Chapter 72 Chapter 72 Let them listen.
Although her teammates thought she didn't need to put too much thought into it, Su Cheng still wanted to make more preparations.
So she asked Camus if he had any spare blood other than Vanessa's, so that he could give her a new face so that she could go out shopping.
The blood mage agreed to her request and changed her face into an ordinary young one with brown hair and blue eyes, so that she could not be found in a crowd.
Su Cheng changed his clothes and went straight to the bookstore in Dongcheng District. It was located on the edge of the commercial street, and further out was the wealthy residential area with houses everywhere.
Because they are all villas and lofts, not as densely packed as apartments, the surrounding area is quite quiet, with occasional horse-drawn carriages passing by on the bluestone-paved road.
This street exudes an ancient atmosphere. The buildings are all made of gray-white rocks. The steps in front of the arched stone door are smooth. Several young people in robes came out from inside, talking and laughing.
Su Cheng heard them talking about things at school, and after listening to just two sentences he realized that they were people from Nanhe College.
This group of people didn't pay any attention to her, thinking she was just an ordinary wizard passing by, so they didn't have any reservations in their conversation.
"...I didn't even know he was engaged."
"It's all the same now. It's all resolved anyway."
"Pfft, that's not all, but now he has offended the God-favored One—"
"Is he really a person favored by God?"
"Yes, absolutely. She has connections with the Vatican. I heard she's very familiar with the Archbishop. His Excellency Johnson personally brought her into the temple..."
"If that's the case, then they probably don't think highly of him. Murong Yue is indeed quite powerful, but he's nothing compared to the bigwigs of the Holy See."
A young man curled his lips and said, "He's always in that state. In terms of rank, he's not even as good as the one from Cross Star Academy. Yin Ning is about the same age as him, right? Almost at the seventh rank."
Murong Yue is arrogant. Some people around him admire him, but naturally there are also people who dislike him. Although he is of noble birth, he has many aristocratic classmates around him.
"Pfft, there are already many masters in the Cross Star. Don't you know, the one he was engaged to before went to the Cross Star, didn't she? She is definitely a genius..."
"Why didn't she break off the engagement with Murong Yue earlier?"
"I heard that they are the favored ones of His Majesty the God of Law. They don't recognize any marriage contracts at all because such agreements have no legal effect. Citizens of our empire have freedom of marriage, and parents have no right to interfere. In their eyes, marriage contracts made by parents are nothing but a joke. It's just that Murong Yue is afraid of his father..."
Several young magicians burst into laughter.
"By the way, how did Elder Li die? Didn't the school always say that he had problems with his cultivation, but he didn't seem to be advancing, did he?"
"...The school can't possibly tell you he died from blasphemy, right?"
"Don't tell me. Although I don't know what happened, let me be frank. With his personality, he probably deserved it—"
"It's what he deserves. My sister said before that Li only taught Murong Yue in the training class and was never nice to other people. I almost wanted to ask him for an explanation. What happened? Did someone pay less tuition?"
The distance between the two sides gradually widened, and Su Cheng could no longer hear what they were saying. She walked into the hall where magic crystal lamps were suspended and plunged into the ocean of books.
The air was filled with the scent of aloes, mixed with the scent of parchment and ink.
You can also hear a very faint low-frequency hum.
It was a subtle energy field formed by a large number of magical items and magic arrays.
The bookstore hall is extremely spacious, with a towering dome that seems to have no end in sight, and runes engraved on the obsidian pillars.
Countless bookshelves form a maze, separating many private reading spaces, and platforms of various sizes extend along the spiral staircase.
The labels above the bookshelves were in not only Common, but also Elvish, Ancient Human, and some strange hieroglyphics.
Different areas cover different fields, ranging from basic elemental spells to various profound and obscure magics.
There are quite a few customers in the bookstore, most of whom are hidden behind the bookshelves or sitting in the corner by the window reading.
Su Cheng walked around for a while, took out a few books, flipped through them, and found that he really couldn't understand them, so he put them back.
After a while, she finally found a book called "Secret and Dangerous Spells: Elemental Magic".
The gold-stamped font on this book is very beautiful, exactly the same as the author's signature, and it looks like it was written by the author himself.
The author did not leave his name, only signed with the surname Hammerfeld, which looks like a blacksmith.
Su Cheng was originally just thinking about trying his best to get good at role-playing - people like Vanessa would most likely be interested in this kind of book, so it would be helpful to read it himself to get an idea.
Unexpectedly, after opening the book, I was immediately attracted.
The Magic Guild does supervise books on forbidden spells, but they do not send people to patrol bookstores every day, and these stores are not subject to strict inspections when purchasing goods.
Anyone who can open a store in the commercial street of the imperial capital must have extremely powerful forces behind him, most of whom are royal relatives and nobles.
Su Cheng found more than one book related to forbidden spells in the bookstore, but most of them were written in obscure and difficult to understand manner, filled with various long professional terms.
This book is not like that. It is written in great detail, yet is very easy to understand. Anyone who has some knowledge of magic can easily understand it.
She was reading the thick magic book with fascination.
The above first discusses the various means by which elemental mages increase their magical power, then lists the reasons why some of them are considered taboos, and then provides relevant guidance on avoiding risks.
Before he knew it, it was already midnight. Su Cheng was so hungry that he felt dizzy and realized that he had been in the bookstore for most of the day.
She leaned against the bay window, the window beside her opened a crack, and the warm night breeze blew in, carrying with it the sweet milky aroma of a bakery a little distance away.
Su Cheng felt even hungrier.
Then the sweetness seemed even stronger.
A few seconds later, a very petite figure came out from behind the bookcase.
It was a cute white-haired child, no more than seven or eight years old, wearing a beige shirt, vest and shorts, with a bag of cakes in his arms.
He wasn't eating, but the sweetness of honey and jam still wafted through the oil paper.
Su Cheng heard the sound of hunger. The child obviously heard it too and turned to look over.
They looked at each other.
Su Cheng took a breath subconsciously.
——What a beautiful child!
His hair was fluffy, his skin was fair, his cheeks had a healthy red color, and his facial features were as delicate as if they were carved.
Beneath the layers of curled snow-white eyelashes are a pair of breathtakingly blue eyes.
It was a pure blue, like the lake water in the midsummer sunlight, rich and bright, with a hint of light.
The texture of the iris bloomed like cornflower petals, radiating fine blue rays outward, surrounding the vertically elongated black pupil in the middle.
Su Cheng suddenly felt something was wrong.
She raised her hand slightly, blocking the other person's eyes from a distance, leaving only the lower half of his face exposed. The more she looked, the more familiar he seemed.
"Sorry," Su Cheng put down his hand, "Have we met before? In Bailu Town? You were blindfolded at that time?"
The white-haired kid blinked, "I guess you're seeing my brother."
Su Cheng: “?”
Su Cheng was very shocked. "So you are his brother? You are the teacher? Your student is in trouble, you——"
"That's not really a problem," the child said softly. "The problem is walking down the wrong path but being unwavering in your faith. You can't be called back, and you won't accept any dissuasion. What you encounter is a storm that sweeps you away from the familiar path and throws you into an unfamiliar wilderness."
He paused. "He'll be confused, bewildered, perhaps even afraid, unsure of which direction to take. But this will also allow him to explore new worlds, whether it's looking inward to understand himself or establishing connections with others. This is a qualification. You have to understand that only deep lakes and oceans can reflect the full extent of a storm, while shallow depressions can only reflect a few ripples."
Su Cheng's heart moved, "You are right, some people will never have such troubles in their entire lives, and I believe your student will definitely be, well, a gentle, delicate and emotional person."
The child raised an eyebrow slightly. "Why do you think people would build a fortress with towering walls covered in iron spikes?"
Su Cheng: "To protect the things inside."
“Yes, behind that seemingly indestructible wall, there may be a newly blooming flower that is fragile, soft, and ready to wither at any moment.”
His gaze fell on the face of the girl in front of him, "So, don't let the wall block your view."
Su Cheng nodded slowly, "...Then how do you solve this flower's troubles?"
"I wouldn't call that solving the problem."
The child spoke slowly, "I just asked him to look at his reflection in the window glass. Before this, he had always wanted to see himself clearly through the eyes of others, from the songs of bards, and from the judgment of the world, but all he saw was a blurry, distorted, and dusty image. I said, look at yourself, confused and doubtful, full of hope and fear. What you see is no longer a question, but an answer, an answer that is troubling but extremely real. Accept yourself, no matter what it looks like."
Su Cheng listened in surprise, "Wait, you just said——"
Before she finished her words, she heard the rumbling sound of her stomach again.
The child tilted his head to look at her and raised the oil-paper bag in his hand. "Do you want something to eat?"
Su Cheng kept smelling the aroma of bread, which only made him feel hungrier. "Is it allowed to eat in the bookstore?"
She wasn't sure if this was like the Vatican Temple, where there was magic that could purify the air itself, so the clergy could eat whatever they wanted.
——But that’s because it’s to facilitate those people’s work and research, and this place looks more like it’s mainly for anti-theft and noise suppression.
The white-haired child remained noncommittal. "There's no rule prohibiting such behavior. If you're worried about affecting others, you can use a little magic to solve it. You're a wind type, right?"
Su Cheng didn't hide his emblem at the moment, so it wasn't surprising that he recognized it. "It is me, but I haven't learned this kind of magic... Wait, are there any spells below level three that can achieve the effect of dispelling smells or sending away debris?"
"Spells are all created," he smiled. "In the early stages of learning wind magic, the focus is on pushing and cutting because it's easier to get started. In fact, the essence of wind is also carrying and transmitting, like falling pollen, or like a sign of rain from afar. It is a brilliant messenger and a secret scavenger—"
The child handed her the paper bag and held out his other hand.
He is petite, with short fingers that have cute dimples on the knuckles, and his skin is very white, like kneaded dough.
The neatly trimmed nails are round and smooth, with a pink hue like shells.
"Ah?" Su Cheng opened his mouth, "What?"
"Don't worry," the child said patiently, "I won't do anything bad to you."
Su Cheng blinked, "You swear?"
"Of course," he said, opening his beautiful blue eyes, "I don't have much magic power, but I can help you guide it."
Two hands, one big and one small, clasped together.
Su Cheng carefully extended his hand, and the child gently held a few of his fingers.
A stream of air, invisible to the naked eye, suddenly surged between their skins that were touching.
"Don't command it, don't ask it, but sense its intention—"
Su Cheng released his mental power.
Among all the elemental elves, wind elves are the most unpredictable, their tracks are difficult to capture, and their actions are difficult to predict.
"Look," she heard the child continue, "they originally longed for freedom, so let them go, and take away those guests who don't belong here. Now adjust your magic power and strengthen your will..."
The wind spirits gathered around their hands, forming a steady and gentle vortex.
Su Cheng tentatively opened the oil-paper package.
The expected rich fragrance did not dissipate immediately, but was quickly picked up by the wind, like an invisible ribbon, floating lightly out of the window.
The crumbs from the almond pastry she bit into were also swept away.
She ate two desserts without leaving any trace.
Su Cheng opened his eyes wide in surprise, "Thank you!"
She returned the oil-paper bag, put down the book, and looked at the child seriously.
Su Cheng: "Master, are you still accepting disciples?"
The child shook his head slightly. "Knowledge shouldn't be bound by the distinction between teacher and apprentice. Truth won't enter your head just because you call me teacher, nor will it be denied to you just because you're a stranger. I will always answer your questions, my dear lady, and of course I'm willing to teach you how to find the answers—"
He glanced out the window. "But I think you might not need guidance. There's a lot to be gained from exploring."
Su Cheng hesitated to speak, "Are you leaving? Where else can I see you, or, um, your brother? You two are twins, right? I feel like I still owe him the ending of our story."
"I believe there is still such an opportunity."
He said seriously, because that cute face looked very well-behaved, "and there are still many stories that are not over yet."
The white-haired kid said this and went downstairs.
Su Cheng went to check out with the book, looking back every few steps until she could no longer see him.
"Ten silver coins."
The clerk behind the counter took the book, briefly examined it, and then asked, "This author has other works. Would you like to read them?"
Su Cheng: “?”
She looked down at the overly thick book in her hand and found that judging from the title, it was just a scroll of elemental magic.
Su Cheng: "What are the other works?"
"Wait a moment," the employee quickly brought back three more books for her, "There's also a volume on arcane magic, a volume on alien magic, and a volume on spiritual magic."
Su Cheng took a closer look and saw that they were all written by the same author. He was shocked. "Were they all written by the same person? Or is 'Hammerfield' the name of a certain organization? Are all of them the authors?"
"I don't know," the employee shrugged. "This book was published a long time ago and has been reprinted many times. Although the sales volume is not very high, it is still good compared to similar books..."
"Okay, how much is it in total?"
"You can get a 10% discount if you buy the whole set."
A minute later, Su Cheng went out with four huge ancient books in his arms. On the way, he passed by a shop and bought a bunch of roses.
Not long after she arrived at the hotel, the disguise on her face was over.
Kai and Sasha were both in the hall, the former was reading a book and the latter was sharpening a dagger. Under their subtle glances, Su Cheng stuffed the bouquet of bright red roses into Camus' arms.
The blood mage looked at her in astonishment.
Su Cheng: "I hope you are not angry about the flowers you asked for, because I still have something to discuss with you."
Camus: “…………”
Camus: “I didn’t ask for this.”
The other two, however, looked unconvinced.
They also gave me a look of understanding.
Camus: “…”
He dragged the girl next to him into the room and quickly closed the door the moment he stepped into the room.
Then he turned and looked at her, "What are you going to say?"
"It's like this," Su Cheng thought for a moment, "Tell me honestly, do I have some talent in blood magic? Don't ask anything else, just answer this question first!"
Those blue eyes with a cold, hard gray tint stared at her, "...Yes."
The last time they lifted the curse, she got some of his magic power, and then used blood magic on the spot to consume it.
"If you don't have good talent," Camus said solemnly, "even if you have magic power, you won't be able to cast magic directly."
Su Cheng nodded with satisfaction. "So my talent is considered very good? Especially good? As good as it can be? Which one is it?"
Camus looked at the rather proud little girl in front of him.
She seemed very happy, and couldn't help putting her hands behind her back and slightly tiptoeing, as if she was quite excited, and her curly braids swayed behind her.
Camus: “…”
Camus: "Extremely good, better than any human being I have ever met."
Su Cheng jumped for joy. "Hey! Well, I have an idea. I need you to give me some more magic power."
She recalled the mission process in the original book, because that part was written in a messy and vague way - the slightly complicated plot in the book was basically a mess.
She can't remember any details now, but she has a vague impression.
"...We still have two days left," Su Cheng said excitedly. "I want to try to learn that magic that uses other people's blood to transform. Is that okay? Are there any prerequisite skills for blood magic? Well, I mean, do I need to start with the basics? If I don't master those, I can't move on to more advanced magic."
She looked expectantly at the blood mage in front of her.
Camus glanced at her, then looked away. "If it's just a matter of imitating the appearance, you can learn it now, but it's a bit troublesome."
Su Cheng understood.
There are also various identity detection magics in this world. If you want to pass them, there will probably be higher requirements.
Su Cheng: "Actually, I mainly feel that if I need to do something bad, I should try not to use Vanessa's identity, even if it means changing my face on the spot. After all, she is a member of the Silent Ring. In the end, if the Olu family pursues it, won't she learn to take responsibility?"
Camus was about to speak when she continued, "...and you got the invitation from your teacher. Ultimately, it's just going to cause you trouble."
He raised his eyebrows slightly, "I thought you didn't care."
Su Cheng looked puzzled. "How could I not care? We are teammates. If I didn't care about you, I wouldn't have to do this mission. It's not like I want the dragon bone myself."
"You did it for the captain," Camus said calmly, "He must be different, right?"
Su Cheng hesitated for a moment.
It was this brief hesitation that seemed to ignite the Blood Mage's rage even more, and he looked like he was about to explode.
but--
He also felt that this reaction was unacceptable and that he had no right to express his dissatisfaction with the matter.
Camus turned and was about to leave.
Su Cheng pulled him back, "So, are our teaching classes still available?"
He looked down at the slender white fingers clenched on his sleeves, "...That spell consumes a lot of magic power. Not to mention, you need to practice it at least dozens of times, which also requires magic power."
Su Cheng let go of his hand, "If you want to overdraw your magic power, then forget it——"
Camus took a deep breath. "Given my magic power limit and recovery speed, using it thousands of times a day is no problem. However, if I were to transfer magic power to you, it would be very slow when your curse mark is not activated and we are not in close contact."
Su Cheng understood, "So I need a lot of magic power to practice. If you want me to have that much magic power as soon as possible, either the curse will be activated, or something will happen between us?"
Camus nodded coldly, "Yes."
"Of course," Su Cheng spread out his hands. "It's not like we haven't done this before, and the experience last time was pretty good. In fact, as long as you don't mind, I can do it anytime—"
Before she could finish her words, she was pushed against the door.
Su Cheng smelled the scent of fir and pine needles, mixed with the bitter and fresh taste of some medicinal herbs, overwhelming him.
My back pressed against the embossed patterns on the wooden door, making a slight impact sound.
With the protection of fighting spirit, this kind of collision doesn't even hurt.
but.
This is quite a big commotion.
Just as Su Cheng was about to speak, the man in front of her bent down and kissed her.
“…Then let’s begin.”
His voice was low and suppressed, as if squeezed out from deep in his chest.
Every letter seemed to carry some inexplicable anger.
The blood mage pressed down with his hot lips, biting the corner of her mouth, tracing every line on her lips, and then went straight in and hooked the tip of his tongue.
Su Cheng put her arms around his neck, her fingers tangled in the warm and soft golden curls, and then kissed him back.
They bit and chased each other, entangled and pulled each other, and plundered the air in each other's mouths.
She was trapped in the space formed by the broad chest and the door, rubbing against the man's finely fabricated robe, feeling the hardness of the silver embroidery.
There was more than a slight height difference between them, and as he leaned in to kiss her, his knees squeezed between her legs.
Su Cheng was pushed off the ground and sat on the other person's legs. "...Do you still remember that there are people outside?"
She said vaguely, a hint of laughter in her voice.
"Let them listen."
The blood mage whispered in a brief pause before kissing her again.
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