Free Web NovelChapter 56: Chapter 56: Finally Leaving the S-level Polluted Zone
He dragged the white-haired psycho backward into a swirling portal of darkness.
Just before he disappeared, he looked back, his ice-blue eyes locking onto the bushes where Yue Yue was hiding. His gaze wasn’t angry; it was a promise. I’ll be back for you, little snowdrop.
Yue Yue shivered, her scales crawling. Please don’t!
The portal snapped shut. Han Soi’s men, Tong Yu and Ke Hong, immediately pursued the fading energy trail, leaving the clearing in an eerie, ringing silence. frёewebηovel.cѳm
Han Soi stood in the middle of the dead forest. He transformed back into his human form in a blur of motion, his clothes tattered and his chest heaving.
"Yue Yue..." he croaked, his voice breaking.
He looked at the black, toxic soil where he had seen her fall, his heart clenching with the terrifying thought that she might have been crushed or poisoned.
He didn’t even look at the shattered remnants of the core or the path where the enemies had vanished. His violet eyes were frantic, scanning every inch of the blackened, smoking earth.
"Yue Yue!" he called out, his voice cracking with a raw pain that his men had never heard before. "Yue Yue, where are you?!"
He felt like his soul was being ripped out.
Every second she was on that toxic soil was a second her life was in danger. He began to drop to his knees, his large, trembling hands clawing at the dark bushes.
"Please... not her... take anything but her..." he whispered, his eyes stinging.
Suddenly, a tiny white head poked out from under a gray rock near a thorny bush.
"Hiss?" (Han Soi)
Han Soi’s entire body jolted. He turned so fast he nearly fell. When he saw that small, pearly-white form, he didn’t even think.
He lunged forward, scooping her up into his palms with the gentleness of someone holding their dearest treasure.
The moment she felt the warmth of his hands, Yue Yue didn’t want to be a snake anymore. She needed to hold him.
A soft white glow filled the space between them, and in a heartbeat, she was human again, tumbling directly into his chest.
Han Soi let out a choked sound, his arms wrapping around her so tightly it was as if he wanted to merge her into his own body.
He immediately ripped off his heavy military jacket and swaddled her in it, shielding her from the poisonous air.
"I’ve got you," he breathed into her hair, his heart drumming like a war drum against her ear. "I’ve got you. I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry..."
But as he adjusted her in his arms, his gaze fell on her midriff where the jacket had slipped. His breath hitched. frёewebηovel.cѳm
On her pale, delicate stomach, there were angry red welts and small blisters...burn marks from the moment she had rolled across the S-level soil.
Han Soi’s face went pale. His hand trembled as he hovered his fingers over the wounds, not daring to touch them for fear of hurting her more.
"You’re hurt," he whispered, his voice thick with self-loathing. "Because of me... you’re burned."
Yue Yue looked up at him, seeing the tears shimmering in the eyes of the man who was supposed to be the most heartless orc in the empire.
She reached out a small hand and cupped his face, her thumb brushing away a smear of tears on his cheek.
"It doesn’t hurt that much, Han Soi," she lied softly, giving him a small, comforting smile. "I’m okay. See? I’m still here. I’m tougher than I look."
Han Soi didn’t care about her being "tough." He leaned down, burying his face in the crook of her neck, his shoulders shaking slightly as the adrenaline finally crashed. He stayed like that for a long time, just breathing in her scent, trying to drown out the smell of blood and pollution.
"I will never let you out of my sight again," he vowed against her skin. "I don’t care about the mission or the treasure. You are the only treasure I’m taking home."
He pulled back just enough to look at her, his gaze filled with a terrifyingly deep devotion. He leaned in and pressed a soft, lingering kiss to her forehead, then to the tip of her nose, before finally resting his forehead against hers.
"Let’s go home, Yue Yue," he whispered. "I’ll heal you. I’ll give you anything you want. Just never leave my pocket again."
Yue Yue giggled weakly, leaning her head on his shoulder. "Fine. But you have to feed me more of that steak when we get back."
She quickly slipped into the soft clothes she had stored in her spatial space, her movements a bit shaky from the lingering sting on her belly.
Soon she was again tucked firmly against his chest, and his massive jacket was acting like a protective cocoon when the sound of rushing wind announced the return of his men.
Tong Yu and Ke Hong skidded to a halt, their faces covered in soot and frustration. "Duke! They used a high-level spatial jump! We couldn’t catch..."
Tong Yu’s voice died in his throat. His eyes traveled from Han Soi’s tattered uniform down to the pair of slender, pale feet peeking out from under the Duke’s jacket. Then, he saw a tuft of soft hair and a pair of wide, shimmering blue eyes looking back at him.
"Young... Young Madam?!" Ke Hong gasped, his jaw nearly hitting the toxic dirt. "How...when...why is she here?!"
They were completely floored. They had been fighting for their lives in an S-level death zone, thinking their Duke was a cold-blooded war machine, only to find out he had been smuggling his wife the whole time!
Yue Yue felt the heat rush to her face. Being caught "stowaway-ing" in a military operation was a bit embarrassing.
She gave a small, awkward nod to the two stunned orcs before quickly burying her face back into the crook of Han Soi’s neck, hiding like an embarrassed ostrich.
Han Soi didn’t give his men a single explanation. His gaze was icy and focused only on the exit. "The core is already shattered, and the primary treasure was stolen by the intruders. This zone is stabilizing, but the air is still thin. We are leaving. Now."
"But the report..." Tong Yu started.
"Report that the enemies were SSS-rank and escaped via illegal spatial tech," Han Soi snapped, his grip tightening protectively on Yue Yue.
He didn’t waste another second. He pulled out the glowing silver Portal Key from his belt. With a sharp twist, the air in front of them tore open, revealing the swirling blue-purple light of the gateway back to the Empire.
Without looking back at the blackened forest or the shattered core, Han Soi stepped firmly into the portal. Tong Yu and Ke Hong exchanged a look of pure "What just happened?" before quickly jumping in after them.
The world twisted and squeezed. Yue Yue squeezed her eyes shut, clinging to Han Soi’s shirt as the pressure of the spatial jump washed over them.
She just wanted to get back to their quiet room, get some ointment for her tummy, and maybe take a very long nap in a bed that didn’t smell like rotten eggs.
