Chapter 81
As Long Hao Chen spoke, his left hand was holding his sword, and his right hand was about to take the bamboo cane in this young girl’s hand. The young girl was motionless, when suddenly, she felt a chill, coming from the bottom of her heart as Long Hao Chen was standing by her side, and she almost subconsciously let go of her bamboo cane.
“There’s no need.” The young girl’s voice was somewhat cold, but it was not the same coldness as the one exuded by Ye Hua. Ye Hua was only cold on the outside, while being warm inside, but Long Hao Chen felt that this girl was almost as cold as death itself. It seemed as if she wasn’t the slightest bit alive.
“Let me help you please, I will escort you home.” Long Hao Chen tried to make his voice as gentle as possible.
“I told you there’s no need.” The young girl coldly said, continuing to walk forward.
Long Hao Chen stood in place, looking at the figure of this young girl that became gradually more and more distant. He suddenly felt depressed from the bottom of his heart, without knowing whether it was because he didn’t give some help to this young girl, or for some other reason.
Slowly shaking his head, Long Hao Chen sighed from the bottom of his heart, as the ‘forget me not’ ring on his finger emitted a bluish glitter, storing his Radiant Shield and his Light Sword. He headed back to his hotel with large strides.
But at the moment he stored his weapon, the difficult girl in front of him suddenly stopped, and turned back.
“Hey.” The young girl called out with a calm voice, the previous coldness that used to fill her voice seemed to have weakened.
Long Hao Chen took the same direction as her; he was about to pass through her position, as he heard her call him out and instantly stopped his steps.
The young girl lifted up her right hand, pointing it at Long Hao Chen, “Can you escort me for a little while please?”
Long Hao Chen was dazed by her sudden change of behaviour, as he instantly replied: “Yeah.” As he spoke, he lifted up his own left hand, holding the young girl’s little white hand.
This young girl’s hand was quite soft; this softness was quite similar to that of tofu soaked in water and her five slender fingers seemed as if they were sculpted from jade. Grasping her palm, he felt a mild and warm sensation. Long Hao Chen had never felt such a cozy feeling in the past.
On the other side, when the young girl held Long Hao Chen’s hand, her soft and tender fingers lightly rubbed the ‘forget-me-not’ ring in his hand.
Long Hao Chen’s face was quite red; he had indeed already reached the age of the first awakening of love. As he was holding the young girl’s soft hand, his heartbeat unconsciously accelerated.
The young girl was wearing her veil, so he couldn’t see the current expression on her face, but at the instant she touched his ‘forget-me-not’ ring, she tightly clenched her other hand, bracing her delicate body all of a sudden.
Because of this peculiar change in Long Hao Chen’s heart, his perception had declined. Unexpectedly, he didn’t even notice the subtle changes in this young girl’s mood.
“Where do you live?”Long Hao Chen restrained with difficulty his heart’s emotions, as he asked the young girl.
The young girl replied: “250 meters forward, then 125 meters after turning on the right and finally 66 meters after turning on the left, and we’ll have arrived.”
Long Hao Chen’s heart skipped a beat. It wasn’t because he was astonished by the fact this girl knew these distances so accurately, but because he felt really pitiful for her. To know these distances so precisely, how much effort did she have to put forth? Instantly, he felt as if the softest place in his heart had been stirred up.
Unconsciously, he tightened his grip on the girl’s hand, slowly advancing forward.
The two of them quietly advanced; their speed was slow, but without knowing why, Long Hao Chen felt really comfortable, deep inside. This was the first time he walked hand in hand with a girl; despite the fact that it was to help her, he had a kind of desire to keep walking while holding this hand forever.
The young girl’s attitude was quite cold, but she was calm, smoothly and steadily advancing, she simply blindly followed Long Hao Chen, as her purple-colored hair was being brushed by the wind, Long Hao Chen felt something akin to a gentle feeling from her.
“You, what’s your name?” The young girl suddenly asked.
“Eh?” Long Hao Chen was surprised, and slowly shifted his sight on this young girl’s face. Despite the fact that he knew that she was blind, he felt at this moment quite shy.
“My name is Long Hao Chen, and you?”
“I am Cai’er.” The young girl answered quietly; no one else than Long Hao Chen could hear her quiet voice.
“What a beautiful name. Cai’er, do you live in Holy City?”
Cai’er lightly shook her head, replying: “I live in a town in the east side of the Alliance. It is not here. This time, I came to handle a few matters.”
Long Hao Chen frowned slightly, remarking: “And the people from your family? How can they be at ease when you’re out on your own?”
Cai’er calmly answered: “I can take care of myself.”
Seeing her eyes that didn’t contain the slightest emotion, Long Hao Chen felt that his heart was choking. He was completely speechless.
“What’s up with you?” Cai’er didn’t hear Long Hao Chen’s voice for long, and turned to his direction, somewhat surprised.
Long Hao Chen calmly shook his head, “Nothing.” He blurted out these words, practically without thinking. He wanted to be considerate when speaking to her, but in the end, he could not control himself. He had neither this kind of ability nor this kind of qualification, and in addition, it was too bold for him. And deep inside, the sympathetic feelings he had for this lady who had lost her sight, Cai’er, had evolved.
Cai’er halted her steps, and Long Hao Chen, who was trying to suppress his inner feelings, stopped as well.
“What’s going on? ” Long Hao Chen looked at her.
Cai’er said: “I arrived.”
Long Hao Chen was startled; he discovered that as he was accompanying Cai’er, she had become the one who took the lead.
“I am so sorry, I…” Long Hao Chen embarrassedly said.
Cai’er calmly shook her head, her hand slowly separating from his, “Thank you.”
Long Hao Chen raised his head to take a look, this was a hotel as well, and it was very close to the one he resided in.
“I’ll take you inside.” Long Hao Chen said.
Cai’er frantically shook her head, “No need, I can go by myself.”
Long Hao Chen scratched his head, “Good bye. Be careful on the way.” He was fully aware that Cai’er couldn’t see, but he still waved his hand to her, before heading to the hotel, leaving her.
Cai’er didn’t return directly to the hotel. She calmly stood there, at the place where Long Hao Chen left her, and her lips secretly drew out an arc from behind her veil.
“It is really him. This idiot! Right! After so many years, how could he recognize me? And at that time, I had lost my basic ability to speak, although now, it’s my vision that is lost. Oh, Long Hao Chen, Long Hao Chen!” She had firmly kept this name in her mind before her hand was tightly grasped by Long Hao Chen. Making use of her blue-colored bamboo cane, she headed back to her hotel.
Long Hao Chen was back in his room, but the appearance of this young girl was deeply engraved in his mind. Even as he was seated crossed-legged, he didn’t manage to enter the meditative state at all.
“It appears that my choice to turn into a Guardian Knight was really right: in this world, a lot of people need protection.” Long Hao Chen sighed lightly before eating one of the pills Lin Xin gave him. Calming his mind, he slowly entered the meditative state.
Like that, the first day of the Demon Hunt Selection’s preliminary contest started. And when Long Hao Chen headed back to his hotel, even more competitors competed vigorously in regards to these preliminaries.
After the first day of the competition, half of the people had already left, eliminated from the competition.
In the Mage Temple’s stadium, Lin Xin was resting on a seat, looking at the ongoing competition. He wasn’t the slightest bit nervous, and seated there, he observed the surrounding competitors.
The place he chose was in the first row. There were two people beside him, a male and a female.
“You two, would you have interest in some pills?” Lin Xin smiled and turned towards the two, asking this question.
These two young mages looked at him with doubtful looks, showing cautious expressions…
*[Long Taos]: side characters in Chinese operas who perform acrobatics and fight scenes
*[12.47 to 13.07]: don’t ask me about the tree sap