OVPBM 13

Chapter 13: Lu Yunwan and the Sensation of Near Death

The distance between the two of them was less than the span of a palm.

The smell of blood in the air overwhelmed the faint sandalwood fragrance on Lu Yunwan’s body.

Chu Xuanzhou inexplicably felt that, compared to the elegant scent of sandalwood, the cloying sweetness of blood suited the Regent of the Empire far better.

At that moment, a bead of blood fell from the tips of silvery white hair, striking Lu Yunwan’s collarbone before sliding into his neckline and disappearing.

Chu Xuanzhou’s breathing stalled, and he subconsciously looked away.

Lowering his eyes, he gritted his teeth and tried to stand up, only to crash heavily back to the ground the next second.

Blood splashed everywhere, landing on Lu Yunwan, who failed to dodge in time.

“I’m sorry, Your Excellency the Regent. My calf was cut by porcelain shards just now.” Chu Xuanzhou looked at Lu Yunwan with deep apology, enduring the pain as he said, “I’ve dirtied your clothes…”

Lu Yunwan smiled but did not speak. He extended his hand toward Chu Xuanzhou.

Ever since the matter of the Empress Dowager had been laid bare, the protagonist had finally stopped constantly diminishing his own presence.

Lu Yunwan knew that Chu Xuanzhou had not completely let down his guard, but having shared the same secret, the two of them now possessed a relationship similar to that of “accomplices.” It drew them closer together.

Chu Xuanzhou hesitated for a moment. After pausing for several seconds, he finally placed his hand on Lu Yunwan’s wrist.

Human body heat passed through the thin layer of fabric and reached Chu Xuanzhou’s fingertips.

In that instant, he recalled how, amid the chaos, a gentle yet unfamiliar mental power had seemed to coil around his mental core, easing the agony that had been tearing him apart.

In this world, mental power was used solely for attack. Chu Xuanzhou had never heard that it could possess healing capabilities as well…

As a result, the youth could not be certain whether what had just happened was real or merely another hallucination brought on by Miliuya.

When he stood up, Chu Xuanzhou temporarily buried his doubts deep in his heart.

* * *

Aside from the few humans Lu Yunwan had brought with him, the undersea palace was filled almost entirely with merfolk, none of whom dared approach the chaotic banquet hall.

The madness continued for more than half an hour, only ending when the effects of Miliuya gradually wore off.

While the guards were cleaning up the aftermath, Lu Yunwan had already arrived at a palace residence on the other side of Capital Planet.  

Passing the mica screen, a man wearing a dark green silk shirt slowly lifted his head. “Yunwan, long time no see.”

He was born with a smiling face, the corners of his eyes and brows brimming with wickedness.

“Long time no see, Mr. Pei.” Lu Yunwan smiled faintly and sat down on the black sofa opposite him.

Lu Yunwan appeared calm and casual on the surface, but inwardly, he was nervously searching through the information left behind by the original host, as well as 《 The Merfolk Empire 》, for anything related to the man before him.

The man’s name was Pei Zhaoan, the second major villain in the novel.

Unlike himself, who constantly courted disaster in the open, Pei Zhaoan was the shadowy power broker behind the aristocratic faction, handling the kinds of illicit dealings that could never see the light of day.

Pei Zhaoan held no noble title at all, and very few people even knew of his existence.

Yet in reality, it was he who continuously supplied drugs to the Emperor, turning him into what he was now.

Pei Zhaoan cultivated puppets to facilitate the expansion of aristocratic power, never expecting Lu Yunwan, who appeared out of nowhere, to disrupt the entire plan…

On the surface, he and the original host were forever trading barbed remarks, but behind the scenes, each wished nothing more than to fight the other to the death.

Pei Zhaoan swirled the wineglass in his hand, then suddenly let his gaze fall on the youth standing slightly behind Lu Yunwan. In a tone heavy with implication, he said, “The Ninth Prince is indeed beautiful. No wonder His Excellency is so fond of him.”

“But I’m rather curious. When His Excellency the Regent is together with His Highness the Prince, who exactly is the one…” Pei Zhaoan’s ambiguous gaze roamed back and forth between the two of them.

Lu Yunwan: ???

As expected of the representative of the desire-worshipping faction among merfolk. He had called his political enemy from far away, and the first thing out of his mouth was actually to ask this?  

How are you even more perverted than me?!

Out of the corner of his eye, Lu Yunwan saw Chu Xuanzhou bite his lip and slowly lower his head, his gaze restrained, uneasy, and tinged with an indescribable shyness.

Seeing this, Lu Yunwan immediately stood up and positioned himself in front of the protagonist.

Slender fingers brushed over the floral ornament at the top of his cane as the Regent looked at Pei Zhaoan with a half-smile. “Mr. Pei is curious about this. Could it be… that you want to try with me as well?”

Are you kidding? I’m the number one pervert in this book!

Dark green eyes shifted suddenly toward Lu Yunwan, and for once, Pei Zhaoan restrained his smile. 

He stepped forward, stopping beside Lu Yunwan, then slowly bent down and said, “If Your Excellency the Regent is willing, I would be deeply honored.”

……

Lu Yunwan’s fingers paused. Then he smiled and shook his head. “Mr. Pei invited me here. Surely it wasn’t just for such boring trivialities?”

The man opposite him finally withdrew his gaze and began to smile once more.

Pei Zhaoan lightly turned the ring on his index finger and said, “That is indeed not the case. I am simply extremely curious about one thing.”

“What?”

“Your Excellency the Regent had already discovered that this banquet was anything but simple, hadn’t you? Then why did you still come to Capital Planet without any precautions at all?” Pei Zhaoan picked up his wineglass again and looked at Lu Yunwan with an inquisitive expression.

Huh? Lu Yunwan froze.

When did I ever discover that this banquet was not simple?

Wait a second!

Lu Yunwan suddenly remembered something.

Just last week, his subordinates had indeed discovered that a large quantity of Miliuya was flowing into Capital Planet.

At the time, not knowing what it meant, he had not thought too much about it and had merely dealt with it in a routine manner.

But if it had been the original host, he would certainly have been able to connect these two matters, instead of realizing something was wrong only when it was already upon him, like Lu Yunwan did.

As a political enemy, Pei Zhaoan paid extremely close attention to Lu Yunwan’s every move. He had noticed this matter and grown suspicious.

Pei Zhaoan casually poured Lu Yunwan a glass of wine as well. “This was a little joke His Majesty prepared for Your Excellency. I thought you already knew, so I didn’t remind you. I never expected that you would actually…”

How is this a joke?!

This is clearly the Emperor trying to seize this opportunity to get rid of him!

The Empire’s puppet Emperor was incompetent and held no real power. This was the only foolish tactic he could come up with.

If Lu Yunwan admitted that he had truly been unprepared before and had almost fallen into the trap, it would certainly arouse Pei Zhaoan’s suspicion…

Not only would the Regent’s fearsome reputation be ruined, but he himself would also be plunged into extreme danger.

Lu Yunwan tightened his grip on his cane.

So… what should he do?

Inside the reception room, both Pei Zhaoan and Chu Xuanzhou turned their gazes toward Lu Yunwan.

They were waiting for the Regent’s answer.

Lu Yunwan was so tense that he could barely breathe, as if he were about to drown in the deep sea.

Until a few seconds later—

Lu Yunwan smiled and sat back down on the sofa. As he idly toyed with his cane, he lifted his eyes and smiled at Pei Zhaoan.

“Mr. Pei, don’t you think this is quite amusing?”

“Amusing?”

“Many years ago, I once participated in the investigation of a case involving Miliuya. From that moment on, I became extremely curious…” Lu Yunwan’s expression suddenly turned cold, and all emotion vanished from his eyes. “Curious about just how spectacular it would be for the merfolk to collectively enter their migratory period.”

Lu Yunwan did it on purpose.

He deliberately did not sabotage the Emperor’s plan.

Deliberately remained in the hall until the effects of Miliuya completely faded.

Pei Zhaoan was also stunned for a moment. “But… what if a merfolk hurt you? If I remember correctly, Your Excellency has always cherished his life.”

As he reflexively refuted this, he also felt that it was indeed something this madman Lu Yunwan would do.

“I did look forward to it a little.” The Regent said with a smile.

“Mr. Pei, you know,” Lu Yunwan narrowed his eyes and looked out the window, his gaze filled with nostalgia. “From my teenage years onward, I piloted mecha through the uncharted wilds of interstellar space. Traveling at nearly one hundred thousand kilometers per second, the slightest lapse would result in colliding with a celestial body… Instant annihilation.”  

Lu Yunwan was the only person in the entire interstellar realm whose mental power had reached one hundred. He alone could pilot a mecha at such terrifying speeds.

“Have you ever experienced that feeling of life hanging by a thread?”

Pei Zhaoan frowned and said nothing.

“In the instant you are close to death, you will be more acutely aware than ever that you are still alive,” Lu Yunwan’s eyes suddenly lit up, his speech growing faster and faster, “And the moment you brush past a celestial body is as wonderful as being reborn.”

Extreme terror and ecstasy intertwined.

It was an emotion ordinary people could never experience, and Lu Yunwan was deeply obsessed with it.

Chu Xuanzhou slowly lowered his head, unable to stop himself from picturing the scene Lu Yunwan described in his mind…

Then he heard Lu Yunwan sigh again and say softly, “It is a pity. Do something enough times and the thrill disappears.” The Regent’s words were filled with regret.

Chu Xuanzhou understood.

Through repeated near-death experiences, Lu Yunwan’s emotional threshold had already risen to an unbelievable level.

Ordinary events could no longer stir any feelings in him.

He needed to seek out extreme situations to awaken his emotions.

Chu Xuanzhou silently committed all of this to memory.

Just then, Pei Zhaoan lowered his voice and said, “Lu Yunwan, you’re really courting death.”

“No,” Lu Yunwan retorted just as matter-of-factly as Chu Xuanzhou had expected. “I’m simply enjoying the sensation of being close to death.”

He rose and walked to Chu Xuanzhou’s side, standing shoulder to shoulder with the youth.

After walking a few steps forward, Lu Yunwan suddenly stopped.

With his back to Pei Zhaoan, he gave him a light wave of the hand and then said with slight regret, “Today’s arrangements were really a bit boring.”

“Next time, I look forward to you and His Majesty preparing a better gift for me.”

𓇼 ˚｡⋆ 𓆝 𓆟 𓆞⋆｡˚ 𓇼

Author’s note:

Chu Xuanzhou: Recorded everything.jpg