Heroines, I'm Really not the Devourer
Chapter 29: So You Vouch for him?

Chapter 29: So You Vouch for him?

"I’m going to bring you down to earth."

His gaze grew fiercer. He was a prodigy, an exceptional cultivator. At the fifth stage of the Nascent Soul, he had mastered the first three movements of the Eight Divine Gates technique. He could not be humiliated like this.

He exhaled slowly, his Qi surging around him.

"First Gate..."

The sky above them instantly darkened. Black clouds formed, swirling in a menacing dance as lightning crackled across the horizon. The air grew heavy, saturated with static electricity.

Without hesitation, Qiu Jian lunged at his opponent, his spear crackling with energy. He struck with all the power amassed in his body.

But BaiShe barely moved.

At the last moment, he dodged the spear tip with a fluid motion and grabbed Qiu Jian’s sleeve with a simple gesture.

"How—?!"

Without warning, he brutally pulled the young prodigy toward him, and his knee shot up at a blistering speed.

Qiu Jian’s skull collided violently with BaiShe’s knee, a sinister crack echoing as his body was flung backward. He crashed to the ground in a cloud of dust.

"Just flashy moves."

BaiShe sniffed, clearly unimpressed.

Qiu Jian, however, was not done. Despite the blood trickling from his nose, he raised his head with fierce determination.

*He’s stronger than I thought. I have to go all out.*

"Third Gate..."

A shockwave exploded around him, sending shards of rock and earth flying. His roaring Qi swirled, his hair standing on end from the unleashed energy.

His body vanished in a blue flash.

He reappeared to BaiShe’s left, a lightning-fast strike ready to pulverize him.

But BaiShe dodged.

Qiu Jian’s blow exploded through everything in its path, reducing an entire section of the terrain to rubble.

Without pause, Jian pivoted, adjusting his stance for a swift and merciless diagonal slash.

BaiShe reacted just in time, blocking the attack by a hair’s breadth.

Qiu Jian pressed on. He raised his hand to the sky, his roar echoing through the valley.

"Divine Fury!"

A deafening crackle erupted as dozens of lightning bolts struck from the sky, hitting the ground.

BaiShe, for the first time, narrowed his eyes slightly.

But as Qiu Jian exulted inwardly, believing he had finally gained the upper hand, he sensed a presence just above him.

Before he could react, a hand firmly gripped his face.

He felt an unrelenting force pulling him toward the ground.

His body was hurled like a sack of trash.

"What—!"

He had no time to understand what was happening.

His back slammed violently into the ground, creating a crater around him.

The impact left him dazed, his muscles refusing to move.

Then... a shadow loomed over him.

*BOOM*

A foot crashed into his face.

Then again.

And again.

*BOOM*

*BOOM*

The ground shook with each impact.

Qiu Jian tried to move, but each blow annihilated the little strength he had left.

Finally, BaiShe ceased his assault and leaned down.

Grabbing Qiu Jian by the hair, he lifted him effortlessly, staring directly into his eyes.

"I think now... I have your full attention."

His voice was cold and bored.

He smiled slightly, as if amused by the situation.

"So I’ll ask again... Where is that damn Devourer?"

Qiu Jian, his face bloodied, tried to respond, but his lips trembled with pain. His entire body screamed at him to give up, to pass out.

But BaiShe wouldn’t let him.

He gently patted his cheek, a gesture almost affectionate, yet terribly humiliating.

"Stay with me, kid."

His smile widened.

"I’m not done with you yet."

"I... don’t... know..." he managed to say. But BaiShe shook his head again.

"Wrong answer ~"

Jian closed his eyes, knowing he would finally die at the hands of a madman.

"What the hell is going on HERE?!"

A powerful voice echoed across the devastated plain, shattering the heavy silence that had settled after the massacre.

BaiShe, still holding Qiu Jian by the hair, showed a faint, imperceptible smile.

*Finally, I thought no one was coming. I was this close to finishing him off.* he thought with a hint of amusement.

Without even looking away, he lazily extended a hand and caught an ice projectile hurtling toward him barehanded. The biting cold instantly dissipated under the effect of his Qi, and the ice exploded into a thousand shards that glittered briefly in the flickering light of the residual lightning.

He glanced down at Qiu Jian, still half-conscious in his grip.

"Looks like one of your accomplices has arrived."

A female voice, laced with anger, resonated once more.

"Let him go."

BaiShe casually shattered the remnants of the projectile, then finally turned toward the newcomer.

She was a young woman with long black hair neatly tied, leaving a few strands framing her sharp, determined features. Her amber eyes, glowing with a cold light, fixed on him with obvious hostility. Her furrowed brows betrayed the tension in her body, though she tried to mask her anxiety. Beside her stood a dozen other cultivators.

"And may I ask who you are?" BaiShe asked mockingly.

"I’m from Snowy Night Mountain, so you should avoid— "

"Oh, I’m terrified ~," BaiShe cut in with a cynical expression.

He released Qiu Jian, who collapsed to the ground with a thud. Then, unhurriedly, he slowly walked toward the young woman.

She didn’t flinch, though she was tense. She had seen BaiShe crush her fiancé in mere moments, without showing any sign of fatigue. He hadn’t sustained a single scratch. She couldn’t risk provoking him further.

"What do you want?" she asked warily.

BaiShe narrowed his eyes slightly, noticing the subtle movement of her hand from the corner of his eye.

She was discreetly trying to extract a talisman.

His smile widened slightly.

"Look around you..."

The air was heavy, saturated with a dark, nauseating energy. The ground was marked with deep cracks, and the desiccated bodies still littered the terrain, drained of all essence.

"The Devourer’s Qi stinks up this area. So I’m kindly asking my friend here, whom I found on the ground, what he knows about it."

The young woman’s eyes widened, her breath catching for a moment in shock. Was this some kind of misunderstanding? But the guy was still too domineering.

"What? But he has nothing to do with the Devourer!"

"And how can you prove that?"

A tense silence fell.

She clenched her teeth.

"I’ve known Jian since childhood. It’s impossible. He’s probably searching for it too..."

BaiShe stared at her for a few moments, as if gauging the sincerity of her words.

Then he shrugged, seemingly uninterested.

"Hmm, so you vouch for him? Fine."

Without warning, he slowly rose into the sky, his Qi surrounding him like a shimmering silver mist. He observed them from above, like a predator assessing insignificant prey.

"I hope you’re telling the truth. Otherwise, you’ll be his accomplice too."