Chapter 34: "She was still calling for her good disciple before she died"

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"What's wrong?"

Jiang Cheng clearly knew what had happened, but still pretended to be confused as she walked over.

Given Jiang Cheng's acting skills, there was no way Lyle could see through her, let alone in his current state of extreme emotional turmoil.

Lyle's hands were still raised awkwardly in midair, as if he were still holding the file that had long fallen to the ground.

"What's wrong?"

Jiang Cheng asked again, walking forward in feigned confusion.

But as she approached Lyle, she was truly stunned by his appearance.

This time, it wasn't an act—Lyle's look really gave Jiang Cheng a fright.

The once-radiant hero who wore a sunlit smile, gentle as a caressing spring breeze, seemed in that moment almost completely changed.

Now, Lyle's lips were pale, and his raised hands trembled incessantly.

Looking further up, those pale blue eyes that once resembled a lake so clear you could see into his soul, now had reddened rims.

Tiny blood vessels had crawled across Lyle's eyeballs at some unknown time, and the trembling of his hands was only increasing, spreading until it seemed to affect his whole body.

"Jiang Cheng,"

Lyle finally spoke, but his voice was hoarse and pained, giving Jiang Cheng a pang of distress in her heart.

That high-spirited hero—

That hero who, even though he was sometimes saddened by the past, still wore a warm, faintly melancholy smile—

That hero who would often cheer himself up with a sunny grin and say, "I will definitely find them"—

It seemed that in an instant, he had aged several decades. Now, with trembling hands, he could only point to the file on the ground and rasp,

"Jiang Cheng, help me, read that file for me, please?"

His voice was filled with sorrow, nearly begging as he spoke.

Jiang Cheng's heart gave a jolt; deep inside, she even felt a flicker of sympathy, but she bit her lip and forced it down.

Unnoticed, she found she no longer really wanted to see this person before her looking so sad.

The first time she left, she watched from a distance as the child knelt by a tree, her face twisted in a wicked smile.

The second time, seeing the boy crawling carefully out from under "her" corpse in a closet, eyes utterly lifeless, her smile had already lost its joy.

Then came the third time—watching the young man, eyes red, desperately trying to rush back to the teleportation array, Jiang Cheng had wanted to laugh, but could only manage a curl of her lips.

And now? She actually felt a twinge of sympathy for Lyle?

With disgust, she viciously cursed her own disobedient heart. Jiang Cheng pressed her lips together.

Like hell she would ever have any hopes or compassion for these humans, let alone other emotions!

Special feelings? Not only did she utterly loathe such emotions, but even without loathing, she was a man, wasn't she? How could she possibly have feelings for Lyle?

She took a deep breath and let herself imagine being with Lyle...

Bleh...so disgusting. Whew, looks like she was still perfectly normal. Sympathy for Lyle? Special feelings? Impossible.

Little did she know, the former her wouldn't have even bothered to imagine such things.

Picking up the scattered file from the ground, Jiang Cheng pursed her lips, glanced at the red-eyed, shuddering Lyle, and began to read aloud.

"Execution report for an unknown elf who illegally infiltrated the association and attempted to steal an important divine relic..."

Lyle's body visibly shook, his trembling hands unconsciously folding together as if in prayer.

"Three days ago, the association discovered an unidentified individual had infiltrated. Upon inspection, determined to be an elf, the infiltration was for the purpose of theft..."

Unnoticed, Lyle had begun praying to some unknown god deep within.

Please don't let it be Teacher, I must be mistaken, I'm definitely mistaken. Teacher is so strong, so amazing, it couldn't be her, it can't be... Please, let it not be Teacher!

"God descended an oracle, declaring the elf must be executed..."

Jiang Cheng's voice sounded like the cry of a bird of death.

Executed... Lyle's whole body jolted. Why was it a direct divine execution order?

If the execution was ordered by the god personally, even someone as powerful as Teacher probably couldn't have escaped, could she...?

No! It couldn't have been Teacher, that's right, it couldn't have been.

"During the pursuit, the elf exhibited extraordinary strength. Only with the power of a god was she finally slain. Upon examination, her true identity was discovered to be the once-active great mage in Adventurer City several years ago, the Star Magus..."

"Boom!"

Jiang Cheng's words struck like a death knell in Lyle's ear.

The moment he heard Teacher's familiar title, it felt like a bomb exploded in Lyle's mind. His ears buzzed, his body wavered, and he nearly collapsed.

"Hero..."

Jiang Cheng caught Lyle, gently reminding, "Careful, there's still one more line."

One more line? Was there still hope...? Lyle lifted his red eyes in confusion, with a faint glimmer of hope, looking to Jiang Cheng.

Jiang Cheng turned her head away, forcibly suppressing the faint sympathy for Lyle, the corners of her mouth lifting into a smile unseen by Lyle, letting out a silent chuckle.

"Note: Before her death, the suspect repeatedly said, 'If only the item I stole could reach my good disciple, it would help his training.'

The suspect's last words were 'I'm sorry, good disciple, I can't see you one last time.' Only then did she die.

Her disciple is suspected to be an unknown powerful individual. Extra caution is advised in future operations."

With the finishing blow delivered, Jiang Cheng laughed inwardly.

Yes, that earlier sympathy really was just an illusion. What she wanted most was to see Lyle look like this!

How interesting, how endlessly entertaining! The one you love most dies for you at the hands of your enemies—such a scene—never gets old.

Lyle's body suddenly convulsed violently, snapping Jiang Cheng back to reality.

Huh?

Lyle's body had gone limp in Jiang Cheng's arms.

And—there was even a trace of blood at the corner of his mouth.

What? He—he's coughing blood?

Jiang Cheng hurriedly pulled Lyle up, anxiously checking his condition.

It was blood, real blood—but how? How could this be?

A hero's body was the healthiest in the world, every inch of their flesh touched by the world's favor.

In the ancient days, some heroes had kept vast harems, as many as dozens of beauties in their crystal palaces, and could spend eight hours a day tirelessly exhausting themselves without fatigue.

How could a body so beloved by the world—how could it suddenly go wrong now?

At this point, Jiang Cheng was starting to panic, unaware of what her actions had truly caused.

"You care too much, causing chaos. His body won't fail, but what about the heart?"

The usually silent system suddenly spoke up.

His heart...? In a panic, Jiang Cheng didn't even argue with the system's "concern begets chaos" remark.

Every hero had a pure, innocent heart; Lyle's ability to judge evil and lies arose from that very heart, so...

Jiang Cheng gritted her teeth, raised a finger, and unleashed a magical shock straight at her own soul.

"Ugh..."

Enduring the searing pain in her mind, Jiang Cheng used the price to cast a divine spell.

If that's the case, let me see what your heart looks like now, after it's been manifested.

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