Chapter 1106, Do Come Again

Translator: Silavin

 

“Brat, if you surrender without struggling, you may spare yourself from suffering too much.”

 

The Sky Lions encircling Qin Yichen wore looks of quiet glee in their eyes, and some even carried a jeering smile as they addressed him.

 

“Let’s go. Leave this to them.”

 

Just as the Elf patrol squad captain was preparing to make his move, Fiery, hovering above in mid-air, suddenly spoke.

 

Hearing this, everyone present was left at a loss.

 

Shi Weixi blinked his eyes in bewilderment. [Leave? Is he talking to me?]

 

Although his name carried a certain reputation among the merchants who dealt with the Elf Race, even he could not quite bring himself to believe that a High Rank Elf Deacon would address him in such a manner.

 

And while everyone stood in that fog of confusion, Qin Yichen moved. His silhouette flashed, and he was suddenly at Mei Ler’s side.

 

“I apologise, I have involved you in this.” Gazing at the silhouette now standing before her, Mei Ler felt a twinge of guilt as she spoke.

 

Earlier, among the Elf Race’s merchants, she had caused Qin Yichen no small amount of trouble. Yet what she had not expected, not in the slightest, was that in the end, the very fellow she had humiliated time and again would be the one to stand resolutely at her side.

 

“Let’s go.” Qin Yichen only offered a mild smile.

 

“Go?” Mei Ler blinked, puzzled.

 

Although Qin Yichen’s strength was admirable enough, attempting to force their way out of the Elf Forest with that cultivation level alone was no different from the rambling dreams of a fool.

 

“Sir Qin, surely you’re not thinking of bringing this woman along?” And amidst the general bewilderment, Fiery’s rather teasing voice drifted down from above quite unexpectedly.

 

“You know, I’ve discovered that you are really talkative, you know that?” Qin Yichen gave a mild roll of his eyes, looped one arm around Mei Ler’s slender waist, and launched himself skyward, shooting straight toward Fiery in mid-air.

 

In barely a moment, amid a sea of gaping, disbelieving stares, Qin Yichen carried Mei Ler and landed directly upon that Unicorn.

 

“This…” Watching this from below, every heart present plunged into sheer astonishment.

 

This brat, he actually knew the Elf Deacon, Fiery?!

 

And moreover, by how Fiery acted, he seemed to hold considerable respect for this young man!?

 

All at once, Shi Weixi’s expression sharply darkened.

 

Given how close this brat’s relationship with Fiery appeared to be, it was rather obvious that what Fiery had said earlier was not directed at Qin Yichen. It was directed at…

 

“Oh, right. Remember not to resist. You may spare yourself from suffering too much.” Suddenly, from up in the sky, Qin Yichen’s lightly teasing voice rang out across the air.

 

*Whoosh!*

 

Then, under a host of staring eyes, the Unicorn became a streak of radiance and shot away with tremendous speed toward the distant horizon.

 

“Sir…”

 

By this point, the Sky Lions had at last pieced it together. Fiery’s earlier verdict had never been about Qin Yichen at all. It was about them.

 

Facing their imploring gazes, the Elf patrol squad captain’s expression was thoroughly grim.

 

He had nearly misread Fiery’s meaning entirely. Judging by Fiery’s following actions, that young man was very likely an honoured guest of the Elf Race. If he were to offend a distinguished guest on account of these bumbling nuisances, the consequences would be grave.

 

“What are you standing around for? Strip them of their cultivation and throw them out! Any who resist, kill them on the spot!” The patrol squad captain swept his arm sharply, his voice snapping cold.

 

“Sir, please show mercy!”

 

“Ahhh!”

 

*Thud! Crash! Crack!*

 

With the last syllable of his command, the Elf experts pounced like wolves and tigers. In an instant, pitiful shrieks of anguish began echoing through the dense forest, one after another, without pause.

 

…

 

“Sir Qin, are you all right?” Atop the Unicorn, Fiery turned to Qin Yichen with a rather forced smile and asked.

 

“You could have shown yourself a little earlier.” Qin Yichen turned his eyes skyward with no small amount of dissatisfaction. [This guy… and I so generously gave him so much Peak Grade Divine Immortal’s Intoxication as well!]

 

“Hehe, don’t be like that. Was I not giving you a chance to play the hero saving the beauty?”

 

“You!”

 

Fiery chuckled with a distinctly wicked gleam in his eye as he gave Qin Yichen a very pointed look.

 

Fiery currently bore absolutely no trace of the lofty dignity he had projected a moment ago as an Elf Deacon. In fact, the two of them looked just like two old friends swapping stories.

 

Behind them, Mei Ler stood in wide-eyed astonishment.

 

Within the Elf Race, she had admittedly won the favour of no small number of High Rank female Elves. Yet she also understood that those female Elves’ affection for her was nothing more than the lure of the beautiful clothing she had brought with her.

 

When the Elf Race had severed ties with the outside world, those female Elves had been wistful enough, yes, but not a single one had thought to send her out.

 

And yet Qin Yichen had an Elf Deacon personally escort him out, and the latter’s manners toward him was that of a respect which came from the depths of his heart.

 

Were it not so, why would anyone stoop so cheerfully to treat Qin Yichen like a fellow of the same generation, chatting away as though with an old friend?

 

[Just what on earth is this fellow’s background?] Gazing at the slender silhouette standing ahead of her, a tangle of mysteries rose up in Mei Ler’s heart.

 

In the sunlight, that tall, lean figure stood like a War God, upright and commanding…

 

Without quite knowing when it had happened, a warmth crept into Mei Ler’s chest, and the slender waist that had been held sent a faint, lingering heat spreading from that spot.

 

…

 

In barely half a day, carried by the Unicorn, the edge of the Elf Forest came into view at last on the horizon before Qin Yichen.

 

“Sir Qin, this is as far as I can take you.” Arriving here, the Unicorn’s speed gradually slowed, and Fiery spoke with a hint of reluctance toward Qin Yichen. “Be sure to come visit us often.”

 

“Of course!” Qin Yichen gave a nod, cupping his fists toward Fiery with a smile.

 

Then, without waiting for Mei Ler to resist, he simply scooped her slender waist up in one arm, tapped a foot lightly, and leapt off the Unicorn in a clean arc.

 

“Ah, let go of me! I can walk on my own!” Feeling that warm hand, a tingling numbness swept in from her waist at once, and Mei Ler could not help letting out a startled cry.

 

“Your performance within the Elf Race has not gone unnoticed only by the Sky Lion Race. If you don’t wish to invite more trouble onto yourself, be a good girl and stay still.” Qin Yichen made no move to release her, accelerating his pace as he shot away toward the distance.

 

Hearing his words, Mei Ler’s gaze swept hurriedly around, and she was startled to find that, at a considerable distance, there appeared to be some familiar silhouettes waiting just outside the Elf Forest, having not yet departed.

 

A few of them were suitors she had previously rebuffed with contempt, and a greater number were merchants who had found themselves outshone by her at the Merchandise Fair.

 

Upon catching sight of them, Mei Ler no longer dared to struggle. The aching warmth at her waist sent a flush spreading across her lovely face.

 

Outwardly, she appeared like an alluring vixen, yet in truth, she had never once been this close to a man before.

 

This sort of proximity, the faint warmth drifting from the latter’s person, set a gentle ripple moving through her heart.

 

And those broad, solid arms offered her, quite unexpectedly, a sense of safety she had never felt before.