[Item [Presence Concealment] countdown: 06:12]
Li Li had no idea what the now unconscious black-robed man was thinking. She put away the smile she had inadvertently shown and schooled her expression once more.
Yi Ming provided a distraction while she found an opportunity to dispatch the tiger squad ability user from behind. Their cooperation this time was flawless.
“Nice work.” She praised.
Yi Ming chuckled with a pleased expression.
There was a bounce in his step as he came over to join her.
They had arrived at the place Tang used to be held in.
Tarnished Bronze’s warehouse was split into two sections, merchandise with or without existing orders. It was basically the same as the place Yi Ming was being held with the same bronze doors.
Yi Ming placed his hands on the door and removed it like he had done before. The light in the room poured out until it illuminated their faces.
Li Li spotted Tang, the little girl she had first met days ago.
She had a head of dark hair that reached down to her waist. Above the neckline of her oversized T-shirt was a black choker.
Right now, she was seated in the only chair in the room with her head down. Her shadow was tiny as she was right under the light.
Her blank turquoise eyes seemed to be both staring at and straight past her feet.
Her state was somewhat different from what Li Li saw in the manhua.
Before she came to the manhua world, there was a section depicting Tang’s first escape, where Yi Ming told her he was here on behalf of her father to take her away. Tang seemed to be a little quiet, but her eyes immediately lit up upon hearing that and she eagerly left with Yi Ming.
“Tang! I’m here to pick you up!” Yi Ming trotted over as Li Li was still surveying the room.
Yet the little girl did not raise her head.
A tiny voice came from her mouth as that glazed expression persisted, “No need.”
The eager teen stopped in his tracks.
“There’s no need anymore.” She repeated.
It seemed that Tang had lost confidence in Yi Ming because he failed to keep his word last time.
Li Li knew things were going too smoothly to be true.
She shot off a cool remark while leaning in the doorway, “Looks like you’ve been rejected, Little Corgi.”
Yi Ming’s head slumped rather pitifully.
“It was all my fault last time,” Yi Ming couldn’t and didn’t want to find an excuse. “but Qing Yuchen isn’t here right now. We’ll be able to leave.”
But Tang just said, “Liar.”
She never looked at Yi Ming once.
Li Li mulled things over as she observed the two.
The entire Desolate Dragon arc had been focused around the goal of ‘saving Tang’, from the moment Yi Ming’s friend Yu Xiao obtained the letter, Yi Ming checking the letter, until now, when they came to see Tang.
The arc would definitely end on a sour note if they didn’t successfully leave this place with the little girl. If you viewed this world through the lens of a manhua, there was still a chance to change Tang’s mind.
Besides, this moment was definitely making it into the update. Li Li had to act.
Li Li reviewed everything she knew about the manhua to search for clues.
Yu Xiao claimed to had found the letter from Tang’s father in a giant stack of mail that hadn’t been sent out for some reason at the post office. The recipient was ‘Tide’.
The manhua didn’t show the letter itself, but the author did give a rundown of Yi Ming’s reaction when reading it.
The letter was supposed to go to some sort of organization. Tang’s father mentioned his name in the letter, implying whoever received this letter would know who he was.
Around a third of the letter was just her father’s rambling apology for betraying this organization in the past. Another third was him bringing up his past merits, and the remaining part was about his daughter. He seemed to be practically begging this organization to rescue his daughter from Tarnished Bronze’s clutches.
Finally, he mentioned vaguely that he would pass on his ability to his daughter.
Bloodline inheritance was one of the methods of acquiring an ability. Immediate relatives up to three generations apart can pass on abilities to each other. It would be a complete inheritance without any rank penalties, unlike draining.
In other words, a Rank C parent passing on their ability to their child would make the child Rank C as well. This was the foundation for the powerful aristocrats’ sustained supremacy. The heirs of their clans could obtain Rank A or even higher abilities right after assuming power.
However, even this type of inheritance came with a cost. Draining came at a heavy cost, but the donor in bloodline inheritance must voluntarily sacrifice a part of themselves. For example, concentrating all of their ability to an eyeball before transplanting said eyeball to an immediate relative. However, that eyeball will waste away in the end.
Common-type draining and bloodline inheritance both seemed to involve a ritualistic process. Li Li has considered alternatives to natural comprehension, but there were too few clues for her to infer anything.
However, Tang’s father had already predicted he would die soon. Therefore, the outcome would not be affected no matter what he sacrificed.
Less than a minute had passed outside. Yi Ming was still trying to persuade Tang.
“I promised your dad I would get you out of here.” Yi Ming’s gaze grew a little distant as he wracked his brains for what to say.
After all, he had never met Tang’s father, let alone promised the man anything.
He didn’t tell Tang that her father had already passed away.
Yi Ming rarely lied, which was different from never lying. As a low-rank ability user orphan from the slums, he wasn’t exactly a good kid before he met his adoptive father. His adoptive father played a significant role in him turning out the way he did by teaching him right from wrong, but he also believed wholeheartedly that some things were the right thing to do.
Including concealing the death of Tang’s father from her.
He made that decision the first time they met, when she asked him where her father was.
“You and Dad are both liars.” Tang suddenly blurted out.
The seven-year-old raised her head, tears welling up in her turquoise eyes.
“He said he would take me to see the houses made of candy in the Floating City after he was done with work. He even made a pinky promise.” She whispered, “Then he left me in this place and never came back.”
She turned to Yi Ming. “You said you would take me away. You pinky promised too. Then I came back here.”
“Liar.” Tang spat.
“I…” Yi Ming was at a momentary loss for words. He couldn’t even say he didn’t lie to her, because he had been this whole time.
With the bloody cut on his cheek from the Rank C ability user earlier, Little Corgi looked especially pitiful right now, like a puppy left out in the pouring rain.
Even his tail had drooped and stopped wagging.
The dark-haired young man finally broke his silence.
Li suddenly set his arms down and expressionlessly approached the two in stalemate.
“He didn’t lie to you.” Li stood in front of Tang and coldly stated, “It’s because he died.”
“Li?” Yi Ming’s eyes widened.
The dark-haired young man pressed on, “As the ability inheritance recipient, you should have an impression of the inheritance ritual.”
Yi Ming tugged on the hem of Li’s shirt, as if trying to stop him from continuing.
Yet Li just cast a dispassionate glance his way. “If you drag this out any longer, none of us will be able to leave.”
“But…” Yi Ming couldn’t up up with any rebuttal after some time. He weakly protested, “Surely there’s another way, Big Brother.”
Li ignored him.
At this moment, Tang raised her head to meet Li’s eyes.
“Ritual? He’s dead?”
A memory seemed to float to the surface.
Tang could never forget that day. Her father said he was finally done with work as he came to pick her up from the cramped room they were renting.
He said a lot of things before asking her if she had anywhere she wanted to visit.
Tang, who spent most of her time hiding alone at home, had little idea of what was out there. That’s why she said she wanted to go to the Floating City, because the little kid next door had relatives there who sent him a lot of candy.
It was the only interesting thing that broke up the monotony of her life, so she said that she wanted to go there.
Yet her dad showed a peculiar expression upon hearing that. He said he would definitely take her there, even making a pinky promise to her.
A warm sensation enveloped her head the moment their pinkies touched.
Her dad started crying for some reason, his face contorting as if he was in a lot of pain. He reiterated his promise to take Tang to the Floating City through his tears.
Tang was frightened. She said they didn’t have to go. She didn’t want to see her dad in this state.
But her dad insisted, forcing a faint, contorted smile onto his face: It’s a promise.
Then she was taken to this place, and she never saw her dad again.
She continued to live an abnormal life in this new cage.
She didn’t know anyone here, but she had nowhere else to go.
What was her dad if not a liar? What about their promise?
“But he abandoned me!” The haze seemed to clear from those turquoise eyes as they glared tearfully at Li. “He lied to me!”
Actually, she didn’t care where she went or what she did there. She just wanted to be with her dad from now on, that’s all.
Yet she was abandoned.
Abandoned in this terrifying, cage-like place.
“Being unable to fulfill a promise because he died doesn’t make him a liar.” Li said.
The dark-haired young man stared right into her eyes. “It just means he didn’t have enough time.”
Tears glimmered in Tang’s eyes. She asked in a trembling voice, “Is that true?”
“Yes.” Li replied.
Yi Ming, who was stuck in the middle, noticed something off about Li’s attitude. He seemed much colder with Tang than when he was speaking to Yi Ming.
Still, he believed in Li.
Since the beans had already been spilled, Yi Ming could only steel himself and say everything he could in the time they had left, including the letter asking for help he received, including that fact that Tang’s father never abandoned her, would never have abandoned her if not for circumstances outside his control.
“That’s why I will take you away from here. I’m really not lying about this…” Yi Ming promised wholeheartedly.
“To the Floating City?” Tang asked suddenly.
She sniffled, staring like she didn’t want to admit defeat to either of them.
Yi Ming was taken aback. “The Floating City? Sure, if you want to.”
Then he watched the little lady who ignored all his attempts from before hop off the chair and raise her chin with red-rimmed eyes. “Then I’m coming with you two.”
She wanted to go to the Floating City. She had to.
Even if her dad, who looked ugly when he cried, wouldn’t be by her side. Even if he would never be able to keep his promise.
She would go, just like they had promised back then.
Yi Ming blinked before beaming happily. “Great! Let’s get out of here!”
It took about four minutes to persuade Tang, meaning they had to leave this place ASAP.
Yi Ming bent down to pick up Tang like last time. It would be faster this way.
It was at that moment the dark-haired young man suddenly paused.
Li took out a candy from the pocket of his trenchcoat and dropped it in Tang’s palm.
The candy was wrapped in a piece of iridescent foil that shone like a rainbow.
With that, the dark-haired young man strode past Yi Ming and out the doorway like nothing had happened.
The little girl looked at the candy in her hand, which seemed to glow under the light. The twinkling foil was reflected in her turquoise eyes.
She had forgotten what kind of candy the neighbour kid got a long, long time ago.
“I knew Li wasn’t a bad person…” Yi Ming murmured as he extended a hand to Tang. “Come on, Tang.”
The little girl carefully held the candy tight as she ran out. Then she gently grasped a corner of the young man’s trenchcoat despite her red-rimmed eyes.
The rainbow candy must be the best candy in the world, she thought.
Yi Ming just stood there for a moment before rushing out. “Wait for me!”
“Why do I feel like the third wheel here?” He grumbled.
…
[Update target reached.]
[Establishing channel…]
