Picked up by the Protagonist of a Tormented! MC Novel

Translator: Kleep

TLC: Sen

Zeno pursed his lips and calmly said, “What are you all looking at me for? It was just a suggestion, it's not like it's up to me if you follow through or not.”

After that, he bowed his head to look at the yellow dirt on the ground again. Recently, he had been bowing his head quite frequently.

The two outsiders, there for their own purposes, naturally didn't think it was too troublesome. Tang Yu very much approved of the idea. Although Belle felt that something was fishy, she didn't feel like doing anything about it. All she needed was for Xi Wei to help her obtain the Stone of Destiny. It didn’t matter to her if he was injured or even almost killed, in fact she would be glad to see it happen.

Xi Wei hadn't been able to relax ever since the matters from the other night. Within his heart he felt that he couldn't face Zeno, so he failed to discover his anomalous behaviour. Furthermore, it wasn't really a difficult or dangerous thing to be recognized as the master of the token. After a brief hesitation, he bit his index finger and smeared some blood over the blue pearl, causing it to release several bright but thin streams of red light. At first there was only a little bit, but the light gradually became more and more brilliant.

Before their staring eyes, the president's token changed to reveal a staggered pattern of red and blue light. With a flash, it divided into one blue and one red pearl.

The blue pearl circled Xi Wei twice before it was absorbed into his chest and disappeared. The red one quietly hovered in front of Xi Wei, and occasionally shook towards the southwest—as if it wanted to give directions.

The Jade Overgrowth Wasteland contained one crisis after another. Now that he had received the president’s token, Xi Wei would certainly not run about and risk further issues arising. Consequently, he ignored the red pearl's signal, unperturbed. His intention was to safely stash away the pearl that remained and then turn back the same way they'd come.

However, the treasure had spirit, and it was unwilling to be disregarded. After a moment, the red pearl grew increasingly more brilliant, piercing everyone’s eyes until they were forced to squint. Afterwards, it swayed left and right as if it was storing up power, then shot out towards the southwest like a man on a mission.

Xi Wei exposed a cold expression. He didn’t want to bother with this purposely vexatious pearl, so he just turned around and walked in the opposite direction, motioning for Zeno to follow him.

Zeno faced Tang Yu and gave a meaningful glance, then turned and headed in the direction the red pearl went without looking back. He followed, and Tang Yu also immediately chased after him and in a flash the two of them had become mere black specks.

Xi Wei’s face was mostly filled with black lines. He ultimately didn’t doubt Zeno. He just felt that Zeno had become more foolish and impetuous in the last few years they'd been apart, and didn't use his head. Regardless, he couldn't ignore him when all was said and done, so he had to lift his foot to follow.

The red pearl rushed the whole way, then finally came to a stop in the air at the edge of a cliff. It seemed at a loss, as if it couldn't find a way to continue on the correct path, so it just swayed and shook in place.

Zeno ran wildly the whole way. He relied on his mental power to assist in keeping pace with the speed of the red pearl. Fortunately, the red pearl only flew for one day and one night. Zeno barely was able to retain the majority of his strength to deal with any unexpected situations after arriving.

During that time, although Xi Wei and Belle also trailed behind him, they did not forcibly stop him. Xi Wei was always tolerant of his behavior as long as he did not touch his bottom line. Considering that, Zeno’s face once again went pale, but once an arrow is shot, there's no getting it back. Since he had decided, he couldn't regret it.

After the red pearl stopped, the four people also stood by the precipice and looked around. Xi Wei could feel that the blue pearl in his chest and the red pearl in the air resonated with one another. Xi Wei could also sense a strong coercion enticing him to approach the red pearl. It was so powerful that blue light was emanating from his chest and had twisted together with the red light from the other pearl to form a single ray of light. With the formation of the ray, the attractive force was growing stronger.

Yet Xi Wei remained unmoved, his heart steady. It was wishful thinking to hope that degree of temptation was enough to manipulate him. As a result, he merely knit his brow, and then began to ponder how to resolve the problem at hand, and whether it was feasible to forcibly take away the red pearl.

However, he was still working it out. Zeno sucked in a deep breath and slowly advanced, step by step, towards the edge of the cliff. In fact, he had a severe fear of heights. At this height, the bottom of the cliff was not even visible. Never mind people with a fear of heights, even ordinary people would feel their legs go soft. Even so, he took that step without hesitation.

The second his mental power went out of control, he would fall to a horrible death.

Xi Wei’s complexion became extremely unsightly. He cautiously leaned a little in the direction of Zeno and reached out with his hand to try and pull him back. At that moment, 'Sasa' suddenly made her move, and terrifying wind rose up from the ground. 'Her' hair fluttered, and her appearance gradually changed until it finally transformed into Tang Yu's appearance. Smiling sweetly, she asked “Senior, I trust you have been well since we last met?” (t/n: Senior, xuezhang, refers to an older male schoolmate)

She had a gentle smile on her face, but her moves were particularly vicious. The connecting beam between the two pearls was severed. Xi Wei coughed out blood, but he was not in the mood to think it out. Since this was directed by Zeno who knew Xi Wei's weak points inside out,, naturally, the odds of success were enormous.

The resonance connection was cut off, and red pearl appeared even more impatient as it trembled incessantly. Zeno's face was pale as he fought to conquer the dread within his heart and he flew over a few feet to take the red pearl in his hand by force.

Xi Wei quickly reversed, but after he had retreated from the cliff's edge he turned and headed for Zeno.

Xi Wei's strength now was incomparable to before, so upon seeing him still being able to fly through the air using just his physical body, Zeno felt proud of him.He clenched the red pearl and did not budge until Xi Wei was in front of him. At that moment, he stretched his arm to stop Xi Wei, blocking him from coming closer.

Xi Wei grabbed Zeno’s arm, wanting to drag him back towards the cliff, but Zeno remained motionless.

He cast a spell with his mental power.

Xi Wei felt a shadow sweep across his heart.

The circumstances at present were far from good. Xi Wei was seriously injured and couldn’t remain suspended in midair for much longer. He could fall down at any time, and ultimately he could only depend on Zeno's power to keep him up in the air.

Opposite them, Tang Yu and Belle were glaring like a tiger watching its prey. Although they were also apprehensive of each other, Xi Wei was the meat being served up on the chopping board.

Tang Yu pouted at Belle, “Still not making a move?”

Belle began to recite an incantation, which she hadn't had to do even when dealing with the rainworm, which showed just how terrifying the magic was this time.

Under normal circumstances, of course she couldn't use it. However, now that Xi Wei was seriously injured and couldn’t interrupt her, and there was no one else around to do so either, it was the perfect time to use it.

Xi Wei finally realized what was happening, turned his head, and looked at Zeno as if it was inconceivable. His eyes, showing the expression of a wounded beast, made Zeno’s heart bleed. It was as if that gaze continously punctured a hole in his heart until it was like a sieve. His hand trembled, but resolutely pried back Xi Wei’s fingers bit by bit. Belle blasted Xi Wei with a powerful purifying spell that exploded on his body, nothing amiss.

Feeling the deadly crisis of its host, the ring finally broke out of its invisible state and appeared on Xi Wei’s finger.

With a pale face, Zeno cut open his own wrist. Tang Yu told him that only the blood of the demon catalyst could sever the connection between the ring and its host in order to separate them.

Blood flowed down from his wrist and was absorbed by the ring. Finally, it broke free of Xi Wei’s body. Zeno pulled it off and clenched it in his hand. It was just like he was holding Xi Wei's bloody heart.

Xi Wei’s eyes practically leaked bloodthirst, and the black pupils looked as if they were emitting a dark, blood-red haze. Enunciating each word, he asked, “You betrayed me?”

Zeno showed an extremely unsightly smile on his paper-white face, “I did.”

Xi Wei didn’t ask why, since knowing was meaningless. Betrayal was betrayal, no matter the reason.

Zeno opened his mouth to speak, then closed it. At this time, any explanation that could be said would be too feeble, and he was unable to speak the truth out loud.

Thus, he offered only one sentence, “I’m waiting for you to come find me, Baba.”

The last 'Baba' was spoken very softly. It was as light as a sigh. Zeno was unsure if Xi Wei heard it. As soon as those words fell, he released his last finger. Xi Wei, who had lost his support, fell down the cliff with his face upward. Zeno would never forget the final expression he saw on his face.

Anger, despair, and heartbreak.

Xi Wei hated betrayal and struggling for his next meal the most. He had to fight to eat when he was a child and was betrayed when he grew up. It was unlikely that Xi Wei would never forgive him, but even though Zeno knew that perfectly well, as long as there was a 1 in 10,000 chance, he still bet on it.

Phantom traces of Xi Wei’s temperature still remained on his fingertips, and Zeno felt like all of his strength was pulled away when Xi Wei fell down.

Tang Yu was exceedingly happy, looking at Zeno with admiration. Even more than that, the expression was like someone looking at a big, delicious cake.

Belle and Tang Yu watched this falling out play out. Belle said, “I've helped you deal with that guy, can you tell me where the sealed abyss is now?”

Zeno smiled again, this smile was very strange, “Sealed Abyss? Isn’t it just under my feet?”

Belle replied coldly, “Don’t think that just because you know Asil and have items from him protecting you, that I wouldn't be able to do anything to you. If you play me, I'll make you suffer and it will be 10,000 times more painful than death.”

Zeno shook his head, “I don’t have any reason to lie to you,” and said while spreading open his left hand to show the Belle the red pearl within. “This is the receiving pearl that reacts to the Stone of Destiny. Don’t tell me that you haven't noticed what's different about this spot?”

Belle took two steps back in order to be a little farther away from Tang Yu and then scanned the surrounding area. She discovered that it truly was different from other places in the Jade Overgrowth Wasteland. Their surroundings were no longer desolate and lifeless, on the contrary they were full of vitality. So much that there were many rarely seen magical and medicinal plants that were generally very difficult to find outside. Here, they could easily be seen everywhere.

Zeno struck while the iron was hot. “Under normal circumstances, do you think these plants would be able to grow so well after being discovered by humans? The reason they're safe and sound is because they grow surrounded by magic and protected within the sealed abyss. We are lucky that we have this token that allows us to enter. Without it we could search for millions of years and still not find it.”

Belle believed him to some degree and decided to give it a go. “Are you familiar with this place?”

Zeno nodded as if was a matter of course, “You guys helped me, so I'll take you to find the Stone of Destiny.”

Although Belle was skeptical, with her identity as an upper-class demon she was not afraid of a mere half demon. She may not be a match for Xi Wei, but that didn't mean that she couldn't do something about Zeno.

Like an audacious and capable person, Zeno let go of red pearl. The red pearl immediately ceased its hesitant behaviour and cheerfully rushed towards the bottom of the abyss.

Tang Yu didn’t know what the Stone of Destiny was, and after listening to Zeno's previous explanation, didn’t follow along and chose instead to wait at the top of the cliff.

Waiting turned into half a month of waiting, and after that half-month Zeno flew up from the abyss covered with blood from head to toe. He lay on the edge of the precipice and vomited blood incessantly. Tang Yu was extremely nervous that a mishap had befallen the demon catalyst and the ring, and hurried over to check.

Zeno was severely injured. Being able to escape with his last sliver of consciousness was already his limit. Almost immediately, he fell into a coma and was left hanging on by his last breath.

Belle was nowhere to be found.

The only person who knew the facts was seriously injured and close to death. It was impossible to ask him about anything. Tang Yu had no choice but to first take Zeno and leave.

Anyway, his goals had been achieved. Other people had nothing to do with him and the members of the Shadow Race.

Meanwhile, Zeno's last thought before he lost consciousness was: how would Xi Wei deal with his betrayer when he returned?

The author has something to say:

The exciting part is here! Don’t hit me- Zeno has a reason for what he's doing. The next part is even more exciting. He has to bear through the death he set up for himself even if he cries, so please light Zeno a candle ~~~

After pressing the submit button, I realized that today was Valentine’s Day. I'm not saying anything more, don’t hit my face.

Too sad, too sad. So, I’m a bit embarrassed, but a while ago someone shared some awesome art with me. I kept it saved in my tabs and just came across it again.

Click here to go to the artist’s site, and please give them some love for this lovely work! Like, look at the details on the sword…their faces….the outfits…ahhh it’s so wonderful.

I’m so happy people have enjoyed this novel so much, and we’re so close to the end.