IRCDM Chapter 19

Chapter 19: Old Wounds – Unsure Whether to Speak of Them

The room was only illuminated by the red light flashing from Jinbao’s power outage alert, casting a hazy glow on Li Yao’s profile.

Liang Huan picked up his teacup and took another unhurried sip. “Is this matter very important to you?”

“It could be very important, or it could be unimportant,” Li Yao said with a smile. “As long as it doesn’t affect our deal.”

“Li Yao, you want me to treat you with sincerity, but sincerity is mutual.” Liang Huan looked up at him. “Didn’t you hear everything outside Deng Meng’s car yesterday?”

In the dimness, the superficial playfulness on Li Yao’s face gradually faded, replaced by a cold, wary expression. Liang Huan even sensed a fleeting hint of murderous intent. His entire demeanor shifted from languid to stern, like a bowstring stretched to its limit, requiring only a little more force to snap completely.

Liang Huan still valued talent, so he gently placed the teacup on the coffee table, softening his tone. “I indeed don’t want you to go to the Mercenary Competition. You’ve helped me this time. As repayment, I can help you regulate your meridians – or, say, stabilize your mental power. How about it?”

Li Yao scoffed. “You make it sound so plausible.”

“Your mental power fluctuates. That night, when you had a nightmare, your mental power suddenly increased, so you used a spray to suppress it. And before, when we encountered the transparent heteromorphs, your mental power was overdrawn. I suspect those dark blue pills are used to enhance your mental power,” Liang Huan said. “Although I don’t understand mental power very well, if this continues, your body will break down sooner or later.”

Li Yao remained silent for a long time. Suddenly, he sat up in bed, grabbed Liang Huan’s cheeks, and examined him with suspicion. “Just who are you?”

Liang Huan slapped his hand away. “I am just an ordinary emperor.”

Li Yao sighed, helplessly stroking his hair. “Why can’t this brain ever get better?”

Liang Huan wanted to continue discussing it with him, but Li Yao suddenly cupped his face, smiling mischievously. “Your Majesty, don’t you really remember me? I’m your most beloved Imperial Concubine Li.”

“I never established an empress in my life, and there were no concubines in my palace.” Liang Huan grasped his wrist, his eyes earnest. “If you had been born in Northern Liang, I would have made you a general to expand my territory, instead of confining you to the harem to waste your life.”

The smile on Li Yao’s face faltered. He was silent for a few seconds in the darkness, then slumped back onto the bed, boneless. “Whatever. Just to be clear, even if you can really cure me, I don’t have the money to pay for medical expenses.”

Liang Huan placed his hand on his neck to check his pulse. Li Yao’s body tensed for a moment. Liang Huan traced his fingers down his spine, his expression growing more solemn.

Li Yao felt uncomfortable from his touch. “I thought you were just curing my illness, why are you groping me?”

“Treatment devices are useful, but even with the best treatment, the body will still leave traces.” Liang Huan’s hand paused slightly. He had praised the black dragon tattoo on Li Yao’s body as beautiful, but now he realized that beneath the black dragon were countless old scars. The raised scars formed the scales of the black dragon, making it look lifelike. He said in a low voice, “Your spine has been broken before. Although it has been repaired, it was treated too late, delaying the healing.”

He didn’t continue. This was Li Yao’s most serious old wound. The number of fractures in other bones was countless. Although they had been repaired, they were ultimately different from a healthy person. Even with such serious injuries, his physical fitness rating could still remain at S-Grade, showing how good his physical condition was originally.

“It’s getting a little impolite to touch any further.” Li Yao pinched his sleeve and pulled his hand out of his clothes. “You do have some skill. Medical devices can’t even detect it.”

Liang Huan looked at him. “How about it?”

“Conditions.” Li Yao looked at him with some curiosity. “Surely a small Mercenary Competition isn’t enough for you to treat me, but no condition can affect my piloting of mecha, understand?”

“I want the brainmarrow of Special-Grade Heteromorphs,” Liang Huan said. “The more, the better.”

Li Yao gasped.

Liang Huan grasped his hand. “Others may not be able to do it, but you definitely can.”

“I—” Li Yao’s rationality struggled for a moment, but the conditions Liang Huan offered were too tempting. He finally gritted his teeth. “I’ll try.”

“Good, your body is in my hands.” Liang Huan was very satisfied.

He could of course kill Special-Grade Heteromorphs himself, but not to mention that his internal energy was not enough, his physical fitness was also not up to par. Even if he could, these fights and kills were too low-yield. He preferred to put the right people in the right positions, and he could make everyone happy by giving the other party some benefits.

Li Yao was the best candidate at the moment.

“Don’t stare at me like that, it’s creepy.” Li Yao pointed to the bed next to him, conveniently pulling his hand away. “Let’s sleep, Your Majesty.”

Liang Huan smiled. “Li Yao, putting aside everything else, I like you as a person.”

Li Yao tiredly rolled over and pulled up the blanket to cover himself head to toe.

This person was probably a honey trap sent by the military. Why was he flirting like a fox spirit all day long?

Fortunately, he didn’t like men.

—

Although Liang Huan had boasted, he didn’t have much confidence in Li Yao’s old wounds. At most, he could help Li Yao regulate his meridians. As for mental power, he hadn’t even been able to solve his own functional disorder, but that didn’t prevent him from using the person first. It was just that Li Yao’s quick agreement made him feel a little guilty. This person had probably tried many methods without success, so he was willing to try even a method that seemed like “nonsense” to outsiders.

But no matter what, Li Yao was temporarily stabilized.

Deng Meng didn’t expect to actually get through to Liang Huan, and he certainly didn’t expect that he wanted to see him.

Deng Meng dressed up specially for a long time, and the younger members also came in full dress, and even Xu Yunyan was dragged out with him. Even in the Black Market, these loan sharks were avoided, and watching them swagger around, passerby couldn’t help but stare.

Liang Huan wore a set of Li Yao’s clothes this time. His clothes were permeated by the smell of heteromorphs and zombies’ blood, and were thrown into the trash by Jinbao. Li Yao’s clothes were completely mercenary style, and no one dared to approach him when walking on the street.

“Brother Liang, this way!” Deng Meng saw him and hurried forward to greet him.

“Brother Liang!” Xu Yunyan and the others shouted together, their eyes shining as they looked at Liang Huan.

Liang Huan couldn’t help but laugh. “Why are you all here?”

“They all clamored to come when they heard it was Brother Liang.” Deng Meng smiled like a flower. “Brother Liang, I’ve ordered food on the third floor. Let’s go eat first and talk while we eat.”

“Brother Liang, their dishes are especially delicious. They’re all stir-fried by the chef!”

“Let’s go, Brother Liang. It’s rare for Brother Deng to treat.”

Liang Huan became interested. “Stir-fried? Can I take it to go?”

“It should be possible.” Deng Meng was not sure. “Brother Liang, do you want to take it home?”

“To let Li Yao try it.” Liang Huan walked in the front and asked Deng Meng, “Are there any places in the East District that sell medicinal herbs? The Black Market is also fine.”

Deng Meng scratched his head. “Medicinal herbs? There should be some at the pharmaceutical factory.”

Liang Huan described some Chinese medicinal herbs to him. Deng Meng listened in confusion. Xu Yunyan next to him said in a low voice, “I…I do know a place.”

Liang Huan turned to look at him and smiled. “That’s great, where is it?”

Xu Yunyan blushed from his smile and said shyly, “I heard my dad say that there’s a boss on the eighth floor below ground who specializes in selling ancient Chinese medicinal herbs, but she appears and disappears unpredictably and is often not there. You need some luck to meet her, and her things are also very expensive. She doesn’t seem to be from the Black Market.”

“What’s her name?” Liang Huan asked.

Xu Yunyan shook his head. “I don’t know her name. I only heard that her surname is Su.”

Liang Huan nodded and went to eat with them.

“Mr. Yu is called Yu Wan Yao. He lives on the top seventh floor. He is the big boss of the entire Black Market.” When Deng Meng heard him ask, he suddenly became energetic and said everything he knew in detail. “Mr. Yu is in his fifties this year. It is said that he used to be a very powerful instructor at the military academy. It seems that he offended the principal in a fit of anger and came to the Black Market… He’s been here for about twenty years. Anyway, he wasn’t here when I was young. The whole Black Market was smoggy. Not to mention these shops, many people died every day just from fighting. Not to mention those messy things, the outside world didn’t care. Except for those vicious outlaws, basically no one dared to come, but since Mr. Yu came, he drove all those evildoers underground… At least now I haven’t heard of anyone dying easily. Everyone is relatively law-abiding and also respects Mr. Yu… They all say he is the real emperor of the Black Market.”

Liang Huan nodded. “Are there any photos of him?”

“I I I I have.” Earring raised his hand to signal, and took out the chip excitedly. “T T T T This is is is is M M M Last time at at at–”

“Oh, give it to me!” Deng Meng was so anxious that he grabbed his wrist and clicked on the chip. A person’s image was instantly projected onto the desktop.

The other party looked very young, at most in his thirties or forties. He looked refined and gentle, with a kind smile on his face. A pure white suit and a monocle made him look very scholarly. Just looking at this, he didn’t look like the mastermind controlling the entire Black Market at all.

” – Mecha competition Sh Sh Shot at the scene.” Earring breathed a sigh of relief and finally connected his words.

Liang Huan smiled. “Your name is Earring?”

Earring shook his head repeatedly. “Brother Liang, I I I’m Sh Sh that–”

“His name is Xiao Er.” Deng Meng was so anxious that he was sweating, and couldn’t help but answer for him.

“Good name.” Liang Huan looked at Xiao Er. “Can Yu Wan Yao pilot a mecha?”

Xiao Er nodded repeatedly. “V V Very powerful.”

“Mr. Yu has a personal mecha called Shenfeng, which is especially powerful. It was the champion of the last mecha competition.” Deng Meng said, “He was originally a mecha instructor specially hired by the military academy. Oh, right, Brother Liang, Pei Zhong, that guy in Li Yao’s team, is his student.”

Liang Huan was a little surprised. “Pei Zhong is from the military academy?”