Chapter 27: The Price of Protection

Gu Chang’an knelt, leaning on her sword. For the first time, a sentiment named ‘bewilderment’ flickered in her clear, cold, star-like almond eyes.

She stared at the blood-stained bone hairpin in Shen Zhaoqing’s hand, feeling the wisp of razor-sharp sword intent that lingered on it, familiar to her very bones.

It was the aura of the Sword Tomb.

It was the primordial killing intent of the *Supreme Forgetfulness Sword Art*, something she had guarded for three years yet never fully mastered.

How had Shen Zhaoqing, who merely napped with a wine gourd daily and transformed into a quivering quail upon seeing disciplinary disciples, managed this? Had she, so effortlessly, grasped the sword intent Gu Chang’an had yearned for, all with a mere broken hairpin?

Gu Chang’an glanced at the sword in her hand and let out a bitter laugh.

Not far away, a barely perceptible twitch rippled across Ning Jihe’s face, a visage usually veiled in millennia of frost. The Decree Plate in her hand flickered erratically, much like a computer on the verge of crashing.

A demonic cultivator performing a ‘golden cicada shedding its shell’ right under her nose was tantamount to a public slap to her face.

Meanwhile, the Demonic Venerable Ling Shuangjue was merely observing the spectacle.

Leaning against the mountain wall behind her, the earlier weakness from coughing blood had vanished without a trace.

” ‘I truly find myself wanting to take you back more and more…’ “

Ling Shuangjue’s tongue darted out, lightly licking away the lingering trace of blood at the corner of her lips. The movement was both sinister and alluring, causing hearts to constrict with unease.

As for Li Ruan’yan, she had completely lost the ability to smile.

” ‘You little wretch!!!’ “

Qu Hanpo’s eyes were bloodshot, his form resembling a mad demon, all rationality consumed by an overwhelming tide of hatred.

The instant he perceived the pressure, he had used a magic tool to escape, intending a ‘golden cicada shedding its shell’. He had planned to let everyone fight it out before returning to reap the rewards, but now, thanks to Shen Zhaoqing, he had become a useless puppet, ripe for slaughter!

Even in death, he would drag down the culprit who had ruined everything as his sacrifice!

” ‘I’ll kill you!!’ “

He let out a furious roar, his left hand violently drawing the blood-stained Bloodforged Blade from his waist. All remaining demonic energy within him was self-destructively poured into the weapon!

A hum!

The Bloodforged Blade let out a mournful wail, its surface glowing with sinister crimson patterns. A dense, almost congealed aura of bloodlust surged skyward!

He completely disregarded the three top-tier powerhouses nearby, any one of whom could effortlessly crush him. His sole thought now was to hack Shen Zhaoqing to death!

” ‘Die, damn you!’ “

Qu Hanpo’s form transformed into a crimson afterimage, imbued with a suicidal madness. He cleaved down with his blade towards the slender figure still standing, feigning composure, in the same spot!

The strike was too swift!

Shen Zhaoqing hadn’t fully recovered her wits. The great crimson blade, carrying a腥 wind, grew larger and clearer within her pale golden pupils.

” ‘It seems I’ve overplayed my hand…’ “

This was the last thought that flashed through Shen Zhaoqing’s mind.

However, in that critical moment, just as the blade was about to touch the wisps of hair on her forehead.

A figure, swifter and more resolute than Qu Hanpo, like a moth drawn to a flame, suddenly crashed into her vision without warning.

” ‘Senior Sister!’ “

A tearful, urgent, and trembling cry rang out in Shen Zhaoqing’s ears. The young girl, whose face was as pale as paper from severe injuries, had somehow struggled to her feet.

Shen Zhaoqing was about to retreat when she was pushed by a sudden force. Immediately after, she watched as the girl spread her arms, using her frail body, so thin it seemed a gust of wind could topple it, to unhesitatingly shield her.

Like a fragile, yet unbreakable, dam.

Shen Zhaoqing instinctively reached out, intending to pull her away.

But it was too late.

” ‘Pfft—!’ “

The muffled yet distinct sound of a sharp blade piercing flesh echoed, particularly jarring in the dead silence of the valley.

Qu Hanpo’s Bloodforged Blade, imbued with his entire cultivation and resentment, plunged deep into Li Wuxia’s back. It then pierced through her body, emerging from her chest.

Blood dripped profusely from the blade’s tip.

Time, in that moment, seemed to have been put into slow motion.

Shen Zhaoqing could clearly see Li Wuxia’s body tremble violently.

A trickle of blood slowly seeped from the corner of her pale lips.

In her timid, ink-blue eyes, which always seemed to hold a deep pool of unspoken emotions, there was now a strange, fulfilled serenity.

” ‘Wuxia…’ “

Shen Zhaoqing’s mind went utterly blank.

She didn’t understand.

She didn’t understand at all!

Her Teleportation Art was already prepared. Yet, Li Wuxia had chosen to take the blow herself, fearing even the slightest harm would come to Shen Zhaoqing.

” ‘Hahahaha! You idiot shield! You’re next…’ “

His laughter, however, abruptly ceased.

He discovered that his Bloodforged Blade, which had impaled Li Wuxia’s body, was clamped shut by an invisible force. No matter how much strength he exerted, he couldn’t advance it an inch, nor could he pull it out!

” ‘What’s happening?!’ “

Qu Hanpo’s heart seized with alarm, and he peered closer.

Instead of the expected gush of blood from the grotesque wound on Li Wuxia’s back. Innumerable crimson threads, finer than hair, erupted violently from the wound.

These blood threads, like living entities, instantly coiled around the Bloodforged Blade’s body. They then wildly spread along the blade, creeping towards Qu Hanpo’s arm.

” ‘What in the hell is this?!’ “

” ‘Buzz—!’ “

Within Li Wuxia, something seemed to have been utterly detonated. Her plain Qingyun Sect outer disciple robe was instantly ripped apart by the bloody light erupting from within her!

Streaks upon streaks, wisps upon wisps, tens of thousands of crimson threads, centered around her, burst forth like a breached dam in a roaring torrent!

Life-Locking Blood Threads!

Under the fatal provocation, these innate magic tools, long integrated with her meridians, bones, and divine soul, went completely berserk.

They were no longer subject to any control, obeying only their primal instinct: to obliterate anything that threatened their host!

” ‘Agh—!’ “

Qu Hanpo only managed to let out half a scream before he was instantly engulfed by the overwhelming deluge of crimson threads!

These blood threads were more terrifying than the sharpest blades in the world.

They effortlessly pierced through his protective demonic energy, burrowed into his flesh, coiled around his bones, and tore through his meridians!

” ‘Bang!!!’ “

A colossal explosion.

Qu Hanpo’s body, like a crimson firework detonated from within, burst apart in mid-air!

Flesh splattered, bones turned to dust.

A generation’s demonic overlord, a formidable villain, was utterly annihilated by that raging blood thread storm, leaving not even a complete corpse behind.

Having accomplished all this, the sky-filling crimson threads seemed to have exhausted all their power. Their light rapidly dimmed, and like a receding tide, they slowly withdrew back into Li Wuxia’s small body.

Deprived of its final support, Li Wuxia’s body went limp and toppled forward.

Shen Zhaoqing instinctively extended her arms, pulling the girl tightly into her embrace.

She was incredibly light.

The girl in her arms was as light as a feather, as if she could be carried away by the wind at any moment.

Her body was frighteningly cold, save for the grotesque wound on her back, which continued to seep warm blood. It quickly stained the front of Shen Zhaoqing’s robes crimson.

” ‘Se… Senior Sister…’ “

Li Wuxia leaned against her.

” ‘Was I… useful…?’ “

Before her words fully faded, her eyelids slowly drooped, and she completely lost consciousness.

” ‘Junior Sister Wuxia.’ “

Shen Zhaoqing held the faintly breathing girl in her arms, her entire being frozen.

She lowered her head, gazing at Li Wuxia’s small, bloodless face, and at the unsettling smile that still lingered at the corner of her lips.

The valley wind, at last, began to stir once more.

It ruffled her disheveled hair, and with it, brought a thick, nauseating scent of blood.

Not far away, Gu Chang’an, Ning Jihe, Ling Shuangjue, and Li Ruan’yan—four women, four gazes—remained fixed on her as if tangible.

Only this time, their expressions had grown more complex, more… ineffable.