Dragon Raja 3; Chapter 455: The Sword of Damocles (15)

Dragon Raja 3

“Where is Sakura?” the message read.

“Is this Erii? Where are you?” Lu Mingfei hurriedly replied.

“I’m on my way to the airport. I’m flying to Korea.” It was clearly Erii’s tone—an inexperienced, naive girl with no knowledge of the world. She didn’t use emojis or interjections. Whatever you asked her, she would answer directly, with perfect punctuation.

“I’ll believe it when we video call.” Lu Mingfei still wasn’t sure.

The video call invitation came immediately. The two of them met eyes through the phone screen—it was indeed Uesugi Erii. She was clearly sitting in the back of a luxury car, wearing a white knee-length dress with a bow in her hair, looking every bit like a princess.

Lu Mingfei quickly cut off the call after just one glance. He only wanted to confirm her identity and didn’t want her to see the situation on his end.

“When you left, you didn’t bring your phone, did you?” Lu Mingfei wondered if this was Lu Mingze’s doing.

“But Sakura put it in the box and mailed it to me.”

So it wasn’t Lu Mingze’s mischief after all—it was Caesar and Chu Zihang’s fault. The box sent to Erii had been packed by Caesar and Chu Zihang. With Chu Zihang’s attention to detail, even the hair ribbons had been neatly packed. How could he have missed the phone? Lu Mingfei silently cursed Chu Zihang, thinking that not only was his emotional intelligence low, but his intelligence in some areas was also quite lacking.

“Where is Sakura? I’ll come find you. I’m really scared,” Erii messaged again.

Lu Mingfei felt a slight tug in his heart, sensing Erii’s fear. He could almost imagine the girl trembling in the spacious back seat of the luxury car, with thunder, lightning, howling winds, and torrential rain outside the window. The streets were flooded with seawater, and she had no one’s hand to hold to fend off the fear.

Just the simple words “I’m really scared” could conjure up so much in Lu Mingfei’s mind, because he knew she wasn’t one for flowery language. She lacked the ability to use sophisticated rhetoric. When she said she was scared, it was a deep, uncontrollable fear from the bottom of her heart. Just like when she said the world was gentle, it was because she truly, deeply loved the outside world, even though she felt that the outside world didn’t love her back.

“Don’t be scared, don’t be scared, it’s just a natural disaster. This is called a tsunami. Haven’t you heard of a tsunami?” Lu Mingfei tried to comfort her.

“I know what a tsunami is. I’m not afraid of the tsunami. I’m afraid of something else. I heard its cries. I’m really scared. Sakura, where are you? I’ll come pick you up. We can go to Korea together.”

No wonder the little girl had come online to find him at such a critical moment—it turned out this wealthy girl with her own private jet was planning to elope with him! Lu Mingfei’s emotions surged, and he thought, “Heaven never seals off all exits.” Even after Lu Mingze disappeared, he still had someone to rely on. The whole city was paralyzed now, and a private jet was a lifesaver! Unlike Caesar and Chu Zihang, who had countless high-society women falling for them, none of them had anyone so helpful at a critical moment!

But now that he thought about it, this girl really was selfish. The whole city was about to be used as a blood sacrifice for that god’s resurrection, yet she wasn’t worried about her “brother” or her family’s safety. All she could think about was going out of her way to pick up the man she liked.

So she really did like him after all… That hug at the mountaintop during the sunset wasn’t just his imagination. There really was such a foolish girl in this world who liked him, selfishly and willfully.

Lu Mingfei slowly relaxed, leaning against a row of wine racks. “You go ahead. I’m perfectly safe here. I’m hiding in a shelter. The water is high outside, but once you get to the shelter, it’s fine. They’re even handing out hot towels and drinks.”

He typed out the message word by word, pressing the send button slowly, feeling too exhausted to continue.

In the end, he refused Erii’s rescue, which wasn’t like him at all. But the road to the airport wasn’t the same as the road to Kabukicho. The airport was in Narita City, Chiba Prefecture, which hadn’t been hit by the tsunami yet, while half of Shinjuku District was already submerged in seawater. No matter how luxurious Erii’s car was, it couldn’t plow through the waves and drive up to Takamagahara’s doorstep. Of course, even so, Lu Mingfei believed that if he said the word, Erii would stubbornly tell the driver to come pick him up. But what would be the point? Even with his intelligence, he knew that the god was awakening, and this city could sink below sea level at any moment. Not a second could be wasted.

He was happy that Erii had a chance to leave Tokyo, but he didn’t want to take advantage of her private jet. He didn’t have deep feelings for her, and he wasn’t shameless enough to owe her such a huge favor.

“Will Sakura come to Korea to find me?” After a long pause, Uesugi Erii sent another message.

Lu Mingfei thought, “Once you get to Korea, you’ll find all sorts of handsome guys there—some who’ve had plastic surgery and some who haven’t. If you like the good-looking ones, there’s Won Bin. If you like the passionate types, there’s Lee Dong-wook. If you like the sexy ones, there’s Rain. And if you’re into androgynous types, there’s Lee Joon-gi… Why would I come to Korea to find you?”

“Maybe. I haven’t gotten a plane ticket yet. Once I do, I’ll see where I can fly, and we’ll talk when I land,” Lu Mingfei replied dismissively.

“Will Sakura fly to America? Is America close to Korea?”

“Not far, but it’s all mountainous terrain, not easy to travel.”

“Are they the kind of mountains Sakura took me to see?”

“No, they’re the Taihang Mountains, Dabie Mountains, and Kunlun Mountains, all very tall. The hardest to climb is the Five Fingers Mountain,” Lu Mingfei continued to spin his tale.

Several times, he thought about ending the conversation, telling the little girl that the signal in the shelter was bad, and they could talk when her plane landed… but he couldn’t bring himself to do it. All around him were the sounds of water, gunfire, and wailing, and it seemed like there were snakes swimming in the water, too.

He was in hell. He might die soon. No one knew he was here, and no one was coming to save him. In moments like this, having a naïve little princess messaging him, keeping him company, and drinking a little more alcohol made him feel like he could endure the cold. He was sitting in chest-deep water.

“How long will it take Sakura to come find me?”

“If it’s quick, three months; if it’s slow, half a year. When the crabapple blossoms bloom, I’ll definitely come find you!” Lu Mingfei imagined this as the kind of lie a rogue would tell after taking advantage of an innocent girl and planning to escape. But the reality was, he was about to die, and the little princess was about to fly off to safety.

He found it both amusing and tragic. After some thought, he took another sip of alcohol, chuckling quietly to himself, then stopped, worried the sound might attract the Death Servitors lurking nearby.

“Does Korea have crabapple flowers?”

“Yes, Korea is full of crabapple flowers. People even call Korea the ‘Land of Crabapple Blossoms.’ The capital, Seoul, has the world’s largest crabapple tree in its city center. Every year, they hold a Crabapple Blossom Festival there,” Lu Mingfei continued to fabricate, as his knowledge of Korea was quite limited, and he couldn’t come up with anything interesting to say.

“So, will we meet under the crabapple tree?”

Lu Mingfei’s heart stirred. He thought, “After all this, you’re still worried I won’t come to Korea to find you?”

“Sure, let’s meet under the crabapple tree. The ice cream there is delicious. You can buy two, and if I come, I’ll help you eat one. If I don’t, then they’re both yours.”

Lu Mingfei started to imagine whether there really was a giant crabapple tree in Seoul, with Uesugi Erii standing beneath it in a white taffeta dress and Roman high heels, holding two ice creams, waiting for him under the red blossoms. The sun would set, but he wouldn’t show up. Erii would silently eat both ice creams and slowly start to cry. Thinking about it, it seemed kind of beautiful. At least Nono cried for Caesar, and Susie cried for Chu Zihang. Wouldn’t it be nice if there was a girl in this world who would cry for him, Lu Mingfei? But then again, how could ice cream last from morning till evening? It might be better to tell Erii to buy two bags of roasted chestnuts and wait for him.

“Sakura, are you scared too?”

Lu Mingfei thought, “Who wouldn’t be scared? But girl, you should be the least scared person in this city! Not only are you lucky enough to be the head of the Uesugi family, but you also have a private jet waiting for you, and a reliable brother. Chisei may look a bit feminine, but he’s truly a man. He didn’t even use the family’s secret final weapon, instead sending Erii away to safety. That’s real brotherly love.”