At that thought, Lou Yunxiao banished the confusion from his eyes.
A monster's way of thinking would never align with a human's.
Since Ning Ke remained so stubborn, he would show no mercy.
The blizzard raged ever harder.
It stole Ning Ke's warmth, freezing his bloodstained body stiff.
The cold invaded his organs, which had no demonic power to protect them.
Yet as it approached his heart, a flame blocked its path.
It was Ning Ke's last remaining foxfire.
And the final flame of his life.
It flickered gently, as though it might go out at any moment.
Then Ning Ke heard Lou Yunxiao speak.
"I forgot to tell you."
"Your left and right Dharma Protectors came to the Sword Sect looking for you today."
"I... detained them."
The foxfire suddenly flared, and those words forcibly dragged Ning Ke's hidden consciousness back out.
His lips parted, his faint breaths quickening with anxiety.
His already hoarse throat struggled to force out the syllables.
"Don't... hurt them..."
Lou Yunxiao heard him clearly and froze for a moment.
Then he suddenly laughed.
He said mockingly,
"So even a monster like you has people he cares about?"
"I remember they were both there a hundred years ago, on the day my sect was slaughtered. That makes them my enemies too."
"Now that they've come to my Sword Sect, how could I possibly let them leave?"
Ning Ke raised his head. The wind swept his tangled silver hair aside, revealing eyes that finally held a trace of fierceness.
With difficulty, he curled his fingers and moved forward.
With the tendons in his wrists and ankles completely severed, every inch he crawled was agony.
Yet he refused to give up. Clinging to that last breath, he managed to reach Lou Yunxiao's hem with his fingers.
"Lou