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Li Shaoming’s private residence was built in a remote suburb very close to a forest on a mountain. Li Yue directed the magical beast to run to the forest, ensuring that they would be covered by the tall trees. He thought to himself that now he had the key, he couldn’t go back to his residence. However, he only needed to disguise himself and hide for a while. When the hubbub died down, then he could go to Linglong Pavilion to take what he wanted.
Cheng Nuo, who had been hit by several ice arrows, had passed out from shock and excessive blood loss. Li Yue pulled the arrows out and threw them aside.
Cheng Nuo screamed. The pain woke him up and, with some difficulty, he managed to open his eyes.
Li Yue mounted Cheng Nuo beside him and stuffed a healing pill into his mouth. He said impatiently, “You useless thing, heal yourself.”
Cheng Nuo swallowed hard. The pain was making his vision turn black and the cold from his wounds made him shiver. Panting, he tried to use his energy to stop the bleeding but he had been wounded in many places and his hands couldn’t move. He couldn’t condense the energy in his body.
Li Yue, seeing that Cheng Nuo’s eyes were unable to focus, pinched his hand. His hands were no longer warm, instead, they were cold. Li Yue raised his eyebrows. He hates things that are cold and in his current state Cheng Nuo was a burden. He hesitated for a while.
Cheng saw the murderous look in Li Yue’s eyes and spoke with great difficulty, “For the sake of the times when I called you master, please take out pen and paper… before I die… I want to leave a message.”
Li Yue snorted coldly and lifted his chin, “You want to leave a message to Liu Guang to get his revenge on me?”
Cheng Nuo shook his head, showing a faint, bitter smile, “You can write it for me then. Tell him that there’s no need to be sad. Someone else will love and protect him. Please allow that person to take care of him.”
The smile on Cheng Nuo’s face startled Li Yue for a moment, then he pinched Cheng Nuo’s chin fiercely and sneered, “Hmph! Do you think I’ll listen to you? When you die, I’ll make you a doll!”
Cheng Nuo smiled bitterly: “It would be better for you to torch my body. I don’t want to die only to scare everyone who sees me.”
“I won’t let you go,” Li Yue glanced at him, then cut his finger with a knife and stuffed it onto Cheng Nuo’s mouth. “That would be letting you off too lightly.”
Cheng Nuo was stunned. The cold, strong-smelling blood flowed into his mouth and he couldn’t help but shudder. During his medical studies, he had read about the legendary human panacea whose blood could strengthen and heal people. However, the records hadn’t said anything about the panacea’s blood being cold…
Li Yue could feel that Cheng Nuo’s mouth was very hot and the tongue that he accidentally touched was warm and slippery. He pulled his finger out, uncomfortable. He said coldly, “I am not a human panacea. Hmph. Is a human panacea’s blood like mine?”
Now was not the time to be curious and Cheng Nuo didn’t have the strength to ask. Strangely, once he had swallowed that cold blood, his body slowly warmed up and the stagnant energy in his body became much more lively. He quickly closed his eyes and tried to heal himself. Naturally, being able to live is the best. What’s more, there were so many things in this world that he couldn’t give up. When he thought that he was going to die, his eyes started tearing up and his mind was filled with countless thoughts about his past life and memories of this world…
At the foot of the mountain forest was a residential area. As long as Li Yue could disguise himself and establish a base then there was nothing to worry about.
Li Yue stopped the magical beast, put it back in the magical beast bag, and dropped Cheng Nuo on the ground. He carefully laid out silk energy threads around the place before he put on a wig and changed his clothes.
Something about this was very strange. Those covert guards should have found that their Left-Hand Elder was dead. Why was there no hue and cry in the city right now?
There was a slight thrum from a distant silk thread. Li Yue’s blood turned cold. He immediately jumped up a tree. Doll Number Five, holding Cheng Nuo, also jumped up and hid behind the tree.
Countless ice arrows came like shadows then melted in the air after cutting most of the silk threads. Li Yue’s eyes narrowed. This must be the covert guard with ice-elemental powers. He hadn’t expected the guard to move so fast!
He held his breath and looked in the direction where the ice arrows had come from but there was no one there. Obviously, his enemy was hiding.
Bai Rui crouched on a tree, motionless as a shadow. His eyes were as sharp as an eagle’s and he knew that the enemy was nearby. Despite his speed, he wasn’t as fast as a magical beast but the covert guards all have elixirs that allow their bodies to exceed their physical limits for a short time. Although the harm the elixir did to a body was great, now was not the time to worry about that. Bai Rui knew that he hadn’t struck any of Cheng Nuo’s vital parts but his hands still couldn’t help but tremble slightly. The thought of Cheng Nuo dying at his hands made his chest feel so tight that he could hardly breathe.
He carefully observed the way the energy threads that had been laid out, determined the probable approximate location of his target, and immediately approached slowly and cautiously, swift and silent as a shadow.
There were dozens of ugly and insignificant little dolls scattered around the place. When Bai Rui was only seven or eight meters away from Li Yue, one of the dolls made a strange cry. Bai Rui calmly cut it in half then, with a swift change of his body’s position, cut the tree that the other person was hiding in.
The top of a big tree fell down, making a loud noise. Li Yue manipulated an attack puppet to block Bai Rui’s attack. He jumped to a tree beside it and smiled. “You’re the only one who was able to catch up with me? You’re very fast… I guess you took the forbidden elixir?”
Bai Rui did not answer. An ice bow appeared in his right hand and he quickly shot several ice arrows.
Li Yue sneered and used a fire-element doll to block the attack. The doll made a strange sound as flames burst out of each of its hands. Ice arrows pierced the doll’s hands half an inch before disappearing. Li Yue thought to himself that although the covert guard’s sword skills and ice elemental powers were good, Li Yue had dolls that could counter his abilities. Therefore, he had nothing to fear.
Bai Rui was able to identify the puppet’s weakness after exchanging half a dozen blows. He struck with the sword in his right hand and an ice blade on his left. The ice blade suddenly exploded into shards, revealing light arrows inside it that hit the center of the puppet’s chest. Li Yue was surprised and wasn’t fast enough to make the puppet dodge the attack. The doll was stabbed through the heart and immediately fell down like a broken kite.
The puppet’s weakness was its heart. When the puppeteer’s blood in the body is struck, he will lose control of the puppet.
Li Yue wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and smiled. “You don’t like to talk and you are a dual ability user.” He narrowed his eyes. Not only did this person have dual abilities, but he could also use them together… this covert guard was really a tough opponent!
Li Yue has ten dolls with his essence which can be manipulated freely. If any one of them is damaged, it will rebound on him.
Bai Rui did not reply. He slashed his sword down with great force towards Li Yue but, with a clanging sound, a doll blocked it.
Li Yue normally only used two of his special dolls at a time. This time, because he was afraid of Bai Rui’s abilities, he used four – earth, metal, poison, and lightning type dolls. Li Yue could manipulate six dolls but he had gotten some internal injuries from the fire doll earlier.
The metal doll’s body was harder than diamond. The light arrows and sword couldn’t pierce it. The earth doll could hide underground to assist the other three dolls. The poison doll could release a poisonous mist and held countless hidden weapons. The lightning doll’s attack was powerful enough to knock down a high-level magical beast.
The four doll’s abilities complemented each other and they worked together so well that Bai Rui was unable to get the upper hand.
Meanwhile, Cheng Nuo’s energy had been restored as he was hidden behind some rocks by Doll Number Five. Right now, Li Yue was using most of his energy to control his four attack dolls and since he knew that Cheng Nuo was injured, he wasn’t paying much attention to controlling Doll Number Five.
Cheng Nuo listened to what Li Yue said and his heart became more and more confused. He couldn’t help but clutch at his wounds and painfully move to look at what was happening. His heart leapt and he almost screamed – Bai Rui!
Taking a few deep breaths, he calmed himself but his heart couldn’t help but beat faster. Did Bai Rui know that it was Cheng Nuo he was chasing? Cheng Nuo still had Li Yue’s puppet strings on him and he was afraid that if that little psycho were to figure out that he and Bai Rui knew each other, he would control Cheng Nuo and make him fight until both Cheng Nuo and Bai Rui were killed…
At last Cheng Nuo was able to calm down. First, he looked at the expressionless Doll Number Five then turned his head around. In the midst of the battle, Bai Rui caught his eye.
Bai Rui was holding a sword but his eyes under his mask were precise and cautious, as calm as though this was an ordinary bit of training and not a deadly fight with a powerful enemy. His movements were natural and smooth, each strike accurate and efficient.
Cheng Nuo, his palms sweaty, kept his eyes on Bai Rui.
Bai Rui had noticed that Cheng Nuo was watching him. Relieved to know that Cheng Nuo’s life wasn’t in danger, Bai Rui immediately sped up. The halo of light around his hand expanded, turning into countless needles of light that struck that lightning doll.
Li Yue coughed up blood. Panting hard, he manipulated the other three dolls to intensify their offensive.
Bai Rui felt a tightness in his chest and knew that the side effect of the forbidden elixir was about to catch up with him. Calculating the trajectory in his mind as he swung his sword, he slashed with his right hand. Ice pillars shot down, pinning the earth doll and cutting off half of the metal doll’s shoulder.
Li Yue gasped and clutched his chest. He glared fiercely at Bai Rui. He was just a covert guard… yet he actually pushed Li Yue to this point?! Gritting his teeth, Li Yue summoned the wind-type magical beast. Now all he could do was flee! He jumped up and Doll Number Five grabbed Cheng Nuo and ran over, jumping high in the air.
Cheng Nuo wrenched the silk thread from his hand and twisted the doll’s arm which broke off. Cheng Nuo fell down along with the arm.
Li Yue was furious and shouted: “What are you doing?”
Cheng Nuo clenched his teeth and released his last bit of strength, making vines grow and firmly tie him to the ground so that he couldn’t be manipulated by Li Yue.
Bai Rui was rushing towards him as fast as lightning.
Li Yue coughed up blood and narrowed his eyes. “Would you rather be killed by the covert guard? Only I am allowed to kill you!”
As Li Yue spoke, he made Doll Number Five jump down from the magical beast. The doll used its sword to stab Cheng Nuo.
With a clanging sound, its sword clashed with Bai Rui’s who blocked the sword then cut the doll in half. Li Yue coughed up another mouthful of blood then, not willing to look at Cheng Nuo, finally ordered the magical beast to turn and run away.
The ice-cold look in Li Yue’s eyes made Cheng Nuo shudder. His vision turned dark.
Instead of chasing after Li Yue, Bai Rui took off his mask and threw it aside. Without saying a word, he half-kneeled on the ground. Carefully cutting off the vines binding Cheng Nuo, Bai Rui restored the color of his eyes and hair.
Cheng Nuo looked at Bai Rui’s profile that showed an expression of careful focus. His heart jumped uncontrollably and he said in a soft voice that could barely be heard, “When did you recognize me?… You know it’s me?”
Bai Rui was only fourteen years old! How could he be more mature and trustworthy than Cheng Nuo who was an adult? ****! Why did he let the enemy go?
Bai Rui did not reply. His eyes slowly shifted to Cheng Nuo’s face and they looked at each other shyly.
Cheng Nuo could clearly see his current appearance reflected in the other person’s golden eyes. He couldn’t help but feel embarrassed. He was still wearing the wig with the golden blonde hair and the robe’s neckline was too low. After all the commotion, he hadn’t realized that it had been pulled down so that his bloody shoulders were exposed. Also, Cheng Nuo’s face was as white as paper.
The clothes were obviously female clothes. Cheng Nuo was in turmoil. He didn’t know how to explain it to Bai Rui. This was exactly like deceiving people in this ****ing perverted world, like Liu Guang…
At the thought of Liu Guang, he felt even more anxious. His shoulders shrank back and he said, “Bai Rui, you’re not hurt, are you? Thank you for saving me. I was forced to wear these clothes by Li Yue. Do you have any other clothing on you? I have to hurry back!”
Bai Rui just stared at him silently. Cheng Nuo almost suspected that Bai Rui’s pressure point had been hit, rendering him unable to speak. It was only after Cheng Nuo had stopped speaking and gasping for breath that Bai Rui finally moved.
Bai Rui carefully lifted Cheng Nuo’s upper body from the ground and held it in his arms. Then he stopped moving.
“…” Cheng Nuo’s head was full of black lines. What does this mean?
Despite Bai Rui’s careful movements, Cheng Nuo’s wounds were still jolted and he frowned in pain.
“It was me…” Bai Rui paused for a moment before continuing. “I hurt you.”
His voice was different from his normal voice, hoarse and rough, and when he spoke, his body shuddered violently.
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Reika’s Notes:
This chapter is by Reika of BC Novels.
- “It would be better for you to torch my body.” – 你还是一把火把我点了干净些 Not sure what this means. Like, set him on fire? Or just an idiom meaning “clean him up”?
- “That would be letting you off too lightly.” – Literally more like “that’s too cheap (for you)” but this is what it means.
- “…he had read about the legendary human panacea…” 中药人 I translated this as “human panacea” though the characters just mean “Chinese medicine man” since the context is a person who’s blood/body is a cure-all or panacea that can heal anything.
- “lightning doll.” – 雷 This means thunder but I suspect it’s actually lightning (i.e. electric type, not sound).
- I don’t have an editor for this so please let me know if there are any errors. Thanks for reading!