“I’ll let go after you save me first!” Tong Huanyou cried in utter panic, terrified that he would abandon her again.
His trousers were already close to being yanked down, exposing pale skin that scraped painfully against the ground.
Yu Qingci was so furious his face darkened with rage. He shot a vicious glare at the stone Buddha in the distance.
One hand desperately clutched his pants in place while the other formed a hand seal. Through gritted teeth, he snarled:
“Palm Thunder!”
Purple lightning instantly crackled across his palm with sharp sizzling sounds before he violently struck toward the stone Buddha.
The Buddha statue was hit directly.
A deep explosion thundered through the air as cracks instantly spread across its face.
Dust and debris billowed everywhere, fragments of stone falling from the statue’s face one after another. At the same moment, the thorny vines wrapped around Tong Huanyou’s legs snapped apart.
Tong Huanyou immediately released Yu Qingci’s pants and turned to run.
She had barely taken a few steps before a large hand grabbed the back of her collar, lifting her straight off the ground.
“I was wrong, big brother! Big brother, I was wrong! I won’t dare do it again!” Tong Huanyou squeezed her eyes shut and begged pitifully for mercy.
She didn’t even dare imagine how terrifying Yu Qingci’s expression looked right now.
Yu Qingci’s eyes were colder than ice. Looking toward the stone statue in the distance, he tossed her backward and said coldly:
“Hide.”
Seeing that he wasn’t settling accounts with her at this moment, Tong Huanyou secretly let out a sigh of relief and hurried behind a large rock.
“I want all of you to die!”
The stone Buddha had been completely enraged. Thick fog from every direction gathered around it, transforming into the shape of a giant skull.
“If people worship you, then you should obediently stay inside your stone shell,” Yu Qingci said icily. His fingers formed another seal, and the longsword once more appeared in his hand.
“What do you know?!” The skull-shaped mist roared, as though Yu Qingci had struck directly at its deepest pain. Its resentment instantly surged.
The surrounding willow trees visibly withered into dead wood before charging violently toward him.
Yu Qingci moved like a phantom, weaving freely through the fog.
His swordsmanship was ruthless and fierce. Every slash tore through the air with sharp whistling sounds, accompanied by the muffled cries of pain from the mist creature.
But the creature refused to give up. With a furious shriek, the thorny vines from earlier lashed out again, attempting to ambush Yu Qingci from behind.
As though he had anticipated it long ago, Yu Qingci merely turned slightly and raised his palm toward the vines without even looking back.
Purple lightning exploded from his palm, instantly reducing the vines to ashes.
The mist creature let out agonized screams one after another, but Yu Qingci gave it no chance to recover.
Gripping his sword, he swung fiercely—
And instantly tore a massive gash through the fog.
“AAAAAAAHHHHHHH!”
The creature’s shriek was deafening.
Tong Huanyou felt her ears begin ringing painfully.
At that moment, the dreamscape twisted and collapsed. A violent force blasted everyone away.
…
Inside the room.
Tong Huanyou suddenly jolted awake and sat upright.
Then realization struck her.
“I’m awake?!”
She quickly looked around before glancing beside her pillow.
Sure enough, this time there were no willow leaves.
Looks like that monster really had been driven away by Yu Qingci.
Thinking of this, she instinctively looked toward the couch—only to discover Yu Qingci was nowhere to be seen.
Unease instantly crept into her heart.
Hurriedly slipping on her shoes, she rushed outside.
The moment she opened the door, she saw a massive formation activated within the courtyard. The black fog from the dream was being tightly suppressed at the center of the array.
Holy crap! A live-action special effects scene?!
The three stood at different corners of the courtyard triangle, suspended in midair. Several swords floated before them, splitting into multiple blades above the mist creature.
“Demon! Today you shall be executed on the spot!” Xie Zhili shouted furiously.
“You think you can stop me?!” the mist creature roared savagely toward the heavens.
The three exchanged glances before rapidly changing their hand seals. The countless swords merged into a single gigantic blade that plunged downward from above.
But sharp-eyed Tong Huanyou immediately noticed something strange.
The mist creature had secretly split part of its body apart, and within the dense fog, the silhouette of a person slowly emerged.
“Hahaha! If you want to kill me, then the person you’re searching for will die with me!”
That shout instantly drew all three of their gazes toward the figure.
It was a girl who looked no older than fifteen or sixteen.
Xie Zhili’s heart sank.
But the Demon-Slaying Sword had already been unleashed—it was far too late to withdraw it.
At that exact moment, a water-blue figure leapt into the formation faster than he could even shout a warning.
“Yingyue!”
“Big Sister Song!”
Two cries rang out simultaneously.
Song Yingyue turned her back toward the girl and swiftly formed hand seals.
Gathering all the spiritual energy within her body into her palms, she condensed it into a solid shield of light before herself.
“Yingyue! Move! You can’t withstand it!” Xie Zhili shouted desperately, veins bulging across his forehead as he frantically tried to pull back the giant sword’s power.
But the colossal sword was already descending with terrifying force.
Song Yingyue gritted her teeth. Sweat rolled down her forehead, yet there was not the slightest hint of retreat in her eyes.
A demon hunter’s duty was to hunt demons.
They must never harm innocent people.
But just as the giant sword drew near—
A black-clad figure suddenly appeared within her vision.
The next second—
Blinding light erupted throughout the entire courtyard, shooting straight into the heavens.
The pear blossom tree in the courtyard snapped apart under the terrifying shockwave. Petals scattered wildly through the sky, while spiderweb-like cracks spread across the earth.
When the light finally faded—
Yu Qingci’s body trembled violently.
A mouthful of blood burst from his lips, staining the ground crimson.
“A-Ci!” Song Yingyue rushed forward in horror to support the staggering Yu Qingci.
“Junior Brother!”
Xie Zhili’s eyes shook violently. Landing on the ground, he immediately began channeling spiritual energy to heal him while muttering:
“Thank goodness… thank goodness I withdrew some of the force. At least Junior Brother’s life isn’t in danger.”
“Hahahahaha! Die! All of you die!”
Taking advantage of the weakened formation, the mist creature surged out like a collapsing flood and shot into the sky.
It even turned back to laugh arrogantly at them, its shrill laughter echoing endlessly through the air.
The two could only watch helplessly as the mist drifted farther away, their eyes filled with unwillingness.
“Elder Sister… don’t mind me. Go after it.” Yu Qingci lifted his eyes toward Song Yingyue with a faint, exhausted smile.
“No. You need treatment…” Song Yingyue’s voice trembled with emotion.
“If you don’t pursue it now… it’ll be difficult to trace it again later.”
Blood continuously seeped from Yu Qingci’s lips as he spoke in broken fragments. His consciousness was already beginning to fade…
Song Yingyue frowned deeply and turned toward Xie Zhili, torn with indecision.
“Big Sister Song! Big Brother Xie, go after it! I’ll take care of him!”
Having hidden behind the doorway all this time, Tong Huanyou quickly ran over to them.
Inside, she was utterly shocked.
The plot had changed drastically.
In the very first demon-hunting arc, Yu Qingci had actually been injured!
Did that mean this character might genuinely die in the future?
No!
If Yu Qingci died someday, she’d never be able to return home!
Song Yingyue looked at Tong Huanyou’s obviously frightened expression despite her attempt to act calm, and quickly came to a decision.
A demon hunter’s duty was to protect those harmed by demons.
A-Ci’s life was important—but if the demon escaped because of that, far more than one or two people would suffer.
After making up her mind, Song Yingyue said seriously:
“Then I’ll trouble Miss Tong to care for him.”
She then carefully transferred the unconscious Yu Qingci into Tong Huanyou’s arms.
“Senior Brother, let’s go!”
The two exchanged one final glance before decisively summoning their swords and immediately chasing after the fleeing demon.