Run? Where can we run?
Blood with a metallic, rusty taste dripped from my lips. I couldn’t tell if it was flowing back from my nose or if it was fresh blood oozing out again.
I swallowed it back down.
“We can’t get away.”
My voice had turned a bit hoarse.
We can only kill this demon, otherwise, none of us will escape.
That was the instinct screaming inside me.
Even if we ran, this strange curse would cling to us like maggots on bone, impossible to shake off.
“…When we get back after this mission, you can have as much milk tea as you want.”
Maybe sensing the same thing, Lu Xiu wiped his nose hard. Blood streaked down his cheek, giving him a vicious look.
I was stunned for a moment, then broke into a radiant smile. “You’re not allowed to go back on your word!”
Pfft—
Unzipping the skirt at my abdomen, a gigantic tongue shot out, yanking out a steel pipe from inside my belly and violently firing it toward the silhouette in the sky.
Screee—
There was no defense at all.
The steel pipe pierced right through the enemy’s torso, punching a gaping hole through their heart.
Black blood gushed out like a dam bursting, flooding the entire inverted upper body and dripping messily to the ground, spreading like an ink stain.
“Huh?”
Dead?
“Don’t let your guard down! Sui!”
Lu Xiu’s voice cut through the curtain of rain, snapping me out of my daze.
I stepped back.
Riiip—
A Thorn Whip nearly lashed across my head. The surrounding walls were smashed to bits like tofu dregs in an instant.
“Gulp.”
I swallowed hard.
That’s when I noticed—the heart had stopped bleeding, the wound had fully healed, and it continued to pump powerfully.
The attack was useless.
“The attack’s part of the ritual—the ritual on the ground! It’s summoning its true body!”
Lu Xiu wasn’t idle either. He immediately deduced the function of the formation on the ground and supported me with his gun.
I said nothing. The scarlet beast markings on my body darkened suddenly, spreading to both cheeks.
Hiss—
Raindrops fell on my body, instantly steaming into thin vapor, which vanished before they could linger for even a moment.
In a flash, I turned into a blur, charging toward those four heads.
Boom boom—
The rampaging Thorn Whips tore up the ground in an instant. Dust surged up, only to be held down again by the rain.
Dodge.
Dodge.
Dodge.
All my focus was on evading those unpredictable whips. I was nearly grazed, nearly blown away, nearly killed.
So close…
Clang!
A bullet struck a whip flung from my rear flank, sending it off course so it only grazed past me, tearing open my skirt.
Bang bang bang—
Lu Xiu held his nose with one hand, aiming his gun with the other, constantly searching for the attack most likely to hit me.
He was clearing a safe path for me.
“Ha—”
My heart was pounding, thundering in my chest.
My breathing grew faster and faster.
Yet that strange sense of exhilaration kept climbing.
I even grinned wide.
Then—
I crouched lower and burst forward again!
Whoosh—
Riiip—
Tattered cloth was shredded to unrecognizable bits by the rampaging whips, and my crimson silhouette kept darting through the gaps, dancing atop the blades of death.
Faster… faster…
I stretched out my claws, reaching for the ground.
Right at that moment—
“Sui! Watch out!”
BOOM—
An irresistible force slammed down from nowhere, crushing me to the ground.
“Ugh…”
Blood poured from my mouth again.
Just a little more…
I struggled to reach out, grasping at the head that represented Liu Xue.
Up above, the long-awaited Thorn Whip crashed down with a clap of thunder.
BOOM BOOM
My body fell into a warm embrace. I slowly opened my eyes and saw Lu Xiu’s face.
He covered his mouth, coughing hard. The Yellow Paper Figurine in his hand fluttered to the ground, soaked by the rain.
“No good… We have to split up. One of us distracts it, the other destroys the ritual…”
His voice was hoarse beyond recognition. Blood kept gushing from his nose and mouth, spreading in the rain.
“If I weren’t being targeted, I might’ve had a way to get you out… But now… heh, looks like you’ll have to die with me.”
He straightened up and coughed a few more times.
“…Either way, if you die, I die too.” I pouted.
“That’s a real downer.”
“What’s a ‘downer’?”
“Haha…” He laughed, spitting out a mouthful of blood. “I’ll explain when we get back.”
“Listen up, I’ll only say this once…” he said, pulling out several Yellow Talismans from his pocket and sticking them to his body, “I’ll distract it, you destroy the ritual… You run faster than me, but you’ll need to be even quicker—don’t get hit.”
Strangely, the blood stopped flowing, and his face—while still gaunt—looked a little more energized.
“We have ten minutes. If we can’t destroy the ritual, we’ll both be taking the Yellow Springs Road together.”
“Do you understand?”
I nodded.
Seeing this, he pulled out that blunt longsword from before, stamped forward hard—water splashing at his feet, reflecting his face—“Good…Let’s move!”
Tap tap—
Our two figures split up in an instant.
One tall, one short—one grinning, one stern-faced—together, we raised the banner of attack against the Pseudo-God in the sky.
Boom boom—
I twisted my foot, abruptly stopping as a whip slashed past my face, then spun and ducked beneath a second Thorn Whip.
Clang—
The third whip was blocked by Lu Xiu’s blunt sword. Twisting his wrist, he wrapped it around the blade and yanked hard, causing the Hanged Man in the sky to sway and opening a brief gap in its attacks.
I charged forward without hesitation. My long tongue drew out other weapons from my belly, blocking the rest of the attacks for me.
Lower… go lower…
I moved faster and faster.
Finally, I was on all fours, running like a beast. Everything around me became a blur, with only my pounding heart echoing in my ears.
Clang!
Lu Xiu blocked another attack, dodging two more whips that lashed at him.
His sword locked up three whips at once.
With a fierce tug—
The demon’s assault on me was interrupted once again.
At this moment, I was right below the heads.
Only three meters away.
Dazed, I felt that dreadful pressure gathering again.
Slap!
A Yellow Talisman was slapped onto a whip bound by the sword.
Crackling sounds rang out.
Then, blinding lightning tore through the sky, slamming brutally into the Hanged Man.
Thunder Summon of the Nine Heavens!
The attack was interrupted.
In that instant, a crimson shadow burst through the lightning.
“Hahaha!”
Thump thump—
That was my heartbeat.
Crrrk—
That was my fist clenching tighter.
Then—
I smashed down!
BOOM——!!!
The ground exploded beneath me, utterly destroying the blood-etched formation!
The world fell silent in an instant.
In the burst of scattered debris, I saw the four heads slowly rolling in the air, silent. They seemed to be smiling, but also crying.
The pale-faced youth still looked haggard and listless, while Liu Xue’s gaze turned up to the pitch-black sky, as if watching that bygone yesterday that no one would remember.
Riiip——
Smoke burst apart—the four heads were instantly shattered, blood spraying everywhere, becoming decorations hanging from the Thorn Whip.
They struck me.
Pain, like my body was being torn apart.
“Sui!!!”