Chapter 127 - Li Ling Is What Now?

"Who are you?" The woman asked as she looked at Zhihao. 

Li Ling could clearly see that although the woman was acting courageous, in reality, she was just as equally scared as the young man who was clutching onto his arm that had been twisted by Zhihao as a greeting gift. 

Zhihao looked at the woman and smirked, "Why should I tell you?" 

The young man instantly moved away from the two players and went to stand behind the woman as he asked, "We are just asking you. Why are you so rude?"

Zhihao tilted his head as he looked at the coward who was hiding behind a woman as if she were his mother and could protect him from getting his other hand broken. 

"You people were clearly the ones lacking manners. How dare you raise your fist against him?" Zhihao would be lying if he said that he wasn't angry. The anger he was showing was genuine and it was because he didn't like anyone raising their hand against Li Ling, even if the ones doing it were a bunch of computer codes. 

"I-I was hitting him! Why do you care?!" 

"Of course I care!" Zhihao glared at the young man and it looked as if this young man had his bloody future planned ahead for him by Mastermo.. 

At this moment, the man was about to say something more that would possibly anger Mastermo but suddenly Mastermo heard a notification, and along with it came the voice of a man from the crowd. 

[The negative gambling bar has been used]

"I know you!" 

Zhihao turned his attention to the middle-aged man who was pointing at him as he exclaimed, "You're that guy from the council!" 

Zhihao had no idea what this man was talking about. All he cared about was the time. As soon as the wretched ten minutes pass, he'd be able to get the character profile and would know what his mission for this level was. 

Unless he knew the mission, there was no way he would be able to answer this question. 

The woman also turned her head around to look at the owner of the voice who had stepped out from the crowd, "The council?" 

The man nodded his head as he spoke further, "I have seen him!" 

"How can he be from the council?" The young man who seemed to have forgotten his broken arm question with an ugly face. 

"There's no way I'm mistaken!" The man yelled out as he glared at Zhihao, "It's definitely him! He was the one who was protecting that bloodsucking monster!" 

The crowd suddenly looked at Zhihao and although their eyes still showed a sense of fear hidden within it, they all seemed to have an even stronger feeling laced along with their expressions as they glared at Zhihao. It was hate and disgust. To see the angry mob suddenly glare at him with such hostility, Zhihao was instantly sure that being a part of this so-called council was definitely not a good thing. 

"What bullsh*t are you talking about? I don't belong to any council!" Zhihao defended himself. 

"Not anymore!" The man once again shouted which made Zhihao think that this middle-aged man seemed to hold particular hate for him. "You were kicked out for..." 

The man no longer continued as he let out a huff of breath as if whatever he was gonna say was so unpleasant that he would rather not say it at all. 

"Kicked out for what?" Zhihao was honestly curious, but the way he asked, made it seem as if he was mocking and challenging the man to continue his sentence. 

The middle-aged man only glared at Zhihao as he didn't say anything any further. 

The woman standing at the front of the crowd suddenly joined the two dots and looked at Zhihao in shock as she spoke, "It can't be... You! It's you?!" 

Zhihao felt a bit stunned to see that he was receiving so much hate for things he didn't even do, nor did he have any idea what these 'things' were. 

What was the council? 

And why was he being hated so much for just being a part of it. 

The woman closed her eyes as she gripped onto her pitchfork and when she opened her eyes again, Zhihao could clearly see that the hostility she showed was a lot stronger as compared to others. She pointed her pitchfork at Zhihao as she shouted at him, "You dare show your face in front of me?!" 

She tried to stab him with the sharp end of the pitchfork, but before the thing could pierce through his stomach, it was stopped inches away from his skin as Zhihao grabbed a hold of it and somehow managed to stop it with his bare hands, however, this had caused his hand to bleed from a small graze. 

The atmosphere turned intense as everyone looked at the man who had almost died in the hands of this woman who seemed to hold a deep resentment and grudge against him. 

Zhihao looked at the small cut on his palm and the blood trickling down from it felt so real that Zhihao could almost feel the pain seeping through his skin although this was all just a game. 

Zhihao's lips curled upwards into a wicked smile as he glared at the woman and knocked the pitchfork away from her hands. 

Suddenly, somebody else from the crowd cried out in horror and it attracted a lot of attention. 

"M-Monster!" 

"Look! It's him!" 

Zhihao was left stunned for a minute as he followed the direction where the man was pointing at. 

It wasn't pointing at Zhihao. It was pointing behind him where there was a man standing with his face so pale that it almost looked lifeless and weak. 

Zhihao turned his head to look at Li Ling as he wondered what made the man cry out in fear like that. 

As soon as he saw Li Ling's face, Zhihao immediately understood why such a panic was created. 

Li Ling didn't know what had happened, but his canines had somehow grown out and were sticking out, similar to how a vampire's canines would. 

"It's really him!" 

"W-we should kill him!" 

Zhihao was confused for only a second as he wondered why Li Ling had suddenly changed forms. His eyes trailed down to the blood that poured out from his small cut and Zhihao immediately knew why Li Ling was turning into a vampire. 

"Monster!" 

"Kill him!" 

"Burn him!" 

Zhihao shook his head as he looked at the people and spoke back, "Nobody is killing anybody and if you want to burn something, go burn yourselves!"

The people weren't easy to control this time as they approached Zhihao without fear. 

Zhihao was more than annoyed at this mob and as he saw them marching to kill Li Ling, Zhihao had the instant urge to show them what dying really feels like. He was planning a mass murder, but before he could kill even one of them, He was pulled away. 

"Huh?" Zhihao took a whole minute to realize that it was Li Ling who had pulled him away and was running away from the group of people. 

"Why are you running?" Zhihao asked with a frown on his face. 

Li Ling glanced back at him and then at the crowd following them with pitchforks and fire in their hands, "I'll explain later. We should run for now." 

Since Li Ling had said that he'll explain, Zhihao believed him and ran away with him. 

This was probably Mastermo's first time running in such a situation. He wasn't the type of person who would be chased by people who wanted to kill him so of course, he hadn't done such a thing before. It was his first time and Zhihao didn't know why, but he felt a sort of thrill in this chase. Maybe it was because the person he was running with was Li Ling or maybe it was because of some other reason, whatever it was, Zhihao kinda felt as if he could keep on running forever. 

Li Ling suddenly pulled Zhihao strongly as he hid behind a tree with a thick trunk. Li Ling held a hand above Zhihao's mouth as he pinned him against the tree and peeked at the people who were following them. 

Zhihao was too busy staring at Li Ling's captivating beauty spot so there was no way he would be able to notice that the people they were running from had all went away as they continued chasing after these two whom they weren't able to keep up with. 

Li Ling sighed in relief as he removed his hand from over Zhihao's mouth.

"Are you sure you don't want to date me?" Zhihao asked as he looked at Li Ling, who looked back at him when he heard this. 

"Ask again later." 

Zhihao shrugged his shoulder. He had expected this answer, but that didn't mean he wasn't hoping for a different, more positive answer. 

Li Ling suddenly punched Zhihao's shoulder as he commented, "When did you become so domineering?" 

"Hmm?" 

"You looked so cool out there!" 

Zhihao smiled in amusement as he heard the man, "Did I?" 

"Absolutely! If I wasn't already in- Oh!" Li Ling immediately stopped himself from completing that sentence.

'If I wasn't already in love with you, I would've fallen head over heels for you!'

This was what Li Ling wanted to say, but if he said this, he would only be confessing to Zhihao about his crush on the man.