Chapter 18 The Seal Broke
The air sank into dead silence.
I did not see anyone who understood how a Spirit Transformation cultivator could kill a Mahayana cultivator.
I also did not see anyone dare to ask.
I let out a breath too. With the last of my strength, I blasted away the blood vortex above the sect.
The disciples who had turned saw it. Trembling, they threw down their weapons and looked ready to surrender.
I did not give them the chance.
Fog ghosts shot into the sky, screaming as they tore them apart.
And I could not hold on either. I collapsed onto the ground, spitting mouthfuls of blood.
No one dared to help me up. My vicious methods seemed to have shaken everyone. They hid to the side, timid.
Lu Mingming looked worried and started toward me, but his elder brother shook his head and stopped him.
Qin Ruoyi flew back to my side with red eyes.
She grabbed my arm in a rush and took my pulse. She choked for one breath, then slowly lifted her eyes to me. Her face looked lost, and broken.
"Your meridians..."
I endured the sharp pain, hid against her, and said softly, "I'm fine."
"You always lie to me..."
Qin Ruoyi's face was even paler than mine. Her hands shook as she wiped the blood from the corner of my mouth.
"Why? Why do this... I could have done it. Why are you like this..."
I said nothing.
This mortal body had never been able to bear demonic qi.
Otherwise, why had I worked so hard to cultivate spiritual qi?
I had not necessarily had to die.
But...
That strange voice. It called itself the manager.
It said I had taken a key NPC's body, and the plot had gone off course.
If I did not die, then in the next second, Qin Ruoyi would die.
How could that be allowed?
I sighed.
The manager accused me of being a despicable person.
It said I knew Senior Sister had no one to care for her and no one to love her, so black-hearted me used feeling and love to deceive her.
No one had ever loved her. How could she not sink into it? Even if she knew the truth, she still would not throw off the false image I had given her.
Dragged off the altar, she had been tangled for a life with someone who clung to living and feared death.
Utterly despicable.
Yes. At the start, that was what I had thought.
But... I had already given her a proper title.
I had undone the restraint and released the demonic qi I was born with.
I would not let her die.
Yet the red characters over Qin Ruoyi were still there. She was still going to die.
I closed my eyes, spent.
Blood would not stop pouring from my mouth.
I thought that if I died, maybe this certain-death bind would break.
Qin Ruoyi poured her spiritual qi and essence blood into me with no care for her own life.
If this went on, she would die first.
I wanted to stop her, but then I heard the clear crack of the Demon-Sealing Seal breaking.
Everyone heard it.
Damn. I had forgotten to repair the seal!
But in this state, I could not repair the seal either.
I could not mind so much anymore.
I only needed Qin Ruoyi alive.
"Go!" I hauled on Qin Ruoyi's collar with effort. "Go. The Mountain God is coming out. If you don't leave, you'll die!"
Qin Ruoyi did not move. She kept stubbornly pouring spiritual qi into me. Her tears hit my face, drop by drop.
"Don't cry. Go."
My eyes stung a little too. My body hurt. So did my heart.
The ground and the mountains shook hard. The sect's great hall collapsed with a boom. Dust rose everywhere.
A blinding gold light shot into the sky and stirred a resonance between heaven and earth.
After a long while, it finally went quiet.
A little black flood dragon struggled out from under the ruins of the great hall.
When it saw me, the little black flood dragon's eyes lit up. It crawled toward me, looking delighted.
Qin Ruoyi, sharply on guard, raised her sword at the little black flood dragon at once. Those cold eyes were full of heavy killing intent.
The little black flood dragon startled. After it saw Qin Ruoyi's face, it bit its own tail and flipped backward.
"..." I choked. My chest hurt even more.
"Father, don't tell me you were the one who dug at the Demon-Sealing Seal?" I asked, with no strength left.
When I called him Father, Qin Ruoyi's figure paused. She slowly put the sword away.
The little black flood dragon was about to make a sound when a force yanked it away.
Everyone looked along the direction the little black flood dragon flew.