands as if afraid that Pei Yutu would hit him again. He held his head and whispered, “The person who sent the Therian special inhibitors was him. Why he wanted you to reveal your identity I don’t know. As for the flowers, it’s because…because he said that Ping Mo was his lifelong wife.”

Pei Yutu, “!!!!”

Fuck!

Slingshot was very aggrieved. He had honestly answered the question according to their request, but still received a beating. Ping Mo halted it in time, so as not to kill him.

“Pei Yutu, stop. don’t break him.”

Slingshot was grateful, and was about to say, ‘It’s true that the heart is born from the heart. Instructor Ping is a beautiful person with a good heart,’ when Ping Mo stood in front of him and said, “Take it off.”

Slingshot, “???”

Ping Mo walked and moved with a light, sweet grapefruit aroma, and from the perspective of Slingshot, he could see his straight long legs and fluffy tail tip. Although he didn’t dare to look further, he still nearly got a nosebleed. When he heard this, his face was red, and said, “This Is not good. Your partner is still here.”

The next moment, a blood-stained military dagger plunged into the grass.

Five minutes later, Slingshot, was wearing only a pair of underwear and leaning on a thick branch as he limped and struggled to collect firewood, finally realized that Instructor Ping’s phrase ‘don’t break them’ referred to the clothes.

Not far away, Ping Mo disgustedly raised his sleeve and sniffed it. Pei Yutu, while removing the skin of the white rat, hopefully suggested, “Why not give it a wash before wearing it? Let’s tease the boy for another day.”

Translator Notes:

In the underground boxing incident. Long Cha was Long Lang’s uncle. It looks like the author missed that they were both named Long Lang in that chapter