Chapter 89 - Pacifying Nono

Chapter 89: Chapter 87 Pacifying NonoAfter seeing off Lock Fan, Caesar raised his head and glanced at the unconscious Nono before speaking, "Is this little girl the one you’ve been trying everything to rescue?"

"Yes," Lu Hong nodded. "Moreover, I owe Lai Li a favor. If it wasn’t for her willingness to help me rescue people, I wouldn’t even have been able to enter Nansha Great Forest."

"Lai Li went with you into Nansha Great Forest?" Caesar was somewhat surprised. By nature, Lai Li wasn’t the type to show kindness, and he knew his daughter far too well—she barely interfered in matters that didn’t concern her.

"Just ask Lai Li when she gets back. I need to take Nono upstairs to rest first." Lu Hong was eager to wake Nono from her coma, so he didn’t elaborate much on their journey.

Caesar wasn’t surprised, thinking it was better to hear about it from his own daughter than from an outsider.

Once Lu Hong had clattered upstairs, he noticed that all the rooms on the second floor were empty, which made him suspiciously shout to Caesar downstairs, "Where are my classmates? Did you cook them?!"

"Don’t be ridiculous. I merely found them some work to do." Caesar hastily gathered up the Gold Coins on the countertop.

"Work? What kind of work?" Lu Hong leaned over from upstairs, "They are friends I’ve faced life and death with; you better not be cheating them."

"Of course not. I saw that they lacked combat experience, so I sent them to the mercenary group for training," Caesar replied with a cunning look, which made Lu Hong even more suspicious.

"How come I didn’t know about any training activities at the Battle Scar Mercenary Group?"

"It’s a new initiative, no need to worry. They’ll naturally return tonight."

"Alright." Lu Hong wasn’t worried that Caesar had hurt his life-and-death classmates. Since they would return at night, he could ask them then about what they had been doing these past few days.

After fobbing off Lu Hong, Caesar picked up a large bag of Gold Coins and stealthily slipped through the side door, apparently to hide the money.

Placing Nono on the soft big bed, Caesar’s hospitality was commendable—relations with him assured enhanced accommodations.

Lu Hong took out a bottle of potion that Lai Li had given him and carefully opened it under Nono’s nose. A wisp of green smoke drifted from the potion bottle, successfully entering Nono’s nostrils.

"Ahchoo~" Nono sneezed, finally waking up from her coma.

"Tuzhui City?" Looking up at the familiar face, Nono almost shed tears, "Am I dreaming?"

"Of course not. It took a lot of effort to rescue you from the hands of the Sect Hierarch," Lu Hong assured her.

"Was it you who rescued me?" A peculiar gleam shone in Nono’s eyes.

"Nonsense, who else could come to rescue you?" Lu Hong scoffed. "You were captured by the Vice Sect Hierarch of the Hell Sect; who else but me could have rescued you from her clutches?"

As he spoke, Lu Hong was confident in his assurance. Given Lando’s strong-willed nature, only his personal relationship with her could have eased the conflict, anyone else might as well have gotten Nono killed alongside.

"Tuzhui City." Moved by Lu Hong’s words, Nono felt like crying, but then she remembered the tragedy at home and suddenly couldn’t stop sobbing loud and hard, "My mother and sister are all dead!"

"Don’t cry, don’t cry," Lu Hong stepped forward, and gently patting her back, he consoled, "Everything will get better, everything will get better."

"I hate the Hell Sect, it’s them, they killed my family! I want to take revenge!" Anger filled Nono’s eyes, her rage seeming inextinguishable.

"Calm down. Don’t let hatred cloud your judgment! I believe your mother and sister, if they have spirits in heaven, wouldn’t want to see you blinded by hatred."

Hearing Lu Hong’s advice, Nono fell silent, and it was a long time before she spoke again, "What should I do then? Am I supposed to just forget the vengeance for my mother and sister?!"

"It’s not about abandoning revenge, but you need to distinguish the primary from the secondary. Moreover, injustice has a ringleader. Do you know who killed your mother?"

Nono nodded, "It was Ze Xiu, the Sect Hierarch of the Hell Sect. My uncle rushed to Stone Moss City to save me and told me Ze Xiu had set an ambush on Seventh Degree Mountain, trapping and killing my mother and sister inside the mountain, leaving no remains!" As she spoke, Nono’s eyes reddened again, tears involuntarily rolling down.

"Then your enemy is Ze Xiu."

"Yes. You’re right, I must kill Ze Xiu!" Nono spoke with a grave tone.

"But can you defeat him? Not to mention the Hell Sect’s millions of followers, Ze Xiu alone is a top-tier power at the Third Transition Peak. What will you use for revenge?" Lu Hong stared at Nono, laying out the stark reality.

"I...," Yeah, Ze Xiu was indeed a mighty warrior at the Third Transition Peak, and she, Nono, was still just a Knight at level ten of the First Transition. What could she use to seek revenge on others?

Seeing Nono fall into despair and helplessness, Lu Hong then said, "But don’t be disheartened, you can take revenge, just not now."

"When is that? When I have the same strength as him? How many years would that take!" Nono probably still didn’t understand her own crucial identity.

"When you ascend to the Queen’s throne, that will be the day of your revenge." Lu Hong looked at Nono and said, "After the loss of your mother and sister, the Shahak family is like a dragon without a head, completely unable to unite. You are the only living princess from the Shahak family’s main line, and according to the rules, you must inherit the Queen’s throne and lead the Shahak family."

"Me? Become a queen?" Nono had never considered such a possibility: "I can’t be a queen, I simply don’t have the ability."

Prepared for Nono’s self-denial, Lu Hong replied, "As long as you are alive, the Shahak family will surely choose you to be their queen, and you must take the seat. Otherwise, the Shahak family will fall into internal conflicts, and the northern borders of the empire will descend into chaos. I know you’re afraid you won’t do well, but everything has a first time. You have your mother’s bloodline. Why has it always been someone from the main line of the Shahak family who takes the position of Queen? It’s a talent that flows in your blood. You can do it, Nono!"

"Can I really do it?" Under Lu Hong’s persuasion, Nono started to believe somewhat.

"Of course, don’t you trust me?"

"Then... then will you stay with me?" Nono asked Lu Hong, hope shining in her eyes.

"Uh..." How did he end up convincing himself into this situation? Lu Hong initially wanted to lift Nono’s spirits, to keep her from losing her way to revenge, and to give her a bit of encouragement. Saying nothing more, even being a puppet queen would be fine; it could at least stabilize the Shahak family’s situation. Now he had just talked himself into a corner.

Now Lu Hong definitely couldn’t say no, so he braced himself and said, "Don’t worry, I will always stay with you." It seemed Lu Hong’s sacrifice was quite significant to stabilize Nono’s emotions.

Hearing Lu Hong’s response, Nono felt much better: "Lock Fan, I’m hungry, that demoness Lando had captured me and didn’t give me anything to eat."

"Come, let’s go get something to eat." Lu Hong took Nono’s hand and led her out of the town.

"Lock Fan, what exactly happened inside the abyss after I escaped? Did you get hurt?" Nono was very concerned about Lu Hong’s experiences in the abyss.

"It’s okay, didn’t get hurt much, just hid in hell, and in the end, the principal saved us." Lu Hong didn’t go into the details of his time in hell, knowing that it might be too dark for the still somewhat naïve Nono.

They walked out of the inn, and Nono looked around and said, "Huh? Where are we now? It doesn’t look like Stone Moss City."

"Of course it isn’t. Stone Moss City isn’t safe, the Eight Great Families could attack at any time. We are near a little adventurer town close to Tuzhui City, it’s more of a neutral zone, relatively safe for now." Lu Hong wasn’t completely sure, in case one day the Eight Great Families had a change of heart and decided to strike at the neutral areas.

"Tuzhui City? Did we cross half the empire?" Nono’s eyes went wide, slightly incredulous.

"All thanks to the Teleportation Scroll, you ran off to the edge of the empire, how could I have found you without using some advanced technology?" Lu Hong found it odd why Nono and Fidel ended up in a border city like Stone Moss City after emerging from the rift of hell.

"It’s not what I thought; it was my knight guard. They took me and Fidel to Stone Moss City, saying it was relatively safe."

"You got there by walking?"

"How could that be possible? It was a Mage of Space who took us there." Nono rolled her eyes at Lu Hong: "Walking there would take too much time, as you well know."

"Hey, speaking of which, since you’ve brought me here, where is Fidel? I haven’t seen him," Nono suddenly asked. Logically, Lock Fan certainly wouldn’t have neglected Fidel.

"He?" Lu Hong gave a wry smile: "He doesn’t trust me, thinks I’m a spy for the Eight Great Families, so I dropped the idea of taking him away."

"That can’t be, right? How could he think you’re a spy for the Eight Great Families?" Nono found it hard to believe, even though Fidel and Lu Hong hadn’t known each other for very long, they knew each other well.

"Who knows? He wouldn’t even open the city gate to let me in, how could I even start to talk about taking him away?" Lu Hong shrugged. He had indeed intended to take Fidel to the town for refuge, as nowhere in the empire was safer than Caesar’s stronghold at the peak. But since Fidel was suspicious, Lu Hong had to let go of that idea.

Lu Hong didn’t blame Fidel for being suspicious, as their lives were at stake.

While the two chatted leisurely, Louise suddenly appeared and blocked their path.

"Well, Lock Fan!" Louise’s expression was dark: "So, the important thing you were talking about was chasing girls?"

"Uh..." Lu Hong started to explain, but then Nono had a problem on her side too.

Nono, looking at the woman who had both the figure and the face, and who also seemed exceptionally flirty, determined from her sixth sense and the woman’s words that she must have some unclear relationship with Lu Hong: "Lock Fan! Who is this woman?!"

"I..." Watching the two poised for confrontation, Lu Hong slapped his forehead, thinking, Shoot, I’m in trouble now!