I Actually Quite Like Her (Continued)

But now they understand.

perhaps...

Their resurrection, from the very beginning, was for this day.

Their existence was part of someone's plan from the very beginning.

Material.

The stove was still glowing.

The magic circle is still operating.

····································

Just then--

A sharp sword light suddenly cleaved out from the void behind the three of them!

The sword light was incredibly fast, with only unwavering determination, aiming straight for the golden figure's back!

Before the sword's edge arrives, its aura has already reached us.

This sword strike was a full-force attack that embodied the lifelong cultivation of a high priest.

The person wielding the sword exudes righteousness and possesses a refined and scholarly air.

At this moment, however, his face was full of anger, and his eyes were bloodshot.

Qian Daoliu.

His white hair flew in the void, his robes billowed and fluttered in the sword energy, and his eyes burned with indescribable emotions.

Qian Daoliu knew he had to take action.

We must do this before that furnace devours more, before everything is beyond repair, before--

Before Qian Xunji completely transformed into something he no longer recognized.

Do everything in your power to stop the other side.

The sword's edge was only three feet away from Qian Xunji's back.

Two feet.

One foot--

A soft sound.

The sword stopped.

It wasn't that Qian Daoliu stopped on its own; rather, something blocked its path.

A golden barrier.

The barrier was as thin as a cicada's wing, almost transparent, and showed no signs of energy fluctuations.

Yet, this very barrier rendered Qian Daoliu's full-force attack utterly ineffective, like a mud ox sinking into the sea.

Qian Daoliu's sword tip was pressed against the barrier, unable to advance an inch.

His body froze in mid-air, still in the assassination pose, but he could no longer move an inch.

Behind the barrier, there were three figures—

He didn't even turn his head.

Qian Xunji remained standing with his hands behind his back, gazing at the glowing furnace.

Donghuang Taiyi remained silent, still bearing a human head and a dragon tail.

Taiyi Zhenren was still riding the alchemy furnace, his face hidden by a hood.

None of the three people turned around.

It was as if that sword light, that assassination attempt, and that old man who tried his best to kill Qian Xunji were not worth even a second glance.

Qian Daoliu's heart sank suddenly.

They know.

They knew it from the beginning.

They know they are tracking, they know they are lying in ambush, and they know when, from what angle, and in what way they will strike.

But they didn't care at all.

It was like an ant rushing towards a dragon, which didn't even bother to look down at it.

Qian Daoliu suddenly laughed.

That smile was full of bitterness, full of self-mockery, and full of...

despair.

"If I had known this day would come..."

He spoke, his voice so hoarse it was almost inaudible.

"I should have just killed you in the first place."

He did not say "unfilial son" again.

Because he was unsure.

Was the person standing before him truly his son?

Qian Xunji " countless times?

If he's his son, how could he have turned out like this?

If it wasn't his son, then who was it?

Qian Daoliu didn't know.

All he knew was that the figure standing before him at that moment made him feel—

strangeness.

Just then, a tremendous force appeared out of nowhere, like an invisible giant hand, instantly locking Qian Daoliu in place.

His sword flew out of his hand, and his body was pulled by that force, involuntarily drifting towards Qian Xunji's direction.

Unable to resist.

Unable to break free.

He could only watch helplessly as he was gradually "tied" to Qian Xunji's presence.

Qian Xunji finally looked over.

Those golden eyes gazed calmly at Qian Daoliu.

Qian Daoliu had met those eyes countless times.

But now, in those eyes—

There was nothing there.

It's not indifference, not alienation, not hostility.

Rather, it is utter, absolute, devoid of any human emotion—

Inorganic matter.

Like two golden gems set in their eye sockets.

Gemstones are beautiful, bright, and dazzling, but they are just gemstones.

They feel no anger, no sadness, no love, and no hate.

They just watched.

Qian Daoliu could not see any "humanity" in those eyes.

His heart sank completely.

But just then, as if knowing what Qian Daoliu was thinking, Qian Xunji spoke up.

"I still have humanity."

His tone was flat, as if he were stating a fact.

"Otherwise--"

He paused, and a faint, almost imperceptible ripple seemed to flicker in his inorganic golden eyes.

"You should have died just now."

Qian Daoliu was stunned.

He looked at Qian Xunji, at those still inorganic eyes, and suddenly didn't know what to say.

Qian Xunji said is true.

With the opponent's current power, killing me would only require a single thought.

But he didn't.

He simply "tied" himself up to me, looked at me with those inhuman eyes, and then said—

"I still have humanity."

Qian Daoliu suddenly laughed.

"Human nature?"

He murmured, as if asking Qian Xunji, or perhaps asking himself.

"Do you still have any humanity?"

Qian Daoliu was stunned for a moment when he heard those words.

"I still have humanity."

The way Qian Xunji said those words carried an inexplicable strangeness.