Chapter One Hundred and One: Nightmare [End of the Second World]

Xu Nuo looked at him. When Xu Qingyin saw that her expression had not changed and was calm to the point of seeming unnatural, he assumed she was merely pretending, and said, "His purpose in drawing near you from the very beginning was the He-Luo Jade Tome. He flattered you in every possible way just to obtain it, but all of that is only temporary. You are the last bloodline of our Xu family. I will keep you safe."

"No." Xu Nuo shook her head, thinking to herself that, brother, your persuasion skills are really terrible. She was a lovestruck fool now; could she possibly listen to advice like this?

Xu Qingyin was truly baffled. "Do you really like him that much?"

"Of course I do. I like him so much. He is the first person I have ever liked in this world." Xu Nuo smiled sweetly. "It is not because he has been especially kind to me. As long as I like him, that is enough."

"You, how can you be like this?" Xu Qingyin did not understand mortal love and desire; these words had already gone far beyond his comprehension.

"Even if he wanted your life, you would not care?"

Xu Nuo nodded. "Mm, I would not care."

"In that case, why not simply take the Jade Tome by force?"

A voice suddenly rang out. Xu Qingyin instinctively moved to defend himself, but that voice was aimed at Xu Nuo.

A flash of steel.

Straight through the heart.

Before Xu Nuo could even feel the pain, 007, panicking and screaming at the top of its lungs, had already blocked her pain receptors. What remained was only bone-deep cold and suffocation, as if life itself were being drained away with the blood.

Xu Nuo said, "I, I..."

Damn it! They had just stabbed her out of nowhere, without giving her the slightest warning.

Xu Qingyin's always tranquil face finally cracked. He hurried to catch Xu Nuo and gathered spiritual energy to keep her alive, while the blood that kept pouring out dyed his immaculate sleeves and hands red.

"Immortal Venerable, there is no need to struggle. She is merely a mortal, and she has been struck by our sect's secret poison. Even if you yourself act, it will be useless."

The one who appeared was the former deputy hall master of the Discipline Hall. He wore a self-satisfied smile and did not care in the least about the anger showing on Xu Qingyin's face.

"Immortal Venerable, why look at me like that?" the deputy hall master said righteously. "Your dear niece has already betrayed the sect. She is utterly lost, with no room left for repentance. If you continue indulging her recklessness, are you not simply handing the Jade Tome over to that fiend?"

As he spoke, the deputy hall master walked toward Xu Nuo. "Come, Immortal Venerable, cooperate a little. Cast a heart-binding curse and make her willingly surrender the Jade Tome..."

"Ahhh!"

Before he could finish, he was struck down with a single blow and sent flying dozens of meters. Dust and earth burst into the air, and a deep crater was smashed into the ground.

"Immortal, Immortal Venerable, you..." The deputy hall master stared in disbelief at the fatal hole in his chest. "You actually killed me to protect a traitor..."

Xu Qingyin said only, "You injured my niece."

The deputy hall master cried out in fury, "So you attack a fellow sect member for it? I-I was only trying to safeguard the sect's interests!"

"Are you truly acting for the sect's interests?" Seeing that the man was dying, Xu Qingyin cast him a cold glance and had no desire to speak further.

The deputy hall master clung to his last breath and said bitterly, "Could it be that your personal desires outweigh the sect's interests? What you are doing is no different from betraying..."

His voice stopped abruptly.

His round head rolled to the ground, and that expression remained frozen on his face. Lu Ciyuan stood with a sword in hand, his eyes bloodshot as he stared at Xu Nuo in Xu Qingyin's arms.

"Give her back to me."

"She is gravely injured, and she has also been poisoned." Xu Qingyin's gaze held a trace of confusion. "I must take her back to the Cavern-Heaven Sect."

"Give her back to me!" The sight of Xu Nuo covered in blood struck hard at Lu Ciyuan's chest. He could no longer remain rational; he charged forward at once, wanting only to snatch her back.

"Only the sect has the antidote that can save her." Faced with such a frenzied fiend, Xu Qingyin somehow had no heart to strike back and even began explaining, "If you delay any longer, she will soon die from the poison."

Lu Ciyuan said, "I have to go with you."

Xu Qingyin refused, "No. You are of the demon clan."

"Then how can I trust you?" Looking at Xu Nuo in another man's arms, Lu Ciyuan was seized by a vast helplessness and fury. The person who had been laughing and sparring with him just moments ago now had no color in her face and was hanging on by a thread.

The change had been so swift, it was like a dream.

With the two of them at an impasse, they could not reach an agreement for the moment.

"Listen to me first," Xu Nuo finally found a chance to speak. "I do not have much time left."

Xu Qingyin rebuked her without even thinking, "Do not say such discouraging things."

"I am serious. Actually, I am not from this world." Xu Nuo spoke as if joking. "After I finish my task, I have to leave here."

Her words filled Lu Ciyuan with immense fear. "Nonsense!"

"I am not joking. My task is to help you..." She was simply too weak and exhausted; Xu Nuo had to stop and catch her breath for a while.

007 helped its host organize her words: "To help heal your wounded heart and give you a happy, complete ending."

Xu Nuo said, "To help you walk the path of the strong."

007: "..."

At a time like this, could you not at least respect the setting?

Xu Nuo said, "I believe that you will definitely achieve perfect mastery of the Dao and ascend to the Upper Realm."

"What Upper Realm?" Lu Ciyuan clutched Xu Nuo's hand tightly. "You are really not lying to me?"

"When have I ever lied to you? You are the chosen one. It is only because your youth was so full of hardship that I came to help you through the difficulties. Now that you already have the ability to stand on your own, it is time for me to leave."

Xu Nuo smiled with an almost maternal gentleness, feeling as though she were bathed in dazzling light from every side.

"Really?" Feeling Xu Nuo's breath growing weaker and weaker, Lu Ciyuan held her hand and kept pressing for the truth, like a drowning man clutching the last straw that could save his life.

Xu Nuo nodded forcefully. "Really. I am not lying to you."

A few warm tears fell onto the back of Xu Nuo's hand. By now Lu Ciyuan was crying without restraint, suppressing his sobs while still forcing out a smile.

"Sister Xu, you are not allowed to lie to me."

"Mm." The boy's gaze was too sincere and too fervent. Even Xu Nuo, a veteran who had played countless games and walked countless routes with countless NPCs, could not help feeling a little guilty at this moment.

Lu Ciyuan asked, "Is the Upper Realm the world where Sister Xu lives?"

He held that hand until a bone-deep chill spread through it, but he never received Xu Nuo's answer. Just yesterday, she had personally made him sour jujube cakes.

Everything had happened too suddenly.

Lu Ciyuan deeply suspected that this was nothing more than a nightmare.

A nightmare from which he could not wake.

Yet a clear voice from the He-Luo Jade Tome echoed in his mind. Xu Nuo had passed the Tome to him before she died.

The He-Luo Jade Tome still sounded innocent. "My former master said you would need my help. These are the planning notes she left behind, and she instructed me to supervise your completion of them..."

Lu Ciyuan murmured, "And then I can ascend to the Upper Realm?"

The He-Luo Jade Tome said, "The demon clan cannot ascend, you know."