Love & Redemption
Chapter 125: Volume 3 Heartless Xuanji - 32 Perilous String (Part 8)

Chapter 125: Volume 3 Heartless Xuanji Chapter 32 Perilous String (Part 8)

Zi Hu only felt her body sway unsteadily as if her soul had departed, not knowing towards where it would drift.

Had she died? Truly died? She hadn’t even passed the gates of the Netherworld, yet she had died inexplicably... How unwilling she was. However, it might be better; although she couldn’t save him, she could at least accompany him in the Netherworld, sharing the suffering, better than letting him endure thousands of years of lonely torment alone.

While lost in thought, suddenly a light appeared before her eyes. She did not react in time, before her body suddenly felt heavy, crashing hard onto the ground and nearly breaking her teeth.

"Not dead, huh..." she muttered, slowly getting up from the ground, feeling drained of all her strength, with a faint pain in her waist – it was Yu Lei’s whip that had grazed her. Though the injury wasn’t severe, it was enough to immobilize her.

"Ah, who the hell blew out my candle? I’ll definitely kill him when I find him..."

Unable to get up, she had to lie back down, gazing blankly at her surroundings. It was the same Sacrificial Altar, with the bronze tripod properly placed there, five giant incense sticks still burning, having burnt down by half. Underneath the tripod... the black candles were gone!

The shock was tremendous, nearly causing her to jump up, but then she heard someone above her head say with a chuckling tone, "Turns out it’s just a fox, with quite glossy fur."

Zi Hu stared in astonishment at a head that leaned forward, looking down at her from above. The person wore a green robe, his long hair almost touching her face. However, his face was obscured by a fearsome Shura mask. The eyes behind the mask were as dazzling as the stars in the sky.

"You..." She found him somewhat familiar, then suddenly remembered and screamed, "Are you from Li Ze Palace? Was it you who blew out the candle? I haven’t done anything to offend Li Ze Palace! Besides, we’re all family, why would you do such a thing!"

The head was indeed that of the Vice Palace Master. He smiled, lifting her by the head to look her over, and said with a laugh, "Who considers someone as lowly as a fox demon family?"

Though his words were accompanied by a smile, they were indescribably scornful and disdainful. Zi Hu became furious, but she was frail and his grip was firm on her scalp, leaving her powerless, only able to glare at him fiercely.

The Vice Palace Master then chuckled, "Keeping you around would only cause trouble, lucky for you, you haven’t been killed by Shen Tu and Yu Lei yet."

Zi Hu laughed furiously in response and harshly said, "Yes, they didn’t kill me. Are you offering to help?"

The Vice Palace Master stuffed her into his sleeve and said lightly, "Kill you? I wouldn’t dirty my hands. The Flower Pinning Conference is about to start, you can be the flower that gets plucked, saving us a lot of effort."

Zi Hu cursed wildly in his sleeve, using filthy words unheard of before, bewildering everyone. Initially, the Vice Palace Master could bear it with a smile, but gradually he grew annoyed, and with a gentle pat on his sleeve, Zi Hu felt his True Qi pierce through the fabric, blocking her breath suddenly, and she fainted as darkness enveloped her vision.

"You cannot disrupt the important matters," he said softly, then turned his head to look towards the black candles he had moved behind the Sacrificial Altar, watching them for a while before finally turning and drifting away.

*****

Xuanji slowly woke from the Black Sweet Dream, feeling utterly drained, as if someone was carrying her on their back, swaying lightly as if the person was trying not to wake her.

She moved slightly, and the person immediately noticed, asking softly, "Awake?"

It was Yu Sifeng’s voice. She suddenly opened her eyes and looked around; it was the same gloomy sky, the same moon that seemed within reach by hand, they were still at Buzhou Mountain.

Another person came up and supported her neck, saying irritably, "If you’re injured, don’t move around! Just lean back."

It was Zhong Minyan.

She obediently leaned on Yu Sifeng’s back, her head against his long hair, feeling hollow inside. After a moment, she murmured, "Where are we going?"

Yu Sifeng replied softly, "Didn’t Zi Hu say that the lair of those demons is in the northwest? We’re heading there."

The mention of Zi Hu’s name made Xuanji’s heart ache, her eyes stinging with tears that flowed down along Yu Sifeng’s hair.

Seeing her cry so sadly, and thinking about Zi Hu’s uncertain fate, the others also started to feel sorrowful. After a while, Zhong Minyan sniffled and said, "I believe she’s not dead; she must have been bounced back to the human world."

Xuanji, reassured by his confidence, stared intently at him, her eyes sharply questioning, "Really?"

Zhong Minyan turned his face away and muttered, "It must be so! Why are you crying? It looks so ugly! You’re not pretty to begin with, and crying when you’re injured only makes it worse!"

Xuanji, once roared at by him, immediately couldn’t cry any longer, only sniffled and looked at him helplessly.

Yu Sifeng sighed, "Xuanji, next time... you cannot be so reckless again. That was a god... surviving this time was truly a miracle."

The blood she had spat out still stained the front of her chest, a startling large patch that had dried and stuck to her chest, causing one’s heart to inexplicably palpitate. Being able to wake up so quickly and speak was undeniably due to her good fortune.

Xuanji was silent for a long while before saying, "I... I don’t know what came over me, it was just a rush of impulse..."

The always silent Ruo Yu suddenly laughed, "From what I see, Xuanji is really not simple. Have you all forgotten? Shen Tu and Yu Lei seemed to recognize her, they even called her General! It seems that Xuanji must have been quite the figure in her past life."

At these words, Xuanji was left speechless, Zhong Minyan’s face changed drastically, but Yu Sifeng merely said indifferently, "Ruo Yu, why bring up things without basis now?"

Ruo Yu chuckled lightly, "How is there no basis? We all saw and heard it, didn’t we?"

Zhong Minyan said anxiously, "I didn’t see anything! Even if I saw, I wouldn’t believe it! Those two gods must have recognized the wrong person!"

Xuanji replied hesitantly, "Yes... yes, they said that this Bengyu is a Divine Artifact, maybe they thought I was the former owner of this sword..."

Right, in their words, this sword was not called Bengyu but Ding Kun. Ding Kun, Ding Kun... Why did this name sound so familiar to her?

Ruo Yu did not speak again.

As Yu Sifeng carried Xuanji a distance, he felt that her spirits seemed much better, and he softly asked her, "How do you feel? Does it still hurt anywhere?"

Xuanji shook her head, "My chest was terribly painful just now, but it’s okay now."

After speaking, she suddenly felt him turn his head towards her, his breath gentle, drifting onto her lips, causing Xuanji’s face to redden as she looked down.

"Don’t be impulsive again, otherwise I will eventually be..."

He sighed deeply; the words were only half-spoken when he stopped.

Xuanji nodded slightly, murmuring, "I... I will definitely listen to you next time..."

By her ear, she heard his gentle laugh, like a tender little hand, touching her aching heart a couple of times, ticklish yet very comforting. She couldn’t help wanting to moan but being shy, her entire face burned as if on fire. She raised her hand to embrace his neck, whispering by his ear, "I... am quite heavy, right? I am fine now, I can walk by myself."

Yu Sifeng’s long eyelashes trembled slightly as he said in a low voice, "I will not let go."

He paused, then added, "I have been regretting for the last four years why it wasn’t me carrying you."

Xuanji suddenly remembered the incident more than four years ago, when everyone went to Lutai Mountain to capture Gu Diao, back when she was useless and knew nothing, her foot wounded by thorns on the ground, and the person carrying her was the reluctant Zhong Minyan. Now as he brought up the old times, it unexpectedly stirred many emotions in her. Back then, they were a trio, later joined by Linglong to become a quartet, four people doing everything together, swearing to remain lifelong friends.

Lifelong...

"Even if dad drove me out, I don’t regret going to Buzhou Mountain to save Linglong," she said quietly, resolutely.

Yu Sifeng said nothing. The chilling moonlight cast him in silhouette, his long eyelashes and neat brows exceptionally enchanting. The boundless Buzhou Mountain stretched to the unseen end of the sky, the moon overhead as though within reach.

In such a gloomy scene, for some reason, Xuanji felt somewhat reluctant to let go.

Leaning against his broad back, she gently swayed, surrounded by silence, with only their heartbeats audible. She only wished this path would extend a bit longer, not reaching its end so quickly. Allow her to quietly walk a little further with him. (To be continued, for further details, please visit www.qidian.com. More Chapters, support the author, support genuine reading!)