“Go! You can’t defeat him! Run back to the island and get Master Song to save me! If I die, so be it. You’re our only hope!” Bai Shuo’s eyes were frantic with urgency as she clung to Fan Yue. Chong Zhao’s expression darkened, and he attacked without another word, sword raised toward Fan Yue.
Fan Yue scoffed, releasing Bai Shuo and allowing her to drop to the ground as he met Chong Zhao’s strike. In the peach grove’s sky, demonic and celestial energies clashed brilliantly. Chong Zhao, despite his recent ascension, struggled to keep up with Fan Yue’s overwhelming strength, yet held his own with sheer grit.
Watching the battle, Bai Shuo’s gaze flickered to Chong Zhao, her mind racing as she crept silently toward the grove’s edge.
“A-Zhao! Take him down!” she cheered, waving her arms as she inched farther away.
High above, Fan Yue grimaced, tempted to swat the noisy, bumbling woman below.
With a deafening impact, Chong Zhao was struck down, his blood-splattered form landing at Bai Shuo’s feet.
“Run!” he commanded before she could scream, hurling his sword in a desperate move to block Fan Yue as he seized her hand, pulling her deeper into the grove.
Fan Yue landed softly, eyeing the broken sword with a frown. The weapon lay darkened and twisted, its celestial energy consumed by a menacing black aura—clearly a corrupted relic. He had sensed the presence of the sacred Bodhi Tree, which had drawn him out of the demon realm to this edge of the Celestial lands, yet now he felt only a surge of malice. And then, this girl? How had she ended up here, let alone ascended to immortality?
His gaze sharpened, and he vanished without a sound.
In the grove, Chong Zhao gripped Bai Shuo’s wrist tightly, racing through the undergrowth. Her face was unreadable.
Suddenly, Chong Zhao faltered, collapsing to his knees, blood spilling from his mouth as his face drained of color.
“A-Zhao!” Bai Shuo gasped, supporting him as he struggled for breath. “Are you alright?”
He shook his head, his voice faint. “I was struck… through the heart meridian…”
Bai Shuo’s gaze dropped to his chest, where his robes had been shredded, exposing a deep, blood-soaked wound, bone visible beneath.
“How could it be this bad!” she murmured, gripping his wrist, her fingers pressed to his pulse.
The weak flow of celestial energy through his veins confirmed the severity of his injury; he was barely clinging to life.
Before Bai Shuo could fully process her thoughts, she felt her arm held tightly. Shocked, she looked up, meeting Chong Zhao’s pleading gaze. “Save me, Bai Shuo, please… save me…”
“I…” Bai Shuo’s words faltered. She quickly reached into her medicine bag, pulling out numerous vials and pouring out dozens of pills, pressing them to Chong Zhao’s lips. “A-Zhao, I made these elixirs. Hurry, take them!”
But Chong Zhao shook his head, refusing the pills. “Fan Yue is half-divine… These won’t heal my wounds.”
“Then what should we do?” Bai Shuo, frantic, tried to pull him to his feet. “We’ll go back to Miao Miao Island. The headmaster will definitely have a way to save you…”
Chong Zhao stopped her, weakly holding her back. “There’s no time… Bai Shuo… Do you remember the day we met Master three years ago?”
Her hand supporting him trembled, and she looked down, avoiding his face. “We drifted at sea for three months, exhausted and starving… I don’t remember much.” Her voice was faint.
“That day, Master was gravely injured, and you… you saved him with your blood. Do you still remember?”
His voice was barely a whisper, but it carried an eerie resonance in her ears. She fought to steady her heartbeat, afraid to respond.
So that’s it, she realized. This person posing as Chong Zhao wanted her blood. But how could he know that her blood had healing properties, a secret only she and Chong Zhao knew? Why did this “Chong Zhao” know about her using her blood to save Master Song? Who was he, really?
Did he want her blood… or her life?
A chill settled over Bai Shuo as she felt a cold hand touch her chin, tilting her face up. She was forced to meet Chong Zhao’s intense gaze.
“Bai Shuo, are you unwilling to save me?” he murmured as he raised her chin with a strange glint in his eyes.
“How could I not?” she replied, quickly masking her fear with feigned concern. “My blood didn’t actually help that much. Don’t you remember? Back then, I’d just taken a hundred-year-old ginseng. I saved Master Song by sheer accident… Really, my blood’s nothing special… If it were, I wouldn’t still be a wandering immortal…” Her smile faltered. “Let’s hurry back to the island. The headmaster’s powers are much stronger than mine—he can save you!”
0 Comments