Love & Redemption
Chapter 184: Volume 4: The Fragile Dream Shatters, - 41: Riot (3)

Chapter 184: Volume 4: The Fragile Dream Shatters, Chapter 41: Riot (3)

Several beads slid from beneath his ribs, clinking to the ground. His back was straight and slender, muscles clearly defined; although slightly thin, there was a hint of fierceness hidden within. A faint golden light emanated from his skin, enveloping him like a mist from head to toe, making her unable to touch him.

The golden light gradually gathered and ultimately transformed into a pair of lush, beautiful wings that gently unfurled, spanning about three meters. Each golden feather at the tips boasted six long, grand plumes. Countless bright red patterns densely covered his body, not sparing even his face. He no longer looked like the pale, silent youth he once was.

He was a demon, beautiful as a phoenix, a Golden Winged Bird Demon.

Xuanji staggered back several steps, nearly falling when an arm suddenly steadied her. She turned around in a daze to meet Liu Yihuan’s expressionless face. He wasn’t looking at her; his gaze was on Yu Sifeng. After a pause, he asked softly, "Are you going to abandon him?"

Xuanji didn’t speak; his voice seemed as if it came from a great distance, unclear to her ears, yet each word heavily struck her heart, echoing continuously.

The beautiful wings slightly spread, and Yu Sifeng soared upward, as if to leave her without even a backward glance, persisting in his obstinate silence. Shieryu’s Golden Winged Bird, the noblest bloodline, his wings’ brightness outshining even the sun was almost tear-inducing. He was like a beam of gold, instantly landing in the arena, causing the demons to be wary and avoid confronting him.

Liu Yihuan watched intently and asked gravely, "Are you going to abandon him?"

Xuanji slowly shook her head, still unable to utter a word. Even she didn’t know whether she was more shocked or disappointed. Suddenly, she remembered the day he gave her the hairpin of the Golden Winged Bird, asking her tenderly, in a soft probing voice: If it’s a demon, would you look down on it? He, himself, cared so much about this that, as a demon, he felt he wasn’t worthy of a human. Afraid she might be disappointed, afraid she might reject him, afraid she might leave him. She couldn’t remember what she had replied that day, or if she had hurt his heart. Her naïve mind had never considered the possibility of him being a demon. To her, Yu Sifeng was just Yu Sifeng; she couldn’t leave him, it was that simple.

But why had she let go of his hand? She couldn’t find an answer; it was an instinctive bodily response in that moment: he was a demon, not a human. She had effortlessly discarded him at her fingertips.

Liu Yihuan sighed deeply, his voice bitter: "He’s a fool who doesn’t know how to secure his retreat, banging his head bloody yet still not willing to leave. Fool... such a fool... being a human is so hard..."

Being human is too hard, a mix of emotions, love, and hatred, like an extremely bitter tea that is hard to describe. Yet everyone still wants to be human. Being human is wonderful—flowers in full bloom in the world, blue skies and white clouds, endless songs, the many colorful beauties of the mortal coil, dazzling to the eye. But those aren’t what’s most important.

So what is most important?

Xuanji suddenly felt tearful, and Yu Sifeng’s smiling voice echoed vaguely in her head: When that person approaches your sight, there’s a moment when all the temptations of the mortal world seem trivial. Blue skies, white clouds, lush green grass—you won’t look at them again. From then on, your eyes see only her, and giving your life feels utterly gratifying. So, despite the hardships of being human, you endure willingly.

She felt herself gradually shattering from within, unable to hold herself together, soon to turn into countless fragments, dissipating in the wind. Trembling, she reached out to grasp something, but caught only the cold wind slipping through her fingers.

Coldly, Liu Yihuan said beside her ear, "Great Palace Master, I won’t let you cause trouble here." Startled, she turned to see Liu Yihuan blocking the Great Palace Master, sword in hand, his face somber. The Great Palace Master didn’t even glance at him, his gaze deep, seemingly furiously intense. Suddenly, he moved, his fingers flicking as if plucking strings of a lute, about to brush past Liu Yihuan’s shoulder.

"The same move is too much from you!" Liu Yihuan yelled, swinging his sword up. The Great Palace Master’s extended fingers were suddenly at risk, narrowly missing being chopped by the blade—Liu Yihuan had merely feinted the previous move! With his first strike failed, Liu Yihuan suddenly fell into a disadvantage, attempting a counterattack, but the Great Palace Master lightly flew up, coldly saying, "Such ignorant beings." Liu Yihuan cried out, furiously raising his sword in pursuit, but the other was flying, and he couldn’t catch up by running, only turning a ghastly pale with continuous cursing.

Ting Nu, who had been quietly sitting by, suddenly spoke, "Why don’t you break the seal? Fighting with him with the seal intact, how can you possibly win?"

Liu Yihuan snapped angrily, "Mind your own business! Can’t I choose not to break the seal in public?!"

"If I may," Ting Nu said calmly, "because you stole the Heavenly Eye, you’ve paid the price and lost your demon power, right?"

Liu Yihuan’s face turned from pale to green, his lips quivered for a good while before he said, "You... you really fucking... have the Heavenly Eye too, eh?"

With a slight smile, Ting Nu responded, "I don’t have the Heavenly Eye; I was just guessing, and it turns out to be true."

Liu Yihuan, furious beyond measure, blurted out a mess of words and finally realized it was to no avail. Clutching his head, he panicked, "What do we do?! He’s going up there, and that foolish Si Feng will definitely refuse to fight him! Are we all really going to die here?" Suddenly catching a glimpse of someone moving lightly beside him, he abruptly jumped up, grasped the person’s collar, and fiercely said, "Right, there’s one more here! Don’t you refrain from killing people? Go stop your brother now!"

That person turned out to be the Vice Palace Master. He had been struck in the chest by the Great Palace Master, with blood seeping out from under his mask, leaving gruesome spots all over his chest. When Liu Yihuan grabbed him, his body turned limp, as if he could barely stand, which made him stunned.

The Vice Palace Master chuckled weakly, "Sorry, as you can see, I’m seriously injured and don’t have the energy to care about the lives of these mortals. If big brother wants them dead, you just watch."

"You piece of shit!" Liu Yihuan desperately wanted to punch him, "I knew you were no good! What deceit are you playing at now?! Weren’t you speaking so righteously earlier? You’d give up just like that?!"

If it’s a trick, why would I tell you... the Vice Palace Master sighed, wanting to push this idiot away, but with no strength in his limbs, he simply let himself be dragged and carried around, not resisting any further.

Suddenly a delicate voice rang out: "Tengshe, you go." Everyone turned around in unison, only to see Xuanji’s face pale and expressionless. Tengshe exclaimed, "If you tell me to go, I’ll lose face! I’m not going! Besides, you already know that kid is a demon, then why should an Immortal intervene when demons and mortals fight!" He was still bickering and arguing with Xuanji, acting childishly. Just a moment ago, he seemed ready to fight, but at her command, he simply refused to go.

Xuanji didn’t get angry but merely said softly, "You go, I allow you to indulge in a massacre, have a blast."

Tengshe was startled, "You allow..." What right did she have to allow or disallow anything he did?! Just as he was about to argue, he looked up and met her deep, cavernous eyes, and suddenly, he couldn’t muster his usual cheekiness.

"I allow you to kill all those demons, not one left!"

Tengshe fell silent. There was an indescribable tacit understanding between a spiritual beast and its master, and the flame in her heart seemed to ignite in his own, infecting him. He suddenly stood up and yelled, "It’s you who said I could kill them! Don’t go back on your word later trying to plot against me!"

Xuanji paused, then added, "Don’t kill Yu Sifeng or any other mortals."

"No shit!" Tengshe sprang into the air, Fire Wings flaring out behind him with a whoosh. No longer restraining his power, his pair of blood-red Fire Wings unfolded to a full ten arms’ lengths. The lesser skilled Golden Winged Bird Demons, once grazed by the flames, immediately burned to cinders and fell to the ground. Engulfed in the bright red Tengshe’s Fire, he appeared as a man of fire, unstoppable wherever he passed, like entering a desolate realm.

However, his advantage lasted only for a short while before he was quickly surrounded by a large group of demons. The more skilled Golden Winged Birds were not afraid of the flames; his fire burned for half a day and still couldn’t kill them, making him scream in frustration, "Damn woman! Come help me!"

Xuanji slowly raised her sword and softly called out, "Tengshe." The Bengyu Sword instantly emitted a brilliant silver glow, trembling in waves as if gathering power, as if silently crying out. She swiped her wrist, pushing the Bengyu Sword forward. Tengshe bellowed, seemingly overwhelmed, as the Fire Wings on his back whooshed and abruptly extended, growing two new, translucent cyan wings that pierced the sky, baking any cloud it touched and sending heatwaves sky-high. Chu Lei and the others, aware of the danger, had long since hidden themselves away, not daring to approach.

Any demon that accidentally collided with his Fire Wings was instantly incinerated. This terrifyingly domineering power nearly made him exterminate those dazzling demons in the blink of an eye. Seeing the Great Palace Master turning to flee, Xuanji immediately yelled, "Kill him!"

Tengshe was only too happy to obey, as killing him was far more satisfying than letting him go. His four Fire Wings slowly closed in to envelop him, but suddenly his body shook, and the relentless power abruptly vanished, his four Fire Wings momentarily returning to two blazing Tengshe flames, barely scorching the Great Palace Master, something even an idiot could tell was futile.

"Hey! What the hell are you doing?!" Tengshe furiously turned around yelling, only to see that Xuanji’s Bengyu Sword was held in the hand of the Vice Palace Master. She looked up at him in surprise. Just as they were about to incinerate the villain, the Vice Palace Master suddenly intervened and grabbed the Bengyu Sword, breaking her connection with Tengshe in her shock.

"What are you doing?!" Xuanji forcefully pulled, but the Vice Palace Master suddenly let go, her excessive force making her stagger back a few steps.

The Vice Palace Master chuckled mischievously, "Don’t be too ruthless. It’s not good for you." With that, he lightly touched the ground with his toes and floated up, darting into the arena in a few leaps to grab the Great Palace Master to escape. Suddenly, a person started coughing violently; following that, the golden light abruptly withdrew, and someone fell from mid-air, crashing heavily to the ground and passing out—it was Yu Sifeng!

Liu Yihuan was horror-stricken and cried out, "No good! The Lover’s Curse is starting to backfire!" He broke into a run, sprinting over, but the Great Palace Master was much faster, catching Yu Sifeng in a blink, and along with the Vice Palace Master, they darted away, quickly shrinking to mere specks till they were no longer visible.

While everyone was still in shock, suddenly two figures quickly chased after them, "whoosh," disappearing in the blink of an eye. Turning back, the scene was now missing Xuanji and Liu Yihuan. (To be continued. To find out what happens next, please visit www.qidian.com. More Chapters are available, support the author, support authorized reading!)