Chapter 732: Unusual Scent
[Hang on…every other girl up until had been thoroughly exposed to us and the Library around the time they confirmed they had a thing for the ringmaster,] Spring Brawler noticed. [Why is Zhen Liu pussyfooting around in regards to Lady Jinju Ren? Shouldn’t he just introduce us and be done with it?]
[I get what you mean,] Hurricroak affirmed Spring Brawler’s thoughts [I believe it’s because he wants to wait until we get back to hearth and home before divulging anything of importace to he. Namely, us.]
[The…walls…have…eyes…and…the ceiling…has…ears,” Frosttusk added.
[Ah.]
[Regardless, I’m fairly certain the director will get to the point and reveal us to her eventually…that or he keeps it hidden until the princess figures out how to stop running her mouth so much…,” Razorstella grumbled.
[Hmmm.]
Spring Brawler, at this point, began to focus entirely on the conversation between Zhen Liu and Jinju Ren…which was getting more and more flirtatious sounding by the minute.
‘To be able to walk and talk freely…how nice that must be…what was that tingle?’
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‘Wait…that walking disaster aura isn’t that unique,’ Zhen Liu realized before he started panicking.
There were a lot of records of crazy powerful cultivators throughout history being able to cause natural disasters with a flick of their wrists, literally. As well, there were many cases where people may have padded their historical records to make them sounds more dangerous than how they actually were.
Then again, knowing how Logos and Pathos operate…there was a very high chance they figured out how to help the Invulnerable Storm Queen cause natural disasters by simply blinking.
Either way, this was at least an escape route he could attempt to use.
“Uh…are you saying that while staring at me, you get the vibe that I’m a natural disaster that’s waiting to happen?”
“Partially, but in a good way. A storm of excitement, if you will.”
“Right…well! Grandfather is like a walking cold front, while my father is a wildfire waiting to happen. Hell, great grandauntie is a like a sleeping giant,” Zhen Liu replied. “So other than my vibe and my puppets…is that all? Because those two criteria are fairly easily it meet in the wider world.”
Zhen Liu wasn’t wrong with this sentiment, he just had no idea how right he was.
“Hmmm. I suppose that you’re right about that statement. There are plenty of warriors out there that meet those two specific criteria. However, there was still one thing that I remember reading about in regards to the Storm Queen.”
“Oh? And what was-whoa.”
Before Zhen Liu could finish his sentence, Jinju Ren had suddenly appeared next to him with a mischievous yet bright eyed look.
Zhen Liu couldn’t help but feel a touch nervous, especially when Jinju Ren made this next statement.
“This last bit of information I know, comes from no historical text or third explorer. Instead, this comes directly from my father’s personal memoirs,” Jinju Ren answered nonchalantly.”Well…more like a personal journal that I got my hands on once or twice before. Apparently, he knew the Invulnerable Storm Queen on a more personal level than what the history books say. Especially in regards to that lovely scar on his face.”
“R-really?,” Zhen Liu answered with a nervous tone. Aside from Jin Fang and that one time with Bellona, this was only the third or so time a woman has ever just…been all up in his business in a friendly manner like this.
He didn’t necessarily hate this kind of attention, but it was enough to make him nervous.
“Indeed. My father wrote this strange tidbit about how the Storm Queen had this one, very obvious trait about her,” JinJu Ren answered while getting even closer to Zhen Liu.”Her scent.”
“Her-wait, what?”
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∆Wait, what?!∆
[Oh, what?]×5
=And of course that bit of information was also sealed so we can’t confirm that yet. Seriously, why now? I remember them being accessible about a century ago…=
[Wait, do you two don’t even know if the Storm Queen and the Pearl Scale Emperor were actually that intimate? What the hell?]
=As I said, her records got sealed up for some reason.=
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“Yup, her scent,” Jinju Ren repeated while getting closer to Zhen Liu, wrapping her arms around his neck in an intimate manner no less.
“My father wrote how he and her were intimate once upon a time, how despite being bitter enemies that they were once as intimate in the same manner that my mother was with him. He wrote how much he missed her brilliant blue eyes, her soft cyan hair and that adorable way she softly smiled at him.”
At this point, Zhen Liu couldn’t really respond as he was being enraptured in Jinju Ren’s amber eyes, soft black hair and another soft feeling being pressed against his own chest.
Gods damn his abysmal dating record and weakness towards woman with strong personalities!
“Amongst all that though, the one thing my father wrote in regards to the Storm Queen was just how much he missed her scent. In his words, she smelled a bit like a rainstorm at sea. Something powerful yet calming all at the same time.”
Evidently, Zhen Liu couldn’t really think about how to respond at the moment except with a line that was flirtatious as all hell in this particular moment.
“Dare I ask what I smell like then?”
“Hmm. Let me see…”
At this moment, Jinju Ren didn’t say anything extra as she leaned close to Zhen Liu’s chest and took a deep breath, in order to fully capture his scent.
Perhaps it was the late night air or the heat of the moment, but Zhen Liu couldn’t help but think how surprisingly adorable this natural enemy of fiancee was at this moment.
‘I should probably stop thinking like that,’ Zhen Liu thought to himself as he tried to push the idea of calling her his “natural enemy”, out of his head. She was just a girl who was a bit blunt and wielded one of the few those of powers that was able to hurt him. Nothing more, nothing less.
A few seconds passed as Jinju Ren kept taking in Zhen Liu’s scent until she was satisfied. At which point, she made her observation.
“Well…it is faint, but you do smell a bit like rain. Although, I wouldn’t say you’re a rainstorm. More like a spring shower,” Jinju Ren said with a soft teasing tone. “Well, alongside some other things. It feels like the scent of rain was rubbed on you though.”
“Oh? What else do I smell like then? Should I go and take another bath? Shower perhaps?,” Zhen Liu asked while keeping in mind something he was going to check on later after being informed about this “rubbed on” bit of information.
“Well…,” Jinju Ren trailed off while doing her best to make herself look cute and playful. “If anything, it’s a bit complex. You have this strong, warm and almost earthy scent. A bit like meadow or freshly tilled earth. The kind of scent that seems to convey security and reliability. Like a man who would turn over the world for someone he loves. Or perhaps a loyal puppy that would bite even dragons?”
“That’s… surprisingly high praise, I think,” Zhen Liu replied while confused over that puppy comment.”I figured I would be considered too much of a worrywart to be able to convey such a thing.”
“But at the same time…you smell like danger. Rich, incredible danger,” Jinju Ren continued. “Like a volcano about to erupt or the calm air that happens moment before a storm or even a blizzard. The kind of danger that could capture someone’s heart through sheer adrenaline.”
“That…huh…”
A part of Zhen Liu was now convinced that Jinju Ren wasn’t actually smelling just his natural scent, but was actually smelling the kaijin. That said, it did confirm a previous suspicion in his mind so he didn’t mind that kind of commentary too much.
“That all said, my father’s journal mentioned something very interesting about this scent of hers.”
“Really? And what’s that?”
“That the best way to bring it out, was to do this.”
“Do-hmm?!”
And just like that, Zhen Liu and Jinju Ren shared their first official kiss.
In this moment, Zhen Liu was given his own crash course in scent.
‘Huh…cinnamon. Of course she’d smell like cinnamon…’
_______________Meanwhile________________
“Huh…why do I feel this overwhelming urge to either smack Xiao Liu with a wok or violently make out with him as if I was marking my territory?,” Jin Fang asked Rianna while they were both in the middle of packing.
“I want to say… it’s either intuition or you’re annoyed that during this entire trip to his ancestral homeland, you two haven’t had a chance to go on a single romantic outing. Except for brief little interludes in the evenings.”
“…”
“What?”
“Have you been playing those ‘dating sim’, things again?”
“Maybe.”
“…”
“Okay, maybe three.”
“Girl…”
