Le Tianyu's heart suddenly tightened and a strange sense of fear crept into it. He opened his eyes by a fraction to allow himself to adapt to the light. When he finally saw the figure opposite him clearly, he got so scared that he ended up desperately scrambling backwards, not stopping until his cold sweat-drenched back brushed against a wall.
"You, you, you, who are you?" The large figure arrived at Le Tianyu's side in only two steps . Against this tall creature, who was beyond his cognizance, he trembled fiercely and almost fainted.
This wasn't his first time seeing an Orc, but it was definitely his first time seeing one face to face!
The creature in front of him had a three-meter-tall humanoid figure, but its exposed skin was covered in long hair—which was everywhere except on its face. A single finger of this creature was as thick as his arm and when it grinned, it showed a row of sharp teeth, very different from that of a human.
"Who am I?" The orc stooped down with a mocking smile. A brown hairy hand grasped Le Tianyu's jaw and lifted it so that he could look at him eye-to-eye. "Who am I? Can't you see that yourself?"
"You, you can speak the Tarot language?" He's an Orc but can actually speak Tarot's language!
Le Tianyu was shocked but still moved his head to the side, trying to avoid the hand that almost made him want to vomit. "Who the hell are you? What do you want? Where's Wan Deqing?"
"Wan Deqing? Ah, you mean that man? He's in Tarot." The orc continued, "If you want to keep your life and see him, you'd better be obedient. Don't think that just because Le Feishan is your father, I'll be afraid of you!"
"I don't know what you are saying!" Le Tianyu looked away. Perhaps, because reality had hit him hard in Blood Prison, he still remembered this particular matter very well. He wasn't Le Tianyu now, and he wouldn't be Le Tianyu in the future either. His name was now Luo Hao. He had no mother and no father. He had only relied on himself to grow step by step. Then, he met Wan Deqing by chance, fell in love with him, and followed him to Blood Prison.
He was Wan Deqing's wife, at least for now.
The orc didn't express any opinion on Le Tianyu's pretense. He backtracked towards the wall facing Le Tianyu. There was a huge stubby pile of rocks on that side of the wall, and he used it as a stool. He sat on it with a mocking "Hmm".
Le Tianyu felt goosebumps rise all over his body. He eyed the huge figure opposite him with fear. Suddenly, he thought about asking for help using his communication device. However, before he could act on this thought, he found that his wrist was empty, bereft of his communication device.
"Where's my communicator?" Le Tianyu demanded as he felt his panic rise. His last modicum of comfort had evaporated. "Where the hell is my communicator?!"
"I threw it away. What would you have even done with it? Do you really think that your selfish father will rescue you? Or that Zhao You will be able to protect you? Don't be silly. They all want you dead. You have to die so that the Le Family remains completely safe, understand?"
"You!" Le Tianyu felt so stifled, as if he was only one breath away from choking to death. His communicator had a password, but somehow, the orc knew so much about him. It made him unable to determine whether the other party had managed to successfully access his communication device or not. "What is it that you want to do?"
"What do I want to do? It's simple. I want you to save my brothers."
"Your brothers?" Le Tianyu didn't understand.
"Ah, sorry, I forgot that you've recently been locked up in Blood Prison, that broken place which even birds disdain to shit on. You didn't know, did you? Your good brother Le Yao, I don't know what kind of magic he used, but he actually succeeded in summoning the undead. He's holding our undead army, our Sarna's Orcs, as prisoners. Your brother said, as long as I take you to him, he will release my undead brothers. Anyway, the people outside all think that you died long ago. So, even if he does something to you, no one would ever know, right?"
"Impossible! Where are these undead?!"
When Le Tianyu was sent to Blood Prison, the matter about the undead army was still a heavily-guarded military secret, so he knew very little about it. Later, when he was in Blood Prison, no one specifically told him anything more, so he really had very little understanding about the undead.
The orc then showed him a video using his own oversized communicator device. In the video was a woman who was holding her knees and squatting in a corner. Sometimes, she madly pounded into the air while shouting some words or, at other times, she would look into the air in a daze while grinning.
Le Tianyu obviously recognized this woman, but he kept silent and didn't dare to utter a word. He couldn't believe that after he had left home, his mother had become a mad person.
The orc then asked, "Can you guess why she became like this?"
Le Tianyu bit his lips. "Why?"
"Because after you were forced to leave Tarot, she became very sad, and your brother sent his undead people to scare her every day. She didn't dare to go to sleep and this is her condition after suffering from the undead's prolonged torture. Do you know what the funniest thing is? Your father, Le Feishan, didn't send her to the hospital but instead kept her locked up at home. That's because your father is now trying so hard to please your brother, hoping that he can help him ascend to the position of a Marshal."
Le Tianyu didn't say a word. He might not know about other things, but he definitely understood this point well. Before he was sent to Blood Prison, he knew that his father thought him inferior to Le Yao. Le Feishan had loudly regretted marrying Le Yao off to Xu Yao so much. On several occasions, he had even felt that the person his father wished he should have married off and sent away was him.
Yes, his father turned to him only when he proved to be useful. Wasn't it just the other way around now?
The more he thought about it, the colder he felt in his heart. He secretly peeked at the orc opposite him. He was judging the credibility of his words while also wondering about Zhao You and Wan Deqing's locations? What time was it?
He remembered that he should have been inside an escort ship for prisoners, which was headed for Tarot. How was it that he suddenly woke up here? Did Zhao You and Wan Deqing know his whereabouts?
The orc seemed to know what he was thinking about, and said, "I advise you not to expect Zhao You and Wan Deqing to save you. Just think about your own situation for now. Come to Huaxia with me. If you do me a favor, I'll not only set you free, but will also let you meet your mother."
Regaining his freedom and seeing his mother. These two offers were too captivating for Le Tianyu. They were irresistible. However, he was still skeptical about what the other party had said.
Obviously, the first thing the orc would do was to hand him over to Le Yao, right? At the moment, nothing was in his favor. But, if he could successfully reach Huaxia alive, perhaps there would still be a chance for him to escape and live. "What is it that you want me to do?"
The orc smiled and revealed the row of sharp teeth. He walked over to Le Tianyu with loud footsteps. He first explained what he needed Le Tianyu to do, at the end of which the orc extended his long tongue and licked his face.
Le Tianyu felt sick, but he didn't dare resist. He could only retreat backwards and ask, "Can you really send me to Huaxia?"
"Yes. But you will have to cooperate with me."
Le Tianyu answered without a second of hesitation, "Fine!"
The orc then took a strange green stone out of his pocket. The stone was incredibly fragrant, and its scent caused Le Tianyu to faint in less than three seconds.
Not long after Le Tianyu fainted, the orc snapped his fingers. A familiar figure slowly emerged, but… wasn't Wan Deqing supposed to be in Tarot?
If Le Tianyu had remained conscious for this moment, he would have discovered that the man who he thought had undergone a facial transplant alongside his own, so that they both could start their 'lives' anew, surprisingly still had his original face. He had not changed his identity at all. Also, this person surnamed Wan wasn't as useless as he thought him to be. It was too unfortunate that Le Tianyu wouldn't be waking up for a while.
"Everything's going exactly as his father said it would." Wan Deqing looked at Le Tianyu with disgust and kicked his waist twice. "Take him away."
"What about Zhao You?" asked the orc.
"Get rid of him." After saying this, he placed his hands into his pockets and left.
***
Two days later, Uncle Ming had yet to find any suspicious movements on Le Feishan's side. Moreover, the prisoner escort ship that had arrived from Blood Prison to Tarot, had returned back to Blood Prison.
Recently, everything seemed to be very calm, but it was this excessive calm that made people uneasy.
Xu Yao asked Le Yao to teach him how to draw the Good Fortune Talismans, and he ended up drawing ten of them for Le Yao. Obviously, having one itself would be fine. However, Xu Yao put all of them into a small doll and had Le Yao bring it around with him everywhere he went. Le Yao simply thought that if he was careless enough to lose it, he would have used up his entire lifetime's worth of luck and blessings.
However, Le Yao was keenly aware of Xu Yao's nervousness, and decided to reward him.
It was rare for the couple to have dinner at home rather than at the cafeteria. In fact, Le Yao had been really busy during the daytime, and due to tiredness, he didn't particularly want to go to the cafeteria. In any case, he had started working on the museum project as soon as they had arrived at Huaxia. Now, Ji Fengyu was still trying his hardest to manage and settle all the problems that had cropped up before they began construction of the museum.
"You've been working too hard recently. You should take a good rest tomorrow. Don't say you don't want to take a break. Today, President Liu specifically told me that being fatigued isn't good for the children's growth, so you have to rest properly."
"I know, I also rested for a while this afternoon," said Le Yao.
"What rest? You still cooked while having such a rare break." Xu Yao pointed to the dishes on the table, ones which he had never eaten before, and yet looked so delicious. "I don't know what these dishes are, but I'm sure they took a lot of time and effort."
"Then don't eat!" Le Yao took away the plate full of meat that was in front of Xu Yao. "I can eat all of it by myself."
"How can that be? Of course I have to eat my wife's cooking. Not to mention it's all so fragrant." Xu Yao kneaded Le Yao's hand and smiled. "Thank you, baby. You guessed that I wanted to eat your hand-made food?"
"You're flattering yourself! I just wanted a change of taste, since we've been eating at the cafeteria every day," replied Le Yao.
"Yes, you wanted a change of taste, so you made all my favorite dishes." Xu Yao laughed. "Well, I'm not blaming you. But tomorrow, you really need to rest. Have you forgotten that you were the one who said that having multiple babies in a pregnancy may increase the risk of premature birth? Today, President Liu said that too much activity can also cause premature birth, so don't let yourself get this tired."
"Un, but when I rest, I just feel like I want to sleep. What do you think of my weight?" Le Yao pinched his double chin. "My face is already out of shape. Will I ever lose weight if I go on like this?" He was a little worried when he thought back to his adoptive mother who had always told him that it was difficult to lose weight after having a baby. Although he wasn't particularly concerned about his appearance, he still couldn't accept too much change! After all, the person in front of him was very powerful in both appearance and body. He would be really mad if he became ugly!
"Rest assured, in my eyes, you're still the best." Xu Yao put down his chopsticks and gently scratched Le Yao's double chin like usual. "Eat, eat more. If after the birth of the children you still feel fat, your husband will take you to exercise. I'll throw you into the training grounds for half a month to make sure you lose weight."
At the thought of the intensity with which the soldiers of the Flying Wolf Division trained, Le Yao was suddenly terrified and said in a low voice, "Are you really asking me to lose weight? Do you want to change your wife?"
Xu Yao immediately caressed Le Yao's head and smiled. "What are you talking about?"
Le Yao rubbed his stomach and retorted, "Hmph, don't talk anymore. Children, let's eat!"
Xu Yao picked up the chopsticks again and glanced at the rabbit doll hanging on Le Yao's clothes, his eyes full of tenderness. The tenderness, however, lasted for less than five seconds, before the loud ringing sound of his communication device interrupted their dinner.
…