Chapter 60: Ke Lai Who Wants to Learn Martial Arts

Missionary.

It is unknown whose orders they followed to conduct human experiments in the deep desert; the wicked ones' main job is to test the effects of the Archon potion.

Just like the Vitality House near A Ru Cun.

Their human experiment lab's outward promotion claimed it could cure the scale plague, charging no fees, thereby attracting desert folk desperate to escape their fatal fate.

At that time, Ke Lai, still in swaddling clothes, was thus deceived into the laboratory.

And after arriving at the laboratory,

The missionary's fangs were then bared.

Every patient here would suffer inhumane human experiments; if their families came looking during this period, they would meet merciless slaughter.

As for those experimental subjects locked in cages,

After round after round of Archon potion experiments, only one in ten survived, and Ke Lai was the experimental subject who endured the most injection rounds among them.

Thus the missionary tirelessly pursued her across the desert, trying to recapture such a precious experimental subject to continue the subsequent Archon potion experiments.

Before coming to A Ru Cun,

Relying on her own Black Flame Snake, Ke Lai had several times killed the pursuers behind her.

However, the more times the Black Flame Snake was used, the stronger the Archon's resentment backlash against Ke Lai became.

Thus, after using the Black Flame Snake a few times, whenever Ke Lai encountered pursuers, she mainly fled, only using the Black Flame Snake when she could not outrun them.

According to her original plan,

If Luo De had not taken her in, she should now have entered the rainforest region and continued fleeing toward Liyue.

All of the above.

These are the past events Ke Lai recited upon seeing the missionary's corpse.

"Such a vicious and cruel brute actually managed to invade A Ru Cun."

After hearing this, Kantisi, who had hurried to the scene to assess the situation, narrowed her eyes slightly, and her gaze at the missionary's corpse grew even colder.

The missionary's subordinates ultimately misjudged.

After being lured to the downwind eroded land, the soldiers serving as bait were caught up by Kantisi; with her combat prowess, she slew them all in just a few minutes, then rushed back to A Ru Cun as fast as she could, personally witnessing Luo De beat the missionary to death.

That is to say.

Even if Luo De failed to block the missionary's attack, Kantisi could still arrive in time to provide support.

"This guy mentioned during our fight that his master is the Doctor, the Second Seat Executive Officer of the Foolish Ones."

Luo De timely reminded Kantisi with a sentence.

Although it is unknown whether the Doctor would come for revenge over such a worthless subordinate, Luo De felt it necessary to have Kantisi guard against this.

To be frank.

This missionary is actually quite troublesome.

Luo De could kill him simply because he understood the missionary, knowing the missionary's own strength was weak—at most the level of an ordinary Vision bearer—and lacked any combat skill, not even matching Luo De during his desert wanderings; his sole reliance was the Archon power within him.

Unlike the Archon power within Ke Lai, which stems from the Archon potion and has extremely strong side effects,

the missionary's power is far safer and controllable.

This not only grants him vitality far beyond that of ordinary people, but also allows him, upon activating his Archon power, to instantly transform into a terrifying magic beast with all defensive stats maxed out.

If someone unaware of these details encounters him,

given the missionary's pitiful combat ability in human form, they are likely to be deceived by the appearance of his defeat, then suffer a great loss when he activates his Archon power.

That is, Luo De knew the source of his power and promptly sealed his connection to the Archon power with elemental energy, which allowed him to defeat the missionary relatively easily.

On the other hand,

After receiving Luo De's reminder,

Kantisi's visage grew ever more solemn; after uttering a sound, she hurriedly left, unsure whether she was going again to try to contact Cyno.

Gazing at her back,

Luo De let out a 'hey', then turned and went back as well.

The missionary's death seems not to have caused much of a stir.

Afterward, the days returned to their former tranquility.

What differs slightly from before is that

Kantisi patrols the area near Luo De's home every night to guard against the Doctor's men returning.

Besides that,

it is that Ke Lai's worries have increased; she is constantly absent‑minded, and even yesterday while cutting feed she accidentally cut her own hand.

"What's wrong lately?"

"If there's something, just say it; although I don't have much ability now, I can still provide appropriate help."

Ke Lai's condition is not good.

Originally Luo De thought that after he killed the missionary, Ke Lai's enemy, she would at least become more cheerful and smile more, if not lively and open.

But the result is that these days Ke Lai has remained continually worried and unhappy.

Luo De has always believed that one should speak what is on one's mind; keeping things bottled up only makes oneself feel worse.

So he specially set aside a time to have a good talk with Ke Lai.

"I"

"I, I just"

Ke Lai stammered for a long while, then, as if finally mustering courage, whispered in a mosquito‑thin voice: "I want to learn martial arts from you."

"What?"

Ke Lai's voice was too soft; Luo De didn't quite catch it.

I said, I want, I want to learn martial arts from you.

She raised her voice and repeated her previous words; Ke Lai nervously gripped the hem of her clothes, waiting for Luo De's reply.

Learn martial arts from me?

Hearing this request, Luo De was a little surprised.

He practices martial arts every day, and Ke Lai has always known that.

But each time she appeared uninterested, just glancing over before leaving.

Why did she suddenly think of this today?

Soon.

Luo De then thought of the reason: 'Because of the missionary?'

Hmm.

Ke Lai nodded heavily, her expression tinged with some regret, saying: 'If I had strength like yours, my parents would not—'

She hadn't finished speaking.

A hint of sadness appeared on her face.

It seems the missionary's arrival also made her recall the inhuman treatment she endured in the lab back then.

Luo De neither refused nor immediately agreed, but instead said the same thing as when Dixiya previously taught him martial arts.

My martial arts are just self-taught, not that of a master; are you sure you want to learn?

Just like Luo De back then.

Ke Lai's answer was the same: 'Hmm, I want to learn.'

Seeing her determined gaze, Luo De laughed, rubbed Ke Lai's head, and nodded, saying: 'Alright, but I'll say it upfront—learning martial arts from me might be tiring.'

I'm not afraid of being tired.

Ke Lai wasn't scared, nor did she shake off Luo De's hand as she used to.

Haha.

Alright, let's start with the most basic physical training.

Luo De laughed and agreed to this.

(End of chapter)