Chapter Two: I Want to Live
Li Bao'er suddenly opened her eyes amidst the rotting pile of corpses, the taste of blood churning in her throat.
"Cough...cough cough!"
"System, come out here!" Li Bao'er gritting her teeth, collapsed on the pile of corpses. "What happened to the promised pain sharing? It still hurts so much!"
001 said guiltily, "[You fell from a hundred-meter cliff, and you're neither dead nor crippled. The empathy cushioned the fatal impact, so the remaining pain... it's about even between you two. But he seems to be more tolerant... just bear with it~ However, host, your 'darkening value' just decreased by 0.1%!"]
"Huh?" She laughed angrily. "I almost fell to my death, and he only lowered it by 0.1%?!"
Li Bao'er tried to move her body, but she was too weak to move and decided to just lie there and do nothing for a while.
She looks almost like a dead person now, so she's not afraid of being discovered anytime soon. Besides, those pursuers will probably think she's dead beyond recognition and won't come looking for her.
Just then, a clear and orderly sound of horses' hooves suddenly came from afar, galloping toward the mass grave!
001 screams: "Someone's coming!"
Li Bao'er was so frightened that her skin crawled all over her arms.
No way?! Those pursuers didn't even spare the corpses? They even want to come back to examine them?! One second I was thinking of giving up, the next I was completely swayed. Human potential is discovered in desperate situations.
With a strength she didn't know she possessed, her hands trembling, she desperately pulled a cold corpse over herself and held her breath amidst the nauseating stench.
"You can't see me, I can't see myself!" she muttered to herself, biting her lower lip hard.
The sound grew closer and closer, like the drumbeats of death, each step striking her nerves.
Li Bao'er froze, a chill creeping up her spine.
"No, no, I'm just scaring myself," Li Bao'er tried desperately to reassure herself.
The night wind, carrying the stench of blood, swirled above the mass grave. The light of torches pierced the thick fog, casting shadowy images of the mountains of corpses.
Mu Cenlin reined in his horse at the bottom of the cliff. He looked up at the edge of the cliff and thought to himself, "At this height, it would be good enough if I could at least keep a whole corpse."
The thought that the woman might really die here made Mu Cenlin feel a pang of melancholy.
"Search." He gestured, "Turn every body over to check."
The guards immediately scattered, their longswords slicing through the layers of rotting corpses.
Deep within the pile of corpses, Li Bao'er's forehead was covered in cold sweat.
Oh no! Why did Mu Cenlin come in person?!
But just then, her calf started twitching uncontrollably!
"Ugh..." She bit her lip hard, but still managed to let out a muffled groan.
The light of the torch suddenly drew closer.
"Your Highness!" a guard suddenly shouted, "There's movement here!"
The crunching sound of the horse's hooves crushing bones was like a death knell, finally stopping in front of the pile of corpses where she was hiding.
"Move it away." A cold voice rang out above her head. Li Bao'er froze, hearing the dull thuds of soldiers moving the corpses.
As the body was moved, the blinding torchlight shone directly on her face.
The young man in black armor reined in his horse and stopped in front of her, the torchlight illuminating the scar under his right eye.
He looked down at her, the tip of his sword lifting her blood-stained chin, drops of blood sliding down the blade and seeping into her collar.
Li Bao'er's pupils constricted, and her heart nearly leaped out of her chest. She had finally been found by this living devil.
Under the moonlight, the girl's dirty face and terrified, wide-open eyes were clearly visible.
It really is her!
"Li Bao'er?" Mu Cenlin's voice was icy cold.
He suddenly laughed, but the laugh didn't reach his eyes: "You can play dead?"
Li Bao'er looked at the man in front of her in horror, "I..."
"You've surprised me quite a bit, you didn't die from the fall. Since you didn't die, did you not expect to be found by me when you stole the Tiger Tally?" With that, the long sword was already piercing her throat.
Li Bao'er gripped the sword blade tightly with her blood-stained hand: "Don't kill me!"
The icy touch of the sword tip piercing her skin sent a shiver down Li Bao'er's spine, and also made Mu Cenlin stiffen.
His pupils contracted sharply. He looked down at his own uninjured hand, then at her bleeding palm, and a storm raged in his eyes.
Strange!
Li Bao'er deliberately let Mu Cenlin discover the abnormality, but fortunately the madman held back his strength.
"Interesting, aren't you going to explain?" Before the words were even finished, the man nimbly dismounted and struck her heavily in the abdomen with the hilt of his sword.
"Hmm..."
Li Bao'er curled up on the ground, her clothes soaked with cold sweat. She was in so much pain that her vision went black. She bit her lip hard and forced back her screams, but tears still welled up uncontrollably and streamed down her dirty cheeks.
Li Bao'er was in so much pain that she couldn't speak. She felt like her internal organs were about to shatter. She glanced at Mu Cenlin out of the corner of her eye, but found that he didn't even frown.
Li Bao'er angrily berated 001 in her mind, "Has the empathy failed?!"
001 calmly replied, "No, no, he's just more patient."
Li Bao'er's Dao heart collapsed. No, she discovered the abnormality and still attacked so severely. Did he hate her?
Mu Cenlin stared down at her, the hilt of his sword pressed against her trembling chin, forcing her to look up.
"Does it hurt?" His voice was deep, but his eyes held a cruel kind of interest.
"I'm in pain too, why don't you give me a proper explanation?"
Li Bao'er's teeth chattered from the pain, but she still managed a weak smile: "Your Highness, what are you saying? I don't understand."
madman!
Li Bao'er cursed inwardly, but dared not truly provoke him. She absolutely could not admit to having shared feelings with him, otherwise, given Mu Cenlin's suspicious nature, he would either burn her as a demon or lock her up to save her life.
Mu Cenlin stared at her forced expression and suddenly let out a cold laugh.
"Your mouth is as annoying as ever," Mu Cenlin said listlessly.
He abruptly sheathed his sword, turned around, and ordered his guards, "Take him back to the camp and lock him in the dungeon."
Li Bao'er's heart sank. It's over, the dungeon!
She didn't want to rot away in a cold, damp cell!
In desperation, she grabbed Mu Cenlin's hem, looked up, and squeezed out two tears: "Your Highness! I... I was your classmate, after all. Please forgive me this time, and I'll never oppose you again."
The air suddenly froze.
Mu Cenlin paused, slowly turned around, and looked at her with a dangerous gaze as if he were about to snap her neck at any moment.
"Classmate?"
He leaned down again, his icy fingers pinching her cheeks with such force that he almost crushed her bones.
The warm, humid breath brushed against my ear, yet carried a chilling undertone. "Li Bao'er, all these years you've spread rumors and framed me, risking your life for Mu Yuan, and now you're thinking of our friendship?"
Li Bao'er: "..."
System 001 weakly popped up: [Host, corruption level +1%, currently 91%...]
Li Bao'er: "Shut up!"
"Since you don't want to go to the dungeon, then stay here and wait for the jackals." Mu Cenlin was tired of her pretense and stood up, waving his hand to signal a retreat.
A soft "click" sound suddenly came from the rotten soil.
Mu Cen looked down, her hand paused, and the blood-stained jade pendant that had slipped from her clothes was stuck between the bones of the corpse.
Did she actually carry that jade pendant with her at all times?
Perhaps when a person is down on their luck, everyone wants to get involved. At this moment, a heavy rain fell from the sky. Li Bao'er looked up, and because of the rain, the blood stained the surrounding soil red.
She was in a sorry state; her once noble face was covered by filth, and her once beautiful eyes were now red at the corners.
Perhaps it was because of the pain that the water rippled, yet it seemed as if she was gazing at him with deep affection.
Don't leave me here.
Mu Cenlin's heart skipped a beat.
A sudden surge of inexplicable irritation welled up inside him. He loathed this uncontrollable emotion, and even more loathed her eyes—eyes that had cried for Mu Yuan, laughed for Mu Yuan, and now were filled with his reflection, pleading with him.
He suddenly leaned down, his icy fingertips almost roughly brushing away the wet redness at the corners of her eyes, crushing that false affection, his voice low and dangerous: "Don't want to be left behind?"
"Can."
“From this day forward, your life belongs to me. Look at Mu Yuan one more time,” he pressed his fingertips heavily against her still-bleeding wound, causing her to cry out and tremble in pain, “and I will gouge out one of your eyes.”
"Remember, now it's not him who decides your life or death."
"It's me."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com