Chapter 35 Rui
Rui
The air crackled.
From the car, Rui heard a sharp whistle.
A force shook the ground, and the vehicle rattled loudly.
Zizi.
He’d told her he only used his spiritual weapon when he had no other choice. He’d also shared that the nature of his attack
allowed for three strikes before he needed to recover from the exertion.
Another whistle.
Another blow.
Rui clambered out of the broken window, wincing as tiny bits of glass cut her palms. Hurry, she urged her legs. If whoever Zizi was fighting hadn’t perished from the first two strikes, it meant that he only had one
more chance to finish the job.
But before she could get any closer, violet and crimson light burst into the sky, like lightning from another world.
Rui sprinted, then skidded to a stop, shocked by what she saw.
Yiran was hunched over, but he seemed largely unhurt. Near him, crumpled on the ground, was a waiflike young man with violet
stubs sticking out of his back.
A Hybrid.
He wasn’t the only one.
Spiky hair, callous eyes, and a sadistic smile—if you could call it a smile. The other Hybrid was built like a tank. Growing
out of his back were eight violet spinal blades, each with a point ready to inflict pain. They arched over his head and around
his body, sharp ends crisscrossing like the teeth of a Venus flytrap. Ensnared in those blades was a boy, his arms limp, head
lolling to the side.
“Zizi!” Rui shrieked.
“Come any closer and he dies,” the Hybrid growled.
A violet blade slid out, agonizingly slow, just under Zizi’s left collarbone. Red seeped into the white of his T-shirt, spreading
fast.
Rui cried out. It felt like she had been impaled along with him.
Zizi opened his eyes and found her. “I thought I told you to stay in the car,” he rasped. His tone was so utterly normal, like he was telling her about a new set of pajamas he’d bought instead of bleeding to death in front of her.
“Why did you run off without me?” she screamed.
“I didn’t want you to get hurt.”
“I had to smash the windows to get out of the car.”
“Should’ve known there was no stopping you.” Zizi managed a crooked smile. His teeth were stained with blood.
“Enough of this lovers’ chitchat,” the hulking Hybrid snapped. “I thought you’d put up more of a fight, mage. I was hoping
to have some fun tonight.”
Zizi coughed. Blood dribbled down his chin. “I was distracted by your friend. Two against one seems kind of unfair, don’t
you think?”
A sound of pain came from the other Hybrid. Smoke rose from the violet stubs on his back. They were disintegrating. It looked
like something had been chopped off.
His yinqi. It was depleted. Which meant they stood a chance.
Rui caught Yiran’s eye. The skin on his cheek was a painful red and blistering, but he could fight if he had her sword. He
could take the weaker Hybrid out. Yiran nodded imperceptibly at her. He understood. All she needed was an opportunity.
“What are you doing here, Aloysius?” said the Hybrid boy, looking dazed as he struggled to his feet.
“Yuki, Yuki, oh sweet little Yuki. Did you think they wouldn’t send me to check up on you?”
Rui’s ears pricked. Who was Aloysius referring to?
Yuki lowered his eyes. “I had it under control.”
It wasn’t fear Rui sensed in his words, but anger.
“If you say so. This was a simple job. This was your chance to prove yourself, and you screwed up.” Aloysius cackled, seemingly
reveling in making Yuki feel small. “They’re not going to take kindly to your failure.”
Yuki sneered. “They’re not going to take kindly to you running your big mouth either.”
Aloysius looked confused. “Eh?”
Zizi’s T-shirt was turning redder by the second. Rui didn’t want to find out how much blood a human body contained. “Let him
go,” she said.
“Don’t tell me what to do, little girl.” Aloysius dismissed the weapon in her hand, turning his attention back to Yuki instead.
“Look at her, do you sense her qi levels, Yuki? She’s just an ordinary human, and you couldn’t even kill her first? You’re
a waste of space.”
Yuki glared at Aloysius with deep hatred.
“Leave the two of them alone,” Zizi said, staring at Rui. She knew he’d come to the same conclusion as her: the target of
this ambush was him. But it was clear the Hybrids wanted him alive, otherwise Aloysius would’ve finished him off.
Aloysius snickered. “Trying to play the hero?”
“I’m not the hero type.” Zizi’s grin was turning into a grimace. “I just enjoy being a know-it-all. That boy over there is
Song Wei’s grandson. If he dies, you’ll have the Exorcist Guild devoting every resource they have to hunting you down. I’m
guessing you don’t want that.”
“Let them come.” Aloysius snarled, driving his blade in deeper through Zizi.
Blood flowed from the curved end sticking out of Zizi’s chest, dripping down to his feet. He looked like he was about to faint,
but he kept talking.
“You’re ruining my shoes, Aloysius. It’s going to be a pain to remove all that blood from leather.”
“Shut that mouth of yours.”
Aloysius rotated his blade.
Zizi blew out an agonizing breath. His eyes were glazing over. Rui couldn’t stand to watch this. She moved her arm by half an inch, ready to throw her sword over to Yiran.
A violet blade shot out from Aloysius.
Yiran gasped. The blade was pressed against his jugular.
Rui met Aloysius’s glare, cursing silently. His reflexes were too fast. They had to find another way.
He spat at her. “Sneaky brat! Try that again and your boyfriend dies. And you! I don’t care whose grandson you are. I suggest
you stay down like a good dog before I put you down.”
“We’re supposed to be lying low,” Yuki said. He stole a glance at Yiran. Rui could’ve sworn there was a shadow of concern
on the Hybrid’s face. “We have who we came for. Let’s go before their reinforcements arrive.”
Aloysius shot Yuki an irritated look, but he retracted his blades.
All of them.
The night trembled with Zizi’s scream.
The Revenant flicked his blade clean. Blood splattered everywhere. Zizi dropped to the ground, his body lying motionless in
a growing pool of red.
Flashes of a different body, a different time, exploded in Rui’s mind.
Something inside her caught, like the teeth of a key latching. A snarl rose from the depths of her being. It grew louder,
hungrier, bursting forth like a primal scream.
Fire erupted from her hands, pluming like a celestial halo.
She stared, shell-shocked. Blue and brilliant, the flames were neither hot nor cold. They crested over her arms, spreading
to her body.
“Stop!” Aloysius shouted at her, dragging Zizi with him as he retreated. “Stop or I’ll kill him.”
But Rui’s feet continued to move. Her body had a mind of its own, held hostage by something she didn’t understand. She stared
at the blue fire blazing from her hands. Fascinated. Horrified. At her next exhale, her spiritual weapon lit up with the same
flames.
This wasn’t her magic. This wasn’t her. But did it matter? All she wanted was to save Zizi, and this, this thing, this blue fire—it could work.
“That magic can’t hurt us,” Aloysius said, still backing away. “It draws from the darkness, just like ours.”
Was Aloysius telling the truth? Was the blue fire truly useless against him? He didn’t look as sure as he sounded. If the
blue fire came from the darkness, it would harm Zizi. But if Aloysius was bluffing, then maybe it would pass through Zizi the same way yangqi had no effect on magic practitioners who used it.
But even if Rui wanted to use it on Aloysius, there was no opening she could detect; Aloysius was using Zizi’s body as a shield.
As if she’d said her thoughts aloud, Zizi opened his eyes.
He winked.
And nodded.
Rui gritted her teeth and plunged the flaming sword right into his chest.