Unbreakable Seal (Arc 3)

"Hey, what's wrong?" Feng Yongrui asked.

"Hmph! You almost got me," the boy frowned and glared at the "empty" space in front of him.

"Anyway, do you know that you can't get out of here?" the child said.

Feng Yongrui was about to retort, but the child spoke first.

"You should know that this isn't an ordinary place. You probably followed He Yi in here, right? After you followed He Yi, you were trapped inside an Illusion Array," the child said.

"...That's right," Feng Yongrui nodded.

"Well, do you know that this array keeps changing? Even He Yi, who has been following Lilith since he was young, can't get out of the array unless Lilith allows him to go."

Feng Yongrui frowned.

"Well, that would be rather troublesome... But it's not like you can help me, right?" Feng Yongrui chuckled. "After all, you're trapped in here."

The child gave a cold smile. "Are you sure I can't help you? Think about it. I managed to find you and save you from Lilith. What makes you think I can't help you get out of here?"

"But you still have to tell me your identity first," Feng Yongrui said. "Otherwise, how do you expect me to trust you?"

The child rolled his eyes. "You're quite a skeptic, aren't you? It doesn't matter who I am. The point is, I'm Lilith's enemy. Since you're sneaking around here, even if you're not her enemy, it's not like you're her friend, right?"

The boy paused and then continued. "The enemy of an enemy is your friend... Tell me, are you going to work with me or not?"

"What do you want me to do?" Feng Yongrui asked, getting straight to the point. "I'm sure you're not helping me out of goodwill."

"I want you to get me out of here," the child replied.

Feng Yongrui squinted his eyes and looked at the child. This child's magical prowess... was actually pretty strong! In fact, it was stronger than his (Feng Yongrui's)!

Feng Yongrui coughed a few times. How was he supposed to tell the child about this, without damaging his pride?

"What is it? Why are you so silent?" the child asked.

Feng Yongrui coughed a few times. "Well... About that..."

"Wait." The child said coldly.

"Don't tell me you don't know how to get me out of here?" the child asked, his eyes wide open in shock and disbelief.

Feng Yongrui could not find anything to say, so he kept silent and looked away from the child. It was at that moment that Feng Yongrui noticed a lump of ice in the corner of the room.

He walked closer to the ice block. Even from afar, he could feel the coldness that was emanated from it.

Of course, the child did not know that Feng Yongrui was currently distracted. However, the child waited for some time, and seeing that Feng Yongrui did not say anything, the child sighed.

"Don't tell me you really don't know how to get me out of here?" the child sighed.

"It should be easy for you..." he grumbled. "Why are you pretending? If you don't want to help me, then don't help me."

Feng Yongrui tore his eyes away from the ice block and looked at the child.

"Why are you stuck here?" Feng Yongrui asked, changing the subject.

"Because..." the child paused, rolled his eyes and stuck out his tongue. "Did you really think I'd tell you?"

Feng Yongrui wanted to laugh. This kind of childish behavior... Also, the child didn't know where Feng Yongrui was. Feng Yongrui wasn't in front of the child anymore, so the child was sticking out his tongue... to no one.

"Tell me how to get out of here, and I'll bring you out of this place," Feng Yongrui said.

The child stood up almost instantly.

"Eh? Are you serious?" the boy cried, ecstatic.

Feng Yongrui nodded his head solemnly, and then realized that the child couldn't see him.

"I'm serious. Tell me what I should do," Feng Yongrui said.

He wanted to laugh a little inside his heart. The phrase 'tell me what I should do' actually had two meanings. It could mean "Tell me how to get out of here" or "Tell me how to help you escape this place".

Feng Yongrui wanted to laugh... Was it because he had been used to writing in Feng Yongrui's usual flamboyant style, so he had developed a habit of speaking with more than one meaning...?

"Alright, I'll tell you." the child said.

"When you get out of this room, you have to turn to the right and walk about 200 steps. It'll be pitch black out there, and you can't use your magical prowess to light up the way, otherwise Lilith will find you."

"You'll reach a flight of stairs, and once you go down the stairs, you have to move to the left and stay on the left side, because on the right side there are a few cages where Lilith keeps her pets..." the child said.

"Pets...?" Feng Yongrui raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, her pets. She's got her favorite Lamias and Harpies locked inside there..." the child winced.

"I hate those Lamias the most. They look hideous and they're slithering around like snakes... The worst part of it is that Lilith usually uses those Lamias to scare me," the child huffed.

Feng Yongrui nodded his head seriously and said, "I see..."

However, contrary to his calm expression on the outside (Feng Yongrui forgot that the child could not see him), Feng Yongrui was busy talking to the System.

"I-I have no idea what Lamias and Harpies are! Hurry and tell me what they're supposed to be!" Feng Yongrui hissed.

"H-host... How am I supposed to know?" the System cried, aggrieved.

Feng Yongrui rolled his eyes. So much for relying on the System.

"Alright, after I walk on the left side... what's next?" Feng Yongrui asked.

"Haha... I'll tell you if you let me out of here," the child said.

Feng Yongrui was slightly stunned. Well, this child was pretty smart, wasn't he?

"Tell me how," Feng Yongrui said curtly.

"...You really don't know how to free me? Don't joke around," the child scoffed. "You have to ability to make yourself invisible... to an extent that Lilith can't sense you... In fact, even I can't sense your presence right now! Doesn't this mean you're very strong?" the child said, looking rather frustrated.

Feng Yongrui pursed his lips. Kid, there are people who strong because of their innate ability. But there are also people who are strong because they have a special cheat!

The child sighed. "Since you want to pretend, then I'll just accompany you. If you want to free me, you'll have to use your magical prowess and break this seal," the child pointed to the magical prowess that bound his wrists.

"Alright, I'll give it a try," Feng Yongrui said.

The boy rolled his eyes and grumbled under his breath. "'Give it a try'? Just get it over with already..."

Feng Yongrui ignored the boy's sarcastic remarks and talked to the System.

"If I use my magical prowess here, will anyone notice my presence?" Feng Yongrui asked. "I mean, I'm still in 'Invisibility' mode, so no one should be able to sense me, right?"

"You are right, Host. As long as your magical prowess does not materialize into something, like your water blades, no one should be able to find out your presence," the System reassured him.

"Alright," Feng Yongrui nodded. He summoned his magical prowess and aimed at the electric-like binds around the boy's wrist.

When his magical prowess came in contact with the binds, Feng Yongrui felt a shudder run through his back and a painful, searing pain shot through his palms.

Almost immediately, Feng Yongrui retracted his magical prowess and hissed in pain. What was that??

"Hey, why did you stop?" the child asked, confused. "You barely even started freeing me," the boy looked confused.

Feng Yongrui pursed his lips and did not reply. Instead, he summoned his magical prowess again and aimed at the child's binds. Again, when his powers came in contact with the electric binds, Feng Yongrui felt a searing pain shooting up through his palms and up through his arms.

This time, it was worse than before, and Feng Yongrui couldn't help hissing out loud.

"Hey, what's wrong?" the boy sensed something was wrong and asked.

Feng Yongrui gritted his teeth.

"I can't do it," he said.

"What?" the boy was stunned.

"I can't do it," Feng Yongrui repeated, this time rather forcefully.

"W-what? But aren't you very strong? Don't you know a lot of spells? Hurry and do something!" the child's voice was strained.

Feng Yongrui clicked his tongue and tried again. This time, he hadn't had a chance to even touch the binds when a strange force erupted and pushed Feng Yongrui backwards.

Not only was Feng Yongrui pushed backwards, the boy's arms turned red and he hissed in pain as well.

"W-what just happened?! Tsk," the boy grumbled angrily under his breath.

"...Were you serious when you said that you can't help me?" the boy asked after a few seconds.

Feng Yongrui fell silent. He felt rather guilty in his heart. He didn't know how long this kid had been trapped here... The first time this kid met someone, that someone just had to be Feng Yongrui, who wasn't able to help him!

***