Chapter 31 Don't Die, Linglong "Cough cough—" She vomited again…

"Cough cough—" She coughed up another mouthful of blood. Shi Wenzhe pressed heavily on her abdomen, trying to suppress the cough. She felt that this way of dying was not dignified, even too tragic. The great beauty was as beautiful as ever, but she was dressed in rags and covered in dust.

"They're not a good match." She sighed deeply, feeling quite regretful.

The valley echoed with the wailing of ten thousand ghosts. Shi Wenzhe's consciousness became somewhat unclear, and in her hazy state, she saw the air distort before her eyes. Then a person appeared. The person was dressed in white with his back to her, his hair tied up high but the strands were messy. He seemed to have just come down from the battlefield, his back view hurried, and the silver spear in his hand was still dripping with blood.

Shi Wenzhe trembled, her body seemingly frozen in place the moment she saw the person approaching. She watched as the person slowly turned around, revealing a familiar, scarred face.

Linglong was covered in blood, with a long wound on his face, blood flowing down most of his face. He stared at Shi Wenzhe with a ferocious expression, as if he were simply in pain, or as if he were pleading for help from someone in the distance through her eyes.

Shi Wenzhe was covered in cold sweat. She stared wide-eyed in disbelief, wanting to make a sound, but her body was restrained, and she could only watch helplessly from the sidelines.

Linglong has grown up a bit, he must be a thousand years old by now. This is what he looked like with his high ponytail before; he's grown up to be so handsome, even more like a carefree young man. Are those feathers still hanging behind his ears? They look a bit worn. Why is he so sad… and so badly injured? Why?! Why is he still crying?!

Shi Wenzhe was frantic with worry and tried to speak, but it was all in vain. She watched helplessly as Linglong's body was pierced by a long sword that appeared out of nowhere, and blood gushed out. He stared in shock at the direction of the sword hilt, as if the person who had stabbed him was someone he had never expected.

Shi Wen twisted her fingers and gripped the hard stone wall, trying to stay conscious. Tears streamed down her face. She called out, but her throat seemed blocked and she couldn't make a sound.

Linglong bled even more blood, almost staining the entire cave red.

Shi Wen's eyes widened in horror. She was pinned down and unable to move, like a fish on a chopping board, about to suffocate. So she wiggled her tail, trying to move and survive.

The screams of "Ah, ah" grew louder and louder, and after she had shouted countless times, a breath finally broke through the layers of restraints and reached the person's ears.

Linglong felt as if she had seen someone she shouldn't have seen; confusion, surprise, expectation, and hatred intertwined and rushed straight into her eyes.

The silver spear shrieked, as if enraged and about to kill the person before it, but was suppressed and stopped by Linglong. It seemed to be fighting someone, and only had time to glance at her before raising the silver spear towards the newcomer. However, Shi Wenzhe could only see it flailing wildly in the air, which looked rather ridiculous.

However, she soon stopped laughing. Linglong felt as if he had been pierced by a thousand arrows. He knelt on the ground, supporting himself with his silver spear, and spat out a mouthful of blood.

"Linglong..." Shi Wenzhe called out urgently, his voice weak, like a person who had just recovered from a serious injury and was frail.

A strand of long hair slipped down Linglong's cheek, stained with blood. Drops fell onto his white robes, turning them crimson with blood—a horrifying sight. After being pierced by countless arrows, he could no longer muster any strength and slumped to his knees on the ground, but he never lowered the silver spear in his hand.

Time seemed to slow down, and the scene began to distort and become indistinct. Shi Wenzhe's sobs sounded like a kitten's, tears streaming down her face. Linglong looked up at the sound and opened her mouth to say something, but Shi Wenzhe couldn't hear her at all. She frantically pounded on the stone wall with her hands, her eyes filled with sorrow. Linglong understood her predicament and smiled helplessly at her. Then she looked at her quietly, as if there was no other way. That silence revealed a hidden despair.

Tears mingled with the blood on his face and streamed down his cheeks. He seemed to have been deeply wounded again, and the light in his eyes gradually dimmed.

Shi Wenzhe couldn't see anything; there was only air in front of him! Why, why! Why was Linglong so badly injured? Who killed him?! Why!!

Time ticked by in a single second, and in that single second, Linglong's upright back bent, the silver spear fell to the ground, dust billowed, and he knelt quietly on the ground, head bowed and eyes closed, the blood flowing even more violently.

"Aa ...

"Swish-swish-" The rustling of thousands of leaves outside the cave sounded like waves crashing against rocks. The sound grew louder and clearer as it approached. Gusts of wind entered the cave, dispersing the pervasive stench of blood and the invisible force that bound her.

Shi Wenzhe suddenly jerked her head back up, letting out desperate gasps. Her eyeballs tumbled to the ground. Her steps were unsteady, and she stumbled as she ran towards Linglong. But no matter how close she was, she couldn't get to her. Shi Wenzhe patted her useless legs, anxious and at a loss for what to do.

"Linglong! Linglong!" Shi Wenzhe shouted, just as he was about to touch the person's white robes, when a sudden voice rang out from the cave: "Chongming."

A long sword flew from behind, its cold light illuminating Shi Wenzhe's distorted face. She saw Linglong being pierced by the sword, her figure vanishing silently.

Shi Wenzhe seemed to have died as well, standing there blankly and motionless.

"I hear you're about to break!" A sharp shout came from behind.

The voice was hazy and distant, sometimes sounding like someone bent over, sobbing uncontrollably. She was too distraught to look up, thinking it was just a hallucination.

She thought, "Linglong is dead, Linglong is really dead!" She was trapped in the nightmare and couldn't get out.

The longsword began to attack everything in front of it haphazardly, even though there was clearly nothing there.

"Chongming." The voice rang out again, the sword tip changed direction, heading straight for Shi Wenzhe's face. The whistling sound of air being cut was ear-piercing, and the patterns on the sword became increasingly clear. Shi Wenzhe stared blankly, waiting...

Her body was suddenly pulled backward, as if she had escaped from a closed space. The air began to flow, and a cacophony of sounds entered her ears. She heard the roar of a monster.

“Why…” she murmured, her eyes unfocused.

"I often hear of setbacks!"

Shi Wenzhe trembled, her face contorted in ugliness. She turned around toward the sound and saw Qin Wenxue running toward her, pulling her tightly behind her. Shi Wenzhe bumped into Qin Wenxue's straight back, and was enveloped in a cold fragrance.

Like waking from a dream.

Like a child who has finally found a backer, she said with difficulty, "Qin Wenxue... Linglong is dead."

Qin Wenxue merely glanced at her coldly and said nothing.

But Shi Wenzhe could sense everything.

The longsword was pointed at the cave entrance, the sword light flashed, and a piercing howl came from outside the cave.

A faint, pitiful sob came from behind. Qin Wenxue paused, utterly helpless: "Why are you crying?"

I often heard Zhe Chong say, "Linglong is dead."

Qin Wenxue pursed her lips, turned to look at Shi Wenzhe, and said, word by word, "He died a long time ago."

“But we were talking just yesterday.” Shi Wenzhe tried to pull his hand away from Qin Wenxue’s grasp, acting like a spoiled child.

"Take a good look and see who that is."

Shi Wenzhe looked over at the sound and saw that where she had just been standing, only half a step away, lay a mangled, rotting corpse. The corpse had been shredded into pieces by the Chongming Sword, but its sharp, knife-like fingernails were still sticking out, and a disgusting stench lingered in the air.

The tears on her face stopped abruptly, and Shi Wenzhe's heart began to pound violently. She was somewhat frightened and remained motionless. The fear in her heart spread uncontrollably throughout her body, and Shi Wenzhe trembled, revealing a bewildered and astonished look in her eyes.

"What is this..." she murmured, no longer able to tell if what she had just seen was real, if it was an illusion cast by a rotting corpse trying to eat her, or if Linglong... was that rotting corpse?

"Liar?" She dared not think it, and so she dared not look again, like a walking corpse, still pulling at Qin Wenxue to avoid danger.

The roars drew closer, and rotting corpses and bones poured into the cave one after another, along with the creatures that had just died tragically, trapping them in a desperate situation. Shi Wenzhe felt as if she had returned to that night in Qiyun Palace, when she and Ming Shu were waiting to die in the ancestral hall. Now, however, the scene had changed, and it was now her and Qin Wenxue waiting to die.

"Why did you lie to me?" Shi Wenzhe thought to himself, "There are so many life and death in this world, does she have to go through all of them?" Is she some rare genius who has to go through countless hardships before she can be called a phoenix reborn from the ashes?

"Ah...that's a bit sad, she didn't want to go through all this suffering."

The stench of blood made her want to vomit. She felt so disgusted that she wanted to tear the world apart. Countless cracks appeared in the ground, as if they were about to devour all living beings. Black mist emerged from the cracks and surged and swirled in the air.

The events began to repeat themselves in a cycle.

The sword of Chongming shone with a clear and cold light, flickering before her eyes. Shi Wenzhe's lost soul had not yet returned. He stared blankly at the silver chains that Qin Wenxue had swayed due to the fight. Her red clothes fluttered, her brows were fierce, her lips were tightly closed, and an uncontrollable anger surged in her eyes. She was unleashing all her killing moves.

"Is he protecting her...?" This thought struck her like a blow to the head, instantly shoving her soul back into her body.

What merit does she possess?

Shi Wen's unfocused eyes regained focus, and a vibrant, vivid world was reflected in them, as if the flowing air was rushing towards her.

She moved her wrist, which was being gripped so tightly by Qin Wenxue, very slightly, but Qin Wenxue sensed it. The grip on her wrist loosened slightly, but then she was tightly held again.

"Hmph." She let out a long sigh, then laughed.

She called softly, "Qin Wenxue..."

"Hmm?" Qin Wenxue was busy killing the rotting corpses, but didn't let her finish speaking.

"Asking about the snow while wearing a quilt."

"Um."

"The quilt asks about the snow." Shi Wen Zhe smiled broadly.

"Hmm." Qin Wenxue turned around: "What are you laughing at?"

"I'm laughing at how good-looking you are." She mumbled incoherently, as if she had just recovered from a serious illness and had finally regained her former liveliness.