By the time Mu Xuan snapped back to his senses, the Fragment had already disappeared into the darkness.
He shook his head to clear his mind and quickly dashed in the direction the Fragment had flown.
He absolutely couldn’t let the Fragment slip away just like that.
After all, this was his only chance to find the Divine Artifact, or rather, the only hope he had of leaving this place.
But because his body was extremely sensitive, even as he ran, Mu Xuan didn’t dare take big strides. With nothing underneath, the constant wind blew up, chilling him beneath his waist. His clothes, though held in place by the power of Light, wouldn’t fall off, but running made large swathes of snow-white skin flash into view.
Through the gaps in his clothes, the faintly raised mysterious area inside could be glimpsed.
Blushing, Mu Xuan instinctively reached up to cover his chest, forcing himself to ignore the discomfort as he quickened his pace. Meanwhile, the light in his hand grew even brighter, illuminating a wide area.
Still, there was no sign of the Fragment.
The Fragment had flown away far too quickly, and now Mu Xuan had no idea how to even begin searching for it.
Search inch by inch?
But this place was huge. Who knew what kind of deadly traps still lurked here?
With his mind wavering, Mu Xuan stared at the light in his hand and hesitated.
Gritting his teeth, he finally decided to look for it anyway.
The Fragment had stopped vibrating only after the head exploded. If there was any place the Fragment was most likely to have gone, it had to be the spot where the head had exploded.
Everything else had disappeared, but the guillotine and the wreckage on the ground remained.
Recalling the head’s explosion and the splattering liquid, Mu Xuan frowned slightly, a trace of distaste on his round, delicate face. The golden cross-shaped pupils in his eyes flickered, as if reflecting his mood.
Even though he was full of reluctance, Mu Xuan still forced himself to walk toward the guillotine.
The closer he got, the more intense the pungent smell of blood became. Mu Xuan couldn’t help covering his nose and mouth. When he reached the vicinity of the guillotine, he carefully looked around, trying to spot the Fragment among the debris.
The liquid from the exploding head had splashed everywhere, and no matter how cautious he was, Mu Xuan still stepped in some of it. Feeling the sticky sensation beneath his feet, along with shoes that barely fit, he felt deeply uncomfortable.
So, this is what I’ve become, fussing over little things… I never used to be like this…
No matter how he told himself not to care, his body instinctively resisted.
Using the power of Light, he formed something shaped like a shovel and began poking through the debris. Bits of eyeball, chunks of bloody flesh, fragments of brain tissue… but still no sign of the Fragment…
Mu Xuan’s patience was nearly exhausted, and the sight of all the blood and gore was making his stomach churn, when suddenly a faint sound came from nearby.
His cross-shaped pupils contracted, then lit up with delight.
Two Fragments, radiating a faint halo, floated into the air not far away. They spun around each other, drawn together, and fused into one amidst a golden glow.
He’d found the Fragments—two of them, at that! But… why were they floating so high up?!
At only one meter sixty tall, even if Mu Xuan jumped with all his might, there was still almost half a meter between him and the Fragments. His clothes almost slipped off in the attempt.
Puffing up his cheeks in frustration, Mu Xuan channeled the power of Light to disassemble the guillotine, grabbed a crossbeam, and hurled it at the floating Fragments, hoping to knock them down.
However, the instant the wood touched the Fragments, it shattered into pieces and crumbled into sawdust that drifted to the ground.
“Hiss…”
Taking in a sharp breath, Mu Xuan realized just how terrifying the combined Fragments truly were.
The first Fragment hadn’t seemed so special, but now that there were two, their power was frightening! Good thing he couldn’t touch them yet, or else…
He glanced at his own fair, delicate hands. Long fingers, white as jade, joints tinged with pink—a natural work of art, adorable and exquisite.
He flexed his fingers. Yes, they were definitely his own…
He’d never seen such pretty, pale hands before; it almost made him doubt they truly belonged to him.
But if the Fragment was this sharp, how was he supposed to bring it down?
He still remembered what happened to the wood. Getting close was hard enough, let alone actually taking hold of it.
Lost in thought, Mu Xuan unconsciously began twirling the ends of his silvery hair around his fingers.
Before long, he raised his head, letting go of his silky hair. It felt wonderful to the touch… but this wasn’t the time to be distracted.
Light surged in his hand as Mu Xuan gathered almost all his remaining power of Light. When the power of Light overpowered the Fragment’s halo, it gradually formed a slender golden rope in his grasp.
Guided by his will, the rope writhed and shot toward the Fragments.
The moment it got close, it looped around them and tied them tightly together.
This time, the rope didn’t get sliced to pieces and vanish in a burst of light as he’d expected.
Could it be because the rope was made from the power of Light?
Watching as the halo on the Fragment slowly merged with the golden rope, Mu Xuan immediately understood. Even as Fragments, this Divine Artifact still belonged to the Church of Light.
Sure enough, with a gentle tug, Mu Xuan pulled the Fragments slowly toward himself along the rope.
After a moment’s hesitation, he chose to reach out and gently touch the now-enlarged Fragment.
There was no pain as he had feared. When the Fragment landed in his palm, its faint halo rippled in his hand, sending gentle warmth through his body.
Withdrawing the rope and reclaiming the power of Light, Mu Xuan wrapped the Fragment in a thin layer of light and picked it up.
He could easily grip the previous Fragment, but now that it was a size larger… Forget his delicate, slender hands—even with a larger hand, he’d have trouble holding it!
As for whether he should maintain his disguise…
Looking at the clothes barely clinging to his body, the exposed snow-white skin, and the slight swell of his chest, Mu Xuan’s face flushed red as he hurriedly chose to maintain the disguise.
With the disguise on, he could pretend nothing was amiss and move about normally. Without it, his body felt strange, his mind a confused mess.
More importantly, with the disguise, he could avoid getting any of that unpleasant stuff on himself…
Just thinking about the liquid that splattered everywhere when the head exploded… If any of it had gotten on him, he’d probably want to scrub off an entire layer of skin just to feel clean again!
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