Chapter 84 Blackstone City "You, Xie Lu, are just someone I, Nan Ke, have raised..."
"Xie Lu, you seem to know Blackrock City very well."
Nan Ke stopped and pulled his right hand out of Xie Lu's grasp. Before they parted ways with Ji Yang, in order to find a suitable blood trafficker to capture, the group unanimously decided to target DisKi.
In order to find DisKii, Nan Ke planned to use star rays to locate him in Blackrock City, but Xie Lu stopped him. Xie Lu then led him to travel purposefully through Blackrock City.
"Who exactly are you?" Nan Ke finally asked, forcing a calm expression. He had sensed Xie Lu's strange behavior back at the Bat Hotel, and a certain answer was on the tip of his tongue, but he dared not confirm it.
“Nan Ke…” Xie Lu raised his hand, his palm still seemingly carrying the warmth of Nan Ke. As the warmth gradually faded, he became somewhat flustered.
Nan Ke avoided Xie Lu's movements, saying in a flat tone that revealed no emotion, "You're still not going to say anything."
"Don't...don't look at me like that..." as if he were an insignificant person.
The boy lowered his eyes, composed himself, and raised his hand to spin the star card in his palm, which shimmered with light. The stars on the card formed a curved, closed line. He said, "Star line." The star line indicated that DisKi was on the third street ahead. The boy lifted his foot to leave, but red tinged into the man's pupils. The man chased after him and grabbed him.
The narrow alley was barely wide enough for two people to walk side by side. By the time Nan Ke realized what was happening, his hands had already been raised above his head and pressed against the wall. Without any hesitation, he raised his leg and slammed his knee into the man's abdomen.
Xie Lu exhaled, ignoring the pain in his abdomen, bent his knees to restrain Nan Ke's flailing legs, and then leaned down to kiss that stubborn face as if venting his anger.
Behind him was a solid wall. Xie Lu's strength was extraordinary. When Nan Ke had nowhere to avoid it, he could only purse his lips tightly. However, the overwhelming possessiveness forced him to open his mouth slightly, and Xie Lu took the opportunity to invade deep into his teeth.
With each breath, the man gradually released his strength, his sharpness fading as he gently placed his hand around the boy's waist and lifted him up, his breath warm and tender. But the boy snapped out of his daze in an instant, his arm sweeping between them to push the man away, and then his other hand slammed down on him.
The boy was hunched over, panting, his face unknowingly covered in tears. The panel beeped twice; it was a message from Jiang Yang in the group chat. He leaned against the wall, his fingertips trembling as he reached into his pocket. There was only one pill left in the medicine bottle. He poured it out, tossed the bottle aside, and then tilted his head back to swallow the white pill in one gulp.
He walked forward with unsteady steps, and his voice soon reached Xie Lu: "Since you're unwilling to be honest, don't forget who you are."
"You, Xie Lu, are just a dog that I, Nan Ke, keep."
[Black Rock City Observatory - Nan Ke's Perspective]
...
"What's going on? What's really going on between them?"
"If it's not Xie Lu, then who is it?"
"It seems like Xie Lu's observation station is still disconnected. Was it not disconnected for such a long time again this time?"
Xie Lu didn't stop her this time. When the two walked out of the alley together, the tears on Nan Ke's face had disappeared. Her expression was normal and there was no change in her expression. She even repeated the message that Jiang Yang sent in the group to him and asked him for a solution, as if nothing had happened, or as if the situation was so bad that it was beyond repair.
The two met DisKi in front of a clothing store in the first district.
Diski, draped in a black robe, had just been shoved out by a store clerk. His forearm, accidentally exposed outside the robe, trembled even more violently after being exposed to the sunlight. Upon seeing this, the clerk said sarcastically, "Can't afford it, yet you're here to look! You lowlife!"
Xie Lu frowned upon hearing this. In his memory, the First District hadn't seen such blatant flattery and belittling of others in a long time.
The shop assistants tried to chase him away with brooms, but DisKi just knelt down on the steps and humbly pleaded, "I... I only need 100 black stones. I can stay here and work for you. I used to work in a clothing store too." Mr. V gave him 1,900 black stones, and Mr. Kirby gave him 1,500 black stones, but it still wasn't enough to buy the clothes he wanted.
The star thread made its move, entangled with the broom that the clerk was about to hit DisKi with. The clerk looked at the boy connected by the star thread in horror. When her gaze fell on Xie Lu, she dropped the broom without thinking and rushed back into the store to hang up the "Closed for Business" sign.
DisKi slumped to the ground, utterly dejected. Nan Ke walked over, patted him on the shoulder, then crossed his arms and asked in a nonchalant tone, "Hey, want to make some money?"
"Huh?" DisKi didn't react for a moment. He looked up and saw two familiar faces. He scrambled to run away, but after only two steps, he felt a restraint on his neck. He looked back and saw that Nan Ke's shoes were stepping on the hem of his clothes.
Nan Ke threatened coldly, "If you dare to leave, I'll strip you naked!"
DisKi has no skin, and his body is nearing its limit; otherwise, he wouldn't have needed to buy a robe at the clothing store before leaving. So, after being scared by Nan Ke, he had no choice but to retreat.
Nan Ke asked, "Where did you take my friend?"
"Bat...Grand Hotel...I didn't mean to! Really!"
"You think it's not intentional just because you say it wasn't intentional? Didn't you sell that person?"
“I…” DisKi didn’t know how to answer.
"Aren't you short of money? Here's a chance for you to redeem yourself: sell me into jail."
"ah?"
"What do you mean, 'huh'? Just tell me if you're going to do it or not?"
...
DisKi gritted his teeth and shouted, "Let's do it!"
However, they still lack a robe that can transform Nan Ke into a bat.
Nan Ke walked up the steps and banged on the door, shouting, "Hey, I'm buying clothes!"
The shop assistant had been eavesdropping on the whole thing through the door, and only opened a small crack before handing out the robe.
Through the door, Nan Ke asked, "How much?"
The clerk quickly replied, "No! It's free..."
oh.
Nan Ke gripped the robe and shook it open. The thin material looked no different from the breath-proof clothing they wore. DisKi whispered a reminder, "Just wear it directly."
"Don't wear it yet, we'll put it on when we're almost there," Nan Ke casually draped the robe over her arm. Xie Lu naturally took it from her and folded it neatly in a few simple movements. After folding it, he looked at Nan Ke as if to show off, but Nan Ke didn't care and went back the way she came. DisKi's gaze wandered back and forth between the two of them.
He chose to follow Nan Ke.
When the group returned to the Bat Hotel, Nan Ke first sent a message to Jiang Yang to confirm that Jiang Yang had successfully returned from the tenth floor to the seventh floor. Only then did he put on his outer robe and transform into the bat in the cage covered with velvet in DisKi's hand.
Afterwards, Xie Lu found Ji Yang.
To accommodate Ji Yang, who could only walk the entire way, Xie Lu even found a car first. He sat in the driver's seat, rolled down the window, and honked the horn at Ji Yang under the tree. But after Ji Yang got in the car, he wasn't in a hurry to leave. The two fell silent for a moment. Finally, Ji Yang couldn't stand the strange atmosphere and spoke first: "Say what you need to say."
The rearview mirror reflected Xie Lu's reddened eyes, and he asked with some self-doubt, "Am I really different from Xie Lu?"
Ji Yang didn't expect Xie Lu to ask this question. He moved his finger and silently pressed the close button for the observation room. Xie Lu saw the man's movement, gave a wry smile, and said, "It's okay. I just don't know how to tell Nan Ke."
"So, since you don't think you're Xie Lu, then where did Xie Lu go?"
Xie Lu started the car and drove around to a more open square. On the east side of the square stood a distant and indistinct ancient castle. He raised his chin and said, "There it is."
Kirby's father said that if they get close, they will gradually merge.
Therefore, he cannot appear with him right now.
Moreover, he didn't want to appear with him. He felt like a cowardly coward. He was jealous of Nan Ke's feelings for him and the compatibility between them. He was tormented by this jealous desire to the point of madness.
He didn't know what to do; Nan Ke seemed to dislike him.
He didn't want Nan Ke to hate him.
Xie Lu took out the medicine bottle that Nan Ke had thrown away. The bottle was labeled "Contains Qulin". Ji Yang waited patiently for him to calm down. He asked carefully, "Why not try fusion?"
"I can't merge with him." In Xie Lu's judgment, maintaining the status quo might be the best outcome for Nan Ke, which is why he desperately wanted to see Nan Ke one last time before his own end arrived.
"Nan Ke cares about you a lot."
Ji Yang leaned back in his chair, casually crossing his arms in front of him. "Everyone in the No Man's Land knows that after you disappeared in the wasteland, Nan Ke searched for you for a long time. He thought that by betraying Jiang Yang, he could protect you in the tower, but when Jiang Yang died and you disappeared as well, he almost went crazy."
“I know that Kirby brought all this information back later. It was my fault. I hurt him and Jiang Yang.”
"Yes, it's your fault, but your mistake is that you never believed in Nan Ke, never believed in me, never believed in Jiang Yang, and never believed in Mou Guang."
Are you still planning to say nothing?
"I..." Xie Lu opened his mouth, but suddenly he didn't know where to begin.
"Never mind, tell me when you've thought it through."
"Where to now?" Ji Yang casually diverted people's attention.
Xie Lu pinched the corner of his eye hard, then let out a heavy breath, gripped the steering wheel with both hands, and pressed down hard on the accelerator. The car wobbled twice in place. Ji Yang suppressed a laugh and said, "How about I drive?"
The two got out of the car and switched places. Under Ji Yang's driving, the car drove smoothly. Xie Lu was directing the direction when he suddenly said, "Boss, thank you."
The title felt like a distant memory. Ji Yang shook his head. "We're all just striving for the same goal."
Yes, they are all working towards the same goal.
Xie Lu was determined to win the upcoming auction.
-----------------------
Author's Note: Yay! My good friend is coming to visit, so my update schedule will be a bit irregular these next few days. However, the Blackrock City raid will end on New Year's Day, leaving about six or seven chapters to go. So, while the update schedule will be unpredictable these next few days, I'll definitely finish those chapters! Hehe~ Wishing you a Merry Christmas, a Happy New Year, and happiness every day!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
