“Boundless Heart Demon Tribulation”
What was the Boundless Heart Demon Tribulation? It was the power to transform the countless facades of red dust into a boundless demonic tribulation.
This was the first time Ye Qing pushed the “Boundless Heart Demon Tribulation” to its limits, but…
“Have you seen my head?”
The Sage’s voice rang again. It was neither loud nor soft, and it was overflowing with sorrow just like before. However, its power was such that Ye Qing’s Paranirmita Vasavartin Heaven, and his Heavenly Demon of Freedom crumbled into nothing. Blood jetted out of his lips and nostrils as he stifled a cry of pain.
There was no time to rest. Right after he returned to reality, Ye Qing felt a terrifying aura of death threatening to engulf him whole.
“Will you please give me your head?”
Ye Qing felt a pair of icy hands closing around his neck. At that moment, he felt as if he had one foot in hell. His body was stiff, and his mind was in chaos.
He felt regret for choosing to enter this place.
He felt defiant because he was unwilling to die here.
He was sad because he was about to die.
He was happy because Giggle was safe.
And finally, he was relieved because death was the final end.
To his own surprise, he did not feel any fear or unbecoming emotions even though he was seconds away from death. If anything, he was growing calmer and more clear-headed than ever before.
He supposed it wasn’t a bad thing to be able to face death this way.
It was at this moment a silhouette suddenly shot toward him from a distance. It landed right on top of his shoulder.
“Why did you come back?!” Ye Qing cried out in shock and urgency.
The silhouette was Giggle, of course.
The little guy whined and gestured at him. It seemed incredibly sad that Ye Qing had abandoned it earlier.
“You… ai… forget it.”
The reason he tossed Giggle away earlier was to save its life, but the little Stranger did not seem to understand the sentiment. Or rather, it would rather die with him than to abandon another friend.
In any case, it was too late to change the outcome, and scolding Giggle would not change anything. Plus, Ye Qing honestly felt more warmth than anger at the little Stranger’s return.
In this world, there was no treasure more precious than a partner who chose to live and die with you.
“You and I aren’t born on the same day, but it seems that we will die on the same day. It is my honor to be able to die with you, Giggle. I would celebrate this with a drink, but well, maybe in the next life, eh?”
Ye Qing dropped all of his reservations and laughed to his heart’s content.
It had been a fun journey. There was nothing more he could ask for from this life.
He could feel the icy hands tightening around his neck. It felt like the headless Sage was planning to break his neck and rip off his head. The pain was slowly but surely spreading to every corner of his body.
His consciousness was blurring when Ye Qing heard Giggle’s cry again. It was filled with a hint of urgency, pleasant surprise and joy.
What? Pleasant surprise? Joy?
Ye Qing was confused. Why was Giggle pleasantly surprised and happy?
Then, Giggle’s whines turned aggrieved and sorrowful. It might just be his imagination, but the iron grip on his neck was loosening, and his pain seemed to be decreasing as well.
No… it’s not my imagination.
He quickly learned that he wasn’t just imagining things. He hadn’t passed onto the afterlife either. It was because he was slowly but surely regaining his consciousness.
Behind him, the Sage’s terrifying aura felt confused and shaky as Giggle kept crying again and again.
Out of the corner of his eyes, Ye Qing saw Giggle grabbing a pale finger with both hands tightly. Its normally pure and limpid eyes were filled with sorrow and grief, but there were also hints of joy and desire in them.
Did Giggle… know this Sage?
A bold thought occurred to Ye Qing.
The next moment, something stunning happened. The headless Sage actually let go of Ye Qing’s throat, moved one hand to Giggle’s head, and gave it a few pets.
Although its movements were stiff and hesitant, there was no denying its gentleness and carefulness.
Giggle was also narrowing its eyes a little in comfort and giggling happily.
Suddenly, the pale hand pulled away from Giggle. Then, Ye Qing felt the terrifying presence behind his back abruptly disappearing into nothing.
Ye Qing immediately turned around, but he could not see anyone or anything.
The Sage was gone just like that.
At first, Ye Qing couldn’t quite process his emotions. When it did hit him though, he was so happy and relieved he nearly fell on his knees.
He survived. He actually survived an encounter with a Sage.
To say that he was experiencing a roller coaster of emotions would be an understatement. That said, it was worth it since he was alive. Ye Qing could literally feel his spirit and willpower undergoing a massive improvement.
Although there existed great terror between the gap that was life and death, it was also where the greatest growth lay.
On his shoulder, Giggle was whining in confusion and sorrow after the Sage had abruptly pulled a disappearing act on him.
Then, the little Stranger leaped off Ye Qing’s shoulder and took off into a run.
Its sudden action jolted Ye Qing back into reality. He immediately gave chase.
Ye Qing knew that Giggle was chasing after the Sage. He also knew that the only reason he was still alive was thanks to Giggle and luck.
The next time he ran into the Sage, he might not be as lucky again.
However, Giggle had come back for him even though it would have died assuming that the Sage didn’t know it. How could he abandon it during its time of need?
A human who was lower than a Stranger did not deserve to be called a human.
So, he chased after Giggle without a second thought.
“What… what should we do?”
After Ye Qing left, Shangguan Hongjin and Pedant Earth finally snapped out of their shock and terror.
Shangguan Hongjin uttered through gritted teeth before chasing after Ye Qing.
She was well aware that she might not survive a second encounter with that terrifying headless Sage. Still, she must go because she owed Ye Qing her life.
Worst case scenario, she would have repaid the favor she owed Ye Qing.
“Foolish! Pure foolishness!”
Pedant Earth cursed loudly when he saw this. She had already gotten away with her life once, and now she was going to throw it away. If this wasn’t foolish, then what was? Did she value her life so little?
As soon as he was done yelling, Pedant Earth broke into a run after Shangguan Hongjin as well.
Yes, he wasn’t just cursing his companion’s foolishness.
He too, was so very foolish.
“Kekeke… a Sage’s corpse. A Sage’s corpse that hasn’t been marred in any way. This is perfect!”
A stiff, eerie laugh broke out from the basin. At the same time, four women stepped out of the darkness.
The women were completely naked. The countenance was exquisite, and their figure invoked devilish thoughts. Small, invisible ripples appeared all across their body when the blood moon’s light landed on their flawless skin, making it look like they were wearing a thin red chiffon.
The four women produced no sound whatsoever as they walked across the basin. Like fairies that had stepped out of the darkness, they were beautiful, flawless, and heart-throbbingly attractive.
However, their footsteps weren’t the only thing that was silent. They didn’t breathe or produce any heartbeat.
It was as if the four women were walking dead.
Even stranger was the fact that they were carrying a coffin on their shoulder. It was black-colored, ominous, and overflowing with inauspiciousness.