Chapter 19: Throwing Caution to the Wind
Xie Bailu looked at Ling Song, a smile that didn’t reach her eyes on her face. “There are many things Young Master Ling doesn’t know.”
If necessary, she could even make up a mosquito demon or a cockroach demon!
Ling Song was certain of Xie Bailu’s origins. She had indeed been a mortal with no knowledge of the cultivation world at first, but she had grown quickly. She had just said she had made two demon cultivator friends. Was the so-called fly demon one of them?
Ling Song paused, finding it amusing. Xie Bailu had always been a liar. The so-called mosquito demon was most likely something she had made up on the spot. He went along with her. “Alright, then we’ll talk about it in detail later.”
A sentence that sounded like settling scores later made even Xiao Cui a little excited. She didn’t usually like to read novels, but she had read a few when she was bored. She had never thought that the stories in the novels could actually come true!
But when she thought that one of the parties involved was Ling Song, who was called a madman, she felt that something was strange. She wanted to ship them, but she didn’t dare.
Xie Bailu gave a dry laugh, but thought to herself, What later? I will strive to make sure there is no later between us!
She looked at Zhenhui again. “So is your original form small enough?”
Zhenhui stared at Xie Bailu. “I refuse.”
To Zhenhui’s surprise, Xie Bailu said, “Then forget it.”
Zhenhui hadn’t expected Xie Bailu to lose the pestering energy she had when she asked for his name. He looked at her with suspicion, but her expression was quite calm.
Xie Bailu naturally wouldn’t pester him about something she already knew the answer to. From Zhenhui’s attitude, he could most likely transform into his original form. Otherwise, he would have just said so directly.
She actually didn’t want to kill the Absolute Demon so soon either.
Although she had been failing in her attempts to kill Ling Song, and she was sure she couldn’t beat him, this was a rare opportunity. If she couldn’t make full use of it, she would feel like she had lost a great deal.
If Ling Song didn’t die, she would never be at ease. He had to die here!
But what was the breakthrough? If the situation remained as it was, she could do nothing.
Xie Bailu pondered as she observed the tower in front of her with the others, confirming that it was indeed impossible to enter.
If the key to completely killing the Absolute Demon was here, then the Absolute Demon’s defense was indeed top-notch. For “mortals,” this tower was indestructible.
Ling Song stood at the side with his arms crossed, watching. When Xie Bailu occasionally looked at him, she would find that he was also looking at her. She would then give him a bright smile, and no one would know that she was thinking about how to kill him.
Suddenly, Fang Jinxue said, “Wasn’t there a fireworks shop earlier? Maybe we can use those to blow this place up.”
This was indeed a method worth trying.
Just as everyone was about to turn back, they saw a figure appear in the distance. What made everyone hold their breath was that the figure was very tall and was a tiger-bodied demonic beast with fangs.
Everyone’s expression changed.
Xie Bailu also cursed the Absolute Demon for being unsportsmanlike. Was it so desperate that it was throwing caution to the wind? The Absolute Demon had always transformed into Ling Song to try and kill her, which showed its preference. But now it had summoned a demonic beast.
The demonic beast indeed couldn’t use spiritual energy in this domain, but the problem was, even without spiritual energy, a demonic beast was still a fierce beast, enough to suppress these “mortals.”
And besides this tiger demon, a wolf demon appeared on the other side of the tower.
The two demonic beasts attacked at almost the same time, charging forward, their massive bodies pressing down like small mountains.
After getting used to fighting with spiritual energy, a cultivator’s habits would become fixed. When faced with a demonic beast and subconsciously trying to use spiritual energy but failing, they would naturally panic. Without spiritual energy and weapons, their bodies were frail in front of the demonic beasts, and they lost the courage to resist, only able to run.
When Xie Bailu saw the two demonic beasts, she subconsciously moved closer to Zhenhui. When the two demonic beasts suddenly attacked and everyone scattered, she very naturally followed Zhenhui.
And when she turned to look back, she found that the tiger demon was coming for her…
She hadn’t provoked this tiger demon, had she?!
Zhenhui said as he ran, “Don’t follow me! It’s coming for me!”
Xie Bailu was stunned, and felt a strange sense of being touched. So it wasn’t because of her this time.
She wanted to say, Can’t you control demonic beasts that haven’t gained intelligence? But she held back. She didn’t separate from Zhenhui and continued to run with him.
When she looked back at the tiger demon’s distance again, Xie Bailu’s peripheral vision caught sight of the wolf demon targeting Ling Song. But he seemed to be unaware, facing her direction, his long, narrow eyes fixed on her.
Xie Bailu’s breath hitched, and then she felt a glimmer of hope. Good, just keep looking at me like that, until you’re killed by the wolf demon…
However, Ling Song easily dodged the wolf demon’s gaping mouth with a slight shift of his body. Without even looking, he stabbed backwards with the dagger in his hand, and it just so happened to pierce the wolf demon’s eye.
The wolf demon let out a tragic howl. Ling Song frowned slightly, leaned over to avoid the wolf demon’s sharp claws, and the dagger he pulled out also brought out the wolf demon’s eyeball. The wolf demon let out another shrill scream.
Xie Bailu admitted that Ling Song’s effortless movements just now were very cool, but seeing this scene, she couldn’t help but be disappointed. Why couldn’t he just be killed!
The wolf demon’s counterattack was even more ferocious. Ling Song finally turned his gaze away from Xie Bailu, but his last look sent shivers down her spine.
She still had a tiger demon chasing her, so she had no time to look at Ling Song’s situation.
After running for a while and completely losing sight of the others, Xie Bailu and Zhenhui were also chased to a dead end by the tiger demon.
The tiger demon’s large, copper-bell-like eyes stared greedily at Zhenhui, drool dripping from its mouth.
With no one else around, Xie Bailu no longer hid anything. She swallowed and said, “So the tiger demon can also sense the true dragon bloodline on you?”
Zhenhui had been staring at the tiger demon with a grave expression. Hearing this, he looked at Xie Bailu in shock.
Xie Bailu said, “I said before that I had two demon cultivator friends. They are your two companions, Zhenxin and Zhenyi. I recognized you when I heard your name, but I didn’t want Ling Song to know that I have a good relationship with Zhenxin and Zhenyi, so I didn’t say anything.”
Zhenhui was clearly very surprised. “You are Xie Cheng?”
Xie Bailu said, “That’s right. Do you need me to prove it? Let me think, Zhenxin also told me that he thinks licking your original form scratches his tongue.”
Zhenhui said, “…You don’t need to say anymore.”
He sized up Xie Bailu, but now was clearly not the time to ask more questions. The tiger demon was still watching them covetously.
Zhenhui stared at the tiger demon coldly, but his words were for Xie Bailu. “My bloodline is already very weak, but it’s a great attraction to these demonic beasts that haven’t gained intelligence. When I still had spiritual energy, I could control this attraction, but not now. It will keep chasing me until it eats me.”
Xie Bailu licked her somewhat dry lips. “Got it. I’ll wait for an opportunity to act when its attention is on you.”
She took out the cleaver and boning knife from the back of her belt. “Which one do you want?”
Zhenhui was speechless. “…”
He chose the cleaver, which looked clean and unused.
The boning knife still had dried blood on it that couldn’t be wiped clean. Xie Bailu didn’t care. She also had blood on her hands and body.
After a brief assessment, the tiger demon felt that the current Zhenhui was no threat and pounced decisively.
As a demon, Zhenhui’s physical body was slightly stronger than a human’s. He leaped up and jumped onto the tiger’s back, bringing the cleaver down on its neck. Blood immediately gushed out.
While looking for an opportunity to act, Xie Bailu also took a moment to sigh. Using a cleaver was indeed not as cool as using a dagger.
The tiger demon’s attention was all on Zhenhui. After he got on its back, it turned its head to try and bite him, but he narrowly dodged it each time.
The tiger demon’s movements were too violent, and Xie Bailu couldn’t find a chance to get close. She could only wait at the side with her knife.
Zhenhui fought with the tiger demon. After steadying himself, he brought the cleaver down on the same wound on its neck again. The blood gushed out even more fiercely, and some of it even splattered on Xie Bailu.
The tiger demon screamed in pain. Xie Bailu took the opportunity to rush forward and, imitating Ling Song’s move, stabbed the tiger demon’s eye.
But Xie Bailu didn’t have Ling Song’s flexible body. After the tiger demon was in pain, it instinctively swiped at her. She couldn’t dodge it completely, and the tiger’s claw tore through her sleeve, leaving several deep, bloody gashes. Blood flowed freely.
Xie Bailu quickly retreated to the side in pain, and the boning knife she had left in the tiger demon’s eye became a “handle” for Zhenhui to steady himself. He grabbed the boning knife with one hand to steady himself, and with the other, he brought the cleaver down hard on the tiger demon’s neck. His cold face, splattered with blood, made him look like a cold-blooded butcher.
Xie Bailu quickly pressed on the blood vessels in her arm to try and stop the bleeding. Her face was pale as she watched Zhenhui go berserk. A moment later, when the tiger demon lay motionless, its neck was almost severed.
Zhenhui panted for a while, then walked over to look at Xie Bailu. She forced a smile and said weakly, “Can you help me cut a piece of white cloth?”
She moved her foot, indicating for him to cut her clothes. It was a pity she couldn’t use her storage bag. She had bought a lot of white cloth for bandages!
But Zhenhui just tore a long strip of cloth from his own clothes and silently bandaged Xie Bailu.
His movements were very skilled, as if he had done this often.
Xie Bailu thought of Zhenyi, who was always talking about fighting, and smiled. “Did you practice this skill on Zhenyi?”
Zhenhui glanced at her, as if in silent agreement.
Xie Bailu said, “How did you get in here? Have you met up with Zhenxin and Zhenyi? Oh, what nonsense am I talking about? You already know my name, so you must have met them.”
Zhenhui finished bandaging Xie Bailu’s wound, then looked at her with a frown, as if faced with a great problem.
After a long time, he said, “Do you want to kill Ling Song? I’ll help you.”
Xie Bailu’s whole being perked up.
“Really?” she paused, then hesitated, a little worried about implicating him.
Zhenhui said, “You saved Zhenxin and Zhenyi. I’m repaying your kindness.”
He paused, then added, “I also hate Ling Song.”
He had also seen Ling Song when he had rushed to the city gate. Ling Song had killed his most useful few unintelligent Golden Core demonic beasts. He was naturally full of hostility towards Ling Song.
Xie Bailu thought, Could this be the variable I’ve been waiting for?
She really didn’t want to drag Zhenhui into her plan. If something happened to Zhenhui, how would those two little fools, Zhenxin and Zhenyi, survive in the future? But the temptation of being able to kill Ling Song was too great.
She said, “Are you really willing to help me kill Ling Song? I must state beforehand that Ling Song is very, very difficult to kill. I don’t know if you noticed just now, but he was able to handle the wolf demon on his own with ease.”
Although everyone’s spiritual energy was suppressed and they were like mortals, Ling Song seemed to be the one who was particularly favored, which made Xie Bailu very unhappy.
Zhenhui said, “You risked your life to save Zhenxin and Zhenyi. I won’t be afraid of danger to repay my debt.”
Xie Bailu coughed lightly. In truth, she hadn’t been in that much danger at the time. It just looked dangerous to others. She herself was very steady.
She thought for a moment, unable to give up this opportunity, and said, “Alright, I accept your kindness. But, before we act, we have to think of a plan B.”
Zhenhui was confused. “Pulanbi?”
But Xie Bailu asked, “By the way, you haven’t answered me yet. Can you transform into your original form?”
Meanwhile, after dealing with the wolf demon, Ling Song stood quietly for a moment, then walked in the direction Xie Bailu had fled.
A staggering figure suddenly appeared in front of him. It was Xie Bailu.
She looked heavily injured and rushed towards him eagerly when she saw him. “Young Master Ling!”
Ling Song smiled slightly and let her fall into his arms.
With a grunt, the woman in his arms said in surprise, “You…”
Ling Song threw the person away like trash and smiled brightly. “Finally came for me?”
The woman had a bloody hole in her stomach from a dagger. She knelt on the ground, staring at Ling Song in disbelief. “How did you see through me? How is it possible? What’s wrong with you two? How can you both see that I’m a fake!”
This was indeed the Absolute Demon. He finally couldn’t help but shout out his confusion and frustration. The female cultivator was one thing, but how could this man also see through him? He was not convinced!
Ling Song played with the blood-stained dagger in his hand and smiled nonchalantly. “You shouldn’t have transformed into me. Xie Bailu wants to tear me to pieces.”
The Absolute Demon was shocked. So it wasn’t that he had been seen through!
Damn it, so he had been wrong. They weren’t playing some new game before they entered the domain. This man really wanted to kill that woman!
Ling Song squatted down in front of the Absolute Demon, his smile devastatingly beautiful. “I should thank you.”
If it weren’t for this domain, he would have already killed Xie Bailu, and then he would never have found such an interesting person.
After he finished speaking, he raised his hand and lightly slit the Absolute Demon’s throat.
The Absolute Demon clutched its neck and fell, its eyes full of shock and anger. Didn’t he say he was thanking him? Is this how he thanks him? This madman!
Ling Song left the Absolute Demon’s body and continued to walk forward.
After walking for a short while, he saw Xie Bailu leaning against a wall, covered in blood, her head bowed, looking lifeless.
Ling Song frowned and quickly walked over and squatted down, lifting Xie Bailu’s face.
Her face was extremely pale, but fortunately, she was still warm and had a pulse.
Ling Song noticed that her arm and abdomen were wrapped in cloth strips, clearly seriously injured.
He patted Xie Bailu’s face.
After a few breaths, Xie Bailu’s eyelashes trembled, and she slowly opened her eyes.
“Ling Song?” she seemed to be trying to identify the person in front of her, her expression a little dazed.
Ling Song smiled. “You can still recognize people, then you’re fine.”
His fingers gently caressed Xie Bailu’s cheek, and he sneered, “What about that demon? Didn’t he take care of you?”
Xie Bailu coughed lightly and smiled. “Why should he take care of me? I was the one who went to him. He has no obligation to take care of me.”
Ling Song’s eyes turned cold, and he let go of the hand supporting Xie Bailu’s head.
Xie Bailu, as if subconsciously, grabbed Ling Song’s arm to steady herself. She looked up at him with difficulty and smiled. “I think I’m going to die. I didn’t expect that after running for so long, I still couldn’t escape this ending. Before I die, can you let me be presumptuous? Ha, I’m going to die anyway, so I don’t care if you agree or not.”
With that, her other hand grabbed Ling Song’s collar and she bit his lip.
Ling Song was momentarily stunned and didn’t dodge. Xie Bailu took the opportunity to wrap her arms around his waist and hold him tightly.
The next moment, Zhenhui silently and quickly came from the opposite house, bringing a knife down on Ling Song’s neck.