Chapter Forty-Eight: My Darling, Don’t Run Away

Zhu En’s eyelids twitched violently. He lay in bed, tossing and turning, unable to sleep, convinced that something dreadful was happening.

“This won’t do.” Zhu En sat upright, his instincts screaming at him that something was amiss. There had to be something wrong.

“Send the guards to check on the forest elf in the cell!”

He gave the order; today’s most important discovery was that forest elf, and if anything was going to happen, it would surely be with him.

The night elf guards in the prison were enduring their shift as if every minute lasted an eternity.

They were in agony—true agony.

“Don’t just stand there staring! Standing around is so dull! Your lives are too empty. Let me teach you a game—it’s called playing cards, though I forgot to bring any. Do you have any paper? I’ll show you how to make cards. Cards are a great way to pass the time, so don’t ever waste paper…”

The forest elf’s voice drifted from the cell, rattling on and on with pointless chatter all night long. How could he never tire?

“Sigh, the environment here is terrible, darkness everywhere, not even a window. Living here is very uncomfortable. Even if I’m your enemy, you can’t treat me like this. If anyone found out, they’d say you were abusing prisoners. Speaking of cells, I know a fourteen-year-old designer, his work is exquisite and reasonably priced, honest dealings for all ages—why not let me introduce you to him and redesign the place…”

“I can’t take it anymore!” Finally, one of the guards snapped, drawing his longsword and charging at the cell. “I’ll shut him up! He’s been rambling nonsense all night—I’ll kill him!”

The other guards hurriedly restrained him. “Calm down! He might be the prince of the forest elves. We can’t hurt him!”

“You might really want to kill me. If you do, come inside! You’re complaining sincerely out there, but you need to come in and tell me you want to kill me. How am I supposed to know if you’re serious unless you come in? If you really want to kill me…”

“Kill him! I don’t care who he is—I’ll kill him right now!” The elf guard, gripped by madness, struggled toward the cell as his comrades wrestled him back. “Are you men or not? He’s provoking us and you’re still protecting him!”

“Calm down! He’s said this a dozen times already. Why are you still so agitated?”

“If he’s repeated it, all the more reason to kill him! Wait… repeated?”

The elf guard froze. “He’s repeating himself?”

The other elves paused too, a foreboding thought rising.

“This is bad!”

They hastily unlocked the cell, only to be stunned by the scene before them.

The forest elf had vanished. Only a gemstone lay on the floor, etched with a smiling face, from which the incessant voice emanated: “Listen, humans and elves are both born of mothers. The difference is, humans are born of human mothers, elves are born of elven mothers…”

“This is terrible, terrible!!”

The guards rushed into the lord’s manor. “My lord, the forest elf has escaped!”

“Just as I feared!” Zhu En, only just out of bed, slammed his fist down, shattering the table in fury. “How did he get out?”

The guard wiped sweat from his brow. “No idea, my lord. The cell is shielded against magic, the chains are enchanted to prevent spells. No outsider could have teleported in to rescue him.”

“Find him! Mobilize everyone—search the city!” Zhu En commanded, his anger spiraling out of control.

Gran City blazed with lights in the deep night as soldiers scoured the streets for Lin Lei’s trail.

Zhu En donned his armor, gripping his sword, ready to leave the manor. But the steward rushed over, flustered.

“My lord, there’s an intruder at the cemetery.”

“What?” Zhu En’s expression darkened. The cemetery near the manor was the resting place of his father and grandfather, strictly guarded. How could anyone get inside? “Hurry, take me there!”

They hurried toward the graveyard.

The leopard had heard the footsteps early on. “Young master, someone is coming. We should leave quickly.”

“No, no… I’ve hit something hard!” Lin Lei dug with excitement, certain he was about to unearth a treasure.

“Prince, the night elves have spotted us.” Eve saw several night elf guards approaching in the distance, her face tense. “You need to stop digging!”

“Just a moment… I’ve got it, it’s out!” Lin Lei cried in delight. “Wait, why is it a coffin?”

Of course it’s a coffin—what else would you find in a cemetery? Lin Lei hauled it out of the earth with effort.

Zhu En arrived just in time to see his father’s coffin flying out of the grave.

He nearly spat blood from sheer outrage.

“You, you…”

He stared with bloodshot eyes as Lin Lei leapt from the grave, the forest elf swiftly raising his shovel to crack open the lid—violating his father’s tomb!

Zhu En’s eyes reddened, his reason utterly gone.

“Kill him! Kill him now!”

The soldiers hesitated. “But, my lord, isn’t he…”

“He isn’t! He’s definitely not that person!” Zhu En gritted his teeth. How could a prince be digging up graves? That was nothing but a despicable grave robber.

“Fire! Kill him! I’ll take responsibility for whatever happens!”

Blind rage stripped Zhu En of all reason. If he didn’t kill the forest elf tonight, he would become the laughingstock of all night elves.

“Kill him!”

With Zhu En’s furious command, more than a hundred arrows whistled toward the three intruders.

Lin Lei glanced back at the scene. The arrows formed a neat rectangle in the air. He couldn’t help but marvel, “How orderly!”

“Is now really the time for admiration?” Eve raised her lantern, its purple glow shielding them from the first volley, but the second wave was already coming. The protective barrier was visibly thinning.

She urged, “Hurry, get us out of here!”

“Don’t rush, don’t rush—I need my treasure!” Lin Lei managed to crack open the coffin, peering inside delightedly, and then locked eyes with a pair of blood-red eyes within.

He froze for a moment, then raised a hand in greeting. “Hi!”

A bestial roar erupted as the coffin exploded, a crimson light shooting skyward and vanishing into the distance.

Lin Lei’s figure flashed, wings unfurling as he grabbed Eve and the leopard, soaring after the red light. “My treasure, wait for me!”

“Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—”

The night elf archers loosed their arrows into the remains inside the coffin, striking a heavily decomposed corpse covered in festering boils, which suddenly opened its eyes like a living being.

Unable to stop in time, the archers riddled the corpse with arrows, turning it into a porcupine. The creature let out a furious howl as the boils burst, spilling endless streams of green fluid, which sizzled and smoked as it struck the earth.

“What is that?”

Everyone was stunned. Zhu En shouted for the archers to cease fire, then turned to stare at the creature.

“Father… Father, is that you?”