81 Demon World (II)
◎Raised his head and kissed her◎
"I like you?"
Her eyes were a little dull, as if she wanted to avoid the question, but the other party's gaze was too hot, forcing her to answer.
"I, I don't know..."
"Just follow my instructions." He smiled faintly, his patience with her seemingly inexhaustible. "You like me, don't you?"
Li Jintang looked at him blankly, and this time seemed to finally understand what he said, and nodded tiredly: "I like you, I like Xie An..."
Finally, the wait has come...
"Then it's a deal, you like me."
The young man looked at her for a long time, smiled gently, traced her lips with his fingers, raised his head and kissed her, like a dragonfly touching the water, separated in an instant, yet so pious, the sweetness on that bright red petal instantly seeped into his heart.
He had been waiting for this moment for so long. He had imagined this scene countless times, and now he finally got a taste of it.
The long, curled eyelashes brushed across his cheek. Li Jintang was stunned for a moment and stared at him blankly.
"Atang, where is your senior brother?"
Still feeling it wasn't enough, he pressed on, "That Young Master Qi, what's your relationship with him?"
Li Jintang stared at him blankly for a long while, then suddenly took the initiative to step forward and hooked his neck, rubbing the top of his head against the side of his face, muttering repeatedly: "I don't have any senior brothers, and I don't know any Mr. Qi. I only have Xie An, and I only like Xie An..."
Xie Changyan froze in shock, his hands at a loss for words, his neck blushing slightly. Unexpectedly, he lowered his eyes, carefully examining her profile, as if trying to confirm whether the person before him was truly her.
After a long moment, he clenched his hands to push the person away, and took something out of his sleeve, which made a jingling sound.
Li Jintang followed it with a puzzled look in his eyes: "What is this?"
However, before she could get a reply, she felt a cool touch creeping up her ankle. The young man lowered his head and tied the bell around her ankle very gently.
She struggled, but someone quickly grabbed her ankles, and a wave of shame washed over her. She lowered her eyes, pressed her shoulders, and tried to push him away: "Xie An, what are you doing?"
He entwined his fingertips with it, tied the final knot, and looked up with a soft smile: "This is the amulet I prepared for you."
With it, you will never lose anyone again.
But whose amulet looks like this? As the thing appeared in his sight, Li Jintang tugged at the string unhappily. The youth's face instantly turned pale, and a streak of blood oozed from the corner of his mouth.
She was startled and quickly let go of his hand, stumbling over and saying, "Why did you give me such an important thing?"
Xie Changyan wiped the bloodstains carelessly, looking at the girl with gentle yet paranoid eyes: "Atang, if one day you insist on leaving, how about taking it off and taking my body with you?"
He could no longer bear that look of disappointment. If she really hated him, then dying at her hands... wouldn't be a bad idea.
"I, I won't leave," Li Jintang frantically stroked his back, "but if someone wants to destroy it, and I can't beat that person, what should I do?"
Xie Changyan didn't answer, but just stared at her quietly. If the Tongsheng Bell was destroyed, it meant that the person wearing it had also been killed. If she was gone, then there was no point for him to live.
"I'm sleepy," she said, not waiting for a reply. She curled up in bed, hugging her blanket, looking listless. "Go away, I want to go to sleep."
"Why do you want me to go out?" He was puzzled and still stood by, with no intention of leaving.
Li Jintang had already untied the straps of her skirt. Hearing this, her face flushed: "I'm about to sleep, why are you still staying here?"
"I won't say anything. Let me stay with you, okay?" He himself didn't know how long this scene would last, so he was very attached to every second he spent with her.
She tilted her head and turned away mercilessly, "No, get out."
“…”
He was silent for a while, and finally had to get up and leave the room reluctantly.
"Report—"
As soon as he walked away, his expression changed completely. He looked up at the guards running towards him and asked, "How many men did he bring with him?"
"No, not that Lin," the guard panted, bowing and saying, "Master, there's someone outside the hall asking to see you. They say they're... they say they're your old friend."
"Let him in." Xie Changyan's voice was calm, as if no matter who came in the next second, it had nothing to do with him.
Yu Guangzhong saw a man walking towards him with a familiar gait. He slowly turned a page of paper without even raising his eyelids. "If you're looking for an antidote for him, then you can go."
Nangong Xiu stared at the person on the platform, suddenly bent his knees, and knelt down with a thud.
"Congratulations, young master, on regaining the position of Sect Leader." He bowed his head, clasped his hands, and spoke word by word: "If Sect Leader does not despise me, I, Nangong Xiu, am willing to follow you until death, asking for nothing in return."
As soon as these words were spoken, Xie Changyan's eyes moved slightly, and his expression finally changed.
"Oh?" He put down the scroll in his hand and looked at the other person with interest. "Follow me? What is your value? Tell me."
"I...if we talk about talent, knowledge and cultivation, I am no match for the Sect Master," Nangong Xiu said calmly, "but if you ask, I will not hesitate to die."
"You changed your tune pretty quickly." Xie Changyan lowered his eyes to look at the scroll again. After a long silence, seeing that the other party still showed no sign of getting up, he sneered and said, "If I remember correctly, not long ago you were on good terms with Qu Lingfei. How come you betrayed him and joined me so quickly?"
He stood up and walked down the platform, leaning over to look at the person kneeling on the ground with a judgmental gaze. "What I hate most is people like you who are treacherous."
"Joining the Sect Master has been my mission since childhood, and there's no such thing as betrayal," Nangong Xiu said calmly. He knew the man before him could kill him at any moment, yet he showed no sign of retreating. "If I cannot complete this important mission, I will commit suicide right here."
"Speak clearly," Xie Changyan frowned slightly and raised his hand to pinch his chin. "Who gave you this mission, and who sent you here?"
"The sect leader probably won't believe this either." Nangong Xiu repeated everything that happened after that day in detail.
After Qu Lingfei was severely injured, the backlash from forcibly breaking the seal of the golden elixir also severely damaged the vitality of the person who took the elixir. Coincidentally, that day, the Immortal Venerable Xuande from the immortal realm arrived to protect his disciple. After a stalemate, both parties were seriously injured.
"You were severely injured that day, and the elixir the commander left behind had its first effect." He paused for a moment, observing the other party's reaction, before continuing, "I wonder if the sect leader remembers that the day you met me, you broke through the barrier the commander had set."
"That barrier can only be opened by the two commanders or their bloodlines. I had my suspicions at the time, but..." At this point, he smiled bitterly, "But I never dared to imagine that someone who was abducted by the demons a few years ago could still be alive and well."
"So you suspect that I am..." Xie Changyan followed his train of thought, but suddenly stopped talking.
"Since then, I've regretted it every moment, and I haven't had a good sleep at all." Nangong Xiu raised his head, his eyes slightly moist. "My superiors treated me like their own son. I will never forget their kindness in raising me. Now... now they have passed away. I only hope to make up for the unfulfilled filial piety to the child, but who knew..."
After he finished speaking, he raised his hand and slapped himself hard, "It's my incompetence. If I had been the one who was taken away back then, you wouldn't have suffered so much, and you wouldn't have even been unable to see your parents for the last time..."
Xie Changyan listened to him silently, without any emotion in his dark eyes.
He also contributed to the deaths of many soldiers from the demon world in that great battle.
He should be sad and blame himself for killing his own people with his own hands, right? But why is his emotion not fluctuating at all?
"You don't have to tell me this," he lowered his eyes, his gaze sweeping across the other person, and then he returned to the platform, "and you don't have to kneel like this. I don't need to make amends, nor do I want to investigate whether what you said is true or false."
"You don't have to believe me," Nangong Xiu said, still standing. Instead, he held a pill in his hands and said, "I'm taking this poison today. You alone possess the antidote. If I dare to harbor any dissenting thoughts in the future, I'll die instantly from the poison."
Xie Changyan raised his eyebrows slightly, and suddenly felt that this person was quite interesting, so he took the antidote and watched him indifferently as he closed his eyes and was about to put the poison into his mouth.
Suddenly, a gust of cold wind blew by, and Xie Changyan raised his sleeve slightly, and the wind blew the pill in the other person's hand to the ground.
"You don't have to do this if you want to show your loyalty." With a flick of his finger, the antidote was ejected. He wiped his palm and said calmly, "If you dare to rebel in the future, I won't let you live another day."
"This..." Nangong Xiu was about to say something else, but suddenly he understood what he meant. His eyes suddenly became clear. "Thank you, Sect Master, for your promise. I will go through fire and water for you in the future, even if it means death."
*
"Xie brother, why do you want to..."
Before he could finish his words, a long sword pierced his chest. Qu Lingfei looked at the bright red, his face full of disbelief, and he seemed to have forgotten even the pain in his body.
The young man smiled faintly, his words filled with sarcasm: "Qu Lingfei, if you want to blame someone, blame yourself for being too naive. You actually trusted your friends. Today will teach you a lesson."
He opened his eyes wide, the burning pain almost swallowed him up: "No, don't..."
“No!”
He sat up suddenly, his five fingers tightly gripping the quilt, cold sweat dripping down.
"Senior Brother!" The girl's surprised voice sounded in my ears.
Qiuyan immediately came over and said happily, "Brother, are you awake? I'll go tell Master right away, and we'll return to the Immortal Realm."
Qu Lingfei, still recovering from his nightmare, was slightly taken aback when he heard this: "Master is here too?"
"That demon is so powerful. If Master hadn't come, I'm afraid you and I would have already died while we were talking here," Qiu Yan said, raising her hand to wipe her red eyes. "No matter what, it's good that he woke up..."
The pain was still there, and Qu Lingfei couldn't bear to see her like that. He forced a smile, stretched his arms, and said, "I'm fine now. Why are you crying?"
"I'm not doing this for you, I'm doing this for Atang..." When she mentioned this name, she couldn't hold it in any longer. She covered her face with her hands, and her tears quickly soaked her palms.
"Atang?" Qu Lingfei was startled again. "What happened to her?"
Qiuyan sobbed and recounted how Atang had rushed to save him that day regardless of danger, and how he had been ambushed by Xie Changyan and ultimately fallen into the devil's hands, his life or death unknown.
"Impossible," Qu Lingfei frowned, unwilling to believe what she said was true. "Brother Xie... that devil disguised himself all the way just to get the elixir in my body. What does it have to do with others? Why did he attack Atang?"
"You know he's a demon. Why would he need a reason to do something or kill someone?" Qiu Yan wiped away her tears, her voice still a little hoarse. "That night, Master saw they hadn't returned for a long time, so he went to the forest to check, but all he found were the corpses of several of our senior brothers and sisters. That demon was so cruel. Atang... Atang must have fallen into his hands. Who knows what kind of torture he'll suffer."
Upon hearing that several of his fellow disciples had died because of his involvement, Qu Lingfei completely lost his mind. After sitting there for a long time, he suddenly stood up and walked to the door. He took down the sword hanging on the wall and gestured at the air a few times, but he almost fell down due to his weak body.
Qiuyan hurried forward to support him: "Brother, your body hasn't recovered yet, how can you practice sword?"
"I..." Qu Lingfei lowered his hands, then suddenly slammed his fist into the wall. His voice choked with sobs. "My fellow apprentices died because of me, and Atang is nowhere to be found. How can I hide here in peace? She died trying to save me. Even if she's been killed, I'm going to find a way to get her body out."
"Kill that devil again to avenge me."
"How can I take revenge? Do you think I can?"
An old voice sounded from outside the door, and the two of them bowed together: "Disciple greets Master."
Xuande Immortal Venerable held his hand and said, "Your injuries haven't healed yet, so there's no need to be so polite."
"Thank you, Master."
Immortal Xuande looked him up and down, sighing, "The deaths of your fellow disciples and Miss Li deeply sadden this master. As long as the evil leader isn't eliminated, the world won't be at peace. But the time hasn't come yet. Right now, your most important priority is to heal your wounds. Once you return to the immortal realm, I'll teach you a few sword techniques, and then you can seek revenge."
Qu Lingfei's eyes darkened, but he didn't dare to disobey his master's order: "Disciple obeys."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
