Chapter 4

Jiang Zhulang sat in the carriage and pondered: Although you can recover after being stabbed, the experience of near death once is enough. What is more important now is how to avoid being stabbed again.

Cross, the heir of a fallen family, shoulders the burden of reviving his family.

Due to improper use of arcane magic, his younger brother became bedridden. In order to atone for his sins, he transformed himself into the most notorious thief in the continent, looking for a way to heal his loved one.

Now he should be escaping from pursuit after stealing precious medicinal materials. I happened to appear on his escape route, so in the first round he would kill without hesitation, seize the car, and drive away.

In that case, his initiative to send out the carriage this time should be able to dissuade him from his murderous intentions, right?

To be honest, Jiang Zhulang didn't expect to run into him. Although he was the author who controlled everything, he only knew who met who on a certain day of a certain month of a certain year and who did what. As for the character's experience during this period, who cared?

The familiar noise, the familiar door opening.

Cross walked in.

After learning from the lesson of the first round, Jiang Zhulang gave up the idea of ​​resistance. Cross was the last villain alive, with a high level of fighting power. How could a weak man like him possibly defeat him who had experienced many battles?

Therefore, when Cross pushed the door open, he unexpectedly saw a young man with long black curly hair sitting proudly on a chair with his hands folded, with no fear in his eyes.

"What can I do for you, guest?"

He lowered his eyes slightly, looking so relaxed that he didn't seem to be in any crisis.

Cross calmly covered the bulge on his waist with his hand, his eyes flashed with a hint of coldness, but he heard the man in front of him said with a half-smile: "Put down the knife in your hand. If I were you, I would not choose to kill people. After all, you have caused enough trouble, haven't you?"

The tea handed out by Jiang Zhulang was ruthlessly swept away. The white porcelain teacup spun gurglingly, emitting the fragrance of tea.

Cross sneered, stepped forward, pressed his elbow tightly on Jiang Zhulang's neck, took out a dagger and stabbed it on his cheek, from the brow bone to the corner of the lips, cold and sharp.

"Debts are nothing if not overwhelming. If you die, who will know it was me who did it?" He exerted force on his wrist, and the tip of the knife cut his skin, leaving a gash.

"Hiss. Listen, it's so noisy outside. The people chasing you are catching up soon."

Jiang Zhulang spoke intermittently, and tears welled up in the corners of his eyes due to lack of oxygen.

Cross stared into his eyes. Jiang Zhulang looked back without dodging and heard a cold snort.

He released the clamp around his neck, still holding the dagger tightly.

"Don't talk nonsense, just hurry up and don't try to play any tricks, otherwise..." He shook the dagger and smiled wickedly.

The bet won.

Jiang Zhulang moved outside the carriage and imitated the driver, hitting the horse hard. The horse neighed and broke into a gallop.

He calmed his slightly accelerated heartbeat.

Cross repeatedly traveled to the treasure houses of wealthy businessmen and powerful people to steal precious medicinal herbs and potions. He was chased several times but remained safe and sound.

This is the short biography he wrote when designing the character.

Even if the comic ends badly, the logic of the main character's behavior will not change. This shows that compared to killing himself, a dispensable person, escaping from pursuit is the top priority in Cross's to-do list.

【Please update!!】

[Request for continuation, request for continuation, request for continuation]

Jiang Zhulang:?

What just floated by?

His hand shook, and the carriage jolted violently as it rolled over the raised rocks on the ground.

“Boom—”

There was a muffled sound from inside the car. It should be Cross being thrown against the wall of the car due to the sudden acceleration.

"you!"

"We're all running for our lives, so don't be so demanding." Jiang Zhulang held the handle tightly with one hand and the reins with the other, staring in astonishment at the bullet-screen-like words floating in the air.

The corners of his mouth twitched, and he thought to himself, "Did you do this?"

"This is the real-time forum function enabled by the system. The host can check forum messages at any time. In addition, messages in the comment area will be played in the form of a scrolling bullet screen."

Sensing his displeasure, the system continued, "Once this function is turned on, it cannot be turned off. The source is controlled by Jun Yang Ba Ba Umbrella. You are welcome to join us, but the host can adjust the font, position and transparency of the bullet screen."

Jiang Zhulang: ...

You know, this really ruins the atmosphere.

He reduced the size of the bullet screen, moved it to a less conspicuous position, and continued driving the carriage.

The process of rushing was very boring. Cross said nothing and kept the dagger against his back, which was very stabbing.

Jiang Zhulang suspected that his lower back was bruised.

After running from dawn to dusk, Jiang Zhulang could no longer tell where they were. It was pitch black all around, with nothing but trees.

"Get out of the car." Cross ordered coldly, and while jumping out of the car, he pulled Jiang Zhulang down with him.

"Follow me."

Jiang Zhulang followed closely behind him, and after walking through the dense forest for half an hour, they came to an open space.

In the moonlight, abandoned buildings can be vaguely seen.

This appears to be an abandoned camp.

Cross led him into a room that was still intact with ease, snapped his fingers, and lit the kerosene lamp.

After taking a few glances at the greasy wooden stool with black unknown stains on it, Jiang Zhulang decided to stand.

"Now, let's talk about you, the audacious... businessman?" Cross crossed his legs, a smile on his lips. Jiang Zhulang had no doubt that if he said something wrong, he would be stabbed again.

He raised his chin and said coldly, "What do you want me to say, Mr. Thief?"

Ignoring Cross's suddenly cold face, Jiang Zhulang said to himself: "I have heard of your name a long time ago, and I often hear about your deeds. I am honored to help you escape from pursuit again."

"Well, could you please sign an autograph for me?"

Cross: ?

Stunned by his brilliant move, Cross stared blankly with his eyes wide open. His fierce and intimidating aura disappeared, and instead he looked a little cute.

He couldn't believe that someone would go to such great lengths just to get his autograph.

He shook the dagger and said, "Don't be smart, do you know that I can always ..."

"But you didn't do it, did you?"

He pursed his lips, looked away, and after a long moment, he hummed softly.

Oh, Cross is so gullible at this moment.

He was strong and smooth sailing, and except for his brother's health, he had not suffered any setbacks. The family rules and regulations and his parents' blame and indifference gave birth to thorns, but under the surface, he was still soft inside.

pity……

Barely fooling him, Jiang Zhulang pushed the door open and looked around the camp.

There seemed to be a tribe here. Rotten wood and broken stones fell over, and the wood blocks stuck to the ground looked like ghost claws reaching toward the sky in the night. The faint howling of wolves in the distance added a ghostly atmosphere.

This should be one of Cross's temporary resting places.

Although this camp does not appear in the outline of his comic, but only appears as a few words in the character's background introduction, you can get a rough idea of ​​it based on your understanding of the character.

Jiang Zhulang looked at it for a few seconds and then looked away. In the first episode, he had seen many background scenes and had lost interest in the places that did not appear in the plot.

He was more curious about what Cross would do next.

"Since you know my story, you should know that I have a special liking for herbs and potions. If you can show your worth, I can consider letting you go."

Cross's drawn-out voice sounded deep in the dim night, losing some of its coldness and gaining some tenderness. His strict aristocratic upbringing since childhood made his tone as elegant as a cello.

As expected, he is the perfect villain that I designed to attract readers. Even his voice is so nice.

When designing Cross, Jiang Zhulang poured in no less passion than Lannuo. After all, countless truths have shown that if the villain is good-looking, there will be no shortage of readers.

Unfortunately, the comic ended badly before Cross even had a chance to appear.

Shaking his head regretfully, Jiang Zhulang replied: "I know a place where there grows a rare treasure that is only seen once every fifty years. Legend has it that it can heal the dead and bring the bones back to life."

No way.

Obviously, Cross was attracted by his words and said "Oh".

"Go on."

He tried hard to appear nonchalant, but his clenched hands betrayed his inner thoughts.

What Jiang Zhulang said is an important plot point.

The continent of Nidos is a vast, continuous landmass surrounded by ocean. This design is irrational but simple.

No one knew what was beyond the ocean, and many adventurers tried to cross it, but all failed.

On the edge of the land, there is a small island where a legendary precious medicinal herb grows.

As soon as the news came out, countless people rushed to compete for the herbs, and Cross was no exception.

After going through untold hardships to reach the island, he obtained rare medicinal herbs in the fight and was seriously injured and dying. After returning home, his parents did not care about his injuries at all. Instead, they blamed him for not being careful enough and for staining the stems with blood.

When designing this plot, Jiang Zhulang did not say how Cross got to know the news. Now that he, as the "male protagonist", has told him, it does not contradict at all.

Although Cross's efforts had no effect on his brother's injuries, isn't this the charm of this character?

Just think about it, a beautiful woman with a guilty heart, working hard for an impossible goal, only to find out in the end that it is all in vain, and the person she loves the most is the one who hurts her the most.

How tragic and lovable.

Before he was cyberbullied, his few readers always said that he didn't understand design and his characters were not charming.

That's because they didn't see Cross.

Jiang Zhulang curled his lips and told all the news about the island.

The silence was unbearable.

Cross tapped his fingers on his knee, as he often did when he was thinking.

He was thinking, thinking about the reliability of the news.

Jiang Zhulang did not urge him. His eyes were fixed on a point in the air. He seemed to be in a daze, but in fact he secretly opened the forum system and checked the messages.

Most of the comments are urging for updates and compliments, with an occasional discordant comment, but they are as weak as those of an elementary school student compared to the **cyberbullying and swearing that fills the screen.

[The first day Lan Nuo was killed, I miss him]

[I order the author to appear immediately, revive Lanno, and publish the sequel, otherwise...]

【How about you? 】

[I begged and cried!!]

…

"Are you listening to me?"

Jiang Zhulang came to his senses and found that Cross was looking at him with dissatisfaction.

"Oh," he turned off the forum and continued, "What did you say?"

"Tsk, I said, to prove that this is not a trap for me, you should come with me."

Jiang Zhulang: "...assuming you haven't forgotten, you still have the spoils on you."

Cross narrowed his eyes and stuffed a piece of rag into his hand. It felt rough and chipped, and it felt like it was quite old.

Jiang Zhulang wanted to throw it away reflexively, but when he heard "Here, my autograph," he froze and stood there in embarrassment.

"Okay, we can go together now." Cross raised his chin and walked out of the cabin.

"Let's go get some food."

He strode forward, seemingly unconcerned about what he was doing to him.

The next moment, he suddenly turned around, used his elbow as a blade, attacked his neck, and when he was about to hit him, he paused.

The strong wind blew Jiang Zhulang's hair.

He looked back at Cross calmly.

"Why don't you hide?"

Jiang Zhulang lowered his eyes, "Not everyone has such luck to become a warlock."

"……snort."

He continued walking.

It seems that after these attempts, Cross has determined that he has no strength and cannot hurt him at all.

I have to say that he is very vigilant, but...

My son, your every move is expected.

Jiang Zhulang deliberately fell back a few steps, stepped on the rubble, stumbled, and fell on it, using the darkness to hide the concealed movements of his right hand.

Cross turned around: "Your eyes are... ugh!"

Before he could finish his words, a wooden stick as thick as an adult's fist came and hit him hard on the back of his neck.

“Plop——”

He fell down heavily.

Jiang Zhulang rubbed the scratch on his palm and hit him with another stick. He said nonchalantly: "You look really ferocious now."

There was no way he would go up to the island to get treasure and risk his life, so he would not go there to get hurt.

After all, he is just a weak businessman with no power at all :)

Jiang Zhulang casually covered Cross's face with the tattered cloth with crooked words on it, and leisurely returned the way he came.