Chapter 267: I Can Be a Dog Too
The dried flowers in the box were just ordinary little daisies and lilies. Their shriveled stems and leaves had gone through dehydration; even in their withered state, the shape of the blossoms could still be seen.
Leng Feng handed the bouquet, box and all, carefully and meticulously to Jiang Che, his eyes lingering reluctantly on the box before finally looking away.
"If it’s really so precious, you should keep it yourself," Jiang Che said, lowering his gaze to the box in his hands.
Neither the box nor the flowers inside bore so much as a scratch.
It was clear that their owner had protected them extremely well.
Such a precious thing—he couldn’t understand why Leng Feng was handing it to him.
"No need. Giving this to you is for the best." Leng Feng shook his head and withdrew his gaze.
"What kind of flowers are these?" Jiang Che saw they were just ordinary daisies and lilies, but he guessed Leng Feng meant something else by giving them to him.
"Mm... They’re just common daisies and lilies," said Leng Feng, taking back his gaze, now bereft of any attachment. These were never meant to be his. "If you don’t like them, you can just throw them away."
Jiang Che cupped the box. "Throw them away?"
"Mm, they’re not worth anything, really." Leng Feng let out a laugh. The flowers held no value, and there wasn’t much point in keeping them.
Now, he only felt that the heavy burden on his shoulders had finally been set down.
He didn’t tell Jiang Che where the flowers came from, nor the meaning they held for him.
To him, these flowers represented responsibility.
He was simply passing that responsibility into Jiang Che’s hands. Whether Jiang Che would take it upon himself was no longer his concern.
That child before had thought he was the strongest among humans, so the flowers had been given to him.
Now, he was simply handing them to someone even stronger.
"As for the Dark Star matter, rest assured, I’ll do my best to resolve it." Leng Feng stood, the female attendant taking her place behind him.
"If I fail, I’ll be troubling you from then on." The two of them bowed deeply to Jiang Che.
Jiang Che, carrying the box, left the lounge. As soon as he stepped out, he saw Liu Mang standing outside.
The instant he met Liu Mang’s eyes, Jiang Che sensed a flash of murderous intent directed at him.
It was gone in a heartbeat.
Liu Mang also bent in a bow. "I will be relying on you henceforth."
Jiang Che held the box as he walked outside, retracing his steps toward the elevator.
By now, the daylight had faded, leaving the world in shades of dusk gray—half bright, half dark.
The sun had vanished. The elevator, made of transparent glass, was descending steadily. Jiang Che felt as if the world itself was sinking into darkness.
When he reached the bottom, he saw only the bright lights hanging from the edges of the buildings overhead.
The lower world was always lit.
During the day, sunlight was barely noticeable here, and inside the lower structures, even the electric lights seemed faint.
There was always some light from an unseen source, illuminating the world below.
It was only at night, down in the lower levels, that Jiang Che really felt the darkness and oppressive atmosphere closing in.
Even so, he could still glimpse the sky—still not completely swallowed by darkness—through the gaps between buildings.
The slits between buildings weren’t entirely sealed; sometimes, there’d be one or two narrow cracks.
The slits were tiny, some just pinpricks like distant stars.
Jiang Che, box in hand, walked further outside.
The whole time since entering the elevator, and from the moment he stepped out, someone had been watching him.
Now, everyone’s eyes were fixed on the box he carried.
No one spoke—the ground beneath was a dark, murky red.
Jiang Che stepped onto it. The spikes couldn’t pierce his soles; still, he felt the sticky, muddy sensation beneath his feet.
Strangely, there wasn’t much scent of blood in the air.
Most people here had found a spot to sit or lean against to rest.
They watched in silence as Jiang Che walked away into the distance.
Looking down, Jiang Che sensed the faintest trickle of blood energy gathering, drifting relentlessly toward the top floors.
Leng Feng had not hurt anyone here outright—he was only slowly absorbing the faint life energy contained in the daily flow of blood.
The closer to the outskirts, the fewer the lights.
But here, the buildings weren’t as tightly packed as before, and the sky was a little more visible.
Yet among the clustered buildings inside, even in utter darkness, a few steps were enough to catch a glimpse of the sky.
Jiang Che looked up. If one could call the light in the sky hope, then Leng Feng truly had, in this dense, sunless place, left everyone at least a fraction of sky, a little hope.
Just as he was about to leave, he saw, not far ahead, a boy standing there.
The boy wore a casual tracksuit; beneath the shorts, brambles wound up both legs.
Thorns pierced the tops of his feet, and his calves were caked with blood.
He carried a girl on his back, blocking Jiang Che’s way.
Jiang Che, cradling the box, stared at the boy in front of him.
The boy looked about eighteen; the girl on his back was even younger, maybe fifteen.
Everyone Jiang Che had passed so far had only watched him; no one had tried to block his path.
Some here recognized Jiang Che—once they knew who he was, the notion of stopping him disappeared entirely.
To their minds, Jiang Che was even crueler than the Lords who’d driven them from their territories.
His madness set him apart from others, almost as if he no longer possessed human emotions.
Jiang Che didn’t move forward. He just looked at the boy, saying nothing.
The boy, carrying the girl, stared straight at him, blocking his way.
Jiang Che stepped to the side—the boy shifted too, still blocking him.
Jiang Che didn’t know how long he stood there in this silent standoff; he only knew that above, the sky had completely blackened.
All the roadside lights had come on. Now and then, someone upstairs would poke their head out a window, glancing at the two locked in confrontation below.
The girl on the boy’s back kept her eyes closed. The boy’s thin body held her firmly in place; his hands never loosened, not even for a second.
Jiang Che could tell—the boy was just an ordinary human, not even a Tier One Survivor.
"Please take me with you." The boy stood in front of Jiang Che, stubborn and unyielding.
He knew exactly who he was blocking; he’d heard the stories.
Every Survivor who entered his Dungeon died without exception. He even imprisoned the Lord of Dragon Cloud Tower outside his dungeon as a watchdog.
Rumor had it his ties with the Wraiths were murky too. Still, with his immense strength, nobody could do a thing to him.
"I can be a dog, my sister too." The boy stepped forward, thorns creeping further up his legs.
Jiang Che noticed the shoes of the girl on his back—completely clean, unmarred by any injury.
But the boy’s own legs were gashed and bloody.
"I don’t need dogs in my territory," Jiang Che shook his head. He really didn’t know where this child had gotten such an idea.
Still, he didn’t really mind having two more people in his territory.