Chapter 29

"Ishir and I took a stroll right up to the gates of hell, and you, on the other hand—

"Where did you run off to kill someone again?"

The snakeman flicked out his long forked tongue, licked the blood from his dagger, and said lightly, "Where else could I have gone? This is my blood."

It turned out that when Lin Hanxuan had released that divine might, Niu Dacheng and Ishir had not been the only ones frightened. Even the snakeman Inglek, hiding in the grass outside the house, had been so scared he failed to keep hold of the dagger in his hand and accidentally cut himself.

After hearing Inglek's explanation, Ishir asked, "Loach, you're not going to be in trouble, are you?" Inglek's entire body was poisonous, and the dagger he habitually used had a serpent bone for its blade. After countless temperings, it was said to seal the throat at the sight of blood. Knowing that Inglek had been cut by his own weapon, Ishir remembered the miserable states of enemies who had been wounded by that dagger before and asked out of concern.

"I'm fine," Inglek answered calmly.

"Forget it. Let's leave. There'll be plenty of chances to catch that mantis," Niu Dacheng said.

"...Lin Hanxuan, Lin Hanxuan, wake up."

Through Lin Hanxuan's hazy consciousness came one gentle call after another. He slowly opened his eyes. The beautiful face of the elven king, Sihaier, was extremely close to his own, and his nose could even catch the feminine fragrance coming from her.

"Thank goodness, you're all right." Seeing Lin Hanxuan wake up, Sihaier finally felt relieved.

Having the woman of his dreams almost pressed right up against him made Lin Hanxuan blush. He hurriedly turned his head away, not daring to show even the slightest hint of blasphemy.

"Hee hee, Lin Hanxuan, what are you being shy about?" Sihaier said with a smile. "Look at me."

Lin Hanxuan could not disobey Sihaier's words, and deep in his heart, there was also a trace of anticipation at being able to see the elven king again. After finally mustering his courage to look at Sihaier, he saw that the elven king's hands and feet were still tightly bound by World Tree vines, but her body was now covered by a pure white one-piece coat, setting off Sihaier's noble bearing.

"So... so beautiful." Lin Hanxuan's eyes lit up. Sihaier was dressed all in snow-white, and together with the Elf Crown worn on her head, she made people unable to resist wanting to worship her.

"Thank you. I think it looks very nice too. Big Sister Lei Xiaoqing gave me this coat." Before Lei Xiaoqing left the Rotting Swamp, seeing that Sihaier was barely clothed, she had taken one of her own coats from her spatial ring and given it to the elven king. The people Sihaier was closest to now were Kubaka and Lin Hanxuan. Kubaka was one thing, but Lin Hanxuan was, after all, a human youth. She feared that Lin Hanxuan, with hot blood and vigorous energy, might be unable to hold himself back and violate Sihaier, so she gave her the clothing.

In truth, Lei Xiaoqing had overthought it. In Lin Hanxuan's heart, the elven king Sihaier was a goddess he was willing to guard with his life. How could he show her even the slightest disrespect?

Sihaier's innocent smile made Lin Hanxuan feel dizzy. At that moment, Lin Hanxuan had only one thought in his heart, and that was that Sihaier truly was beautiful.

"Ah, what about Peiganbo? Is he all right?" Although he had been lost in Sihaier's beauty, after Lin Hanxuan came back to himself, the first thing he thought of was still Peiganbo's safety.

"He's fine. He's outside guarding the Rotting Swamp right now." Sihaier slowly lowered Lin Hanxuan to the ground. It turned out that just now, in order to observe the paralytic toxin inside Lin Hanxuan's body at close range, she had made the surrounding trees lift Lin Hanxuan up in front of her. Since Lin Hanxuan had already woken, Sihaier ordered the trees to put him back on the ground.

"You were poisoned just now. Did you know that?" Sihaier asked softly.

Lin Hanxuan said in embarrassment, "I was too careless. I almost caused Peiganbo to be captured."

"You don't need to blame yourself either," Sihaier said. "The outside world is already full of heavy dangers. From now on, you must stay alert at all times and not trust people easily."

Seeing Lin Hanxuan nod desperately with a flushed face, Sihaier smiled again and said, "But if you hadn't trusted Kubaka back then, we wouldn't have had the chance to meet."

"That's right. Has Kubaka's injury fully healed?" Lin Hanxuan asked, touching the World Tree Necklace around his neck. This was a treasure Sihaier had given him, and he cherished it dearly.

"He's more or less recovered already. It's just that for quite some time from now, he won't be able to pick up a sword again. These days, he spends all day shouting that he wants to fight Peiganbo one more time." Sihaier smiled, then continued, "Right, actually, the World Tree Necklace can protect you from being harmed by toxins, but if it's an animal toxin, the protective effect will decrease." Sihaier explained.

Lin Hanxuan thought of that curved venomous fang he had picked up. He had merely held it in his hand and had been poisoned. Thinking about it, it should have been the tooth of some kind of poisonous magical beast; the poison had not been smeared on afterward.

The silence that congealed in the air stole in soundlessly like a rising tide. For a moment, neither of them had anything to say to the other. Lin Hanxuan stared foolishly at Sihaier, and Sihaier seemed to sense Lin Hanxuan's gaze, silently lowering her head.

A mood-ruining voice came from the Star-Language Flower Grove. "Your Majesty the Elf King, has Master awakened?" In truth, Peiganbo had already sensed that Xiaodong was awake. He had grown a little impatient waiting outside, so he spoke up to remind them.

Peiganbo's sharp voice dragged Lin Hanxuan back to reality. He called outside, "I'm already awake. Is something the matter?"

Peiganbo cleared his throat and said, "Master, it's already dark. Shouldn't you be returning to Dead City?"

"It's already dark? I really should go back." Lin Hanxuan looked at Sihaier again and said, rather reluctant to part: