Chapter 99

99 UGLINESS BEHIND THE MASK

Bai Chen could see that Shao Meihui had left him followed by the three guards chosen by the Emperor of Dong Lang, and he had also seen how the other participants had also left. That was why he was dumbfounded when he heard the voice coming from behind.

Without moving from his position, Bai Chen glanced back, and his pair of blue eyes immediately widened when he saw the person who had just questioned him.

‘He looks like a ghost! He suddenly appeared to save me on the bridge just now, and once again he appeared behind me when I wasn’t even aware of his presence. Is he even human?’ Bai Chen was thinking as he got up from his position, but he then quickly dismissed the thought when he realized that he was being ridiculous.

The one who had just questioned him was the Prince of Wu Li, and it was like a guarantee that the person was a human and not a ghost as he had previously thought.

Of course, he failed to notice the man’s presence, but that was only because he wasn’t strong enough to use his senses as a werewolf. He could only lament inwardly when he realized that.

Bai Chen knew that he looked like a fool when he crouched while holding his sword earlier, and he also knew that it would be rude to speak to the mighty Prince from that position, and that was why he returned to his standing position.

He stood on his two feet once more, but the sword was still stuck on the ground because he was too lazy to draw it.

“Why are you still here, Your Highness? The others have left to start hunting beasts, so I thought you had left too,” he asked the masked man a question before he voiced his thoughts about the man, and he could see the man approaching him instead of leaving him.

When the man finally stopped walking in front of him, Bai Chen could see that the man was indeed very tall, and he even had to crane his neck when he tried to look at the golden mask.

.....

“Oh? I didn’t expect you to know my identity,” the man replied, and Bai Chen could feel the amusement in his tone.

Bai Chen didn’t know why the man looked so amused simply because he was able to recognize him as a Prince and used ‘Your Highness’ to address the man earlier. He didn’t know whether Wu Jinhai was popular or not in this world, and he only relied on the information he got from the system about the man.

But now that Wu Jinhai showed a hint of a surprise after he had spoken to the man politely, Bai Chen was starting to regret it. ‘Maybe I should’ve pretended I didn’t know anything about him. After all, I only got the information from the system, so I shouldn’t be getting too familiar with him.’

Unfortunately, Wu Jinhai had heard what he said earlier, and he could not simply tell the taller man that the man had misheard what he had just said. That was why Bai Chen forced his brain to stop being lazy at this time.

“I... I heard how the soldier from before addressed you like that, Your Highness. That’s why I knew that I should address you the same way,” fortunately, Bai Chen’s brain managed to find a good reason, and he wanted to pat his head to be smart enough for once.

“Is that so?” Wu Jinhai asked again, and the amusement was still evident in his tone. “I thought you recognized me before you even heard how the soldier addressed me earlier. For some reason, your eyes show that you know quite a lot about me.”

Bai Chen secretly cursed his luck. The famous quote “Eyes are the windows to the soul” sounded lame to him, but now that Wu Jinhai could even read his eyes even if it was their first time meeting each other, he had to admit that it did make sense.

He wouldn’t be able to lie with his eyes, and that was why Bai Chen’s brain was trying to come up with another realistic excuse. “I think... I’ve heard of you before, Your Highness,” hesitating, he finally answered the masked man’s statement after he managed to find another reason in his head.

And Wu Jinhai looked even more amused when he heard his answer. “You heard about me?” He asked. “What information did you hear about me? Was it about how the eldest Prince of Wu Li was too ugly that he always wore a mask? Or about the Prince’s failure to obtain the title of Crown Prince because he was too ugly?”

The man suddenly said something that shocked Bai Chen, and Bai Chen didn’t even know how to react.

Today was his first day meeting the masked man, and even if he thought that maybe the man was too ugly to the point where he had to wear a mask to cover up his ugliness, he didn’t expect that there would be such rumors related to that person.

‘And what does he mean by saying that he can’t get the title of Crown Prince just because he’s too ugly? Does that mean he’s not the Crown Prince of Wu Li?’ Bai Chen just discovered something from Wu Jinhai’s words, and his eyes widened once more.

He remembered when the Emperor of Wu Li mentioned that his eldest son would be participating in the event, and he also remembered how the system had given him information about Wu Jinhai.

Neither the Emperor nor the system mentioned that Wu Jinhai was the Crown Prince of Wu Li, and only he assumed that the man was the Crown Prince because he was the Emperor’s eldest son.

His thoughts were so simple. He thought that the situation in Wu Li would be the same as the one in Dong Lang where the eldest Prince would become the Imperial Crown Prince, but he was wrong. For some reason, Wu Jinhai was not the Crown Prince of Wu Li, and Bai Chen was curious as to why.

‘Is it really just because of his ugliness?’ He frowned as he continued to stare at the man who was still covering his face with the golden mask.

He couldn’t see the man’s face at all, but he thought it would be a pity if the man’s face was indeed ugly. Wu Jinhai had a perfect body that would make girls drool over it, and his voice muffled by the mask sounded sexy too. However, if the guy did have an ugly face, then the girls might run away from him.

Bai Chen didn’t know if looks could determine a person’s luck in this world, but he was grateful that his appearance couldn’t be said to be ugly here. Even Ma Qiao often praised his face, so he could proudly say that his face was far from ugly.

“So, what kind of rumors did you hear about me that you could recognize me?” Wu Jinhai asked again after getting no answer from the shorter man.

A pair of eyes peeked through the hole in the golden mask, and Bai Chen wasn’t sure whether those sharp eyes were black or brown. He only knew that the man’s gaze was intense, and he once again took his eyes off the man as he tried to find an answer to the man’s question.

???????????????? ???????????????????????????? ???????????????????????? ???????????????????? ???????? ????????????????????-????????????.????????????

Biting his lower lip while frowning, Bai Chen then replied, “I heard a rumor that the eldest Prince of Wu Li has a nice body, so I immediately know that you are him!”

What kind of answer was that? Bai Chen even used a few seconds to find the best answer, but he ended up humiliating himself in front of the man in red. Now, the man was laughing in amusement at what he had just said.

Bai Chen really wanted to bury himself in his embarrassment, but then he could hear Wu Jinhai speak again.

“I cover my whole body, but you can say that I have a nice body?”

The question from the man was enough to make Bai Chen look at the man again. He brought his blue eyes to scan the man’s appearance once more, and indeed, Wu Jinhai’s clothes managed to cover his entire body, but that didn’t mean that his perfect figure was also covered.

From the outside of his clothes, he could still see the shape of the man, and he could tell that the body beneath the cloth was flawless.

‘Why do I think that a man’s body is perfect? That’s embarrassing!’ Bai Chen scolded himself.

Ever since he transmigrated into this world, he had been constantly praising men’s faces and bodies, and he even thought that his mind had been corrupted now.

“I don’t think this is the time to be discussing your body, Your Highness,” Bai Chen returned to business. “Earlier you said you were here with me so I wouldn’t have to walk and die alone here, right? What do you mean by that?”