Academic gathering with a lich-Chapter 583 - 536: The Beauty that Brought Disaster to the Country
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"So you really prepared a tea party?" Zhiyan looked at the warm steam wafting from the giant dragon teacup, grumbling, "Can’t we skip this formality?"
Beneath an old tree with a somewhat bare canopy, a closely-fitted round table constructed of bones appeared at the snap of the giant dragon’s fingers. Lyle boiled tea in a clay pot, pouring it into his own porcelain cup, while Naslan’s specter maids always stuffed a set of tea service into his leather bag. Zhiyan sat on a bone chair generously provided by the giant dragon, his attention shifting to the blood and bone-constructed seat beneath Lyle.
"Is the Plague Doctor really just your student, Giant Dragon? His Spirit Summoning Studies seem to be no less proficient than yours."
"A pupil who can surpass his teacher is always a source of pride for me. Once I’ve taught him White Bone Mech Combat, I should be able to retire from my position as chief professor," the giant dragon said, excitement swinging its head from side to side as if it already saw that future. "By the way, let me reintroduce my student to you. The youngest member of the Salvation Association at Andrei Academy, Mr. Plague Doctor. He is one of the monsters that has allowed Andrei Academy to exceed your expectations."
"This tea party is just a surprise. How long has it been since you drank tea, Zhiyan?"
"Since I died," Zhiyan said, suddenly interested. He leaned back in his chair, placing his hands flat on the table, "Show me your magic, Mr. Plague Doctor."
Lyle removed his beak mask. In the depth of the night, his young face wore a slight, self-satisfied smile.
"I’m going to ’dress’ you up a bit, Mr. Zhiyan, which will make you shine gloriously."
Confronted with this vivid face, Zhiyan, feigning wisdom beyond his years, struggled to suppress his surprise and urge to curse, "I’m quite looking forward to this, Plague Doctor... Holy shit!"
Plans can never keep up with changes. A mass of flesh disguised as mud-like predator sprang from the darkness, slapping itself onto Zhiyan’s face, breaking his composure. The giant dragon had anticipated this and had already moved Zhiyan’s teacup away from the flailing hands while removing its dragon headpiece and picking up its own cup of tea.
"Keep your movements smaller, old friend. It will reduce the adaptation time for the flesh disguise."
Night deepened, and in the darkness, a terrible flesh cocoon writhed in place. Two bizarre figures sat nonchalantly drinking tea beside it, and the giant dragon, thinking the light still inadequate, summoned a cluster of its own avatars to stand by, using the cold soul flames in their eyes as makeshift illumination—creating an indescribably eerie scene.
"Would you like a cup too... teachers?" Lyle couldn’t bear the giant dragon’s clones staring at him intently.
"One cup is enough, my student, for our perceptions are synchronized." A dozen mouths spoke the same unsettling words.
This tableau lasted for several hours. Lyle felt it peculiar since the flesh disguise shouldn’t take more than an hour to adapt to a Lich’s original appearance unless Mr. Zhiyan was extremely unconventional.
Lyle grew a bit nervous, but his movements were reined in by the giant dragon. The master of bone remained unperturbed, a sturdy warrior’s square-jawed look untouched by disturbance. 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺
"This is normal. Just wait," he counseled.
Not until dawn, as the sunlight gradually brightened the darkness, did the flesh on Zhiyan’s surface slowly tighten, the blood and muscles finally giving way to skin—a deceased being resurrected.
Sunlight crossed the horizon, lavishing its affection upon the man who now extended a finger, pinching the already cooled teacup, and draining it in one gulp.
"Not bad taste," he commented.
The calm dignity of an ancient scroll remained unchanged, but Lyle could no longer maintain his initial composure.
"Holy shit..."
Zhiyan’s small exclamation of wonder sparked a smug smile as he tossed his newly-grown long hair, basking in the sunlight, showcasing his... nation-toppling looks.
Lyle realized why the flesh disguise had taken so much time. He never imagined that, having been blasted by the beauty of the Naslan sisters, there would come a time when he would be in awe of someone’s looks, and that it would be a man’s.
This figure, this scene, was a gift of nature. That handsome face had become a psychological impact, difficult to forget.
Zhiyan, solely by his looks... that alone was enough, damn it.
Mr. Giant Dragon gave Lyle’s shoulder a comforting pat.
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"The first time you saw his face, Plague Doctor, you performed quite admirably. The first time I saw him, I too thought he was some sort of fairy adept in Illusion Technique. But he is nothing more than a waste with only a face."
"Flesh and skin, beauty but hollow bones. Don’t you find my wisdom far more captivating? To be Liches and still so concerned about appearances, how superficial." Mr. Zhiyan, who made this remark, did not realize that the corners of his mouth were curling up significantly, the emotional impulse brought by his flesh disguise silently affecting him.
Lyle fought hard against the urge to punch him, smiling in a twisted way.
"Mr. Zhiyan, it’s impossible to ignore your face."
Zhiyan showed a puzzled expression.
"Plague Doctor, have you met Mr. Legal at Andrei Academy?"
"Mr. Legal, of course, I know him, and we are quite familiar."
"Then why are you so surprised? His face is the same as mine; he is my twin brother."
Hmm? There are actually two such monstrous beings?
Mr. Legal... Lyle thought of that Andrei executor who wore an iron mask and donned iron gloves—the image didn’t fit with Zhiyan at all. Mr. Legal also had such a face.
It seemed Zhiyan thought of something.
"I hope my brother hasn’t been wearing that mask until his death. How is he doing now? Is he still being dragged around by the journalists from the literary society?"
"He’s doing well. It’s just that the literary society now has both Mr. Delusion and Mr. Gentleman, and every day one can hear Mr. Legal’s spirited yelling."
Lyle topped up the tea, and the three of them continued exchanging trivial matters, mainly regarding Zhiyan’s face.
"Giant Dragon, you once saw Zhiyan’s face? Did you know each other in life?"
"I knew him in life, in his lich form," Zhiyan said.
The Giant Dragon’s face also displayed a trace of reminiscence.
"Back then, I was just a Lich who had joined Andrei, also an apprentice in Spirit Summoning Studies. I was traveling the world in search of aberrant skeletal materials when I encountered Zhiyan in a small tomb, him during his human days. At that time, he was called Alvis, Bent’s Alvis."
Upon hearing this, Zhiyan began to introduce his distant past.
"Alvis and Altus, those were the real names of me and Legal. From a young age, we were extraordinarily handsome, our mere conversations could make others lose their senses. Our parents were ordinary scribes, organizing some books for the lord of Bent. As we grew to a certain age, they realized that our looks would bring trouble. Hence, we brothers were locked in our own home, with piles of books for company. Knowledge filled the void of our childhood quite well, and during this process, I discovered my talent."
"But Altus, Legal, developed other ideas after coming of age. He yearned for power, for authority. For that, he fashioned for himself an iron mask and, with his knowledge, became the right hand of Bent’s lord. At that time, I too gradually grew dissatisfied with the books our parents transcribed. After ten years, I left that home of ten square meters and delved into the tombs..."
"I started wandering around in the tombs, and because I only saw dead, I didn’t bother covering up my appearance. During that process, I met the Giant Dragon, a lich."
"Although Alvis’s face did surprise me at first," the Giant Dragon added, "I quickly decided to kill this human who discovered me and turn him into my experimental material. However, his next actions really startled me and made me realize his abilities."
"As a human, he actually learned to speak a line of Emo Language within the tombs, a language of the dead, unaided by any external means."
"At the time, he was scared stiff like a chick on the ground, trembling all over, and then he said a sentence."
"Peace, sir."
