RPDH Chapter 26

The sunshower continued. The rainbow gracing the sky like a delicate mirage.

Yi Ming stared up at the sky in a daze before suddenly stating, “Li nearly managed to escape.”

“If the Dark Principle hadn’t caught him, he would have escaped. If I hadn’t left, if I hadn’t broken our promise…”

He could almost imagine the sheer despair Li felt back then. He must have suffered even more than Yi Ming was suffering right now. The feeling of his heart about to burst was nothing.

The youth’s expression seemed to be crying, but no tears came out.

Beside him, Tang wiped the rain and tears alike off her face.

“It was my fault, wasn’t it?” She cried and blamed herself, “I was the one who dragged you two down.”

“No, it was my fault.” Yi Ming stated.

There was a subtle shift in his expression. A hint of maturity appeared in his baby-fat lined features. His brows were deeply furrowed as he struggled to give up something he once held dear.

“Buyan wasn’t wrong, and neither were you.” He stated almost calmly, “The fault lies with me, and me alone.”

“I shouldn’t have left. I should have listened to you and stayed.”

He sat up with the help of a chunk of rubble on the side before staring down contemplatively at his chest, his heart. “I should have listened to that voice inside me and stayed.”

A qualitative change took place in the youth’s mental state. He seemed to mature significantly in just one night.

“I shouldn’t have forsaken someone else to save myself. Then Li wouldn’t have died.”

The price was a dear friend, a family member.

[Ahhhh! Damn you, Dark Principle!]

[Poor Little Corgi, wuwuwuwu… Poor Li, wuwuwuwu…]

[If the price of growth is loss, then I would rather Little Corgi never grow up at all.]

[Who’s crying? Oh, I’m the one crying.]

[Why am I getting knifed two chapters in a row?!]

[My Li, my Cowlick Li, wuwuwuwu…]

[He almost had a home!]

I hate the Dark Principle! I hate him to my core!!!!]

[Wasn’t that bastard humming a tune back then?!]

Three days were not enough for the readers to recover from the angst nuke.

Li Li drowsily thought as she read about how deeply Little Corgi was impacted: Don’t worry. Li’s going through his own emotional arc in Nexus City.

She drifted off for a bit before reading on.

She saw Hua Yizhi standing behind Yi Ming and Tang with an umbrella, impassively watching on.

He had probably confirmed by now that the Dark Principle was the prophesized leader, otherwise he would show more of a reaction to Yi Ming’s epiphany.

After all, Yi Ming could become the leader they needed after realizing he didn’t need to follow Shuang Buyan’s teachings to the letter.

Alas, Hua Yizhi had arrived at the wrong conclusion in the end.

Both of Yi Ming’s hands had sustained some degree of injury in the previous battle. He rested at the boss’ casino for two days before Yu Xiao came barging in on the third.

“Sorry, sorry. I accidentally fell asleep on the road.” Yu Xiao touched the back of his head with a sheepish smile as soon as he saw Yi Ming.

Yi Ming replied half-heartedly, “It’s okay. I’m used to it.”

This was probably Tang’s first time hearing such a ridiculous reason. Shocked, she sized up Yu Xiao like he was some sort of boogeyman.

She appeared no different from any other little girl her age with her eyes wide open.

Yi Ming’s arms were both in casts. He lay listlessly on the bed the boss had prepared for him.

Yu Xiao casually dragged a stool over to his bedside and chomped down on a fruit he found on the bedside table. He reacted with confusion to the look Tang shot at him, as if he had no idea why a little girl he didn’t know would be glaring at him.

“Yi Ming, I heard along the way that Tarnished Bronze was overtaken by another organization, Tide. All of their ‘merchandise’ have also been released. That means we don’t need to go find Tang anymore, right?” Yu Xiao blabbered on without waiting for a response.

Tang glared at him even harder.

“Look.” Yi Ming tiredly said.

Yu Xiao was confused. “Look? At what?”

Yi Ming: “The one glaring at you. She’s Tang.”

Yu Xiao blinked obliviously before blurting out to Tang, “Whoops! Sorry about that!”

[The atmosphere suddenly became lively. As expected of Copout Sunfish.]

[I’m laughing and crying right now, wuwuwu.]

[How different would things have turned out if Copout Sunfish didn’t fall asleep along the way?]

[Copout Sunfish is a domain-type, after all. Maybe he could have been of some use?]

[I suddenly want to see the aloof, sharp-tongued Li face off against Copout Sunfish. That would have been interesting.]

[Don’t even bother thinking about it. It’s no longer possible.]

[Damn, previous commenter! Who hurt you?]

[Copout Sunfish has never even met Li before! They completely missed each other!]

Li Li felt a bit more assured now.

It seemed that her ability really did make Yu Xiao forget about her.

At the moment, her ability Illusory Truth had three restrictions.

One was a range restriction. Her illusion and the truth she was targeting must both be within 200m.

The second was a probability restriction. Her ability was 100% effective on those of lower rank and only 5% effective on those of equal or higher rank.

And finally, she was unable to confirm if her ability worked on someone or not if she wasn’t able to directly observe the results.

There should be a time restriction as well, but that one was quite lenient. She could use her ability for an entire day and only become a bit dizzy.

She continued reading. Just when Yu Xiao and Tang started talking and got introductions out of the way, Hua Yizhi suddenly reappeared.

If Li Li recalled correctly, this should be right after she rejected Hua Yizhi’s invitation and left Desolate Dragon.

Hua Yizhi told Yi Ming after opening the door, “Someone’s here to see you.”

A young girl and boy stood behind him. They both had gray hair, similar features and identical heights.

They were evidently twins. As soon as they set foot inside the room, they bowed their heads to Yi Ming and pleaded, “Please help us!”

Yi Ming’s fatigue vanished without a trace at the keywords ‘help us’.

He sat up with a sincere expression. “What happened?”

In the real world, Li Li scrutinized the appearance of the twins.

Why did they look somewhat familiar to her?

It took her a while to remember. That was the teen that Tarnished Bronze had been targeting while she had her squid-pork soup dumplings.

The girl beside him was his younger sister, who had already been captured at that point.

They should be fine now that Tarnished Bronze was gone, right? Li Li wondered as she kept reading.

In the manhua, they sought out Yi Ming and shared their story.

They claimed to be test subjects from a certain research institute that escaped just a few days ago. The researchers were still hunting them down.

The twins hoped that Yi Ming could protect them.

In the manhua, Yu Xiao was the first to respond, “That’s impossible, ah. We’re only low-ranks too. How are we supposed to go up against an entire research institute?”

“Besides, Yi Ming isn’t some goody-two-shoes with a chronic heroism streak…” Yu Xiao was soon cut off.

“Okay.” Yi Ming nodded.

The manhua devoted most of a page to Yu Xiao looking up in disbelief before showing a shocked expression.

Li Li became thoughtful. She did see the twins being pursued, but by members of Tarnished Bronze.

Besides, there was something fishy about Hua Yizhi being the one who introduced the twins to Yi Ming.

“Great!” The boy seemed very excited. “With your help, we’ll be able to bring down that research institute for sure!”x

Why did he say ‘bring down’ instead of ‘avoid’?

The boy seemed very sure of his words despite Yi Ming only being a Rank D.

Research institutes were a common sight across the empire. Humans were afraid of the process to acquire abilities while also being covetous of the might said abilities could bring to bear.

Ability research continued ceaselessly, both in the open and in secret.

Yet there was one characteristic shared by all research institutes. The fact that they could operate and suppress a selection of ability users for study meant they had a certain degree of backing.

Having a Rank D like Yi Ming go up against a research institute was like asking Yi Ming to solo Qing Yuchen. The gap was just too much.

Li Li knew Hua Yizhi represented the former Ability Association. If the twins went to him for help, he could probably take care of the problem for them.

Yet the twins sought out Yi Ming and openly proclaimed their goal to ‘bring down the research institute’.

Li Li flipped the page and saw Yi Ming ask the twins where this institute was located.

The twins said in unison, “Nexus City!”

Li Li blinked. Maybe she was still half-asleep?

She rubbed her eyes.

Li Li: “……”

Huh?

How could this be a coincidence?!

With that, the manhua began to introduce Nexus City.

The Ability Association, the aristocracy, research institutes, various secret organizations, as well as the staggering number of bounty hunters.

A familiar silhouette made an appearance when bounty hunters were being introduced.

‘His’ side profile revealed a straight nose bridge and indifferently pursed lips. The outline of several daggers could be seen floating around ‘him’.

Next to the silhouette was a single line of text: A bounty hunter in the crazed, single-minded pursuit of his goal.

Li Li had to set down her phone for a second at this point. She murmured to the bedcurtains, “You must love me deeply, dear System.”

She never thought her new identity would be making his debut in the manhua so soon. She was growing more certain that there was a conspiracy afoot.

Li Li soon continued reading. The rest of the chapter was setting up the next arc.

Just as Yi Ming got out of bed and prepared to head out with the twins.

Li’s figure suddenly appeared in his mind as he opened the door.

Yi Ming could almost see the outwardly cold, dark-haired young man standing before him with his back to him. He glanced calmly over his shoulder at Yi Ming, haloed by the sunlight outside the door.

Like he was waiting for Yi Ming to continue his journey.

‘I won’t forsake anyone ever again.’

Yi Ming’s thought bubble read.

‘Li.’ He called out that name in his heart as he strode forward with conviction.

He headed towards the light, towards that figure.

Then, he stepped through the phantom and continued forward.

Finally greeting the sunlight and the brilliant sky waiting outside.

[Ambushed by another big knife near the end!!]

[Wuwuwuwu… Are my tears worthless to you!]

[Little Corgi’s changed. Really.]

[Even so, Li will never return.]

[An illusion! It’s just abuse at this point!]

[I’ll never forgive you, Dark Principle!]

[When will that bastard die!!!!]

Li Li was a bit taken aback by this scene.

She soon set her phone down and crawled out of bed.

She noted down the name of the research institute mentioned by the twins, intending to scout it out first tonight in the manhua world.

Right now, though, she needed to get ready for classes.

She would prepare tonight by reading the forums or something, even if that doesn’t really make a difference.

There was another thing…

If Yi Ming came to Nexus City, there was a real chance they would bump into each other, ah.

All of a sudden, she couldn’t wait for that to happen.