Chapter 264 - The Man Who Must Be Killed

Chapter 264: Chapter 21 The Man Who Must Be KilledDue to the peculiarities of the Umbra plane, there weren’t many teleportation circles here. Aside from two major spatial teleports, most of the time was spent traveling day and night without rest.

Lu Hong stuck closely to the walls of the carriage, an awkward expression on his face, "Um, Princess, can you just talk without taking off your clothes?"

"How can you sleep without undressing?!" Xixi said earnestly, "I can’t sleep with my clothes on."

With that, she lightly undid her robe, and her white silk dress fluttered down, revealing a large expanse of snowy white skin.

Oh no! Lu Hong inwardly groaned, "I’d better leave first, to avoid disturbing Your Highness’s rest."

"No, no, the carriage is big enough for both of us to sleep in, why would you go out?" Xixi pulled on Lu Hong, her expression sincere, "Let’s sleep together, meditation is good, but we need to relax sometimes."

The touch of her skin electrified Lu Hong, and he quickly shook off her hand, "I’d better go outside."

"Alright then, as you like, I’m really sleepy." Xixi yawned deeply, spread out the bedding, and lay down.

Just like that, she’s asleep? Lu Hong was startled, wasn’t she unable to sleep without taking off all her clothes?

Just the outer coat?

Lu Hong felt deceived, and a bit disappointed.

"Eh? Weren’t you leaving?" Xixi widened her eyes, looking at the dazed Lu Hong.

"Uh, if you’re not fully undressing, I guess I can stay."

"Undress completely?!"

Xixi’s cheeks instantly flushed red, and she mumbled, "You, you’re such a person? You kissed me forcefully a few days ago."

"..." Alright, Lu Hong suddenly felt he had said something wrong, "I’ll just go out then."

The best plan is to just walk away.

"Don’t go!" Xixi called again, pleading, "In the past, when I couldn’t sleep, my father would always tell me bedtime stories to coax me to sleep."

I’m not your dad!

Though reluctant, he couldn’t resist those big, watery eyes, and Lu Hong ultimately succumbed. He sat down next to Xixi, his mind racing.

Amid Xixi’s anticipation, Lu Hong cleared his throat, "Ahem! Listen well, a fairy tale."

"A fairy tale? What’s that?"

"It’s a story for children."

"I’m eighteen, not a child!" Xixi pouted as soon as Lu Hong started with a child’s story.

"So, are you listening or not? If not, I won’t continue!"

"Well,..." forced into submission by Lu Hong’s will, "Okay then."

"That’s more like it." Lu Hong continued, "Today, we’re going to talk about a little girl who sold magic bombs."

"??? Why would the little girl sell magic bombs?" Xixi asked, "Father said that they are very dangerous and shouldn’t be touched lightly."

"It’s just a story, just listen."

"Oh..."

Once Xixi settled down, Lu Hong continued, "A long, long time ago, there was a little girl, and she was very pitiful."

"How...," she was about to ask how pitiful, when a stern look from Lu Hong made her swallow her words.

"As pitiful as can be, okay now?" Lu Hong went on, "Both her parents died early, and her only caretaker, her grandmother, passed away a year ago, so she was very poor, unable to afford food or clothing. When winter came, and it began to snow like feathers, cold and hungry, she had to pick up the only magic bomb left in her house to sell on the streets, hoping to exchange it for some money to buy food and clothing."

"She’s so pitiful!" Xixi listened, her tears almost starting to fall.

Lu Hong struggled to suppress a smile and continued, "She cried out on the streets, selling her magic bomb! Who will buy my magic bomb, it’s very cheap! Please buy it!"

"Unfortunately, no matter how much the little girl cried out, no one paid her any attention, completely lacking sympathy."

"Hmph!" Xixi angrily said, "How can these people be so bad! Brother Hong, tell me, what happened next?"

"Next, hahaha..." Lu Hong couldn’t help but burst into laughter, confounding Xixi, who said discontentedly, "The little girl is so pitiful, Brother Hong, how can you still laugh? You’re so mean!"

"Don’t... don’t rush, let... let me continue," Lu Hong took a while to catch his breath and continued, "The little girl in the icy snowy landscape finally couldn’t hold on any longer. She thought of her grandmother and wished she could see her one last time before she died. So... so... haha..."

"Stop laughing, just spit it out!" Xixi flipped over and got up, constantly pushing him.

"Yes, yes, I’ll tell," suppressing another laugh, Lu Hong continued, "So, the little girl activated the magic bomb, and with that, the whole city went to see her grandmother."

"That’s a good blast!" Xixi clapped her hands in celebration, "Heartless and cold people deserve to die!"

"Hm? You don’t find it funny?" Lu Hong looked at Xixi in astonishment. He could always laugh for a long time when he thought about this story, so why didn’t Xixi feel anything?

"Funny?" Xixi asked puzzled, "What’s funny about it? Feeling relieved is what really matters."

Shoot, the joke backfired.

The little story ended, and Xixi simply lay down again, whispering, "Goodnight, Brother Hong."

Watching the tranquil and sensible Xixi, Lu Hong couldn’t help but smile, "Goodnight."

Seven days later, the team from Cangdu City finally arrived at the Lei Shan Arena.

Stepping out of the carriage, Lu Hong looked up and an immensely grand round arena appeared before his eyes.

It’s so huge? It’s about the size of Cangdu City.

Though lacking extravagant decorations, its sheer size alone was enough to astonish onlookers.

The Lei Shan Arena had eight gates, with each of the seven nations possessing a key to enter their own aisles.

The spectators’ seats in the Lei Shan Arena resembled miniature sloping cities, each nation taking over a segment of the city. No matter which corner of the sector one was in, the central arena was clearly visible.

Speaking of the arena, it looked fairly ordinary besides its enormous size, with just a teleportation gate at the very center.

On the way here, Xixi had explained that this gate did not rely on magic power to open. Every five years, the accumulated solar energy would be enough to automatically open the gate, allowing the participants to cross through to Ambra’s inner world, where a fight to the death would ensue.

"Does everything that happens in the inner world get projected in the arena?" Lu Hong followed up.

Xixi thought for a moment and shook her head, "My father once told me that it seems only designated areas can be projected. Events occurring in dark zones are unknown to the arena’s audience."

"How many dark zones are there?"

"I don’t know, father didn’t specify."

Alright, we’ll see when the time comes. It’s best if we can avoid exposing our abilities.

After Cangdu City, three more nations’ teams arrived at the arena. The arrival of a team right across naturally caught his attention. Suddenly, two familiar figures appeared before Lu Hong.

"Sangxi!"

That image had been etched into Lu Hong’s mind since he had heard she fled to the Eagle Alliance with Lei Shan. He hadn’t expected to see her here.

Pure Steel Battle Energy surged with hatred and broke from his body, but fortunately, the guards around reacted quickly to prevent unnecessary damage.

Disoriented, Xixi asked in confusion, "Brother Hong, what’s wrong?"

"Which nation is that across from us?" Lu Hong asked calmly.

"Liang Chen, our mortal enemy from Cangdu City."

"Good, that’s good." Lu Hong clenched his fists, "The humiliation of the past, I shall repay in full in this battle!"

A piercing murderous intention cut through the spatial obstacles, heading straight for Sangxi.

Sangxi, who was chatting and laughing with her teammates, suddenly felt a chill in her heart and looked over in bewilderment. Though they were quite distant, she could distinctly sense the murderous intent coming from the masked man opposite her.

After a moment’s thought, she hadn’t made any enemies in Ambra, had she?

"Sangxi, what’s the matter?" Andre noticed something off and stepped forward to ask.

"Look at that masked man from Cangdu City’s sector across from us, he seems to have murderous intent towards me."

Andre glanced across and also noticed the masked Lu Hong.

"Don’t worry too much. It’s probably one of the other Marquises trying to interfere with us, as Duke Lei Shan instructed. Regardless, since there’s tension between Cangdu City and Liang Chen, once the martial meeting starts, we’ll lead Liang Chen’s men to eliminate our opponents and remove any future threats."

"Alright."