Chapter Forty-Six: Su Yunyun’s Grievance (Third Update)

Eager and anxious, Sun Li had no choice but to order his secret agents to investigate the situation among the wood elves. Yet the results left him utterly baffled. In the Mexican region, the wood elf forces under Su Yunyun’s control were extremely quiet; none of the internal strife or power grabs he had feared had occurred. Though many wood elves were dissatisfied with Su Yunyun’s policy of keeping her strength in reserve, a united wood elf people would never harm their own kind. Their deep affection and cherish for one another was truly something humanity could never hope to match.

Since Su Yunyun was still sitting on that queen’s throne, why would she not see him? After learning of her whereabouts through his spies, Sun Li used his exceptional skill to slip into Su Yunyun’s bedroom.

Being able to infiltrate the residence of the wood elf leader without a sound was not because Sun Li was somehow unbelievably amazing, but because the defenses organized by this band of rabble were simply far too crude.

If Sun Li had tried to sneak into the residence of the Mexican viceroy, there would have been a battle that shook heaven and earth. The viceroy’s guards were not something these amateur wood elves could hope to rival.

When Sun Li reached the window of Su Yunyun’s quarters, the queenly elf beauty was staring blankly, lost in thought. Her hands kept kneading the bedsheets, as though she meant to tear them apart. In the year since he had last seen her, Su Yunyun had grown visibly haggard. Looking at her slender figure, Sun Li felt as if a string deep in his heart had been gently plucked. Had he perhaps been a little too heartless?

Putting aside his tangled emotions, Sun Li quietly opened the door and entered Su Yunyun’s bedroom.

“Who is it!?”

Before the words had even faded, a short sword had already lunged toward him with deadly speed, no slower than it had been in years.

With a sharp clang, Sun Li’s battle qi surged, and he caught the blade aimed straight at his vital point between two fingers. Only then did Su Yunyun come back to her senses and see clearly who it was.

This... how could it be him? How could he know I was here? Why? Why is it that I no longer want to see him, yet he still appears in my dreams? I am truly useless! It must be another dream, just like before. I only need to wake up. In his heart, I am nothing at all. Perhaps I am merely a pastime to him. Sun Li has the company of the highly esteemed duchess of the English Empire, with wealth, glory, and power all within his grasp. How could he possibly look at a wild girl like me...

Thinking this, a line of clear tears welled in her eyes.

Perhaps Su Yunyun truly believed this experience was a dream, and did not stubbornly hold back her tears as before. She simply let them flow, venting the despair and sorrow in her heart.

Feeling the wetness on her cheeks, Su Yunyun let out a bitter laugh. So he still held some place in my heart. No, that is not right. It is because of his betrayal. Yes, he betrayed us wood elves. I had taken him for such a good friend, and yet he threw himself into the embrace of the English Empire. Yes, that is it...

Sun Li looked at the lovable girl before him, tears streaming down her face, and suddenly felt an inexplicable heaviness in his chest. Why are you crying? Though he faintly had an answer in his heart, he still could not help but have that thought.

Sun Li gazed intently into Su Yunyun’s eyes and said softly, “I’m back.”

With a thud, at those words Su Yunyun could no longer maintain her stance with sword in hand. The short sword slipped from her mistress’s grasp and fell to the floor with a clear ring.

It was all real. He really had come back. He had not abandoned me!

Unable to restrain her emotions any longer, Su Yunyun threw herself into Sun Li’s arms, pouring out all the bitterness of the past year. From the news that Sun Li had been received as an honored guest by Duke Norman, to the scandalous rumors about Sun Li and Victoria, one piece of news after another had struck her fragile heart. Human men really were utterly unreliable creatures!

Even though Su Yunyun had cursed Sun Li again and again, and ordered that she would never see him again, when he truly appeared before her, the longing built up over so long still made her fling herself into his arms and weep without restraint. Those tears held the pressure of her new power, her worry for the wood elves’ future, the pain of Sun Li’s betrayal, and, mixed among them, a little something she could not quite name regarding Sun Li.

Su Yunyun was not in love with Sun Li. If one had to choose a word for her feelings, perhaps like would be more fitting. She liked his humor, liked his strength, liked the help he had given her. Yes, merely liked. To ask Su Yunyun to risk everything for Sun Li, to stand by him through anything until mountains turned to dust and seas dried up, that would be going a bit too far...

Holding the warm, soft body in his arms, Sun Li felt that perhaps he really should pay more attention to matters of the harem...

Years of battle and war had caused Sun Li to overlook the feelings of those around him. Coming to another world, domination was not everything; perhaps building a family was the true harbor for the soul. A land and a beauty—if one had the land, how could one be without one’s other half? And besides, this feeling really was rather nice. His heart felt warm. He almost wanted to hold her like this until the end of the world.

Ten minutes later, Su Yunyun may have cried herself out, or perhaps she had sorted through her thoughts and come back to her senses. Then...

“Ah! You wretched woman, why are you pinching me again? Damn it all, it hurts so much I’m dying here. Hey? Hey! Stop turning it, I surrender, I was wrong...”

Su Yunyun pinched the tender flesh of Sun Li’s side as though she were twisting the tuning dial of an old television on Earth, turning it left, then right. Mm, the effect was excellent. Sun Li surrendered...

At last Sun Li discovered the problem and hurriedly let go of Su Yunyun. Once he released her, Su Yunyun cooperated and ended the twisting motion. Apparently deciding that this channel was just right, she sprang backward, escaping the embrace of this opportunistic lecher. Her small face was still streaked with tears as she glared fiercely into Sun Li’s eyes, as though she meant to devour him whole. Of course, not the kind of devouring filled with affection, but one of furious dismemberment...

Seeing Su Yunyun’s face full of grievance, Sun Li’s heart softened. Fine, I do owe her a little. A pinch is just a pinch. Ouch, though, that spot still hurts!

When Su Yunyun saw Sun Li grimacing and rubbing the injured area, she suddenly burst out laughing. Sun Li’s wounded expression was really quite ridiculous.

Hearing her laughter, Sun Li perked up. There was hope!

He immediately put on a smile and began asking after her welfare with warm concern. The aura of a master that had surrounded him when he first entered the room vanished in an instant, replaced by the demeanor of a husband tenderly caring for a wife long missed. What a transformation...

Seeing Sun Li return to his usual shameless self, Su Yunyun seemed to feel a pang of nostalgia. She froze for a moment, then her expression changed in an instant, her face becoming the sort that told strangers to keep away. Coldly, she said to Sun Li:

“Weren’t you about to become the son-in-law of the English Empire? Then why have you come here? To laugh at me?”