Runaway Prey

‘Is he… Is he not giving chase? Ah shit… I need to get as far away as possible… This bastard is probably letting me get some advance so hunting me down is more enjoyable…’

At this point, Linfeng was once again the one in control of his body. He had been running away with Fingmi in his arms nearly the entire time, save for having to rest due to the combined backlash of using an excessive amount of his inner Yang in rapid bursts, and the fact that the system had taken control of his body to better use the remaining energy…

After several days, he met back up with Mala and Yen’mila.

“I told you, Linfeng. You should have just told me to wait longer, so that my spell would have taken everyone away! Much better than having to run like a maniac”

The plant cultivator was a little pouty, whilst the twink rushed to hug Linfeng the second he saw him.

The escape plan for Yen’mila and Mala had been decided a while back. By consuming a massive amount of her nature energy, Yen’mila could pretty much teleport by switching position with a special tree she could summon, and she could even take other people with her.

Unfortunately, this spell required a special seed that she couldn’t produce quickly at all, but that wasn’t what bothered her. It was the fact that Linfeng had been so reckless. Even if she knew that her beloved was strong, she was also well aware of the great clans. In her eyes, not only were members of the main lines of these clans all monsters that shouldn’t be challenged, but even if you could defeat them, you shouldn’t even think about it.

Facing the retribution of a great clan was simply not something anyone could endure.

As such, seeing Linfeng actually try to fight Anoteros had been mind-bogglingly stupid in her eyes from the very start. Not to mention that even without gauging his strength precisely, one look at this giant of a man was enough to know that he was bad news.

The mere sight of him had made her shiver in fear. If not for the fact that her heart belonged to Linfeng, she might have felt another kind of shiver in the presence of such a powerful, influential man… 

Mala wasn’t sensitive to cultivation strength, so he had just been scared out of his wits by the sight of the Elt scion. He had felt like nothing more than prey in front of an apex predator.

The noble’s presence had truly been crushing… Yet, despite this, Linfeng had opted for the riskier way to escape, so that Yen’mila and Mala would be safe without a shadow of a doubt–All because they supposedly didn’t have anything to do with this rescue mission.

“Linfeng”

Yen’mila spoke up.

“Y-Yes?”

Hearing the stern tone, Linfeng shrank a little bit, feeling like a husband about to get scolded by his wife. Apart from the fact that they weren’t married, it was pretty much exactly what this was.

“Don’t ever do this shit again! ‘Not have anything to do with it’... My ass! What are we to you, exactly? Aren’t we your lovers, wives, concubines, or whatever?! This girl is our…”

She paused to find the words.

“...Our Alrinir-Holt! We have everything to do with this. I listened to you this time, but try to pull this shit one more time, and I swear you’ll regret it!”

Linfeng smiled wryly. He certainly hadn’t expected to receive such a stern talk from the usually unserious Yen’mila… Though he probably would have gotten the same thing from Mala if the twink hadn’t been so deathly worried.

“...Is she asleep?”

The tension fell back down once Yen’mila said what she wanted to say, and Mala was done wiping his tears against Linfeng’s back.

“Yes, the travel took quite a toll on her… Do any of you know where we could go to hide from now on… I… I think all that revenge stuff can go on the back burner for now”

The protagonist’s two lovers looked at one another.

The plant cultivator soon formed a smug smile.

“I think I know a place. I went there once before getting stuck in that cave. It should still be the same as I remember”

“Where is this place?”

“It’s hidden in the border mountains. It’s where I found the technique that made me the magnificent cultivator I am today!”

“You mean the technique that trapped you underground for years?”

“Shut up, Mala. It’s water under the bridge now! Besides, I always wanted to go back there. It is peaceful and safe! Linfeng, why don’t you knock me up once we get there, heh?”

“...Let’s first see the place, alright?”

“Evading responsibilities already, I see… I guarantee our spawns will be great. You don’t have to worry about it! Or do I have to get Mala’s little sting to knock me up instead?”

Mala shook his head.

“It won’t happen”

“You want a repeat of our first meeting?”

“You…!”

“W-Where am I…?”

Fingmi woke up, and the two lovers of her Alrin suddenly were on their best behaviour.

‘What’s wrong with them? I really got myself the weirdest ones I could find, huh…’

“Everything’s alright now, Fingmi. He can’t hurt you anymore”

Linfeng did his best to reassure his Alrinir, but she was quite shaken up, and although she was physically fine and insisted that everything was alright, she refused to actually go into details about her time at Edrick’s residence.

‘That bastard definitely put his hands on her, didn’t he?! He forced her to lie previously…’

The script holder didn’t allow his anger to take root, and he simply kept on reassuring Fingmi as the quartet moved to reach the place that Yen’mila called a paradise. Considering the sort of person she was, the idea of a paradise to her might be a bit different, but she assured that it was a safe place that no one else knew the existence of.

Although a weird woman, Linfeng knew that he could trust her on this.

I am back, it seems like nothing happened during my slumber

‘All went well’

Without a word, the system focused on Fingmi, not detecting anything wrong with her. He did feel that there was a lot of Edrick’s remnant energy all over her… And also inside of her in certain parts… The system didn’t mention this to Linfeng, knowing that his user was quite quick to rage.

From what the system could see, Fingmi hadn’t been marked or otherwise affected by any ability or technique. She was just regular Fingmi.

That was unless something beyond the scope of the system had been used, such as an ability granted by a system more powerful than he was… But he had never felt that Edrick’s system was that much more powerful.

He would nonetheless keep an eye out, just in case…

Should I mention to him that his Alrinir has an… Interesting quirk with her Yin…?