Chapter 52 Soul and Sandalwood (16)

Liu Fuyi settled Mu Yao down by the Phoenix Tree. Her body was covered by his clothes and her eyes tightly shut.

At the side, the flames of the newly stoked fire warmly lit up Liu Fuyi’s face. His hand softly caressed her as she slept deeply. Then, he lifted his face full of worries.

The Demon Suppressing talisman on the tree that was supposed to be protecting Princess Duanyang was completely gone. In addition, there was a missing Ling Miaomiao.

In the past few days, they had only been depending on the small amount of rations they had on themselves along with water from the creek within the illusion to survive. In this kind of situation, losing contact with one’s teammates was exceedingly dangerous. If they didn’t find them in time, some unthinkably bad things may happen.

He rose up, and looked around the area, taking great care to make sure to always be within sight of Mu Yao. Under a large copse of grass, he found the sleeping Princess Duanyang hugging her knees.

”Your highness….” He lightly touched Duanyang’s shoulder but she acted as if a ghost had popped up in front of her face, about to scramble away until she clearly noticed his face and managed to calm herself down. Her face was full of grievance and fright as she rushed into his chest, crying in a loud voice, “Big Brother Liu, you finally came back…”

*

Mu Sheng rushed back along the path. Upon nearing the Phoenix Tree, he slowed down and then turned to enter the thick forest.

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Pked’v bl vlzz bla vs oykv blal?

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“Fkp?”

Mu Yao laid by the fire, frost condensed on her eyebrows and her breathing uneven. He crouched beside her and looked over her sleeping person. As if someone placed a cold hand onto his forehead, he immediately felt his heart calm.

However, that only lasted a moment before his heart once again became anxious.

His gaze circled around but he didn’t see that familiar figure.

The current agitation he felt immediately turned into an uncontrollable evil fire within his chest. In a few steps, he rushed over to Liu Fuyi’s side and pulled him away, staring him in the eye. Then, he turned around to face Princess Duanyang, whose face was like raindrops on a pear blossom.¹ [1] This means tear-filled face of a beauty His tone was freezing, “Young Noble Liu, this is not the time to be playing around with girls.”

Liu Fuyi scrunched up his brows, “Ah Sheng, you’ve misunderstood, I…”

He paused because he noticed Mu Sheng squinting at him with an exceptionally strange expression in his eyes. There was enmity and fury in them. “Why did you hurt Ling Miaomiao?”

“Miaomiao? You saw her?” Liu Fuyi was startled for a good while before picking apart the meaning within his accusation. His face turned shocked, “You said I…”

Mu Sheng motionlessly stared at him, his face full of suppressed emotions as his lips trembled, “Doesn’t that dagger belong to you?”

Liu Fuyi looked at him and thought for a long time before realizing which ‘dagger’ he was referring to. Thinking about it some more, he remembered that while he had been saving people, he had handed the dagger over to Princess Duanyang and never took it back.

He subconsciously turned his head to look at Duanyang, just in time to see her frenetic expression.

”…” Mu Sheng followed Liu Fuyi’s gaze and turned his head to look at her. His gaze made her feel like a wintry storm covered her, making her shudder nonstop. She couldn’t help but take a few steps backward.

Mu Sheng’s gaze turned black and dangerous. The princess of the imperial family was used to being overbearing and haughty. Whatever she wanted, she would get. Since Ling Miaomaio and her liked the same person, and if it wasn’t because Mu Yao had her skills to protect her, she would naturally go and bully and humiliate…

“You stabbed her?”

“I… I didn’t mean to…” She was anxious and her words came out incoherent.

Liu Fuyi watched the two of them, one of them whose eyes looked like they were about to shoot out blade lights while the other looked so terrified their face was terribly pale. He turned anxious and asked, “What in the world is going on? What happened to Miaomiao?”

Duanyang trembled in fear and her legs grew weak. She didn’t dare look directly into Mu Sheng’s dark eyes so she could only look at Liu Fuyi. Her voice was full of remorse, “I… I, we were just playing around, I didn’t mean to injure her either. I just wanted to scare her but who would’ve thought that she would charge over and just….”

Liu Fuyi felt a breeze flit past his cheeks and before he could even react, Mu Sheng had already reached out with his hand and mercilessly clenched it around Duanyang’s neck. He clutched her in his hand at such a fast speed that they flew forward and Duanyang’s back fiercely knocked into the trunk of a tree. His limpid eyes didn’t contain the slightest ripple as they stared at her, “Where is she?”

Duanyang’s eyes widened and her face immediately turned red from the blood rushing to her head, she opened her mouth yet no sound came out.

Only then did Liu Fuyi regain his wits and realize that Mu Sheng had truly, sincerely made a move. If he didn’t do anything to stop him, this youth might cause Duanyang to die any moment.

“Ah Sheng!” He nearly instantaneously rushed over to pull him away as he shouted in an unrefined manner, “Have you gone mad?!”

His whole body was covered in cold sweat.

This younger brother of Mu Yao had always only been obedient in front of his sister. He knew he treated others coldly and he also knew that he had quite the temper, he couldn’t be riled up. However he never could’ve imagined that he could go overboard like this. Things happened too quickly, too abruptly. Up till the current moment, he still felt like everything wasn’t real, as if he was in a dream.

Duanyang sat paralyzed on the ground, shaking while curled into a ball. She was in shock, still grasping onto her neck as she coughed. Her eyes were unfocused and dull.

Her entire life, she had lived like a princess. Not to speak of being choked by the throat, nobody had even dared to speak loudly towards her. They would’ve been dragged away to be beaten to death by a rod. Even those terrifying nightmares weren’t like what happened just now at all, letting her feel as if she was about to die.

Mu Sheng flicked away Liu Fuyi’s hand. He acted as if he was trying his best to control himself as he stared coldly at him, “Why are you stopping me? I was questioning her.”

Liu Fuyi finally felt as if he had to take Mu Yao’s position and teach her younger brother a lesson. He nearly glared at him as he scolded in a low voice, “Is that how you question someone?!”

“Young Noble Liu—–” Mu Sheng looked at him and sneered. His face was full of mocking and there wasn’t a single thread of self-reproach reflected in his eyes. He turned around to criticize Liu Fuyi himself, “You and Ling Miaomiao were inseparable at first but now even her shadow can’t even be seen. Yet, you come here to bother me about how I question others?”

Mu Sheng had already turned around and crouched down. He coldly stared down the trembling Princess Duanyang and his lips curled up into a sneer: “Where’s Ling Miaomiao?”

Beads of Duanyang’s tears flowed down her face and her lashes trembled hard. She tried her best to control her uncontrollable sobbing: “By… by that patch of grass, I… I met a demon… it… it was originally calling out for me… but… but I didn’t think that she… she would take my place… take my place and go with them, sitting on a bright red palanquin heading… heading that way.”

Another palanquin! Liu Fuyi was immediately shocked, and great concern immediately flooded his heart.

As Mu Sheng listened to her, the pitch dark irises spun and the image of a young girl with a pale face surfaced in his mind. Her figure hobbled and stumbled as she walked, sweat covered her body and wetted her eyebrows.

…She must’ve thought herself oh so clever.

After losing so much blood, after being probably stabbed quite deeply, after having lost the ability to walk, let alone having the strength to run away from Tao Ying. With her current situation, she still dared to overestimate her abilities and take her place???

She knew her life was safe, but what about everything other than her life?

His lashes scrunched up and his figure faded as he rushed out at a rapid speed. His dark clothes made him look like a rapidly moving tornado as he whizzed through the air.

He suddenly sensed that Liu Fuyi was chasing up to him and fury filled his eyes. He directly casted an Exploding Sparks blasting behind him with ruthlessness as he roared, “You better go back and watch over my sister! If anything were to happen to her, I’ll be coming to question you!”

The Exploding Spark nearly hit Liu Fuyi right in the face as he was caught off guard. He could only take a few steps back to dodge it and wait for it to dissipate. By then, Mu Sheng had already long disappeared.

He was absolutely stupefied as he stood still, thinking in his heart that Ah Sheng had absolutely gone mad that night.

*

“Wait! Just wait a moment!” Ling Miaomiao exerted all her strength as she struggled to stay further away from the coal-black figure. A layer of fine sweat coated her back, “This princess… this princess has only- only just met this Holy Child! Can’t you guys let us first familiarize oursel—-”

She even doubted whether or not the pitiful Holy Child could even bear her weight. She wondered if the body would turn into drifting ash the moment she touched it.

But it was still a human’s flesh, bones and tendons… it wasn’t just carbon… was what she was thinking. The stench of char grew increasingly strong in her nose and her stomach immediately started to churn. She felt dizzy and barely managed to stop herself from puking all over the corpse.

“We haven’t heard anything from Master Tao Ying, could something have happened?” One of the small demons fervently asked, “He said that he would come over to witness the ceremony.”

The old man’s face suddenly turned gloomy as he turned to stare at Ling Miaomiao, who was still struggling as if her life depended on it. His tone was cold yet sorrowful, “Why aren’t you hurrying?”

“Goddess, forgive me.” The small demon lightly laughed beside her ear and suddenly pressed down hard on the handle of the dagger stabbed deep into her thigh.

”Argh—–” A burst of violent pain suddenly coursing through her made her knees weak, landing them right on both sides of the charred corpse. She was in so much pain she arched her back.

Was the pain reduction mode a joke or something?! Why did it still hurt so much… or maybe that is to say, if she hadn’t opened the pain reduction mode then she would’ve been knocked out by the pain long ago?

In her daze, someone pressed down on her head and the charred face grew closer and closer to her, staring coldly at her. Other than the odor of burnt human blasting her in the face, an incomprehensible stench of rot also filled the air.

”Nooooooooo……..” Miaomiao clenched her teeth as she tried to raise her head, roaring in her heart: System! System! Hurry and turn on the Protective Blue Flame!!!

Nothing happened. She already felt the sweat dripping down her earlobe, the cold tactile sensation causing goosebumps to rise. The small demons surrounding her were all cheering her on high spirits. Their confusing shouts congregated and made her feel as if she weren’t here to consummate some holy marriage but rather as if she was in some sports event.

…Brats, you need to be disciplined properly…

“Rip—-” Suddenly her back felt cold and a great hole was ripped on her clothes. Through the hole and past the revealing innerwear, the gleaming skin on her back became exposed to the air, provoking the shouts and cheers to suddenly rise to a whole nother level.

“Rip—–” And another piece was gone….

Ling Miaomiao was stupefied because she didn’t remember this kind of clothes ripping plot happening to Mu Yao….

Why did she have to experience this kind of plot as well!??!?!?!?!

*

A sudden, sharp screech filled her ears.

The winter cold of the north blew through the aluminum alloy window like a horde of knives as they squeezed through all the small nooks and crannies. Only such a situation could cause this kind of noise.

The sound made Ling Miaomiao feel as if she suffered from tinnitus, making her scrunch up her brows, no longer able to resist.

The lively cheering suddenly grew by a few octaves, almost as if they had turned into screams. Screams that streamed right into her ears and caused her another period of tinnitus and nearly passing out… She felt the shackles that tightly grasped onto her, loosen and she subconsciously rolled to the side, hurriedly getting as far away from the ‘Holy Child’s body as she could, even stepping on it a few times in her anxiety.

The ‘Holy Child’ was sturdier than she originally imagined. It didn’t shatter into ash and she only caused it to twist and deform when she stepped on it. It returned to its original form and continued to stare at her coldly.

Mommy! The scene was terrifying to her and she closed her eyes, once again rolling to the side. This time, she managed to press down on something warm. Once that thing lifted up, she was also lifted up into the air.

It seemed to be someone’s arms and they unintentionally directly touched her smooth belly through the holes in her clothes. Immediately, goosebumps raised all over her body and she started to scream while kicking her legs, “Le- let me go! Let me go!!”

She made the person holding her sway back and forth, nearly losing control. They could only crouch down and drop her back down on the ground, “Stop shouting, shut up!”

The voice was exceptionally clear, echoing through the entire hall.

Only then did she come to her senses and realize that her ears no longer heard anything. It had become peaceful again. It was almost as if the little demon’s wild shouting and clamoring had only just been a nightmare. And right at this moment, was the quiet moment that followed after waking up from the dream.

She raised her head and met with a familiar pair of dark irises.

Footnotes:

[1] This means tear-filled face of a beauty

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TLN: Fufufufufufufu…… Mu Sheng to the rescue… let’s see if Ling Blockhead Miao notices anything. I don’t want to spoil anything but the next few chapters are just doused in honey. Oh boy. Enjoy 🙂