Chapter 97

Translator : Mukyuu Editor : Mikyuu

Regardless, Michelle’s words came true.

It was a quiet and peaceful night.

When dawn broke, the branches started slowly leaking fluid.

After three drops slammed onto Wang Xiaoming’s head, he couldn’t help but open his eyes.

The Forest of Shattered Illusions looked entirely different in the morning light.

The blue trees were starting to turn green, from the tree trunks to the leaves, all of them a shade of translucent emerald, as if they had been cast from the stone.

Wang Xiaoming stood up and gently stroked the trunk. It did feel like stone, which was completely different from the trees he had encountered in the Mortal Realm. “This is also an illusion?”

“Yes.” Baal noted that Michelle and Andy weren’t nearby, so he took out their washing-up supplies from the space. He and Wang Xiaoming used the juice from the tree to wash up.

Wang Xiaoming waited until he packed the things away before asking, “If the food last night was a pig, then what’s the juice from the tree?”

“Dew.” If it wasn’t water, he wouldn’t be as unconcerned.

Wang Xiaoming was somewhat disappointed. He had thought there’d be some unexpected answer, like honey or something.

Michelle and Andy came closer.

Baal looked at them coldly.

“Good morning.” After a night’s sleep, Michelle didn’t look any different than she had the day before, as if the anger from the previous night hadn’t made any impact on her. “I’ve discussed it with Andy. There are two more days of the test, so in these two days not only do we have to try and survive in the forest but we have to knock out two of the Camarilla candidates.”

Wang Xiaoming wondered, “What counts as being eliminated?”

Michelle answered, “Very simple. The Forest of Shattered Illusions will judge.”

“Huh?” Wang Xiaoming felt completely baffled.

Michelle explained patiently, “The Forest of Shattered Illusions is sentient. When it thinks that any candidate is no longer qualified to compete, it will automatically move them somewhere else.”

Spatial movement?

Wang Xiaoming paused and looked at Baal.

Baal nodded almost imperceptibly.

…

But hadn’t Baal said the only person who should have been able to use spatial movement was Cain? Plus he had said before that there was a unique Kindred keeping watch over him. Could it be…

Both of Wang Xiaoming’s eyes flashed in confusion.

But that thought was too complicated, so Baal didn’t understand the look and assumed that Wang Xiaoming didn’t have confidence in him. So he declared arrogantly, “Relax, even if ten are eliminated, we’ll be fine.”

If they had been any other Kindreds, they’d have stomped their feet in anger at such a challenge or broken out in curses. But Michelle and Andy looked like they weren’t even entertaining the idea of being angry.

Wang Xiaoming suddenly asked, “Since they’ll get moved out as soon as they’re eliminated, why did Sean’s lover die in the Forest of Shattered Illusions?”

Michelle paused in surprise. She had probably never considered that he was still hung up about that, but she quickly replied, “That could only mean one thing.”

“What thing?” Wang Xiaoming asked as she had wanted him to.

“Before the Forest of Shattered Illusions moved him out, he had already been killed.” It was Baal who answered.

Michelle smiled but said nothing.

Wang Xiaoming’s heart turned cold. If that was the case, the killer must have struck awfully fast and been determined to kill him.

“Anyone who can enter the Forest of Shattered Illusions is no ordinary Kindred,” Michelle said. “I remember that Sean’s lover was a fifth generation.”

To be able to kill a fifth generation Kindred, the person had to be at least fourth generation. But Elders wouldn’t participate in such a competition and fourth generation Kindreds didn’t need to participate because even if they did, they couldn’t rise up in rank. So the only explanation was that the killer had come with the specific intention of killing the other vampire.

“Was there absolutely no clue?” Despite himself, Wang Xiaoming couldn’t help but be curious about the story.

Michelle shrugged. “Maybe Lord Cain is the only one who knows the truth about what happened there.”

Wang Xiaoming sighed.

“Let’s head out. Since the Camarilla have already tested our waters, it’s our turn to pay our respects.” Michelle turned around and led the way.

Baal frowned and looked down at Wang Xiaoming, asking, “Are you hungry?”

Wang Xiaoming nodded honestly and then turned around to look at Michelle’s and Andy’s retreating figures. “It’s alright; being hungry once or twice is not a big deal.”

“You’re still human now. What if you die of hunger?” In Baal’s eyes, humans were equivalent to being so weak they’d get blown away by the wind.

Wang Xiaoming said awkwardly, “There’s never been a human who died because they skipped one meal.”

“Someone has to be the first,” Baal said as he took out bread and sandwiches from the space.

Wang Xiaoming accepted the food unhappily. “I couldn’t be that unlucky, right?” After he said that, he thought he didn’t really have the right to say it. He had been unlucky for so many years that anything was possible.

Baal grabbed Wang Xiaoming’s hand and helped him put the sandwich in his mouth. “So you need to eat well from now on.”

……

…

Something strange appeared in Wang Xiaoming’s mind. Everyone else ate three meals a day to be healthy; he ate three meals a day in order to not die.

He chewed distractedly on the sandwich and then suddenly looked up and cried out, “Shoot, Michelle and Andy are gone.”

“Relax, they’ll come back again.” Baal’s lips rose.

Wang Xiaoming looked at his expression carefully and, when he was sure that it wasn’t a true smile but a mocking smile, he couldn’t help but say, “You don’t seem to like them very much.”

Baal answered, “That’s not it.”

Wang Xiaoming paused. “You actually like them?”

“I meant to say, it’s not that I don’t like them very much, but rather that I really don’t like them.”

“Why?” Wang Xiaoming thought Baal was being a bit unreasonable. After all, the others had displayed their sincerity from the first moment, especially since they also had a sponsor—Lord Singh, who looked dependable from every angle.

Instead of answering, Baal asked, “You really want me to like them?”

Wang Xiaoming replied, “I just think that we’re buddies in the same boat, so we should trust each other and help each other.”

Baal wore a disagreeable expression but he didn’t say anything in objection.

To Wang Xiaoming, that result was already a rare one. The Baal from before would have definitely tried to change his mind.

They finished eating the sandwiches and then sat down against the tree for a while, waiting for Michelle and Andy to come back.

“Did you two get lost?” Michelle made no mention of them not following her. “Sorry, we walked too fast.”

The more she said things like that, the guiltier Wang Xiaoming felt and he hurried to explain, “No, no… we were just… uh… we, we, uh… too sleepy. So we took a little nap.”

…

If there were a class on how to lie, Baal would very much like to sign Wang Xiaoming up.

Wang Xiaoming also felt the reason he had pulled out randomly sounded too forced, so he added another explanation, which didn’t make it any better, “I have to take a post-wake up nap every day.”

“…” Michelle decided to let it go and changed the topic, “Then let’s try again?”

Wang Xiaoming gave Baal a pleading look. “Sure…”

Resigned, Baal pulled Wang Xiaoming along.

Michelle and Andy set off after them.

Along the way, Michelle gave a general description of the Forest of Shattered Illusions.

The Forest of Shattered Illusions could be divided into three zones.

The outermost ring where they currently were, the second ring with wild beasts, and the center of the circle with magical beasts.

The game that Andy had brought back yesterday counted as a wild beast.

Wang Xiaoming asked Baal quietly, “I’m really curious about the basis of the magical beasts.”

Baal stroked his chin and said, “I’m also curious.” The realms with the most magical beasts were the Werewolf Realm and the Titan Realm. He just didn’t know what the magical beasts in the Kindred Realm looked like, or if it was just like the pig—a mishmash of physical traits.

As if not hearing them whispering to each other, Michelle forged on by herself, “Last night, we’d already sneakily determined the two Noferre candidates’ locations. They hate the sunlight and anywhere bright, so they most likely are in the mountain caves. In the outer ring, there are a total of 36 caves. Andy and I have investigated, so barring any surprises, they should be in the cave up ahead.”

“By surprises you mean…” Wang Xiaoming followed up out of curiosity.

Michelle stopped to explain, “Our investigation was wrong or they moved away.”

The facts proved that there were no surprises.

When they got closer to the cave, they heard a sound wave akin to a warning come out from there.

Wang Xiaoming was human, so he couldn’t hear the sound wave. But he felt extremely uncomfortable, like he wanted to throw up but couldn’t.

Baal held him and turned around to walk in the direction from which they came.

Michelle asked in utter surprise, “Where are you two going?”

“Rest,” Baal cooly tossed out and, without caring for her reaction, simply walked away from the cave.

Michelle and Andy exchanged a look and caught up from behind.

“Edward,” she took a giant step ahead and blocked him, “Noferres are the weakest in the Camarilla. As long as they are eliminated, we’ll win for sure.”

Baal answered dispassionately, “Even if they aren’t eliminated, I’ll win for sure.”

“Even if you can win for sure, what about him?” Michelle was a bit angry and frustrated. “As soon as time’s up, if there are more than ten individuals left in the Forest of Shattered Illusions, they’ll rank the Kindred based on their abilities and take the first ten. At that point, he’ll definitely be eliminated.”

Baal stared at her coldly. “You worry too much.”

Michelle was at a loss for words. She watched helplessly as Baal and Wang Xiaoming walked further and further away, her expression darkening more and more.

“What do we do now?” Andy finally spoke up, his voice as hoarse as a knife scraping against stone.

A hint of harshness flashed through Michelle’s eyes. “Since he doesn’t want to cooperate with the plan and voluntarily kick those two annoying Noferres out of the game, we’ll have to move on to plan B.”

“You mean?”

“Even if the Noferres aren’t eliminated, it’ll be the same if Edward and the human are eliminated.” Michelle smiled coldly. “We just have to make sure there are only ten in the Forest of Shattered Illusions at the end.”

Andy replied, “But Elder Singh…”

The harshness in Michelle’s eyes gradually turned into contemplation. “Actually, Elder Singh gave me a second order…”