I Run Away with the Earth to Save the World [Unlimited Flow] - Chapter 84

Chapter 84: Formation of the erosion area core

Why does it smell like ink and paper?

The question lingered in Jing Qizhen’s mind.

He felt as though he was on the verge of understanding something but the scattered fragments of thought slipped away too quickly for him to piece them together.

Jin Guijuan lowered her voice and said, “The decorations on its armor look like playing cards.”

Manman, standing beside her, whispered, “They probably are playing cards. The Knight of Heart’s design seems inspired by ‘Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland’, which has a heavy playing card theme. Since the suit of hearts has a high value in cards, it’s common for adaptations of the story to feature card soldiers.”

Si Jiayang’s expression grew contemplative. “The Knight of Heart is a card soldier?”

Suddenly, Wilcox mimed the action of lighting a match. “What if the Knight of Heart is afraid of fire? We could try lighting a torch to scare it.”

Joyce, the little cousin acting as a tag-along, muttered under his breath, “…That doesn’t sound reliable at all.”

Si Jiayang, however, shook his head. “I don’t think so. It went into the kitchen.”

Joyce was even more puzzled. “…What’s the logic in that?”

Out of respect for the money they were being paid, Jing Qizhen, who noticed Joyce’s confused, lamb-like expression, took the time to explain, “The kitchen has fire, water, and a high-temperature oven. If the Knight of Heart were truly made of playing cards, it would instinctively avoid those things.”

Joyce finally understood and, in a hushed voice, blurted out, “But it went straight toward the kitchen.”

Manman softly added, “Let’s see what it says to the maid first.”

The group fell silent and nodded in agreement.

The scent of baked goods in the kitchen was strong. Before long, the Knight of Heart followed the aroma and found the Maid there.

Si Jiayang’s strategically placed camera had a perfect angle. When the housemaid stood at the kitchen counter, Jing Qizhen and the others could clearly see her nervous expression.

The Knight of Heart glanced around the kitchen, taking in the abundance of food, and noticed the oven still running past midnight. It muttered to itself, “Oh, well, you’re certainly a diligent maid.”

Si Jiayang: “…” That was his doing!

Manman tugged on Si Jiayang’s hand and smiled silently.

The Maid remained silent, her gaze filled with fear as she looked at the Knight of Heart. However, her role as a maid seemed to naturally make the Knight of Heart overlook those details.

After casually picking up a cookie from the counter, the Knight of Heart grumbled, “The missing Prince still hasn’t been found and the entire palace is in chaos. On my way here, I even saw the disheveled Sir Rabbit. His top hat was askew because his lumpy head made his ears push it sideways.”

The Maid visualized the scene and her expression turned slightly strange.

After all, everyone there knew exactly how the March Hare had ended up with that lumpy head.

The Knight of Heart finished the cookie and continued talking to the Maid, “We can’t find the missing Prince, the house near the rabbit hole has collapsed, and I have no idea what the March Hare has been up to.”

The Maid forced herself to ask, “Did you receive any specific orders?”

The Knight of Heart replied, “To find the missing Prince. Everyone’s looking for him. After all, there can’t be a banquet without the Prince. Oh, maybe I should ask the princesses! They might know where the Prince is.”

Hesitating, the Maid responded, “Um… perhaps?”

Jing Qizhen commented, “…This Knight of Heart’s logic is surprisingly similar to the March Hare’s.”

Manman added, “Maybe everyone from their fairy tale kingdom thinks this way!”

The Knight of Heart muttered in frustration, “But the house has collapsed. Could the princesses have disappeared along with it?”

The Maid didn’t respond.

After rambling to himself, the Knight of Heart seemed to conclude that the Maid couldn’t provide any helpful advice. Grabbing another handful of cookies, he wandered out of the villa.

Si Jiayang was stunned. “That’s it? The Knight of Heart just left?”

Jing Qizhen replied, “Let’s see where it’s headed.”

Soon, they were all surprised to find that the Knight of Heart had returned to the rabbit hole and seemed to be heading back the way it came.

Everyone was dumbfounded. “…Is it just clocking in with the Maid and leaving?”

Jing Qizhen thought for a moment. “Maybe because we kept all the lights off, the Knight of Heart didn’t find any princesses. If it had encountered someone, it might have reacted differently.”

If they were still confined in the original villa, where Joyce and the others had all been keeping an eye on each other in the first-floor living room, the Knight of Heart could’ve easily run into someone after climbing out of the rabbit hole beneath the cellar.

That said, if they were still in the original villa, the Knight of Heart might not have appeared at all. The March Hare, convinced the Prince would be with the princesses, would still be guarding the area and waiting to ambush the Prince.

At that thought, Jing Qizhen murmured, “The March Hare went to see the Red Queen. It should be able to identify the Prince. We just don’t know when it will return.”

At that moment, Lu Lingxi’s voice came through the earpiece.

He had found a good sniper position on the villa roof. Initially, he had been aiming at the kitchen, but with the Knight of Heart’s departure, he had adjusted his position. Now lying flat on the rooftop and concealed by the sloped tiles, he whispered almost inaudibly, “The Knight of Heart is about to return to the rabbit hole. There’s still time. Should I shoot…it?”

Jing Qizhen was certain that their soft-spoken, innocent-looking Lu Lingxi had mentally added the word ‘and disable’ after ‘shoot.’

Jing Qizhen hesitated briefly, then, recalling the Knight of Heart’s distinct smell of ink and paper, made a quick decision. “Take a shot at its armor. Can you do it without exposing your position?”

Lu Lingxi replied, “Good question. I think I can.”

Jing Qizhen instructed, “Fire one shot and immediately hide. Prioritize your safety.”

Lu Lingxi didn’t respond further, but through the earpiece, Jing Qizhen faintly heard the sound of a finger lightly pulling the trigger.

Everyone held their breath.

Time seemed to stretch out endlessly.

In the next instant, the surveillance feed on Jing Qizhen’s phone showed the top of the Knight of Heart’s helmet pierced.

Although the helmet appeared to be made of metal, the moment it was pierced, there was a sudden ‘whoosh’ of flame. The next moment, the Knight of Heart’s helmet was fully ablaze.

Jing Qizhen: “…Darn!”

Everyone else reacted similarly, exclaiming, “What the—?!”

Even Lu Lingxi, who had fired the shot, was shocked. “It’s on fire?!” He didn’t forget to immediately relocate after taking the shot.

Wilcox, however, seized the moment to gloat by emphasizing, “See? I just said that the Knight of Heart is just a card soldier. It’s afraid of fire!”

Joyce gave his cousin an indescribable look.

Meanwhile, on the surveillance feed, the Knight of Heart’s reaction was odd.

The moment it realized it was under attack, it raised its lance and swiftly turned, trying to block another potential strike. However, it only noticed the flames on its helmet after failing to locate the attacker.

Instinctively, it reached up to grab its helmet, but with a sudden ‘whoosh,’ the armor on its arm ignited as well.

Jing Qizhen: “!!!”

The flames on its head were out of its sight but seeing the fire on its arm made the Knight of Heart panic immediately. “Oh no!”

Jing Qizhen keenly observed that the fire didn’t just burn the knight’s armor. It spread unnaturally fast, as if its very arm was flammable. It wasn’t the typical damage caused by proximity to fire but something far more intrinsic.

Fortunately, the villa ruins lacked additional flammable materials. Though the knight caught fire, the surrounding area didn’t.

Rolling desperately on the ground, the Knight of Heart managed to extinguish the flames, though it left the knight dirty and disheveled.

However, its armor was half-burned and the lance it carried was reduced to a damaged shell with its tip charred away.

Jing Qizhen’s gaze fell on the Knight of Heart’s burned arm. The injury didn’t resemble human burn wounds. Instead, it looked more like a half-burnt book, playing card, or other paper material.

At that point, the Knight of Heart seemed to lose interest in seeking out its attacker. Embarrassed, it bolted toward the rabbit hole, muttering to itself, “Even Sir Rabbit with his lumps looked more dignified than I do right now…”

And just like that, the Knight of Heart disappeared into the rabbit hole. Jing Qizhen and the others straightened up and exchanged puzzled glances.

Following Wilcox’s reasoning, Joyce murmured, “So the Knight of Heart really is a playing card? With that smell of ink and paper, it’s like it just came out of a printing press.”

Hearing the term ‘printing press’ and recalling the recent events, Jing Qizhen suddenly pieced together the question that had been nagging him all along.

The core of the erosion area!

A fairy tale world wasn’t unusual. And the fairy tales in the area were all among the most famous stories of princes and princesses worldwide.

But for so many tales to coexist in a single fairy tale world and for them to be interconnected, it would not be just a random mix of stories. There was a simpler explanation.

Jing Qizhen abruptly dashed out of the room, heading straight to the upper-floor study, where several foreigners were hiding.

He confronted Caroline directly. “How much do you know about the villa’s owner, David?”

Startled, Caroline stammered, “What does this have to do with David?”

Jing Qizhen pressed, “Does David’s study have a book like ‘The World’s Famous Fairy Tales Collection’?”