Looking at the flames deep inside the young man’s frozen eyes that looked like black lotuses, Li Yao softly sighed and said, “Should I compliment you on your courage, or should I mock your overconfidence? Are you really certain that you can deceive Li Lingfeng?”
“Maybe, Li Lingfeng is indeed a hundred times stronger than me, but he cannot dedicate all his attention to me.” Li Jialing gnashed his teeth. “He is a powerful person who has a lot of business to attend to every day. There are too many enemies that he needs to consider how he can crush and swallow. I’m afraid that a thousand schemes, traps, and targets are swirling inside his head every second.
“He’s never really taken me seriously or viewed me as an ‘enemy’. I am just a mouse that has been domesticated by him.
“In his world, I have occupied one percent at most, or even less.
“But to me, he represents the whole world that I’m going to break. I have been spending every second and a hundred percent of my computational ability thinking about how I can run away from his control for ten years! I have come up with more than a thousand possibilities and ten thousand variations and countermeasures in my head. Whatever the odds of success are today, it is worth a try despite the risks!”
Li Yao was silent for a moment, shocked by the young man’s determination again.
Li Jialing was still young and juvenile. If he had not run into Li Yao but a real Cultivator from Starlight, it was very likely that his plan would have failed.
But still, Li Yao saw countless black shadows in the young man, which were even slightly stinging his nerve endings.
In any case, Li Yao could not leave Li Jialing aside. After discussing it with the mental devil for a while, he asked, “What are you going to do to win the trust of Li Lingfeng and Wuying Lan?”
After a brief silence, Li Jialing said, “You will find out very soon.”
“Then, how should I keep hiding by your side?” Li Yao was not bothered by the young man’s obstinacy. “If you can truly get in touch with Li Lingfeng and Wuying Lan at a close distance, it seems unlikely for me to follow you all the time stealthily. It will be very risky, and I may be discovered at any moment.”
“If your magical equipment is not very large in size,” Li Jialing said, “you can hide inside my body.”
“It is indeed a good idea to hide inside your body and cover my existence with the flames of your spiritual energy, but if somebody performs a full body scanning on you, won’t I be exposed immediately? Also, there will be nowhere for my magical equipment to run to at all.”
“I can tear apart my abdomen and hide you inside it. Then, I will activate the gold core and unleash chaotic flames of spiritual energy,” Li Jialing said. “Generally speaking, as long as they do not resort to large scanning magical equipment, it will be practically impossible for them to catch you. I will try to resist their full scanning. In any case, the gamble is certainly worth it.”
“You seem to be fond of gambling,” Li Yao remarked.
“I am not a gambler,” Li Jialing replied, “but for somebody who has absolutely nothing in the first place, it is impossible for them to lose no matter how many gambles they take.”
Li Yao smiled. “Did you know? My original target when I snuck into Manjusaka was not you at all. I was not even aware of your existence. But now, I am more and more curious about your past and your origins. You are almost the greatest trophy in my eyes now.”
“I am more and more curious about you, too,” Li Jialing replied, not giving in at all. “Sneaking into Manjusaka by yourself, hiding right under the nose of two unparalleled experts, and yet unlikely to be a Cultivator from Starlight or a spy from the Covenant Alliance. Right, we have talked for a long time, but I do not know your name yet.”
For some reason, Li Yao was unwilling to fabricate a name to fool the young man who looked very similar to his foster father.
Besides, Vulture Li Yao did not mean anything in the Imperium of True Human Beings at all.
He smiled and said, “My name is Li Yao.”
“A name is just a reference,” Li Jialing said. “So, what kind of person is hiding behind the name ‘Li Yao’, and where does he come from?”
“What about you?” Li Yao asked back. “‘Li Jialing’ is also a reference. What kind of past and origins are hidden behind it?”
Confusion flowed out of the young man’s eyes for the first time. After being momentarily dazed, he sent out a feeble wave. “…I don’t know yet. But after I get absolute freedom, I will find out who I am, where I’m from, and what my destination is!”
Looking at the young man’s eyes that were covered in mists, Li Yao felt that he saw the unknown Earth that was still hidden in mysteries. He was lost for words for a moment again.
Having not received a reply for a long time, Li Jialing said, “I will help you find more intelligence, and you will help me escape from Manjusaka. If you agree on the deal, I will start now.”
“Start what?” Li Yao asked.
Licking his lips, Li Jialing suddenly widened his eyes so much that they were almost torn apart. Thousands of bloody streaks immediately jumped out of his eyes. His hands and feet were extended into the air as if they were pulled by invisible strings, and he bounced fiercely like a fish that was tossed to the shore!
“Argh!”
The roars deep inside his throat almost sounded like a thousand drills finding their way out of his chest. His flesh that had healed just now was torn apart again, and blood spurted out crazily, turning him into a crimson man on fire!
The young man retreated his hands in difficulties and held his head hard, howling, cramping, writhing on the ground in pain, and vomiting blood and foam crazily.
Li Yao was taken aback by Li Jingling’s sudden move. Had he not heard Li Jialing saying that he was about to start, Li Yao would have suspected that he was somehow possessed by evil spirits, or some uncanny forces inside his body had gone out of control.
The young man stabbed his fingers so deep into his head that he almost squeezed his eyeballs out of their sockets, as if he could not restrain the explosion of his head if he did not do that.
BAM! BAM! BAM!
He hit his head at the floor and the wall hard in earthshaking noises again and again, as if crystal bombs were bursting out in the small secret chamber. Devastating marks of blood were left behind!
“Don’t—Don’t push me!”
With a twisted face, Li Jialing bellowed in a blurred voice. Whoever saw him would feel that he was in the most excruciating agony. “Don’t push me anymore, you *ssholes! *ssholes!”
Thick fluids and blood flowed out of his eyes, nose, ears, and mouth. Combinations of blood and vomit contaminated his chest. He looked hideous, horrifying, and more pitiful than ever.
“I didn’t know that the boy was an actor, too!” the mental devil exclaimed. “Although he is still quite juvenile, his cruelty, disobedience, combat ability, and acting skills are all so distinguished, and he also understands the importance of patiently hiding. He will certainly be something in the future!”
Li Jialing tortured himself so hard that even Li Yao and the mental devil felt creeped out. It was needless to mention the researchers of Manjusaka next door.
Right now, Li Lingfeng and Wuying Lan were both off attending to more important issues. Only a few researchers were left to watch over the place.
Li Jialing had always been like a lifeless zombie, never interested in hurting other people or himself. He had never struck anybody as a dangerous fellow.
Therefore, the researchers were somewhat overwhelmed when they saw him on such a rampage and in such agony.
Hiu! Hiu! Hiu!
Dozens of red spots appeared on Li Jialing’s body. Powerful anesthetics were shot at him from various directions.
However, his movement was countless times more agile than the green-haired gorilla just now. Turning into red mists with bloody spindrifts, he dodged all the powerful anesthetics!
Chi!
The gate of the secret chamber was opened. A dozen Immortal Cultivators in crystal suits swarmed in.
“Don’t come any closer!”
Li Jialing’s face was caught in such fear and desperation when he saw them that he might as well have run into some ghosts. He retreated further into the corner and cried, “Don’t come any closer. Don’t come any closer!”
“Don’t be scared. Just calm down.” The Immortal Cultivator in the lead could not have sounded warmer or more comforting. Anybody would feel that they could trust him with their heart when they heard him talk. “You are sick. We are here to help you.”
“Don’t! Don’t! Don’t!” Li Jialing shouted desperately. “I’m not sick. Don’t send me to the place for refinement. I don’t want it. Help me! Help me!”
“Fine. Fine. You are not sick, and we will not send you there again. Anyway, just calm down.” The Immortal Cultivator’s voice was even more gentle and comforting than before. “Trust me. Everything is over now. What you need is a rest. A good rest.”
“Don’t come any closer. Don’t come any closer. Don’t come any closer. My head hurts. It hurts so much…”
Whatever the newcomers said, Li Jialing simply mumbled to himself repetitively. His pupils and his whites seemed to have completely melted, releasing the brilliance of more and more brutality and violence, as if a dam deep inside his brain had been completely crushed and an unprecedented flood had been set loose. His mumbling became deeper and deeper and more and more hoarse. “If you dare come closer… If you dare to come any closer…”
He seemed to have lost his awareness and caught in the utmost confusion.
The Immortal Cultivator gestured at his subordinates nearby. A few crystal suits immediately approached him without a sound.
“Don’t come any closer!”
In that moment, the confusion, chaos, indifference, and desperation in the young man’s eyes had entirely vanished, replaced by the most typical cruelty and ruthlessness of a pure Immortal Cultivator.
Shua!
The muscles all over Li Jialing’s body were tightened into iron ropes. His blood and sweat, filled with the most violent flames of spiritual energy, darted in all directions like a storm of needles, disrupting all the guards’ eyesight.
He took the opportunity to dash into the crowd of Immortal Cultivators. Extending his arms and opening his fingers, he grabbed the heads of two Exos more than easily.
Bam!
Savaged by his unstoppably brutal strength, the heads of the two Exos hit each other hard. The helmets made of super alloys collapsed deeply, and dazzling sparks spurted out!
