Chapter 92 Tears "I hate you."
Shu Qing had never been so tired in her past and present lives. Cold sweat froze on her eyelashes, and with a blink, it fell from her eyelashes like a mermaid weeping tears that turned into pearls.
She was almost in despair, and for the first time asked herself, "Can I really change anything?"
On the other end of the intermittent communication, disaster after disaster is unfolding. Not only are humans and monsters being torn apart, but even people of the same race are tearing each other apart because of differing opinions.
Everything seemed to hang precariously on her shaky sword, its immense weight pressing down on her so much that she could barely lift her wrist. She could only watch helplessly as everything she cared about fell irrevocably.
Her vision blurred, and she had no idea whether her thrusting sword had struck or whether the blade of Zhiheng had embedded itself in her body...
Until a burst of golden light tore through the darkness before her eyes.
Shu Qing was a little confused. She subconsciously thought that Zhi Heng had detonated some special folded space again—such as the Kunlun Palace's treasury. But in an instant, everything went black before her eyes, and then it lit up again. She stared blankly at Jiu Su and Jin Wanli on the battlefield in the distance.
She was exhausted, and even her ability to think was overwhelmed by the sword. After a few breaths, she realized that Jiu Su had rushed up and taken back control of her body, forcibly sending her soul back into her own body.
Shu Qing leaped up and ran over.
Jiu Su held Jin Wanli in her arms, his whole body trembling uncontrollably, whether from the exhaustion of his demonic power in the battle or for some other reason. Jin Wanli's face was deathly pale, and feathers were showing on his forehead and neck, revealing his demonic form.
He had a bloody sword wound on his chest. The sword, which had been frozen in cold air, had vanished without a trace. Only drops of blood fell onto the snow. Deep inside the wound, shattered golden light could be faintly seen.
Shu Qing instinctively reached out to pull Jiu Su away. Even if Zhi Heng were to die, he wouldn't die peacefully and resigned to his fate. This distance was too dangerous. If Zhi Heng were to stab him in return, he wouldn't even be able to dodge.
But before she could make a move, Jin Wanli slightly moved his lips and almost whispered, "Brother..."
Shu Qing lowered her hand, then belatedly realized: That's right, the opponent before her wasn't just the cunning Zhi Heng, but also Jin Wanli. If this body died, Jin Wanli would die with it.
She took a small step back, knowing that while Jin Wanli might be able to accept Shu Qing without her memories, he would definitely still hate Xia Shan Jun, who had memories of his past life. It was better not to disturb him.
“Stay away from me,” Jin Wanli whispered. “His remnant soul is sealed inside my body…I’m going to blow him up.”
The last three words, though he only had half a breath left, were still spoken through gritted teeth, showing that no matter what situation he was in, he was still a fierce beast.
Jiu Su frantically channeled demonic energy into his meridians. He had already risked his life, but now, out of nowhere, another surge of power welled up. However, this power was also incredibly fragile, and after only a moment, it could no longer be sustained.
“The people from the Supermarket Management Bureau will be here soon,” Jiu Su’s voice sounded calm at first, but her breath was trembling slightly. “There will be other methods, so don’t make decisions on your own!”
Jin Wanli slowly shook his head. He had been with the Super Management Bureau much longer than Jiu Su and knew there was no better way.
He tried to push Jiu Su, but couldn't budge her—although both of them were at their limit, Jin Wanli was already seriously injured and on the verge of death, and at this moment he probably couldn't even push over a set of building blocks.
He could only reluctantly turn his gaze to Shu Qing, the only person in the room who still had normal physical strength, and his eyes revealed a threatening glint, as if he had no idea what kind of embarrassing situation he was in and thought he could still threaten her.
Shu Qing slowly approached them. Without Jin Wanli needing to say anything more, she grasped Jiu Su's arm and gently, without explanation, pulled him backward.
Just like 1,700 years ago, when Jin Wanli landed in front of them with a battle report from the demon race's front line and took Jiu Su away from her.
To Jiu Su, Jin Wanli was a brother; to her, he was also once a close friend, almost like a sibling.
Before the war broke out, before she made her final decision... he had followed Jiu Su around, skipping and hopping to find her. He had also taken advantage of being a bird to deliver messages to her and Jiu Su, who were thousands of miles apart. He had also eaten and drunk with them, and traveled with them...
As for this life, although we may not be friends, we have a bond of fighting side by side.
When Hu You questioned her, Jin Wanli offered a few words of support, and when Huiyao Group bullied her, Jin Wanli also stood up for her.
As for Jiu Su... as for Jiu Su...
He had no blood relatives or family in his life. The demon king Taiyu adopted him, but he didn't show him much fatherly affection. So, apart from his love for her, his brother Jin Wanli was the most important person to him.
In some ways, it was just as important to her as Zhiheng was in the past.
The world was silent.
The location where Jin Wanli was standing once again erupted with dazzling golden-red light, like the explosion of a star in legend, almost impossible to look at directly.
However, neither Shu Qing nor Jiu Su looked away for a moment, both staring fixedly ahead, one bidding farewell to their teacher and the other to their brother.
Shu Qing shifted her feet slightly and took a step forward instinctively—in that instant, a flood of memories of Zhi Heng came rushing back. On the verge of death, all one can recall are the good things about a deceased friend.
“Master,” in my memory, the girl held a scroll of profound alchemy texts, her face full of pain as she asked Zhiheng, “Why did I blow up the alchemy furnace again this time? I clearly followed the recipe and the steps in the book step by step, I swear I didn’t change anything this time!”
The refined and slender man gave a slightly helpless smile, took the book, and glanced at it: "Did you really follow the book exactly?"
"Really!" As a child, Shu Qing almost swore an oath, "The book says 'place the Jade Grass, Jade Ointment, and Blood Vine,' and I put them in in the order listed in the book without daring to change anything!"
"Alright, how many 'Spiritual Pivot Jade' were used to start the furnace?"
Shu Qing answered confidently, "Forty-nine."
Zhiheng sighed helplessly, picked up his pen and circled a few keywords for her: "Look at these ingredients, they are all mild and fragile plants. If you use the furnace fire for refining metals and stones to refine them, how can they not explode? You're lucky if the furnace fire doesn't backfire on you. You must remember that too much of anything is bad, and maintaining balance and moderation is the right way."
Too much of a good thing is bad, Master.
Why have you clung to such an obsessive belief, leading you down this extreme path to where you are today?
Amidst the bursting golden light, fragments of the folded space hidden within the Kunlun Palace were detonated one after another. Each fragment was insignificant, yet their simultaneous explosions triggered a violent spatial tremor, which in turn sparked a turbulent current.
Spacetime was churning in all directions. The space around them was torn apart and replaced. Shu Qing's arm was cut by the edge of the suddenly cracked space, and blood appeared more than ten meters away. In the blink of an eye, it flowed to her back three meters away.
The entire space of Kunlun Palace seemed to be trembling, collapsing, and reforming. The earth cracked, soil and rocks flew into the sky, the sky shattered, and wind and snow howled out from the cracks in the earth—
Suddenly, Jiu Su transformed into her true demonic form, a giant white snake coiled several times, tightly protecting Shu Qing beneath its body, forming a small, enclosed space that would never collapse amidst the storm of time and space.
His demonic power had long been completely exhausted, and at this moment, all that remained to protect her was this body.
He nuzzled her head against her and flicked his tongue at her.
Shu Qing was terrified. She pushed him with all her might, using every bit of spiritual energy she could muster, but she still couldn't budge him. The true form of this giant snake was far too large; it was simply beyond the capabilities of her mortal body. She was utterly helpless against him.
“What do you mean?” she screamed incoherently. “What is spatial turbulence? What do you think it is? It can tear apart even a world… What do you want to do, you…”
Jiu Su smiled silently, and suddenly said softly, "I hate you."
Shu Qing's already chaotic speech suddenly stopped, and she looked at Jiu Su in disbelief.
“I hate you… Before, ignorance was no excuse, but now that you remember everything, why can’t I hate you?” Jiu Su said softly, his blood-red demonic eyes gazing at her tenderly, her reflection in his eyes clearly showing even a single strand of hair. “Letting you get what you wanted is too easy for you. I’d rather you live alone…”
Shu Qing silently held his head and found that he was trembling slightly in her arms—the sky was cracking and the spatial turbulence was hitting him, probably like being torn to pieces, and the pain was indescribable.
Her eyes were dry, and she couldn't shed a tear. She thought frantically, "Can't I even die with him? Can't I even shed a tear?"
Jiu Su licked her face with her tongue and found that she hadn't shed any tears. She chuckled softly and said, "That's more like it. You and I are enemies, what's there to cry about? The Ashu I know never cries..."
She never cried, no matter what she faced. She didn't cry when she broke up with him, she didn't cry when she chased after him to seek revenge, and she only shed one tear when she died. In both her past and present lives, the only time she cried was because of a phone call from Shu Tong.
So this time, let's not shed tears either.
Or... just shed a single tear for me, that would be enough.
"Director Yang, there's spatial turbulence ahead!" Several team members from the Super Management Bureau hurriedly pulled out a bunch of equipment from their backpacks, skillfully assembled them, and several small, independent spaces popped out. The team members crawled into them one by one. "Large scale, medium energy level, should we enter to search?"
Director Yang nodded: "Three teams go in and search. They're not equipped with any folding space devices. Be quick!"
The three teams immediately plunged into the spatial turbulence. The Super Management Bureau has developed to the point where a group of mortals fight against troublesome monsters every day. Not to mention, their defensive measures have advanced by leaps and bounds. These small spaces are specifically designed to deal with monsters possessing similar power; they are quite robust, but their production is relatively limited.
This operation was highly dangerous, and Director Yang dared not be careless. The personnel he assigned were very comprehensive – some were specifically tasked with fighting against Jin Wanli’s demonic power, some were tasked with dealing with Zhi Heng as described by Shu Qing, and others such as mental illusions and plague toxins were also dealt with by specialists.
The third team was specifically designed to deal with spatial forces, and now it finally came in handy.
The others waited anxiously outside the spatial turbulence. They didn't have any folding space equipment, and they would be torn to shreds if they went in. They had no choice but to stay outside and wait expectantly.
I don't know how much time passed, maybe a minute, maybe an hour, maybe longer... Finally, the team members filed out and brought Shu Qing out.
Shu Qing stumbled and fell off the small aircraft. The folding space dissipated, and she fell to the ground from the space exit.
A group of people rushed to help her, but half of her body was covered in blood. The team members couldn't tell if it was her blood or someone else's blood that had splattered on her, so they didn't dare to touch her. They could only surround her like a flock of ducks, asking her questions.
"Can you still hold on?"
"How is Minister Jin? What happened to Professor Xie? Do they still need support inside?"
"Quickly—hurry up, alcohol, bandages!"
"Where is Senior Jiu Su?"
Shu Qing trembled, unable to speak. She slowly and gently opened her hand. In her outstretched palm was a small white snake, coiled up in a ball, its entire body covered in blood, with several deep wounds that exposed bone.
Everyone stared wide-eyed and held their breath. They saw the little snake, in full view of everyone, awkwardly rub against Shu Qing's palm.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
