Return

When Ronan opened his eyes again, most of the pain in his body had faded.

He found himself lying on a clean bed, his wounds properly bandaged.

The room was very small, with only a skylight letting in a little light.

Yet Ronan felt a long-lost sense of safety.

"Huh?" He looked toward the corner of the wall in confusion.

The dog he had seen before losing consciousness was actually real—it had not been a hallucination?!

He was somewhat stunned.

He had encountered this dog at Bo Ning Academy!

If he had guessed correctly, the dog's owner should have been an assassin from the Rose Blood Knight!

"You're safe here."

At some point, the girl with the broad space between her brows had come to lean against the foot of the bed, staring blankly at Ronan.

Her expression was dull, but Ronan could not sense any killing intent from her.

"You saved me?"

Ronan was extremely surprised by this outcome.

He was not sure whether his identity as a wizard had been exposed. After all, that night had drawn one of the top twenty powerhouses of the Imperial Tribunal. Who knew how things might develop afterward?

Deep down, he still felt some regret. His plan had not been thorough enough; he had underestimated the powerhouses of this world.

The price had been terribly steep. He had nearly lost his life.

If not for the girl before him.

"This is what you wanted."

The girl tossed a thin booklet onto Ronan.

Ronan froze slightly. The pattern on the booklet was extremely ancient, and it bore profoundly obscure characters!

This was—the sorcery manual!

"That guy called Death God has already been killed by me. The Empire's upper ranks will only think that he provoked someone from the Rose Blood Knight. They won't discover your identity."

The girl lowered her head and spoke evenly. "But you still need to be careful."

Ronan's heart jolted.

Amid the chaotic battle, he could only focus on escaping with his life. After being hit by the Laser Gun, he had nearly lost consciousness and had not noticed what happened afterward at all.

Yet this girl had actually killed Death God all by herself?

Just how powerful was she?

Uncle Fan was already very strong. Ronan could feel fear simply standing before him. But this girl, who claimed to be from the Rose Blood Knight, gave Ronan no sense of danger whatsoever.

That was the most terrifying part.

"Who are you? Why is the Rose Blood Knight helping me?"

Ronan asked solemnly.

He had to understand the situation clearly. How many people knew his identity? This was extremely important. He did not want his exposed identity to drag others into this, such as the Earl and Yi Lin Manor.

"I'm Xiao An."

The girl said softly, "The Rose Blood Knight doesn't want to help you. They want to kill you."

Ronan fell silent.

Xiao An thought for a moment. "But I can't let you die."

"Why? Do we know each other?" Ronan asked curiously.

Xiao An rarely raised her eyes to look directly at Ronan on the bed. She said seriously:

"Because..."

"You are Madam's child."

Other than that single statement—that he was Madam's child—Ronan could not get any more reasons or information from the seemingly dull Xiao An. The only thing he knew for certain was that Xiao An seemed to be one of the Rose Blood Knight's higher-ups and possessed considerable authority within the Rose Blood Knight.

His current location was a wilderness safehouse on Azure Ring Island. Apart from Xiao An herself, no one could find this place.

Because Ronan's injuries were quite severe, he could only stay obediently in the safehouse.

According to Xiao An's intelligence, such a major incident at the Imperial Wizard Tribunal had drawn extreme attention from the Empire's upper ranks. A hidden Heavenly Net had already been cast across Academy Star, and the relevant forces were desperately searching for the true culprit behind the incident.

Ronan did not know how she had brought him back from Academy Star to Azure Ring Island, but he was still deeply grateful to the girl for saving his life.

No matter why she had saved him, at least he had survived.

As for what the title "Madam's child" truly meant, Ronan could only guess for now that Xiao An might have some connection to his mother. There was no way for him to learn much more. Meanwhile, during the two days he spent recovering, Noah had unexpectedly entered hibernation on his own.

Ronan secretly called out to him, wanting to ask about Xiao An's background, but Noah ignored him completely, lying there like a corpse. Ronan was left utterly speechless.

His injuries were severe. Fortunately, his body's recovery ability was extraordinary, and with some strange herbs Xiao An had obtained from who knew where, he had somehow fully recovered after just two days.

Xiao An truly seemed to have no ulterior motives toward Ronan. Once she saw that he had recovered, she immediately sent him away.

Before Ronan left, however, she settled an account with him.

"I couldn't let you die, so saving you was free. The treatment didn't cost much either, so forget about that."

"But this wizardry manual is very expensive. So now you owe me thirty million Eagle Horn."

"When you have money someday, remember to pay me back first. I'm an assassin. Owing an assassin money is a very dangerous thing."

Xiao An spoke to Ronan with a completely serious expression.

Ronan nodded with a wry smile, yet he felt no displeasure at all toward what sounded like a threat.

His life was worth far more than thirty million Eagle Horn, wasn't it?

After Xiao An threw him out of the safehouse, Ronan quickly discovered that it was surprisingly close to Bo Ning Academy.

He quietly took several back alleys and soon arrived directly at his dormitory.

But before he could enter, a tall figure suddenly rushed toward him!

"You brat!"

"Where the hell have you been these past two days?"

It was Fan Wenbin.

Ronan answered calmly, "I went to Academy Star to watch a Mecha Competition. It was exciting, but unfortunately Weird Equation lost in the end. There was something wrong with their lineup."

"Then I spent two days sightseeing on Academy Star by myself. What's wrong?"

Fan Wenbin stared coldly at Ronan.

He did not believe a single word of Ronan's story!

"According to some inside information I received, on a mountain outside Central City on Friday night, members of the Imperial Wizard Tribunal exchanged fire with some enemies of unknown origin. The Tribunal suffered heavy losses, and three experts died."

Fan Wenbin stared at Ronan and spoke word by word.

Ronan remained composed. He had already prepared these lines while recuperating in the safehouse.

"That's truly regrettable."

Fan Wenbin's pupils constricted!

During the two days Ronan had vanished, he had secretly searched nearly all of Academy Star, yet he had not found even a trace of him!

He had reported the matter to the Earl. After a moment of silence, the Earl's reply had been somewhat unexpected—the Earl's exact words were that young people might be playful, and it did no harm to give them some space now and then.

That was rather thought-provoking.

Unable to find Ronan, Fan Wenbin had been furious and could only vent his anger on the Rose Blood Knight's assassins. Poor Silver Fox was already an A-rank assassin within the Rose Blood Knight and enjoyed quite a reputation throughout the Empire, but Fan Wenbin was no ordinary man either. He was one of the Empire's most elite soldiers. The unlucky Silver Fox had been tortured until he could no longer care for himself. Once Fan Wenbin located Ronan again, he showed no mercy and directly sent the old man to the afterlife.

What he had not expected, however, was that Ronan could remain so calm even under his imposing pressure.

There were only two possibilities: either Ronan had nothing to hide, or... Fan Wenbin simply did not dare believe the second possibility.

He scrutinized Ronan suspiciously for a while before finally sighing. "Be careful. The Li Family has been very restless, but we have no evidence. It'll be dangerous for you out there alone."

Ronan gave Fan Wenbin a deeply sincere bow. "Thank you, Uncle Fan. I understand."

Fan Wenbin nodded somewhat approvingly. He simply stopped questioning him and left.

Ronan knew that this ever-cheerful middle-aged man was surely still protecting him in secret.

So his gratitude had indeed been genuine.

It was just that some secrets truly could only be guarded by him alone.

He pushed open the door and returned to his room.

When he turned on the computer he had not used for two days, it chimed, and Ronan discovered that he had an important email.

"An email from the school board?"

Ronan clicked it open in surprise, read it carefully, and frowned slightly.

He was not very pleased with its contents.

There are still a little too few recommendation votes. I hope everyone will vote enthusiastically and make it a habit.