The Yellow-Haired Villain in Soaring Phoenix’s Novels Also Desires Happiness

90. Flower Picking (A Great Chapter Seeking Monthly Votes)

“Is this the taste of power? Truly wonderful.”

In the dim alley at the edge of the lower district, Mu En walked with a light step, casually toying with the metal container in his hand, unable to suppress a joyful smile.

Upon closer inspection, during this trip to the black market, aside from the tip he gave to that alluring woman, he hadn’t spent a single penny.

Yet even so, he had obtained the tear of true love and the essence of the ancient dragon.

Is there a more profitable way to enjoy a free ride in this world?

So this is what it means to be the duke’s son? I’m in love.

Let’s not talk about other places for now, but at least in the lower district, with Mu En’s identity, he could truly turn the tides, shake the heavens, and with just a stamp of his foot, the entire district would tremble.

“It seems I’ll have to come here more often, especially to the black market; it’s quite a good place.”

Though it seems there’s still an account to settle…

But never mind, today I’m in a good mood, so I’ll let that unscrupulous merchant off the hook for now.

I’ll go back and give her a good thrashing later!

With that thought, Mu En’s steps became even lighter.

In fact, it was already the latter half of the night.

The bright lights in the distance seemed to have dimmed considerably; it appeared the guards’ operations were nearing their end.

At this hour, returning to the academy was definitely out of the question.

“Guess I’ll just find a random inn to stay the night.”

Mu En scanned the streets, but he found that, perhaps due to the commotion in the lower district tonight, all the inns had their “closed” signs hanging. Even those couple’s inns that usually operated twenty-four hours were tightly shut.

“Looks like I’ll have to head to the upper district to find a place to stay.”

Mu En smiled wryly, muttering to himself that one reaps what one sows, and made his way toward the Tower Bridge.

There was still some distance to the Tower Bridge, but the riverside breeze had already begun to sweep through the narrow streets, bringing a hint of coolness.

The moon hid behind the clouds, and the world suddenly darkened significantly; the surrounding buildings seemed to transform into pitch-black shadows, rising straight into the sky like the fingers of demons.

Mu En suddenly stopped in his tracks.

He casually placed the container holding the essence of the ancient dragon into his top-tier spatial device, his gaze sweeping over the increasingly thickening mist, his expression gradually turning serious.

From that gentle breeze, he caught a whiff of blood.

Then, he heard footsteps.

—

Not just one.

A shadowy figure emerged from the mist at the end of the narrow alley.

As if they had just come from a fierce battle, their footsteps were heavy, and their armor, glimmering with a ghostly blue light, was smeared with blood.

The leader, with a grim expression, had eyes that seemed to burn with fire. Blood dripped from the long knife he tightly gripped, as if an endless rage still lingered, waiting to be unleashed.

The Red Fire Gang?

Lorenzo?

Mu En’s eyelids twitched slightly, cursing his own bad luck. In such a vast lower district, how could he run into them?

However, he was already accustomed to his misfortune, so he quickly calmed himself.

He recognized Lorenzo, but Lorenzo did not recognize him.

He had barely escaped from the guards, and now should be at his most exhausted, surely not foolish enough to provoke a well-dressed young master at this moment.

Mu En steadied his breath, pretending not to see them, and silently walked forward.

Lorenzo and his group were equally silent, paying no attention to Mu En, as if the events that had transpired had left them utterly drained, both physically and mentally.

In the narrow alley, Mu En passed by Lorenzo and his group.

Out of the corner of his eye, Mu En observed them.

Compared to before, they were down to about a third of their original number, most of them injured. Lorenzo’s right-hand man had even lost a hand, yet he remained stoic, gritting his teeth in silence.

However, at the back of the group, Mu En noticed two individuals who were not covered in blood, seemingly having joined later. They carried a burlap sack, from which a living creature writhed, emitting low whimpers.

A person?

Mu En’s fists clenched tightly, and his eyelids twitched involuntarily.

These guys were in such dire straits, yet they still thought to abduct someone?

What a bunch of scum.

Nevertheless, Mu En took a deep breath, temporarily suppressing his anger.

There were too many of them; it was unwise to act impulsively.

After a while, he would report them. He couldn’t believe that even in this state, those useless guards wouldn’t be able to take them down!

Mu En turned his gaze back, keeping his eyes straight ahead.

He was about to completely pass by this group, and even his footsteps quickened slightly.

Faster.

Faster.

Just a few more steps, and he would be able to distance himself completely…

“Wait, that kid over there…”

In the stillness of the night, a sudden voice rang out, so clear.

Lorenzo suddenly spoke up, calling out to Mu En.

“Are you… calling me?”

Mu En turned his head, a stiff smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.

“Or am I calling a ghost?”

Lorenzo also turned around, driving the blade, now devoid of its sheath, into the ground. He pulled a cigarette from his pocket, leisurely lit it, and took a deep drag.

He was an old smoker; usually, he couldn’t go a day without a few packs, but tonight, this was only his first cigarette.

So he inhaled deeply, with great seriousness, the white smoke carrying the sharp scent of tobacco swirling in his lungs, finally diffusing slowly from his mouth, from his nose, even from his ears.

Combined with his still crimson eyes, it made him look…

Very angry.

The kind of angry that could smoke.

“Kid, do you think… I’m a fool?” Lorenzo sucked the cigarette down to just the butt, spitting it out with a ‘pah.’

“Huh?”

Mu En was momentarily taken aback, blinking as he smiled, “What are you talking about, big brother? I don’t understand. Have we met?”

“Hah, still playing dumb.”

Lorenzo laughed along, but that smile instantly crumbled.

Instead, it transformed into unparalleled rage.

Like the face-changing performances Mu En had seen in his past life, he didn’t even witness the process of the expression shifting.

In an instant, he felt an overwhelming wave of anger and hatred wash over him.

“Kid, you’re the one who played tricks tonight, bringing the guards here.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Mu En forced a serious expression, saying, “I’m just an ordinary noble passing by.”

Yet, the slight tremor in his pinky revealed a hint of panic within him.

How did this guy know?

“Heh, noble son…”

Lorenzo scanned his lavish attire, as if struck by a thought, pausing for a moment, then gritting his teeth and saying:

“That means, number eighty-eight, that was you too!”

There aren’t that many coincidences in the world, just like this encounter.

That auction couldn’t possibly have hooked two big fish at once.

“I really don’t know what you’re talking about! I’m just passing through!”

“Ha!

Ha!

Ha!

What a passing by!”

Lorenzo laughed three times, but his expression was completely devoid of humor.

“Look at this.”

He raised his hand, and in it, a red thread, like blood, floated and swayed.

The thread continued to extend, continued to extend, until finally, its end hovered near Mu En’s hand, as if searching for something, spinning incessantly.

Mu En was taken aback, then suddenly realized.

Damn it, the vessel of the Ancient Dragon’s essence has been tampered with, so it can locate itself? I shouldn’t have taken it out to play with!

“What is this? The red thread of the Matchmaker? Did you mistake me for someone else? I’m not a gay!”

Mu En, in panic, flung the red thread away and turned to run.

But he didn’t get far before he stopped.

Because at the end of the alley, elites of the Crimson Fire Gang, wielding bloodstained knives, emerged from the darkness, grinning maliciously, blocking his path.

There are still people?

Mu En’s eyes widened in astonishment as he counted; although these people were also injured, their overall numbers were completely unchanged compared to when the Crimson Fire Gang was surrounded by the Guard!

Damn, are those tax-sucking leeches really this useless? Can’t even kill one of them!

I’ll definitely have to take you worthless fools to task later!

But Mu En had no time to ponder just how corrupt the Guard had become, because compared to them, his crisis was far more severe!

At first, Lorenzo pretended not to know him, just to draw him into this encirclement!

Now, in this alley, he had nowhere to escape!

“Kid, the Ancient Dragon’s essence is in your hands, right? Don’t try to argue; the purpose of that thread is to locate the Ancient Dragon’s essence, it won’t be wrong. Hand it over, and I’ll make your death a bit more painless.”

Lorenzo drew his long knife again, a chilling air surrounding him.

“Dream on.”

At this point, Mu En stopped pretending. While using his peripheral vision to gauge the weak points for a breakout, he sneered:

“I’ll do whatever I want; wouldn’t that be embarrassing? And do you really think you have me all figured out?”

Just a bunch of gangsters from the lower city, Mu En felt he still had a chance to escape.

“Ha, you’ve got some spirit. Since that’s the case, I’ll give you… oh no, I’ll give dear Number 88 a little gift.” Lorenzo suddenly burst into laughter, this time genuinely, as if something delightful was about to happen.

“A gift?”

“Do you know where we just came from? The black market. Is there anywhere better than the black market to hide from those Guards? However, coincidentally, I had a little unexpected gain there, and thinking it might be useful, I took a bit of a risk and secretly brought it along.”

“Ha, guess what? I didn’t expect to actually use it so soon.”

Lorenzo clapped his hands, and the two individuals who bore no trace of blood lifted the burlap sack.

The person inside the sack was still groaning, accompanied by soft sobs, but had ceased to struggle, like a lump of resigned mud.

“What does this mean? Who’s inside?”

Mu En’s expression darkened; he suddenly had a bad feeling. Although he didn’t know who was in the sack, that voice, along with the faint outline revealed through the burlap, felt like an invisible hand gripping his heart.

“Who is it? Hehe, you’ll know when you see.”

Lorenzo untied the rope at the mouth of the sack, and the curled-up figure slid out.

It was a woman.

Her disheveled black hair spread out as she faced Mu En, her face marred with scars, nearly unrecognizable, but traces of heavy makeup could still be faintly seen.

As if sensing the breeze blowing from the riverside, she struggled to open her eyes, but those eyes, swollen and bruised, could no longer open. She could only see a blurry shadow through the gaps.

“Is it… you, sir?”

She couldn’t see clearly or hear distinctly, but she sensed the familiarity of the person standing not far away and forced out this hoarse voice from her throat, low as a mosquito, yet it clearly reached Mu En’s ears: “Quick… run… they’re… looking for you… they… are very dangerous…”

“You—”

Mu En’s mind exploded with a buzzing sound.

Of course, he recognized this woman at a glance; she was the enchanting beauty he had met by chance at the auction.

Indeed, just a fleeting encounter.

Their connection was probably limited to her giving him a shoulder massage while he slipped her a small tip to help her a little.

But now, looking at this woman, the world seemed to fall completely silent, leaving only a sentence she had once said echoing in Mu En’s ears.

“Sir, I want to become a teacher.”

Right.

He had given her a large sum of money.

She should have been able to escape the black market, leave the auction house, and apply to the Gulaine Women’s Academy, eventually becoming the teacher she had always dreamed of under the bright sunshine.

But why was she here?

Why was she in Lorenzo’s hands?

“Kid, do you underestimate us rats from the lower town? Do you really think we can just let you toy with us?”

“What a pity.”

Lorenzo pinched the woman’s chin, scrutinizing her face, which was almost unrecognizable.

“She’s still quite pretty. I didn’t want to be so rough, but she wouldn’t say anything. If I hadn’t marked her in advance on the blood of the ancient dragon, you might have really succeeded in getting away.”

“She doesn’t know anything!”

Mu En snapped back to reality and shouted furiously.

“She has nothing to do with me!”

“Is that so?”

Lorenzo was momentarily taken aback, puzzled:

“But someone said she only stayed in your room for a little over ten minutes, and then came out with a large sum of money. If you weren’t interested in her, why would you be so generous?”

Had someone noticed that back then?

Mu En’s hand trembled slightly as he continued:

“I have money, so what! I can give money to whoever I want. If I’m happy, I could even give a house to a beggar on the street!”

“I see, that makes sense. The thinking of the wealthy is sometimes so hard to understand.”

Lorenzo yanked the woman’s hair, pulling her up. Her body swayed weakly, like a weed swaying in the wind.

She let out a low, pained whimper, yet still murmured foolishly, “Run, run away.”

It was she who was about to lose her beautiful life.

“How touching, it’s almost nauseating. You just casually handed her some money like you would a beggar, yet she seems to have some different feelings for you.”

Lorenzo pressed the blade of his long knife against her neck, grinning menacingly:

“And it seems I haven’t grabbed the wrong person, kid. You look quite angry now. Is that your ridiculous kindness acting up?”

“What do you want from me?”

Mu En took a deep breath, shaking off the inexplicable irritation, forcing himself to calm down:

“Do you want Gu Long’s blood and sweat? I can give it to you.”

“Oh? You can so easily hand over something related to a woman you claim to have no connection with?”

“Life and death are paramount, but it’s just Gu Long’s work. In my eyes, it’s worth far less than a human life.”

“Life and death are paramount? Tsk tsk, truly worthy of a wealthy and powerful young master. Only someone like you could utter such naïve words.

But quite the opposite, in my eyes, human life is the least valuable thing.”

The blade in Lorenzo’s hand pressed closer to the woman’s neck, leaving a faint red mark on her fair skin.

With just a little more pressure, this already fragile life would be extinguished in an instant.

Yet he showed no sign of stopping, only gazing at the boy before him, watching the anger and helplessness in his eyes.

Seeing that, it was as if he beheld the most wonderful thing in the world, a deep satisfaction swelling in his chest, as if all the frustrations accumulated throughout the night had vanished.

“Stop! Stop it!”

Seeing blood already dripping from the woman’s pale neck, a fire ignited in Mu En’s chest, and he became furious and fierce once more:

“I command you to stop!”

“Command?”

Lorenzo scoffed, “What gives you the right to command me?”

“Just for this!”

In the face of danger, disregarding everything else, Mu En once again pulled out his ever-reliable family crest, the emblem of the Dragon-Slaying Sword, which loomed over everyone like a real sword hanging above their heads, causing Lorenzo’s previously disdainful smirk to stiffen instantly.

“I am the son of Duke Campbell, Mu En Campbell!”

Mu En said sternly:

“Lorenzo, I command you to let her go. If you release her, I can treat this matter as if it never happened. But if you continue, I believe you are well aware that with just one word from me, I can make you and the Red Fire Gang behind you completely disappear from this world!”

“Camp… Campbell?”

Staring intently at the family crest in Mu En’s hand, Lorenzo’s body suddenly trembled.

One of the essential lessons in the underground underworld is to recognize all noble family crests, and no one dares to impersonate the name Campbell in this world. So with just one glance, he understood that this was the real deal.

The person before him was indeed the legendary Duke Campbell’s only son, Mu En Campbell!

Lorenzo nearly blacked out, ready to faint.

Duke!

What lofty words these are.

The rats in the lower city work their entire lives and probably never even catch a glimpse of the back of these words.

Yet now, the person who embodies those words stood right before him. Not only had he seen the back of his feet, but he had also nailed them down and spat on them!

He had actually provoked the son of a duke!

“Camp… Campbell… Young Master? I… I thought… you were just… the son of a viscount, but you’re actually… a duke?”

Lorenzo’s face instantly drained of color, all his previous delight evaporating, leaving only endless fear and regret.

His features tightened, and his body suddenly hunched, as if he wished to drop to the ground immediately and kiss Mu En’s toes.

“That’s right, I am the future duke!”

“You said… if I let her go… you won’t pursue this… is that true?”

Lorenzo stammered, trembling as he lowered his hand. This man, who was so prominent in the lower city, was nothing more than a humble ant before the duke’s son. He seemed unable to even steady his grip on the knife.

Watching the dangerous blade finally leave the woman’s neck, Mu En let out a sigh of relief, “Of course it’s true. I swear by the honor of the Campbells, as long as you let her go, I will never—”

Mu En’s oath was only half-finished.

Because it was interrupted.

By a “poof—” sound.

In the deepening cold of the night.

Amidst the splattering warm blood.

Mu En suddenly widened his eyes, staring blankly at the man who had just moments ago been filled with fear, now wearing an incredibly fierce expression, as he once again gripped the long knife tightly and—

Stabbed it into the woman’s frail body.

Like a flower, snapped in half.

“Do you think I would believe you? Do you think I would believe you hypocritical nobles?”

Lorenzo’s eyes were filled with endless crimson, his frenzied roar followed by a maniacal laugh:

“Little ones, did you hear that? If we don’t kill this duke’s son today, none of us will survive!”