Infinite Ebullience
Chapter 1271 - 25: Testing

Chapter 1271: Chapter 25: Testing

The night wind was chilly, and the starlight dim, with clouds drifting intermittently, obscuring the bright moon, and leaving vast shadows.

"Looks like it’s going to rain!" Tang Zheng took a deep breath, glanced at everyone, and finally, his gaze settled on Li Xinlan, "Xin Lan, come here, I have something to tell you."

"Could he be suspecting me?" Li Xinlan hesitated.

"Hurry up, I’ll wait for you over there!" Tang Zheng didn’t give Xin Lan a chance to refuse and walked into the Tree Forest first.

Li Xinlan had no choice but to follow with a bitter smile.

"What do you think Tang Zheng wants with her?" Teng Yuangxiang frowned, staring at the back of Xin Lan, bitterly biting into her Canned Beef as she vented her frustration.

"I don’t know." Ruan Feifei glanced imperceptibly at Teng Little Three, hiding the suspicion in her eyes. The woman was actually sitting next to her? Was she crazy? However, the proud anchorwoman also tried to change her temper and became much more amicable.

"It can’t be that he wants to have a wild tryst, right? No, I’m going to check it out." Teng Yuangxiang stood up but was pulled back by Ruan Feifei.

"If you want to get beaten, go ahead." The anchorwoman used her chin to point at Pang Meiqin, "You can persuade her to go with you, for safety."

"Good idea." Teng Little Three approved, then hanging her head like a defeated rooster, added, "Let’s forget it, I don’t think Tang Zheng is that kind of person."

The anchorwoman was dumbfounded, forgetting that these two women were arch-enemies, hardly speaking a word to each other usually.

"What did you want to see me for?" Li Xinlan followed behind Tang Zheng, seeing that they were moving further away from the camping ground. He remained silent, prompting her to ask involuntarily.

"You need to stay calm and not give yourself away!" After walking nearly a hundred meters, Tang Zheng finally stopped. After warning himself, his serious expression faded and turned into a complaint.

"Xin Lan, I missed you." Tang Zheng turned around and reached out to embrace Xin Lan.

Li Xinlan hadn’t expected Tang Zheng to suddenly do this and instinctively retreated, even going so far as to swat away his hand that was reaching toward her waist.

"What’s wrong?" Tang Zheng’s pupils contracted sharply, then returned to normal, feigning surprise, "You’re not on your period, are you?"

Tang Zheng stepped forward a few steps, not allowing Li Xinlan to speak, forcibly embraced her waist, and kissed her on the mouth.

Li Xinlan struggled a bit, her movements stiff and unnatural, much like a woman being violated by a stranger, her eyes filled with disgust and dissatisfaction.

"Tang Zheng, stop it." Li Xinlan turned her head, using the moment to breathe, trying to push him away.

"What’s wrong? Don’t worry, we’re far enough away, they won’t find out." Tang Zheng smiled, pressing her into his embrace.

Li Xinlan wanted to reject him but, worried about exposing any flaws, had no choice but to allow his liberties.

"I’m not feeling well today, let’s not do this. Next time, I promise I’ll make it up to you." Li Xinlan hadn’t finished speaking when she gasped, instinctively crossing her arms over her chest because Tang Zheng had forcefully torn off her bra.

Tang Zheng’s focus was at its limit, ready to deploy his shield and counterattack at any moment.

"No, he’s suspecting me!" Li Xinlan reached for Tang Zheng’s head, planning to take this opportunity to release an Ice Spear to pierce through his head. But then she saw his muscles, wrapped in Xuanwu Protective Clothing, already tensed up, clearly ready to lash out with violence at any moment.

"That’s right, Tang Zheng is so cautious, he must have already noticed changes in the team. This act of his must be a test," Li Xinlan thought, pondering other ideas, "I can take this opportunity to gain his trust first."

Tang Zheng pulled out a thick blanket, threw it onto the ground, and then pressed down on Li Xinlan, but his mind was anything but calm.

"This woman must be a fake. Not to mention her previous provocative behavior towards Ruan Feifei, these recent reactions clearly show the resistance of a woman to a strange man." Although Tang Zheng had been rebuffed by Li Xinlan before, he knew she loved him deeply. If he forced himself on her, even if she were emotionally unsatisfied, she wouldn’t refuse and would try her best to satisfy him. But this woman, from beginning to end, kept avoiding him. If she wasn’t afraid of exposing herself, an attack would have probably already come.

"The married woman is struggling, testing what I say, then she stopped moving. This suggests that although she knows most about Li Xinlan, she still lacks knowledge about the private affairs between her and me. She’s afraid of exposing herself, so she lets me touch her recklessly." Tang Zheng was expressionless, but sneered inwardly, "If it were truly her, she should’ve glared at me."

While Tang Zheng couldn’t test others, he was somewhat confident about Li Xinlan, having shared several intimate moments and deep communications, yet he still couldn’t be sure and decided to test further.

"Take off your clothes. Let’s make this quick." Tang Zheng reached for Li Xinlan’s clothes. This step was necessary—if she was an impostor without protective clothing, he could kill her very easily.

Li Xinlan visibly resisted and was awkward about stripping, which made her feel insecure, but unfortunately for her, she faced the assertive Tang Zheng and ended up stark naked.

"You are truly beautiful!" Tang Zheng showed a captivated expression as he observed the married woman’s body, actually searching for flaws according to his memory.

"What nonsense!" Li Xinlan hugged her chest, kicking Tang Zheng in the belly, "Hurry up if you’re doing it, it’s cold."

Li Xinlan glanced at Tang Zheng and gave in, her only thought was not to reveal any flaws, and to perfectly mimic her actions.

"Hmm, why are you suddenly so obedient?" Tang Zheng wondered. Li Xinlan’s current demeanor and actions didn’t seem different from usual, which shook his judgment.

"What’s wrong? Come on, hurry up," Li Xinlan acted very careful, watching her surroundings.

The married woman was looking for excuses to finish quickly. The shorter the time, the smaller the chance of exposing herself, and even if she did something different, she could explain it away as nervousness due to it being her first outdoor encounter.

"Her body is identical, which is no challenge for the Silver Trojan. But I don’t believe her personality can be the same," Tang Zheng was still hesitant, but eventually pushed down on Li Xinlan.

...

The gaze of the newcomers swept over them collectively. Doctor Xie Ding, seeing the afterglow of the married woman’s allure, felt various degrees of envy, jealousy, and hate. Having almost died in the ancient castle had already brought his resentment close to breaking point, but instead of feeling weakened, he was thinking about how he could go wild.

"Eat, sleep, we’ll set off in an hour. Sun Jingshan, you assign a few people to keep watch." With some spare time left until the deadline, Tang Zheng planned to conserve energy and gather strength.

"Why us again? We’ve already walked so much, we’re tired, and when we fight the ghost bride, we’ll be at a disadvantage." Big Ears didn’t dare argue with Tang Zheng and, after being selected by Sun Jingshan, he growled lowly at him.

Sun Jingshan was daring and combative, but unfortunately, he was not good at managing relationships. Instead of trying to dominate Big Ears with force, he merely advised him and went looking for others.

Seeing this situation, those who were already reluctant to keep watch began to shirk their duty, including the few who had been initially chosen and now started complaining as well.

Sun Jingshan was so anxious that he was sweating profusely, patiently explaining, but to no avail.

"Brown-noser," Big Ears cursed, huffing and then sitting back down under a tree, surrounded by some other boys. Though not a strong fighter, he was quite good at rallying others.

"I can keep watch alone," Sun Jingshan said dejectedly as he approached Tang Zheng but did not complain.

"You all choose five people to keep watch; they can sit out the boss fight later on." With just one sentence, Tang Zheng stirred up the university students.

"I’ll do it!" Big Ears quickly spun his eyes, leaping up like an arrow-struck rabbit, more enthusiastic than anyone else.