Chapter 213: Death Cycle (XI)
TL: Resonance
Shang Ke slowly opened his eyes and came back from the dead once again. Di Kui squatted beside the bed and was as quiet as a chicken. Seeing Shang Ke wake up, his eyes shone brightly.
Shang Ke sat up and the worn out blanket covering his chest fell down, revealing his bright and clean skin. The “fierce battle” previously didn’t leave a single trace on his body.
Di Kui couldn’t help but stretch out his fingers, seemingly wanting to leave a scratch on that bright and clear skin. Shang Ke quickly dodged, but his movement was still a step too late. Di Kui’s sharp nails scratched from the side of Shang Ke’s waist to his belly.
Shang Ke thought : Not good, I’m going to be injured again! However, the expected pain didn’t appear and only a slight itch could be felt. Shang Ke lowered his head to look and surprisingly found that the place that got scratched by the nails didn’t have a single scratch at all.
Shang Ke touched his body in surprise. His skin was flexible and his muscles were well proportioned. They seem… stronger than before?
While Shang Ke was studying himself, he suddenly felt a shadow enveloping him. Di Kui held the back of Shang Ke’s waist, raised his head and kissed Shang Ke’s lips. The cold touch made Shang Ke tremble slightly.
Di Kui turned his body, placed Shang Ke on his lap and took in his smell.
Shang Ke leaned back slightly and thought : Don’t tell me this fellow intends to go for another round?! The reaction of his lower body was very obvious and the two of their positions were in place. The only difference was that it wasn’t as uncomfortable this time. Although Di Kui’s strength was great, he didn’t hurt Shang Ke. This definitely wasn’t because Di Kui mastered some superb skills overnight. It was because his body has indeed… evolved.
Di Kui also seems to have discovered this abnormality. His two large hands touched all over Shang Ke’s body, occasionally poking lightly a few times. He watched the skin sunk in and bounce back out and was having a great time playing.
Then, he accidently played too much and exerted too much strength, poking a bloody hole on Shang Ke’s waist.
Di Kui: “…”
Shang Ke: “…”
Shang Ke couldn’t handle this kind of flirting…
Di Kui placed Shang Ke on the bed. Then, he leaned down and licked Shang Ke’s wound.
Shang Ke wasn’t sure if it was just his imagination, but the speed of recovery for his wound seemed to be faster than before.
Could the zombie virus in Di Kui’s body let him evolve? Shang Ke looked at the man whose head was buried on his chest and pondered whether he should seek death one more time? Since his body has strengthened, this time shouldn’t be as tragic as the first time right?
It could be seen that someone has achieved new heights through “death”.
As he was hesitating, Di Kui suddenly stopped. Di Kui propped his arm on both sides of Shang Ke and looked at him intently with two golden burning eyes. After a while, he lowered his head and pecked Shang Ke’s lips and reluctantly withdrew. He turned around and looked for a fairly intact milk bottle from the overturned box and put in his mouth. Then, he sat naked beside the bed and concentrated on “drinking milk”.
Shang Ke looked at him in astonishment. This fellow actually has moments he doesn’t come forcefully?! Shang Ke would have thought that Di Kui had no more demands if not for the giant object between his legs which was still standing upright. Hence, this was the “thoughtfulness” the zombie king has grasped on his own?
In that case, Shang Ke also didn’t want to waste his rare thoughtfulness. He gave Di Kui a praising smile.
Di Kui caught a glimpse of the smile from the corner of his eyes. Although there wasn’t much change in his expression, a shallow arc appeared between his eyebrows and his heart felt inexplicably pleased. If he knew that his rare “thoughtfulness” caused him to miss a great life harmony, it is unknown how he would react…
Shang Ke tidied up the room. He mainly packed up his own things. As for the other damages, he couldn’t do anything about it. Fortunately, the landlord didn’t come and find them. Otherwise, he might be smacked dead by Di Kui.
There are experts gathered in the base and the landlord was probably used to seeing this kind of situation. As long as they compensate, he would let the mercenaries do whatever they want. Of course, if he meets someone who doesn’t pay up, then they would have to see who’s tougher. For a powerhouse like Di Kui, the landlord knew he couldn’t offend Di Kui even if they hadn’t fought before.
However, Shang Ke wasn’t someone who doesn’t pay up. He took the initiative to find the landlord to discuss the compensation and also inquired about the situation of the Shadowmoon Mercenary Group along the way.
The landlord answered respectfully, “The zombie horde this time came quite suddenly. Some great experts feel that there are powerful zombies lurking near the base, so they decided to station temporarily in the base until the threat is resolved.”
While the landlord was speaking, his facial skin couldn’t stop trembling as if there was an invisible pressure constantly shaking his nerves.
Naturally, his pressure wasn’t from Shang Ke but a certain zombie king behind him.
Di Kui stood upright behind Shang Ke and stared coldly at the landlord who was standing three steps away as if he was looking at a dead person.
The landlord felt his hair stand from the staring. Following his facial skin, his lips and limbs also started trembling.
Seeing this, Shang Ke took out a milk bottle from his bag and stuffed it into Di Kui’s mouth. Di Kui held the milk bottle, leaned on Shang Ke’s back lazily and slowly withdrew his murderous intent.
The landlord’s eyes widened and looked as if he had seen a ghost.
Shang Ke didn’t care that Di Kui’s expert image had been brutally ruined and continued to inquire about the situation with the landlord.
After roughly understanding the situation, Shang Ke had some plans in his heart. Since he already chose to be killed by the “protagonist”, then he should find ways to stay by Huo Xuan’s side. At the very least, he shouldn’t be too far away from Huo Xuan.
The reason why Shang Ke didn’t dare bring Di Kui to a human base previously was because he is too fierce. But after this period of honing, Di Kui is now able to control his emotion and keep in his murderous intent. As long as no one provoked him, there was no need to worry about him going on a killing spree. To add on, he still has the ultimate weapon called a milk bottle in his hand. It might even be able to “save the world” in a crucial moment.
They can no longer stay in their original room. The landlord changed a room for Shang Ke and Di Kui.
The next day, Shang Ke, who had rested enough, brought Di Kui to the Shadowmoon recruitment location. By now, most people already know that Huo Xuan is in the Shadowmoon Mercenary Group. People who wish to apply for the mercenary group came swarming, causing the recruitment location to be extremely crowded.
However, Shadowmoon is recruiting mercenaries level six and above. Those who are not strong enough could only watch the fun.
“Look, is that sir Zuo Xian?” A mercenary suddenly pointed to a certain direction and shouted excitedly.
The others who heard him looked towards the direction he pointed and saw a figure flashing between the floors. Then, he gracefully landed on an empty spot not far away from the recruitment location.
The people around immediately made way for Zuo Xian as they greeted him respectfully.
Zuo Xian nodded his head slightly. Then, he headed straight towards where Shang Ke and Di Kui were at.
Following his steps, the people soon noticed the two people within the crowd. One was a peerless handsome man with aloof temperament while the other was tall and robust looking very powerful. By right, the two of them looked outstanding and should easily attract attention. However, the people realised that existence only after Zuo Xian appeared.
“Sir would like to see the two of you.” No one other than Huo Xuan could be addressed as “sir” by a level nine ability user.
The people started whispering amongst themselves trying to guess the identity of these two people. It wasn’t strange for Huo Xuan to meet experts, what’s strange was that the person who came to invite was actually Zuo Xian. Even Bai Mu who got famous back then for being the head of the Shadowmoon Mercenary Group didn’t receive this kind of treatment.
If it wasn’t his close relative, someone that requires Zuo Xian to personally come and invite could only be a super expert who’s level wasn’t lower than Zuo Xian. Then, they remember the powerful blow made by two experts when the zombies attacked the base. One of them was already confirmed to be Huo Xuan. So, the other person might be one of these two?
Thinking about this, the people immediately looked at Shang Ke and Di Kui differently.
Shang Ke felt hesitant regarding Huo Xuan’s invitation. As the two opposing extremes in the world, it was very hard for Shang Ke to imagine what would happen if Di Kui and Huo Xuan met. They almost fought back then when they were separated by the door.
Although Huo Xuan was the key to completing his mission, there was actually no need to have too much contact. Shang Ke didn’t wish to meet them unless it was necessary.
However, would he embarrass Huo Xuan if he rejected the invitation under everyone’s view?
Wait, wasn’t his mission “be killed by Huo Xuan”? In that case, why should he worry about offending Huo Xuan? On the contrary, he should do everything he can to gain Huo Xuan’s hatred. The greater the hatred, the easier it is for him to complete his mission!
At this moment, Shang Ke automatically activated the difficult【Purposely Opposing Huo Xuan】death seeking mode.
After making up his mind, Shang Ke was about to coldly reject but Di Kui spoke first, “Let’s go.”
Shang Ke: “…” He didn’t get to speak and his words got stuck in his throat.
What do you mean by go! Don’t you hate Huo Xuan? At this time, you should step on his face fiercely and make him lose face[1]!
(Huo Xuan: Why do we have to hurt each other…)
Shang Ke held Di Kui and said to Zuo Xian, “Sorry, we need to make a trip out of town for something and I’m afraid we can’t accept the invitation. Please help us tell sir Huo Xuan that we are sorry.”
As soon as this statement came out, everyone showed an unimaginable expression. The world’s strongest person has summoned and a level nine expert came to greet under many people’s watch, yet he, actually, rejected!
Murderous stares shot towards Shang Ke. Di Kui narrowed his eyes and let out a cold humph. The air pulsed and everyone present except for Zuo Xian all took a step back. They were neat and uniformed as if trained.
Everyone was shocked and the surrounding fell into a strange silence.
Zuo Xian’s hand which was behind his back was clenched tightly into a fist. Even he was almost shaken by that “humph” just now. This person’s strength is more powerful than he originally expected. No wonder Huo Xuan is so cautious.
“Let’s go.” Di Kui held Shang Ke’s waist and left arrogantly under everyone’s gaze.
Zuo Xian didn’t stop them and watched them leave expressionlessly. With Huo Xuan’s bearing, he naturally wouldn’t mind this kind of minor issue, but he couldn’t tolerate it.
The people return back to their senses and were about to denounce the two people’s arrogant and rude behaviour, but realise that Zuo Xian has already disappeared when they didn’t noticed it.
Shang Ke was only making an excuse when he said he wanted to make a trip out of town. However, Di Kui took it seriously and brought him out of the base with a few teleports.
“Where are we going?” Di Kui asked.
Shang Ke thought for a bit. Since they’ve already come out, then let’s go and collect some crystalline. Crystallines could only be formed in the bodies of zombie red-eyed level and above. However, fragments of it would occasionally form in the bodies of a few white-eyed zombies.
Shang Ke let Di Kui stay quietly on one side to drink milk while he rushed out to fight with zombies. On one hand, it was to increase his combat skill. On the other hand, it was to stimulate the spirit piece within his body.
The three spirit pieces, namely dark world, bright boundary and soul quench were obtained by Di Kui, Huo Xuan and him respectively. Di Kui and he have an immortal body while Huo Xuan became one with his sword. To some extent, he had already stepped into the realm of immortality.
The system explained that he can kill Di Kui and Huo Xuan can kill him. The crucial point obviously lies in the spirit pieces. However, Shang Ke didn’t know how to make use of the power of the spirit pieces. This might be one of the reasons why he was weaker than the other two.
Even if he was destined to die, he still wanted to struggle for a bit. At least let him grasp the power of the spirit piece first.