I Won't Allow You to Speak of Him

"Cut off its head."

Han Zhiqi stood on the stone platform, and every time he heard Nohime shout the name of her breathing technique, he wished he could find a place to hide and pretend he didn't know this girl. He was too embarrassed.

Why couldn't she pick a better name?

"Got it," Nohime replied.

Although Nohime appeared to be well-endowed, her curves were all in the right places for a woman. As for other areas, like her legs, arms, and stomach, they were quite slender.

Nohime lightly leaped off the stone platform and sprinted towards the man and woman at an astonishing speed.

At that moment, the two were locked in a tight embrace. Just as they thought their throats were about to be bitten off by a demon, a pink figure flashed before their eyes.

The Nichirin Blade transformed into a long, slender, and soft whip, instantly severing the demon's arms reaching for them.

The demon cried out in pain and fell to the ground, stumbling back two steps before steadying itself. It quickly clutched the severed stump of its right arm with its left hand, blood dripping onto the ground.

The demon glanced at the man and woman nearby, then turned its hateful gaze towards Nohime, letting out a strange growl as a warning.

Nohime stopped in an open space not far from the two, turned to face the demon, and seeing the bleeding wound and the severed arm on the ground, muttered to herself, "Huh? Why is it the arm? I was aiming for the head." After speaking, she looked up at Han Zhiqi on the stone platform.

Seeing Han Zhiqi staring at her with a cold expression, Nohime sheepishly stuck out her tongue. "I was aiming for the head, why did it turn out to be the arm?"

You're asking me? You never intended to aim for the head from the start. Don't think I can't see that.

Han Zhiqi was furious. He pointed at the two people slumped on the ground and said coldly, "If you don't cut off its head, more people will be eaten like them. They were lucky to meet you, but what about others? Will they have the same luck? It's up to you. If you can't do it, let it go and let it eat others."

Nohime saw that her little trick had been discovered, and she lowered her head, hesitating, unsure of what to do.

The thought that they were once human made her unable to strike. She felt as if killing them would be like killing people with her own hands. But if she didn't kill them, would she really let it go eat other people?

Wouldn't that be equivalent to her causing those people's deaths?

Nohime bit her lip tightly and looked up at Han Zhiqi.

Han Zhiqi's expression remained indifferent, showing no intention of intervening.

The man and woman slumped on the ground were overjoyed at being saved, but they were surprised to see that their rescuers were the pink-clothed girl and the white-clothed youth who were shunned by everyone in the plaza.

Besides being surprised by the girl's hidden strength, they were even more surprised by the way she interacted with the youth.

Facing the sudden appearance of the demon, they were not afraid. The youth even seemed to be instructing the girl on how to kill it.

Feeling ignored, the demon on the side grew angry. With a "bang," a new arm grew back at the severed limb.

The man and woman on the ground cowered. The girl let out a trembling cry for help to Nohime.

However, this time, the demon did not seem to intend to attack the two of them. Instead, it set its sights on Nohime.

It knew that it was this person who had suddenly appeared and stopped its hunt. If she wasn't dealt with first, it couldn't safely enjoy its meal. However, the Nichirin Blade in Nohime's hand made it hesitate.

Suddenly, the demon raised its head and let out a few "woo woo" howls into the sky.

Han Zhiqi guessed that it was likely transmitting some kind of message to the outside world, possibly like a wolf, using howls to communicate with its companions.

As expected, after a while, rustling sounds came from the woods.

In the blink of an eye, except for the direction of the stone wall where Han Zhiqi was, three more demons appeared from the other three directions, either standing on the ground or crouching on tree branches. Together with the previous demon, the four demons had surrounded the three people.

The man and woman quickly got up from the ground, drew their Nichirin Blades, and stood back-to-back with Nohime.

Now, facing the siege of four demons, Nohime's expression finally changed.

Although she knew Han Zhiqi wouldn't abandon her, fighting four demons simultaneously, even he would probably...

Nohime regretted not listening to Han Zhiqi earlier. If she had listened to him and killed the demon sooner, perhaps the current situation wouldn't have arisen.

"Hey, stop standing there like an idiot, come help!" the young man named Akino shouted at Han Zhiqi twice.

Hearing the youth's call, a peaceful smile suddenly appeared on Han Zhiqi's indifferent face.

This was the first time Nohime had seen Han Zhiqi smile.

But she sensed a strong mockery and anger in that smile. She felt that Han Zhiqi was laughing at her, laughing at her for not listening to him and ending up in this situation.

Han Zhiqi said indifferently, "Why should I help? They're not eating me?"

Upon hearing this, the young man was stunned for a moment. After seemingly pondering it, he understood what he meant, and an inexplicable anger surged in his heart. He shouted, "What are you saying? Are you even speaking human words? Do you want to watch your companion die here?"

Han Zhiqi shrugged indifferently, "She deserves it. You should only do what you're capable of. If you're not capable but insist on showing off, don't you think she deserves it?"

"You..." The young man trembled with anger. "Are you even a man? Your companion is in deep trouble, and you're standing by making sarcastic remarks. You... you're simply cold-blooded. You're no different from these man-eating beasts."

"Shut up."

A stern reprimand suddenly interrupted the young man's angry outburst.

The young man came to his senses and saw the pink-clothed girl glaring at him with her big, watery eyes. "You can't say that about him. What right do you have to say that? I won't allow you to say that about him."

The barrage of three sentences completely bewildered Akino. He was clearly trying to speak up for her, so why was it turning against him?

"I... I was speaking for you..." Akino still wanted to argue a few points for himself.

Yuka, beside him, seemed to have caught on to something and quickly pulled Akino, signaling him to stop talking.

Under Nohime's sharp gaze and Yuka's persuasion, Akino could only reluctantly shut his mouth.

However, he was a hundred times confused and dissatisfied. He didn't understand what he had done wrong. Even more so, he didn't understand why she was defending that white-clothed youth when he was treating her like this.

Akino looked up and glared fiercely at the white-clothed youth, who was leaning against the stone wall, acting as a spectator.