Chapter 1584: Blood Makeup

Professor Wang looked utterly shocked as he stared at the scrolling data on his monitor. Fists clenched tight, he asked, "Where… where on earth did this data come from?"

I replied, "It’s a secret. How is it? Do you think it’ll help?"

"Of course it will!"

𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

Professor Wang nodded repeatedly. "If I’m reading this correctly, this data is at least 10 years more advanced than the one the California research institute is using to help you! Of course it’s useful! All we need now is a test subject[1], and you’ll have a real shot at recovery!"

I rubbed my palm together happily. "That’s wonderful. I owe Flowing Cloud a huge debt this time…"

Beside me, Li Chengfeng broke into a grin and said, "Yeah. If you manage to get rid of the virus in your body, you should set up an offline meeting with her and fly to India. I’m sure she’s very interested in you!"

Me: "..."

Beiming Xue immediately chided him, "Shut up, Li! Big bro’s beloved is Lin Yixin and Sister Eve. Flowing Cloud is but a passerby in his life’s journey!"

Li Chengfeng shrugged. "So what? That doesn’t matter, does it? Hehe!"

……

The next morning, I logged into the game. I was still at Beijing because of my illness.

Swhoosh!

Not long after I appeared in Sky City, He Yi, Beiming Xue, Lian Xin and Murong Mingyue appeared as well. I added them all to my party before speaking with an NPC and registering our party in the second WEL. The preliminaries would last for a month, followed by tense and exciting bouts of matches that would decide the final victor. Naturally, my record would be reset by the new MVP of the WEL.

The main city was fairly silent and calm today. He Yi caressed the MVP emblem on my shoulder and said, "It looks like we won’t have anything to do with the MVP this time…"

I chuckled. "But of course. We’re not even registering because we’re aiming to win. My brain lag is 2.7 seconds right now, so there’s no way I can compete. I probably won’t even fight any battles. When the preliminaries begin, I expect you guys to handle the 1v1s and Eve + Beiming, Little Xin, or sis to handle the 2v2s. 1 melee and 1 ranged is a versatile setup for any composition, and you are all gods anyway. In fact, Mingyue’s Kiss of the Goddess of Life should be very powerful in the 2v2 matches. Theoretically, you can heal Eve infinitely if the enemy doesn’t wear her down first…"

He Yi shot me a look. "I don’t even know why you’re making us fight the preliminaries. What is the point of the WEL without you, not to mention that we’re at the point where we don’t really need the title of champion anymore…"

I shrugged. "Fine, fine, do as you wish…"

Beiming Xue was carrying the Xuanming Bow and floating just a little above the ground. The wind blew her cloak against her round, firm legs as she giggled at me. "Just focus on recovering your strength, big bro. So what if the second season’s MVP and championship title go to someone else? We can always take it back in the third season."

I nodded before letting out another chuckle. "Speaking of recovery, that reminds me of the classic tale of a heroine doing something to help the main character recover…"

Beiming Xue’s eyes widened. "Really? Doing what?"

Murong Mingyue slapped me across the arm before I could say anything. "Don’t listen to your shameless brother, Beiming. As for you, I should’ve known that your perversity couldn’t be stopped by something as simple as a virus! You call her your sister, but what are you trying to do to her, huh?"

I shrugged. "I tease her because I love her. You don’t see me teasing October Rain or God’s Dance, do you?"

"You do want to tease them. You have teased them on occasion. You just stopped because they weren’t responding to your advances!"

He Yi coughed. "I don’t know about that. October Rain’s responses seemed pretty positive to me…"

"Ahem…" I let out a cough before the hole got deeper. "You know what? Let’s talk about lunch instead…"

……

This time, we chose to eat at a restaurant instead of the headquarters’ canteen.

He Yi wanted to push me on a wheelchair, but of course I turned her down. It took lifting a 20kg dumbbell to prove to her that I’m not quite dead yet before she finally agreed to allow me to walk my way to the restaurant. She still held my arm the entire way, afraid that I would stumble and be taken out by the dangerous roads of the capital[2].

My right arm was supported by He Yi, and my left arm was wrapped across Xinran’s shoulders. Beiming Xue, Lian Xin and Murong Mingyue were following behind me as well. Naturally, I felt very grateful to be alive right now. Of course, I would feel even more grateful if High Fighting Spirits, Du Thirteen and Mamate weren’t following behind us and whistling at random Beijing women in the streets.

We found a donkey meat restaurant at a small alley and decided to have lunch there. We sat down around a large round table and ordered a lot of food. Du Thirteen and the others ordered some baijiu to drink, but I stuck to tea because the doctor told me that, while it looked like my food preferences wouldn’t affect my condition, it was still best to avoid stimulating food. That meant no alcohol. I didn’t want to shorten my already very short lifespan any further.

My appetite wasn’t very good, so I pulled my chair to the window after just a couple of bites. I then took out my phone and called Lin Yixin. It had been a while since I contacted her. A few beeps later, the call finally connected—

"Little Cheat?" She sounded as sweet as ever.

I smiled. "Yes, dear. What kept you at Suzhou? You didn’t come to Beijing, and I didn’t see you in the game when I went online earlier."

I could hear Lin Yixin smirking as she said, "Nothing? It’s only been a day, you know. Do you miss me already?"

"Of course I do. I want to hold you right now…"

"When are you coming back, by the way? I miss you too…"

"I’ll be flying back tomorrow morning. I may not be able to get back by noon though. Is afternoon at Snowy Cathaya’s workshop okay with you?"

"Afternoon?"

"Yeah? Are you busy with something?"

"No, no. Sure! See you then!"

"Okay!"

……

After I returned to the table, I found myself unable to resist the thick fragrance of alcohol permeating from Du Thirteen’s glass. "Can someone get me a glass, please? I would like to take a sip[3]…"

He Yi chided me, "You are seriously ill, control yourself!"

"Just one sip, please…" I begged.

"Fine, just one[4]…"

"I want the one with 65 percent…"

“Oh my heavens…"

My stomach felt warm and pleasant after I downed a sip of baijiu. A red-faced Li Chengfeng said happily, "I heard that a beautiful girl from Twelve Musicians is joining Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls today. Even better, she’s apparently a fan of mine! She has the face of Zhang Ziyi, the three sizes of Coco, and long, black hair. She’s totally my type, man…"

Gui Guzi asked, "Are you going to make her yours?"

"We’ll see after we get to know each other better…" Li Chengfeng smiled.

I praised, "That’s a good decision. It doesn’t matter what class she is, just pair up with her, find a high-level map, and play the damsel-saving hero a couple of times. After that, it’s just a matter of time before you become a couple…"

He Yi giggled beside me. "Hmph hmph. Sounds like someone’s speaking from experience!"

I hurriedly defended myself. "No, no, it wasn’t like that. Little Gui can be my witness! Yiyi and I became familiar with each other while I was trying to take revenge for him!"

Gui Guzi grimaced. "Oh man, that was a bitter memory alright. Back then, the two of us nearly had the crap beaten out of us by Beauty Lin solo. Neither our levels nor our equipment were a match for hers at the time, so we kept dying again and again…"

High Fighting Spirits laughed boisterously. "Holy shit! I didn’t know the two of you have such a glorious past!"

I smiled. "No one is always at their peak, you know. At the time, I was no match for Yiyi. Her equipment and her skills were a tad stronger than mine, and my brain lag hadn’t fully recovered. Little Gui though, he was just completely outmatched by her in every way. I heard he wasn’t able to kill her even once after many, many deaths…"

Yamete pointed a finger at Gui Guzi’s nose and cackled. "Kakaka! If I were you I would have hung myself already!"

"Fuck you!" Gui Guzi transformed into a super saiyan.

……

The next morning, we finally flew back to Suzhou. In fact, we flew on Eternal Moon’s private jet. Of course, it was because Xinran and I were the bosses of Eternal Moon now. All I needed to do was to say the word, and the company would carry out my directions to the letter. Even Xu Ning had to listen to my orders despite being the CEO of the China branch of Eternal Moon. Authority came with a lot of benefits, and being the highest authority, with even more.

We arrived at Suzhou before noon and ate lunch at Ancient Sword’s gaming base. After that, the girls went online to take care of guild matters while I drove to Snowy Cathaya’s workshop to meet up with Yiyi.

I was parking my X12[5] outside the villa to see Nangong Lexi walked out to meet me. She asked, "You’re quite early, Lu Chen. I thought you were going to show up around 3 pm or something…"

I pulled my scarf to cover up my purplish, sickly skin as I shot her a smile. "Is Yiyi home, Lexi?"

"Yes, she is…"

"Then I’m heading over to her room then…"

"Er, remember to knock before you enter…"

"Huh? Why? It’s not like we’re strangers."

That being said, I still knocked on Lin Yixin’s door after arriving outside her room. "Open up, Yiyi. I’m here."

However, Yiyi’s reply sounded extremely panicked. "No! N-not yet, Little Cheat. I’m, er, quite filthy right now. I haven’t finished putting on my makeup yet…"

I was startled. "Yiyi, you’ve never put on makeup once in your life. Why start now?"

"You… Just give me a moment, will you? Just a moment…"

It was my turn to panic. Whatever Lin Yixin was doing, she clearly didn’t sound right. "What’s going on, Yiyi? Open the door! Let me see you, please?"

Her voice sounded like a strangled sob. "No… no… I don’t want you to see me right now…"

"What on earth has happened to you….?"

I banged my fist against the door again and again. "Yiyi, I’m going to smash the door open if you won’t open it! I’m serious!"

"..."

……

Lin Yixin didn’t give me a reply.

Worried that something bad might’ve happened to her, I grabbed a stool from nearby and smashed it against the lock[6]. A couple of hits later, the door finally sprang open to reveal a most shocking scene—

Lin Yixin was lying on the carpet in a white pajama dress. I saw blood dripping down her chin and splashing against her dress and the mattress. Blood was seeping out of her ears, her nose and the corners of her mouth. Even her eyes were bleeding slightly and giving the term "bloodshot eyes" a whole new meaning…

I felt like someone had cut my heart into tiny pieces. This was the “makeup” Lin Yixin was talking about? A makeup of blood?

……

There was a row of syringes on the ground beside Lin Yixin. Each one was labeled with a timestamp. I understood everything.

That day, Lin Yixin had bitten my shoulder to infect herself with my virus. She forcefully made herself the test subject for the scientists, at a threat to her own body.

……

I could never let down such a love for as long as I lived.

1. E/N: Basically, Flowing Cloud’s uncle has 171 theories that could be useful. They are starting points because the guy is just that smart. Now they need to see if his theories are correct and see what works, just keep applying them to a test subject and see if there’s any reaction. Obviously, the uncle is wrong in like 99%-100% of them, because he hasn’t done any simulations. ☜

2. T/N: not even a joke, these people don’t slow down even when there’s someone on the road ☜

3. T/N: … I have never met a person who treasures his health less than Lu Chen in my entire life. Binge-eating, sleeping after meal, irregular meal times, irregular bed times, no exercise and so on and now disobeying the ONE rule the doctor gave him. Incredible ☜

4. T/N: this is why you've got beaten by Lin Yixin girl. ☜

5. T/N: THE SONUVABITCH WENT DRIVING ALONE AGAIN! ☜

6. T/N: at least he isn’t punching the lock this time ☜