Love & Redemption
Chapter 111: Volume 3 Heartless Xuanji - 18 This Love Must Ask the Heavens (6)

Chapter 111: Volume 3 Heartless Xuanji Chapter 18 This Love Must Ask the Heavens (6)

"When the moon is dark and the wind is high, stealing jewels and fragrances..."

Liu Yihuan hummed a strange little tune as he strolled through the vast Zhou Residence as if it were uninhabited, swaggering about yet somehow encountering not a soul. Even Zhong Minyan had to admit that the Heavenly Eye had such capabilities.

Zi Hu lay on Liu Yihuan’s shoulder, her nose constantly twitching, complaining incessantly, "It stinks to death! I can hardly breathe!"

Liu Yihuan laughed, "Well, a fox isn’t exactly fragrant either. In the end, aren’t you going to cultivate seductive scents to lure in humans?"

Zi Hu became angrily retorted, "Nonsense! Even one hair of mine is better than this demon fragrance!"

As she saw Liu Yihuan wandering around the Zhou Residence, she seemed to sense that he was lost, and she anxiously said, "Is your Heavenly Eye activated? Don’t waste time!" After speaking, she climbed onto his shoulder, poking his forehead with her nose.

"Stop it." Liu Yihuan pulled her down and said with a smile, "If it were fully activated, even you, Little Fox, wouldn’t survive. It’s sufficient as it is now."

He suddenly stopped and leisurely extended his hand from his sleeve, pointing to a splendid building opposite him, and said, "Hey, kid, scatter the dog’s blood in front of the door and beneath the windows. Make it quick."

Zhong Minyan cursed silently within himself and, with a stern face, did as he was told. The blood, freshly bled from a black dog, was dense like black ink, smelling strongly of fish, and Luo Yihuan had cast a unique enchantment on it. Once scattered on the ground, it seeped in as if alive, climbing the window sills and walls, leaving dark marks that looked terrifying.

"Alright, come over here." Seeing that the Black Dog Blood had been scattered, Liu Yihuan waved to Zhong Minyan and squatted down without moving.

"What’s this? Just like that?!" Zhong Minyan lowered his voice and bellowed to him, "Aren’t you going to rush in?"

Liu Yihuan squatted down, arms crossed, and said coldly, "Who’s going to rush in? You? If you want to die, go ahead, no one’s stopping you."

Zhong Minyan had nothing to say back and angrily threw the jar onto the ground, turning away and walking off a considerable distance.

Zi Hu lay on Liu Yihuan’s sleeve, persistently biting his clothes, urgently saying, "How long are we going to wait? Is just using Black Dog Blood enough?"

Liu Yihuan laughed, "Of course it’s not enough. However, we can’t rush in, and we can’t just squat here and let her come out and eat us. We must first think of a way to trap her in the room so she can’t come out, then we’ll adapt accordingly!"

The snake who was shedding its skin was extremely sensitive to all things warm; at this moment, she must certainly be aware of the fishy smell of the Black Dog Blood outside—though there’s not much she can do about it. The blood contained a spell that prevents her from stepping out. She could only be trapped in the room, which is sort of like catching turtles in a jar.

The three of them waited a long while longer, but there was still no sound from inside, as if their efforts had yielded no effect. An anxious Zhong Minyan ran back over and growled, "What’s the plan? Are we just going to wait here until dawn?!"

Liu Yihuan laughed heartily, about to continue teasing him for amusement, but suddenly a fishy wind hit his face. The blood that had been scattered in front of the door and windows suddenly emitted a blood-red glow. The surprise of the phenomenon made both Zhong Minyan and Zi Hu take a step back, their bodies on guard.

Liu Yihuan sat down with his legs crossed, his sleeves gathered, unfazed, breaking into a grin and saying, "Second Miss, don’t make any rash moves; otherwise, if you scald your delicate skin, it would be quite unseemly."

A cold voice emerged from inside the house, chilling to the bone like the water from the nineteenth layer beneath the ground: "You’ve ruined my plans—who are you? Leave quickly before I lose my temper. Otherwise, don’t blame me for being ruthless."

Liu Yihuan grinned sleazily, then suddenly lay down on his elbow, picking his nose and humming, "You can’t come out, and I can’t go in, so let’s not scare each other. We’ve coexisted peacefully in Qingyang City for years. But, if you had to kidnap anyone, why did it have to be the Merfolk? For that, you can’t blame me for striking first. Quick, hand over the Merfolk. We’ll continue to live and let live, wouldn’t that be nice?"

That voice laughed coldly: "So, it’s you, rapist. What capabilities do you possess to challenge me? In the end, you’re nothing but a lowlife who takes advantage of others in their time of weakness. You think a mere Black Dog Blood can thwart me? You underestimate me!"

The fishy wind grew stronger, attacking from all directions, blowing everyone’s clothes with a whistling sound. Zhong Minyan unsheathed his treasure sword with a clang, hesitating about where to strike as Liu Yihuan below him mocked, "What are you cutting at? She’s not even out yet. Such a minor spell got you flustered; is this what the Shaoyang Sect’s disciples amount to?"

Zhong Minyan’s face reddened from the comment, he mumbled, "Mind your own business!"

Liu Yihuan shook his head, "I can barely bother with you, silly boy." Seeing that the demon wind did not relent but instead grew more fierce, he laughed out loud, "Second Miss, save your energy. Unless I withdraw the spell, you can’t step out. A beauty should be gentle and charming. Just release the Merfolk, and no one owes anyone."

Indeed, the demon wind gradually subsided, and after a prolonged silence inside the room, there suddenly came a chuckle, followed by a chilling voice: "I was intending to leave some good karma and not kill indiscriminately, but since you’ve come here willing to risk your lives and spoil my plans, why should I hesitate to start a slaying?"

Liu Yihuan’s expression abruptly turned serious, and he leapt up from the ground, grabbing the still-dazed Zhong Minyan and yanking him with force. The spot where he had been standing just moments before suddenly burst into flames. Green flames rose up more than a man’s height, bringing a chilling cold that sent shivers down one’s spine.

All three watched as the grass on the ground, ignited by the flames, quickly withered and turned black before finally becoming tiny ice shards, lightly scattering across the ground, shocking everyone.

A light laugh emerged from within the house, followed by all the doors and windows flinging open in an instant, exposing the pitch-black depths enveloped as though by swirling black fog. Zhong Minyan tensed up, ready to draw his sword and slash at the demon as soon as it appeared, but when the figure at the door flickered, it was a finely dressed woman standing there, her long skirt trailing silk, her hair reaching the ground, standing weakly and quietly watching them.

"Who is she...?" Zhong Minyan took a step back and whispered to Liu Yihuan. This lady was delicate and graceful, the typical image of an official’s daughter, leaving him unsure how to act.

"To think you’re foolish enough to hack at the wind and then freeze up when the real thing appears! If she’s not a demon, what is she?!"

Liu Yihuan was busy adding spells to the scattered Black Dog Blood, too lazy to explain to him.

Zhong Minyan was at a loss for words, but asking him to rush over and scream and slash at an official’s daughter was indeed difficult for him.

The woman walked to the edge of the door as if blocked by something, unable to move any further. She raised her Cloud Sleeve to cover her cherry lips and laughed lightly, saying, "You dare show off such petty tricks in front of a master."

Liu Yihuan’s face suddenly turned pale, and he shouted sternly, "Where’s the oil?! Hurry up!"

In the blink of an eye, the woman stepped past the threshold, the Black Dog Blood glittering red under the windows and doors suddenly extinguished en masse, gathering on the ground and churning relentlessly. Her long skirt swept across the high stone steps, and a huge black fog rose up behind her, writhing menacingly as if forming a massive python coiled upon itself.

Zhong Minyan grabbed the oil can and was about to pour it out when his body was suddenly wrapped tightly by something, his chest nearly bursting as he struggled to speak. Suddenly, the woman’s pale, delicate face appeared before his eyes, her eyes swirling as she gazed at him with a smile, whispering, "Poor thing, and such a pretty child too."

He was overwhelmed with fear and turned to flee, but his entire body was bound by invisible forces, rendering him immobile and gradually suffocating. As the woman’s hand reached towards him, deadly pale with nails at least three inches long, sharp as knives and chilling to the bone, he shouted in terror and hurled the two oil cans at her head.

The woman was caught off guard by his remaining strength to struggle, and when the hot oil splashed on her face, she screamed in pain, turning into a black mist and whirling around madly.

Zhong Minyan felt a release throughout his body and collapsed to the ground, nearly drained of strength. He rolled up his sleeves to see a large area of purplish bruises, realizing he must have been wrapped by the tail of the Snake Demon.

Suddenly someone yanked him from behind. Liu Yihuan laughed from behind him, "Well done! Silly boy."

Still a bit shaken, Zhong Minyan gripped his treasure sword, and together they looked up at the swirling black mist, which twisted and turned as if forming an enormous snake, far larger than they had imagined. Not just the few who had come today, but even if ten times as many came, it could swallow them whole.

"Now we’re really in trouble," Liu Yihuan murmured. Zi Hu bit down on his ankle, causing enough pain for him to shout, "Hey! What are you doing?!"

Zi Hu kept her eyes fixed on the empty doorway and said in a low voice, "You draw her attention, I’ll go find Ting Nu!"

Without waiting for Liu Yihuan’s response, her purple silhouette darted through the gap and rushed into the house.

"Don’t make decisions on your own, ahhh!" Liu Yihuan watched helplessly as she dashed inside, unable to stop her. Suddenly he felt a breeze behind his head, and grabbing Zhong Minyan, they quickly moved aside just as the coiling black mist rose up and a deep, chilling voice said, "I was going to let you go! But now, not a single one of you will escape!"

This time, they were truly in a bind. Rarely stumped, Liu Yihuan began to worry, and Zhong Minyan urged, "What are you waiting for? Attack!"

"You go ahead!" Liu Yihuan rolled his eyes at him, "Didn’t you see that she’s a shedding Snake Demon? Her real body hasn’t even appeared. Go on, try to strike her, see if you can even land a hit!"

So, they were supposed to stand here and do nothing? Zhong Minyan deeply regretted teaming up with this scoundrel and, disregarding him completely, drew his treasure sword and swung wildly at the black fog. As Liu Yihuan had said, he couldn’t hurt her at all. Instead, he was nearly burned by a blast of green fire she spat out, which almost caught his clothes on fire.

"Come and help!" Zhong Minyan turned back and yelled at Liu Yihuan.

Liu Yihuan stood up leisurely and sighed, "Oh dear, what a miscalculation. Seems like we can’t all get out unscathed. Maybe I should just run away first..."

Despicable! Zhong Minyan was so furious he nearly fainted. Just as he was about to curse him furiously, he heard Zi Hu scream from inside the house. The whirling black mist outside suddenly retracted, and something seemed to have happened.

After a moment, they heard the Second Miss inside laughing, "It’s fine if those people give me trouble, but you, a fox demon, also dare to challenge me. Never mind, my movement is limited for now, so I won’t bother with you. But when the day comes that I become a Dragon, I’ll take your thousand-year-old power."

With that, the doors and windows closed instantly, and all the commotion died down as every sound disappeared.

Zhong Minyan turned around in shock to see Liu Yihuan actually looking for a way to escape and couldn’t help but grab him furiously, screaming, "You really are going to run!"

No sooner had he spoken than he saw Liu Yihuan take out a small black horn from his chest, put it to his lips, and blow lightly—there was no sound. Zhong Minyan was startled for a moment, then heard Liu Yihuan chuckle mischievously, spread his hands, and say lazily, "I didn’t run, just called for reinforcements." (To be continued - if you wish to know what happens next, please visit www.qidian.com for more Chapters, support the author, and support genuine reading!)