Volume 1

30 Nie Zun Makes a Move

"Hey, hey. Have you guys ever heard of a place like this existing in the Split Zone?" My body had nearly finished healing, though some residual pain remained. I couldn't stand up, so I sat on the ground and watched Nie Zun and Jie Pa.

Jie Pa head already healed quite a bit, and Nie Zun was currently gathering up all the bottles and jars that had fallen out of Jie Pa's bag. Jie Pa tousled his hair and then tried to tidy his suit. "I've never heard of any such thing. Is this a trap? Why would Mr Ku Fei want to harm us?"

I couldn't help rolling my eyes at Jie Pa, in his gentleman's outfit, calling the lively and youthful Ku Fei 'Mr Ku Fei.'

Picking up the things on the ground, Nie Zun spoke lazily, "He didn't seem quite right, like someone had put a spell on him." As he said that, a girlish laugh sounded from a dark corner.

Her laugh was clear and pleasant, like a silver bell ringing. But in this situation, while we were surrounded with puddles of blood, the laugh didn't sound so cute anymore. From the dark corner, a young girl walked out. Dressed in a pink dress, she had elfish ears and rosy cheeks.

It was that unruly girl, Mi Fu.

I suddenly had a headache.

Mi Fu fluttered her eyes at me, a pink whip clutched in her hands. "Jiejie, you fell down so carelessly. I'll have to punish you." She must have been waiting awhile, for she couldn't seem to wait any longer. She laughed out loud and then flicked her pink whip at me.

Because I was still in pain, I wasn't fast enough to avoid her attack. As I reached for Piercer, Mi Fu's pink whip came flying right in front of my face. Crap, I thought to myself. Jie Pa had said that the substance on her whip caused a lot of pain. It wouldn't be an attack that was easy to cope with, but since the attack was already here, I closed my eyes and waited for the pain to hit.

One second. Two seconds. But no pain came.

I opened my eyes, and there was nothing in front of me but darkness. I lifted my hands up and rubbed my eyes. Then I took another look.

Nie Zun stood in front of me. Since his back faced me, I'd seen the black of his coat. I quickly stepped to the side to see what had happened.

Nie Zun had grabbed onto the pink whip with his black-gloved right hand. His other hand was stuffed in his coat pocket. Mi Fu pulled back on her weapon, but she was unable to pull the whip out from Nie Zun's hand.

I put my strength into my legs, and then I took a step forward. When I turned my head, I happened to catch a glimpse of Nie Zun's eyes. They left me stunned. His eyes seemed to have lost their carefree quality. His pupils didn't simply reflect the light; instead, they flickered with power. An indescribable kind of power, seeming to carry the ability to see through all things, emanated from his eyes.

A chill ran down my body. Nie Zun's eyes were suddenly overflowing with force!

I saw Nie Zun's yank his arm back. Mi Fu didn't release her whip, so it, along with her, fell forward. Mi Fu staggered, and then her pink-clothed body fell toward us.

While I stood at the side, dumbfounded, Mi Fu had already been dragged right up to Nie Zun's face. Suddenly, he reached his hand out from his pocket and flung it toward me. His left glove floated over to me. I subconsciously grabbed for it with my hands, looking quite the fool, like someone scrambling to catch two buns that were tossed to them from afar.

Nie Zun's now-bare left hand was pale with slender fingers, no lively tinge of color to be seen. Aside from being too pale, his hand was the most beautiful one I'd ever seen.

Still in a bit of a trance, I saw the fingers of his bare hand wrap around Mi Fu's neck. A cold light, that I'd never seen before, colored Nie Zun's eyes. No, they weren't just cold; they lusted for blood, as if her blood were an offering to him.

Like a reaper who'd dropped from the sky, a deathly aura emanated from his entire body. His left hand appeared very clearly, rough but delicate. And at that moment, that perfect hand was firmly and brutally clutching at Mi Fu's neck. Mi Fu wasn't tall. Rather, she was petite and dainty. When Nie Zun lifted her up with just one hand, her expression started to change.

Her eyes widened and her pupils started to dilate. They were filled with horror and deep pain. Her cute, rosy red cheeks were replaced by the bright red color of someone out of breath, someone being choked. Her face twisted into an ugly picture as she shook with fear. She no longer looked like a pretty, young girl.

It seemed like she'd seen the most terrifying thing in the world. And because of that, she shook and shook and shook.

Nie Zun's eyes shined with a hair-raising demonic gleam. His actions, plus the faint smile hanging on his lips gave me the feeling that he enjoyed the act of killing. I'd never seen Nie Zun that way before. For some reason, a heavy anxiety and panic streamed into my chest. It was as if Nie Zun hadn't only attacked Mi Fu, but also me.

I extended my arm to stop Nie Zun, and that's when I realized that my arm was shaking.

I stood there, at a loss for what to do. Fortunately, Jie Pa seemed to have fully recovered, and he quickly appeared in front of me, grabbing hold of the arm Nie Zun was using to strangle Mi Fu.

Jie Pa remained entirely calm throughout. He looked at Nie Zun and added a small amount of force to his grip. "Nie Zun, enough. Let go of her. It's not worth it."

My words were finally able to escape my throat. "Nie Zun... I'm fine. Let go ot her. She's still a kid."

As if finally having heard Jie Pa and me, Nie Zun's demonic, murderous expression finally eased up. He gently placed Mi Fu back on the ground.

When he released her neck, Mi Fu fell to the ground. She wrapped her own hands around her neck, coughing. She was no longer a cute, little girl, but rather, she looked like a child who'd been abused. Lying on the ground, gasping for air, her body trembled weakly, and her panic-stricken eyes darted back and forth.

Nie Zun's right hand naturally returned to his jacket pocket, and then he turned around and walked over to me. He looked at me, his eyes indifferent and carefree once again. Then he reached out his left hand to me.

I lowered my head and looked at his hand, pale as a girl's and yet sharp and angular. And then I noticed the ring on his little finger.

I looked down and lifted my arm up. I helped him put on the glove that I held in my hands.

Suddenly, something dropped down from above us. I'd just put Nie Zun's glove on his hand, so I subconsciously grabbed his hand and pulled him over to the side to move out of the way. A sudden gust of wind passed by, and a white figure appeared.

A white suit, chestnut hair, and exquisite amber eyes. The illusionist, Huan Qing.

When he landed, he looked at the shivering Mi Fu sprawled on the ground. His eyes hardened and he quickly went to help her up. Mi Fu's eyes still quivered violently, and there seemed to be tears in her eyes. "Huan Qing gege."

Huan Qing's brows knit together as he looked around at everyone. His eyes were cold as ice. "Mi Fu is still young. She was simply playing a joke on you, but you dared to respond with such a heavy hand. Aren't you looking down on the Southern District too much?"

When I heard those words, I couldn't remain calm any longer. I pushed aside Nie Zun's hand and walked forward. My blood-red hair was tossed behind me.

I looked at him coldly. "She set up a trap for us to all fall into this pit. And you're calling that a joke? Who's looking down on who right now? I came as a district commader, to meet with another district commander. But your commander has yet to reveal himself, and his subordinates have repeatedly attacked and humiliated us. I don't care who you are. If you don't give me an explanation today, the Eastern and Western Districts won't be able to exist peacefully with the Southern District!"

It must have been all these days of alarming and dubious events. Coupled with the anxiety from still being unable to find Laurel, my patience had truly reached its limit. And so, I blabbered out some irresponsible words.

"She's right. If you continue on bullying us so, I'm afraid that neither the Eastern nor Western Districts will take it lying down." Jiao S' rough voice sounded from above. Then she and Guan Nie floated down.

Guan Nie's white hair swayed at his slender waist. He walked over to join us, a filthy smile on his face. "Aiyayaya, this pit is very deep. Even with mental force, one might nearly break his bones. You must have gotten very hurt, my poor, precious darlings."

Ignoring him, I kept my eyes on Huan Qing.

After a quick look around, Huan Qing's eyes locked onto him. "Li Shen, I was unware of tonight's events. I set a spell onto Ku Fei, such that, at night, he listens to Mi Fu's words. Today's incident must have come about when Mi Fu ordered Ku Fei to play a practical joke. I only found out about this when Jiao S came to me, and I rushed over. Mi Fu carries no ill-will, so I hope that you will not take tonight's ordeal to heart."

I didn't respond, but Jiao S spoke up, "We can forget about what happened tonight, but please, take us to see your district commander. There have been some occurrences in our districts recently, and we must speak with him."

Huan Qing's lips curved slightly into a contemptuous smile. "Jiao S, I can believe that Li Shen is here to see the commander for business, but you... Aren't you simply using that as an excuse?"

Jiao S' eyes hardened. "What kind of crap are you spewing out? Just tell us whether you'll take us to see him."

Huan Qing looked at her a few more seconds, a profound look on his face, and then he looked down and said, "It's not that I'm refusing to help you. Jiao S, it's not the first time we're meeting, and you should know that I don't lie. I don't know where the commander currently is. It's been about three months since I've seen him."

Jiao S frowned. "Even you don't know where he is? Could it really be that..."

Huan Qing looked at her and slowly nodded.