Chapter 28: Summon
Within the depths of these woods, there were no additional figures except for Feng Yu Lan and Duan Li. Feng Yu Lan had fled to the dense forests on the outskirts of the city. The night silently descended upon the earth, cloaking the world in inky darkness.
“It seems that you don’t have any strength to fight back.” Duan Li carried the tang dao on his shoulder and crouched beside Feng Yu Lan’s body. He looked him up and down. “Have you resigned yourself to your fate?”
Feng Yu Lan stubbornly didn’t open his mouth. With a cold face, he lifted his head and glared at Duan Li. Upon a closer observation, this man’s appearance became even clearer and more malicious. Duan Li would be considered an attractive man, if not for the fact that half of his face was disfigured. Like this, Duan Li should have the aura of a wanton and unrestrained individual, a devilish yet graceful man. His beautiful appearance would’ve added to his radiance. It was only such a pity that the flaws on his face were like the cracks on a jade, no longer perfect.
However, these imperfections made him all the more bloodthirsty and sinister.
Half angel, half demon.
“You decide; how would you like to die?” Duan Li asked, smiling widely. “You’ve been the only one to escape from my grasp this far. So, I’ll make an exception for you and allow you to choose the way you’d like to die.”
Feng Yu Lan remained silent. He inadvertently bowed his head and glanced at the grimoire in the palm of his hand. The contents of this book could not be seen by anyone else but the owner; all that others saw were blank pages.
Feng Yu Lan smirked; he raised his head towards Duan Li and replied, “What kind of killing style do you prefer?”
“Hm…quite a lot.” Duan Li seemed very interested in this. He narrowed his eyes and carefully eyed Feng Yu Lan. Feng Yu Lan had a very small baby face, giving the impression of a thin, feeble young boy. The blood loss and strenuous exercise turned his complexion pale, but his lips were nevertheless blood-red, so very tempting. Upon seeing this scene, Duan Li suddenly couldn’t resist licking his own lips. He said:
“I’ve killed countless people. When I was still a player, I murdered my own comrades for reasons I also couldn’t comprehend. After that, I became an executioner in this d.a.m.ned city. Although I no longer needed to experience escaping those s.h.i.tty chambers, I had no choice but to chase and kill those poor rookies, day after day. I mean, I do enjoy killing like this…but, it was still more enjoyable in the chambers.”
Feng Yu Lan lifted his eyes and stared straight at Duan Li; his gaze didn’t waver. His hand subconsciously felt around his grimoire. His fingers curled on the edges of the text, ferociously clawing at the magic tome; beads of red blood dripped from his fingertips. Immediately after, several lines appeared on the book.
【Commencing Special Spell; Summoning has started; Initiation: 10 minutes; Progress: 1%】
“I’ve killed numerous people in countless ways.” Duan Li laughed darkly. “Removing their tendons, skinning their bodies, I’ve even tried all the various brutal criminal punishments that were used in ancient times… Nevertheless, for you…I intend to be a bit gentle.”
Duan Li finished what he was saying, and he suddenly reached out and seized Feng Yu Lan, clutching the man in his arms. He promptly s.n.a.t.c.hed the grimoire and flung it far away. The book rolled on the ground, kicking the dust in the air, until it finally lay motionless. Thereafter, he sneered, “What kind of dirty tricks do you think you’re playing in front of me?”
Feng Yu Lan regretfully glanced at the grimoire on the ground then smiled bitterly, “It looks like I really can’t make any small moves.”
Pleased, Duan Li narrowed his eyes and licked his dry lips. He grasped Feng Yu Lan’s hair and harshly pulled it back, forcefully raising the other’s head. Duan Li then lowered his head and captured those rosy lips, giving them a bite.
This biting action was very soft and gentle, but the words that came out of Duan Li’s mouth were more than astonishing. “I think I want to defile you then kill you. You’re still the first one to make me feel this way.”
Duan Li’s words frightened Feng Yu Lan. His heart trembled to no end, yet his face showed no expressions. Ever since he started fleeing, Feng Yu Lan had intermittently been in this ‘demonizing’ state, similarly to how Luo Jian held his knife and entered combat mode. This state allowed Feng Yu Lan to remain calm; his brain was like a precise computer. He had to observe each and every step; even if an unexpected development occurred, Feng Yu Lan had move according to the steps he calculated, stick to them and see them through to the end.
It was either “succeed or die trying”.
Thus, even if Duan Li caught him, dragged him through the underbrush, and stripped all of his clothes, Feng Yu Lan, whose complexion was ghostly pale, wouldn’t emit the faintest of sounds. He wouldn’t struggle; he had to preserve his physical strength. The summoning spell would allow Feng Yu Lan to call on a powerful and fearsome being. This technique was extremely dangerous because Feng Yu Lan’s body most likely wouldn’t be able to withstand the spell, and his mind could possibly be inhibited and collapse entirely under the overbearing pressure of the external, formidable presence. This could cause hemorrhaging and visceral rupturing. But Feng Yu Lan didn’t want to die.
As long as there was a slight chance for him to live, Feng Yu Lan had to try.
He didn’t have Luo Jian’s impeccable luck, he didn’t have Luo Jian’s physique, and, sometimes, he didn’t even have Luo Jian’s intelligence. But none of it mattered. He at least held the conviction to live. As long as he had this, he would be able to have everything else.
The characters on the grimoire that had fallen on the ground far away were still displaying changes. 【Initiation: 10 minutes. Progress: 68%】
I want to live!
At this moment, Feng Yu Lan was practically possessed. His eyes were bloodshot, and his face was all but filled with ire and indignation, but he still seemed unusually tranquil. He remained on the ground, pushed down by Duan Li. Determined, Duan Li decided to have a go at his novel killing method. He couldn’t wait to tear off the other’s clothes. He didn’t do any preparations. He spread the other’s legs wide and entered.
Feng Yu Lan shuddered violently. The view before his eyes turned black. Soon after, he closed his eyes in pain.
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At another end, while Luo Jian, 13 and 14 were standing at position at the Qingshan Temple, Luo Jian was suddenly overcome by palpitations. He stepped back and looked at the skies above the temple. The night had arrived, and darkness engulfed the scene.
“The situation has changed.” Luo Jian furrowed his brows and turned to speak to 13 and 14. “Follow me.”
After that was said, the party immediately hopped out of the temple and headed down the limestone path. From time to time, Luo Jian glanced at his mobile phone. He had placed a tracker on Ah Lan’s body. At this point, he had clearly understood something—he must never lose his comrade’s whereabouts.
Luo Jian and Feng Yu Lan were companions who had been together for more than twenty years; in the future, they will continue to be together in the chambers, and they will continue walking down this path in reality. No matter what happens in the future, no matter the changes that may occur, and even if the sky fell, this connection would never break apart. None of the two could tell what sort of feelings these were; regardless, these feelings came into being, existing only between them.
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Duan Li was shivering in tremendous excitement; he couldn’t understand why he was feeling so excited. Perhaps the blood had rushed to his brain from this cruel, tyrannical torture; or perhaps, the soft body beneath him had bewitched him. He was terribly and tragically enchanted. Captivated, he was unable to take his eyes off of Feng Yu Lan. He gazed at his face as if he wanted to firmly engrave the other person’s appearance in his mind.
Duan Li removed his coat and covered little Ah Lan. He was worried that the decayed branches and leaves would bruise him, injure him. This action was ever so tender; unfortunately, Ah Lan’s eyes were tightly squeezed shut, and he never saw it. Nevertheless, Duan Li also didn’t pay any heed. He gathered him in his embrace and pressed him down, tossing his body mercilessly against the ground. Upon hearing the other’s m.u.f.fled, broken cries of pain, he couldn’t help but be softer, lighten his force. Even so, Feng Yu Lan’s body was still a b.l.o.o.d.y mess.
I have to be gentle, I need to be gentle. Duan Li chanted to himself. He licked Feng Yu Lan’s lips; he caressed and stroked his clear skin. That fiery temperature, that pulsing heartbeat. Duan Li hugged him tighter and tighter. He just wanted to hold the man, swallow this man into his stomach, devour his flesh and drink his blood to the greatest extent, never to part from him.
In truth, Duan Li had first seen Feng Yu Lan eons ago; it was so long ago that even Duan Li himself didn’t remember this encounter very well. Back then, Duan Li was only a teenager; he was still a student. He had just entered the chambers and, through painstaking efforts, he managed to escape and return to reality. At the time, Duan Li was completely normal. Every ten days, he would suffer miserably because he had no choice but to go through those death experiences, and he couldn’t even tell his family or friends about this matter. As time went by, his personality gradually changed, becoming twisted, and later, all of his close relatives died unexpectedly. In one night, Duan Li suddenly became all alone, and the beast that was suppressed deep inside him escaped from its chains.
Duan Li’s first crazy attempt to kill was actually in the real world, but it was unsuccessful. He trailed a woman through the streets and alleys, but a small brat appeared midway, blocking his way. The child seemed to have been beaten up by others just moments before. His clothes were filthy, and his face was covered with black and blue bruises. With a schoolbag on his back and with his head lowered, he trudged down the road when he unknowingly crashed into Duan Li and disastrously tumbled to the ground, hard. He tried to stand, but he found he couldn’t climb back up.
Yes, this was the very first time Duan Li and Feng Yu Lan ran into each other. Such an encounter happened decades ago; it was so long ago that they both failed to notice such details.
With the last bit of conscience Duan Li had in him back then, he reached out, picked up the brat, and patted the dust off his clothes. The tiny Feng Yu Lan softly expressed his thanks; his face was surprisingly unperturbed.
“Who beat you up?” asked Duan Li at the time. He had forgotten about the target he wanted to murder.
With puffed up cheeks, Feng Yu Lan blankly answered, “My cla.s.smates.”
“Are they bullying you?”
“Yeah.”
“Why not get back at them then?’
“I can’t beat them.”
“And so you resigned yourself to this fate. Decided to return home with your tail between your legs and cry to your mommy and daddy?”
All of a sudden, Feng Yu Lan raised his head and gazed straight into Duan Li; his expression was exceptionally ice-cold. “I never resigned myself to fate.”
Duan Li probably never expected this simple phrase would become his conviction to live, becoming his ultimate raison d’être. Even during the craziest of times, even when he was forced into desperate situations within the chambers, he would suddenly recall that phrase, “I never resigned myself to fate,” and so he would survive. After many years, Duan Li didn’t remember who said this sentence to him.
With the pa.s.sing ages, they eventually forgot about the other’s existence. This mere pa.s.serby in life wouldn’t be consciously remembered, until Duan Li met Feng Yu Lan for a second time on the busy streets.
The chambers a.s.signed Duan Li tasks that were similar to the Stalkers’—to chase and kill survivors. If not all, it gave Duan Li a special skill where he was able to see the aura of death around players. Players who possessed a heavy aura of death were most likely survivors, thus Duan Li normally took drastic measures to mark these people—stabbing these poor rookies with his knife.
They may have been brought together by fate.
Though, this predestined relationship was foreordained to be tragic.
【Progress: 100%. Summoning successful!】