The next evening, Bai Xing got ready to go to Cinderella's house again. This time, his objective was to destroy that tree before Cinderella returned. But he could only go there after Cinderella arrived at the palace.

In the meantime, he studied the 5 weapons M gave him to choose. Each one of them was very powerful but he could only use them once before they perish.

The first one was a sword. Regardless of the body part it stabbed, it would instantly kill its target. It could be humans, animals, plants, and even intangible things. If he could see them.

The second one was an axe. With one swing, it would cleanly cut 10 things on its path. Regardless of its material, solidity, and thickness.

The third one was a hammer. It would crush any target with one hit and shatter it completely regardless of its material. The strength of the user wouldn't affect the outcome. Even a baby could destroy concrete.

The fourth one was a match. It would incinerate anything regardless of its material, condition, and size into ash. Once it was lightened, the fire wouldn't extinguish until it served its purpose.

The fifth one was a bomb. It would completely disintegrate any building it was in or attached to into dust regardless of its size.

For this case, the bomb would be overkill. The fire could work, but he felt like there would be a scenario in other worlds that he would need it more.

The choices left would be the sword, the axe, and the hammer. Because it was a tree, his first thought was the axe. Besides, with the axe, he didn't need to go into the backyard. He could swing the axe from the woods, and it could still cut down the tree.

The problem was, he didn't know what fairytale he would encounter after this. What if there would come a scenario where he would need the axe more?

But compared to the axe, the sword was slightly more powerful because of its sure-kill feature. The hammer's reach would be too short. It would also be useless if he accidentally hit something other than the tree.

After more consideration, he decided to use the axe.

Once he saw Cinderella enter the ballroom with a golden gown as regal as the sun, he turned to leave.

Unexpectedly though, he bumped into someone. Pretty hard.

Bai Xing quickly moved back and wanted to apologize but his head hit the pillar behind him instead.

"!"

He clutched the back of his head and slightly bent forward, holding his pain. His mouth trembled to not let his whimpers escape.

He heard the person he bumped chuckle.

Embarrassment instantly seeped into him, and he hurriedly ran out from the ballroom. He was just a few steps away from the door when his wrist was grabbed.

Startled by the sudden contact, he snatched his hand away in reflex. When he turned around he saw it was the person he bumped into.

"Are you not going to apologize to me?" the black-haired man smiled.

His voice reminded Bai Xing of the king. Was every male's voice in this world this deep?

"S-S-Sorry…" Bai Xing stuttered in a small voice.

He felt even more embarrassed by his stutter and tried to run away again. Why couldn't he talk to a person normally? It was just one word. One word, for goodness sake!

The man caught him again. This time by his waist and locked him in place.

"Where do you think you are going?" the man whispered closely to Bai Xing's ear, "We both can agree that was not a proper apology, yes?"

Bai Xing's heart thumped nervously.

Who was this man? What did he want? Was he one of the virus's creations to stop him? Did the virus catch on him? But it has just been one night, and the tree didn't seem to see him last night.

In a panic, Bai Xing hit the man on his chin with his elbow. The man obviously didn't expect it and staggered back. Bai Xing took this chance to run away.

He exited the palace through the kitchen and wore his cloak as he dashed to the back gate.

Before that man could catch him, he should cut down the tree fast. If the man was the virus's creation, there could be a chance he will disappear once the power source is destroyed.

He turned on the intersection and heard the galloping of a horse behind him. He jumped out of the road and into the wild woods to hide behind a tree. He crouched down and covered his mouth.

Not long after, he saw the man, riding a dark brown horse, passed by him. He exhaled the breath he was holding and fell into a dilemma.

That man would definitely be waiting there, guarding the tree against him. But even so, it would be best if he cut down that tree tonight. The faster the virus became powerless the safer it was for him.

If the prince read his letter last night, the ball wouldn't need a third night and Cinderella wouldn't get a happy end. If that happened when the virus still could use its power, he wasn't sure what it would do.

After persuading himself, he finally went to Cinderella's house. But instead of taking the flattened path, he walked through the woods and headed directly to the backyard.

Who knows? That man could probably be waiting at the front entrance.

But the man was one step ahead of Bai Xing.

When Bai Xing was about to reach the backyard, the man appeared from behind one of the trees and caught him again. Bai Xing could only stare at the man in shock and confusion when he got pinned to a tree.

He checked the directory before heading here to make sure there was nobody in the woods behind the backyard. It couldn't be that the app couldn't detect the man??

Is the virus really that powerful? No, but then why didn't it hide itself as Cinderella? The protagonist was clearly detected in the app with a red dot.

Was it on purpose to fool him? Has he got caught in its trap?

The man studied Bai Xing's face, "What are you thinking so seriously? Focus your eyes on me."

Bai Xing wanted to back away. Their distance was too close, and the man was too scary. He also wasn't used to physical contact after so long and it made him uncomfortable. But he couldn't move an inch with the tree trunk and the man sandwiching him.

The man pulled off Bai Xing's hood, "Tell me your name."

Bai Xing's lips were sealed. He didn't know what the man would do with his name. Black magic? Curse? Voodoo? Human sacrifice? Maybe followed him to reality and corrupt reality too??

"It is alright if you do not want to tell me," the man pressed closer and lifted his chin up, "I can just force it out."

Bai Xing's eyes flew wide open when the man pressed their lips together. He swung his fist to punch him, but the man caught him and restrained both of his hands. He gasped in pain from the crushing grip and the man took the opportunity to deepen their kiss.

The man slipped in his tongue and teased Bai Xing's stiff one. Bai Xing tried to struggle, and the man intensified his attack in return. Bai Xing could feel the man's hot tongue sweeping his palate and he trembled from the sensation.

"Mnh…" Bai Xing couldn't stop his voice from leaking out.

The man smirked and did the same action once more before pulling back slightly, "Tell me your name."

Bai Xing shook his head steadfastly. The man kissed him again, more aggressively. He intertwined their tongue, thoroughly tasting and ravaging the quivering man in his arm.

Bai Xing's legs became soft from the foreign yet pleasurable stimulation and slid down. The man caught him.

"Tell me your name."

Bai Xing's mind has become muddled because of the man, but his last bit of brain cells quickly saved him from revealing his real name.

"W-White…" He breathlessly said.

"White…" the man repeated with an incomprehensible smile. He kissed Bai Xing's ear, "That will do for now. It is not that hard, yes?"

Bai Xing shivered from his voice and weakly pushed him, "S-Stop."

"Do you like my voice?" the man nibbled on his earlobe, "I am flattered."

He placed Bai Xing's arms on his shoulders and carried him up. He glanced briefly at the cursed tree before walking to his horse.

Bai Xing was put on the saddle first before the man hop up and sit behind him.

Realizing what was happening, Bai Xing tried to jump down from the horse.

The man held him and pressed his acupoint. Bai Xing was immediately paralyzed.

"Not tonight."

The man pressed another acupoint. Bai Xing soon felt his eyelids become heavy.

"Sleep." The man lulled him.

Bai Xing fell asleep in the man's arm. By the time he woke up, it was already morning the next day.