Chapter 167: Taking Sides

Ye Jin turned to Rain, his eyes filled with wrath. He held on his hand, and within moments, Cloud blocked Rain and retaliated with a swing of his sword. Ye Jin snorted and twisted his hand, Cloud's sword was snapped in half before it could even reach Ye Jin.

"Cloud, you are too weak." Ye Jin looked at Cloud with contempt. Cloud clenched his fists, hidden by his sleeves and did not answer. He remained in front of Rain without any intention to move.

Rain chuckled softly and walked around Cloud to Ye Jin, she still maintained a distance from him. She blinked at Ye Jin. "So are you that strong?"

"What do you think?" Ye Jin was not annoyed,and tugged the corners of his lips, but the cold and sinister smirk did not reach his eyes.

"Yes, Emperor Ye, you are quite strong." Rain threw her head back and laughed, then as if she remembered something, looked down at him. "But, even the great Emperor Ye has a weakness. For example, the Frost Poison, and Gu Qingyu. Do you get it? As long as you can find their weak point, you can even bring down a giant barehanded."

Qi Yichen frowned at her odd statement and shifted his gaze to Qi Wan. Right then, his face turned into horror as he registered what she meant and he yelled at Gu Qingyu, "Look out!"

That shout startled her, and her next breath was stolen from her. Qi Wan had reached up and was strangling her, his fingers were wrapped around her neck like a deadly vice.

"Xiao Yu'er!" Ye Jin's calm facade collapsed as blue light gathered in his hand.

"He'll kill her if you so much as move a finger." Rain informed him calmly.

"Qi...Wan..." Gu Qingyu looked at the man lying on her lap, who was slowly opening his eyes.He had realised his arm's erratic movement as well, and his other hand reached up to stop himself. He remembers her! And he was conscious! Then, why would he attack her?

Rain was obviously surprised. "Oh wow, the drugs weren't strong enough? It's already more than ten times the usual dosage."

"Drugs?" Qi Yichen turned to Rain.

"Bracken, you must have heard of it?" Rain looked at Qi Yichen with some pride.

"Bracken" Qi Yichen gasped in horror. "It's a liquid poison that when ingested even in tiny amounts would be enough to cause individuals to lose their sense of self. If more than seven cups worth were ingested, it would cause immense pain, leading to extreme internal bleeding, then external bleeding."

"Yes, yes, but usually one cup is enough for normal people." Rain waggled her forefinger with glee. What she gave Qi Wan was ten times the usual dosage, that meant...

"You scum!" Gu Qingyu slowly raised her head and looked at Rain with eyes of bloodlust.

Rain cackled loudly again. That's right! Well said, Gu Qingyu! That's what I want to see! You look absolutely perfect!"

Qi Wan kept his eyes on Gu Qingyu as he visibly fought himself. Suddenly, he grimaced. A ribbon flew out from his sleeve and sliced through his arm! In that moment, his forearm dropped to the ground, releasing Gu Qingyu, as blood spewed from his severed arm right before her very eyes.

Rain'seyes widened in disbelief. "You actually... actually..."

Qi Yichen appeared behind Rain in a flash, his fan was glowing with silvery white cold light as he pressed it against her neck. Cloud was about to step in, but Ye Jin was ahead of him. He activated Ghost Howl and set it against Cloud's neck.

"You idiot! Why!" Gu Qingyu looked at Qi Wan's severed, bleeding arm. She swallowed her sobs and tried to bandage his arm to the best of her ability. Qi Wan just watched her with a smile. He did not even wince, as if it did not hurt him at all. She cracked when her makeshift bandage did not stop the bleeding. Her arms wrapped around him tightly as she wailed.

"Don't worry...boss...I'm not dead...it doesn't matter...cough." He comforted her with a faint whisper. "I promised you...after gathering the Spirit Gems... I'll travel through this world with you... How can I go back on my word?"

"Yeah, don't you dare." Gu Qingyu smiled tearfully at his vow.

At this moment, a figure flashed over and hit Qi Yichen directly!

"Qi Yichen!" Gu Qingyu's chains immediately sprang into action and slammed against that person, but he dodged it with a simple leap.

It was Xuan Wu! His face appeared eerie under the cold glow from her chains. He held a gleaming dagger in his hand, and he drove it into Qi Yichen's heart! Rain smirked and grabbed Qi Yichen's hand, the one that held the fan against her neck, immobilising him.

Boom!A cloud of smoke lingered in the air. Four figures were revealed as the smoke dissipated. In front of Qi Yichen stood a woman with fiery red hair and a golden dress, with a flaming shield in her hand that blocked Xuan Wu's blade.

Suzaku had blocked Xuan Wu’s attack! Gu Qingyu also breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Qi Yichen safe and sound behind Suzaku's shield. Qi Yichen reacted, opening the fan in his hand and swipe it lightly. Rain was shocked, and immediately flashed to the side, but she was a step too slow. The fan ran across her cheek, and a slit appeared on her cheek for an instant, blood trickled down her face.

"Oh, we made it~" A familiar female voice came. Although the words sounded like a sigh of relief, her tone did not sound relaxed.

Gu Qingyu straightened up and cried out in surprise, "Xie Li?"

"Yep, it's me." Xie Li waved then stepped aside. "And Xie Zang."

Her brother, whose red robes peeked out behind her, smiled at Gu Qingyu. "Miss."

Her eyes lit up then dimmed in disappointment. She thought Xie Zang had recovered his memories, but that was not the case. Xie Li had dragged him here instead.

"I never thought something like this would exist under the lake." Xie Zang looked around their surroundings curiously.

"Thank you." Suzaku looked at Xie Li and nodded. "If you had not told me in time, I would not be able to save him."

"Don't worry about it. I'm just helping the people I want to help, that's all." Xie Li smiled at the redhead. Then she held up her crystal ball, the same crystal ball she had shown to Gu Qingyu before.

"Yu," She told Gu Qingyu solemnly, "The city is under siege."

"A siege? Who's attacking us?"

"The other nations have come together and are attacking as an allied front. There's hardly any soldiers left in the city, aside from the old and the sick." She sighed. "Yu, there's not much time, we have to get the Spirit Gem now."

"Okay." Gu Qingyu stood up, holding Qi Wan, and closed her eyes slightly. Brother Murong, hang in there. Please be safe. After I get the Spirit Gem, we would all go home together.

Rain came to Cloud's side and waved her sleeves towards Ye Jin, a cold light glimmered in her sleeves.Knowing that Rain's powers was not to be trifled, Ye Jin backed away and moved to Gu Qingyu's side.Xuan Wu walked slowly to Rain, lowered his head to look at her, and said softly, "Long time no see, Rain."

The way he called her reminded Gu Qingyu of Mo Bai. He used to call her with the same softness in his voice.

"Long time no see, Xuan." Rain smiled cheerily. "I'm surprised you will be here."

"Really." Xuan Wu just smiled slightly, "Rain, the Spirit Gem is ready."

"I'm happy to hear that, but...is this really okay?" Rain glanced at Ye Jin.

"Rain. I will give you whatever you want." Xuan Wu's voice was as soft as velvet. "You only need to ask."

"Okay. Then—" Rain suddenly pointed at Gu Qingyu, "I want her dead."

"Very well." Xuan Wu was unfazed and he turned to his newest target.

Ye Jin immediately stood in front of Gu Qingyu. Xie Zang also walked to her side.

"Although I don't know what the situation is, you seemed to be in a dangerous situation, so just to be on the safe side..." Xie Zang muttered, a red light faintly appeared in his hand.

"Thank you." Gu Qingyu smiled at him.

"You're really like a cat." Xie Zang blurted out at his own surprise.

"I guess." Gu Qingyu looked at Qi Wan in her arms. He was very weak but still smiled quietly at her. He has kept his eyes on her the entire time as if she was the only person left on this world. No, she was his world. He loved and valued her so much that he was willing to throw away his own arm to stop hurting her.

She suddenly raised her head and looked at Rain. There was an undoubtedly firm gleam of light in her eyes. "I will kill you."

"I'm looking forward to it." Rain whistled, "You want to kill me already? The party just got started."

"What?" Gu Qingyu realized that something was wrong, and looked back.

About 10 metres behind her stood a young man in a pristine white robe, his clear eyes were clouded with confusion as he stared at all of them with knitted brows.

"Yu'er? Why did you tell me to come here?" Yan Ruhuo looked past Gu Qingyu and focused on Rain.

Rain smiled at him. "As you can see, Brother Yan."

Brother Yan... Gu Qingyu suddenly remembered the words she heard when she took in the Devouring Lotus.

In the dream, there seemed to be a girl calling out, "Brother Yan, Brother Yan..."

Was that you, Rain?

Gu Qingyu looked at Yan Ruhuo with a calm expression.

Everyone present was silent, but all of them could clearly feel the swirling waves of darkness in the tensions. That darkness would consume everything in its path and drive away the slimmest ray of light. It laid in wait for the most opportune moment to pull all into the abyss of eternal destruction. They could almost hear it whisper as it waited patiently, "Hey, let's all fall into hell together."

She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and hugged Qi Wan tightly.

A bloodbath was about to begin.