Chapter 26 – Startled Awake (5)

Soon he knew the answer.

A black shadow fell from the sky, like a lightning bolt striking the earth. The tapir roared at the shadow, but soon came to a sudden stop because the shadow landed precisely on her head. With a loud bang, the collision felt like an earthquake and created a huge pit in the ground, and dust rose up in a thick fog.

After a while, the dust gradually settled, revealing a black-clothed man in the center of the pit.

Fu Lan knelt on the tapir’s back, his eyes drooping lazily.

“Xiao Yin likes you, so I won’t kill you,” Fu Lan said. “Now, tell us about the dream.”

No… Qi Yin thought weakly. He didn’t like demons.

Lan Xian’er paused, looking up at Qi Yin. “Do you still like me?”

Qi Yin wanted to deny it, but Yun Zhi secretly pinched him and whispered, “Use your beauty to your advantage, junior brother.”

“… ” Qi Yin never even dreamed that he would have to use his beauty as a weapon one day.

Fu Lan also looked at him, his eyes calm and quiet like an ancient mirror. For some reason, Qi Yin didn’t want to lie in front of Fu Lan. That idiot would believe anything he said.

“I…” Qi Yin got up and hesitated to speak.

Yun Zhi pinched him again. “Beauty, man, plan.”

If he didn’t say this, the vengeful demon wouldn’t be able to settle down and they might end up fighting again. Qi Yin dejectedly tried to speak, but he couldn’t say anything no matter how hard he tried. Everyone was waiting for his answer, so Qi Yin gave up and said, “I like you.”

Lan Xian’er stared at him in a daze.

“But it’s not the kind of love between a man and a woman!” Qi Yin hesitated for a moment and continued, “Miss Lan Xian’er, I’m sorry. I can’t marry a demon, but maybe we can be friends.”

Yun Zhi sighed heavily.

This time, Lan Xian’er was silent for a long time. She lay there and said softly, “Senior Yun Yin, you’re really stupid. You don’t even know how to lie.”

Qi Yin hung his head in despair. He wasn’t like this before. He was good at lying and pretending. In the past, he often lowered his head and endured everything in the Yao family. No one knew that he liked to take his revenge on them in petty ways. But today, for some reason, he didn’t want to lie in front of Fu Lan.

Lan Xian’er continued, “But you’re really a good person. You know, the dreams I gave to them and the old cat are all nightmares, but the dream I gave to you was a beautiful one. I know you’re a good person. I don’t want to kill you.” Lan Xian’er smiled, and she actually looked gentle and kind. “I won’t kill you, Senior Yun Yin. But the fate of these two people, I will decide!”

The tapir suddenly disappeared. Fu Lan knelt on the ground, raising thick dust. In the next moment, her human form appeared behind Fu Lan. Her five fingers turned into claws, and her pale nails grew more than a foot long, reaching towards Fu Lan’s back.

“No!” Qi Yin was terrified.

Suddenly, a strange heat boiled in his meridians, as if every drop of blood was burning. Something seemed to have changed in the depths of his body and bones. You Hui Sword vibrated like a bee. Without thinking, Qi Yin stepped onto the sword, flew on it, and inserted himself like a gust of wind into the space between Fu Lan and Lan Xian’er.

Then, the sharp claws pierced through his chest!

At that moment, everything suddenly slowed down. Qi Yin watched in horror as Lan Xian’er’s claws pierced through his chest, and hot blood spurted out, splashing all over Lan Xian’er’s face. Her face, as pale as orchids, became stunned, staring wide-eyed at Qi Yin. Fu Lan turned around and was also stunned.

Yun Zhi was also shocked. No one expected Qi Yin to comprehend the sword control technique at this critical moment, let alone that his first action was to throw himself to death!

But demons were demons. Ferocity and brutality were written in their blood. Lan Xian’er hesitated only for a moment, then took another step forward. Her sharp claws pierced through Qi Yin’s back and then penetrated Fu Lan’s chest, like piercing through a layer of fragile paper. Both of them were hanging from Lan Xian’er’s arm like a gourd. Blood dripped down like rain, staining the earth red.

Severe pain swept through Qi Yin’s entire body, so intense that when he suddenly felt no pain, time seemed to slow down and his mind went blank. Including the incident at the Yao family, this was the second time in his life that he had seen so much blood, and this time it was his own.

He had heard that people often saw a revolving lantern before they died, but he didn’t see anything. Instead, he suddenly understood something that he had been puzzled about since the moment he met Fu Lan.

He remembered the first time he met this man in front of a door in a small alley in Wu Tang. The gray sky was drizzling, and they were both hiding from the rain. He was crouched down and Fu Lan was standing upright. Their eyes met as if it was their first encounter, but also as if they were reuniting after a long separation.

In that moment of life and death, he suddenly understood that he wanted to be with Fu Lan. He didn’t want this silly guy to disappear from his life.

After all, he was the only person in the world who liked him.

Lan Xian’er withdrew her hand and looked at him with pity. Qi Yin collapsed, and another bloody embrace caught him. In the overwhelming smell of blood, he unexpectedly caught the scent of a mountain after rain, and his heart suddenly calmed down. He lay in that embrace as if he had found his long-lost home.

“Xiao Yin.” Fu Lan looked at the broken boy in his arms. “I won’t die. Crush my skull, cut off my hands, destroy everything I have, but I won’t die. I’m not a demon, but I’m not human either.”

Qi Yin couldn’t hear anything anymore. Darkness slowly enveloped him like water, and he felt as if he had fallen into a deep sea. The only source of light above him was Fu Lan’s eyes.

It was fine, he thought. He had been walking alone for thirteen years, but now at least he could rest in his brother’s embrace.

The battle continued. Yun Zhi suddenly exerted his strength and attacked Lan Xian’er with his sword. This guy who had just said that he couldn’t hold a sword with his right arm cut off, held his sword with his left hand, and the blade was sharp enough to cut through mountains and rivers.

Fu Lan lowered his eyelids, and the fine feathers of his eyelashes covered the sadness in his eyes.

“Silly Xiao Yin,” he whispered. His index finger touched Qi Yin’s forehead.

All was quiet.

An invisible force unfolded silently. Scattered blood drops seeped into the soil with a buzzing vibration. Bee-like creatures rose from the ground and hovered in mid-air before rushing into Qi Yin’s wounds in a frenzy. A cold spiritual power was injected into his wounds, flowing rapidly through his bones, nine apertures, and six organs along his shattered meridians.

The dying boy suddenly trembled and opened his eyes wide, his pupils almost shrinking to the size of needles.

It was a terrible feeling as his blood flowed in reverse and rushed through his body at high speed. The pressure on his blood vessels was too great, as if they would burst at any moment. However, an unknown force supported his heart, blood vessels, and bones, enveloping them like layers of strong steel, resisting the high pressure that would otherwise crush his blood vessels.

Qi Yin was in so much pain that he almost preferred to die. He held onto Fu Lan’s arm tightly, leaving deep blood marks on it.

His originally weak self-healing ability suddenly increased a hundredfold. His weakened heart was forcibly beating again, and the spiritual power extended fine threads to pull his meridians together. His broken ribs were welded together like iron.

Yun Zhi turned his head during the fight and widened his eyes in amazement. That was Fu Lan’s power, which was strong enough to reverse life and death!

No one knew what kind of magic Fu Lan was using. Yun Zhi had never heard of any magic that could bring people back to life. Even if there was, it would only bring back zombies.

But Fu Lan did it. Qi Yin started breathing again, and his heart rate gradually increased, becoming stable.

The great master was about to go into battle, so Yun Zhi voluntarily stepped back and held his sword, smiling. “Miss, you’re in big trouble now.”

The wounds on Fu Lan’s body were healing at a speed invisible to the naked eye. Lan Xian’er was extremely shocked. She suddenly realized that this guy in front of her was not just a simple Daoist from Feng Huan Mountain. She wanted to use her magic, but that man raised his eyes and softly said, “Forbidden.”

Her body suddenly became heavy, as if she had been burdened with a ton of weight. This terrible man didn’t use any magic or incantation. He simply spoke a word and activated an unknown magic. Her spiritual power instantly became thick like paste and couldn’t be mobilized!

But Fu Lan didn’t move. He frowned slightly, as if he was hesitating whether to kill her or not.

“Kill her,” the black cat appeared from somewhere and said, “this nuisance of a woman, A Fu won’t like her as a daughter-in-law.”

No one saw Fu Lan move, but a sharp light suddenly pierced through Lan Xian’er’s chest. A red mark gradually expanded, and blood soaked her clothes. No one knew how Fu Lan accurately found her heart. She didn’t even have time to defend herself before she lost.

Her spiritual power began to dissipate, like scattered raindrops, evaporating little by little in the air. The dream collapsed, and she fell down. The gray dome shattered inch by inch like glass, revealing the original sky. She suddenly realized that she was not a match for this silent man, and he had gone easy on her not for her sake, but for Qi Yin’s sake. The only reason he had not acted was because Qi Yin liked her.

The black cat licked its paw and said, “I’ve been with this idiot for so long, and this is the first time I’ve seen him angry. This tapir demon is quite capable.”

“Did Junior Brother Dai get angry?” Yun Zhi came over at some point and looked at Fu Lan. Fu Lan picked up the unconscious Qi Yin and walked out of the dream without saying a word, which was no different from usual.

The black cat was about to speak when it suddenly felt that something was wrong and looked up at Yun Zhi.

That guy smiled and shook the black cat’s paw with his remaining left hand. “Nice to meet you, talkative little cat. I’m Yun Zhi. Call me Senior Brother.”

The black cat pulled back its paw with a wooden face and said, “Get lost, I don’t know you.”