Chapter 9 Meeting in the Rainy Night
Chapter 9: Meeting in the Rainy Night
According to Bai Li’s understanding, the holy sword contained the power of a Seraph. Seraphs were extremely repulsive to vampires, so logically, Frost Moon should be repelling him now.
Yet its attitude toward him had become even more excited, making Bai Li feel that Vivian’s words were true.
“But, are you sure you didn’t tamper with it?” Bai Li questioned.
“Whatever, believe it or not.” Vivian shrugged and began resealing the sword.
At the border of Fort Liège, a solitary figure stood on the city wall, gazing at the dim valley in the distance, gripping a sword even tighter in her hand.
“I will definitely bring you home, just like we promised before.”
By the campfire, a tall, sturdy man built like an iron tower was smoking. A terrifying scar stretched across his face, and his giant axe was embedded in a nearby rock, showing his immense strength.
“Lan, this is as far as you go. If you proceed further, General Troy warned us.”
“Soren, I know this is difficult for you, but weren’t you also trained by General Bai?”
The hulking man called Soren turned around, pulled out his giant axe and swung it a few times. Just a casual strike severed a nearby tree as thick as a water bucket.
The young woman in nun’s attire looked at him, tears gradually filling her eyes.
“Do you really want to watch him be framed like this?”
“I’m sorry, Lan, but I have no choice. I must stop you.”
Lan turned around and drew the sword from her waist. Under the moonlight, the cold blade flickered with an icy gleam.
The whistling of the battle axe and shadowy footsteps intertwined as Lan nimbly dodged Soren’s powerful strikes.
A sudden pit appeared on the ground, and she almost slipped. In that moment of hesitation, sand and wind stirred up around her, and countless stone fragments flew toward her.
…
When the sandstorm dispersed, an explosion suddenly sounded from the center, but surprisingly, there was nothing there.
“Ice shadow?”
Lan had vanished as if into thin air, and now Soren was on the defensive.
He couldn’t keep up with the agile Lan; his clumsy earth magic wasn’t suited for nimble pursuit and evasion.
Indeed, all that remained in the center were a few shattered ice fragments.
He stood up, and a phantom shadow rose behind him and shook. Instantly, the mountains and earth within several miles collapsed, and the violent tremors destroyed the entire mountaintop.
Suddenly, the crisp sound of an ice mirror shattering rang out. Lan’s pale face couldn’t hide her weakness.
The giant axe cleaved into the ground, and the extending cracks firmly bound Lan.
“Do you really think you can defeat Vivian like this? Going to save him now is no different from marching to your death.”
“But, but…” Her voice quivered with sobs.
“The Empire’s waters run deep. You, me, and General Troy—we’re all just pawns of Claud. Besides, you’re not even my match. Do you think I could defeat Vivian?”
Soren walked forward, sat down, and continued smoking. “I know Bai Li is important to you, but why him? A man without humanity—is he worth risking your life to save?”
Thoughts drifted back to that rainy night.
At the gates of the Imperial City, the bell of a merchant caravan rang out.
“Sir, here’s our pass. Please approve it.”
The city guard took the document, looked it over, and then proceeded with the routine inspection.
After a brief search and finding nothing suspicious, he waved them through.
“You may enter.”
Outside, a steady drizzle fell. In a street corner, two black-clad men who had been waiting began unloading crates from a cart.
In places beyond the reach of the night watch’s lanterns, cartloads of goods were being unloaded.
“Everything’s ready, but why did we need to find a child like this?”
“Don’t question Prince Claud’s arrangements.”
…
After an unknown period, Lan woke up in darkness. She was tied up and heard the black-clad men whispering conspiratorially nearby. She heard something about…
At the underground auction in the Imperial City, various treasures and rarities were being sold, many of them contraband.
Underground auctions were inherently shady affairs. Bai Li sat to the side, watching various slaves being auctioned off on stage.
“Disgusting.”
The nobles below were particularly enthusiastic about elven slaves and cat-eared girls. The contrast between the dim yellow lights around the room and the bright spotlights on stage was stark.
Girls in cages, barely covered, could only look in terror at the black hands reaching toward them from below.
Bai Li had originally come to the underground auction looking for high-purity ice crystals but was surprised to find it was primarily a human trafficking operation.
“I should ask Soren about this when I get back. Why would he recommend I come to such a place to find what I need?”
He turned to leave the auction hall. The guards knew his identity and didn’t try to stop him.
Making his way through the winding passages, Bai Li finally exited the auction venue near Prince Claud’s residence.
He stood on the street, breathing in the fresh air, hands in his pockets, wandering aimlessly. The ice crystals he sought were rare and elusive. Though he had been appointed as a Temple Knight, his “Frost Moon” had not yet been forged into a holy sword.
During his wandering, a faint energy fluctuation caught his attention.
“How strange, why would someone set up an illusion here?”
A pure ice storm shattered the environment, and space distorted. The illusion broke, and Bai Li caught the black-clad men’s smuggling operation red-handed.
“Human trafficking? And what’s in those crates?”
Black fire immediately engulfed the entire cart.
Bai Li could see they were trying to destroy evidence.
“Do you really think you can burn things in absolute zero temperatures?”
Without the black-clad men noticing, Bai Li’s domain had already covered them.
Seeing their inevitable defeat, they bit their tongues and committed suicide, leaving Bai Li without any leads.
Most of the goods on the cart had been burned, with only a few crates remaining. Bai Li stepped forward and opened a crate, finding forge materials like iron essence inside.
“Damn, they burned all the useful clues.”
He turned to look at the young girl and quickly untied the ropes binding her. She looked at Bai Li pitifully, as if she had suffered a great injustice.
“It’s alright. I’ll take you home now. Don’t be afraid.”
The girl didn’t speak, her eyes filled with sadness. Looking at her, Bai Li could tell she had endured considerable abuse along the way.
He took the girl’s hand and found it equally cold.
“Are you… an ice-attribute magic user? What’s your name?”
“Lan.”
She nodded, but at only fourteen, she hadn’t received any systematic training. The Empire had overlooked such a talent—what a waste.
With no alternative, Bai Li could only take her back and then find a way to send her to the monastery. He was on good terms with Mother Superior Nashville, and he wasn’t skilled at raising children anyway.
Suddenly, Lan clung tightly to his leg, refusing to let him leave.
“Hey, hey, what are you doing?”
Soon, Bai Li seemed to recall the past—how he had been the same after awakening his ice attribute. Looking at the curled-up girl before him, he seemed to see his younger self.
“Alright, alright, I won’t leave. You can stay here for a while.” He placated her while applying ointment to her wounds. “Bear with it for a moment. Your injuries are serious and need immediate treatment. Don’t get them wet. We’ll clean up properly later.”
Unlike him, Lan wasn’t desperate for a bath. She just hoped she wouldn’t be sent away. When she saw Bai Li approaching, she finally met someone like herself, and such a powerful one at that—someone she could rely on.
After some time, she dozed off. By the time Bai Li had carefully heated some water, he found her asleep at the table.
“I’ll let you sleep.” He draped his coat over her and quietly sat down to continue with his own tasks.
“This really hurts.” Bai Li looked at the water blisters on his hand and applied some ointment, but it still stung.
Who else but this careless fellow would turn the water temperature knob the wrong way?
….