Chapter 7
Depressing . This is Chen Rui's first impression of Dark Moon City .
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He wondered if all Mozu's cities were like this - including the royal palace, most buildings in Dark Moon City looked terribly old; very few storefronts and stalls doing business; along the road were ugly and fierce demons with worn-out clothes; the city had a ruined, desolate atmosphere .
The demons' appearances made Chen Rui tremble with fear - if his human identity got exposed, considering he didn't get eaten right away, it'd still be impossible to keep his dear life .
"Hey! You, straighten your waist, don't clamp your legs that tightly, and relax your shoulders!"
Athena's voice interrupted his train of thought,
"Are you even a man? Babies in the Wales Family are much stronger than you!"
Chen Rui really wanted to say he was still a virgin - to some standard, he wasn't a man yet . But his posture right now was indeed a bit odd, just like a toad lying on a three-horned rhino . His arms cling tightly to the rhino's large back, for fear that he would be crushed by its feet if he fell down .
"Sorry, this is my first time riding such a big thing . "
As Chen Rui was pondering about why this world didn't have any kind of saddle or stirrup and planning on "inventing" them when he came back, he noticed Alice's rhino; hers got a full set of saddle equipments - turned out it was just unfair treatment .
"Even if it's your first time, you don't need to squeeze so tightly . Loosen your legs!"
Athena reprimanded .
The little loli, only God knew if she understood it or not, advised with goodwill:
"Athena, there's no rush - it's his first time, of course he has to squeeze tightly . "
This line almost made Chen Rui fall down from his rhino . Lots of demons along the way noticed his strange behavior, pointing their fingers at him . It was good that Chen Rui was wearing a cloak, his human identity temporarily didn't get exposed . Only some smell-sensitive demons revealed a doubtful expression, but with the princess and Athena there, no one dared come close .
When they reached the city's gate, the four rhinos were stopped .
"Where are you going, Your Highness Alice?"
The one stopping them was a male demon wearing armor . He was big and tall, red skin, with two curved horns growing on his head . He had a deep-looking face, his whole body exuding a vicious and imposing aura; from his appearance, he must be a havoc demon .
"Ah, Public Security Officer Alan, it's rare to see you doing the inspection personally . "
Alice faintly smiled:
"We're going to Blue Wave Lake . "
Alan frowned and said:
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"The situation at Blue Wave Lake has been unusual recently, I'm worried something might have happened to the poison dragon sleeping there . I've sent out scout to investigate, Your Highness should wait until it's safe to play there . "
"That poison dragon's been sleeping for thousands of years, Emperor Byakuya even used his strongest Light-Dark Seal on it . There will be no problem . "
Alice pointed at Chen Rui,
"And this time we go there not to play - this is Master Aldaz's new apprentice, master told me to bring him to Blue Wave Lake to collect medicinal herbs . "
Alchemy was divided into two major branches: if Crafters earned people's respect, then Potioneers earned people's fear . People dreaded poison potions and debuff potions, usually forgetting that there were potions with medicinal effects and buff effects too .
Words usually used to describe a Potioneer were "dark", "dangerous", "vicious" and "untouchable" . Aldaz was a representative: from his laboratory, the miserable screaming of test subjects could be heard frequently, even the royal palace's guards dared not come close . It was hard to understand why Her Highness the Crown Princess would place such a dangerous person in the palace's outer court .
That terrifying Potion Master actually took in an apprentice? Alan curiously looked at this new apprentice, but his eyes became sharp the moment he saw Chen Rui . At this time, Alice pulled the hood down .
"This is the human we captured last time!"
A soldier behind Alan called out in astonishment . Immediately all eyes, full of hostility, focused on Chen Rui . He ground his teeth to keep his composure, but cold sweat didn't stop dripping down his forehead .
Alan found out Chen Rui's identity sooner than those soldiers did . He remembered when he'd reported this matter to the Crown Princess, Master Aldaz'd also been there . The master'd personally said he wanted this human as a test subject . How come a captive, a slave, suddenly turns into a master's apprentice?
Alice nonchalantly introduced:
"This human is called Chen Rui . Because he has talent in Potionology, Master Aldaz's accepted him as his official apprentice . From now on, he'll be a member of Dark Moon City . "
Athena impatiently added:
"This is what I and Her Highness Alice heard from the master with our own ears; if you have any questions, why don't we go ask Master Aldaz directly!"
"Athena, sorry, I didn't mean it, I -"
Alan's attitude towards Athena seemed a bit weird . Without finishing his line, he got cut off by Athena's cold words:
"Alan, you finished? Don't waste our time!"
Athena's stiff manner made Alan feel helpless; he said to Alice:
"Little Princess, just in case, let me send a troop to protect you . "
Alice innocently smiled and asked:
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"You worry Athena couldn't protect me?"
Athena furrowed her delicate brows, and her crimson eyes glittered with sharpness . Alan hastily shook his head, his look towards Chen Rui became colder:
"Human! Do not try to run away or scheme anything . Or else I'll crush every bones in your body . "
After saying that, Alan slightly bowed to the princess and stood back . The four rhinos heavily stepped out of the city's gate . Inside Dark Moon City, the news about Master Aldaz adopting an apprentice had been spread everywhere .
"Actually Alan's not too bad, his family's background and status match yours . "
Alice looked at Athena with a grin:
"If he hadn't directly proposed the marriage to your father without telling you, I think you wouldn't hate him that much . "
Athena said with disdain:
"I don't like him! He's useless, he got his position only because of his Karon Family . He only knows how to bully the weak and doesn't have any real skills . "
"The weak" besides her could see that there must have been some history between the two of them; no wonder this violent girl's attitude towards Alan was similar to facing enemies .
"Last time when we went to Cloudy Rain Forest, he must have reported that to the Crown Princess . This kind of person is what I hate the most . "
Athena sneered:
"Want to marry me? Ask my sword first!"
"Of course, Athena's mine, no one could take you away . "
The little loli laughed cheerfully:
"Let's speed up!"
The three-horned rhinos accelerated; it was hard to believe such a speed could come from such a huge body . Without any saddle equipments, Chen Rui had no choice but to suffer, using his Toad Skill1 to barely stay on the rhino's back; he almost fell down several times . Athena felt quite annoyed, so she swapped rhinos with him . Looking at her riding the rhino at high speed without any difficulty, Chen Rui could only admire her skill .
Compared to the warm and bright sunlight on the Surface World in Arthur's memory, Mozu's environment was much harsher . The light source came from two "stars" in the sky . Called "stars", but their light intensity and heat were far worse than that of the sun on earth; most of the time they were hidden away behind the smoky clouds . In the evening, they turned into "moons", with their icy lavender light - the difference in temperature between night and day was immense .
All along the way could be seen huge pits of corrosion, dark and mysterious caverns, all kinds of weirdly-shaped plants - everything forming a strangely beautiful landscape, with a tinge of gloom added to it .
Blue Wave Lake's area was vast, surrounded by mountains . The atmosphere was specially serene: azure-colored water, lush lakeside plants, gorgeous flowers - just like a paradise in a world of darkness .
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But Chen Rui quickly learned from Alice - the color of the water was azure because there was a matured poison dragon sleeping at the bottom of the lake . Its poison dyed the lake blue . There were no living creatures inside the lake . And the lush plants and gorgeous flowers around the lake - most of them contained deadly toxic . Some were even carnivorous, their pretty outer appearances came from their preys' flesh and blood .
A dragon's strength was terrifying enough, not to mention it was a poison dragon, which was rare even in the dragon race - the poison inside its body could exterminate a city at any moment; that's why no one dared bother it . This poison dragon'd been sleeping for several thousands of years . Around four hundreds years ago, there'd been a coup in Dark Moon Territory; Mozu's strongest demon Emperor Byakuya'd led an army there to put it down . When he'd passed through Blue Wave Lake, even he'd not dared to awake the dragon, so to keep it sleeping, he'd deliberately performed a Light-Dark Seal on it .
"There is a law in Mozu - the more beautiful things are, the more dangerous they can be . "
Chen Rui acknowledged her remark, adding a clause quietly inside his head - the exact same thing could be said about demoness!
Adorable little princess, bewitching maid, courageous swordswoman - was any one of those not considered dangerous?
The poison dragon inside the lake wasn't just for decoration after all; Athena didn't dare to come too close to the lake, choosing a reasonably safe mountain top, where they had a good view of the lake from above .
"It's been a long time since we went to Blue Wave Lake . Athena, remember the last time?"
Alice suggested with enthusiasm:
"Finally an outing - how about a picnic?"
Alice slightly hesitated:
"Didn't Alan say Blue Wave Lake's been unusual lately? We should just quickly pick the fruits and go back . "
"You believed that coward?"
Alice shook her head with disagreement:
"If you'd invited him to come with you, he would've immediately said the poison dragon was eliminated, Blue Wave Lake was even safer than the bathroom of his house . "
"I would never invite that hateful guy!"
Athena snorted, silently agreeing with Alice's comment,
"So be it, Jiya collects the Jade Dragon Fruits, I do the hunting . Human, you stay here preparing with Alice . "
Actually Chen Rui wanted to try using the poisonous plants around here to increase the System's activation process, but thinking about those man-eating flowers and the final boss in the lake, he quickly thrown that thought away .
Jiya and Athena had just gone when Alice started ordering Chen Rui . The bracelet on her wrist was
a dimensional equipment that could store items . Just that its rank wasn't too high, the space inside it wasn't very big, and it was stuffed full by the little loli; as a result, the moment she used it, a bunch of things fell out, creating a big mess .
Chen Rui had to help her collect her things, accidentally "picking up" a pile of underwear, and some were even the big-sized ones . Chen Rui was taken aback; the first thing popped up in his mind was that even Mozu had this kind of things; the next thing he thought was that the size didn't match Alice, who was still not endowed enough . Can it be that Alice is the legendary "controlling type2"?
Feeling Alice's murderous gaze, Chen Rui pretended not to see those things, turning away to collect other things . When he turned back, the bunch of underwear had already disappeared without a trace .
After they finished cleaning and everything was put inside the bracelet, a full set of picnic utensils was taken out and arranged; it seemed like this little loli was always prepared to play at any time .
At this time Athena and Jiya weren't back yet; Alice looked around and walked towards Chen Rui step by step . He nervously asked:
"L-Little Princess, you need something?"
"Drama's not like that,"
Alice revealed a bizarre smile:
"You should say 'don't come near me, or I'll scream!' And then I'll say 'even if you scream your heart out, no one will come to your rescue!' "
Chen Rui felt a big drop of sweat slowly rolling down his forehead, rolled his eyes and asked back:
"After that I'll scream my heart out, and then a guy named No One will come to save me, right?"
Alice showed an astonished expression:
"What? The human world also has 'The Demon King and The Princess'?"
Chen Rui gave a profound chuckle without answering . It seemed like there were a lot of common things, regardless of dimensions or races .
But he soon couldn't laugh anymore, because Alice suddenly said:
"Tell this princess some good stories, like the prehistoric world last time - very creative . "
Chen Rui could feel his heart jumping violently inside his chest . He hurriedly argued:
"That's not a story, it's real! Without Master Wukong's divine blessing, how could I make Huarong Road and Kongming Lock?"
"Oh, I'll tell you a little secret, even Athena doesn't know this,"
Athena said in a mysterious low voice:
"The first time I met you, I just happened to awake a bloodline talent of the Lucifer Royal Family, called Mind Reading Technique, and I… accidentally tried it on you . "
Chen Rui was thunderstruck . He couldn't utter a single word and just stood there frozen in place .
The signature martial arts technique of Ouyang Feng, a character in the famous novel series Condor Trilogy written by Jin Yong . ↩ I don't know what the author meant there . It depends on your imagination but for me, it meant a girl who can control her body's size, make her chest bigger or smaller and stuff . ↩