City of Sin (Yanyu Jiangnan)

Silence Broken

Waterflower didn’t know how to get rid of the fire within her, feeling an inexplicable annoyance. Just what was she irritated about? Didn’t she receive a complete upgrade to her set just last night? Wasn’t this the power she was looking for?

The girl was a terrifying talent in battle. With the new rune set, even at level 13 she could fight head-on against a saint of Faelor. Originally, such growth in power was the only pursuit she had in life. But now that this power was in her hands, for some reason she couldn’t bring herself to be happy at all.

She had been huddled in her room all day, too numb to even try adapting to her new power. At night, when she couldn’t find it anymore, she went and looked for Gangdor to spar with. However, although Gangdor was level 14 now and had a set of his own, his training in the death camps had left him with a keen sense of danger. He noticed her dangerous aura so he shamefully withdrew.

Left blank for a moment, she had told him to change the spar to a drinking competition instead. The brute had immediately grown overjoyed, grabbing Tiramisu, Olar, Zendrall, and others to be witnesses to the “fight.” He didn’t even let Kellac or the young Caesar off, the more onlookers there were the more glorious his victory would be. Only after everyone gathered did he start the competition grandly.

While Gangdor had been struggling to find an audience, Waterflower had stood there blankly with her eyes focused on an unknown location. A total of thirty bottles of strong whisky had been brought over, enough to leave a dozen strong orcs fainted.

She had muddled memories of beginning to drink, muddled memories of watching Gangdor’s expression from calm joy to shock; muddled memories of the brute collapsing to the ground. ‘I won?’ she remembered having thought to herself at that point, looking around at empty bottles and the awed expressions of Olar and the rest. Right, she had beaten that idiot in a drinking competition.

And yet, she hadn’t even felt dizzy. It was as though she had only been drinking water all the while. Feeling a sudden pang of loneliness, she waved the crowd away before picking up her longsword and silently leaving the place. That was how she had ended up on the city streets late into the night.

All she could see through her narrowed eyes was Richard’s figure, but she didn’t want to meet him.

A few drunk aristocrats walked out from the street opposite her, talking loudly about the returning caravan, strong wine, and women. The latter especially made everyone burst into a peal of knowing laughter.

The noble in front suddenly went rigid, standing still as a statue. The road was blocked for those behind, so someone strongly patted his shoulder and let out a breath that reeked of alcohol, “My Lord, what did you see that you can’t even walk? It can’t be some peerless beauty, could it? Such a woman would be in someone’s bed already… Ah!”

The noble who was speaking became still as well. Those behind him all squeezed up and looked over, and audibly sucked in a breath of air. At the end of the long street was what seemed like a night elf walking towards them, her confused small face emitting a hazy radiance in the moonlight. This ethereal beauty didn’t even seem human, her gait holding the grace of someone walking on the wind.

“I’m not dreaming, right?” “Heavens……” “I wouldn’t mind giving up ten years of life to have her in my bed…”

The nobles all started mumbling, their gazes following the girl in front of them. The girl herself couldn’t see nor hear anything at that moment, immersed in her own world of panic, annoyance, and regret over something unknown.

‘You should be a bit braver, just a little more…’ A voice repeatedly echoed within Waterflower’s heart, making her feel insane.

There was someone blocking the way! She instinctively moved two steps to the side, swaying like a ghost as she passed through the nobles to continue wandering down the road. These nobles saw that the prey in their hands was about to fly. Immediately half sober, the fastest one quickly reached out to try and grab Waterflower.

Even in her half-addled state the girl’s perception was keen. The clumsy immediately stirred her vigilance and she lightly stepped aside, the Shepherd of Eternal Rest raised together with its scabbard. The noble grabbed empty air, his ribs instead knocking against the scabbard of Waterflower’s sword. The blow left him in so much pain he couldn’t even call out, directly collapsing to the ground with his body twitching.

“Baron! What happened to you?”

“Damn, this chick strikes hard!”

“Take her back to interrogate!”

The nobles went into a panic, but in the midst of the fuss a few nimble figures jumped out of the darkness to surround Waterflower. Even in Bluewater these aristocrats brought their guards along, but in order to enjoy the brothels fully they were normally hidden away. If their lords met with any danger, these soldiers would appear from every corner.

Waterflower finally recovered from her stupor, her gaze sweeping across the guards surrounding her as killing intent permeated her eyes. One soldier who had sharp awareness suddenly shivered, unable to help but take a step back as his teeth began to chatter non-stop.

At that time, one of the youths who felt like the situation was under control swept his eyes up and down Waterflower’s body without the slightest hint of shame. “Capture this chick!” he shouted loudly, “I have to ‘interrogate’ her properly in revenge for Baron Zeton!”

Another noble grew unhappy at this, “That won’t do, you’re being too mean. Such great goods, how could you ‘interrogate’ her just by yourself?”

“Right, forgive me. How about this, we can all interrogate her together for an entire day and night!”

The noble youths yelled loudly, pinning all their gazes on Waterflower as they began to judge her even more impudently.

A tall guard suddenly walked out of the darkness, the earth shaking with every step he took. His mountainous body was filled with a cruel aura, the huge sword in his hands at least a few hundred kilograms in weight. The energy within him was almost overflowing; although it wasn’t yet at the state where it had condensed into a physical form, his silhouette still glowed in the dark.

A saint! Although this person’s aura was a little weaker than most sains, clearly having just advanced, he was still a genuine saint powerhouse!

The man let out a deep laugh, “It’s best to give up, girl. My sword doesn’t have any eyes. Isn’t it just sleeping with my master once? What’s the big deal anyway? You have to fuck a man at some point, my master is very generous!”

A cold fury radiated from Waterflower’s eyes, “A mere saint, coming here to seek death!”

“What?” The man could hardly believe his own ears. A mere saint? This stunning girl herself was only level thirteen, yet she called him a mere saint! However, he wasn’t given any time to think. The Shepherd of Eternal Rest had already left its scabbard, noiselessly stabbing towards him!

The man suddenly saw a mysterious azure light shining in the girl’s eyes. His thoughts suddenly turned cold, his mind freezing over in a flash. He no longer cared about hurting the girl in front of him, mobilising all his energy with a roar as his huge sword stabbed directly at the enemy.

Waterflower seemed to merge with the darkness, the Shepherd of Eternal Rest lightly tapping the huge sword. She used the borrowed momentum to appear behind the man in a flash, his lower back lit up in her vision. An ethereal darkness suddenly condensed on the edge of her blade, her entire body leaning into the blow like floodwaters overpowering a dam. The longsword was like a soundless bolt of black lightning, quietly piercing through the man’s waist.

Guide of Secrets, Breath of Darkness. In the first few moments of the battle, Waterflower had already used both of her set skills. A cloud of bloody mist exploded from her target’s waist, spreading quickly. In the meanwhile, she herself moved ten metres away as though she was floating on water before standing still. The spray of blood didn’t manage to so much as touch her.

Only when the mist dissipated did everyone see a shocking gap in the man’s abdomen. Almost half of his waist had disappeared! The nobles finally sobered up from the terror, one of them screeching as they took the lead to run away. The rest of the nobles followed suits and flew out, scattering like a flock of birds in but an instant. The guards, however, remained to perform their duty. One could say they were heroic and unafraid of death; not a single one of them followed their master in running away. These soldiers paid heed to bringing up the rear, keeping a close eye on Waterflower while retreating step by step. Only after they were hidden in the darkness once more did they disperse and escape.

That saint powerhouse had already been completely abandoned; there was no one who dared to snatch his body.

The outburst seemed to have a cathartic effect; Waterflower felt some of the stifling mood fading away. However, she didn’t actually like killing; without the mood to chase after those drunkards, she just walked alone in the dark.

The depths of darkness, this was her world.