Chapter 488: Ladies' Man
Translator: OneshotwonderEditor: Hitesh_
The intense light made the men cover their eyes.
Guan Dongyang estimated that there were about two hundred of them. He reckoned that if all of these men rushed into the camp at the same time, they were bound to wreak havoc. Perhaps, Guan Dongyang thought, House Lie was not as influential as he had felt to deter dangers.
"Good evening everyone. Your enthusiasm deeply touches me in coming to bid me farewell." Guan Dongyang spoke with his soul energy, sending the message directly into the ears of the intruders.
The booming voice in their heads, combined with the intense blinding light, stunned the intruders.
No one knew what was going on. Was it a mastery spell? God knows!
"KOM!"
A blaring explosion erupted in the distance, sending a plume of yellow smoke billowing up to the night sky. "I am cultivating a new mastery. It has been... unstable. Please watch out where you step, my friends."
The intruders looked to the directions of the explosion and found out that half of a hilltop was shaved clean off, leaving an ugly scar that bubbled smoke.
Suddenly, the light disappeared, and the sudden darkness blinded and disoriented the intruders for the second time. Even after the intruders finally regained their visual senses, no one dared make a move closer to the camp.
After some time, these men turned their heels and slid into the darkness, running where they came from.
Seeing the enemies retreat, a swell of cheers rose in the Battle Wolf camp. They had won a battle without firing a shot.
Driven by greed, the raiders came to the camp, but were terrified of Guan Dongyang's power. They feared that if they aggravated Guan Dongyang, he would rain death on them while his Mastery trickery blinded them. Between the loot and their life, they would choose the latter on any given day.
Wang Tong knew that these raiders, consumed by their greed, were not vile men before the war broke out. Therefore, there was no sense in harming their lives unnecessarily.
Nonetheless, the incidence exposed the human world's desperate need for unity.
Having learned their lessons, the battle wolf didn't let their guard down after the raiders retreated.
They rode out again at the break of dawn. On their way, House Lie seemed to have changed their opinion toward Guan Dongyang after last night's complications. Not only did Lie Wushuang initiate conversation with Guan Dongyang, which he had never done before, but his tone was no longer laced with condescension. Guan Dongyang's performance had caught them off guard. Lie Wushuang was convinced that Guan Dongyang was very close to the legendary level. Seeing how strong the leader of the Battle Wolf had gotten, Lie Wushuang felt that he would have to change his approach as well.
Lie Wushuang was not alone in his change of attitude, as Lie Xuan also started to see Guan Dongyang under a different light after yesterday's event. She reckoned that the mastery he used last night could easily disorient an entire army of warriors. Using his area of effect spells, Guan Dongyang could have done away with the two hundred or so raiders with a few sweeps of hands.
The mastery Guan Dongyang used was not the elemental fire Mastery that he was most familiar with. The fire mastery consisted only a few common spells and their variants. After being popularized among mastery casters, it was quickly getting old.
The originality of the light spell aside, the incident was also a reminder to House Lie that as a near-legendary level warrior, Guan Dong had more tricks up his sleeves than he showed on the surface.
The thought of Guan Dongyang's surreptitious act behind her back made Lie Xuan knot his brows. She always thought that she had Guan Dongyang wrapped around her little finger. He should have reported to her any of his recent development without her even asking. Lie Xuan finally conceded that it was time for her to change tactics.
In the morning, she called for the shotgun in Guan Dongyang's vehicle and on their way home, she, for the first time, started to talk about herself to Guan Dongyang.
However, Guan Dongyang had followed Wang Tong's advice and appeared cold and distant. Regardless of how obviously Lie Xuan hinted at yesterday's event, he kept things to himself and brushed off his heroic act as if it was nothing.
Guan Dongyang could tell that the chemistry between him and Lie Xuan was changing with each mile they traveled. He marveled at Wang Tong's incredible ability to capture a girl's heart.
He remembered that back in the old days, Wang Tong had been a ladies' man. Not only was he Ma Xiaoru's fiance, but many other girls had also publicly displayed their affection. Li Ruoer had ditched Lie Jian for him; Princess Heidi had openly invited him to her residence, and even his principal, Samantha, favored him over all other students.
Those were the girls who were still alive, and there was also Zhou Sisi, the girl who had given her life for Wang Tong.
Guan Dongyang remembered the saddened faces of Wang Tong's friends after they have heard about his death. Why would they treat Wang Tong as their best friend? It was because Wang Tong treated them the same way.
Wang Tong had always valued his friends more than personal power, and that was the difference between a monster and a human. Guan Dongyang knew that he and Wang Tong were the same type of person: he would rather die for friends than live like a king in loneliness.
Lie Xuan couldn't suppress the feeling that something was different about Guan Dongyang after last night's turn of events. It was hard to put it in words. Perhaps, he was more confident than his former self, more like the man that Lie Xuan dreamed of marrying.
Realizing how close she had gotten to the man she could love for the rest of her life, Lie Xuan blushed.
By lunchtime, House Lie had washed the condescending tones out of words and joined the Battle Wolf at the same camp table.
Guan Dongyang wished that he could explain what happened last night to Lie Xuan, but Wang Tong told him not to. He didn't want any major power to know that he had landed on Mars yet.
"Dongyang, have more vegetables. They're good for you." Lie Xuan said and carefully picked some greens from the salad bowl, setting them on Guan Dongyang's plate.
The rest of the table was so shocked by Lie Xuan's feminine voice and caring expression that they stopped eating altogether, with mouths wide open.
"What are you gawking at? Do you want to court death?" Sensing the attention on her, Lie Xuan poured out her scathing fire at them. Lie Wushuang quickly buried his head into his plate but failed to suppress a few snickers.
Guan Dongyang's mood bloomed like a flower, but Wang Tong had told him to never show his joy on his face, so he tried his best to keep a placid expression, and didn't even offer his appreciation for Lie Xuan's attention. All the while, Guan Dongyang felt that Lie Xuan was going to spit fire at him for his arrogance, but she didn't. He sneaked a peek at Lie Xuan after he had eaten the greens on his plate: A caring smile was still on Lie Xuan's face.
Everyone around the camp could tell that Duo Lun and Tan Bu had been acting strangely of late. They talked much less at the dining table, and they trained their body and exercised their tactics studiously like there was no tomorrow.
Wang Tong had successfully instilled the value of hard work into the two's minds.
After lunch, the band set out again without loitering around, fearing any further complications.