Chapter 284-The Manga Pariah's Guide to Self-Salvation
"Hand over the Dragon Bones, and I won't lay a hand on you."
A flicker of confusion crossed Roy's mind—why would Ye Zheng think the Dragon Bones were with him? Then he recalled Bai Yi's instructions before leaving, and his eyelid twitched.
"Bai Yi and Percy have already been captured. You have no reason to resist."
Roy's head snapped up. He wanted to argue on reflex, but one look at Ye Zheng and the words died in his throat.
He turned his face away. "I don't know where the Dragon Bones are. You should ask Bai Yi."
There was no way Bai Yi and Percy had been captured so easily. Ye Zheng was most likely bluffing, taking advantage of the gap in defenses here to wipe out these rebels and fish for information about the Dragon Bones along the way.
He had to stall for as long as possible and wait for reinforcements.
Seeing Roy's refusal to cooperate, Ye Zheng stood. She glanced at Heath and noticed her expression looked somewhat distant.
"Heath, did Bai Yi do anything unusual before he left?"
"Hmm—oh, I remember now."
"Bai Yi gave him a badge. Said it was a family heirloom."
Both turned to look at Roy in unison.
Cold sweat poured down in an instant. Roy steeled himself. "Yes, it's a treasure of great importance to Bai Yi. He was worried about his safety, so he specifically entrusted it to me. If anything happened to him, I would deliver it to Bai Muqing..."
At that, Ye Zheng let out a laugh. She extended her hand, and a thread of water crept from her fingertip into his pocket, fishing out a silver badge.
"He's already met with misfortune. I'm on good terms with Bai Muqing—it would be more fitting for me to deliver it."
Roy looked as if her words had stunned him into silence. After a long pause, he suddenly sprang to his feet and demanded, "Because of you, her status plummeted and she's been ostracized in the lower district. And now you want to take the one family keepsake her father could leave her?"
"If you truly care about her, give the badge back to me and let me fulfill her father's last promise to her!"
Having said his piece, Roy bit down hard on his lip and fixed his stare on the badge pinched between Ye Zheng's fingers. This was his last chance.
Insist to the death that it was just an ordinary badge, then gamble on whatever shred of sympathy Ye Zheng might feel for Bai Muqing. They'd served together in the Papacy, after all. From what he'd seen during the ability tournament, their relationship wasn't nearly as hostile as the rumors suggested.
"After the Bai family's fall, Bai Yi—as Bai Muqing's father—spent all his time at Percy's side, passing on experience and wisdom, guarding him through every venture, giving him what few treasures he had."
"Only on the verge of death did he suddenly remember his daughter."
Ye Zheng pocketed the badge. Her habitually smiling face held no warmth; her dark eyes were still.
"Roy, you have a touch of cleverness, but you don't understand me—and you don't understand her."
Roy's expression turned utterly wretched, his body trembling faintly. How could he possibly fathom someone like Ye Zheng? Watching her expression turn cold, his heart nearly leapt into his throat.
But in the next moment, Ye Zheng looked away. She exchanged a glance with Heath—and turned to leave.
Seeing Ye Zheng depart, Roy was like a drowning man suddenly breaking the surface. Light reignited in the depths of his eyes.
The door opened and was gently pulled shut. Roy stared at the closed door and felt an instant flood of relief—even though several corpses with ghastly deaths still lay on the floor around him, a sightless head resting right by his foot. But nothing was more terrifying than Ye Zheng.
The Dragon Bones had been taken by Ye Zheng, but as long as they were still alive, there would be countless opportunities to get them back!
He needed to contact Bai Yi and Percy immediately. This operation had failed. They had to leave at once—
Roy spun around in a rush, only to crash headlong into a pair of blue eyes. He skidded to a halt.
Heath was standing right in front of him, as if carefully evaluating and appraising something—rational to the point of seeming cold.
All at once, Roy lurched a full step backward. He eyed Heath warily, his heart—barely unclenched—seizing up again, the tension leaving his body weak and weightless.
Only now did something occur to him.
Ye Zheng had taken the Dragon Bones. She truly had no reason to kill him.
But Heath had betrayed him—betrayed the Emperor. If she didn't want to be exposed, she couldn't afford to leave him alive!
"Roy, I didn't want to kill you right now." In her plan, Roy would have lived long enough to be chosen as the Emperor's heir, and she would have seized the opportunity to uncover the secret of how the Emperor took over other people's bodies.
"Who could've guessed Bai Yi would hand the Dragon Bones to you? Blame him." Heath sighed.
Flames ignited in the young man's palm. The temperature spiked. Roy's eyes blazed with fury—yet the flickering fire sputtered a few times and promptly went out.
Roy stared at his own palm in disbelief. He tried desperately to summon his ability, but his body only grew weaker. Even his knees began to buckle until, with a thud, he collapsed to the floor.
His hands strained against the blood-soaked floorboards. Trembling, he lifted his head, bloodshot eyes glaring up at Heath looming above him.
"What... what did you do to me..."
"I'm a prince of the Empire—your brother..."
Roy coughed up blood between words, his voice hoarse and feeble, shock and terror beyond measure.
Heath looked at the water pitcher on the far tea table but didn't answer. She walked to the liquor cabinet and began hurling bottles of spirits to the floor one by one. The liquor spread and pooled across the floorboards, mingling with the filthy blood. The vast parlor filled with an indescribable smell.
For Roy, it was the prelude to death.
When Heath had received Ye Zheng's message and decided to bring Ye Zheng here, she'd known everyone present had to die—especially Roy.
Even if Ye Zheng didn't kill them, she would.
So before she'd stepped out, she'd slipped something into their drinks.
The moment one activated an ability, the lethal toxin would be triggered. It was a rare item she'd gone to great lengths to obtain.
She had no choice. Her ability had zero offensive capability. She could only carry an assortment of odds and ends for self-defense.
Heath took out a lighter. Her trembling hand clicked it several times before a flame finally caught.
Her face was no better than Roy's. She met the gaze of her blood relative—hatred, terror, and a thread of pathetic, desperate hope all tangled together—and drew a deep breath.
She dropped the lighter on the floor.
The flames erupted instantly.
*
Ye Zheng stood under a tree not far away. She watched Heath emerge from the burning house, her steps slightly unsteady.
"I'm sorry for putting you in that position."
Ye Zheng knew this would risk exposing Heath, but it had to be done.
"How do you plan to explain this to him? I'll do my best to back up your story."
Heath stared blankly for a moment, then suddenly rubbed her cheeks, finally finding her voice again.
"Don't worry. I have a way to prove I wasn't at the scene. He won't suspect a thing."
This was probably Heath's first time killing someone, Ye Zheng reflected. On impulse, she pulled Heath into an embrace, offering a bit of warmth to cushion the emotional blow.
Killing was a means, not an end. In the future, the number who fell at Heath's hand might not be small, but she hoped Heath would never mistake the thrill of moving forward for the pleasure of killing—never become intoxicated by slaughter.
The gentle embrace caught Heath off guard again. Warmth gradually returned to her chilled body, and without her realizing it, the tangled knot of emotions quietly loosened.
Ye Zheng looked down at Heath in her arms. Certain questions ultimately went unasked.
The fire grew fiercer. The two left the scene, threading their way out of the dense mountain forest. At the point where their paths diverged, Heath wore an expression of things left unsaid.
But Ye Zheng simply smiled and let it pass. She waved, turned, and walked away.
Now, the Dragon Bones in Percy's group's possession were also in hand.
Wu Shu would soon return with the Dragon Bones from the West District. By that count, she had nearly assembled the complete set.
All that remained were the ashes buried deep beneath the earth of the East District.
Ye Zheng narrowed her eyes slightly. The elevation here was high enough to offer a panoramic view of the East District's terrain.
The sun was bright today. She liked this kind of weather—perfect for laying bare every unspeakable conspiracy and lie under the light, and evaporating them in the sun.
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