Chapter 10: …He was running a fever.
At this moment, Yan Jingyu truly panicked.
“Liao Chen, look clearly, I’m Yan Qi! The Yan Qi you hate the most! You’ve always wanted to kill me… Liao Chen… I’m your enemy, I’m your arch-nemesis!”
All the Qiwu flower vines seemed to have gone into a demonic deviation, madly surging towards the bird’s nest.
“Swish—” A red light erupted. ‘Lian Feng’ finally broke through the constraints of the Qiankun Pouch and shot to the top of the nest. After changing positions several times, just as it was about to charge in, a panicked voice came from inside: “Liao Chen… you, are you crazy? Look clearly who I am, Liao Qi Mei!”
The longsword, wreathed in a crimson killing intent, paused slightly. The tip of the sword tilted, beginning to adjust its position, as if trying to see what was happening inside the nest.
But the rapidly spreading vines were always one step ahead. Whenever a gap appeared, they would immediately entwine it, completely obscuring everything inside.
‘Lian Feng’ hovered hesitantly in the air, as if lost in thought.
As layer after layer of Qiwu flower vines wrapped around it, the nest grew larger and larger, and the space inside became more and more enclosed.
Yan Jingyu’s nostrils were filled with the thick scent of a demonic beast. He frantically used his hands and feet to try and get away from the other, but he was as helpless as a quail pinned by an eagle, even getting his skin scratched by the other’s sharp wings.
He threw himself at the flower vines, but only managed to get more pollen on himself, provoking an even more violent assault.
Yan Jingyu had never been so confused and terrified. In the darkness, he couldn’t see anything, and gradually, he couldn’t hear anything either, as if his five senses had been sealed again.
The sensation of pain gradually receded, replaced by another indescribable feeling. Gradually, even that feeling became distant. He fell into a deep sleep in his helplessness.
Yan Jingyu woke up in a daze several times. The tyrannical demonic beast seemed to have become docile again after obtaining a brief moment of satisfaction. He was trapped in the other’s chest, his soft fingertips touching warm flesh and mottled pinions, the thick scent of blood in his nose.
He knew it was the wound he had inflicted on the other, but he also knew that his own body was probably covered in the beast’s blood by now.
…No weapon, can’t finish the job.
He vengefully dug his fingers into the wound, but his wrist was caught in the next instant, followed by a suffocating plunder.
Yan Jingyu struggled for a while between resentment and helplessness, but in the end, he powerlessly fainted again.
‘Lian Feng’ obediently stood guard outside the impenetrable nest. After it had changed positions nearly a dozen times, a familiar aura finally came from the depths of the nest.
The ever-expanding divine sense made its whole body tremble. Not until the Vermilion Bird’s divine form shot into the sky did the surging sword intent suddenly scatter in all directions. ‘Lian Feng’ abruptly arrived at the periphery of the ‘nest’, watching as the Qiwu flower vines withdrew like flowing water. The nest shrank from large to small, gradually returning to its original size.
The man stepped out from inside, casually taking some clothes from the Qiankun Pouch and putting them on. The pinions on his skin had just receded. Liao Chen stood with his back to the nest, his face extremely grim.
‘Lian Feng’ came to him fawningly, but he just waved his hand and put it back into the Qiankun Pouch.
The faint sound of human breathing came from behind him, so weak that he could easily crush it without even turning around.
Liao Chen took a deep breath, his fingers slowly rising, a small flame igniting at his fingertips.
All he had to do was toss it back, and everything would be reduced to ashes, whether it was the tiny so-called ‘arch-nemesis’ behind him, or the unbearable memories from the time he was demonized.
His fingertips tensed. In the end, he restrained himself, clenched his fist, and turned around expressionlessly.
A scene he hadn’t dared to spy on with his divine sense appeared before his eyes.
The white, silk-like material was covered in bloodstains, as if from a fight. Amidst the blood-stained white silk, the loathsome thing was curled up weakly. He frowned slightly, his body covered in small scratches from the wings. In addition, some unknown bruises and red marks were all over his body. Like snow that had been violently trampled, or like jade bones that had been maliciously crushed.
Liao Chen’s breathing was ragged. He first averted his gaze, the prairie fire once again condensing at his fingertips.
After a few more moments, he closed his eyes heavily and let the flames rush towards the nest.
“Mmm…” The sleeping person’s eyelashes twitched, as if he were about to wake up. Liao Chen turned and walked forward expressionlessly.
“So hot…” Yan Jingyu was a little confused. His slender white fingers struggled to prop himself up, but he fell back down again. He looked at the surrounding flames in a daze, his mind still not quite processing it. “Liao Chen…” he murmured.
Yan Jingyu was both hungry and sleepy. As he gradually realized what had happened, he abruptly propped himself up from the fire. The next instant, a finger suddenly tapped on his glabella.
His mind jolted. He abruptly looked up, his expression dazed.
“You should not have come inside the barrier.”
When Yan Jingyu woke up, he felt that his mind was a little blank. He only remembered that he had eaten the last Bigu Pill, and because he was afraid of being hungry, he had come inside the barrier, and then…
He rubbed his head and propped himself up with his somewhat weak arms, looking at the man sitting cross-legged with his back to him, his expression confused. “…Huh?”
“You know too much. I had no choice but to seal your memory.”
Yan Jingyu patted his own head. When he tried to get up, he suddenly fell back down again. The ground had been covered with a layer of silk-like fabric at some point. It was very soft and clean, so he wasn’t hurt. Yan Jingyu was baffled. “Was that necessary? Even if there are some treasures in this Jiuyi Mountain, they can all be traced back to their origins. I’ll find out what you got from here sooner or later.”
Liao Chen didn’t answer. He patted the non-existent dust off his clothes. “Since you’re awake, get up. We have to get going.”
Yan Jingyu tried his best to think. He remembered everything clearly before entering the barrier, but he had no memory of what happened after. He didn’t like this feeling of losing his memory. As he struggled to get up, he said, “Why do my hands and feet feel so weak… Did you do something unspeakable to me behind my back?”
Liao Chen had his back to him, his voice cold. “What do you think I did to you?”
“…” Yan Jingyu thought for a while, but came up with nothing. He checked his body and found no injuries. He then felt the strangeness in his body again. “You must have enslaved me. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be so tired… It’s like I’ve been hollowed out by something.”
The last sentence turned into a self-muttering grumble.
Liao Chen remained silent and walked straight ahead.
Yan Jingyu could only force himself up and follow behind him with unsteady steps, looking at the fallen trees around them.
There was no one else here besides him and Liao Chen. Liao Chen couldn’t have fought with anyone… The only thing Yan Jingyu could think of was that he had obtained some supreme treasure and must have used his sword intent while subduing the artifact.
He tilted his head to look at Liao Chen and noticed a subtle change in his aura. This fiend, who had been particularly violent and domineering due to his demonic cultivation, and had given off a cruel and bloodthirsty feeling even when he wasn’t speaking, now seemed to be mixed with a subtle demonic strangeness. Although he was still intimidating, it was not just simple fear, but… awe.
Yan Jingyu’s brow twitched, and his expression gradually became complicated. “…You came to Jiuyi Mountain for the Vermilion Bird’s divinity?”
Besides merging with a new divinity, Yan Jingyu couldn’t think of anything else that could cause such a change in the Demigod-stage Liao Chen.
And the only divinity that could be obtained from Jiuyi Mountain, Yan Jingyu could only think of the Vermilion Bird recorded in the ancient texts.
Liao Chen didn’t stop walking. “You remember?”
“I said I could guess.” Yan Jingyu suppressed the sourness in his heart. Learning of Liao Chen’s good fortune, he suddenly felt not only that his back was sore and his legs were weak, but also a little dizzy. Yan Jingyu swayed as he followed him out of the messy forest and onto the familiar ruins. His feet twisted back and forth on the rugged gravel, and he suddenly stumbled.
This was the downhill part of the ruins. Yan Jingyu was startled and reflexively reached out to grab Liao Chen’s sleeve, but the latter flung his hand away as if startled—
Not only did Yan Jingyu fail to get any support, but he was thrown off balance, his body falling to the side and rolling down for nearly four or five feet until he was stopped by a half-man-high stone wall.
Yan Jingyu’s head hit it with a thud, and he bounced back from the inertia, lying flat.
His vision alternated between gray and white. He could clearly feel a sharp pain in his side. His fingers moved futilely a few times, and in the end, he could only let every inch of his skin go limp and fall towards the center of the earth.
Liao Chen stood not far away, his expression stiff.
From his angle, he could clearly see the other’s extremely pale face and the large beads of cold sweat on his temples. He held his breath, and his gaze suddenly fell on the crimson that was gradually soaking the side of the other’s waist.
His pupils contracted.
He restrained his breathing, clenched his fists, and walked down step by step, slowly arriving in front of Yan Jingyu. Yan Jingyu’s pupils were somewhat dilated from dizziness, his breathing was weak. Liao Chen reached out to touch the side of his neck, feeling the equally weak pulse, and also, the heat.
…He was running a fever.
In the sealed nest, the supple, white, struggling body, forced to spread open, appeared in his mind.
Liao Chen lowered his eyes and took out a pill, placing it in his mouth.
Yan Jingyu felt himself being gently lifted up. His side was lifted off the ground, leaving behind the blood-stained sharp stone tip. He grunted softly, his voice hoarse. “Liao Qi Mei, did you do that on purpose…”
Liao Chen’s hand paused at his wound. He used his magic to evenly spread the Healing Dew between the pierced flesh. The wound began to heal at a speed visible to the naked eye, and the pain also slowly subsided. Yan Jingyu leaned in his arms and looked up at his expressionless face. “You really did something you feel guilty about.”
Liao Chen’s eyelashes trembled slightly. He continued to stare at the wound on his side with an expressionless face. The bloody flesh on his side first grew light pink skin, and then gradually returned to a pristine white under the continued treatment of the Healing Dew. The slender waist, between the tear in his clothes, revealed a texture like congealed jade.
As he withdrew his hand, he heard Yan Jingyu’s soft scoff. “You can even tolerate me calling you Liao Qi Mei.”
Liao Chen’s gaze shifted. His deep, dark eyes rose and fell, the surging crimson like the gaping maw of a demonic beast, making him seem particularly terrifying.
Yan Jingyu bravely averted his gaze, struggled to climb out of his arms, and continued to walk forward with his mouth shut tight, but his legs suddenly went weak again.
A hand caught him just in time. Yan Jingyu didn’t turn around. He saw a small, floating boat appear in front of him. His feet suddenly left the ground. Liao Chen hooked his waist and threw him in, his voice cold and gloomy:
“This is the last time.”
