Chapter 23: Living in a Web of Lies

June 4, daytime, Hungary.

Inside a certain abandoned factory, a man and a woman stood facing each other with knives; suddenly, the man took a step and swung his knife.

"Whoosh!" This is the sound of the blade cutting through the air.

The moment Su Qing drew his knife, a chill ran through his heart; his body jerked backward into a standard bridge.

The next second, a cold gleam brushed past his nose.

Then he felt a fierce wind blowing from behind; his hands and feet relaxed, just as he lay flat, Selinna pulled back her knife and slashed downward diagonally.

Su Qing lay motionless on the ground, holding his knife horizontally in front of him, trying to block the strike.

But Selinna, rich in combat experience, turned the dog-leg knife midway and dropped it straight down, aiming straight at Su Qing's brow.

Su Qing had no choice but to push off with his feet, sliding backward to escape the assault, but Selinna pressed the pursuit relentlessly.

Su Qing could only desperately kick his legs, while Selinna kept pace step for step; although the factory interior was spacious, sliding backward on his back couldn't match a frontal thrust, and soon Su Qing's head hit the factory wall—there was nowhere left to retreat.

Seeing the dog-leg knife about to reach him, Su Qing simply gave up resistance and lay motionless on the ground.

Selinna's control was astonishing; she forced the knife to stop just before it would have slit Su Qing's throat.

"No more fighting?" she asked, sheathing her knife.

"No more, no more." Su Qing waved his hand, closed his eyes wearily, and chose to keep lying still.

He could no longer remember how many times he had been killed in one minute by Selinna.

It was too fast; he had only thrown one move, not even getting to use a second, and everything was already over.

Suddenly he felt that learning combat was terribly hard, completely unlike his imagination of mastering it in three days, becoming proficient in five, and expert in ten; it was simply spinning his wheels.

A decadent otaku learning combat skills is extremely difficult, which he had anticipated; Selinna, a veteran warrior of a hundred years, rich in experience, beating him was also something he had anticipated.

But he hadn't expected that each time it would be so fast, with victory or defeat decided in just one minute...

Forget it, I won't strive anymore.

Su Qing summoned a light screen with his thoughts and saw under the download functions column: Fighting (Master) 90% (downloading).

At this moment he could clearly sense that, as if a taotie lurked inside his body, frantically devouring his essence and energy, making him gradually grow weak.

But fortunately Su Qing was no novice; he was a regular, so there was nothing to panic about—now that he was weak, after the download finished he could just drink a few more mouthfuls of blood to replenish himself.

"Ten percent left." Su Qing glanced at the progress bar and estimated the time; this download had started three days ago, and its duration exceeded his expectations, but fortunately it wasn't outrageously long—tonight it should finish downloading.

Once installed successfully, he could trade his birdgun for a cannon.

He wouldn't dare punch Victor, but kicking Xiao Kalami was still doable.

Sure enough, effort doesn't exist; using cheats is the true path for us transmigrators.

Thinking of these things, Su Qing closed the light screen; just as he opened his eyes, he saw a pair of beautiful eyes gazing at him with concern.

Looking at this man of hers lying on the ground, Selinna had actually thought of going easy on him, but before the fight Su Qing had repeatedly stressed that there was no need to hold back, and that a person only grows in life-and-death combat.

As for that remark, she thought it was correct, after all she herself had come up that way back then.

She only remembered that back then she was merely a girl who had lost her family; to avenge her kin, she accepted Victor's training and spent every day in battle.

After decades of tempering, she finally passed the trials and became a member of the Blood Clan's elite unit, the Death Walkers.

But she never imagined that Su Qing's combat talent would be so poor.

Combat essentials, footwork patterns... all the fighting techniques she knew, she taught without reservation, hiding nothing.

She had already given her all, yet Su Qing was still……

She had already given her all, yet Su Qing was still……

Selinna sighed, crouched down to help Su Qing up from the ground, and said softly, "Let's call it a day here; tonight we'll be able to reach the prison where Telisis is exiled."

"Don't worry, I'm fine." Su Qing looked at Selinna, whose eyes were full of helplessness, comforted her, then after a moment added solemnly, "Before we meet Telisis, I think we need to arm ourselves properly—preferably we could get firearms."

"Why?" Selinna, somewhat puzzled, thought in her view that Andres Telisis's marksmanship was terrible—just a doodling master—and his fist and foot skills were only enough to knock someone out with one punch; seeing him required no such caution.

But she didn't know the inside story.

Su Qing had seen the movies and knew that this guy had long been in league with the Wolf Clan's Wolf King Lucien.

Usually he helped the werewolves manufacture weapons to fight vampires (in the film 'Underworld 2' there was even a clip of his workshop making ultraviolet bullets), while Lucien sent him a few werewolf slaves to guard his home.

"That guy is collaborating with the werewolves." Su Qing stated bluntly without hiding anything; actually he didn't know whether Telisis had teamed up with the werewolves at this point, but following the principle that extra preparation never hurts, any amount of readiness is fine.

"What?" Selinna's face changed upon hearing this, and she exclaimed.

It's no wonder she reacted that way; the Wolf Clan and Blood Clan have been at war for centuries, sworn enemies who fight to the death on sight; now Su Qing suddenly claimed that Telisis, a Blood Clan figure, was cooperating with the werewolves, which really made her find it hard to believe.

Su Qing looked at Selinna's shocked expression, thought that since he had already spoken, he might as well also mention the other traitor.

"Do you know Kailwen?"

Selinna snapped back to attention, eyed him doubtfully, but still said, "Of course I know him; in the 15th century he led the Blood Clan's elite unit, retaking from the Wolf Clan the castle once belonging to the Blood Clan and killing the Wolf Clan's Wolf King Lucien, so his status in the Blood Clan is very high, second only to the Three Great Elders."

"He also cooperated with the Wolf Clan." Su Qing explained softly, then added, "And the Wolf King Lucien wasn't actually killed by him."

Selinna hadn't expected that Kailwen also cooperated with the Wolf Clan, and that the claim of his having killed Lucien was false; she stared blankly for a moment.

After she came to, she heard Su Qing continue: "Back then Kailwen led the elite forces to attack the castle, but was wiped out by Lucien's gang; however, Lucien ultimately spared Kailwen's life and colluded with him to fabricate the story of his death, so that the Wolf Clan could retreat into obscurity to rest and recuperate, preparing for a future counteroffensive against the Blood Clan."

"What's wrong with you?" After finishing everything, Su Qing saw Selinna dazed and unresponsive, and rubbed her little hand.

Selinna came to her senses, turned her head to look at Su Qing, wanted to say something, but finally pressed her lips together and remained silent.

"Take a rest; we still have work tonight." Su Qing saw that Selinna was low in spirits, felt no regret for having told the truth—since she would find out later anyway, it was better to give her a heads‑up early.

"Hmm." Selinna nodded, her expression somewhat downcast.

At this moment she only felt that for the past five hundred years she had been living in a web of lies.

Her lifesaver was actually her own family's enemy; the Blood Clan's hero was a complete fraud; the Wolf King who ought to have died was, in fact, alive and well…