Absurd

No one knew how long it had been. Even Chi Li himself had not noticed that when Si Jinyan's pheromones touched his skin, they no longer caused a stinging pain.

A sudden, violent pain tore through Chi Li's lower abdomen, wrenching him awake.

Chi Li opened his eyes and met a pair of golden eyes.

No matter how many times he saw them, Chi Li was still startled by that sudden sense of terror.

His heart skipped half a beat.

No one knew how long Si Jinyan had been watching Chi Li like that. Seeing him wake, Si Jinyan leaned over as he had countless times before and soothingly pressed his cheek against Chi Li's.

The pain continued and intensified with Si Jinyan's movements. Chi Li wanted to stop him.

Si Jinyan's golden eyes stared at Chi Li's neck, stretched taut with pain like a beast's, while dark currents churned in his gaze.

"Y-you..." Only when he spoke did Chi Li realize how hoarse his voice was.

But before he could finish, his words were blocked in his throat.

Si Jinyan sealed his lips.

Unable to break free, Chi Li could only endure the pain until his consciousness blurred once more.

Inside Bai Qi's manor, a servant was making his report to Bai Qi.

Bai Qi's expression remained calm. After listening, he nodded.

Having received Bai Qi's orders, the servant met with the butler, Yuan Ru, before the emperor arrived at Si Jinyan's residence.

At the final moment, Yuan Ru still chose to accept the servant's proposal. Without receiving Si Jinyan's orders, he made the decision himself to release Chi Li, who had been imprisoned in the residence, playing a crucial role in Chi Li's escape.

After standing there for a while, the servant recalled the scale-made bullet that had been fired into Chi Li's body and could not help asking, "Will he really be all right?"

The servant knew Bai Qi had not truly wanted Chi Li dead, so Bai Qi had specifically instructed him to aim carefully.

The bullet only needed to graze the edge of Chi Li's heart and trigger the connection between the scale and Si Jinyan.

Bai Qi seemed to be in a good mood today. He replied, "Unlike humans, whose hearts are their most vulnerable place, that isn't the case for Mermaids."

Bai Qi said slowly, "A Mermaid's most important scale grows against its soft heart. With this scale's protection, the fragile heart is no longer a Mermaid's weakness."①

The Merfolk Core could not fall into Yao Di's hands.

That scale was now inside Chi Li's body. A human physique might limit the scale's effects, but Chi Li would no longer be as fragile as an ordinary person. Even if a bullet grazed his heart, he could hold on longer and would not immediately face the threat of death.

Perhaps even Chi Li himself had not noticed that after the scale fused with his heart, it gave him not only greater recovery and vitality than others, but also speed and combat ability.

Bai Qi had once guessed that one possible reason Chi Li had not noticed anything unusual was that the scale had been in his body since long ago.

After saying this, Bai Qi looked at the chessboard that had been restarted and murmured, "There is still a long road ahead."

The servant said respectfully, "Mr. Bai is so intelligent. You will surely obtain whatever you want."

When Chi Li regained consciousness again, he was lying on a blanket made from beast hide. The cave was so quiet that he could hear drops of water falling.

Chi Li called Si Jinyan's name, but no one answered.

He had even been dressed. Chi Li noticed that a small communicator had been left beside him.

It was probably left by Si Jinyan as well.

Chi Li picked up the communicator and examined it. This model could block tracking signals, but it displayed only one number. Due to permission restrictions, he could only use the communicator to contact that single number.

He got up and walked around the cave. The cave he was in was not large.

Chi Li went outside to take a look, but he still did not see Si Jinyan. Or rather, the mountain forest was so silent that it seemed he was the only living person there.

It appeared Si Jinyan had indeed found an extremely secluded place.

Chi Li's body still ached from their prolonged ordeal, especially behind him. The discomfort made him frown slightly and made him even less willing to think back on what had happened these past few days.

Chi Li returned to the cave, sat on the blanket, and considered what to do next.

His mind was too muddled for him to accurately estimate how many days had passed since he left Si Jinyan's residence.

But it had certainly been no less than a week. Si Jinyan had trapped him here, and for more than a week, they had absurdly been doing the same thing.

It was completely insane.

Chi Li could not help cursing inwardly.

He did not even know where he was.

Holding the communicator, Chi Li lowered his eyes and stared at the sole number.

It had been left behind by Si Jinyan.

It implied that Chi Li should contact this number after waking up.

After so much had happened, could he still trust Si Jinyan?

Chi Li did not dial the number. Instead, he put the communicator away first.

He decided to scout the area outside the cave.

Yet ten minutes after leaving the cave, Chi Li discovered something even stranger: the entire forest was so quiet that there was not even a single birdcall.

There was no sound of a river, no birdsong. Even the wind blowing through the branches carried a chilling silence.