Chapter 604: I Have A Friend Called Bai Qi

Chapter 604 I Have A Friend Called Bai Qi

“Spectacular! Spectacular!”

A voice spoke out, followed by a loud round of applause.

“Spectacular? Which part?” The voice that had spoken before the battle began sneered. “It is just True Samadhi Fire. Although it is fairly powerful, it is not exactly some incredibly powerful skill.”

“Whatever. For me, at the very least, in this instance dungeon, it has been a very long time since I got to witness such a fight…” the voice replied and gave a faint sigh.

“Fine. I am not going to exchange nonsensical words with you. Since the battle is over… … you fellows can come out now.”

Next, the invisible energy wall on the stands shimmered before disappearing. Phoenix, who was standing within the arena, was then able to see Chen Xiaolian and the others within the stands.

Chen Xiaolan looked at the distant Han Bi. He knew that his words could now reach Han Bi. However, after opening his mouth, he found himself at a loss as to what to say.

Han Bi turned to look at Chen Xiaolian. He too, did not say anything. Instead, he stepped down the stairs of the stands until he stood before the pile of ashes within the arena, the remains of Wang Sheng. He crouched down.

“Xiaolian oppa!”

From opposite the stands, Soo Soo shouted loudly as she rushed toward Chen Xiaolian. When she finally reached him, she hugged him tightly, pressing her head into Chen Xiaolian’s chest.

Chen Xiaolian ruffled Soo Soo’s head while turning his gaze toward Phoenix and Han Bi, two of whom were within the arena.

It has been a while.

Tian Lie, Hossein and the others slowly walked over. Lin Leyan, however, walked in the rear of the group. She had her eyes looking down, not daring to look straight at Chen Xiaolian as she bit her lip heavily.

“Is it over?”

Tian Lie had his arms crossed as he grinned at Chen Xiaolian.

Chen Xiaolian considered the question for a moment before replying with a wry smile. “Probably.”

Seeing that Tian Lie still had questions to ask, Chen Xiaolian quickly shook his head to stop him. He patted both Tian Lie and Hossein’s shoulders and said, “You fellows stay here for a bit. That fellow and I… … we need to talk.”

After saying that, Chen Xiaolian walked down the stands and into centre of the arena.

Han Bi was still crouched before the pile of ashes. He reached out with his hand to grab a fistful of the ashes, raised it up and loosened. His face revealed no emotions as the ashes slowly drifted down.

Chen Xiaolian stood behind him for a long time. In the end, he said in a subdued tone, “Han Bi… I am sorry, but I had no other way…”

“This is my little bro.”

Without turning around, Han Bi suddenly uttered those words. He still had his back against Chen Xiaolian. 

“He is a reckless kid, not smart, arrogant, and full of youthfulness. After becoming an Awakened, he managed to get an [A] class weapon. After that, he followed me and began to view others as insignificant. He kept thinking that he is some hot stuff. I had already lectured him many times, but my words go in one ear and out the other.”

Chen Xiaolian was stunned. He was unable to figure out why Han Bi would say all that.

Han Bi turned around to face Chen Xiaolian. “And yet… … despite his many flaws, I had viewed him as my own little bro. And today…”

Chen Xiaolian gave a faint sigh. “Han Bi, I…”

“Han Bi waved his hand. “No need for you to say it, I know what you want to say. This duel was arranged by the two old monsters here. Be it to clear a stage or to release us from this instance dungeon, the final task is to send out two people from our group of participants and have them fight each other to the death as a form of entertainment for those two. The right to select the two gladiators ended up in your hands.”

“… … …”

Maintaining the emotionless expression on his face, Han Bi turned, his gaze swept past Phoenix to rest upon the group on the stands. When he saw Soo Soo, a flicker of emotions appeared on his face. “That little girl, you had entrusted her to me back then… … mm, besides her, the others must be your companions. Since there is a need to select someone, you chose one of us. That is only natural, however…”

He raised his head and stared at Chen Xiaolian. “However, why did you choose Wang Sheng and not me?”

Chen Xiaolian smiled ruefully and shook his head slowly, not knowing how to answer Han Bi.

Han Bi suddenly smiled as well. However, that smile of his was filled with boundless bitterness. “Your helplessness… … it is not that I do not understand it. I am a Guild Leader now. If you want her to win-”

Han Bi extended out his hand to point at Phoenix. Seeing that, a sneer appeared on Phoenix’s face.

“Choosing Wang Sheng as her opponent is the safest decision. I understand that logic.

“But… … you tell me, if you are in my shoes, will you not hate me?”

Chen Xiaolian took a deep breath and slowly nodded his head. “I will.”

“Actually, I would have wanted Chen Xiaolian to choose you back then.”

Phoenix, who had been silent all this while suddenly snorted. Han Bi gave her a frown and said, “You?”

Phoenix sneered. “The one who killed your little bro is me. If you want to hate someone, you should hate me, not Chen Xiaolian. Besides, killing one of your members is not enough to satisfy me at all.”

Han Bi’s brows rose somewhat and he said, “You want to… … kill me?”

Phoenix continued sneering. “You killed one of my members, shouldn’t you cough out your own life as recompense?”

Han Bi did not know that he had taken Monster’s spot in the punishment instance dungeon. At that moment, however, he was filled with rage. He no longer cared what Phoenix had to say. With a muffled growl, the Tiger Angel’s mech armour began to form upon his right arm. “Enough nonsense, bring it on!”

“I don’t remember saying anything about second fight.”

The malicious sounding voice rang out within the arena once more. An energy wall suddenly rose up between Phoenix and Han Bi. Like a piece of glass wall, it separated the two of them.

“You can’t say that. Since they want to fight, why stop them? The earlier fight ended so abruptly, I have yet to have my fill,” the other voice spoke out languidly.

“Humph! This is my domain. If I want them to fight, they will have no choice but to fight. If I do not want them to fight, it doesn’t matter how much they want to fight, they will have no choice but to not fight.” The other voice gave a harrumph.

“Since the fight is over, you fellows should keep your end of the promise, no? The one I selected won. So, release everyone within this instance dungeon except me.”

“Of course.” The voice snickered.

“Wait, Xiaolian oppa!”

Unknown to him, Soo Soo, had at an unknown moment, gotten behind him. Hearing Chen Xiaolian’s words, Soo Soo abruptly frowned and she tugged the corners of Chen Xiaolian’s clothes. “Except you? You… … don’t plan on leaving?”

“Ha ha ha ha! Look at how worried you are! Don’t worry, he will be going out soon enough. Before that, though, he still has some business with me.”

Chen Xiaolian reached out with his hand and patted Soo Soo on her head. “That voice is telling the truth. You all go out first. When I leave, I will meet up with you all.”

After saying that, Chen Xiaolian straightened his gaze to look at Phoenix and Han Bi. He gave a faint sigh. “You two…”

Han Bi had seized Monster’s spot in the punishment instance dungeon’s winners list while Phoenix had killed off Wang Sheng. Instance dungeons had always been a place where participants had to kill each other. Losing due to lack of skill was unavoidable. Even so, Chen Xiaolian still hoped that the two of them could put the grudge between them down.

Due to the suppression of the two old monsters inside this instance dungeon, they would not be able to fight. However, once they make it out from this instance dungeon…

“Don’t worry. Before your matter is finished, I will temporarily leave them here.” The other voice, the one with a slightly warmer tone laughed. It had seen through the concern in Chen Xiaolian’s heart.

“You sure know how to be the good guy.” The other voice snorted coldly. “Come on in.”

After that, a door appeared before Chen Xiaolian. Beyond the door was darkness and he was unable to see anything beyond it.

“Xiaolian oppa, I will wait for you here.” Soo Soo clutched Chen Xiaolian’s hand and shook it. Then, she turned to look at Phoenix and Han Bi before whispering, “Sis Phoenix and him… … they will probably be unable to fight. If they do… … don’t worry, we will do our best to stop them.”

Chen Xiaolian nodded his head and said, “Give me the Lifehymn Music Score.”

Soo Soo did not question him about it. She obediently retrieved the Lifehymn Music Score from her storage equipment and handed it over to Chen Xiaolian.

Chen Xiaolian’s gaze swept past Tian Lie, Nicole, and Hossein. After exchanging glances with them, he nodded and turned around to walk into the door.

…

Within the darkness beyond the door, Chen Xiaolian saw a beam of light coming from a short distance away from his position. He strode toward the beam of light. It did not take him long to reach it.

Before him stood another door, one that looked completely similar to the earlier one. The light was coming from beyond this door.

Finally… … he was going to meet the two old freaks.

Especially… … the bastard who used Qiao Qiao’s image to mess with him.

Chen Xiaolian clenched his fist, took a deep breath and stepped forward.

White.

An expanse of white.

A boundless world of white.

Be it the ground or the sky, all was pure white with no end in sight.

Two figures stood before Chen Xiaolian. One of them was a youngster, seemingly only around 16 years old. The youngster had a smile on his face but was dressed up like a punk singer. There were metal piercings all over his body and he sported a Mohawk. As for his face, it was painted with various colours.

The other one… was a woman.

Her attire was much simpler. She wore white coloured robes, the same colour as the ground, and sky. The same was true of her complexion. It was so simplistic, it appeared as though she was someone bereft of style.

The only exception was her long hair, which was the colour of blazing crimson, similar to that of a raging fire.

Earlier, the two voices had sounded like males. However, Chen Xiaolian did not appear surprised in the slightest with this discovery. He simply gave the two of them a perfunctory glance before saying, “Which one?”

“To use such a harsh tone against us, you are the first.” The punk youngster gave Chen Xiaolian a thumbs-up before turning to look at the red-haired woman. “See? He still hasn’t let go and wants to kill you.”

“Let him.” The red-haired woman sneered. Raising a finger, she made a slow pointing gesture.

An invisible force slammed into Chen Xiaolian’s chest, sending him flying tens of metres away. He then fell heavily on the ground.

Chen Xiaolian got up quietly. There had been no indication for that attack just now. Just by pointing her finger, she had been able to unleash an attack out of nowhere.

Seeing Chen Xiaolian getting up, the red-haired woman snorted and pointed with her finger once more.

Chen Xiaolian noticed the pointing action by the red-haired woman. With a muffled grunt, Skyblade’s power burst out from within him. The power converged before him and blasted forward.

“[S] class?” The red-haired woman sneered. There was no sign of surprise within her voice, only ridicule. “Just a borrowed [S] class power. What about it?”

Skyblade’s power was actually incapable of stopping the red-haired woman’s one finger attack. With a mere contact, Skyblade’s power fell apart while Chen Xiaolian was slammed by the force once more and was sent flying.

Given Chen Xiaolian’s present level of strength, in addition to Skyblade’s power within him, he could put up a fight even against an [S] class opponent. Facing this red-haired woman, however, he was just like a toddler that had just learned how to talk.

However, it was clear that the red-haired woman did not want to kill Chen Xiaolian. The two attacks on his chest had only sent him flying. Other than the faint sensations of pain from his chest, Chen Xiaolian suffered from no other signs of injury.

Chen Xiaolian flipped himself up to his feet and growled out. As he was about to charge forward, the punk youngster waved his hand. Immediately, Chen Xiaolian discovered that his body had been locked and he was incapable of moving at all.

“You want to interfere with my affairs?” The red-haired woman turned around to glare at the punk youngster and said with a chilling voice.

The punk youngster, however, simply waved his hand and snickered. He replied, “You can’t even kill him. Also, you do not want to kill him. If this goes on, when will it ever end?”

The red-haired woman pondered for a moment before releasing a faint harrumph. Then, she put down her finger. 

As for Chen Xiaolian, his whole body had been restrained to the point where even lifting a finger was impossible. His chest was the only thing moving, heaving up and down.

“Enough, it was not easy for you to come meet us. Why all the killing?” The punk youngster waved his hand again and laughed. Then, he continued, “Let us put aside the fact that you only have a borrowed [S] class power for now. Even if you really possess [S] class power, it is impossible for you to kill either of us while we are inside this instance dungeon. Additionally… … if you really kill her, who is going to help you restore the Lifehymn Music Score?”

Chen Xiaolian had wanted to say something but found that he was unable to even open his mouth.

“Knowing that the girl is important to you, this…” The punk youngster pointed at the red-haired woman. “She created a zombie with her likeness, causing you to become so angry. However… … that is nothing. Think about it, which one is more important? Resurrecting that girl, or venting the fury in your heart?”

Just now, Chen Xiaolian had lost his sense of reason. He had since calmed down. After releasing a faint sigh, he nodded to find that the punk youngster had lifted the restraining force on him.

“This old sicko may be bad-tempered, but she had never reneged on her words before. At the very least… … I have never seen such a thing happen.” The punk youngster gave the red-haired woman a glance and smiled before saying, “I say, since this kid has won the bet, you should uphold your promise, no?”

The red-haired woman snorted coldly. Next, she made a finger hooking gesture at Chen Xiaolian.

Chen Xiaolian calmed down his rate of breathing and stepped forward. When he was standing before the red-haired woman, he pulled out his Lifehymn Music Score.

The red-haired woman gave Chen Xiaolian a glance before accepting the Lifehymn Music Score. After lowering her head, a sigh suddenly escaped her lips. She raised her head to look at the punk youngster. “How long has it been?” 

The punk youngster grew silent for a moment before revealing a strained smile. Shaking his head, he said, “I can no longer remember. I think… … you cannot remember as well.”

“I wonder… … what happened to that fellow.” The red-haired woman suddenly shifted her gaze back to Chen Xiaolian and said, “I had promised you that I will restore this Lifehymn Music Score to its complete state and modify it into the ‘special’ version. However, you need to do me a favour.”

Chen Xiaolian’s brows knitted slightly, but he nodded his head and said, “What?”

“Me and… …” The red-haired woman looked at the punk youngster before continuing, “This fellow, we have a friend. At present, he should be inside the Recycle Bin. After you get there, find him.”

“And?”

“There are a total of three slots within the Lifehymn Music Score. You can bring back two people with you from the Recycle Bin. Since you just want to save that girl, save that last slot for him.”

Chen Xiaolian considered it for a moment and nodded his head. “Fine. That friend of yours, what is his name?”

“Bai Qi.”

…