116 – Xi He
Leaning against a wall, the martial demon la.s.s has her head lowered powerlessly.
Bathed in the moonlight, her skin shines faintly.
In between the shadow of her bangs, Xue Qilin can vaguely make out a smile on her face.
A faintly discernible composed smile
There is no unwillingness, no resentment, only relief.
It seems like she fulfilled a certain belief and got liberated.
If not for the fact that the martial demon la.s.s"s right shoulder is missing a thing and that one of the rabbit ears on her head was severed at the base, Xue Qilin would think that the other party is just sleeping quietly, quietly waiting for daybreak to come.
The sound of fine footsteps sounded as Xue Qilin approached gently, leaving b.l.o.o.d.y footprints one after another.
Sensing someone approach, the martial demon la.s.s opened her eyes strenuously, and her empty eyes stabbed into Xue Qilin"s eyes precisely.
“… Who are you?”
Her voice is raspy and weak, sounding like it came from a far away place and would dissipate into the air at any time.
“Are you also here to kill me?”
Xue Qilin shook her head silently.
As if not seeing Xue Qilin"s gesture, the la.s.s continued.
“You want to hurt me because I am a martial demon?”
At this time, Xue Qilin discovered an anomaly.
It takes some time for the other party"s spiritless eyes to catch up with her who keeps approaching.
“You… are blind?”
“Why are you asking now? Isn"t this your usual modus operandi?” The la.s.s showed a miserable smile, “You took my sight to prevent me from running away.”
So it turns out…
At first, Xue Qilin thought that the other party lost hope after being abused for a long time, causing all emotion in her eyes to dissipate. She didn"t think that she"s just blind, that she was blinded by others.
During this period of silence, Xue Qilin finally reached the la.s.s.
“I"m not here to kill you.”
The la.s.s tilted her head, looking like she"s going to ask next “Then why are you here?”
Xue Qilin knelt down and examined the la.s.s"s body.
“Do you have anything you want to say?”
The result of the examination prompted her to ask thusly.
The fate of the martial demon la.s.s has been sealed. She cannot be saved.
She lost her right arm and an ear and suffered multiple fatal blade wounds – she is too badly injured.
Even more frightening is that her qi pa.s.sageways and internal organs are damaged.
It"s a complete mess.
This may be the price of her forcefully breaking the fetters.
“Will you help me? Even though I am a martial demon?”
“Mhm, as long as it"s within my capability.”
What request will she make? Will she ask to avenge her, or to save her? Xue Qilin"s thoughts twisted and turned, and countless possibilities flashed through her mind.
However, she didn"t expect that the other party would make such a request.
Well, she never thought of it.
“So can you help me?”
The martial demon la.s.s fumbled on the ground laboriously before she finally caught the “thing”.
Xue Qilin"s eyes widened when he saw what the “thing” is.
It is an arm that was severed at the shoulder. After going through countless tempering, the severed arm"s muscles are quite prominent.
The la.s.s pressed this arm against her right shoulder.
When she let go, the arm fell on the ground as expected.
Then she picked it up again and repeated the same action.
Thud – the arm dropped again.
It took a while for Xue Qilin to realize that she wants join the arm with her shoulder.
The la.s.s cannot succeed.
After all, that arm doesn"t belong to her, but belongs to a thug who died in the alley.
Even if the arm belonged to her, it would be impossible to reconnect it to the shoulder jut like that.
However, she still tried again and again.
Then failed again and again.
Xue Qilin who saw everything feels suffocated. Her heart aches as if it is being squeezed by someone.
“Why doesn"t it reconnect? Can you help me?”
Xue Qilin can"t bear to look away and doesn"t dare to respond.
“Can you help me… I… I… don"t want to die.”
The la.s.s finally cried.
“I don"t want to die… I really don"t want to die – cough cough!”
She coughed violently, and even coughed up blood.
The blood she coughed up is mixed with some pieces of flesh.
“I"m sorry, I can"t help you.”
Looking at the tragedy in front of her, Xue Qilin is helpless. She could only spread her arms and give the la.s.s a hug.
Is this hug warm? Xue Qilin doesn"t know, but this is the only thing she can give the la.s.s.
The la.s.s"s mutilated body loosened, and she rested her head on Xue Qilin"s shoulder.
“Ah… so warm.”
The la.s.s stopped crying.
“As warm as Older Sister Xi He…”
The la.s.s coughed no longer.
Xue Qilin knows that the other party"s body is dying rapidly and can no longer be restored. It"s already a miracle that the la.s.s can still speak so clearly.
“Older Sister Xi He… were are you?”
The martial demon la.s.s looked up at the horizon.
She held out her hand and spread her fingers like she"s asking for something.
“Where are you? Come and pick me up, okay? I am scared.”
Although she knows that it"s not her the other party longs for, but Xue Qilin still released the other party and grasped her outstretched hand tightly.
“I"m here to pick you up.”
Although it was just a lie, but it"s better than leaving her longing unanswered.
“Older Sister Xi He, you came at last.”
The la.s.s"s consciousness is already so fuzzy that she can"t even tell that the person in front of her is not the “Older Sister Xi He” she speaks of.
Perhaps she"s just eager to respond to the longing.
Xue Qilin smiled softly and stroked the la.s.s"s head.
“Mhm, I"m here.”
At that moment, a smile blossomed like a blooming summer flower.
The la.s.s smiled contentedly.
Then…
“Qilin, she"s dead.”
Phecda who has been standing behind Xue Qilin for a long time spoke at this time.
“Mhm, she"s dead.”
Xue Qilin let go of the la.s.s"s hand and laid her body flat on the ground.
“Do you want to bury her?”
Phecda asked thusly.
Xue Qilin shook her head gently and stood up. The tips of her ponytails are stained with the blood of the martial demon la.s.s and her clothes are full of red marks, making her look more imposing.
“The person to pick her up has arrived.”
Xue Qilin slowly turned around and looked at the other end of the alley.
“Right?”
“… Thank you.”
A stern voice sounded.
A girl appeared in the dark alley.
Long platinum hair is drifting in the air.
Under the moonlight, a n.o.ble beauty is shining and blue-violet eyes br.i.m.m.i.n.g with intellect are gazing at Xue Qilin.
Despite how radiant the girl"s appearance is, it cannot hide the not human parts of her body.
The girl is not a human.
There is a pair of platinum cat ears on top of her head.
But the most striking are the nine slender tails behind her.
“Are you here to pick her up?”
Looking at the jade feet exposed from under the plain white dress of the girl who is approaching by treading on the pool of blood barefoot, Xue Qilin asked lightly.
“Yes.”
“But… you are late.”
“Mhm, I"m late.”
The girl pa.s.sed Xue Qilin and walked to the martial demon la.s.s.
“Are you going to avenge her?”
“If I say yes, will you stop me?”
“… I will.”
Xue Qilin hesitated.
The misfortune of the martial demon la.s.s made her hesitate.
“I won"t get revenge for her.”
The girl shook her head gently.
“Because that"s pointless.”
Things that are gone cannot be retrieved – she added.
“I"m sorry, I"m late. I didn"t protect you.”
The girl sat on the ground and gently stroked the face of the martial demon la.s.s.
Her tone is bitter and self-blaming.
“I"ll take you back home.”
Holding the still warm body of the martial demon la.s.s, the girl stood up and gazed at Xue Qilin in silence.
“Thank you.”
It is a very sincere expression of grat.i.tude, making Xue Qilin feel ashamed.
“I could have saved her.”
She didn"t expect that things would turn out like this.
No, even if she did antic.i.p.ate this situation in advance, would she have saved the la.s.s?
Maybe, maybe not. Xue Qilin isn"t sure.
“That"s already enough.”
The girl shook her head gently and said faintly: “We are monsters, heretics to you. To give this child warmth in her final moments, that"s already enough.”
“You don"t blame me? Don"t hate humans?”
The girl stared blankly for a long time. In the end, she didn"t answer the question.
“…I just hope that we won"t meet again.”
Carrying the body of the martial demon la.s.s, the girl merged into the darkness.
Xue Qilin silently watched her leave.
At this time, she doesn"t know the meaning of the girl"s last sentence yet.