When I turned back to the original spot for the second time, after some "careful consideration," I eliminated the left door and the right door, choosing the straight path ahead. Finally, after clearing out three Dark One Camps, dealing with two waves of Skeleton Archer and Bone Mage combinations, seeing through the disguise of two Winged Demon traps, casually enjoying a full meal (of course, it was Poison Creeper) from a sneak attack by Ratmen who didn't know death, and ultimately surviving five days of getting lost, the Entrance to the second level of the tomb finally appeared before me.
"It wasn't easy!"
I wiped away a tear.
"Wow!! I never thought I'd see the Entrance in my lifetime, I'm so touched~~"
Ailisi, as usual, let out her signature short gasp of surprise. That seemingly heartfelt exclamation could make even the most honest person's forehead burn.
But this sentence was undoubtedly like a thorn, instantly darkening my mood.
"It's getting late, let's find a Place to rest for the night." I frowned, gently patting Xiao Xue's head...
"Crackling—"
The dry wood crackled crisply in the Bonfire. The dim red radiance of the fire made the entire Room even darker. The gloomy shadow, stretched long by the light, was just like my mood at this moment. Xiao Xue blinked her eyes, curled up in the Corner of the Room, her drooping ears pressed down listlessly. Lǎn Wū Yā was even more weakly nestled on Xiao Xue's body, the usual effort it put into trying to make a temporary little nest out of her soft fur had vanished without a trace...
Their Master's frustration and pain made them, as summon pets, also feel depressed.
"Xiao Fan..."
A voice warmer than the firelight came from my Chest. The next moment, a soft white light emanated from the Necklace. Within the radiance, Ailisi's holy figure, like a Goddess descending, quietly appeared before my Eyes.
That hazy figure, like a dream or illusion, gently spun around In Mid-air. Only after her figure had fully solidified did she slowly open her silver Eyes. Her moon-colored long hair floated behind her without wind, appearing so holy and inviolable under the soft Bonfire Light.
"I'm sorry, Xiao Fan, I said the wrong thing again...~~"
Her body In Mid-air slowly floated down before me. Ailisi gently stroked the wrinkles between my brows with her finger, as if trying to smooth them out. A pair of large silver Eyes blinked, looking at me as if about to cry, revealing a gentle moisture.
I raised my head, silently meeting her gaze. Our eyes locked tightly together, emitting an aura of sorrow and reluctance.
"Xiao Fan..."
Ailisi murmured my name. Her entire small body burrowed into my Embrace. Her kitten-like head rubbed upwards from within my Embrace. Her two pale cherry lips gently sucked, the moist aura spreading from my Neck all the way to my Lips.
"Mm..."
I wrapped my arms tightly around Ailisi, greedily licking the corner of her mouth with my tongue, her upper lip, her lower lip, then sweeping past her neat teeth, capturing that fragrant, soft tongue. The trophy I tasted with my tongue was the most beautiful sweet dew in Sanctuary, but the more I did this, the more my Heart twisted with pain, as if bleeding.
Our lips parted, a few threads of lustful thread hung reluctantly between our lips. Ailisi suddenly stuck out her playful small tongue, gently licking, like sucking noodles mouth-to-mouth, slowly drawing the silver threads into her own Mouth. Her tempting cherry lips couldn't help but draw closer again, then pressed tightly against my lips. She continued to lick like a kitten with her tongue, until she had sucked my lips completely dry, only then did she exhale a hot, fragrant breath, as if still unsatisfied, and slowly moved away from my lips.
"Xiao Fan... Seeing you like this, even I want to cry~~"
She gently raised her head, slowly stroking my face with her small hand. As if to confirm her words, crystal tears were already rolling in her eye sockets.
"Doesn't kissing like this just make it more painful? God is such a fucking scoundrel."
I forcefully pushed Ailisi's hand away. In her astonished eyes, I tightly embraced her entire body.
Is there really no method? Am I truly powerless?
"Perhaps, we could try Holy Bolt..." Ailisi said indistinctly from within my embrace.
Ailisi, who already possessed the Light Attribute, might be able to replenish her strength if she used Holy Bolt. This was a half-baked method I had racked my brains to come up with. If Alexander hadn't given me that warning before his death, perhaps I might have actually tried it.
However, Alexander was right. The essence of power is destruction and ruin. Although Ailisi has the Light Attribute, don't forget that her nature is that of a ghost. If I were to use Holy Bolt on her, the consequences would absolutely not be as beautiful as we imagined.
"Let's wait until the last moment. If there's no other method," I thought for a long time before saying through clenched teeth.
"Hehe, dying by Xiao Fan's hand is also a kind of happiness."
Unable to hold back, Ailisi lifted her pretty head from my Embrace, stuck out her tongue at me, and said with a face full of longing. At this moment, she thought of her parents, the happiness smile on her Mother's face as she fell beneath her Father's sword. It seemed she could finally understand it a little bit.
"Nonsense, I'll tear your mouth apart."
I pinched the face in my Embrace with both hands, kneading it slightly with effort, kneading Ailisi's originally proper and delicate features into a ball, making her entire face look cute and funny.
(You shouldn't mess with my mouth, it'll turn ugly...)
Ailisi, whose face was being played with by me, said indistinctly.
After kneading this face with excellent feel until it was completely red, I finally stopped my hands, still feeling unsatisfied. Ailisi stared with round eyes, baring her teeth and looking at me like an angry little tiger with a malicious gaze that said, "You'll remember this."
"Come, be good..."
I lifted her chin, like teasing a cute little kitten and then offering it a delicious little fish to make it happy, and leaned my lips in.
"Didn't you say the more we kiss the more it hurts..."
Ailisi's words were cut short by my mouth blocking hers. Her silver eyes gradually became misty, and her jade arms involuntarily wrapped around my waist.
The more we kissed, the sadder it was. But if we didn't kiss, it would be even sadder...
Ten minutes later, I had to let go of Ailisi. Watching her gradually dimming figure disappear before me, I barely closed my eyes all night...
"Roar..."
On the second level of the tomb, in Werebear State, I tightly gripped the ugly horns of the Tainted Monster before me, pressing its entire body to the Ground, then slowly increasing my strength. Watching it wail in pain, its body gradually pressed into the Earth by me, a strange pleasure arose In My Heart.
Yes, let more combat, more blood, more frantic slaughter numb myself. Only this way can I temporarily forget Ailisi, temporarily forget the bleeding pain.
"Ugh—"
The Tainted Monster I was pressing into the Earth, taking advantage of my momentary lapse, slightly opened its slender, ugly mouth. A white lightning ball flashing with thunder light instantly struck my body. The paralyzing pain made all the hair on my body stand on end.
"Heh..."
Instead of feeling pain, I laughed. My ferocious mouth split into a crevice. My two big hands suddenly exerted force, pressing its entire body down, then my right hand hammered high and fell. A splash of blood immediately splattered on my body. The Tainted Monster, whose head was completely buried Underground, let out a painful wail, its voice gradually becoming low. My eyes seemed to be stained red by the blood. I kept raising my fist high and hammering down fiercely. The thick, gorey blood splattered "thump, thump" with every raise and fall of my hand, dyeing the entire Ground red, until the moment the Tainted Monster's corpse disappeared. The Great Pit I had pressed it into was already a bloody, indistinguishable mess of flesh and blood.
I wiped the residual blood from my body. I walked expressionlessly towards the next goal. I wasn't going insane, I just needed to constantly obtain pleasure from blood, constantly numb myself with slaughter...
"Thump thump—"
Heavy footsteps echoed on the second level of the tomb. In the dim magic lamp light, a huge figure appeared around the Corner. The Ratmen ambushing in the dark Corner keenly sensed that along with the heavy panting of the huge figure around the Corner, the entire Floor seemed to tremble slightly. They tightly gripped the spears or cleavers In Hand, preparing to deliver a fatal Sneak Attack the moment the Enemy turned the corner.
"Rumble—"
The Floor trembled more intensely. The dim figure, stretched long by the magic lamp, was gradually enlarging, finally towering on the wall like a giant. A thick, extremely violent killing aura came from around the Corner, making these dozen or so Ratmen freeze instantly, as if rats had smelled a cat. The heavy and frantic killing aura emanating from the huge shadow made them instinctively feel danger. Their ugly, furry faces revealed expressions of fear. They looked at each other, then, before that unknown, terrifying opponent discovered them, they vanished from the dark Corner in a "whoosh," leaving no trace.
"Aow aow—"
I roared up at the sky. What is going on? Why, after more than an hour, haven't I encountered a single monster? Do even these monsters have to go against me?
I continued to roar. In the past, this earth-shattering roar would have attracted countless monsters by now, but today, as if everything was against me, not a single one appeared.
"Damn it—Damn it—"
While roaring, I desperately hammered the Ground. The anger and sorrow In My Heart, in Werebear State, unconsciously transformed into monstrous rage, making my entire body feel as if it had inexhaustible strength to vent. In this state of near-madness, I didn't notice that my body was gradually swelling, the muscles all over my body were making tight tearing sounds, and the hair on my body was also gradually turning blood red, as if dyed.
"Roar—"
I roared, tilting my head back, about to vent my rage, but unexpectedly, my head suddenly met an obstacle. Slightly startled, I bent down and looked up, only to discover that my vision was so close to the five-meter-high ceiling of the tomb. I didn't think it was an anomaly happening to my own body, only thinking that even the ceiling was going against me. I couldn't help but angrily straighten my body, slamming my head into it as if fighting for my life. The entire tomb seemed to shake three times with this impact.
It really does hurt...
I rubbed my slightly bulging back head. My mind cleared up a little. Forget it, I shouldn't play with my own head, lest I end up brain damaged.
So, I set my goal on the wall to the side.
"Roar—"
With a forceful hit, a giant hole immediately opened in the half-meter-thick bluestone wall. I looked at my big hand in disbelief. When did my strength become so great? I remembered that the stone walls of the Jail, which used more crude/low quality materials, required at least four or five hits for me to pierce through.
However, my attention was quickly drawn to the thing inside the hole.
On the other side of the wall was a small Room about ten square meters in size. Inside the Room, a fiery red Dark Magician, along with more than ten Dark Ones, were huddled trembling in the Corner, clinging together like little virgins stripped naked by a group of adult men, looking at the giant black shadow before them with terrified and despairing eyes.
I licked my lips. My blood red eyes immediately narrowed. This was truly a lucky accident.
"Wow—Thump—Roar—Thump—..."
As my figure squeezed into the Cave Entrance, Xiao Xue and companions, whom I had ordered to guard outside the hole, only heard continuous roars, screams, wails, and the "thump thump" striking sounds of fists hitting flesh and blood. This continued for several minutes before falling silent.
"Hoo—"
I transformed back from Werebear Form to Human Status, letting out a soft sigh. Maintaining the Werebear Transformation Status with Mana Potions since morning had left my body extremely tired. Coupled with the eruption of inner heart fatigue and pain, I leaned powerlessly against the wall Corner, completely dazed and lost in thought.
"Hoo——"
Lǎn Wū Yā, who had already developed the consciousness of a servant, began to clean up the Battlefield as usual. That elite grade Fallen One should have dropped quite a few things. In the past, I would have eagerly watched Lǎn Wū Yā carry the things over one by one. But now, I really wasn't in the mood, even if it had dropped a Unique Item.
Just then, a white light suddenly flashed from my Chest. In a few seconds, Ailisi appeared before me, standing gracefully. I was about to scold her for making unnecessary cost, but her gaze was fixed on Lǎn Wū Yā, completely still...
What is going on? I was about to ask, but Ailisi spoke up first.
"Little Black, come here, come here. And, bring the thing in your mouth too."
Lǎn Wū Yā heard this, immediately picked up a shining item from the Ground with its Mouth and flew over. Out of its love for all shining things, this extremely greedy Lǎn Wū Yā particularly liked listening to Ailisi. It was almost treating her as its Second Master.
When Lǎn Wū Yā flew closer, I discovered that the thing in its Mouth was a Cracked Diamond. Ailisi gently extended her hand, took the diamond Lǎn Wū Yā handed over, and then blinked, staring at the Cracked Diamond in her Palm.
Does Ailisi particularly like diamonds? It's not strange to think about it. Don't women in Sanctuary have this kind of hobby?
Ailisi stared intently at the diamond in her Palm, her eyes revealing an expression of confusion and difficulty. Generally speaking, when she showed this expression, her next action would likely be astonishing.
After an unknown amount of time, her gaze solidified, as if she had made a decision. The next moment, she didn't hesitate to put the Cracked Diamond into her mouth, then swallowed it with a "gulp," as if it were a candy.
"Idiot—That'll kill you!"
I was greatly surprised. It was too late to stop her. I could only rush forward quickly, hoping there was still time to get that diamond, which even Hellfire couldn't melt, out.
However, the moment I touched Ailisi, a radiant white light suddenly emanated from her body, fiercely pushing me away, caught off guard. Then, her body slowly rose into Mid-air. That extremely strong holy radiance gave me a sense of fear, as if an angel breaking out of its cocoon was about to soar away.
Fortunately, the light gradually weakened after a period of time. Ailisi did not disappear as I had expected. Suddenly, her body fell from the Sky. I quickly rushed over and caught her in my Embrace.
"Mm—"
A few minutes later, Ailisi in my Embrace slowly opened her eyes. Her silver eyes turned around confusedly a few times, then locked tightly onto my face.
"Xiao Fan, we'll never be separated again..."
Her hand gently stroked my face. Tears of joy streamed down her face.
"Mm, that's great..."
(end of chapter)