Chapter 89: Face-to-Face Checkmate

With a sharp crack, the two met for the first time. Ye Chen blocked his opponent’s great blade with his dagger and took the blow head-on, immediately feeling how forced and precarious his position was.

The Face-Slaying General was the foremost of the Great General’s Five Slaughter Generals. It was perfectly normal for Ye Chen to be no match for him.

Of course, being unable to kill him in a direct clash did not mean he could not be killed by other means. In the long years of Ye Chen’s flight, he had used cunning to bring down more masters than he could remember. Only this time, with Li Ruo present, his room for trickery was far too limited.

Ye Chen clenched his teeth and roared, “Damn it, I’ll fight you to the death!”

With that, he let out a furious shout, gripped the dagger in both hands, and sprang down from the staircase, his whole body spinning like a whirling drill as he charged straight at the Face-Slaying General.

The other man gave a cold laugh. “Pathetic tricks. Let me show you how to break them!”

As he spoke, he immediately raised his great blade and swept it toward Ye Chen’s oncoming attack.

With a thunderous crash, Ye Chen’s dagger was slammed down hard. The back of the blade struck Ye Chen’s shoulder violently. Luckily the dagger had absorbed part of the force; otherwise, that strike from the Face-Slaying General would have severed Ye Chen’s arm at the very least. Even so, despite the dagger’s protection, a deep gash was still carved into him.

A cruel smile appeared on Ye Chen’s face. “If you don’t enter the tiger’s den, how can you catch the cub?”

As he spoke, he flicked the dagger in his right hand out with lightning speed. At such close range, the Face-Slaying General had no time to dodge. The dagger plunged straight into his throat. His eyes flew wide open, and in a voice too faint and broken to make out clearly, he managed only, “No, impossible. This is impossible...”

He could not believe it. Ye Chen had actually killed him. For so long, Ye Chen had been fleeing everywhere like an ant, yet now he had slipped past his pursuit. He could not believe it, nor understand it.

But it had already happened, and nothing could change that now.

With a heavy crash, the massive body of the Face-Slaying General tumbled down the staircase and struck the ground with a dull thud.

This time, Ye Chen had truly driven himself into mortal danger. If he had made the slightest mistake, not only would he have failed to kill his enemy, he might have lost an arm instead. Another crucial reason was that the Face-Slaying General had underestimated him too much. Moreover, he had never even approved of being sent here by the Great General in the first place. In his view, there was no need to use a butcher’s knife on a chicken.

Ye Chen swallowed hard and then collapsed onto the steps. Li Ruo rushed down and looked at him with bright excitement.

“Ye Chen, you’re amazing! You actually killed him!”

“Big Brother! Big Brother!”

Mouse and Big Shrimp finally burst in from outside, both of them frantic. When they heard Ye Chen was in danger, they had been so anxious they nearly lost their minds. But by the time they reached the scene, the battle was already over. Ye Chen was weakly seated on the stairs, while the Face-Slaying General’s corpse had rolled from the staircase into the hall.

They both drew in a sharp breath.

Heavens, their big brother had actually killed one of the Great General’s Five Slaughter Generals. Among them, the Face-Slaying General was not only the strongest, but also the most ruthless.

The two stared at Ye Chen in disbelief.

“Big Brother, th-this... you killed him?”

“Heh heh. Didn’t expect that, did you?” Ye Chen said with a smug grin.

The two cried out in amazement, and Ye Chen shot them a look, signaling them not to reveal the secret. Then he said, “There are still two upstairs. Hurry and deal with these bodies. Li Ruo and I have to leave here!”

“All right!” They both nodded at once.

Ye Chen then took Li Ruo’s hand and ran quickly outside. Mouse and Big Shrimp remained in the hall, staring at the Face-Slaying General’s corpse, still unable to believe what they were seeing. But the facts were right before their eyes, and they had no choice but to believe them.

The two of them immediately carried the Face-Slaying General’s body out, then took the other two corpses from upstairs as well. They sprinkled a strange liquid over the three bodies, and in the blink of an eye, the corpses dissolved into puddles of murky water, as if they had never existed in this world at all. Mouse and Big Shrimp buried the clothes and remaining scraps, then quickly left the scene.

...

Ye Chen led Li Ruo quickly to Xinhai Apartments. Perhaps this was the only place that was even slightly safer. At the very least, this residential complex had many people in it, so the other side would not dare act recklessly. If they were exposed, they would be in danger.

“Ye Chen, is this place safe?” Li Ruo asked nervously.

“Don’t worry, it’s definitely safe,” Ye Chen said with a nod.

The two hurried upstairs. Ye Chen opened the apartment door and, after confirming that everything inside was normal, let Li Ruo in. He hung a transparent rain-thread line at the door and placed a little bell on the window. Then he pressed down a switch on the latch of the sunward-side door. Once everything was ready, Ye Chen finally lay down on the sofa.

Li Ruo moved closer to him and said timidly, “Ye Chen, I’m scared.”

“It’s all right. They won’t show up for a while,” Ye Chen said with a relieved breath.

Li Ruo leaned into his arms, and a wave of delicate fragrance drifted over him.

“Why? How do you know?” Li Ruo was startled. Then she added, “Actually, I should apologize to you this time. I dragged you into this. If it weren’t for them, you wouldn’t have run into them at all.”

Ye Chen gave an awkward smile and said nothing.

In truth, he knew very well that these people had come for him. But how could Li Ruo know that? She thought they were targeting her. After being used to assassination attempts, Li Ruo had long since become numb to such things.

“You should rest early. You still have to go to work tomorrow,” Ye Chen said. He was indeed tired now. It was already past one in the morning, and his eyelids were fighting to stay open.

Li Ruo nodded. “Then... I’ll take a shower before sleeping.”

“Go ahead.” Ye Chen waved a hand.

Li Ruo stripped off her clothes and walked into the bathroom. At once, the sound of rushing water filled the room. After all that frantic running, she had worked up quite a sweat. Looking at her own reflection in the mirror, she was very satisfied with her figure. But why was it that damned Ye Chen could always hold back? Li Ruo felt conflicted deep inside. On one hand, she hoped Ye Chen would be a little wild for once, because that would at least prove that her figure could make a strong enough impression on him. On the other hand, she also hoped he could keep his composure, because that would at least prove he was a dependable man worth trusting, and that she had not misjudged him.

“Sigh... what a fool.”

After washing up, Li Ruo looked at her body covered in beads of water. It was even more alluring now, like a lotus just rising from the water, untouched by artificial ornament. Perhaps that was the perfect description for herself. Even Li Ruo could not help but become captivated by herself. With a dazed smile, she murmured, “If there is a next life, I will be a man, and I will marry a woman as beautiful as me.”

When she came out of the bathroom, Ye Chen was already asleep on the sofa. That made Li Ruo flush with indignation. This damned man had actually fallen asleep like that. How outrageous. Did he not care about her at all? Or was he truly unaffected by the figure she took such pride in?

Suddenly, Li Ruo felt very lost.

She walked toward Ye Chen step by step, wrapped in only a bath towel. Her full curves strained against it, and the towel barely managed to hold them in. It still carried the rich scent of Ye Chen’s masculine presence. Standing before him, she knew that from Ye Chen’s angle, he would be able to see her most secret place entirely. If he opened his eyes, he would surely see that she was wearing nothing underneath.

Li Ruo crouched down and looked at Ye Chen’s face, as sharply carved as if by a blade. It was firm and resolute, yet not lacking in warmth. His eyelashes were long and slightly curled, but they did not look feminine in the least; on the contrary, they made him appear especially handsome and strikingly heroic.

She lifted a hand and gently touched his cheek. His skin was very fine, almost like a woman’s. She pinched his face, and yet this fellow still showed no reaction at all.

Looking at him, Li Ruo felt unexpectedly close to him. Then a mischievous idea flashed through her mind.

A playful smile curved at the corners of her mouth. She hurried into the room, rummaged through the drawers and cabinets, and after some effort finally found a black marker. Pursing her rosy lips, eyes crescent-shaped with mischief, she held the pen and treated Ye Chen’s face like a blank sheet of paper, beginning to doodle on it...

Li Ruo’s personality had a strong duality. Back when she had gone to see a psychiatrist after a heartbreak in America, the doctor had told her, “Your mind has fractured somewhat, and your personality shows two sides. If you want it to heal again, you must wait for time, for opportunity, or for another love to appear.”

That was why Li Ruo now felt almost like two different people. If someone did not know her well, they would probably assume the person they met by day and the person they met by night were two entirely different people.

At this moment, Li Ruo was holding the marker and doodling all over Ye Chen’s face, as though she were decorating a picture she had carefully imagined in her mind.

Unknowingly, half an hour passed. Li Ruo finally put down the last stroke, stepped back to look at her work, and revealed a satisfied smile. Stretching lazily, she walked toward Ye Chen’s room, lay down by the bedside, and breathed in the strong male scent that clung to him. Before long, she too drifted off to sleep.