Liana's Schemes

How... how is this possible?

Ruiwen's consciousness drifted amidst the searing pain, as if trapped in a nightmare from which he could not wake. He struggled to focus his vision, but only a blurred, double-image greeted his eyes.

His chest burned with a fiery ache, and every breath tugged at his fractured ribs, producing faint sounds of grinding bone.

What on earth had happened?

Memories flashed back in fragments—that blue slime, its harmless exterior concealing such terrifying power. That incredible speed and strength simply should not belong to such a low-tier magical beast.

He had been defeated? By a slime?

This didn't make sense. No matter how he looked at it, something was off...

It was just a slime.

Ruiwen stared at the wound on his chest—a horrifying gash running from his right shoulder down to his lower back.

An injury like this... was not quite fatal for him. With the regenerative abilities of his half-vampire bloodline, he could slowly recover. He could feel his muscles squirming and knitting back together, but the healing brought with it twice the agony.

Even so, there was no way he could move for some time.

"Did the fish take the bait?" Liyana rushed out of the room, brimming with excitement.

"Someone actually showed up?" Mo Lini rubbed her groggy eyes, trailing behind Liyana. "Close call—I nearly fell asleep."

"What... what's going on?" La Di heard the commotion in the living room and hurried over as well, clutching a kitchen cleaver in his hand... Though it would be useless against an enemy like Ruiwen, he was still prepared to fight tooth and nail.

Under such circumstances, sleep was naturally out of the question for him either.

"You... who are you people?" A vague groan escaped Ruiwen's throat. At this moment, he was half-dead, embedded in the wall, spiderweb-like cracks spreading across its surface.

Had it been anyone else, taking a hit like that from Little Lan would have meant certain death.

Ruiwen's condition was indeed dire. Apart from the slash across his chest, most of the bones in his body were broken as well.

Little Lan was now a high-tier magical beast. The magical power and energy contained within that small frame were probably beyond anyone's imagination... Mainly because Aina had fed it too well. After all, Little Lan's meals were on par with Mida's.

No wonder Ruiwen had let his guard down—even if he had been fully alert and going all out, he would have met the same fate.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk... How pathetic." Liyana crossed her arms and tilted her head, studying Ruiwen. His body was still twitching in spasms. Though he wouldn't die anytime soon, the pain was very much real.

"Come on, out with it—who sent you?" Liyana kicked Ruiwen without the slightest hesitation. He felt as though every nerve in his body had been thrown out of alignment, letting out a miserable howl.

The sound echoed through the silent night.

"Bang, bang, bang—"

A violent pounding came from the door, cutting through the tense atmosphere inside.

Liyana and Mo Lini exchanged puzzled glances. Who would come knocking at this hour?

Could there be more enemies?

"Ah!" La Di suddenly realized something, slapped his forehead, and hurried over to open the door.

"What are you doing in the middle of the night?! Don't you people need sleep?!"

A middle-aged woman's furious scolding rang out from the entryway.

"Sorry, sorry..." La Di apologized profusely.

"First you're smashing things, and now you're screeching like someone's dying! If you want to fight, take it to the streets... The rest of us need our rest—we have to get up early for work tomorrow!" The woman kept berating them without letting up.

"I'm truly sorry, I'll be more careful..." La Di forced a smile, barely managing to send her off.

Liyana and Mo Lini glanced at each other.

They had almost forgotten—this was an apartment building... They had disturbed the neighbors, which was a bit embarrassing.

Liyana shrugged nonchalantly, grabbed a rag from the table, and shoved it unceremoniously into Ruiwen's mouth. "There—now he won't bother anyone else."

Then she kicked him hard again. "Talk! Who sent you?"

Ruiwen, who had been lying on the ground like a corpse while recovering, convulsed once more.

"Mmph—"

This time, with his mouth gagged, he couldn't scream, only letting out muffled whimpers.

"Heh, tight-lipped, are we..." Liyana looked eager. "Then let me show you my techniques! Back in my archery training, I also learned some interrogation methods."

Mo Lini gently tugged at Liyana's sleeve and whispered a reminder: "But Liyana, you just stuffed his mouth shut."

"Of course I know that, Mo Lini... But if we don't properly interrogate him, he might feed us lies." Liyana gave a sinister smile. "We need to make sure the intel is reliable, so the interrogation is necessary."

A glimmer of despair flashed in Ruiwen's eyes. He shook his head desperately, trying to show his willingness to cooperate.

"But isn't that too cruel?" Some sympathy flickered in Mo Lini's eyes.

Ruiwen quickly nodded vigorously, as if agreeing with Mo Lini.

"Don't worry—this guy's a vampire. Even if he gets hurt, he'll regenerate... Nothing cruel about it." Liyana waved her hand dismissively.

"Oh... he can regenerate." Mo Lini's face lit up with sudden understanding, and most of the sympathy in her eyes dissipated in an instant.

Ruiwen's gaze turned utterly hopeless. That logic didn't seem right, did it?

"Yeah, vampires have strong regeneration—no need to worry about him." Liyana reached out to pat Mo Lini on the head, but as if a thought struck her, her hand froze mid-air. "Besides, this guy's a bad guy."

"So what are you planning to do?"

Her gaze roamed over Ruiwen's body, like someone inspecting raw material waiting to be processed.

"Let's start with skinning him." Liyana said it as casually as if she were discussing the weather. "Elves have ways of planting flora on living flesh... I can make this one sprout little grasses all over his body, bloom little flowers all over him. And since he's a vampire, there's no need to keep him alive deliberately—how convenient."

"Oh!" Mo Lini's eyes sparkled with curiosity. "Like planting flowers in a pot?"

"Exactly! Though growing a tree wouldn't work so well—the roots would pierce through his bones and into his organs, easily draining the life out of him... Little grasses and flowers are just right; their roots don't go too deep."

Liyana described the details vividly, each word making Ruiwen's body tremble more violently.

Ruiwen let out a miserable whimper, twisting his body in a desperate attempt to escape... but all it did was tear his wounds open further.

Liyana planted her foot on Ruiwen's calf, and he let out another sharp hiss, his eyes rolling back as he nearly passed out.

"Alright, Little Bat, hurry up and tell us—who sent you?"