Demoness's Art of Vengeance

Ye Xiuwen’s chest rose and fell as he heaved and breathed. His emotions were a mess right now. Just then, Qin Lingyu made his move.

The Mistlands’ mode of operations was always the same – it would create a scenario to draw out the most abject despondence and despair in its prey before attacking and killing it. Then, it would slowly devour and consume the soul of its prey.

Naturally, the physical body of the Mistlands’ prey would not immediately vanish after its soul had perished – it would only enter a brain-dead state of existence. But without a soul, the body would never be able to wake up again.

The counterfeit Qin Lingyu intended to capitalize on Ye Xiuwen’s stupor to strike at him and deal him a fatal blow. But having been through so many combats and skirmishes, self-preservation and defense was almost second nature to Ye Xiuwen. Therefore, just as Qin Lingyu’s attack arrived in front of Ye Xiuwen’s face, Ye Xiuwen reacted. His sword flickered, leaving only afterimages in its wake. Soon, both of them were locked in an intense battle.

In reality, Ye Xiuwen’s combat abilities had always exceeded Qin Lingyu’s abilities by a mile. Since the counterfeit Qin Lingyu had been created from Ye Xiuwen’s memory of Qin Lingyu, the combat abilities of the counterfeit Qin Lingyu were the same as they were in reality. In other words, once Qin Lingyu had lost the element of surprise after his very first attack, the rest of their battle was fated to be a grueling, uphill task for him.

Gradually, their difference in abilities began to show as the counterfeit Qin Lingyu ceded more and more ground to Ye Xiuwen.

Even then, Ye Xiuwen would not be able to leave this illusion even if he killed off the counterfeit Qin Lingyu. There was only one condition for escape – and that was to recognize and be convicted that the “reality” before his eyes was nothing more than an illusion.

This was something that Ye Xiuwen had not noticed yet.

Just as the counterfeit Qin Lingyu was unable to hold on any longer, the counterfeit Jun Xiaomo anxiously watching at the side suddenly yelled out, “Brother Lingyu, I’m coming to help you!”

As her exclamation rang out, a pink figure suddenly rushed between Qin Lingyu and Ye Xiuwen. As soon as he heard Jun Xiaomo’s exclamation, Ye Xiuwen immediately hesitated in his attack. Yet that moment of hesitation proved to be disastrous. Both Qin Lingyu and Jun Xiaomo’s swords instantly plunged straight through Ye Xiuwen’s abdomen.

“You…” Ye Xiuwen’s eyes widened in horror as he stared with incredulity at the young lady before his very eyes.

At this very moment, the young lady’s eyes were no longer filled with that limpid and obsequious gaze of hers. Instead, there was only a cold, frigid gaze that stared straight through the depths of Ye Xiuwen’s eyes.

There was even an undeniable trace of hatred in her eyes.

Hatred? Ye Xiuwen recoiled in shock. Then he coughed a few times – blood had begun to seep out of the corner of his mouth in serpentine streaks. Ye Xiuwen chuckled bitterly –

That’s right. Little martial sister has always valued things that bore a pleasant appearance. How could she not hate my appearances after seeing that terrifying scar under the veiled conical hat of mine?

Ye Xiuwen looked on as Jun Xiaomo’s clear, obsidian-black eyes stared straight at his sprawling scar which had been caused by the incursion of demonic energy. Then, realization dawned upon Ye Xiuwen; he finally understood everything. At least, that was what he thought.

His heart began to grow colder and colder. While the earlier news about Yao Mo’s death had plunged Ye Xiuwen into the depths of despair and despondence, Jun Xiaomo’s present attitude towards him had iced over his heart once again, instantaneously negating all of the real Jun Xiaomo’s efforts at warming her martial brother up to her.

He had almost dealt a fatal blow to Qin Lingyu earlier. Yet it was precisely because Jun Xiaomo had interjected that he hesitated. He did not want to hurt his little martial sister at all.

Even then – even though he did not wish to hurt Jun Xiaomo – his opponents did not reciprocate such thoughts. They mercilessly plunged their swords straight into his abdomen. Jun Xiaomo had even used the sword arts that Ye Xiuwen had imparted to her against himself!

Ye Xiuwen had already sustained slight injuries when he forcibly recalled the spiritual energy to retract his earlier attack. Now that Jun Xiaomo and Ye Xiuwen had viciously stabbed him in his abdomen, Ye Xiuwen’s injuries could only be described as grievous, bordering on fatal. The odds of his survival were now thin at best.

Then, Jun Xiaomo and Qin Lingyu ferociously pulled back their swords at the same time, causing blood to immediately spurt out of Ye Xiuwen’s abdomen.

Jun Xiaomo’s stab had punctured Ye Xiuwen’s artery.

As Ye Xiuwen’s blood began to flow out profusely, the strength in his body began to drain out extremely quickly. His eyes blurred, and his surroundings started to shift.

Yet he steeled his nerves and continued to stand where he was with an erect back. It was as though he was completely unwilling to fall and falter, even at the final moments of his life.

At this moment, Qin Lingyu’s image had become nothing more than blur patches of colours to him. Nevertheless, he could vaguely make out what Qin Lingyu was saying to him right now –

“Martial brother Ye, you should have anticipated such an end when you had decided to collude with the demonic cultivators earlier… But, don’t worry. You won’t be alone. Yao Mo and the others are waiting for you below…”

Qin Lingyu and Jun Xiaomo’s faces beamed with immense delight and satisfaction as they watched Ye Xiuwen draw his final breaths.

Yao Mo…Little Mo…

That young man’s suave and charming appearance flashed across Ye Xiuwen’s mind once more. His face made several expressions, including that of mischief, seriousness, disappointment, hearty laughter…

Then, Yao Mo’s face finally paused at the expression that he had made when he first learnt that the scar on Ye Xiuwen’s face was caused by the confluence of a curse and the incursion of demonic energy –

“Brother Ye, is it painful?” The young man asked him dolefully, as though that scar was on his own face.

“Brother Ye, I will definitely find the medicinal elements necessary to treat that scar on your face! Then, you’ll finally be able to hold your head up high and live amidst gazes of admiration!” The young man sincerely exclaimed. Even though his voice was still tender and crisp, it was nevertheless filled with persuasiveness. His words had once again ignited the feeling of hope in his heart…

A warm feeling gushed out from the depths of Ye Xiuwen’s heart, mitigating the pain from the injuries on Ye Xiuwen’s body. It even brought some measure of clarity back to Ye Xiuwen’s mind.

Perhaps the only person who could look at me without staring at my terrifying scar with a peculiar gaze is Yao Mo? That clumsy yet abnormally determined young man…

It’s a pity that the young man is now dead. As he thought about this, Ye Xiuwen’s heart slackened once more.

Ye Xiuwen’s heart wrenched at the thought of Yao Mo’s death. He did not mind the fact that Yao Mo had chosen to embrace the first prince at the end instead of himself. His only wish was that the silly and adorable young man could live well and live happily.

Generally, when people discover that their most beloved person in the world had perished, they would feel incredibly aggrieved and despondent, and perhaps even turn suicidal.

But Ye Xiuwen was not like that. The pain and grief in his heart only brought clarity to his mind. And that was not all. At this moment, that spark of fiery intent within his chest had finally burgeoned into a roaring inferno –

This towering inferno engulfed his mind with thoughts of vengeance!

Ye Xiuwen suddenly opened his eyes again menacingly. His obsidian-black eyes were no longer still and serene as waters on a lake. Instead, they had become deep and profound like a bottomless abyss.

This deep profundity was like the calm before the raging superstorm – despite the still appearances, it bore down with immense pressure on Qin Lingyu and Jun Xiaomo’s bodies.

Ye Xiuwen had not discovered that the wound on his body had somehow begun to recover and fuse together again.

In the end, the illusory world was still inextricably intertwined with a person’s thoughts and convictions. When a person’s convictions became so overwhelmingly strong that they could repress the illusions created by the little red flowers, the illusions would naturally be reformed in the direction of that person’s convictions.

The counterfeit Qin Lingyu realized this immediately. With his limited senses, he was unable to comprehend how his “prey” already at his final breath would suddenly draw a second wind with such immense vitality.

That said, each of these “persons” in the illusory world were nothing more than an extension of the little red flowers. A few of these little red flowers might have developed spiritual awareness and become better able to understand the basic thoughts and actions of humans, but they were nevertheless no more than little red flowers in the end. They were never going to be able to fully comprehend the nuances and complexities of human emotions in a person’s heart.

In other words, while the fragrance dispersed by these little red flowers could draw out the despair and despondent memories within a person’s heart, these flowers could never understand human emotions, much less adapt accordingly when unexpected circumstances arise.

The present counterfeit Qin Lingyu was just like that. He knew that things had gone awry and developed in ways which were out of his expectations, but his only reaction was to increase the measure of fragrance that it emitted in a feeble attempt to amplify the despair and despondence it drew out from Ye Xiuwen’s heart.

Yet the amplification of despair and despondence only seemed to add fuel to the raging inferno in Ye Xiuwen’s heart. As a result, his thoughts of vengeance only grew stronger, and stronger.

Finally, Ye Xiuwen made his move. This time, he was the one who took the initiative to attack Qin Lingyu and Jun Xiaomo.