Chapter 531 - 550: I Also Want to Take the Initiative for Once

Fine. "So I guess I should call you Brother Mo Si?"

Even while confessing his mistakes, his ears twitched twice when he heard that name. "If you want to, you can."

"..."

"Is this everything you’ve been hiding from me?" she asked.

Mo Si said, "Actually, there’s one more thing. I’m not sure if I should tell you."

"? Spit it out."

"You... you don’t recognize me?"

"Huh?" After he said that, Jiang Qiuqiu stared at Mo Si’s face for a long time. But she wasn’t from this era, after all. Mo Si might be really famous, but she just couldn’t place him right away.

Seeing that Jiang Qiuqiu truly didn’t recognize him, Mo Si felt a little conflicted.

"My name is Mo Si, but people rarely call me that," Mo Si said. "Most of the time, people call me the Imperial Blade."

Qiuqiu was no stranger to those two words: Imperial Blade.

During her PK battle with Xiong Xin, that phrase had been everywhere—on the Star Network, in her social circles, and all over the fan bullet comments: ’Successor to the Imperial Blade.’

So, the Imperial Blade...

’Isn’t that the Admiral?’

At that thought, a buried memory suddenly surfaced. It was from not long after she had arrived in this era. She had been out looking for an apartment to rent for the first time and passed by the Central Mall, where a video was playing on the massive outdoor screen.

A man in a military uniform was piloting a Mecha. His expression was blank, his eyes resolute and cold as he plunged his Mecha’s longsword into the head of an Insect Race creature. The scene was followed by a line of text: "Happy Birthday to the Imperial Blade, Admiral Mo Si."

Mo Si?

The Imperial Blade!?

The Admiral! The Federal Guardian God?

Infinitely shocked, Jiang Qiuqiu’s gaze on Mo Si completely changed.

As an outsider, she agreed that Mo Si was a hero, but she hadn’t grown up being indoctrinated with his legend. As a result, she didn’t feel a great sense of awe toward him.

So, what was now jumping back and forth in her mind was—

Him, killing an Insect Race creature with a single strike of his blade, his gaze as sharp as the blade itself.

And him, striding to her side, grabbing her by the waist and saying, "Kissy!" before peppering her with messy kisses.

Mo Si also sensed the change in the way Jiang Qiuqiu was looking at him.

Just as he thought Jiang Qiuqiu might be unable to accept all this, she suddenly said, "If I didn’t know you wouldn’t lie at a time like this, I’d think you were wearing another virtual mask."

"Why?"

"Because you’re nothing like the person you are when you’re piloting a Mecha."

"You’ve seen me pilot a Mecha?"

"Yeah. After you said that, I remembered seeing your birthday tribute video and interview outside the Federation Central Shopping Mall. The you back then is completely different from the you right now."

"How am I different?" Men probably think they’re the same at all times.

Jiang Qiuqiu beckoned with her finger. Mo Si moved a little closer, and she suddenly grabbed his shoulders with both hands. "You want a kissy? Kissy!" Then she started rubbing her face all over his.

Mo Si hadn’t even processed it yet.

Jiang Qiuqiu said, "Watching your interview, I could never have imagined you’d be like this."

It was a very intimate gesture.

It dawned on Mo Si. "Qiuqiu, you’re not angry anymore?"

"Didn’t you explain everything? Your identity really is special, so it’s understandable that you’d wear a mask. Besides, at first, you didn’t think we’d end up in a relationship, so of course you couldn’t give your real information when you introduced yourself. Calling yourself Black Hole was perfectly normal."

"And you wanted to tell me everything as soon as we made our relationship official."

Qiuqiu said, "I can understand."

The redness in Mo Si’s eyes immediately faded. His eyes filled with happiness. ’It can all be over this quickly?’

’So Qiuqiu doesn’t care at all! So Qiuqiu doesn’t mind his identity one bit! She doesn’t feel like there’s any distance between us!’

He had just started to smile.

"But I’m still angry."

Her gaze burned as she looked at him. "So, when you said you wanted to get married before, it wasn’t because you actually wanted to get married, was it? Let me guess—"

’No wonder,’ she thought. ’Who thinks about marriage right after starting a relationship?’

’And at a time like that, too.’

"At that time, you wanted to tell me the truth, but you were also afraid I’d find your identity as the Imperial Blade to be unattainable and would distance myself from you. Is that why you said you wanted to get married?"

"!"

"That’s not what I meant." If Mo Si could be forthright about hiding his identity, he felt a little guilty when it came to the marriage issue.

Because at first, he hadn’t been thinking about marriage at all. He’d more or less had the idea of using marriage to... well, you know.

"Yes, you did."

Feeling guilty, he even lowered his head slightly.

As if that would let him avoid Jiang Qiuqiu’s gaze.

Jiang Qiuqiu watched him, the corners of her lips twitching up before she forced them back down. "You’ve made me very unhappy, you know?"

"Qiuqiu..."

The atmosphere seemed to suddenly turn heavy.

But soon after, she asked, "Do you know what it’ll take to make me happy again?"

Mo Si: ?

’This... these words?’

Those words really didn’t sound like something an angry person would say. Mo Si looked up and found Jiang Qiuqiu watching him with a wide, bright smile.

"Hah, tell me, your ears... are you doing that on purpose?"

"Twitching and twitching like that... are you trying to get away with it by being cute?!" Jiang Qiuqiu said. "Well, you succeeded! I’m still a little mad, and I need to pinch your ears to let off some steam, you know?"

"You want to pinch my ears?"

"Yeah. Is that not allowed?"

It was just pinching his ears. What was there to refuse? Of course, he had to say yes, and loudly.

He agreed.

Jiang Qiuqiu’s eyes lit up.

-

Back in the 21st century, whenever people watched panda videos posted by official media or some Sichuan panda public account, there would always be hordes of people saying they wanted to raise a panda.

Jiang Qiuqiu had been one of them.

When she watched the videos, she often saw the pandas wiggle their ears. Back then, she would always think, ’Ah, if only I could touch them.’

But that was impossible. Because although pandas looked cute, they were still fierce beasts—the kind that could roar and be very dangerous.

But today—

Her dream came true.

What did it feel like to touch a little panda’s ears? It was hard to describe. She’d touch the left one, pinch the right one, then touch the left one again, like petting a small, fluffy ball.

Because Mo Si was so tall, he sat on a stool by the bed while Jiang Qiuqiu stood on the bed itself. Only then was the height just right for her to reach.

Mo Si held his head up slightly.

’Ears really are a sensitive spot...’

But he’d done something wrong, so he didn’t dare speak.

Although she called it a punishment, her touch was light and gentle. It was like little jolts of electricity, leaving Mo Si so numb he couldn’t speak. After enduring it for a while, a few "baa"-like sounds escaped his throat unconsciously.

Jiang Qiuqiu’s hand stopped.

"Are you uncomfortable?" ’How did I pinch him so hard he started bleating like a sheep?’

She immediately felt a little guilty. "Did I pinch too hard?"

Her happiness suddenly vanished. Mo Si endured the strange sensation in his body and shook his head. "No, it’s not that you were pinching too hard. It’s that you weren’t pinching hard enough."

"...?"

"Then why did you just...?"

"I don’t know either."

"Also, Qiuqiu, have you calmed down? Are you still angry?" he asked urgently.

Jiang Qiuqiu sat down too and shook her head. "I’m not angry anymore."

"So we’re back to having a normal romantic relationship, right?"

"Yes."

’Great. After offering up my ears, the weight on my shoulders has finally disappeared.’

Mo Si licked his lips and suddenly leaned close to Jiang Qiuqiu. "Well then, Qiuqiu, I want a kissy now."

"You said before not to ask, so I’m informing you: I’m going to kiss you."

After speaking, he followed his instincts and pulled Jiang Qiuqiu into his arms. Even though it was the middle of winter, his whole body was burning up. This was a scorching hot kiss.

Oh, wait, it shouldn’t be called *a* kiss. It should be a *flurry* of them.

Because he still only knew how to kiss her face. He held Jiang Qiuqiu’s head, kissing her forehead, then her cheeks, then the tip of her nose, and then her chin.

He rubbed against her so much that Jiang Qiuqiu’s face started to hurt a little.

She pushed him away slightly, and Mo Si quickly stopped.

"What’s wrong, Qiuqiu?"

"It’s really hard to believe you’re 39 years old." Jiang Qiuqiu freed her hands and pushed Mo Si back a little. While he was still confused, she reached out and held his chin. "You know, you really don’t have to be afraid that people will feel distant from you after finding out you’re the Imperial Blade."

"?"

"Behavior like yours just makes people feel like your image is shattered."

’The great War God, once high up in the clouds, has fallen to earth right beside me... and he’s such a doofus.’

"What did I do?" he asked, looking like he genuinely wanted to know.

Jiang Qiuqiu didn’t say anything. She just looked up and gave Mo Si a smack of a kiss on the lips.

Although she looked like she knew what she was doing, she had actually never been in a relationship before. This was her first romance, too.

’But even if you’ve never eaten pork, you’ve seen a pig run!’

Jiang Qiuqiu lightly pecked at Mo Si’s lips.

Once, twice, three times.

Mo Si was as motionless as a block of wood.

Jiang Qiuqiu: ...

A girl has her pride, and her shyness turned to exasperation. "You-you-you, you’re not cooperating!"

He made a small "ah" sound.

"..."

"Alright, I don’t want to kiss you anymore." ’Court is dismissed. We are tired.’

Jiang Qiuqiu puffed up her cheeks, looked away, and said it was time to eat. The words had barely left her mouth when Mo Si hooked a hand around the back of her neck, pressed her head forward with his palm, and leaned in.

Men seemed to be self-taught geniuses when it came to moments like this.

He copied how she had pressed against him and took the initiative to press his lips to hers. After a moment’s pause, he gently broke through her defenses.

It was a subtle, intoxicating feeling.

It was the first time he had shown such full-blown aggression. Jiang Qiuqiu was so breathless from his kiss she could barely breathe.

"..."

After a long time, he finally let go. Jiang Qiuqiu stared wide-eyed as she pulled back. "You—"

Mo Si said, "It seems like Qiuqiu is always the one to take the lead."

"I wanted to take the lead for once."

Jiang Qiuqiu: ...

Her already red face turned even redder.

And so, the little storm passed in a perfectly ordinary, unremarkable way.