Chapter 44
Ch.44 What Else Do You Know That I Don’t?
The icy blue tear-shaped crystal was pressed against the girl’s forehead.
The instant they made contact, Luo Nan faintly perceived what looked like blue ripples forming within the crystal.
“Is this… actually working?”
“Mmm… haa…”
Perhaps the Saint’s Blood truly had taken effect—the little wolf girl, who had been clamped onto Luo Nan’s left hand with iron grip, finally released her mouth, and the nails embedded in his flesh lost their tightening force.
Luo Nan slowly lowered his now-freed left arm, letting the blood drip freely, pooling into a small puddle on the floor.
A trace of icy blue energy continuously flowing from the Saint’s Blood into the girl emitted an aura of tranquility so profound that even Luo Nan felt his own spirit relax.
“Zhixia Cangya, have you regained consciousness?”
Noticing the slender legs wrapped around his waist loosen slightly, and the girl leap off his body, Luo Nan asked.
“Mmm…”
He received no reply—but from her eyes, now restored to glacial blue, he no longer sensed madness or loss of control.
As the final trace of blue from the Saint’s Blood was absorbed by Zhixia, the tear-shaped crystal had transformed into an ordinary transparent decorative object.
At least, Luo Nan detected no lingering arcane fluctuations within it.
Seeing the petite silver-haired girl grow quiet, Luo Nan exhaled deeply and began pulling out healing potions from his coat to mend his injuries.
“Oh, grape flavor—nice.”
As the potion went down, the mangled left arm, battered by Zhixia’s assault, slowly regenerated new vitality.
After confirming his body showed no lingering side effects, Luo Nan walked up to the girl, who was still bowing her head, and asked calmly: “Zhixia Cangya, have you fully regained your rationality? Can you give me some kind of response?”
“…”
“What did you say?”
He received no answer.
Suddenly, the girl who had been lowering her head lifted it sharply—her ice-blue eyes shimmered with a hint of guilt. Their gazes met for only a fleeting instant—then the little wolf girl turned her head away, refusing to look directly at Luo Nan again.
“Uh… I hope you forget my face. After all, in this Whisper Market, everyone is a stranger whose identity remains unknown.”
Luo Nan readjusted his golden crow-beak mask. “Removing it just now was an unavoidable act meant to soothe your emotions.”
“So… can you at least give me a response? That Saint’s Blood cost me 400 Gold Faras! Even just a ‘yes’ would be enough—to let me know my 400 wasn’t wasted.”
“… Yes.”
“Good.”
After saying this, silence settled again between them.
To be honest, Luo Nan now wasn’t sure how Zhixia Cangya truly felt toward him. Though his actions, in his own view, were beyond reproach, he still wanted to hear it directly from her lips.
“It feels awkward to ask outright, ‘Do you harbor resentment toward me?’—I just can’t bring myself to say it…”
Wait—I’ve got it!
Luo Nan paused briefly, then tried to pose the question as casually as possible: “Your external wounds have healed, but I’m uncertain whether your recent loss of control caused any hidden aftereffects. Out of principle to help someone thoroughly, would you like me to take you to a professional for a full examination?”
Why did he ask this? Luo Nan intended to test the ‘Silver Moon’s Heavenly Wolf’s’ level of friendliness toward him. If her attitude was favorable, she wouldn’t refuse.
But if her attitude remained unfriendly…
Luo Nan asked himself honestly—he had already extended sufficient goodwill: first rescuing her from ‘Snow Wolf Lily’s Cottage’, then granting her freedom, then rescuing her a second time from the guards, and now giving her the divine material originally destined for Mr. Tree.
He did all this for two reasons: first, to avoid being hated by the future powerhouse heroine ‘Silver Moon Sky Wolf’; second, to personally sever the karmic thread initiated by himself.
As for building a good relationship with Zhixia Cangya? He had no such intention, nor any plan to pursue it.
Besides, Cheat Device Miss’s ‘World Irreversible Collapse’ hung over him like the Sword of Damocles.
She shouldn’t refuse him, right?
Yet the girl’s response utterly surprised Luo Nan.
It wasn’t acceptance. It wasn’t refusal.
It was—flight!
The silver-haired snow wolf girl clenched her fists—and in the instant before Luo Nan could react, she vanished like a streak of silver lightning, sprinting past him in a blur.
All that remained was a single strand of silver hair, carrying her unique scent, caught upon the hem of Luo Nan’s luxurious cloak.
“What does this mean?”
“Is she unsure how to respond? Or is she rejecting me?”
Luo Nan stared at the direction where the little wolf girl had disappeared, and sank into silent contemplation.
He replayed every interaction he’d had with ‘Silver Moon Sky Wolf’ since meeting her—had he offended her somehow? Had he done anything to provoke her displeasure—or even hostility?
“Shouldn’t have been…”
“The physical contact while she was biting me shouldn’t count—it was her uncontrollable-induced behavior, and I was the victim. If even that counts, it’s just unreasonable.”
Recalling the uncontrollable personality as portrayed in ‘The Shining Myriad Trails’, Luo Nan believed she wouldn’t hold a grudge against him.
“Hmm… then her fleeing must mean she simply doesn’t know how to respond.”
“This karmic thread, started by me, is now concluded,” Luo Nan shook his mostly-healed arm and stretched lazily. “I hope I never meet her again.”
‘All tonight’s tasks are complete. Time to go home.’
With this thought, Luo Nan’s mood brightened.
His gaze swept over the abandoned ruins behind him, and he murmured softly: “I never noticed before—but these old city ruins… their sense of age and desolation… they actually have a certain charm.”
…
Following the same route back, Luo Nan returned to the Gray Street Tavern where he had entered the Whisper Market.
Emerging from the basement, the once-bustling tavern had grown eerily quiet—most patrons had departed, leaving only a handful of solitary drinkers sipping their drinks in gloomy silence.
He noticed the cloth-faced figure was still sitting alone, drinking.
“Finally came out, huh?”
Seeing the golden crow-beak mask emerge, Anya put down her cup, pulled the cloth back down over her face, and stood up to walk beside Luo Nan.
“Hey, you guy… hiccup… what were you doing in the bazaar all this time? Did you buy something illicit again?”
Luo Nan was about to make up some excuse, but before he could speak, the cloth-faced figure spoke again:
“Well… none of that matters. I’ve got something I want to talk to you about.”
Luo Nan immediately assumed this person wanted to steal the ‘scale from the corner of a mermaid’s eye’ from him.
After all, he had secured all three scales in this auction.
Luo Nan’s expression hardened, preparing to refuse—when the cloth-faced figure uttered the next sentence that sparked his interest:
“Are you interested in the true secrets behind the recent assassination of the Medillion’s Young master in the Upper District?”
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