016 The Delicate Flower Nan Yao.
Her frail figure was tightly bound at the center of the storm, like a delicate flower that could be crushed at any moment.
Duan Cuo drew closer and closer to Nan Yao’s neck, countless strands of dark energy drilling into her body.
Nan Yao’s eyelashes fluttered slightly, her chest rising and falling. She bit her lips tightly, the corners of her eyes tinged with red, as if enduring some agony. After a moment, she closed her eyes and resignedly turned her head away.
Nan Yao: “You’re done for! I warned you but you didn’t listen, huh? I’m completely pissed off now! I’m going to kill you, you bastard!”
Xie Diao’s interpretation: “I’m so pitiful, I’ve given up struggling, I accept my fate.”
For some reason, Xie Diao felt extremely displeased.
He watched Duan Cuo’s gradually disintegrating face, utterly consumed by murderous intent energy, saw how he enveloped Nan Yao while laughing arrogantly as if she were his plaything.
How ridiculous.
Such a weak and filthy creature.
Yet so overestimating himself.
Xie Diao lifted his gaze and took a step forward.
The delicate flower Nan Yao opened her eyes, as if making a dying struggle.
Then the struggling Nan Yao pulled her hand free from Duan Cuo’s restraint, summoned a sword from the void, gripped it backhanded, and stabbed toward Duan Cuo behind her. A massive surge of spiritual power erupted, instantly flooding Duan Cuo’s internal organs.
He let out a piercing scream, released his grip to cover his wound while stumbling backward. The murderous intent energy on his body poured out endlessly like a broken dam.
The delicate flower Nan Yao raised her sword and pursued him.
The delicate flower Nan Yao pushed Duan Cuo to the ground and stabbed downward with both hands holding the sword.
The delicate flower Nan Yao stabbed repeatedly, wildly and relentlessly.
Duan Cuo stopped moving.
The delicate flower Nan Yao ceased her attack.
The delicate flower Nan Yao sheathed her sword.
The delicate flower Nan Yao used spiritual power to levitate a massive rock nearby, wobblingly aimed it at Duan Cuo’s body, then slammed it down with a “boom.”
“Touching me without permission, huh?”
“Getting fresh, huh?”
“Bullying a soft girl, huh?”
Nan Yao acted like a villain – not only was she vicious and fierce, but she even delivered extra strikes to the corpse.
Xie Diao: “…”
After Nan Yao had ferociously finished dealing with Duan Cuo, as if still unsatisfied, she looked around preparing to find something else to throw at him. Her peripheral vision caught Xie Diao watching from the sidelines, and the fierce expression on her face instantly vanished, replaced by a sweet, cute, and somewhat docile smile as she ran toward him: “Brother Xie Diao, did you come looking for me?”
Xiao Huang, who had witnessed everything from within the jade pendant, felt somewhat dazed.
Just who was the big brother here.
And who was truly the Evil Seed.
But Nan Yao clearly didn’t notice – as she turned toward Xie Diao, countless streams of dark energy surged from beneath the rock behind her. This dark energy formed a vortex-like center, attracting all the dead souls and corpse walkers of Demon-Guarding Mountain to converge toward this location.
Duan Cuo was merely a vessel – his physical body had long been corroded by the murderous intent energy, becoming a space for them to inhabit.
Now that Nan Yao had destroyed this vessel…
The murderous intent energy coalesced into a gigantic human form. Though its specific features were indistinct, only a pair of crimson eyes could be seen gleaming within the black mist, staring covetously at Nan Yao.
An abnormal transformation had occurred.
Countless dead souls circled overhead, while a “click-clacking” sound emanated from the surrounding wild grass—the grinding teeth of corpse walkers. Like lurking beasts, they followed the gaze of the murderous intent energy, fixating intently on Nan Yao.
Nan Yao sensed the anomaly. She halted, her hand gripping the sword hilt, and turned her head.
Almost simultaneously, the horde of corpses surged into action. Dead souls swooped down from above as the murderous intent energy converged into a massive scythe, plunging ruthlessly toward Nan Yao’s body.
How could this strike be blocked?
Before Nan Yao could even contemplate how to muster her strength, a hand suddenly seized her arm, pulling her unceremoniously into an embrace. She collided with Xie Diao’s chest, swept aside by a powerful force that shifted her from her original position.
The thousands of corpses and souls lunged at empty air, but the enormous scythe showed no mercy, piercing straight through Xie Diao’s chest. Instead of withdrawing immediately, the scythe pressed firmly against his ribcage, dragging downward to carve a long, gaping wound as if intent on splitting him in two.
Xie Diao’s brow furrowed slightly. He let out a muffled grunt, tightened his arm around Nan Yao, and thrust her forward, using the momentum to wrench the scythe from his body. The force sent him crashing against a nearby tree trunk.
Just as Nan Yao’s back was about to slam into the tree, Xie Diao twisted, turning them both. With a deafening crash, he struck the tree heavily, his chest rebounding violently as blood trickled from the corner of his mouth. His arm, wrapped around Nan Yao, strained until veins bulged. He slid down the tree and collapsed to the ground.
His embrace loosened, and his arm fell limp at his side.
Nan Yao swiftly broke free, turning to check Xie Diao’s breathing.
…There was none.
The wound was horrifying, nearly gouging a gaping hole through his body. Even an immortal faced with such an injury would likely be powerless to reverse it.
Now, his eyes were tightly shut as he leaned against the tree trunk, blood staining the withered branches and leaves beneath. A gruesome streak of blood remained on the bark—a mark left when his back scraped against the tree as he slid down.
Nan Yao felt bewildered.
Was Xie Diao dead?
…Just like that?
And he died saving her?
She suddenly felt at a loss, not because of the immediate danger, but because she felt a pang of sorrow—yet conflicted, as if she shouldn’t be grieving. Nan Yao didn’t know how to express this emotion. She found herself strange: clearly she should have let Xie Diao die, yet her body acted on its own, pressing against his wound and channeling spiritual power into him.
But her spiritual power was like throwing mud into the sea—utterly ineffective.
“Don’t… don’t die now,” Nan Yao began to ramble incoherently. Even knowing her spiritual power seemed useless, she didn’t stop. “Let’s… let’s make a deal? Can you hold on this time and die another day?”
She frantically rummaged through her spiritual pouch, dumping out a pile of miraculous elixirs. She tried to pry open Xie Diao’s mouth to force the medicine down, but he was unable to swallow. For the first time, Nan Yao was so frantic she resembled a little rabbit that had lost its tail.
It seemed he should die.
But it also seemed he shouldn’t die like this.
Why did he help her?
With his profound cultivation, how could he not see that the Purple Bell treasure she carried was a supreme magic tool capable of saving a life in dire situations?
Even if he hadn’t noticed, why would he save her?
This wasn’t villainous behavior at all.
So Nan Yao continued pouring medicine into Xie Diao.
He was the one who abandoned the villain’s spirit first, so she would abandon the Savior’s spirit.
Xiao Huang emerged from the jade pendant, about to say something when a sinister laugh interrupted him.
“It seems no one can help you now.” The Murderous Intent Energy, dense enough to blot out the moon and clouds, swirled above the dense forest before coalescing back into human form, looking down at Nan Yao from above.
The Ghost Qi on Demon-Guarding Mountain seemed thicker now, drawn by some unknown force, pressing down until it was hard to breathe.
Under such Murderous Intent Energy, even the most strong-willed would be affected, let alone when nearly an entire mountain’s worth had gathered here. Through endless slaughter and growth, it had developed a human-like consciousness and could freely create illusions to shatter one’s will.
The sinister laughter echoed in Nan Yao’s ears, stirring irritation that made her want to draw her sword recklessly. But in this situation, disorderly attacks were no different from throwing herself to the wolves.
No. She had to calm down.
“I was nearly bewitched by a charm demon nearing deification once,” Uncle Ye Yin had once told Nan Yao proudly. “But who is your Uncle Ye Yin? Could I be controlled by such a thing? I just blinked and—”
Nan Yuqing mercilessly exposed him: “Stop boasting. You had to cut yourself countless times just to maintain consciousness. If we hadn’t arrived early, your arm would’ve been useless.”
Ye Yin protested: “Don’t embarrass me in front of my daughter.”
Nan Yuqing: “Your daughter? Get lost.”
Humans may be insignificant, but countless had survived Demon-Guarding Mountain.
Nan Yao drew her sword, pressing the blade against her arm. With slight pressure, the Sword Qi-edged blade broke skin, drawing blood.
There must be a weak point.
Though the gathered Murderous Intent Energy seemed overwhelming, it could be easily shattered and dispersed. Its attacks were clumsy—maintaining clear-mindedness made them easy to evade.
So now she should…
Just then, a pair of hands covered Nan Yao’s ears, their cool temperature making her start slightly.
She was pulled backward, her back colliding with Xie Diao’s chest. Looking up, she met his dark eyes that still held traces of laughter despite his severe injuries, as if mocking her for being so serious about dealing with such creatures.
But he only glanced at her briefly before lazily leaning against a tree in a comfortable position, watching the Murderous Intent Energy in the night sky. Though smiling, he radiated a sense of oppression, and his hands remained over Nan Yao’s ears.
“Surprised?” Xie Diao asked.
The swirling Ghost Qi surged toward him, pouring endlessly into his wounds. The horrifying injuries healed at an astonishing rate, and with each recovery, his power grew stronger.
Xie Diao tilted his head at the Murderous Intent Energy: “Pity. I can’t die.”
Murderous Intent Energy’s thought process: Saw a cheater → scared, cheater died → happy, cheater revived → shocked and scared.
Nan Yao’s thought process: Xie Diao died → sad, Xie Diao revived → happy, Xie Diao can’t die… Huh??!!
But Nan Yao only had one question now: “Why are you covering my ears?”
“Oh, this?” Xie Diao explained with a grin, “Because it’s about to get very noisy.”
Sure enough, the murderous intent energy sensed something wrong the very next second.
Even the underworld and celestial soldiers couldn’t repeatedly die and resurrect. The only entity capable of such a feat was that which, no matter how many times it was killed, could always be reborn centuries later through despair and slaughter—the Evil Seed.
“Could it be… could you be—!”
Before the words fully left its mouth, Xie Diao’s eyes darkened, his smile fading.
Screams pierced the night.
The murderous intent energy was torn into countless shreds, corpse walkers frantically fled, but their heads exploded one after another.
The shrieks converged into a piercing cacophony, dizzying to the point of making one’s skull ache.
Finally, as the screams gradually subsided, Xie Diao released his hands from covering Nan Yao’s ears. He stood up, casually picked up a withered branch, and strode past Nan Yao toward the core of the murderous intent energy.
But after just a few steps, he paused and glanced back at her: “We’ll settle the price later.”
Then he continued forward.
Nan Yao: How touching.
Only after Xie Diao had moved ahead did Xiao Huang poke its head out and whisper, “Forgot to tell you earlier—you didn’t need to be so upset. Xie Diao can’t be killed by conventional means. Even if his body is utterly destroyed, he can reconstruct himself using humanity’s malice, despair, and dead souls. Plus, each resurrection makes him stronger than before.”
“Noted,” Nan Yao said. “Though I’m curious about unconventional methods, since Xie Diao just saved me, I’ll refrain from mentioning killing him for three days.”
Xiao Huang: “Mentioning it won’t help anyway, since I don’t know how to kill him either. You’ll have to figure it out yourself.”
Having said that, it quickly ducked back into the jade pendant as if afraid Nan Yao might hit it: “That’s all from me. I’m going to sleep now.”
Nan Yao: ?
Nan Yao: ??
Before Nan Yao could sort through her complex emotions, Qi Guyuan and Yu Chichi came charging from the other side, swords raised: “Miss Nan Yao, we’ve devised a strategy to rescue you!”
Then they caught sight of Xie Diao in his killing frenzy, turned around, and declared: “Miss Nan Yao, we’re leaving again!”
But clearly, Nan Yao had no intention of bearing this alone. She forcibly dragged the two back to her side to watch Xie Diao slaughter ghosts together.
Xie Diao incinerated the murderous intent energy completely.
Xie Diao dismantled the corpse walkers and scattered their pieces everywhere.
Xie Diao burned the dead souls until they flew about like mosquitoes zapped by an electric swatter.
Qi Guyuan analyzed: “At this rate, Brother Xie Diao is going to wipe out all the demonic creatures on Demon-Guarding Mountain.”
Yu Chichi said: “That’s how great the Savior is. Brother Xie Diao will surely be celebrated in songs for generations to come.”
Nan Yao felt something was off: “Huh??”
Wasn’t I supposed to be the Savior??
Author’s Note:
Xie Diao stayed up all night reading—”How to Protect the Antagonist Male Lead from the Antagonist Female Lead”