Chapter 10: Changes

“Think about it. Did anything special happen at that time?” Li Charlie asked.

“Special, you say…”

Xia Nuo tried to recall the scene and only remembered that a flock of birds flew over, the puppet’s finger stayed on his chest and did not hesitate to stab him and then… the puppet fell to the ground with a crash. 

He shook his head with trepidation. 

“I don’t remember…” 

The truth was that he was still a bit absentminded. Though he prepared his heart for the dangers he will face upon entering the game, it was different when facing it in real life.

Only then did he realize that he really was powerless, and even involved Mr. Kan Chen.

Li Charlie wanted to say something else but was stopped by Kan Chen, who loosened his arms and gently nudged Xia Nuo’s frowned eyebrows.

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“Psd’v vbkdj ycswv kv kq usw esd’v alxlxcla. Nlv xl pll uswa oswde qkapv.”

Tl tsv vss lmnkvle obld bl pyo Dky Lws wdbyaxle yde bwttle bkx yv sdnl okvbswv vbkdjkdt. Lso vbyv bl’e vbswtbv ycswv kv, bkp ynvksdp xktbv byhl clld y ckv aswtb yde xktbv byhl bwav bkp oswdep.

“Pslp kv bwav?” Tl ypjle psqvzu yp bl nyalqwzzu wdcwvvsdle Dky Lws’p pbkav qsa qlya sq bwavkdt bkx.

Mbl obkvl pbkav oyp czsvvle okvb y pxyzz ryvnb sq czsse sd vbl nblpv, obknb oyp dso pzktbvzu eyajldle. Iyd Ubld byp nlavykdzu plld czsse. Mbl czsse sq bkp alzyvkhlp, vbl czsse sq bkp ldlxklp, yde lhld bkp sod czsse, bl byp plld kv xydu vkxlp. Ms bkx, czllekdt oyp dsv y ckt elyz, cwv pllkdt vbl czsse sd vbl uswdt xyd xyel bkp blyav ynbl kd y pvkqzkdt oyu.

Dky Lws qlzv lxcyaaypple yde oydvle vs es kv bkxplzq.

“R… R’zz es kv xuplzq. Gnvwyzzu… kv eslpd’v bwav yv yzz.”

Xb? Rv eslpd’v bwav?

Rd bkdepktbv, Dky Lws alyzkgle vbyv vblal oyp psxlvbkdt oasdt.

At this time, Kan Chen had already unbuttoned his shirt, his eyes fixed on it. Xia Nuo also glanced down at it but didn’t see anything.

“What’s wrong? Is it a serious injury?”

The little puppet brought the wound medicine and gauze, but it didn’t dare to get close, and could only probe a few steps away to look.

“No, it’s not.” Kan Chen put his shirt back together, and though Xia Nuo felt embarrassed, he didn’t stop the man from doing it. “It’s healed.”

“Then that’s good… eh?” The puppet subconsciously replied but then realized something was wrong. “That fast?”

They all saw what Ye Qiang did. She absolutely showed no mercy and really planned to kill Xia Nuo. The blood stains on his shirt just showed how deep his wound was. It would be impossible for it to heal that fast. 

The little puppet looked at Xia Nuo carefully. No matter how you look at it, he looked just like an ordinary human, more fragile even. But he can kill immortal creatures and heal his wounds quickly, there’s nothing ordinary about this! 

I will never judge people by their appearance alone anymore, it silently reminded itself. 

Li Charli, who was still examining the puppet parts, heard the conversation and looked over, his eyes shining. 

“It’s healed?” 

Those eyes, shining eyes, were fixed on Xia Nuo and he could not help but take a step back as he nodded hesitantly. 

“I think so, that’s what Mr. Kan Chen said.”

He did touch his chest that was supposed to be wounded but only felt that flat and smooth surface. The pain that he felt before was not an illusion, but how could he have felt that if there was no wound? 

“It’s really healed? So that’s what happened… I see!” Li Charlie muttered to himself then suddenly shouted making everybody look at him. 

“What did you find out?” Kan Chen asked immediately. 

Li Charlie looked so excited as he pointed to the scattered body parts of the puppet. 

“When you first saw the puppets become like this, what was the first thing that came to your mind? Did you think that it was destroyed by an external force? That’s what I thought at first too, but I realized that it wasn’t the case when I checked. It disintegrated itself from the inside. Together with the idea that he had healed himself, I came to the conclusion that the puppet’s core – the life force that supports its operation – was taken by him.”

Xia Nuo was surprised when he heard Charlie’s words. “Am I… that powerful?” 

He stretched out his hands and examined them over and over. “But I don’t feel… anything.”

And this life force he mentioned… How could he have taken away something you can’t see or touch? 

Li Charlie shook his head and changed the subject into a seemingly irrelevant question. 

“I think this ability is something beyond your control and just a spontaneous response made by your body. Did you grow up with a poor constitution and get sick a lot? Was it difficult to cure? Did you often have a relapse?” 

“Yes, it seems so.” Xia Nuo nodded blankly, not expecting him to guess everything accurately. 

“But then again, there’s still something wrong. If that was the case, then you shouldn’t have been able to live this long…” 

Li Charlie seemed to have fallen to his own thoughts, frowning then shaking his head. 

He didn’t know when he had read in a book something of a similar case. The person in that narrative was born weak and constantly sick since childhood, then as he reached his teens he was already dying. But perhaps it was fate that this person found himself by chance once wounded, then was able to use blood as a medium to take the life force of the creature that caused his wounds. 

At first, that person could only target creatures with weak life force — roses that stabbed his fingers, iron thistles that cut his skin, but as his ability grew, his target gradually changed to more powerful animals and even human beings to seize their life force to fill his own. 

If the young man was the same as that person, then that explains everything. 

Non-human creations such as puppets, although can act and speak like humans, are not human after all. Their life force is given by their creator and is not closely linked to their body. It is even easier to take their life force than a living being’s. But of course, not everyone has this kind of ability. 

There’s one more thing that doesn’t make sense. How did this young man live this long? 

He must have never realized that he had this kind of ability and certainly hadn’t actively taken other’s life force. But his body was like a funnel and his own life force must have been increasingly deficient. If not replenished, he should’ve died already. 

How is he still here standing properly? 

Kan Chen first waited patiently for Li Charlie to come to a conclusion but this guy had a tendency to think until the end of time when he gets immersed. He could not help but ask in a deep voice. 

“So what’s going on?” 

He was not so patient when it comes to the safety of the young man beside him. 

Li Charlie jolted awake then asked Xia Nuo again. “Then how did you recover your health afterwards? You should be fine now except for your blindness, right?” 

He smiled at Kan Chen briefly and explained, “As long as I understand this problem, everything will be solved.”

“Uhm,” Xia Nuo clasped his hands and played with his fingers, feeling uneasy. After hesitating for a long time, he answered. “I can’t tell you…” 

He didn’t want to lie and say that he didn’t know but he couldn’t tell the truth. When he signed the contract with the system, it had harshly warned him to not tell others about the game world and the existence of the system, not even to other players, let alone the NPCs in the game. 

“Oh? Why can’t you tell us?” Li Charlie asked. 

He didn’t see the troubled expression of the young man, or rather, he had never been one to look at other’s expressions. Even when the little puppet tugged the hem of his clothes, he still felt confused. 

“Xiao Yi, what’s the matter? 

The little puppet stomped his foot and shouted, “You’d better shut up!” 

There wasn’t a single word that came out of his mouth that didn’t make people angry. 

“If you can’t say it then don’t.”

Kan Chen stroked the young man’s head soothingly and gave Li Charlie a threatening glance in passing. His voice was very gentle, but his eyes were very intimidating, which contained the same implication as what the puppet, Xiao Yi, said. 

But you’re obviously curious as well! 

Li Charlie thought so but shut up in resignation. 

Kan Chen did really want to know. 

He knew from the start that the young man had many secrets. When he was told that there was a monster in the manor, he didn’t look surprised, nor did he get to the bottom of it as if he knew what was going on. 

Also, his eyes. He didn’t look like someone who has been blind for a long time, more like he suddenly was. Frightened, afraid and bewildered of the dark world. 

But what worried him the most was that this young man was not afraid of exposing these secrets to him. Where did this trust of him come from? Was it really just because he held out his hand to him in the banquet hall? 

His instincts told him that it wasn’t the case.

Kan Chen was not stupid. From how he had acted so far, he had easily deduced that the young man made a mistake.

He guessed that this boy probably should have come to the manor with another person and knew each other’s existence, but did not personally know each other. That would explain why he recognized the wrong person and wasn’t surprised when his name was asked

They probably agreed to meet in the banquet hall because the boy could not see, so it should be the other person who should take the initiative for contact but then midway, he appeared and took his hand, then he was mistaken as his companion. 

Kan Chen’s eyes felt heavy. 

Although he knew he was the one who came, he realized that if he didn’t appear, this young man would now be beside another man, holding his hand and snuggling up to that man’s arms. 

The man’s fingers crackled, a murderous impulse suddenly rose in his heart. 

At first he only saw the young man as a cute little pet, just wanting to keep him close and tease him in his spare time, but now his thoughts had completely changed. 

Somewhere along the line, the young man had come to mean something to him. Was it perhaps when he said with confidence that he would protect him? Or when he showed an imploring expression while asking him to go with him even though he felt afraid? Or maybe when he kissed him on the cheek and smiled happily because he received flowers? 

Kan Chen felt that he could probably find ten thousand reasons to explain why his thoughts changed. 

These changes took place imperceptibly, like a trickle of water which looked inconspicuous on their own, until the boy was hurt and he realized that they had converged into a vast river that could no longer be ignored.