Chapter 134 Lu Yuanyuan suddenly ripped off his mask.
The weeds on the riverbank were flattened, and a deep drag mark stretched across the soil towards the river.
As if a giant hand were gripping his throat, blood rushed to his brain, Xi Ye's pupils gleamed eerily, his eyes bloodshot, and he roared, "Lu Yuanyuan!"
Without a response, he lunged forward without hesitation, following the drag mark, and jumped into the water.
Whoosh!
The cold, swift current surged in from all directions, the light dim and bluish-green. Dark shadows darted away in terror, indistinguishable as large fish or monsters. They stirred up pebbles and silt from the riverbed, making visibility even more obscured.
He plunged into the deep water and swam anxiously, searching.
I can't see clearly, I can't find her... Where is Lu Yuanyuan?
The cycle repeated itself, and the string of reason was teetering on the brink of snapping. Finally, he noticed a strand of long, dark hair emerging from the water plants at his feet.
His pupils constricted, and he struggled to swim underwater, parting the water plants to see a pale face.
Lu Yuanyuan lay motionless underwater. Fortunately, she was still alive. Faint bubbles gurgled from her mouth, and she clutched a dagger in her hand. The blade was gleaming and clean. It seemed she had just fought with whatever had dragged her into the water; the blood on the dagger had been washed away by the river. But after driving it away, she was exhausted and passed out.
Without waiting any longer, Xi Ye pursed his lips, wrapped his arms around her chest and abdomen, and, holding her still, swam towards the surface of the water.
As soon as my head broke the surface, the air rushed into my lungs. Looking up, I saw that the weather was unpredictable; the sky had darkened, thick with clouds, and a wind had picked up.
He scooped her up and carried her to the bank, quickly placing her on the land some distance from the shore. He knelt beside her, eagerly brushing away the strands of hair clinging to her cheek: "Yuan Yuan?"
There was no response, and I couldn't even feel him breathing.
His fingertips trembled slightly, but he quickly forced them down. He grabbed her chin with his large hand, pulled it open, and saw no mud or grass blocking her nostrils. He touched her lower chest, and the organ inside her chest was still beating faintly.
A strange feeling flickered through his chaotic mind, but before he could react, the unexpected happened in the next instant—
Lu Yuanyuan, who was lying on the ground, suddenly opened her eyes. She didn't look blind at all, and the whites of her eyes were faintly bloodshot.
Almost simultaneously, she gathered all her strength, sprang up from the ground, pounced on him, grabbed his shirt with one hand to prevent him from retreating, and with the other hand, swiftly reached for his face, ripping off his mask before he could react.
A flash of lightning illuminated the open field. The dappled shadows of the trees fell upon the two figures, making them appear like twisted, slender ghosts.
Boom—
Thunder rumbled across the sky, and raindrops pattered down from behind the clouds, releasing the sweltering heat.
Lu Yuanyuan's gaze froze, her whole body seemingly frozen. She gripped the mask in her hand, her gaze fixed on the moment she looked up.
This person is... this face is...
Seven years later, her face and her memory of it haven't changed drastically, but they are clearly different.
He used to be like a mountain breeze, clean and aloof. Now, his eyes have become more fox-like, deep and long, with a high, straight nose and lips that are bright red and luscious, like a begonia wet with rain. A flame pattern on the center of his forehead adds an extra touch of captivating allure to his face.
But she wouldn't mistake him; he was indeed Duan Lansheng.
Seeing the teeth marks had already aroused suspicion, and the way he had just dived into the river and swam her to shore was exactly the same as the way that young man had dived into the cold pool and carried her ashore more than seven years ago.
But at this moment of confirmation, a powerful dizziness struck her brain like a collision between Mars and Earth. Her blood rushed backward, pounding against her eardrums. The thunder and rain faded away; she could only feel her jaw and muscles trembling. Fragments of her time with this person after arriving in the demon realm flashed rapidly through her mind.
No wonder, when they first met, he always seemed to subtly inquire how much she remembered about Mount Shu. These past few days, her dreams have become increasingly indistinguishable—whether it's Zhuangzi dreaming of a butterfly or a butterfly dreaming of Zhuangzi. Could his influence be playing a part in this? Perhaps it's not a dream at all, but rather the prying eyes of someone outside the dream world.
Shock, shame, and anger over the days of being deceived filled her mind, as if a razor blade were cutting into her soft flesh. Without thinking, she suddenly raised her hand and slapped the person in front of her across the face.
With a crisp "smack," the flesh slapped together and exploded in the air.
Because she was so emotional, she didn't hold back at all, and her arm went numb from the slap. If an ordinary person had taken that slap, they would have seen stars and their teeth would have been knocked out.
Even Duan Lansheng's face was slapped hard to one side. Five bright red finger marks appeared on his snow-white skin.
The next second, she pushed him hard in the chest, instantly widening the distance between them.
"...Duan Lansheng."
Lu Yuanyuan spat out his name through gritted teeth, sat up from the ground, her face contorted with anger, her dark eyes unusually bright, as if two flames were burning within them, ready to shoot sparks.
"Is it fun to pretend to be someone else to get close to me and deceive me? Is this your way of getting revenge on me? Do you feel a sense of accomplishment when you spy on my secrets and watch me being fooled? If I hadn't seen the teeth marks on your shoulder and exposed you, how long were you going to keep up this act? You went through all that trouble to gain my trust, when were you planning to get your revenge?!"
Duan Lansheng silently endured her insults, neither retaliating nor offering any explanation, maintaining the position where his head had been turned to the side by the slap, his face hidden in the dim shadows of the trees. Until he heard a certain word she uttered, his eyelashes seemed to tremble, or perhaps it was just his imagination. His red lips pressed tightly together into a straight line.
Finally, he slowly turned his head to look at her, and with a slight smirk, said, "So, after we met again, everything I did to you was, in your eyes, just revenge?"
He paused for a moment, his gaze falling on her calves.
Her trousers, which were originally neatly tied up, became wrinkled and rolled up after jumping into the river and getting wet, revealing the blooming red flower on her calf.
Duan Lansheng's mention of the matter only made things worse. It reminded Lu Yuanyuan of why she had been possessed by the spring leech. Her temples throbbed, and anger drove her to speculate about his motives in the worst possible light. She sneered, "Stop your crocodile tears! Isn't this all your doing? That night, you knew Yue Hong was in trouble, yet you deliberately delayed in letting me know! Now it seems you just wanted to get revenge on me by hurting the people around me!"
Duan Lansheng looked at her without refuting her, but his face seemed to grow paler and paler.
Rainwater washed over him, and strands of his dark hair clung to his cheeks.
Suddenly, he leaned in close to her.
A shadow fell over her, and Lu Yuanyuan's heart clenched. She cautiously backed away. However, her attention was completely captivated by him, and she didn't realize the dead end behind her. By the time her back hit the tree trunk, it was too late. He was already upon her. In a panic, she raised her arm, intending to slap him again.
But Duan Lansheng seemed to have anticipated what she was going to do. The next second, her wrist was grabbed. Her other hand was also grabbed by him.
He pried the distorted mask from her palm, threw it on the ground, and pressed their palms together. His pale face drew closer to hers, raindrops sliding down his high, straight nose. His rosy lips parted slightly: "What's the use of slapping? It doesn't hurt. Since you hate me so much for hurting your people, let's get serious."
As they spoke, their positions shifted; he was now on top of her, looking down at her. Lu Yuanyuan felt warm liquid dripping onto her neck from above, and upon closer inspection, she was horrified.
The silver mask on Duan Lansheng's face, made of thin yet hard metal, was fastened behind his ears for security. She had just forcefully ripped it off, scratching the skin behind his ears and on his jawline. As he looked down at her, beads of bright red blood trickled down his bones.
The light was dim, and lightning flashed. For a fleeting moment, in her mind, this scene overlapped with another tragically beautiful face.
Duan Lansheng released one of her hands, picked up the dagger beside him, the same one he had retrieved when he pulled her from the river, shoved the hilt into her hand, pointed the blade at his own heart, and said in a hoarse voice, "If you want to kill me, use this. Aim it here."
Having said that, he exerted force with his finger bones, grabbed her hand, and stabbed himself with the dagger.
Lu Yuanyuan's pupils constricted. Unable to break free from his fingers, she could only resist his strength. However, in the struggle, the blade inevitably drew closer and closer to his body, eventually piercing his flesh and leaving a pool of dark red blood on his clothes.
Against opponents of this caliber, spiritual power is no longer of much use. Victory or defeat has reverted to a primal contest of brute force.
As soon as she stops resisting and releases her strength, the dagger will plunge directly into his chest due to inertia.
She failed to kill Duan Lansheng seven years ago, but today, seven years later, she has a chance to finish him off.
Is this what she wanted?
Whether it was rainwater or his blood, it flowed down the dagger and seeped into the gaps between their fingers, causing the hilt to become somewhat slippery.
Lu Yuanyuan's eyes were bloodshot: "Duan Lansheng, what's wrong with you!"
Duan Lansheng seemed not to hear her voice, continuing to exert more force, blood gushing from his chest. Realizing the dagger was about to slip out of control, Lu Yuanyuan's lips trembled. She rammed her body against it, finally pulling the blade outwards and pressing it down, shouting, "Enough!"
She did this to prevent the dagger from piercing his heart. But because they were so close, it was inevitable that it would cut his abdomen. However, that wasn't a fatal spot; with clothing in place, the wound wouldn't be as deep as a direct stab.
But to her surprise, in the next instant, Duan Lansheng suddenly moved, and the "thud" of a sharp blade entering flesh, accompanied by a muffled groan, rang out clearly in the air.
Lu Yuanyuan stared blankly at the spot where the blood had spurted out—the dagger was deeply embedded in his right chest. It was as if, at the critical moment, to protect his abdomen from injury, he had knowingly bent over to take the hit there, even though it would cause more bleeding.
Why did he do that?
No matter how you look at it, a direct stab to the chest is far more serious than a cut to the abdomen, right?
Having been stabbed, Duan Lansheng's face looked even paler than paper. His long, black eyelashes fluttered like a dying butterfly. He still supported himself on the ground with one hand, while the other hand held her hand holding the dagger. He glanced at the dagger in his chest and stared at her intently: "Aren't you going to kill me?"
The rain drizzled down from above, blurring his features.
Lu Yuanyuan's chest heaved violently, her eyes stung, and her lips moved slightly.
The man she killed has returned. Why did she stop the dagger from piercing his chest?
Torn by her own conscience, did she still want to kill Duan Lansheng?
Seven years ago, she really wanted to kill Duan Lansheng, and she had already killed him once. They had killed each other once, and in her heart, they were even.
Unexpectedly, Duan Lansheng, just like her, was dead but somehow came back to life.
After their reunion, he approached and deceived her under the guise of a high priest. She was indeed angry, but not to the point of wanting to kill him to vent her anger.
The reason for her rebirth is still unknown. And what about Duan Lansheng? He was clearly pierced through the heart by a sword, so why didn't he die?
Not only did he not die, but his strength also increased, and he grew eight more fox tails, thriving in the demon realm. It was as if her sword strike had turned misfortune into blessing, removing all his shackles.
Just like the protagonist with a halo in male-oriented novels, after jumping off a cliff, he will definitely survive and find a lost martial arts manual.
Regardless, the fact that Duan Lansheng survived a stab wound to the heart from her seven years ago at least suggests that his heart wasn't his Achilles' heel. Therefore, he was likely faking it just now.
Moreover, from Duan Lansheng's perspective, he was killed by her seven years ago for no reason. It's impossible for him not to harbor deep hatred for her. Yes, she had rambled on about "past lives" back then, but after their reunion, Duan Lansheng didn't question her about those things; perhaps he hadn't taken those fragmented words to heart at the time. Now that he's thriving in the demon realm, how could he possibly entrust his life to her, gambling on whether she would stop it?
Duan Lansheng must have been certain that he would be alright after this stab, which is why he fearlessly grabbed her hand and stabbed himself in the heart.
That must be it.
It must be.
As if finding the main thread in a tangled mess of thoughts, Lu Yuanyuan's nails dug deeply into her palms. Her gaze lingered on his bleeding chest, then she gritted her teeth and forced herself to look away: "You are now the Demon King's right-hand man. If anything happens to you, it will ruin the hard-won peace talks we've achieved today. Public matters are public matters, and private matters are private matters. No matter how many conflicts we had in the past, I will not destroy so many people's hard work because of a moment of impulse."
The sun disappeared in the heavy rain. Duan Lansheng's drooping eyelashes lifted slightly as he leaned down. The movement caused the dagger embedded in his chest to move, blood seeping from the wound and forming a larger pool on his clothes. He seemed oblivious to pain, staring intently at her: "So, if it weren't for them, you wouldn't have hesitated and would have killed me?"
Whether it was my imagination or not, his face seemed even more ashen than when she had stabbed him, and a deep resentment flashed in his eyes. This small space seemed to be filled with drowning pain; the more one struggled in the water, the faster one sank.
Lu Yuanyuan didn't want to answer against her will, nor did she want to tell the truth. She raised her hand to break free from him, but seeing his expression, she held back and just closed her eyes: "Let go of me if you don't want to die. I want to get up."
For a demon with profound cultivation, healing physical wounds is easy. But Duan Lansheng once said that his constitution was different from that of other demons.
Its attack power is abnormally strong, but once its body is wounded, it is difficult to recover and heals very slowly—this is completely illogical.
However, the ring of teeth marks remaining on his shoulder suggests he wasn't lying. Otherwise, he could have easily wiped them away to erase the evidence.
The stab wound to his chest, though not fatal, was very deep, and he was still bleeding profusely. She forcefully broke free and resumed the struggle, letting the dagger churn deeper into his flesh; perhaps it really could take half his life.
Her words were harsh and unpleasant to hear.
Strangely enough, upon hearing this, Duan Lansheng stared at her, his expression seemingly softening somewhat. Finally, he slowly released her, stumbled, and leaned back. His brows furrowed, and he slowly pulled the dagger from his chest, making a sickeningly sticky sound.
The bleeding suddenly intensified, like a spring bursting open, gushing forth crimson water. A black, misty substance appeared near his wound, but it only slightly slowed the bleeding.
With a "clink," the dagger slipped from his outstretched hand. Duan Lansheng leaned against the tree trunk and wearily closed his eyes.
The same blood smeared her palms, seeping into the lines of her palms like the veins of a dark red leaf.
The forest was deathly silent.
Lu Yuanyuan's feelings were indescribably complex. She pressed her lips together, turned her face away, and her hands were still trembling slightly uncontrollably. Just then, she suddenly sensed a strange tremor coming from the ground. It was as if a huge creature was approaching them.
Lu Yuanyuan's expression changed, and she suddenly looked towards the source of the sound.
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