Chapter Thirty-Nine: Open Sesame

Joanna could hardly believe her ears. This Luo Chen was actually volunteering to be her sparring partner—did he think she was just asking for a beating and wanted someone to take it out on? No, he was definitely just putting on a brave front in front of Elijie, trying to change the impression she had of him as a coward.

Joanna quickly came up with what she considered a reasonable guess regarding Luo Chen’s intentions. Yes, that had to be it!

Elijie was equally surprised and probed gently, “Luo Chen, are you sure about this? You only suffered a minor injury a couple of days ago, but if you get hurt again, it won’t be so easy to recover.”

“Thank you for your concern, Elijie,” Luo Chen replied with a smile. “My injury is all healed now.”

Since he had said so, Elijie felt it would be awkward to protest further, but she exchanged a glance with Joanna. The two had been best friends since childhood and understood each other perfectly. Joanna instantly caught on—Elijie was telling her not to be too rough this time.

Though she was reluctant, Joanna decided to heed Elijie’s wish. Fine, she’d go easy on him.

The two squared off in the training arena, and the fight began quickly. This time, Joanna used the Great Palm technique taught by Instructor Andrew—the same second-tier combat skill Luo Chen had just started learning.

Compared to the Fiery Palm of the Grant family, the Great Palm was inferior in both power and finesse. Luo Chen frowned. “Joanna, could you please use the Fiery Palm you used last time?”

Joanna was stunned. Was this guy actually asking to be beaten up? But his request suited her just fine. Joanna shot Elijie a look, as if to say, He’s asking for this himself, so don’t blame me.

“Very well, I’d be delighted to oblige!” With a flick of her wrist, a wave of intense heat surged from Joanna’s palm, turning it bright red as she lunged at Luo Chen.

The result was no different from last time. The disparity in their abilities meant Luo Chen was once again thoroughly thrashed. Yet he was elated—after all, sparring partners like Joanna weren’t easy to come by, and Nicole could gather even more data for virtual combat simulations. The searing pain in his body couldn’t mask his delight. As he considered the benefits of virtual dueling, he even caught himself smiling mid-fight.

This strange smile left Joanna utterly perplexed. Who on earth would be this happy about getting beaten up? He actually seemed to be enjoying himself. Could it be that he had some kind of masochistic tendency? No wonder he’d insisted on sparring, and even specified the Fiery Palm!

And so, Luo Chen gained a new, even worse reputation in Joanna’s mind—a deranged masochist!

By the time his psychic energy was exhausted, Luo Chen was nearly at his limit, but he stopped the fight, satisfied. “Thank you for your instruction, Joanna. If possible, could we continue the day after tomorrow evening?”

The first time she’d beaten Luo Chen, Joanna had enjoyed herself. But after venting her frustration, the thrill quickly faded, especially now that she considered him a full-blown masochist—just thinking about it gave her the creeps. Still, she was too proud to back down in front of Luo Chen. So, gritting her teeth, Joanna replied, “If you want to continue, then fine—let’s continue!”

After Luo Chen left, Joanna turned to Elijie and said, “Lily, don’t you think there’s something off about that guy?”

“What do you mean?” Elijie asked.

“I suspect he actually likes being beaten up. Just now, I was hammering him with the Fiery Palm, and he was still smiling. Oh my god, all my hair stood on end! How can anyone be that perverted?” Joanna hugged her arms, shuddering.

Elijie snorted. “Well, isn’t that what you wanted? Didn’t you enjoy beating him up just now?”

“Oh, stop mocking me,” Joanna pouted. “I admit I don’t like Luo Chen much, but I’m no sadist! Now that I think he’s a masochist, I get all creeped out fighting him. Do you think, when I’m beating him, he’s secretly fantasizing about something obscene?”

A vivid scene flashed before Joanna’s mind: she, whip in one hand and candle in the other, pressing Luo Chen beneath her high-heeled boots, lashing and dripping wax on him while scolding, “You wretch, you’re such a wretch!” And Luo Chen, beneath her, moaning with excitement, “Yes, Your Majesty, harder, hit me harder, finish me off, oh yes!”

Joanna shivered. “Lily, this is too disgusting—I can’t take it!”

Elijie couldn’t help laughing. “Honestly, Joanna, your imagination is getting out of hand! Maybe Luo Chen was just happy about improving his combat skills. If you really can’t stand it, just find an excuse and tell Instructor Andrew you want to quit the extra training.”

“No way, that would be like admitting defeat in front of that guy!” Joanna gritted her teeth. “If he wants to be beaten up so badly, pervert or not, I’ll give him exactly what he wants—hmph!”

Another two days passed. On the weekend evening, Luo Chen went to the docks as usual to move crates, earning a little over a silver coin for his night’s work. He carefully tucked his hard-earned wages into his pocket—after all, he’d worked for them all night and couldn’t afford to lose them. He remembered losing two silver coins last time and was so upset he couldn’t sleep for three days. That was an ordeal he had no wish to repeat.

“Master,” came Nicole’s voice in his mind, “you could actually store your money in your ring.”

Luo Chen was startled. “In the ring? But even if it’s hollow, it couldn’t fit a single copper coin!”

Nicole giggled. “You’re mistaken. It’s much bigger than it appears—you could put thousands of copper coins in there without a problem.”

Luo Chen frowned. “Nicole, I don’t understand what you mean.”

Nicole didn’t explain further. “Master, just try repeating ‘open sesame’ in your mind, and imagine a door opening.”

Luo Chen had no idea what Nicole was up to, but he did as she instructed. As he pictured a door opening, his vision suddenly blurred. When he looked again, he saw that the ring had expanded thousands of times, transforming into a semi-transparent container the size of a small pool. Luo Chen was left speechless in amazement. “Nicole, what is this?”

People bustled past him, but none seemed to notice the semi-transparent object. One passerby even brushed right through it, his form clearly separating as he moved through the container.

“Master, this is called a Dingdong Pouch. It’s another product of the Doctor’s research into extradimensional technology.”