Chapter 12: Bloodstone

Axe gulped and suddenly stood up.

"Can you put them on with all these shackles on hands and legs?" Axe asked, his smile becoming increasingly irritating.

The hanging lace on Moon’s shoulder and the tangled-up skirt on the shackles were all so cruel, yet they sent a shockwave running through Axe’s veins.

He grabbed Moon’s wrist and yanked him close in a hug. "Are you deliberately making a mess in front of me?"

"You are the one staying here."

Moon raised his brows. His hand was still holding the trousers.

Axe stared at him for a moment, then tugged at Moon’s neck.

He leaned in and licked Moon’s lips.

Slurrrp.

His breath grew heavy as he smooched Moon. The sound was deafening in the silent room.

Moon stood there dumbfounded at the sudden intimacy.

Before Moon could protest or say yes, Axe crashed his mouth against Moon’s—

He tilted Moon’s face to deepen the kiss as his tongue slipped in.

His other hand gradually tightened around Moon’s waist.

Axe restlessly swapped his weight on his legs, pulling Moon closer. He whispered, "Let me have a taste first."

SLAP!

The heavy slap landed effortlessly on Axe’s cheek before he could even understand what was happening.

He jolted up, holding his burning cheek, eyes wide open with shock for just a fraction.

Then he laughed, grinning ear to ear, shrugged his shoulders as if nothing had happened, and looked at Moon’s still-lifted-up hand.

Moon’s palm was slightly red from the force he put into this slap. He didn’t understand why his hand was also burning when he was the one slapped and why the one being slapped was still shamelessly grinning, looking at his hand.

That’s quite humiliating.

"That was a good slap, baby! Not bad." Axe praised Moon. Then he took out a knife and started to tinker on the shackle. After a few moments, the lock clicked open, and Moon could move his hand freely.

"Put on your dress. Don’t think about running away just because I broke the shackle. It was not meant to keep you locked up in the first place."

Axe looked up, his eyes deep, unreadable.

"There are people you can’t see, but they will surely catch you before you can pass this bar’s threshold."

"I know." Moon nodded as he put on the last piece. Moon felt around the cloth and was a little optimistic about how he was looking.

Axe did not linger. He rubbed his cheek and got out as he muttered, "Tch! Do you have to slap me that hard...?"

His voice gradually faded in a distant corner.

Moon looked at his departing figure and slowly massaged his wrist.

His face was shrouded in confusion.

When Axe was kissing him, he felt Axe slip something into his sash belt. It was a red gemstone. Moon could sense a pulsing energy emitting from it.

’Goddess?’ Moon called in his mind.

[Oh My Child, you at last remember me!] The voice came instantly.

Moon’s lips twitched. ’Wasn’t it you who left me to lead my life myself?’ He thought.

"What’s with him? He just acted like a lunatic, yet still stealthily gave me something? Not to mention he can even laugh getting slapped."

[Emotion]

"I know it’s emotion; I am not that foolish. But can this even be called emotion?" He retorted, squinting his eyes.

[See, you are a fool. Of course, it’s a kind of emotion. It’s adoration! He adores you, so he is happy to be slapped.]

Moon didn’t talk for a moment. He would never understand how this is called adoration.

He took out the stone that Axe tucked in his sash belt, checked it from different angles many times, but did not know what it was.

[It’s a very precious bloodstone that grew on a battlefield, from the blood and battle intent left by the deceased.]

"Why would he give such a precious stone to me? Do Alphas really fall for their mate this easily?"

[Yes, but for you, he probably gave it so you can make a protective inscription.]

"Protective inscription? Is it something witches do in this world?"

[Hm]

"Just hmm? Goddess, I will devote my Dao, my spiritual power and all my heart. Can you please just give me a little more than hmm? I need to break through the novice level as soon as possible." Moon paced on the floor. Looking for a mirror or something to see his reflection.

[Ding! Goddess System activated. Cough! Cough!]

[First quest: Make a protective formation... What’s next? Hmmm...]

[Oh! Reward: A complete guide to special exotic plants and herbs on the Monalis Celestia Realm]

Moon was ecstatic.

At last, he had gotten one direction.

Must seize it. Must.

But... how do you make a protective formation?

[Fool, that’s the test they are doing to you too. If you can use it, it proves you are a witch; if you can’t, well then they will know you are more suspicious.]

He heard the Moon Goddess’s amused voice.

Moon’s hand paused.

’That’s not good.

Isn’t it a double-edged sword? If I can make it, they will burn me; if I can’t, they will also see me as an alien. Either way, I am an extraterrestrial being. It’s just that being a Witch will be a little normal.’

But he still started studying the stone without hesitation.

’The blood of the deceased?’

’Can I summon the deceased with this stone?’

’A basic summon formation?’

Moon started muttering as his pace became faster on the floor unconsciously.

He walked to the corner and narrowed his eyes. ’How do witches do inscriptions in this world?’

He asked himself.

He didn’t know. And there is no way to know. But judging by the scarcity of the spiritual qi in the air, they probably would not use qi, rather...

Moon’s thought lingered as he kept rubbing the surface of the bloodstone.

’Is it summoning a spirit?’

Moon channelled his qi into the stone. His blood instantly stirred. The suppressed dark energy in his core churned up.

Moon cut the connection instantly. And sat down on the pallet. His fingers started to move on the floor with determination.

’I can at least master a basic formation. Right? I have to.’

Moon continuously tried to rack his brain to conjure up the learning from his world.

Even if he was an outcast, he was not a fool.

Working as a servant for so long, he had plenty of opportunity to sneak into the library and to other disciples’ notes during clean-up.

He just didn’t have any suitable core.

There just wasn’t anyone who cared enough to trust him.

To give him a little opportunity to try.

To prove himself.

Moon’s blue eyes gradually deepened; his vision turned into a vast, endless sea.

His hand raced with his mind as with his rising qi.

He was so engrossed that he did not have time to spread divine sense.

If he did, he would see a bizarre sight right outside of his cabin on the stairs.

A man with a handsome build, brown and black hair, and amber eyes was currently spreading his arms and legs wide like a human barricade.

Refusing to let anyone pass, even though they wanted to go to other rooms.

So, downstairs tonight was bound to be a reckless, restless night.

People without a room were literally making do in the dark corners or just passing the night with juicy gossip about the boss’s ass and machete love.