Chapter 12: Escape

Li Liu’s face changed instantly, her eyes widening in surprise. Lin Fang felt his pulse quicken, his instincts alerting him to the sudden danger.

Without a word, he pulled out two 100 Yuan Notes, which are worth way higher than the bill. He didn’t ask for any change or a receipt. He placed it on the counter and glanced at the girl. “Li Liu, let’s get out of here before the barrier closes the space and locks us in here. Quick.”

He briefly glanced at the part-timer, “You too, let’s leave.”

“Li Liu, let’s get out of here before the barrier closes the space and locks us in here. Quick.”

He was about to move, but found that she didn’t.

Li Liu froze in her spot. Her breath quickened, far too quickly compared to a normal person in fear. Sweat began to bead along her forehead, sliding down her pale cheeks. And then her whole body trembled, almost violently, like the ground had been ripped out from under her.

“Li Liu?” Lin Fang’s voice sharpened. But there was no time for questions. The timer on his phone screen has already begun. If they don’t escape before 90 seconds, they will be stuck here and be at the mercy of the monsters.

Meanwhile, outside, the hum in the air deepened into a pressing thrum, and around them, a faint shimmer began to curl upward from the ground, forming a translucent barrier in the surroundings.

“Snap out of it. Run…” he barked, grabbing her hand without hesitation.

They bolted toward the street’s edge. But halfway there, her grip loosened.

“Li Liu!”

She swayed once… then collapsed entirely.

“Damn it! She’s hit with flux? Not now of all the times…” His teeth ground together. Without breaking stride, Lin Fang shoved the package filled with ice cream and noodle packets into his inventory, bent low, and scooped her into his arms.

The barrier’s edge was closing in, curling upward into a dome. He sprinted with his eyes flicking between the barrier ahead and the red countdown ticking on his phone screen.

“12 seconds left…”

With a final lunge, he burst past the invisible edge just as the barrier solidified behind him with a faint shhk. Inside, a swirling portal bloomed in the air, crackling with electric sparks.

Lin Fang slowed down with his lungs burning, sweat dripping down his temples. He adjusted his hold on Li Liu as her head lolling against his chest. Her breathing seems stable, but still unconscious.

Switching her to his back, he took out his shirt, used it to loop, and tied it around her waist to secure her. “There. Better than dropping you on the pavement,” he muttered under his breath, more to steady his own nerves than anything.

As he returned home, the lights were dim. Yu Xiaofei’s door was shut, showing that the couple had retired to their room without waiting. Only the flicker of the television lit the living room, where Zhi Yan lounged until she turned, saw them, and shot to her feet.

“Liu Liu! What… what happened?”

“No time,” Lin Fang said, carrying her toward the hallway.

Zhi Yan scrambled ahead, throwing open the door to a room that looked like it had been a typical girly room from the TV series: pale pink walls, delicate flower patterns with a faint scent of lavender. Two single beds sat neatly on opposite ends.

Lin Fang stepped inside, lowering Li Liu gently onto one of them.

As Lin Fang lowered Li Liu onto the soft mattress, Zhi Yan was already at his side. “What happened?” she asked sharply, her voice clipped with worry. “Is she hit with flux? But why? Did some creep bother you two?”

“No…”

He kept his tone steady as he recounted everything from the dungeon formation, Li Liu collapsing halfway, and how he’d barely carried her out before it closed.

Zhi Yan nodded in understanding. “When Li Liu was seven, she was abducted by someone, and to avoid the pursuit of the police, the kidnapper took her into a stellar rift, where she went missing for three months. Her mana was messed up at the core level. Ever since she was rescued, she has the episodes of flux. You know that flux is an uncommon disease in the world with no definite cure other than destroying one’s own mana core.”

Letting out a sigh, as she rummaged through Li Liu’s drawers, she added. “Unfortunately, destroying the man core will have a significant chance of becoming paralysed. Poor Li Liu, neither could she use mana, nor could she even be trapped inside a dungeon. She has to suffer like this, all her life.”

As Lin Fang stared at Li Liu, with a myriad of emotions in his head despite already knowing her past, she returned with a small amber bottle. She pressed it into his hand. “Here. Just one tablet. Mix it in a glass of water until it’s fully dissolved, then feed her. It’ll stabilize her for now. I need to go out.”

Lin Fang’s eyes narrowed slightly. “Go out? At this time?”

“It’s for some medicines,” she hurriedly said, already moving toward the door. Her movements were quite quick.

Before he could ask more, she was gone, the front door clicking shut behind her.

He sat alone in the faintly scented room. Pouring the tablet into a glass, he watched it swirl and dissolve, pale ripples fading into clear water.

When it was ready, he carefully supported her head and helped her sip the mixture. Even unconscious, she swallowed.

For a long moment, Lin Fang didn’t move. His gaze lingered on her peaceful face. Without thinking, his hand slid down to her hand, curling around it gently, then tighter. “Liu’er.”

“This time, it will be different. I’ll be there for you,” he murmured under his breath, so quiet even he could barely hear it.

*

Meanwhile, far from the warm light of the apartment, Zhi Yan was seen stepping into the barrier’s shimmering edge.

Inside the barrier, the streets were no longer the peaceful streets they were 15 minutes ago. Dozens of Orcs with crude axes were seen roaring and smashing through storefronts and house walls. Screams filled the surroundings; some were trying to fight the Orcs, while some were trying to flee.

Zhi Yan’s eyes narrowed, watching the scene. As she raised her right hand, a blade of pure concentrated mana formed in her grip.

“You lot…” Her eyes turned cold as her hands tightened the grip. “You have no place in this world.”

Then, in a blink, she vanished into a blur, leaving behind a trail of flames.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep