Chapter 96: Slow Down, I’m Scared
“Holy crap! This is bad—really bad! I don’t know what just happened, but your Li Chen dad’s blackening value shot straight up to 100!” the Void Beast suddenly screeched.
Nan Xun, who was eating a big bowl of noodles by the roadside, was so startled by the shriek that she almost sprayed noodles out of her mouth.
“Stop making a fuss. It’s not like the malice value rebounded to 100. Let him blacken if he wants—I only care about the malice value,” Nan Xun said calmly, pulling out a napkin and gracefully wiping her mouth.
The overreacting Void Beast: …
Once again, the Void Beast was utterly conquered by Nan Xun’s powerful composure.
It felt that Nan Xun might not really understand what “blackening” meant. Anyway, when the time came, the one suffering would be Nan Xun, not it. If Nan Xun didn’t care, why should it?
The Void Beast had always thought Nan Xun was a bit silly, but if you really looked at it, she wasn’t stupid at all. She had prepared her escape thoroughly—she didn’t dare take any of the various gold cards Li Chen had given her, and left with nothing but a single hundred-yuan bill.
Nan Xun first shook off the people secretly tailing her, then went to find Li Rongrong, a woman she had once met briefly. Li Rongrong was no ordinary person now—she had already become a Best Actress. Li Rongrong helped Nan Xun get a fake ID and also gave her a small sum of money.
With that money, Nan Xun could do nothing but eat and drink and still last at least ten years. But in order to avoid Li Chen, Nan Xun deliberately ate only at roadside stalls. Even if Li Chen died guessing, he would never imagine that his pampered darling would forgo delicacies and eat this kind of food.
Not only that—Nan Xun also changed her hairstyle. Her long, flowing hair became a shoulder-length student cut. She wore a faded dress and black-rimmed glasses, looking dull and unremarkable.
No one would ever guess that this person had been Li Xiaonan just a month ago.
After eating and drinking her fill, Nan Xun grabbed her bag and headed straight for her destination—a famous scenic area in S Province.
The Void Beast said, “You spendthrift, you used all the money just to travel.”
Nan Xun snorted. “Do you think Li Chen is stupid? No matter how perfect my plan is, he’ll still find me within three months. Since the outcome will be the same, why should I wrong myself? Besides, think about it—would someone on the run really be in the mood to sightsee? I’m doing the opposite. Li Chen definitely won’t guess that I’m wandering around having fun.”
The Void Beast was left speechless.
“Just don’t forget the main objective,” it said dryly.
Letting herself go completely, Nan Xun wandered around for another month.
That day, the weather was bright and clear, with not a cloud in the sky. Nan Xun lay on a vast grassland, her head resting on her arm, gazing at the endless blue sky, her eyes half-closed in comfort.
It was very quiet around her. She could hear the wind stirring the grass, the warm breeze brushing her face, making it itch slightly.
When people are alone and quiet, they tend to recall things buried deep in their hearts.
She thought of Xue Ming—the man carrying her on his back, walking along a hillside covered in Soul-Devouring Demon Flowers. They were incredibly beautiful flowers, with black petals dotted with blood-red specks. Tiny glowing spirit insects flew through the night sky, illuminating the red dots on the flowers, which flickered like countless little red stars.
The night had been beautiful. The man’s shoulders had been broad and solid.
She also thought of Fu Yu, the obsessive ghost. Every night, he held her tightly in his arms, as though she were the most precious treasure in the world.
Then, she thought of Li Chen.
She realized that thinking of all this stemmed from a familiar feeling—one that made her soul tremble deeply. Some things she didn’t want to dwell on; the more she thought, the more entangled she would become.
Clop, clop, clop.
Nan Xun seemed to hear the sound of galloping hooves. She sat up and looked into the distance, soon spotting a small brown dot.
Someone was riding toward her on horseback.
The Void Beast suddenly chimed in, “Good luck.”
Then Nan Xun saw clearly who was on the horse.
She hadn’t expected Li Chen to find her so quickly.
The man hadn’t even changed into riding gear—he came just like that, wearing a casual suit.
The horse stopped more than twenty meters away. The man swung his long legs and jumped down, walking toward her.
The sunlight was behind him, his face shrouded in shadow and impossible to read. But Nan Xun saw his clenched hands, the tension in his long legs, the taut muscles as he strode toward her—his steps growing larger and faster.
Gulp.
Nan Xun swallowed.
Her eyes darted about, then her lips curved into a smile. Instantly, she put on a bright, affectionate expression and ran toward him, shouting her longing from afar. “Dad, I missed you so much—!”
The Void Beast nearly choked on its own saliva.
What a fickle woman. No—her adaptability was just too strong. Look at that smile—so sincere.
Nan Xun ran toward Li Chen, and just before crashing into him, she jumped up, wrapping her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck, rubbing her cheek against his. “Dad, Dad, I missed you so much. For these past two months, I’ve thought about you every single day.”
As she spoke, Nan Xun secretly glanced at him. When she caught sight of the slight, slanted curve of his lips, her heart began to pound wildly.
Oh no. When Li Chen smiles like that, it means someone is about to be very unlucky.
And there were only two people here. Who else could that unlucky one be but her?
Nan Xun hugged him even tighter. “Dad, why are you here? I was just about to go home.”
Li Chen didn’t speak, nor did he return the embrace. After a long while, just as Nan Xun was about to slide down from him, he finally reached out and supported her little backside.
Then, holding her with one arm, he walked back in silence.
Nan Xun was carried onto the horse. She heard Li Chen shout “Hyah,” and the horse took off at a gallop, racing across the ocean of grassland.
The speed was fast, the jolting intense.
Nan Xun clutched Li Chen tightly. “Dad, slow down, I’m scared.”
Li Chen lowered his gaze slightly to look at her and finally spoke his first words. “My darling, you’ve been very disobedient, so now I’m going to punish you.”
As he spoke, he pulled her closer and lifted her skirt…
A horse ran wildly across the grassland. It ran very fast. A flower bloomed on its back. Someone was crying.
Nan Xun was carried back to the car by Li Chen. What happened in between—she didn’t know. She really didn’t know anything.
Nan Xun asked Little Eight whether anything had happened along the way. Little Eight let out an “ah” and said it didn’t know either—it hadn’t been able to see or hear anything the entire time. All along the way, Li Chen had been “making pancakes,” and making pancakes was nothing more than about strength, angles, positions, and so on.
