Volume One: Days in the Shantytown - Strangulation (Part Two)

"Boom..."

Swallow it!

The Jade Water Pill dissolved the moment it entered his throat, turning into a wave of coolness that suppressed the searing heat pouring through his arm. Du Lengning did not take his hand away, though he desperately wanted to. Li Xuexiao was hanging by a thread. If he withdrew his hand and stopped bearing part of the burden for her, she might not survive another strike. He still had Jade Water Pills to sustain him. She had nothing.

As Du Lengning stuffed the last two Jade Water Pills into his mouth, the Demon Beast was already preparing another attack. After spitting out three successive masses of blue-red flame, it had clearly exhausted much of its vital energy. The fourth mass was no larger than the first.

At the sight of that flame, Du Lengning's heart steadied. This has to be its last strike. If we hold out, the immortals will cut it down!

The people of Distant Hall were in even worse shape. If Du Lengning had looked back at his Fellow Disciples, sprawled in every direction with blood pouring from their mouths and noses, he would not have been so optimistic.

"Bang!" The force of the final explosion swept over them. Under the scorching heat, Li Xuexiao, stationed at the Formation Core, could hold on no longer. Her whole body shook. Beneath Du Lengning's palm, her body suddenly grew hot: the Demon Beast's fire had grievously wounded her. Then she went limp and collapsed.

A surge of fire rushed through Du Lengning's palm. Chaos erupted inside him, and he fell alongside Li Xuexiao...

Li Xuexiao watched helplessly as Du Lengning toppled toward her like a mountain of gold and a pillar of jade. She screamed in fright, but the formation had broken and the Demon Beast had escaped. Screams, roars, and curses tangled together amid the chaos. No one noticed her cry.

Du Lengning held the two Jade Water Pills in his mouth but did not swallow them. This attack had not been especially powerful. If he swallowed the pills, he could suppress the fiery force rampaging through his body.

But he did not.

The heat ravaged his meridians and devoured his immortal power. His limbs had gone rigid; he could no longer move them. Eyes wide, he used every ounce of strength to adjust his fall so that his lips would land squarely on Li Xuexiao's...

"Mmph..." Li Xuexiao could not move either. Shame and anger surged through her—until coolness suddenly touched her lips. Two Jade Water Pills slipped into her mouth. Coated in Du Lengning's saliva, they slid straight down her throat and became a cooling breath that subdued the wildfire raging inside her!

The formation collapsed. Zuo Lingchuan roared, "The Demon Beast is a spent arrow! Everyone, kill it together!" The Zuo Household's forces led the charge, sweeping in from the flank to intercept the blue light. He hardly needed to shout. The assembled immortals had eyes like torches; none of them could miss the opening. The Seven Great Sects surged forward, and their fastest members caught up behind the blue light in an instant.

But the blue light had already seized the initiative and fled at full speed. If it meant to escape, they could not catch it. Its strength far surpassed theirs, and despite successive fierce battles and heavy losses, it had suffered no grievous wound.

Fortunately, it was too intent on escape to slaughter the Distant Hall members lying scattered across the ground. A gust of sinister wind swept past. Li Xuexiao shuddered and discovered she could move again. Only then did she realize that Du Lengning had been kissing her for some time. As her mind cleared, his strong masculine scent flooded her nose. They were so close that they breathed the same pocket of air, passing from his nostrils into hers. The unfamiliar sensation left her dazed.

The moment the Jade Water Pills entered her mouth, she had understood that Du Lengning had not meant to take liberties with her. He had chosen to sacrifice himself to save her, and she was deeply moved. Never having been so close to a man, Li Xuexiao stared wide-eyed at his rigid body. Her mind dissolved into confusion, and she even forgot to push him away.

Du Lengning looked at Li Xuexiao. He had never imagined that this girl of ice and snow had such a fiery figure! Though he had lost control of his body, every sensation had grown sharper: one ball of fire inside his chest, two against it. He could not help groaning. Those two soft flames were no less potent than the fire poison within him. They trembled against him, and he felt his already unsteady blood and energy threatening to surge upward again.

Yet the girl seemed frightened senseless, staring at him without moving. She had trembled just now, so she should have regained the ability to move. Fond as Du Lengning was of those two soft flames, he did not want to lose his life over them. He struggled to force out a sound. He had meant to say, "Save me," but all that emerged was a moan. It was enough. To Li Xuexiao, that moan cracked beside her ear like thunder in winter. She shuddered and shoved him off.

Seeing that no one could catch the Demon Beast, Zuo Lingchuan released his Great Blizzard Sword. It pierced through the air toward the blue light. Today was an opportunity that came once in a thousand years. If they failed to destroy the creature now, finding another chance would be harder than climbing to heaven!

The Great Blizzard Sword was Zuo Lingchuan's bonded Immortal Artifact, tempered with his blood essence for hundreds of years. The instant he released it, wind and clouds changed. Snowflakes as large as goose feathers drifted down from the sky, and a streak of cold light stabbed toward the Demon Beast. Though it was already a spent arrow, it showed no fear before so imposing an Immortal Artifact. Two bolts of black-red lightning shot from its cold, dark eyes. With a swish, the electric serpents wrapped around the cold light, and the two forces began tearing at each other. Zuo Lingchuan held his fingers together to control the flying sword from afar, but he could no longer continue the pursuit.

Zuo Lingchuan had pinned down the Demon Beast. Seeing this, everyone else released their prized treasures. Radiance blazed as no fewer than three hundred Immortal Artifacts of every kind struck the creature's true body together amid the chaos.

Explosions rattled like a machine gun. Flashes of attack streaked past one after another, mingling until no one could tell whose was whose. Even without perfect coordination, the combined blow of hundreds of Immortal Artifacts deserved to be called "heaven-shattering and earth-destroying." The Demon Beast was no deathless Golden Immortal. How could it withstand that?

Amid the bursts of light, a hazy blue glow rose into the air. The Demon Beast's true body had been blasted into pieces; not a single intact part remained.

Freed from its struggle, Zuo Lingchuan's Great Blizzard Sword dropped through the air. Its icy edge happened to cleave away more than half of the hazy blue glow. "Be careful, everyone! Do not let the Demon Beast's soul escape!" he shouted.

Less than a third of the Demon Beast's soul remained, and its power had dwindled terribly. Yet without its true body to hold it back, it grew faster instead. The others tried to repeat their victory, but the soul moved so swiftly that even their Immortal Artifacts could not catch it.

After the Demon Beast spat out its blue-red flames, Luo Qian had quietly found a mountain hollow to hide in. A battle on this level was not something he could take part in. He could not even dream of making a guest appearance.

At that very moment, however, he heard Li Xuexiao call, "Mr. Luo, Lengning is badly hurt. Do you have any more Spirit Pills?" Du Lengning was his brother. Luo Qian feared death, but he still understood that a man should take a blade between the ribs for a friend. Gritting his teeth, he leaped out with a Jade Water Pill raised in his hand. "I still—"

Before he could finish, a sheet of blue light rushed straight at him. Luo Qian looked regretfully toward Du Lengning in the distance. The fellow lay in Li Xuexiao's arms, his wish already fulfilled. But Luo Qian himself...

Hunt geese all day, and sooner or later one pecks out your eye. Walk beside a river often enough, and how could your shoes stay dry? Even a three-year-old could sometimes knock down an old woman. A clay jar would break beside the well eventually, and a general could still fall on the battlefield. Luo Qian bitterly lamented that even a skilled swimmer could drown. He did business every day; sooner or later he was bound to take a loss. But this loss was far too great. He had not even made his fortune from the war before a war-battered Magic Beast swallowed him whole.

"Bang!" The collision sent Luo Qian flying as light as a feather, while the Demon Beast's soul crashed to the ground. Zuo Lingchuan arrived close behind and swept his Great Blizzard Sword through the air. A storm of wind and snow engulfed the soul and tore it apart completely!

The Jade Fire Poison within the Demon Beast's soul poured into Luo Qian's body. A few thoughts flickered through his mind. Then his chest tightened, and his consciousness sank into darkness...

At last, Zuo Lingchuan had cut down the foe who had destroyed his family. He turned back. The Zuo Household disciples looked wretched and haggard, supporting one another. Their faces, hands, and bodies were covered in wounds, their clothes torn and disheveled. He felt none of the joy of revenge. Instead, grief flooded his mind. He threw back his head and laughed wildly, the sound desolate.

Du Lengning watched Luo Qian go flying. He knew Luo Qian's abilities all too well: there was no way his friend could withstand the fire poison in the Demon Beast's soul. But Du Lengning could neither speak nor move. His eyes bulged, and there was nothing he could do.

Li Xuexiao hurriedly carried him over to Luo Qian. She found five Jade Water Pills in the grass and quickly fed them to Du Lengning. After a long while, he finally moved his hands and feet. Grief overwhelmed him. He threw himself over Luo Qian and sobbed, "Old Luo, Old Luo, wake up! This is my fault. I got you killed! Old Luo, Old Luo..."

Du Lengning clutched Luo Qian's corpse and wept until heaven and earth seemed to darken. Then the weight in his arms suddenly vanished. White light swirled before his eyes. It wrapped around Luo Qian's body like luminous jade and shot into the sky, fast as lightning. In the blink of an eye, it was gone!

"Zheng Daoguang of the Imperial Constabulary is here! What Demon Beast dares disturb the Immortal Realm?" Brilliant immortal armor glittered in the east. A group of Imperial Constabulary officers charged in. Like police in the lower world, they had arrived only after everything was over.

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(To everyone passing by, Shi San thanks you...)