Chapter 34: Presence

Xia Nuo hesitated a little.

The man saw his hesitation and whispered, “Don’t be afraid. I’m not a bad guy.”

Xia Nuo: “…”

Well, real bad guys never admit they’re bad, right?

“I’m Kan Lan’er, the son of the Nasuru village chief,” the man introduced himself. There was a sudden pause when he mentioned the village chief.

However, Xia Nuo didn’t notice that. Hearing his introduction, his first reaction was: “You’re the shadow I saw this evening?”

He remembered the penetrating gaze he had sensed that time. How could he associate that to this pale, thin man?

“Did it scare you?” The man asked softly, looking innocent.

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Dky Lws pbssj bkp blye, “Kwpv qlzv y ckv pwarakple. Ebu eke usw pvyal yv xl zkjl vbyv?”

Tl pvkzz nswze qllz tssplcwxrp yp bl vbswtbv sq vbyv cwadkdt tygl.

“R oyp ynvwyzzu zssjkdt yv vbl pvyqq usw olal bszekdt.”

“Mbl pvyqq?”

Mbl xyd zssjle esod yp bkp hsknl vaykzle sqq, “Rq vblal bye clld ds ynnkeldv, R oswze byhl clnsxl y Vaklpv sq Nktbv zkjl usw. Yu plakswp kzzdlpp awkdle lhlauvbkdt.”

“…”

Lsv pwal oblvbla kv oyp fwpv bkp kzzwpksd sa dsv, cwv Dky Lws nswze pldpl vbyv vbl xyd’p cseu oyp nsdhlukdt y xlppytl sq ‘R’x ps pye yde rkvkqwz, R cyezu dlle y bwt‘.

Ebyv’p osapl oyp vbyv Dky Lws qswde bkxplzq ynvwyzzu tkhkdt kd vs vbyv xlppytl.

Is this a new way of hypnotizing?

Xia Nuo snapped himself out of the daze by stopping his almost outstretched arm.

The man continued to say, “That’s why when I saw you, I couldn’t control my emotions.”

His blue eyes looked at the young man without blinking, “Can you forgive me?”

“I… I’m not even mad at you, anyway.” Xia Nuo struggled to find his voice and comforted him. “You shouldn’t be too sad. You’ll have plenty of opportunities later if you really want to become a priest of Light.”

Xia Nuo had no idea what was needed to become a priest of Light.

But when he left the temple, he saw that the old man, the one who had the position of a cardinal, casually registered his name in the induction book after receiving a bag of gold coins.

So it seemed that the cost to become a priest of light was not that high.

He said, “If you’re interested in my staff, I can show it to you.”

With that, he had to go back to his room to get the staff that he had nonchalantly thrown in his room.

The man stared deeply at the back of the young man, the corner of his lips rising slightly.

The young man’s guess was half right. Indeed, the man was interested in something. However, he didn’t care about the staff but the owner.

Before the young man could open the door, he stopped him and said, “Forget it.”

Xia Nuo looked back, looking confused and heard the man say, “I can look at the staff tomorrow. Aren’t you hungry?”

He didn’t admit that he was hungry, but as soon as he was reminded that he was, his neglected stomach protested once again. Xia Nuo sheepishly covered his stomach and saw the man laugh.

“I’ll take you to the kitchen.”

Xia Nuo looked up and saw his deep set of eyes, making him freeze.

The feeling the man gave was hard to describe. He was like an unknown roadside plant. Though all know of its existence, it didn’t attract much attention.

However, as soon as he laughed, his presence suddenly became strong. This originally mediocre plant suddenly bloomed into a beautiful flower, moving with a dazzling sense of beauty.

When Xia Nuo regained his calm, he realized that the man was looking at him questioningly, “What’s wrong? Something on my face?”

“N-nope.” Xia Nuo’s face turned red little by little. He could only be relieved that it was a bit dim. The man shouldn’t have seen his face, right?

However, not only did the man see it, he actually saw it clearly. He quietly stared at the young man in front of him, from his evasive eyes to his red-stained cheeks. The look on his face had a certain meaning.

Xia Nuo didn’t notice this. He was not in the mood to pay attention to the expression on the man’s face. He wanted to get rid of this current awkward situation as soon as possible.

“Let’s go.” 

Xia Nuo took the first step and walked ahead of the man even though he didn’t know the way.

“It’s this way,” The man didn’t stop him.

When Xia Nuo was about to turn in the wrong direction, the man went forward and took his hand.

Xia Nuo: “!!!”

The heat that had just gone down had a tendency to rise back.

The man’s hand was cold, probably because of his illness. At their first contact, Xia Nuo almost thought that he had touched a piece of ice and almost shook it off.

However, the man was kind enough to show him the way. It wouldn’t be good to react that way, right?

Xia Nuo suppressed the impulse to shake it off. He didn’t expect that the man would still hold his hand and seemed like he had no intention of letting it go.

He couldn’t help but look at the man who now seemed to be in a good mood. He hesitantly reminded him, “Your hand…”

The two hands were clasped together, and Xia Nuo could feel his palm heating up, due to all the heat of his body concentrating there. The hotter his hands were, the colder the hands of the man became.

“What’s wrong?” The man didn’t seem to understand Xia Nuo’s meaning. He even grasped his hand more tightly.

The young man’s hands were long and slender, his palm was small and soft. The man wrapped his hand in his palm and let out a contented sigh.

“Luckily holding your hand, I finally feel less cold.”

What does that mean? Xia Nuo became confused.

It was spring time now in Narusu. The temperature was neither high nor low at night. The clothes of the people weren’t that thin, and it wasn’t so cold either.

But the man’s hand was really cold. Even a stupid person would know that such a temperature was not normal.

As if sensing his confusion, the man explained, “This is actually the aftereffect of my illness. Before I could recover, I would feel very cold.”

Xia Nuo recalled that Zhuo’er said that the man had gotten a serious illness a few years ago and hadn’t completely recovered even until now.

The man’s pale complexion, pale lips and thin body had already confirmed this point.

He remembered his own experience in the real world and a feeling of compassion for having experienced the same thing arose in his heart. Unfortunately, he was inside a game world, and he was kind of healthy.

Because of this, he couldn’t help but want to do something for the man.

Xia Nuo thought for a moment then cast an intermediate level healing spell. A white glow lit up in the darkness, outlining the young man’s solemn expression.

Because he didn’t have his staff by him, he couldn’t cast a higher level spell. Watching the tiny spots of light blend into the man’s body, Xia Nuo asked eagerly.

“How do you feel? Better?”

This was the first he had used such a skill. Would it work?

The man did feel a burst of warmth enveloping his body. The desire in his body to devour something was suppressed, and something inside of him started to heal for a while.

Xia Nuo breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the man relaxing a bit.

However, though it was effective, it didn’t cure the root cause of the man’s illness.

The healing energy only stayed in the man’s body for a short moment and soon flowed out as quickly as it came.

Since obtaining an injury, the man’s body had become a bottomless pit, craving endlessly for energy. Yet no matter how much it absorbed, less than a tenth of it could only remain inside.

Still, he replied, looking at the young man’s expectant eyes. “I feel much better, thanks.”

Xia Nuo smiled, his eyes sparkling. Hearing the man’s reply, he felt that all the hard work he had done during practice was worth it.

Back when he was still lying in bed at the hospital, he had imagined that one day a powerful doctor would be able to cure him. Now that role had reversed, he could heal others.

The experience was so novel, giving Xia Nuo a sense of satisfaction he’d never felt before. He began to seriously consider whether he should become a doctor in the real world when he recovered.

However, Xia Nuo was unsure if he really cured the man.

The man’s hand was still cold, and there was no obvious change in his face. His illness was unperceivable, only the effects could be seen visually.

Xia Nuo was thinking hard and didn’t expect the man to stop all of a sudden.

What’s wrong? Have we arrived?

Xia Nuo looked past the man’s line of sight and saw two familiar figures standing not far away.

“Shi Xue Li?” He called out.

Why is she here?

Hearing his voice, the two figures quickly turned around.

“Chang An? What are you doing here?” Shi Xue Li was also surprised.

An awkward expression appeared on his face, the same for Ka’er, who was standing beside her.

Xia Nuo vaguely sensed something was up with the posture of the two…

Though he didn’t voice out his thoughts. “I woke up hungry in the middle of the  night, so I came out to look for something to eat. You too?”