Demoness's Art of Vengeance

Jun Xiaomo strained her eye and searched for Ye Xiuwen’s whereabouts for some time, but to no avail. She sighed in her heart.

It was good that her Martial Brother Ye was not trapped in this place. The domain of the spirit tool was akin to a massive pitfall, and anyone who fell into it would find it incredibly difficult to extricate themselves from the situation. Both she and Brother Rong had already been stumbled by the spirit tool, and there was no reason for her Martial Brother Ye to follow suit and put his life in danger.

That said, she couldn’t help but feel a wave of bitter astringency wash across her heart when she turned her mind to consider how she and Ye Xiuwen had already made known their feelings for each other, yet she still remained somewhat entangled with Rong Ruihan’s life.

Perhaps it would be for the best if she remained trapped in the spirit tool forever, right? At the very least, her Martial Brother Ye would no longer have to bother with her intractable relationships. At the very least, her Martial Brother Ye would be able to freely pursue a person who was truly worthy of his love – one who would be able to fully and exclusively reciprocate his love; one who was not caught in a web of relationships with others.

Tears began to well up in the rims of Jun Xiaomo’s eyes, blurring her vision as she retrieved her last and final Invisibility Talisman from her Interspatial Ring.

There were initially two Invisibility Talismans within her Interspatial Ring, just sufficient for Rong Ruihan and her to each have one. That way, both of them would be able to survive for another four hours in the hope that her martial brothers outside would be able to rescue them.

But now, one of the remaining two Invisibility Talismans had been ruined, leaving only one remaining for two people.

“Brother Rong, thanks for everything you’ve done for me. Now, it’s my turn to return the favor and do something for you as well.” Jun Xiaomo remarked softly as she gently caressed the half of Rong Ruihan’s face that was still intact.

Rong Ruihan’s eyes widened in disbelief. He could already guess what Jun Xiaomo was intending to do, but he sincerely hoped with all his heart that his intuition was wrong!

He struggled to sit up in a feeble attempt to restrain Jun Xiaomo’s actions. Unfortunately, Jun Xiaomo did not give him any opportunity to resist. In the blink of an eye, she had already applied the remaining Invisibility Talisman onto his body.

An Invisibility Talisman was not transferable once it had been used. In other words, even if Rong Ruihan tore off the Invisibility Talisman on his body, he would not be able to use it on Jun Xiaomo anymore.

Jun Xiaomo had just bought Rong Ruihan another four hours of time.

She had already braced herself to face the wrath of the fireballs. In fact, she knew, deep within her heart, that she was now infinitesimally closer to death right now.

After Jun Xiaomo carried Rong Ruihan’s limp body to the side, she scrambled to her feet and prepared her heart for a long, arduous journey ahead. Just like what Rong Ruihan had done for her, she intended to draw away the fireballs from where Rong Ruihan was, leaving him safe and sound while the Invisibility Talisman was still active.

“Xiaomo! Hurgh…hurgh…” Rong Ruihan yelled out in excruciating pain. He wanted so much to tear off the Invisibility Talisman, catch up to Jun Xiaomo and prevent her from rushing headlong into danger. Unfortunately, he couldn’t do a single one of these things with the state of his body right now. Thus, he gazed dismally as he watched Jun Xiaomo sprint off into the distance.

Outside, Ye Xiuwen’s rage had evidently reached new heights. He found Jun Xiaomo’s sacrificial acts for Rong Ruihan incredibly harsh to his own eyes. After all, hadn’t he just witnessed how Jun Xiaomo’s love for Rong Ruihan ran as deep as the depths of the oceans?

Did they act with such wanton disregard for his feelings because they had simply thought that he was not present?

Ye Xiuwen’s eyes were now filled with the dark, vile energy that continued to swirl about slowly, as though stirring and consuming his soul.

Then, without any warning, a vicious smile crept up Ye Xiuwen’s lips. This smile immediately sent chills down the spines of the Heavenly Peak disciples.

Martial Brother Ye has never revealed such a macabre expression before. What’s he thinking of doing now?

They soon got the answer to their question. With a flick of his sleeves, Ye Xiuwen caused the spirit tool to emit a bright beam of light, shining directly onto his own body.

Then, Ye Xiuwen turned around and lifted Zhang Shuyue’s chin with his finger. Raising his eyebrows slightly, he leaned closer towards her ear and whispered, “Don’t you hate Jun Xiaomo very much? I’m going to give you an opportunity to stir her emotions and exasperate her right now. Will you do it?”

Zhang Shuyue immediately responded with joy, “Of course I’ll do it!”

Ye Xiuwen had leaned in so close to Zhang Shuyue’s face that she could feel his breath scattering on her earlobes. Her heart skipped a beat, before thumping quicker and quicker.

Ye Xiuwen chuckled lightly, “That’s good. We’ll have to see your performance then.” As he spoke, he released Zhang Shuyue’s chin and turned his gaze straight back to the projection of Jun Xiaomo and Rong Ruihan hovering above the spirit tool.

He had just linked up the projections from the spirit tool. In other words, just as much as he could see Jun Xiaomo’s actions, Jun Xiaomo was also able to see his every move right now.

Inside the spirit tool, a projection suddenly appeared right in front of Jun Xiaomo’s face, revealing a projection of Ye Xiuwen leaning lazily on the trunk of a tree, rendering her momentarily dumbfounded.

The thing she found most bewildering and inexplicable was how Zhang Shuyue was leaning closely by her Martial Brother Ye’s side, almost as though they were an intimate couple.

“Martial Brother Ye…” Jun Xiaomo couldn’t help but call out his name, yet her quivering pupils revealed some measure of disbelief.

A part of her even wondered whether this was merely an illusion created by an illusion generating formation array within the spirit tool.

Ye Xiuwen stared at Jun Xiaomo with an incredibly frigid gaze, almost as though Jun Xiaomo’s existence were completely inconsequential to him. Curling his lips into a thin smirk, he quipped, “How’s it in there? Are you having fun with your lover yet?”

Jun Xiaomo’s eyes widened in disbelief as she blurted in shock, “What?!”

She couldn’t believe her ears! How could such unfeeling words be coming out of Ye Xiuwen’s lips?!

Maintaining his smirk, Ye Xiuwen continued to mock Jun Xiaomo contemptuously, “Were my words that difficult to comprehend? Your acts of sacrifice borne out of your deep love for that man have opened my eyes to the world. It was a truly moving sight.”

Waves of giddiness began to wash over Jun Xiaomo’s mind. She simply couldn’t fathom how a warm and kind person like Ye Xiuwen could possibly bring himself to say such intentionally hurtful words.

Then, as though the impact on Jun Xiaomo’s mind were not great enough, Zhang Shuyue leaned in closer to Ye Xiuwen and hooked her arm around his as she added, “We’ve both witnessed your lovey-dovey interaction with that hideous monster earlier. My word. Why do you continue to lead Brother Ye on when the person you love is that hideous monster? Why are you trying to hurt Brother Ye’s heart?”

“Hideous monster?” Jun Xiaomo looked at Zhang Shuyue with some measure of bewilderment before turning her attention to Ye Xiuwen. She had noticed that Ye Xiuwen was no longer rejecting Zhang Shuyue’s advances, and her heart was now flushed with an aching, sour sensation, so much so that she even began to laugh manically.

Hideous monster…Zhang Shuyue is actually calling Brother Rong a hideous monster? That’s right – didn’t she use the exact same term on Martial Brother Ye in my previous life?

In Jun Xiaomo’s previous life, Zhang Shuyue had coldly cursed at Ye Xiuwen just before plunging her sword straight through his heart, “Hideous monster, do you think I’d really love you with those terrifying looks off yours? You’re like a toad lusting after the flesh of a swan!”

Scenes of her previous life began to pour into her mind, interpolating with the present scene.

She finally knew why Zhang Shuyue’s attitude towards Ye Xiuwen was vastly different in this life. It was because Ye Xiuwen had already shed his “hideous appearances”, regaining his original suave and charming appearances and becoming the apple of Zhang Shuyue’s eyes.

Jun Xiaomo was initially thoroughly aggravated by Zhang Shuyue’s words. However, as she began to process these thoughts and consider all possibilities, her other emotions began to subside, leaving only roiling sorrow plaguing her heart.

“Martial Brother Ye, you’ve already gained control of the spirit tool, haven’t you?” Jun Xiaomo looked at Ye Xiuwen with a pained expression in the depths of her eyes.

She clung tightly to the single thread of hope that this projection was nothing more than an illusion. However, her intuition told her that there were no illusion generating formation arrays within the spirit tool to begin with. Furthermore, she had just realized that she had not been struck squarely by a single fireball ever since being trapped within the domain of the spirit tool.

This could only mean one thing – the spirit tool was already under the control of a person from the Heavenly Peak.

That said, why didn’t her Martial Brother Ye release them if he didn’t want to hurt them to begin with? Could he have no intention to release them to begin with? Was he thinking of tormenting them and sending them spiraling down the abyss of despondence before he would finally relent and release them?

The prospects of the latter possibilities hurt so much that they cut straight through her heart. She couldn’t understand what she had done to cause Ye Xiuwen to hate her so much!

Faced with Jun Xiaomo’s sorrowful gaze, Ye Xiuwen remained completely placid as he smiled faintly, “Not bad, you’ve managed to guess that much. That’s right, your life is now in my hands.”

Ye Xiuwen spoke with a casual, lackadaisical tone of voice, as though he were simply commenting on the weather today.

Jun Xiaomo clenched her fists tightly, “Martial Brother Ye, do you really hate me so much that you want me to die?”

“You’ve betrayed our relationship. Don’t you think I’m allowed to punish you for that?” Ye Xiuwen retorted spitefully.

Tears began to flow from Jun Xiaomo’s eyes once more. She found herself at a complete loss for words when faced with Ye Xiuwen’s harsh comments. Was she to say that she had never loved Rong Ruihan right now? She simply couldn’t bring herself to say these words, especially not to Ye Xiuwen.

She could never bring herself to lie to her Martial Brother Ye. She could never lower herself to speak such hypocritical words just because she wished to live.

However, what Jun Xiaomo remained unaware of was the fact that Ye Xiuwen was presently being controlled by the vile energies from the spirit tool. If she were to appease and cajole Ye Xiuwen with the words that he wanted to hear, she might gain herself some ground to turn the entire situation around in her favor. Unfortunately, her silence would only be interpreted as a tacit admission to Ye Xiuwen’s allegation, indubitably adding fuel to the already blazing inferno in Ye Xiuwen’s heart!

Ye Xiuwen waited for some moments for Jun Xiaomo’s response. When he realized that no denial was going to be forthcoming, the vile energies within his eyes began to swirl with great intensity, turning almost corporeal.

“Hah. Very well. I see that you’ve tacitly admitted to your crimes. You’ve sealed your fate. You and your lover Rong Ruihan can enjoy being a pair of lovebirds for the rest of eternity in hell very soon!” Ye Xiuwen bellowed hatefully. Each of the words spoken were incredibly incisive, stabbing straight through Jun Xiaomo’s heart like knives, causing her heart to bleed profusely.

As soon as Ye Xiuwen finished speaking, he immediately clenched his fists tightly without waiting for any further response from Jun Xiaomo. In that instant, countless fireballs began to hurtle straight towards Jun Xiaomo and Rong Ruihan from all directions. It was clear that Ye Xiuwen was intent on turning them into nothing more than charred corpses right now!

“Xiaomo!”

“Martial Sister Xiaomo!”

The Heavenly Peak disciples shrieked hopelessly as they witnessed the fireballs hurtling towards Jun Xiaomo.

Jun Xiaomo’s tears had dried up by now. By the time she managed to react to Ye Xiuwen’s actions, it was already too late to do anything. Thus, she simply stood where she was, watching despondently as the fireballs hurtled straight towards her.

Then, just as the fireballs were about to strike Jun Xiaomo’s body, a shadow flickered from the distance, charging straight into Jun Xiaomo and creating a weak barrier right in front of Jun Xiaomo.

The fireballs rained onto this man’s back, causing his already bloodied back to look even more grisly in an instant.

Rong Ruihan spat out a fresh mouthful of blood.

“Brother Rong!” Jun Xiaomo had never expected Rong Ruihan to tear off the Invisibility Talisman from his own body, much less charge straight towards her to rescue her.

This was the last Invisibility Talisman that she had. In other words, the very last Invisibility Talisman had been wasted as soon as Rong Ruihan had torn it off his own body.

“Fortunately, I’ve still got some recovery pills in my Interspatial Ring. I’ve arrived in the nick of time.” Rong Ruihan grimaced, before turning to Ye Xiuwen and censuring him, “Had I known that this was going to happen, I would’ve allowed you to die in this spirit tool to begin with!”