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Chapter 213: Death Cycle (XI)

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TL: Resonance

    尚可缓缓睁开眼，再次从死亡中复活过来。帝馗蹲在床边，安静如鸡，见他醒来，眼中熠熠生辉。

Shang Ke slowly opened his eyes and came back from the dead once again. Di Kui squatted beside the bed and was as quiet as a chicken. Seeing Shang Ke wake up, his eyes shone brightly.

    尚可坐起身，原本盖在胸口的破被子滑落下来，露出一片光洁的皮肤，之前的“激战”没有在他身上留下一丝痕迹。

Shang Ke sat up and the worn out blanket covering his chest fell down, revealing his bright and clean skin. The “fierce battle” previously didn’t leave a single trace on his body.

    帝馗忍不住伸出手指，似乎想在那片光滑的皮肤上划一下，尚可连忙闪躲，但动作还是慢了一步，锐利的指甲从侧腰一直划到肚腹。

Di Kui couldn’t help but stretch out his fingers, seemingly wanting to leave a scratch on that bright and clear skin. Shang Ke quickly dodged, but his movement was still a step too late. Di Kui’s sharp nails scratched from the side of Shang Ke’s waist to his belly.

    尚可暗道一声不好，又要皮开肉绽了！然而预想中的疼痛并没有出现，只是稍微有些麻痒。低头一看，诧异地发现被指甲划过的地方，竟然连一丝划痕都没有留下。

Shang Ke thought: Not good, I’m going to be injured again! However, the expected pain didn’t appear and only a slight itch could be felt. Shang Ke lowered his head to look and surprisingly found that the place that got scratched by the nails didn’t have a single scratch at all.

    尚可奇怪地在自己身上摸了摸，皮肤柔韧，肌肉均匀，似乎比以前……结实了？

Shang Ke touched his body in surprise. His skin was flexible and his muscles were well proportioned. They seem… stronger than before?

    正在研究中，忽然感觉眼前一片阴影笼罩，帝馗扶住他的后腰，仰头噙住他的唇。冰冷的触感，让他轻轻颤抖了一下。

While Shang Ke was studying himself, he suddenly felt a shadow enveloping him. Di Kui held the back of Shang Ke’s waist, raised his head and kissed Shang Ke’s lips. The cold touch made Shang Ke tremble slightly.

    帝馗转了个身，将尚可抱在自己腿上，汲取着他的气息。

Di Kui turned his body, placed Shang Ke on his lap and took in his smell.

    尚可微微向后仰，心想这家伙不会打算再来一次吧？！下身的反应很明显，两人的姿势也很到位。唯一不同的是，这次并没有之前那么难受。帝馗的力度虽大，却没有将他弄伤。这绝对不是因为帝馗一夜之间就掌握了什么高超的技巧，而是因为他的身体，确实……进化了。

Shang Ke leaned back slightly and thought: Don’t tell me this fellow intends to go for another round?! The reaction of his lower body was very obvious and the two of their positions were in place. The only difference was that it wasn’t as uncomfortable this time. Although Di Kui’s strength was great, he didn’t hurt Shang Ke. This definitely wasn’t because Di Kui mastered some superb skills overnight. It was because his body has indeed… evolved.

    帝馗似乎也发现了异常，两只大手在他身上摸来摸去，时不时还会轻轻戳两下，看着皮肤凹下去，又弹起来，玩得不亦乐乎。

Di Kui also seems to have discovered this abnormality. His two large hands touched all over Shang Ke’s body, occasionally poking lightly a few times. He watched the skin sunk in and bounce back out and was having a great time playing.

    结果不小心玩过头，一个用力，在尚可腰上戳出了血洞。

Then, he accidently played too much and exerted too much strength, poking a bloody hole on Shang Ke’s waist.

    帝馗：“……”

Di Kui: “…”

    尚可：“……”

Shang Ke: “…”

    这种调情方式，他有些hold不住……

Shang Ke couldn’t handle this kind of flirting… 

    帝馗将尚可放在床上，俯身舔舐他的伤口。

Di Kui placed Shang Ke on the bed. Then, he leaned down and licked Shang Ke’s wound.

    不知道是不是尚可的错觉，伤口复原的速度似乎也比之前更快了。

Shang Ke wasn’t sure if it was just his imagination, but the speed of recovery for his wound seemed to be faster than before.

    难道帝馗身上的丧尸病毒可以让他进化？尚可看着埋首在他胸前的男人，琢磨着要不要再作一次死？既然身体已经强化，这次应该不会像第一次那么惨烈了吧？

Could the zombie virus in Di Kui’s body let him evolve? Shang Ke looked at the man whose head was buried on his chest and pondered whether he should seek death one more time? Since his body has strengthened, this time shouldn’t be as tragic as the first time right?

    由此可见，某人真的是“死”出境界，“死”出高度了。

It could be seen that someone has achieved new heights through “death”.

    正在犹豫不决间，帝馗突然停下来，手臂撑在尚可两侧，目不转睛地望着他，眼中燃烧着两簇金色的火焰。片刻后，他低头在尚可唇上啄了一下，然后依依不舍地退开，转身从翻倒的箱子中找出一个还算完整的奶瓶含进嘴里，赤身果体地坐在床边，专心“喝奶”。

As he was hesitating, Di Kui suddenly stopped. Di Kui propped his arm on both sides of Shang Ke and looked at him intently with two golden burning eyes. After a while, he lowered his head and pecked Shang Ke’s lips and reluctantly withdrew. He turned around and looked for a fairly intact milk bottle from the overturned box and put in his mouth. Then, he sat naked beside the bed and concentrated on “drinking milk”.

    尚可惊异地望着他，这家伙竟然也有不“硬”来的时候？！若非看到他tui间的巨物还坚挺着，尚可几乎以为他已经没需求。所以，这是丧尸王自我领悟的“体贴”方式？

Shang Ke looked at him in astonishment. This fellow actually has moments he doesn’t come forcefully?! Shang Ke would have thought that Di Kui had no more demands if not for the giant object between his legs which was still standing upright. Hence, this was the “thoughtfulness” the zombie king has grasped on his own?

    既然如此，尚可也不想浪费他这份难得的体贴，对他投以赞许的微笑。

In that case, Shang Ke also didn’t want to waste his rare thoughtfulness. He gave Di Kui a praising smile.

    帝馗余光瞥见这抹笑容，脸上的表情虽然没什么变化，眉眼间出现了一道浅浅的弧度，心里莫名觉得美美的。若让他知道自己难得一次的“体贴”让他错过了一次水乳交融的大和谐，不知道会是怎样的反应……

Di Kui caught a glimpse of the smile from the corner of his eyes. Although there wasn’t much change in his expression, a shallow arc appeared between his eyebrows and his heart felt inexplicably pleased. If he knew that his rare “thoughtfulness” caused him to miss a great life harmony, it is unknown how he would react… 

    尚可将房间大概收拾了一下，主要是把自己的东西重新收纳好，至于其他方面的损毁，他就无能为力了。幸亏房东没有找上门来，否则非得被帝馗拍死不可。

Shang Ke tidied up the room. He mainly packed up his own things. As for the other damages, he couldn’t do anything about it. Fortunately, the landlord didn’t come and find them. Otherwise, he might be smacked dead by Di Kui.

    基地内高手云集，房东对这种情况估计也司空见惯了，只要照常赔偿，随便佣兵们怎么折腾。当然，如果碰上赖账的，那就要看谁干得过谁了。像帝馗这种级别的强者，就算没交过手，房东也知道惹不起。

There are experts gathered in the base and the landlord was probably used to seeing this kind of situation. As long as they compensate, he would let the mercenaries do whatever they want. Of course, if he meets someone who doesn’t pay up, then they would have to see who’s tougher. For a powerhouse like Di Kui, the landlord knew he couldn’t offend Di Kui even if they hadn’t fought before.

    不过，尚可不是赖账的人，主动找房东商量赔偿问题，顺便打听了一下影月佣兵团的情况。

However, Shang Ke wasn’t someone who doesn’t pay up. He took the initiative to find the landlord to discuss the compensation and also inquired about the situation of the Shadowmoon Mercenary Group along the way.

    房东恭敬地回答：“这次丧尸群来得有些突然，几位大人都觉得基地附近可能潜伏着强大的丧尸，所以决定暂时驻守基地，直到将威胁解决。”

The landlord answered respectfully, “The zombie horde this time came quite suddenly. Some great experts feel that there are powerful zombies lurking near the base, so they decided to station temporarily in the base until the threat is resolved.”

    说话间，房东的脸皮止不住颤动，好像有一股无形的压力，正在不断拨动他的神经。

While the landlord was speaking, his facial skin couldn’t stop trembling as if there was an invisible pressure constantly shaking his nerves.

    这股压力当然不是来自于尚可，而是他身后的某只丧尸王。

Naturally, his pressure wasn’t from Shang Ke but a certain zombie king behind him.

    帝馗直挺挺地站在尚可身后，目光冰冷地盯着站在三步之外的房东，仿佛在看死人一般。

Di Kui stood upright behind Shang Ke and stared coldly at the landlord who was standing three steps away as if he was looking at a dead person.

    房东被他盯得寒毛直竖，继脸皮之后，嘴唇和手脚也开始颤抖起来。

The landlord felt his hair stand from the staring. Following his facial skin, his lips and limbs also started trembling.

    尚可见状，从包里拿出一个奶瓶，转手塞进帝馗嘴里。帝馗捧着奶瓶，懒洋洋地靠在尚可的后背，缓缓收敛了杀气。

Seeing this, Shang Ke took out a milk bottle from his bag and stuffed it into Di Kui’s mouth. Di Kui held the milk bottle, leaned on Shang Ke’s back lazily and slowly withdrew his murderous intent.

    房东瞪大眼睛，露出一副见鬼的表情。

The landlord’s eyes widened and looked as if he had seen a ghost.

    尚可丝毫不在意帝馗的高手形象遭到了惨无人道的颠覆，继续向房东打听情况。

Shang Ke didn’t care that Di Kui’s expert image had been brutally ruined and continued to inquire about the situation with the landlord.

    大概了解清楚后，尚可心中已有计较。既然选择了被“主角”杀死这条路线，那就必须想办法跟在霍轩身边，至少不能离他太远。

After roughly understanding the situation, Shang Ke had some plans in his heart. Since he already chose to be killed by the “protagonist”, then he should find ways to stay by Huo Xuan’s side. At the very least, he shouldn’t be too far away from Huo Xuan.

    尚可先前之所以不敢带帝馗进入人类基地，是因为他太过凶厉，但经过这段时间的磨合，帝馗已经能够控制情绪，收敛杀气，只要没人招惹他，基本不用担心他大开杀戒。更何况还有奶瓶神器在手，关键时刻说不定能够“拯救世界”。

The reason why Shang Ke didn’t dare bring Di Kui to a human base previously was because he is too fierce. But after this period of honing, Di Kui is now able to control his emotion and keep in his murderous intent. As long as no one provoked him, there was no need to worry about him going on a killing spree. To add on, he still has the ultimate weapon called a milk bottle in his hand. It might even be able to “save the world” in a crucial moment.

    原来的房间已经不能住人，房东又给尚可和帝馗换了一个房间。

They can no longer stay in their original room. The landlord changed a room for Shang Ke and Di Kui.

    第二天，休整完毕的尚可带着帝馗来到影月的招募处。如今大部分人都已经知道霍轩就在影月佣兵团，申请加入佣兵团的人蜂拥而至，将招募处围得水泄不通。

The next day, Shang Ke, who had rested enough, brought Di Kui to the Shadowmoon recruitment location. By now, most people already know that Huo Xuan is in the Shadowmoon Mercenary Group. People who wish to apply for the mercenary group came swarming, causing the recruitment location to be extremely crowded.

    不过影月招募的是六级以上的佣兵，实力不够的人只能看看热闹。

However, Shadowmoon is recruiting mercenaries level six and above. Those who are not strong enough could only watch the fun.

    “快看，那是不是左弦大人？”一名佣兵突然指着某个方向兴奋的大叫。

“Look, is that sir Zuo Xian?” A mercenary suddenly pointed to a certain direction and shouted excitedly.

    其他人循声望去，只见一道身影在楼层之间闪动了几下，然后轻盈地落在距离招募处不远的空地上。

The others who heard him looked towards the direction he pointed and saw a figure flashing between the floors. Then, he gracefully landed on an empty spot not far away from the recruitment location.

    周围的众人立刻让出一条通道，恭敬地向左弦问好。

The people around immediately made way for Zuo Xian as they greeted him respectfully.

    左弦微微点点头，然后径直朝尚可和帝馗所在的位置走去。

Zuo Xian nodded his head slightly. Then, he headed straight towards where Shang Ke and Di Kui were at.

    众人随着他的步伐，很快注意到人群中的两人。一个俊逸无双，气质超然，一个高大健硕，威势凌然。两位如此出众的人物，原本应该很容易引起别人的注意，但直到左弦出现，众人才意识到他们的存在。

Following his steps, the people soon noticed the two people within the crowd. One was a peerless handsome man with aloof temperament while the other was tall and robust looking very powerful. By right, the two of them looked outstanding and should easily attract attention. However, the people realised that existence only after Zuo Xian appeared.

    “两位，大人有请。”能让一位九级强者称为“大人”的人，除了霍轩之外再无他人。

“Sir would like to see the two of you.” No one other than Huo Xuan could be addressed as “sir” by a level nine ability user.

    众人发出一片低呼，纷纷猜测这两人是什么身份。霍轩约见高手并不稀奇，稀奇的是前来邀约的人居然是左弦，当初名动一时的影月佣兵团团长百木也没有这种待遇。

The people started whispering amongst themselves trying to guess the identity of these two people. It wasn’t strange for Huo Xuan to meet experts, what’s strange was that the person who came to invite was actually Zuo Xian. Even Bai Mu who got famous back then for being the head of the Shadowmoon Mercenary Group didn’t receive this kind of treatment.

    需要劳动左弦亲自前来的人物，若非至亲，那就只可能是等级不低于左弦的超级高手。再联想到丧尸围城时两位高手威势惊人的一击，其中一人已经确定是霍轩，那么另一人，难道就是这两人中的一个？

If it wasn’t his close relative, someone that requires Zuo Xian to personally come and invite could only be a super expert who’s level wasn’t lower than Zuo Xian. Then, they remember the powerful blow made by two experts when the zombies attacked the base. One of them was already confirmed to be Huo Xuan. So, the other person might be one of these two?

    想到此处，众人看尚可和帝馗的眼神立时变得不同了。

Thinking about this, the people immediately looked at Shang Ke and Di Kui differently.

    尚可对于霍轩的邀约有些犹豫。身为这个世界两大对立的极端，尚可很难想象帝馗和霍轩碰面会发生什么。之前在房门口，他们就差点打起来。

Shang Ke felt hesitant regarding Huo Xuan’s invitation. As the two opposing extremes in the world, it was very hard for Shang Ke to imagine what would happen if Di Kui and Huo Xuan met. They almost fought back then when they were separated by the door.

    虽然霍轩是完成任务的关键，但其实并不需要过多接触。如非必要，尚可实在不希望他们见面。

Although Huo Xuan was the key to completing his mission, there was actually no need to have too much contact. Shang Ke didn’t wish to meet them unless it was necessary.

    但是在众目睽睽之下拒绝霍轩，会不会太不给他面子了？

However, would he embarrass Huo Xuan if he rejected the invitation under everyone’s view?

    等等，他的任务不是“被霍轩杀死”吗？既然如此，他何必担心得罪霍轩？相反，他应该竭尽所能的拉仇恨，仇恨值越高，就越容易完成任务！

Wait, wasn’t his mission “be killed by Huo Xuan”? In that case, why should he worry about offending Huo Xuan? On the contrary, he should do everything he can to gain Huo Xuan’s hatred. The greater the hatred, the easier it is for him to complete his mission!

    这一刻，尚可自动开启了【专门与霍轩做对】的高难度作死模式。

At this moment, Shang Ke automatically activated the difficult【Purposely Opposing Huo Xuan】death seeking mode.

    打定主意，尚可正要冷艳的拒绝，帝馗却先开口了：“走吧。”

After making up his mind, Shang Ke was about to coldly reject but Di Kui spoke first, “Let’s go.”

    尚可：“……”一口气没上来，憋在了喉咙口。

Shang Ke: “…” He didn’t get to speak and his words got stuck in his throat.

    走什么走！你不是讨厌霍轩吗？这种时候就应该狠狠踩他的脸，让他没面子！（霍轩：何必要互相伤害……）

What do you mean by go! Don’t you hate Huo Xuan? At this time, you should step on his face fiercely and make him lose face[1]! (Huo Xuan: Why do we have to hurt each other…)

    尚可拉住帝馗，对左弦说道：“抱歉，我们有事要出城一趟，恐怕无法应约了，请代我们向霍老大说一声抱歉。”

Shang Ke held Di Kui and said to Zuo Xian, “Sorry, we need to make a trip out of town for something and I’m afraid we can’t accept the invitation. Please help us tell sir Huo Xuan that we are sorry.”

    此言一出，所有人都露出一副不可思议的表情。世界第一强者召见，九级高手相迎，万众瞩目之下，他居然拒、绝、了！

As soon as this statement came out, everyone showed an unimaginable expression. The world’s strongest person has summoned and a level nine expert came to greet under many people’s watch, yet he, actually, rejected!

    一道道杀气腾腾的目光朝尚可射来，帝馗目光一凝，冷哼一声，气流震动，在场众人，除了左弦之外，全部后退了一步，如同训练过一般，整齐划一。

Murderous stares shot towards Shang Ke. Di Kui narrowed his eyes and let out a cold humph. The air pulsed and everyone present except for Zuo Xian all took a step back. They were neat and uniformed as if trained.

    众人心中无不震惊，四周陷入一片诡异的寂静。

Everyone was shocked and the surrounding fell into a strange silence.

    左弦背在身后的手紧握成拳，刚才那一“哼”，竟然连他也差点动摇。此人的实力，比他原先预想的更加强大。难怪霍轩如此慎重。

Zuo Xian’s hand which was behind his back was clenched tightly into a fist. Even he was almost shaken by that “humph” just now. This person’s strength is more powerful than he originally expected. No wonder Huo Xuan is so cautious.

    “走吧。”帝馗揽着尚可的腰，在众人注视下扬长而去。

“Let’s go.” Di Kui held Shang Ke’s waist and left arrogantly under everyone’s gaze.

    左弦并没有阻拦，只是面无表情地看着他们离开。以霍轩的胸襟，自然不会在意这种小事，但他不能容忍。

Zuo Xian didn’t stop them and watched them leave expressionlessly. With Huo Xuan’s bearing, he naturally wouldn’t mind this kind of minor issue, but he couldn’t tolerate it.

    众人回过神，正要痛斥一下那两人的傲慢无礼时，却发现左弦不知何时已经消失不见了。

The people return back to their senses and were about to denounce the two people’s arrogant and rude behaviour, but realise that Zuo Xian has already disappeared when they didn’t realise.

    尚可刚才说要出城只是一个托词，不过帝馗却当真了，几个瞬移便带着他离开了基地。

Shang Ke was only making an excuse when he said he wanted to make a trip out of town. However, Di Kui took it seriously and brought him out of the base with a few teleports.

    “去哪？”帝馗问。

“Where are we going?” Di Kui asked.

    尚可想了想，既然已经出来了，那就去搜集一些晶灵石好了。晶灵石只有红眼级别以上的丧尸体内才会凝结，不过少数白眼丧尸体内，偶尔也会产出几块碎片。

Shang Ke thought for a bit. Since they’ve already come out, then let’s go and collect some crystalline. Crystallines could only be formed in the bodies of zombie red-eyed level and above. However, fragments of it would occasionally form in the bodies of a few white-eyed zombies.

    尚可让帝馗安静地待在一边喝牛奶，他则冲出去和丧尸们厮杀。一方面是为了提高战斗力，另一方面是为了激活体内的精魄。

Shang Ke let Di Kui stay quietly on one side to drink milk while he rushed out to fight with zombies. On one hand, it was to increase his combat skill. On the other hand, it was to stimulate the spirit piece within his body.

    暗界、明境、淬魂三块精魄，分别被帝馗、霍轩和他获得。帝馗和他是不死之身，而霍轩炼成了人剑合一，在某种程度上来说，其实都已经步入永生的境界。

The three spirit pieces, namely dark world, bright boundary and soul quench were obtained by Di Kui, Huo Xuan and him respectively. Di Kui and he have an immortal body while Huo Xuan became one with his sword. To some extent, he had already stepped into the realm of immortality. 

    系统提示他可以杀死帝馗，而霍轩可以杀死他，关键明显在精魄身上。只是尚可并不知道如何利用精魄的力量，这可能也是他弱于另外两人的原因之一。

The system explained that he can kill Di Kui and Huo Xuan can kill him. The crucial point obviously lies in the spirit pieces. However, Shang Ke didn’t know how to make use of the power of the spirit pieces. This might be one of the reasons why he was weaker than the other two.

    就算注定要死，他也要挣扎一下，至少让他先掌握精魄的力量再说。

Even if he was destined to die, he still wanted to struggle for a bit. At least let him grasp the power of the spirit piece first.

Footnotes:

[1] Face – Kind of a word play here since ‘face’ could also mean reputation in chinese context. Losing face means losing your reputation or being embarrassed, and stepping on someone’s face can also be interpreted as embarrassing that person. Though I think Di Kui would just step on Huo Xuan’s face literally.

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