Ning Xiaoxiao walked down from the cliff, but still could not help looking back at the man atop it.
Ning Ke had begged her to help remove all the curses Eldest Senior Brother had placed on him.
Then he had told her to leave the mountain.
He had also told her that no matter what happened afterward, she must never come back for him.
Yet Ning Xiaoxiao felt an inexplicable panic.
Her heart pounded fiercely.
She knew she should hurry to join the Demon War, kill a few more demons, and avenge her brother, but her feet seemed rooted to this place. She kept pacing at the foot of the mountain.
She could not bear to leave.
Suddenly, she remembered what Ning Ke had said to her earlier.
They had talked about their names.
She had told Ning Ke why her father had chosen her name.
After listening, Ning Ke had explained the meaning of his own name.
"The Ke in my name means beautiful jade as white as snow. It embodies my parents' hopes for me. But the person I've become has sullied that name."
"And jade with a stain is tainted."
"In the end, it deserves to be shattered to pieces."
"That is my fate."
A fierce pain shot through her heart.
Ning Xiaoxiao stopped, then suddenly rushed toward the cliff.
She had to see the Demon Venerable again!
Just once. She had to ask him exactly what he intended to do!
But before she could reach the top of the cliff-
Boom-
A tremendous explosion rang out.
The clouds and mist over the mountain turned blood-red.
An enormous phantom fox appeared. Then, as though sensing something, he turned his head and looked at her one last time.
Then he headed toward the rift in the sky.
The