Chapter Fourteen: Countdown
With a swift motion, Chen Qi’s blade froze mid-air, poised for a strike. The mage girl, her cheeks flushed, spoke again:
“Can we go somewhere cleaner? It’s filthy here.”
He gazed at her delicate features, her alluring form barely restrained by the soft curves of her body, the pale blue robe making her skin appear even whiter and more radiant. Her helpless, captivating expression stirred a dark desire within him.
For a moment, Chen Qi’s mind was in turmoil, wicked thoughts bubbling up uncontrollably. In any world, he was still inexperienced, let alone confronted with a beauty who seemed to offer herself so readily. Where on Earth could one meet such an exquisite mage?
In that fleeting instant, a thousand reasons to proceed flashed through Chen Qi’s mind, as if bliss was just one step away.
But soon, he cut off these thoughts. On one hand, he considered himself a new-generation socialist youth, incapable of committing such a vile act. On the other, he feared being killed by the mage girl if she managed to fight back—he’d seen enough melodramas to know how that usually ended.
Most importantly, he believed that if he gave in once, he’d only crave more in the future, and eventually be undone by it.
“Beauty will only slow my path to power,” he silently consoled himself, and clarity returned to his mind. It was as if his sword skills had advanced—a refreshing clarity soothed him.
The mage girl, seeing his silence, folded her hands in prayer, tears unwittingly streaming down her cheeks.
Chen Qi looked deeply into her eyes, then let out a long breath, as if exhaling all the gloom of the world.
Finally, he said coolly, “Two thousand credits, plus the scroll you used before. I’ll give you two minutes to run.”
Although he granted her a chance, he had no intention of letting her escape completely. In some ways, mercy to an enemy is cruelty to oneself. Though young, Chen Qi didn’t want experience to be his only teacher—he could accept mistakes, but not willful stupidity.
Yet, a trace of pity lingered in his heart for this girl struggling to survive—especially since she had never truly threatened him.
Perhaps it was this internal conflict that led him to such a contradictory decision.
“Maybe I just haven’t killed enough women,” he mused wryly. “Especially beautiful ones…”
The mage girl was momentarily stunned by his words, but then quickly understood. Chen Qi soon received a notification from the space.
[Qin Shiyu, Contractor, has sent you a trade request.]
He knew well that, under the rules of “Sprout Space,” it was pointless to try to rob someone by force—the other party could always retrieve their items into storage at a thought. An official transaction was required.
He accepted the trade, and the mage girl promptly selected two thousand credits and a faintly blue-glowing spell scroll.
Without inspecting the scroll’s details, Chen Qi confirmed the trade.
He glanced once more at her jade-like hands and said coldly, “The countdown begins now. One hundred twenty, one hundred nineteen…”
At his words, the mage girl seemed granted amnesty—she scrambled to her feet and fled in panic.
Suppressing the urge to cut her down, Chen Qi began counting. Then, impulsively, he did something even he hadn’t expected—he reached out and gave her a few squeezes on her shapely backside.
Her body tensed for a moment, but with the countdown continuing, she rushed off, stumbling and crawling.
As Chen Qi counted, he wondered why he’d acted so brazenly. Was it frustration at letting a beauty slip away, or perhaps a way to justify going easy in the coming chase?
By the time he’d counted halfway, the mage girl was completely out of sight. He stared at her disappearing footprints, frowning, and continued counting.
When the countdown ended, the mountain was silent—he seemed utterly alone.
Blade unsheathed, he followed her tracks. Before long, he saw that her footprints had been swept away by a swirl of drifting sand.
A complicated smile crossed his face as he pressed on. Soon, a faint scent of blood reached his nose.
With a constitution over fifteen, Chen Qi’s senses had sharpened—he could pick up hints that most would miss.
He thought to himself that he’d already hinted enough to the mage girl. If she failed to heed the warning, he wouldn’t blame himself for what happened next.
He soon traced the blood to a patch of shrubbery ahead. He gazed deeply into it, then suddenly halted in the distance, as if he’d lost his target.
After a few seconds, he called out, “Come out! I can see you!”
The only reply was the whisper of wind rustling fallen leaves.
Without waiting for a response, he continued, “Come out—I can smell your blood. If you come out, I’ll give you another chance.”
He waited, but silence reigned. Only his own voice echoed back to him, and the scent of blood in the shrubs seemed to fade.
As if losing interest, Chen Qi muttered to himself, “She’s probably long gone. No point chasing further—lucky for her this time.”
He sheathed his sword and hurried off towards Cloudsea Sect.
Thinking of the mage girl’s blue-tinged eyes, he tried to console himself: “She’s too timid to be hiding in those bushes. I can’t be bothered to check.”
Still, he mumbled, “Even a cornered rabbit will bite. What if she drains all my blood?”
After a few more words, he was far from the shrubbery.
Within the thicket, a slender girl in a pale blue robe pressed one hand tightly to her mouth, the other tending a bleeding wound, medicinal salve dripping from her fingers. Despair lingered in her azure eyes.
…
Suddenly, as he ran, Chen Qi slapped himself hard, leaving half his face red and swollen.
He burst out laughing manically, the sound echoing for a long while, and then said to himself, “Never again.”
Suppressing the urge to look back, Chen Qi opened his storage space—he desperately needed the comfort of spoils.
[Ice Spear Mana Scroll]
Origin: Frostwinter Star
Quality: Blue
Category: Special Consumable
Requirement: 8 Intelligence
Effect: After chanting for 6–15 seconds (depending on the user’s Intelligence—the higher the Intelligence, the shorter the chant), summons a spear of ice to deal 35–70 piercing damage and 40–110 ice explosion damage to an enemy.
Uses: 2/2
Rating: 160
Description: An honorary product of Frostwinter Star’s Mage Academy! Refined through countless iterations, this spell scroll is perfect for beginners in combat—provided you have a safe environment to cast it. The backlash from a disrupted spell is not something a novice can endure.
Sale Price: 2,000 credits
…