The words had barely left his lips when the black blade flashed like lightning, thrusting straight for Noi.
Noi’s pupils contracted, her body thrumming with instinct.
She ducked just as the blade’s tip grazed perilously close, drawing the dagger from her waist and driving it into Xing Chen’s heart.
A sickening squelch echoed as blood gushed from Xing Chen’s chest.
At the same moment, his black blade seemed to strike something else—a faint hiss of escaping air sounded behind her.
Whirling around, Noi saw the Shadow Spider’s fragile Mist Heart impaled on the flaming black blade, its form writhing in the blaze.
But her counterattack had been so fierce that the flames flickered for a split second, allowing the Mist Heart to break free.
It spat a spike of condensed mist toward its former host, Noi.
She instinctively tilted her head to dodge, forgetting the gravely wounded Xing Chen standing just behind her.
Another squelch.
Poor Xing Chen’s right chest was now pierced through, blood soaking his tailored trench coat, turning its dark hue a vivid scarlet.
“I’m… so sorry…” Noi’s voice quavered, guilt flooding her heart.
The flames reignited swiftly, consuming the Mist Heart entirely.
Nearby, the stunned merchant Simon snapped out of his shock, fumbling for a pile of potions to aid Xing Chen.
But Xing Chen, unflinching, yanked the dagger from his heart without so much as a grimace.
“No need to waste them. I’ll be fine soon.”
“How can you say that? That’s a fatal wound!” Simon protested, his voice laced with urgency.
Before he could argue further, a surge of fire engulfed the near-dying Xing Chen, swallowing him whole.
The two in the corridor exchanged bewildered glances.
Noi, still green to such spectacles, stared at the fiery cocoon, her already-overwhelmed mind grinding to a halt under the weight of this worldview-shattering sight.
Moments later, the flames dissipated.
Xing Chen calmly sheathed his black blade inside his trench coat, unscathed.
If one were to nitpick, the only damage was two holes in his buttoned coat—unrepaired remnants of the ordeal.
“Resurrection… fire… man…” Noi murmured, her thoughts coalescing.
The image of Xing Chen rising from the flames aligned with a game video she’d watched in her past life.
“Simon, what’s the name of this world?” she asked, seeking to confirm her suspicion.
“Huh? Why ask something so basic? Don’t tell me you’re actually a meteor girl from beyond the stars!”
Simon teased, earning a venomous glare from Noi.
He raised his hands innocently.
“It’s the continent of Tria, alright?”
Tria…
So, she had crossed into another world.
In her previous life, the hottest RPG game, “The Poem of Finality”, was renowned even to someone like Noi, who never had the chance to play it.
Its seamless blend of fantasy and sci-fi, coupled with vivid characters and an immersive world, had captivated countless fans.
Noi’s deep impression of a game she’d never played stemmed from its eerie connection to her death.
After watching a concept trailer featuring key characters and the world’s lore, she’d blacked out, only to awaken in this strange realm.
The link was impossible to ignore.
The man reborn from flames before her was none other than a character from that trailer—the fifth guardian of the Empire’s Four Symbols, the immortal Qilin, Xing Chen.
“Hey, why’re you spacing out? Take your stuff. You’ve got some serious skills—talk about not judging a book by its cover!” Xing Chen’s voice cut through her reverie, his tone light as he handed back her dagger with a smile, seemingly unbothered by her earlier stab to his heart.
“I’m truly sorry.” Noi accepted the dagger, bowing deeply in apology.
She’d overreacted, and if Xing Chen lacked his revival ability, she’d have claimed her first kill in this world—a sobering thought.
“My body’s gotten sluggish,” Xing Chen remarked, stretching his waist and rubbing his neck.
He flashed Simon a grin.
“Got any potions to perk me up?”
In Noi’s eyes, now attuned to his theatrics, that smile was anything but innocent.
“Uh, I do, but you’ll have to pay,” Simon replied cautiously.
Xing Chen let out a cryptic chuckle.
“Take a look at our contract. How much vitality did we agree on?”
Simon pulled out the contract, his eyes widening at the astronomical figure.
His face paled.
“Units, tens, hundreds, thousands… Mother of—! Just kill me now! My entire fortune couldn’t cover this!”
Simon’s spirit crumbled under Xing Chen’s calculated strike.
Even Noi, typically indifferent to money, felt a twinge of despair at the sight of the endless string of digits.
“Haha, don’t be so glum. I’m not one of those greedy nobles who’d bleed you dry. Well, I am kind of immortal, so maybe I don’t need the cash. Point is, relax—I’ll only take a little from you now and then,” Xing Chen said, patting Simon’s shoulder with a warm smile, sparing him for now.
Fish, after all, needed time to grow before the hook was set.
“You’ve got me by the throat…” Simon muttered, his lips twitching in a failed attempt at his usual fake smile, the sting of his loss too raw.
From the moment Xing Chen claimed he had no money, Simon had been outmaneuvered.
Every coin he earned henceforth might as well belong to Xing Chen’s personal vault.
The high-stakes game unfolding before Noi left her dazzled, elevating her opinion of Xing Chen to new heights.
This man was terrifying—a force to be avoided at all costs.
After the fiasco, the trio hastened toward the surface, each eager to part ways and leave the bandit camp behind.
Halfway there, Simon, still smarting from being fleeced, tried to pry the secret of Xing Chen’s revival from him, only to be brushed off with vague deflections, leaving him empty-handed.
The bandit camp lay in ruins, goblins strewn about—some dead, others fled.
The goblin leader, covered in claw marks, swung its spiked club, knocking a Shadow Spider from its shoulder to the ground before crushing it with a furious roar.
At a hidden, newly carved exit, Simon landed a punch on Xing Chen’s arm.
“If you had destroyed the heart of the shadow spider a little later, the goblin leader would not have survived until now.”
“And if you’d waited until now to act, what if Miss Noi got hurt? Would you take responsibility?” Xing Chen asked.
Simon, listening, grumbled inwardly.
She doesn’t need your protection.
That woman’s a beast in combat.
Though the camp had suffered heavy losses, many goblins survived.
Once they regrouped, a battle was inevitable.
The panting goblin leader spotted the trio, muttering in goblin language.
Noi and Simon, who understood goblin-speak, knew its intentions.
“We’re being targeted. Fight or flee?” Simon asked, his voice trembling as the goblin leader’s gaze bore into him.
If it were up to him, he’d bolt.
Fighting wasn’t his style—blood and pain were bad for business.
That, and not because he was weak.
Definitely not.
Glancing at his companions, Simon noted Xing Chen casually wiping his black blade, his expression indifferent to Simon’s opinion.
As for Noi…
Simon shivered and looked away.
Her smile was unhinged, her grip on the dagger’s handle tight, her stance coiled like a feral Maine Coon ready to pounce.
No chance of escape, then.
Simon gave a bitter smile.
With only the trinkets stashed in his interdimensional pockets, he might handle a few goblins, but against the leader’s attention?
Certain death.
“Fine, fine, I’ll fight with you. Time to show my true strength!” Simon declared, psyching himself up.
Xing Chen’s voice drifted over, sly and measured.
“True strength isn’t just physical. Gear and tools are vital too, don’t you think, Simon?”
“…With your power, do you really need to mooch off me?”
“First, my abilities have limits. Second, I’m buying per our contract’s terms—hardly mooching, right?” Xing Chen countered smoothly.
“…What do you want?”
From the notorious elven swindler, Xing Chen acquired an earth elemental stone and a wrist-mounted grappling hook of Simon’s own design.
Noi’s eyes gleamed with possessiveness at the sight of the gadgets, her gaze fixed on Simon’s… pockets.
Flustered, he tried to deflect.
“What’re you staring at? Shoo, nothing for you!”
When subtle hints failed, Noi resorted to intimidation, twirling her blood-stained dagger—Xing Chen’s blood—while locking her crimson eyes on Simon.
Under her chilling stare, Simon steeled himself, turning away defiantly.
He was done being fleeced by this infuriating woman!
When threats didn’t work, Noi switched tactics, her blade reflecting her coy expression.
She sidled closer, her breath warm against Simon’s ear.
“Big brother Simon, please, I’m so weak. If that huge goblin targets me, I’ll get hurt so badly. I’m scared…”
Her ethereal, melodic voice, better suited for a theater stage, worked its magic.
Simon caved, his resolve melting.
“Alright, fine! I’m done with both of you! Take this—wind elemental stone. You know how to use it, right? And this? Take this wrist grappling hook, and this—this scroll. It’s Wind Dash spell. If you can’t win, run. Don’t die here; I don’t deal with bodies. Bad omen.”
To her surprise, Noi realized Simon wasn’t the money-grubbing miser she’d pegged him for.
Beneath the grumbling, he’d helped her freely.
Her smile bloomed, and she accepted his kindness—a wind elemental stone, a wrist grappling hook, and a teal-blue runic scroll—with genuine gratitude.
The goblins tended their wounds with medicinal pouches, while their leader doused itself in a bucket of pungent green potion, its odor permeating the camp.
Archers manned the surrounding watchtowers, arrows nocked, as spiked bamboo sealed the exits, daring the trio to make their move.
Xing Chen tested his grappling hook, its cable sinking into a wall.
Infusing it with mana, he retracted it, gliding effortlessly.
Noi mimicked him, quickly mastering the device.
As for the Wind Dash scroll, its runes were gibberish to her, but Simon, ever considerate, had given her a one-use scroll rather than a knowledge-based one.
After all, who but a prodigy could learn and cast a spell mid-battle?
Channeling her meager mana into the scroll, Noi felt her body lighten, though the effect was short-lived.
“Your mana’s pitifully low. Your physique is solid, so why is your magic like a newborn’s?” Simon remarked, baffled.
After a moment’s hesitation, he reluctantly fished out a mana potion from his pocket.
“You owe me for this.”
“Okay.” Noi nodded earnestly, catching Simon off guard with her sincerity.
The potion’s tart flavor made her wince, but the flood of mana coursing through her veins was worth it.
With the wind elemental stone, she could sustain Wind Dash for longer, its power amplified.
“Ready?” Xing Chen’s voice floated down from a thatched rooftop, his eyes locked on the goblin leader at the camp’s center.
Simon donned his trump card—a gaudy, oversized full-elemental casting glove, its fingers glittering with embedded stones.
“Ready,” he said.
Noi triggered Wind Dash, a breeze swirling around her as she clutched her dagger, poised to strike.
“Then let’s time to fight!” Xing Chen unsheathed his black blade and charged into the fray.
The goblins roared, archers loosing arrows from their perches.
Noi took a deep breath and rushed forward, leaving Simon striking a dramatic pose in the dust.
“Hey, wait for me! I wasn’t done posing!” he shouted, scrambling to keep up.
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