CH 52

Lai’s warm lips dominated Ji Ning’s. The next moment, the priest of the Lunar Temple opened the door. Ji Ning quickly pushed Lai away and moved in front of him. Without meaning to, they really looked like a pair of lovers who’d separated after being startled.

The innkeeper followed behind the priest and whispered into his ear, “The person hiding behind the noble gentleman is his lover. As a young lady, it’s inappropriate for us to ask her to show her face in this situation, I hope you can understand.” 

The priest nodded and asked, “When did they check into their room?”

“About five o’clock in the evening,” The innkeeper answered, “Before the dark mage escaped.”

After nodding politely to the priest, the dark haired aristocrat in the bath interrupted their conversation, “I apologise my Lord Priest, but my lover is rather conservative and would rather not meet you so discourteously. Please could you wait for us to come out before beginning your questioning?”

He stroked his lover’s hair soothingly. She kept her head down the whole time with hardly any of her body visible. Only the top of her golden blond hair could be seen. 

The young aristocrat had an excellent temperament. Even in this situation, he remained calm and noble, befitting of his station. Although priests were not people who judged by appearances, the Lunar Temple priest immediately felt he was trustworthy.

The dark mage he was searching for wasn’t blond, and their escape had been entirely accidental. Even if this noble was their accomplice, there wouldn’t have been any time to prepare a transformative potion. Therefore, these two people should have nothing to do with the dark mage’s escape.

For the sake of safety, the priest released a water element array to check the hot spring’s water. When it confirmed there were only those two people inside the bath, he said with a smile.

“There is no need to apologise, we were the ones who were disrespectful. Thank you very much for your cooperation. You’ve proven your innocence and no one will disturb you again, I hope the two of you can happily enjoy this beautiful night.”

After the priest finished speaking, he turned and left the bathroom. The innkeeper apologised once again at the door, then followed the priest. Knowing they had passed the inspection, Ji Ning felt an overwhelming sense of relief. Just as he was about to turn around, a strong pair of arms wrapped around his waist.

“Teacher…”

A heavy heat pressed against his back. Lai called Ji Ning’s name softly, resting his forehead on his shoulder. The steam soaked strands of his hair pressed against Ji Ning’s bare skin, causing him to tremble softly.

“Lai?” He asked. 

“Even in such a hot place,” The young man’s clear voice was inexplicably deeper in this moment, “Teacher’s body still feels cool. Is this because you’re a Necromancer?”

Before Ji Ning could answer, he murmured to himself, “But even so, this is the heat of the living. I can feel the warmth of my teacher and it makes me happy. I’m so happy…”

After saying this, he fell silent. Only the sound of the cooling water droplets falling from the ceiling could be heard in the bathroom.

This sort of atmosphere made Ji Ning slightly uncomfortable. The meaning of the boy’s words was obvious. He wasn’t simply a character in a game but the real Lai, who had found him again after experiencing Ji Ning’s death. 

Did Lai finally plan to speak honestly with him?

Ji Ning gently pushed away the hands that held him and turned around slowly in the water, looking at the boy in front of him.

The bath was filled with heavy steam and the whole room was soaked in the faint scent of sulphur. Lai’s head was lowered but through the mist Ji Ning could vaguely see his slender body, wide shoulders and narrow waist, strengthened with muscles. He still carried an air of immaturity but his appearance was near perfect.

But Ji Ning didn’t have any idea what the older Lai would look like. After so many years, perhaps this was just another phantom of the past. 

Lai wiped the water from his cheeks with the back of his hand without saying a word. The corners of his eyes and the tip of his nose were reddened as if he was about to cry.

Seeing his appearance made Ji Ning’s heart soften. He stroked the boy’s blond hair and said softly, “It’s alright, I’m here now…”

“Shh.”

Lai suddenly pressed his index finger against Ji Ning’s lips, preventing his next words. Even though his eyes were still reddened, his lips curved into a smile as he said, “The game isn’t over yet, teacher. There are still some things that cannot be said.” 

So how long will it take before you end this game? What will happen once it’s over?

Ji Ning couldn’t help asking in his heart. He didn’t understand what Lai’s purpose was. Even though they knew one another’s true identities, they still maintained the illusion that they were playing a game.

But even if Lai wanted him to keep silent, Ji Ning couldn’t. He needed to ask Lai if he could help him escape from Mo Ling Palace. Since Lai could make the terminal appear out of thin air, that meant he had the power to manipulate space.

“I know what teacher wants to ask.” 

Ojl rwlifv, gfwbnfv tlr tjcvr jcv rjlv, “Kfjmtfg, tjnf sbe tfjgv atlr yifrrlcu yfobgf, ‘Viffq lc qfjmf jcv ktfc atf rec glrfr jujlc, jii sbeg klrtfr klii mbwf agef’?”

“Ciatbeut afjmtfg bcis yfilfnfr lc atf ubvvfrr bo vjgxcfrr, P atlcx atlr yifrrlcu klii jirb kbgx obg sbe.”

Lf tfiv Al Rlcu’r rtbeivfgr jcv xlrrfv tlr obgftfjv. Qlat j ufcaif nblmf tf rjlv, “Xbbv cluta, afjmtfg.”

The night passed slowly until the clocks reached 5 o’clock. At a time so early in the morning, it should have been silent inside the Mo Ling palace, yet the entire palace was in commotion, trying to prepare for the upcoming wedding between the Emperor and Empress. 

The blond monarch sat inside the council hall, rubbing his eyebrows as he finally ended the meeting that had lasted through the night. Over the past few days, in order to prepare for the wedding, he had been constantly busy. Not only did he need to approve the various wedding preparations in person, he also had to silence any dissenting voices.

Since he had ascended the throne, very few had dared to oppose him due to his ruthless and cruel behaviour. In a similar way, if he was merely marrying a man to be his Empress, the nobles would have bit their tongues and not dared speak against him, but the current situation was enough that even the cowardly nobles had to speak up. The newly proclaimed Empress bore a striking resemblance to the deceased fifth prince.

The fifth prince had been secretly executed several years ago, and nobles close to the royal family were already aware that he was not biologically related to the former Emperor. However, as this was a royal scandal, this matter was kept secret and wasn’t known to the general public. As far as they were aware, the fifth prince died unexpectedly, and there was never any uncertainty about his identity.

The fifth prince has made very few public appearances during his lifetime and only when he was a teenager. There wouldn’t be many people who remembered his appearance. However, if the public found out that their new Empress and the late fifth prince shared a likeness, it would cause uproar in the country. 

This was not simply a matter of homosexual marriage, the Emperor was opening himself up to charges of incest. If this situation wasn’t handled properly, it would inevitably cause turmoil, and if the truth of the fifth prince’s lineage was revealed, the previous Emperor’s reputation would be seriously damaged.

The nobles had fierce disagreements over this matter until the council hall almost dissolved into a fistfight. This put Ozer in a very bad mood, but because he was about to see Ji Ning, he suppressed these darker emotions and adjusted his expression.

When a servant came to inform him that Ji Ning’s wedding dress was ready, Ozer finally showed a sincere smile.

He returned to his bedroom to watch Ji Ning trying on his wedding dress, but when he opened the bedroom door, the room was empty. Ji Ning had disappeared once again. 

Ozer sat back in his wheelchair and didn’t speak for a long time.

The guards that stood by the door felt a dangerous current in the air around them. Their knees gave out due to the heavy pressure, but Ozer didn’t spare them a glance, asking in a calm voice.

“Where is Leisha?”

A servant immediately told him that Leisha had just entered the palace. Moments later, a young woman rushed into the bedroom and bowed to Ozer. It was the spy who had discovered Ji Ning inside the spacecraft. 

“Is the spiritual imprint you placed on the Empress still there?” The Emperor asked blankly.

Previously, he’d wanted the spy to condense his own spiritual energy into a unique tag and plant it inside Ji Ning’s spirit. However, his spiritual energy was too oppressive, he was told it could cause Ji Ning mental damage if it entered his spirit. In the end, he gave up on the idea and instead used a spiritual imprint left by the female spy.

When the young woman arrived, she was already aware of Ji Ning’s disappearance. She knelt down in front of Ozer, terror clawing at her heart. She had no idea where Ji Ning had vanished to, like she’d never put an imprint on him at all.

Ozer didn’t feel like blaming her. The whole bedroom was shrouded in his spiritual energy, yet he couldn’t detect how Ji Ning had disappeared either. Forget it, he didn’t care about pursuing Ji Ning’s method of escape, he just wanted to bring him back. This time, he would imprison Ji Ning for the rest of his life, so he would never have the chance to leave him again. 

He appeared calm on the surface, but everyone present was aware of the danger beneath his carefully composed facade. The young woman thanked him for his tolerance, closed her eyes and said in a quiet voice.

“I can sense that the Empress is currently in the range between galaxy B422 and galaxy C69.”

After falling asleep inside the game, when Ji Ning next opened his eyes he found he was sitting on a metal chair. An announcement from the overhead system echoed through the area, as interstellar travellers with a range of clothing and appearances hurried past him, seemingly unaware that a boy had appeared out of thin air.

Ji Ning was taken aback for a few seconds before realising that it was as Lai had said. He had got his wish and been sent to a place outside of the Mo Ling Palace, which appeared to be a large spacecraft transfer station. 

He glanced at the text on the overhead broadcast screen. Apart from the universal interstellar language, he didn’t recognise any of the displayed languages as none of them were from the Federation or Mo Ling. This meant he must be inside an international spacecraft transit bay.

But why had Lai sent him to this strange place?

Checking the terminal on his wrist, Ji Ning felt a little worried. Although the terminal was required to prove his identity and pay for a ticket, using it would be equivalent to handing himself back over to Ozer. There was no way he could use it.

He had already started to consider asking Huo Wuling to brainwash some travellers and rob them when he suddenly heard a familiar voice. 

“Hey, don’t be impulsive, the little fish is strong, he’ll be able to escape from there. Maybe he’s already waiting for us at home. But if we go there ourselves, we’d be asking for a death sentence, you understand?”

The two passengers were standing not too far away, arguing about something. One of them was a soft, slime like creature with a tuft of red hair on his head. The other had a pair of snow white wings and a delicate human appearance. Although his face was unfamiliar, Ji Ning wouldn’t mistake those silver eyes.

It was Ark and Fu Ji in disguise!

Ji Ning immediately recognised the disguised angel. He assumed that the slimeball next to him was Fu Ji, who was vaguely recognisable with his red hair. This must be why Lai sent him here! 

As for why these two people appeared in another country’s spacecraft transfer station, it seemed that Ark wanted to enter the Mo Ling Empire to rescue him from the palace. After all, the Mo Ling Empire had created a lot of publicity surrounding the wedding. The news must have reached the Federation.

Ji Ning felt a little moved by Ark’s actions, but fear still filled his chest. What if his nightmare really came true…

Ji Ning didn’t know if Herinos had seen the news, but for now, the first thing he had to do was reassure Ark. He glanced around to check that no one was paying him any attention, then quickly walked over to the two of them. He spoke in a quiet voice.

“I’ve escaped, long time no see.” 

“Ah, you’ve escaped…”

Seeing Ji Ning appear out of nowhere, both Ark and Fu Ji barely reacted for a second, then the two of them spun around in surprise and Ark hugged Ji Ning tightly.

There were so many people around they didn’t dare call out Ji Ning’s name. Instead they pulled him into a bathroom and handed over some fake papers and a shapeshifting candy, asking him to change his appearance immediately.

The shapeshifting candy made his appearance match the image on the fake passport papers. It was a young man with sweet eyes but Ji Ning still felt a little unsettled to see an unfamiliar face in the mirror. He changed into a different set of clothes and trashed the clothes he was wearing. The three of them left the bathroom at varying times, reuniting in a different area to avoid notice. 

When they asked how he’d escaped and found them, Ji Ning didn’t explain much. He just said he’d arrived at the spacecraft transfer station once the spatial distortion finished and immediately saw the two of them.

“Fortunately you showed up just in time…”

The red haired man’s handsome face had changed to a slimy appearance but Ji Ning could still see the happiness radiating off of him.

“If you didn’t come back,” he said, “This kid was going to murder the Emperor. He was serious about it too, the Mo Ling Emperor…” 

He shook his head and muttered to himself, still slightly afraid of Ark’s dedication. Ark pursed his lips into a shallow smile, shyly holding Ji Ning’s hand as he said, “Welcome back.”

Ji Ning smiled and asked him, “Has Herinos ever come back while I was missing?”

“He hasn’t come back, he still has something to deal with, but he’s heard about the wedding. He sent someone to tell us he was going to Mo Ling and left us some contact information so we could notify him immediately if something happened.”

Fu Ji pulled out a few pieces of dark red paper and stuffed them into Ji Ning’s hands, “He said if we dropped a few drops of blood onto the paper, we could send him a message but you might as well inform him yourself.” 

Ji Ning took the papers and planned to contact Herinos after they boarded the spacecraft. He wanted to make sure Herinos wasn’t in any trouble. If something had happened to him, they could go and help.

He suddenly noticed the three tickets in Fu Ji’s hands and asked, “Where are we going?”

In the current situation, it was impossible for him to return to the Federation. Fu Ji had mentioned offhandedly that they had to change their destination, but Ji Ning hadn’t had time to ask where they were going.

“Remember the interstellar paradise I mentioned to you before?” Fu Ji grinned, glancing at Ark, “I’ve bought us tickets to the park.” 

Ji Ning nodded without any objections. It wouldn’t make much difference wherever they went, but it would be nice to be able to relax his body and mind for a bit.

As for attacking Gu Chen, he really didn’t have a chance anymore. It seemed he would have to wait until the plane returned to normal and Gu Chen lost his memories of Ozer before he continued to seduce him.

It wasn’t long before the spacecraft travelling to the Interstellar Paradise began boarding and the three of them successfully entered the spacecraft using the fake identities that Fu Ji had bought at a high price.

The distance between the country they were in and the Interstellar Paradise was very far and even at lightspeed it would take the whole night to reach it, so Fu Ji had paid extra for three sleeping pods. The three pods were all in the same room but provided a slightly more private area for each person. 

After entering their room, the three of them chatted for a while before Ji Ning said he wanted to contact Herinos and entered his sleeping pod.

However, before he could drip his blood onto the special piece of paper, an overwhelming drowsiness pulled him into unconsciousness. When he next opened his eyes, he was inside a familiar dimly lit grocery store, with the melodious record of the female singer playing. The street outside was pitch black and it was lightly raining.

“Good evening Ningning.”

Huo Wuling sat cross legged on the counter and waved at him with a smile. 

Ji Ning was a little surprised, wondering why Huo Wuling was in such a hurry to pull him into this dream.

“You promised me before,” Huo Wuling said with a sharp smile, “That as long as I helped you escape from the Mo Ling Empire, you would tell me about your past.”

“But it wasn’t you who helped me escape.” Ji Ning argued, “Someone else helped me.”

If it wasn’t for Lai’s help, it really would have been impossible for him to escape. 

“Oh, so it was the power in that terminal?” Huo Wuling raised an eyebrow, “But it was my idea to seek help from that power. You can’t just throw me away when you’re done with me, can you?”

“…” Ji Ning was silent for a while. Seeing how the dark haired man was still smiling, it seemed that he didn’t intend to let him go without speaking today. Finally, he sighed and responded helplessly, “Just ask whatever you want, I’ll choose what I want to answer.”

Huo Wuling leapt off the counter and sat beside him happily. He stared into Ji Ning’s eyes and asked.

“First of all, what’s your real name?” 

“My real name is Ji Ning, I didn’t lie to you.”

“Age? Gender? Family background?”

It sounded like an interrogation. Why was it necessary to ask about gender, did it matter if he was transgender?

Ji Ning resisted the urge to roll his eyes and answered honestly, “Twenty two, male, my family runs a company. My parents are alive and I have an older sister who is married and has a daughter.” 

“Have you ever had someone you liked? Or, have you ever dated?”

If he wasn’t counting tasks…Ji Ning silently added this premise in his heart and shook his head, saying, “No for both.”

“Oh?” Huo Wuling queried. He raised an eyebrow, “Has anyone ever pursued you? How many in total?”

“There were some, in terms of numbers…” 

Ji Ning counted for a while, thinking from kindergarten to university, both men and women, but he lost count. There were also many people he couldn’t remember well enough, so he looked up at Huo Wuling innocently and said, “I forgot how many.”

“You were very popular?” Huo Wuling half smiled.

Ji Ning originally wanted to say he was very good looking, a talented scholar, and a rich second generation so it was normal to be popular, but facing Huo Wuling’s eyes he couldn’t possibly say this. He ducked his head, suddenly speaking humbly, “Just a normal amount.”

Huo Wuling curled his lip, smirking at him, but let him go, continuing on to his next question. 

“Then, why did you start those tasks?”

I think the reason I like Lai and Huo Wuling so much is because they understand Ji Ning so well – they really suit him!

I will apologise to everyone now – before winter break I have six different essays to do, so while I am beaten black and blue from schoolwork I might only post once a week. This will only be for the next five weeks, and once the holidays come I will be back to normal!!