Unfulfilled Wish (22) - Delay

The temperature in the Fang Mansion was already low, and the appearance of the Master made everyone's skin crawl.

Upon hearing the Master's Lingren effeminate "So obedient," Zhao Yijiu instinctively drew her short sword, took a step to the side, and aimed her eyes, bound with cloth strips, precisely in the Master's direction.

Everyone looked wary, but Master Yu Xing returned the smile with an even gentler one.

He raised his hand to block Zhao Yijiu from behind, and in doing so, also shielded Si and Fangpian behind him, saying to the Master, "Master, you've gone to such lengths just to turn the Fang Mansion into a haunted house?"

"Of course not, the Fang Mansion is just one part of my plan." Master a wave of his hand, the old man lying on the ground seemed weightless as he was thrown by an invisible hand onto an empty sacrificial altar. Blood patterns instantly crawled up the old man's body like snakes, enveloping him in a blood-soaked mess like Mama Liang and Zhao Ruru.

He took a step inside, his eyes beneath the mask cold and menacing. "Xiao Jin, you betrayed me. This is the best outcome for you. At least you'll have a whole corpse, won't you?"

"Master, one should be more sincere," Yu Xing laughed. "Even if I didn't betray you, you wouldn't let me go. Look at what's become of Madam! The only reason I didn't capture her to fill the blood array is because the bond between Madam and Young Master Fang doesn't meet your requirements."

A layer of black mist gathered in the Master's hand, very similar to the resentful aura emanating from Young Master Fang Liu Xue's corpse. He sighed softly, "You know quite a lot. It seems that while I was away from you, you did indeed uncover many things you shouldn't have known."

"Perhaps... Xiao Ling and Xiaofeng secretly passed you a message?"

The two people named, Si and Zhao Yijiu —Xiao Feng being the nickname of the character Zhao Yijiu plays—did not respond. Clearly, although the Master was strong, he had not yet realized that they were actually outsiders, and only felt that they were plotting something in secret.

"You guessed right, so what?" Yu Xing didn't mean to stand here and chat with the Master; he just wanted to observe with his own eyes what abilities the Master possessed.

The Master is undoubtedly alive, yet he can summon souls, draw arrays, and even create those black coffins. He is very likely some kind of incomprehensible being. It's best not to fight him directly without knowing his background.

Yu Xing felt that once the battle really started, it wasn't the Master playing the Lingren who would be ganged up on. But with the blood array in place, if the Master got angry and destroyed the array, the Fang Mansion might be able to return to normal. This should be the correct direction of the plot, but Zhao Ruru would die because of it.

We can't be hasty; we have to get going first.

"What should we do?" Si stood at the back of the group, seemingly hesitant to accept the Master's scrutinizing gaze. Her Xiao Meng was telling her that if she offended this ruthless and cunning person, she would surely not survive.

"It's alright. Actually, I think after the wedding ceremony in the third stage, there shouldn't be much left. Another chase would be too much. The Master is good at causing trouble behind the scenes, but he's not that strong in direct combat." Fang Pian and Si whispered to each other. In fact, Fang Pian had many wounds on his body, stabbed by the Master's knife in the Red Silk Formation.

If any Master possessed that level of skill, or even half the skill of the Lingren in the second phase, they would have been riddled with thorns in the red silk formation long ago.

Therefore, he guessed that the difficulty in the final moments would lie in rescuing his companions, rather than simply running away.

Thinking of this, he suddenly remembered that he had run into Luo Liang's teammates at the banquet in the front yard before, and they had secretly passed on some information. It seemed that Luo Liang had chosen an item called [Red Amulet] when drawing a reward.

Having followed the plot all this way, he hadn't seen anything else related to red, only this blood array...

Should the Red Amulet be used here?

Seeing that the group was not as panicked as he had expected, but instead had lost their usual wariness towards him, the Master became somewhat interested. The black mist in his hand seemed to come alive as it attacked Yu Xing.

Yu Xing had no usable offerings and couldn't deal with this intangible entity with his bare hands. He called out in a low voice, "Brother Jiu!"

Zhao Yijiu nodded almost imperceptibly, and the Stop Killing sword in his hand slashed towards the black mist with unstoppable force. The strange aura around Stop Killing dispersed the black mist, and although the mist was regrouping, it was very slow.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Yu Xing rushed towards the Master. To the Master's astonishment, Master delivered a knee kick to the stomach, sending him flying.

The door was now open, Yu Xing turned back to call to the three behind her, "Run!"

Zhao Yijiu was the first to catch up. Si Shen glanced at Zhao Ruru and then followed Fang Pian out.

The group quickly ran out of the fifth courtyard. Fang Pian said as he ran, "I was just thinking, Luo Liang has Red Amulet on him, could it be used to protect those trapped in the blood array?"

Yu Xing's eyes narrowed. Red Amulet?

The items drawn during the long table time are all very important. The Red Amulet is on par with the Cross-Cup Wine; it appeared alongside the latter in Yu Xing's group's selectable items. The Cross-Cup Wine is used to break the deadlock, while the Red Amulet is used to save people—it makes perfect sense when you think about it that way!

After thinking for a moment, Yu Xing turned and headed towards the garden. "The Master will definitely chase me, let's split up. Brother Jiu!"

"Speak." Zhao Yijiu, blindfolded, ran like the wind, with the Master chasing after her. Si and Fangpian were caught off guard by Yu Xing's sudden turn and were forced to separate. Only Zhao Yijiu managed to turn her legs and continued to run with him.

Whether he was used to the dark or could "see" his surroundings in another way, Yu Xing had the illusion that he was just as alert as when his vision was unobstructed.

Later, the Master suffered a silent loss, feeling the tremors in his internal organs. He wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, watched the four figures disappear, and chased after them.

He only knew that Xiao Jin was smart and cunning, but he didn't expect that the other party's skills were as if he had been trained.

"Something's not right..." the Master muttered gloomily, drawing his long sword from his waist and staring intently at Yu Xing's figure. Sure enough, he had gone after Yu Xing.

The garden was deserted, and all the flowers and plants were shrouded in a monotonous, pale white, making them look almost unreal.

"Master probably doesn't know that Zhao Ruru is my companion. When he arrived just now, only Si was holding her, but Xiao Meng and Xiao Ling are good friends, so it's normal that he was reluctant to part with her."

As Yu Xing ran, the length of the sentence made his breathing become erratic. He said to the very calm Zhao Yijiu, "So he'll definitely be worried that we'll escape from the Fang Mansion directly. Even if he realizes that something is wrong with our behavior, he won't have time to deduce anything. He can only hurry up and catch me before I leave."

Zhao Yijiu was secretly puzzled as to why Yu Xing's voice didn't sound weak anymore, knowing that he was basically certain that Yu Xing's anemia was real.

Distracted, he managed to squeeze out two words in response. "So?"

"So, you take the nail clippers and go with Si and the others to find Luo Liang and find out what the Red Amulet does. If it can really save Zhao Ruru, then use the protection from the nail clippers to exchange for it. I'll be responsible for attracting the Master's attention." Yu Xing opened his mouth, then began to adjust his breathing, otherwise he really wouldn't be able to run for very long. "Let's go!"

As the last word fell, Zhao Yijiu caught a glimpse of the Master behind them, who was walking leisurely but getting closer and closer. She grunted and ran away.

Without Red Nail by her side, Yu Xing continue her whitening process, but Zhao Yijiu knew her own situation and couldn't pretend to be brave.

He could only do what Yu Xing had instructed as quickly as possible, and then come to pick up Yu Xing.

Everyone disappeared from the surroundings, and Yu Xing stopped at the artificial hill.

The Master's black robes fluttered in the cold wind, and a few traces of blood remained on the long sword in his hand. He tilted his head, and the black mist once again swirled towards Yu Xing.

It seems they're not going to waste words and are going straight to subdue the person.

Yu Xing sneered, neither dodging nor avoiding, and took out a piece of cool white jade from his pocket.

The black fog settled.

"Have you forgotten? The jade is still with me." He was extremely arrogant, waving the round jade in his hand. "This thing is the medium through which Liu Xue and Young Master Fang's souls must pass, isn't it? You've been looking for me since I disappeared, not just because I'm Liu Xue's love, but also because this thing is in my hands. You can't live without it, can you?"

"If you try to hurt me with that fog, I'll smash it."

To be fair, Yu Xing smashed this jade twice, and it feels quite good to use. He wouldn't mind smashing it one more time.

The Master's eyes were unfathomable, and a slight smile played on his lips, "How do you know what it's for?... Who exactly are you?"

"Do you still think you have the upper hand?" Yu Xing pretended to raise the white jade as if to smash it down. The Master watched coldly, and only when the jade was almost out of his grasp did he urgently say, "Wait!"

Yu Xing gripped the jade, threatening, "If you don't want anything to happen to the jade, then—"

The black mist suddenly surged towards him, even more fiercely than the previous two times. Before Yu Xing could finish speaking, he was enveloped by the black mist. Instantly, an extreme chill pressed in from all directions, mixed with resentment, sorrow, and even more malice and malice. Some of the malice almost solidified, whispering in Yu Xing's ear.

Is it painful?

"What's the point of holding on? Is your pursuit of revenge even meaningful?"

"All the sincerity you give now is poison. In a few years, everyone you know will die one by one, leaving you all alone..."

"Is this what you wanted, eternal loneliness...?"

"Just die... Dying will end all of this, you know how to die, don't you? Go do it!"

They transcended the Master's own ideas, clinging to Yu Xing's soul like parasites, spying on his thoughts, and then transforming into words of psychological manipulation, intending to break down Yu Xing's defenses.

He was no stranger to this thing. The Master could not decipher what the black mist absorbed. He was merely the manipulator of this black mist, not its creator. Or rather, the black mist originated from the heart of each person. No one but the person enveloped by the black mist could hear this whisper.

Yu Xing didn't react much at first. After all, he had experienced these self-doubts countless times over the years, and the Master couldn't use them to discover his outsider status, so he posed no threat whatsoever.

But the last sentence still made his pupils shrink.

He did know how to die, but for reasons he himself couldn't understand, he deceived himself into believing he couldn't die, and thus lingered in the world, wandering aimlessly.

This is a secret buried deep in his heart.

Surprisingly, because many of his own qualities were suppressed by the [Cage], they were inadvertently unearthed by the black mist, which was somewhat Yu Xing.

The black mist happily seeped into his mind.

For a moment, Yu Xing was lost in confusion, as if he really was just a coward, and revenge was just an excuse for him not to leave this world. All the hypocrisy was dug out from the deepest part of him and presented to him in a bloody manner.

Yu Xing slowly squatted down, her brows furrowed, and her breathing gradually became difficult.

The Master looked at his masterpiece with satisfaction.

His black mist can force people to confront their inner unbearable pain, and it can destroy a person's will in the shortest amount of time. This is how he succeeded with Liu Xue, Young Master Fang, and others.

The Master calmly walked over, took the white jade from Yu Xing's hand, and then looked down at Yu Xing's bewildered face, preparing to carry him to the side room.

He admitted that Xiao Jin was quite capable. He originally thought that Xiao Jin only started betraying him after meeting Liu Xue, but when he saw that Xiao Feng, who was by his side, and Xiao Meng, who was by his wife's side, were both hanging out with Xiao Jin, he knew that this rebellious organization had been formed long ago.

Perhaps even when Xiao Jin stole things, it was a tactic to distract him.

Xiao Jin is very smart, even smarter than he expected.

The Master had already grabbed Yu Xing's collar and was about to pull him up when a glint suddenly appeared in Yu Xing's lifeless eyes.

In the next instant, Yu Xing exerted force with both legs and pounced on the Master with indescribable speed. His elbow strike was fierce, knocking the Master back. Then, he held a large, angular rock in his other hand and smashed it towards the Master's face.

The Master barely managed to raise his hand to block, then reacted and slashed down with his blade. However, Yu Xing reacted much faster, sidestepping and delivering a swift double kick. The first kick changed the direction of the blade, and the second kick struck the Master in the chest.

With a muffled thud, Yu Xing grinned, hefting a stone he'd casually picked up from under the artificial hill in his hand. "Your black mist has some interesting ideas, but does it think I'm some kind of incredibly kind person?"

If he were truly a good person, he would actually be intimidated by the guilt and pain of confronting hypocrisy and self-doubt.

The problem is, he isn't.

He's never been a good person; he's so hypocritical that he even deceives himself, and he's done it more than once or twice.

He already knew deep down he feared something, but what good would it do to present that fear to him now?

He will kill anyone.

He wanted revenge.

As for when he will die, nobody can control that!

The Master had no idea what Yu Xing had heard in the black mist, so he couldn't answer Yu Xing's question. However, the contempt in Yu Xing's tone was still conveyed very well.

"Master, look at you." Yu Xing looked down at the black-robed Master he had kicked to the ground, a hint of mockery flashing in his eyes. "Even in this state, your mask hasn't fallen off yet. This makes me especially curious. What do you actually look like?"

The black mist surged violently, and wave after wave of icy chill seeped into Yu Xing's body. He stubbornly held on, not showing any sign of it, not forgetting that his mission was to buy time for Zhao Yijiu and the others to find someone to rescue the people. He persisted, using flirtatious words. "How about this, you take off your mask. If you're prettier than Madam, I'll obediently lie down in that blood array and give my life to you for free, how about that?"