Chapter 45: The Worst Way to Strike Up a Conversation

“Why?” Huan Luo was still trapped in her shocked state, unable to recover, but Bud was already losing patience. He tilted his head, signaling to the guards beside him to take Huan Luo away immediately.

Obeying his command, the guards closed in at once, ready to restrain her. Though her reactions were slightly dulled by the surprise, Huan Luo was far from helpless. She shifted her body, easily dodging the reaching hands, and blocked the second wave of attacks with her left arm.

The lecherous classmate, seeing the same tragedy about to unfold again, hurriedly shouted from behind the crowd, “Don’t underestimate her—my guard Karl was defeated by her!”

“Those incompetent guards of yours are still employed? I thought you’d have dismissed them by now.” His eyes brimmed with disdain, but his orders only grew more vigilant. Bud shot another glance, and the guards encircled Huan Luo more tightly, determined not to give her any room to maneuver.

Huan Luo wished to fight back, but with no weapon at hand, she could only dodge under the relentless siege. The coordinated blockade gradually separated her from Liang Yin and a certain someone, directing her toward a path they had clearly prepared.

Those interested in Liang Yin, seeing the only fighter in her group forced away, quickly ordered their own guards to act. Facing the seemingly helpless, delicate beauty, they felt as if they'd struck gold; the thought of a gentle touch and fragrant embrace thrilled them.

Several large, dark hands lunged toward Liang Yin. A startled cry pierced the air, snapping Huan Luo from her single-minded evasion. Turning back, she saw Liang Yin and the other girl swallowed up by the surrounding crowd.

Bud’s sinister laughter echoed in her ears: “Little beauty, give up and come with us. I promise you and your friends will eat well and drink well. Otherwise, I can’t guarantee what might happen to your friends.”

“Is that so?” Huan Luo matched Bud’s smile, but hers was cold. “I’ll return your words to you, unchanged.”

Staring at the elusive beauty before him, Bud grew increasingly frustrated. He’d thought his father sent him here merely to gather some easy military achievements, so he could return to the imperial city and get promoted. Yet, he arrived just as the war in Akasia ended. No fighting, no way to go home, and Akasia didn’t even have a single decent place for pleasure. Aside from a few dull shops and bookstores, the favorite entertainment of Akasia’s people was martial arts.

Horse riding, archery, swordsmanship—anything you wanted to learn, Akasia had facilities and teachers waiting. But to find a high-class leisure district like the pleasure quarters of the imperial city? Impossible.

Bud, raised in the imperial city, had learned combat from childhood but never took it seriously. In his first days in Akasia, he could keep up the pretense of swordplay, but soon boredom took hold. Just as he was growing restless, the lecherous classmate brought him valuable news: two lovely young women… (here omitting a torrent of exaggerated nonsense). Bud’s eyes lit up, and he immediately ordered the interception of the beauties for a night of pleasure.

Yet these beauties were not easily cowed. Bud glared fiercely at the ice-cold beauty, who didn’t spare him a glance, nor seemed to care for her friends, focusing solely on evading the attacks. Behind her, the “battle” was nearly over; the sheer numbers had successfully overwhelmed the remaining two women, leaving not a sound.

Wait—Bud suddenly sensed something amiss. The silence over there was too complete, as if time itself had stopped; everyone remained frozen in place, unmoving for an unnaturally long moment. Bud hesitated, moving toward the stillness, and after a few steps, a sharp, chilling wind howled past him. Though it was early autumn, with gentle sunlight still warming the air, Bud felt no comfort; all warmth seemed swept away by the wind.

His gaze sharpened. The strange scene before him, combined with the ice beauty’s martial prowess, brought a possibility to mind.

Could it be?

Time never waits—whether at birth, at death, or when you fail to flirt with a girl and end up getting beaten instead.

Whoosh, crack! A powerful, cold wind swept through the immobilized crowd, scattering them. The unlucky ones crashed into the walls with a crisp smack. Huan Luo glanced over her shoulder, confirming her suspicion: Liang Yin was glaring furiously at all those who had laid hands on her. The Eternal Staff, sensing its mistress’s potent rage, gleamed even colder. Water elements gathered from the air, condensing into a miniature vortex around the staff’s deep blue shaft, its center a block of ice formed by Liang Yin herself.

The water vortex, nourished by the ice, became intensely frigid. The freezing water struck each aggressor, transforming them instantly into lifelike ice statues, frozen in place.

Meanwhile, the wind elements on a certain someone’s wooden staff spun fiercely. Her first appearance in Akasia had been with wind magic, so now she could only focus on wind magic to avoid suspicion. Her training had rapidly strengthened her abilities, and the powerful wind, mingling with Liang Yin’s ice, turned the encircling guards into sculptures, glittering in the sunlight.

“You are…” Bud stared, shocked, in Huan Luo’s direction. “Li Yi’s daughter?”

“Correct.” Huan Luo’s wounds still ached from the intense evasion, but the tide had turned decisively. She retreated for a moment, soon rejoining Liang Yin and the other girl. Lance ambled over as well, and the four of them together fixed Bud with a look as if to say, “You’d better offer your own life to appease the world.”

Bud kept his eyes locked on the four, but his feet did not move. The guards who had avoided Liang Yin and the other girl’s magic formed up beside him, ready for battle.

“You’re Huan Luo?” Bud asked first.

“That’s right,” she replied directly, no longer bothering to hide. “Is what you said about my father being stripped of power and imprisoned true?”

At her question, Bud realized the initiative had returned to him. “That’s easy enough. If you spend one night with me, I’ll tell you how about that?”

Huan Luo’s brows furrowed, anger flashing across her face. The other girl quickly interjected, “If you won’t tell us, so be it—we can go to the imperial city and ask for ourselves, can’t we?”

Bud laughed at her words. “Do you really think, after the imperial city detained Li Yi, they’ll let his daughter come and go freely? On the first day, we took over Akasia’s military command. Now the city is guarded by our own soldiers. Unless Miss Huan Luo fights her way out, we’re not letting anyone leave.”

“If you all see Huan Luo as such a threat, why didn’t you seize her when she was severely injured? Are you so concerned with fairness?” Lance easily exposed Bud’s flaw.

“That’s because we hadn’t found a way to deal with Xia Kui and you mages yet,” Bud replied with a wicked smile, his gaze fixed on Huan Luo. “But now, we have.”