CH 80

Chapter 80: Don’t Look At Me Like That, I Just Wanted To See If You Could Cry In Pain.

As soon as Bian Zhonghua rushed into the village, he saw the Taotie roaring and biting the white bird’s wings. As the sharp teeth slightly pierced through the flesh and bones, the white bird struggled in pain. But no matter how hard it tried, it couldn’t get rid of the Taotie.

When Bian Zhonghua saw that the Taotie was about to rip off the white bird’s wings, he summoned a long sword with a spell and aimed it straight at the Taotie’s head. However, at that moment, the Taotie raised its claws and waved the sword away.

When the white bird noticed that the Taotie was distracted, it took the opportunity to peck its eyes, which were under his armpits!

In pain, the Taotie roared frantically as it threw the white bird away. Soon, the white bird fell out, collapsing onto a wooden house and rolling several times on the ground, until it finally transformed into the form of a human.

Without hesitation, Bian Zhonghua rushed forward, picked up the unconscious Lin Baihu, and ran to the depths of the woods on the outskirts of the village. He ran so fast that the normal eye could only see a blur disappearing into the distance.

The ancient books say that the Taotie’s power was infinite, making it clear that it liked to swallow people the most. However, the books also mentioned that the Taotie wasn’t flexible enough.

As mentioned in the books, when Bian Zhonghua ran as fast as possible into the depths of the forest with Lin Baihu on his back, he found that the Taotie couldn’t catch up at all. Only its raspy voice was heard from a distance: “Demon Emperor Zhonghua! You really think you can escape?”

Bian Zhonghua rolled his eyes, put extra strength on his feet, and left, completely ignoring the Taotie’s provocative words.

As he ran through the vast mountains and old forests, Bian Zhonghua noticed that Lin Baihu’s breath became weak, so he hurried to look for a dry cave. Once he found a suitable one, Bian Zhonghua blocked the entrance of the cave with rocks and then recited the spell to summon the shining blade and let it shine in the air to illuminate the dark cave.

Lin Baihu sat in the cave with a pale face and a horrifying bite wound on his shoulder. If you took a closer look, you could vaguely see the white bones breaking through the flesh, staining his clothes with the crimson color of blood. It looked particularly shocking.

Bian Zhonghua took off his outer garment and wrapped it around Lin Baihu’s injured shoulder. Then, he began to chant a spell again, gradually transforming the shining blade into a pigeon.

At that moment, Lin Baihu hurried to stretch out his uninjured hand to stop Bian Zhonghua.

Bian Zhonghua said: “I’ll send a message to Qin Yicang. I’ll ask him to come here as soon as possible to find you.”

Lin Baihu shook his head: “The Taotie will notice the pigeon.”

Just after saying this, they felt the demonic aura of the Taotie approaching, wandering in the surroundings…. if there were any left.

Lin Baihu swallowed a mouthful of blood, and although his voice was weak, his words were clear: “The Taotie is targeting you. You should return to the Capital as soon as possible, State Master Li should’ve already set up a demon subduing formation around the Capital. With that formation, the Fierce Beasts cannot step into the Capital, you will be safe there.”

Bian Zhonghua asked: “Just now, the Taotie called me ‘Demon Emperor Zhonghua’. Do you know why he called me like that? Just….shake or nod your head.”

Lin Baihu froze, but then he nodded his head.

Bian Zhonghua asked again: “So….you know about my past?”

Lin Baihu hesitated for a while, but then he nodded again.

Bian Zhonghua asked again: “If I unseal this seal,” he said as he pointed to the dragon pattern on his shoulder, “could I subdue the Taotie?”

Lin Baihu hurried to say: “You can’t unseal it! The soul in your body is incomplete. As soon as that seal is unsealed, your muscles and veins will be disordered due to the backlash, and you will be possessed1.”

Bian Zhonghua said reassuringly: “Don’t panic, I was just asking.”

Lin Baihu pursed his lips and said: “I don’t know….”

He really didn’t know if Bian Zhonghua could fight the Taotie. If it were in the past, even if the Four Fierce Beasts had caused trouble all at the same time, Bian Zhonghua could’ve been able to fight them all on his own. But now, the current Bian Zhonghua lacked his Neidan, his third soul hadn’t returned yet, and his powers were sealed. With all these variables….

At the mere thought of this, Lin Baihu suddenly felt a surge of hopelessness.

The Taotie was able to cause such a mess on its own, making an entire village disappear. Villagers and servants of the Palace died in such a tragic way, spreading a bloodbath all over the earth. If the Four Fierce Beasts had been together, acting at the same time, there would be no safe place left in this world. Every single living being in this world would be exterminated.

As they talked, the Taotie’s demonic qi was getting closer and closer. Bian Zhonghua hastily put the silver blade away, immediately pressed against the cave wall, and held his breath. Bian Zhonghua and Lin Baihu could obviously feel the vibrations provoked by the fierce beast’s feet stepping heavily on the ground.

The Taotie seemed to grow increasingly impatient as it collided with everything that stood in its way. The ground shook like an earthquake, tree trunks fell one after another, and the grass withered. A lot of gravel also fell from the cave that Bian Zhonghua and Lin Baihu were hiding in. Bian Zhonghua looked closely at the stone wall, planning to bring Lin Baihu outside as soon as he noticed the slightest hint of the cave collapsing.

Lin Baihu became weaker and weaker as time passed by, and he was even unable to maintain his ‘human’ form. Gradually, his legs transformed into crane feet, making him look like a half-human half-beast.

Bian Zhonghua waved away a piece of falling gravel above their heads, remembering something all of a sudden. Thus, he asked Lin Baihu: “I just remembered, aren’t you part of the Phoenix Clan?”

Lin Baihu nodded.

“Can’t the Phoenixes cure innumerable injuries with their tears?”

Lin Baihu frowned and explained: “Those from the Phoenix Clan can only cure innumerable injuries with their tears after crying blood and forming a contract. However, although I’ve already cried blood and formed a contract, for some reason, I can’t cry normal tears.”

Bian Zhonghua pondered about something, reached out, and pressed his hand on the wound in Lin Baihu’s waist.

Although Lin Baihu’s waist had no external injuries, there was an almost purple bruise staining his white skin. When Bian Zhonghua pressed on his wound, Lin Baihu was so caught off guard that his body began to tremble in pain.

Lin Baihu looked at Bian Zhonghua completely shocked.

Bian Zhonghua said: “Don’t look at me like that, I just wanted to see if you could cry in pain.”

Lin Baihu: “….”

Lin Baihu focused all his attention on the pain coming from his wound, but as a result, his face simply turned as pale as snow, causing him to suck in cold air. However, even after all this, not a single tear was shed.

Bian Zhonghua gave up and withdrew his hand: “Hey, you’re clearly in so much pain, why don’t you shed one or two tears at least? Ah! Why don’t you yawn a few times? Maybe some tears will come out.”

Lin Baihu didn’t have the strength to yawn, and his lips even looked dangerously pale.

At that moment, the vibrations on the earth suddenly disappeared. It was as if the Taotie had given up looking for them, as its footsteps began to gradually fade into the distance.

Bian Zhonghua breathed a sigh of relief and planned to take Lin Baihu to a place where he could heal. Then, Bian Zhonghua planned to reunite with Qi Ci.

However, at that instant, Lin Baihu felt that something wasn’t right.

‘Is the Taotie really letting us go?’

‘How could that be? With Lord Bian’s chaotic conscience, wouldn’t this be the best time to take his life? The Four Fierce Beasts are vengeful, how will one of them let us go so easily?’ Lin Baihu tried his best to gather demonic qi, held his breath, and began to explore the surroundings. A moment later, Lin Baihu suddenly opened his eyes and coughed a mouthful of black blood.

After seeing Lin Baihu’s current state, Bian Zhonghua didn’t dare to delay their departure and immediately planned to find a place where Lin Baihu could heal his wounds.

Unexpectedly, Lin Baihu shouted after coughing a bit more: “The Taotie has changed directions to where the Prince is!!!!”

Bian Zhonghua suddenly stiffened.

“We should….” Lin Baihu shouted these two words in a hurry, but in the end, he didn’t know what he wanted to say.

‘Should I let Lord Bian go and protect the Prince?‘

‘But how is he going to protect him?‘

‘Who will fight the Taotie? Me?‘

‘But I’m injured right now and I can’t even walk. How could I fight?’

Lin Baihu hated himself. He hated being so powerless, unable to protect the Lord. His eyes were bloodshot, and by clenching his jaw, he nearly broke his teeth.

Suddenly, a hand covered his uninjured shoulder. Lin Baihu was so stunned by this that he looked up.

Unexpectedly, Bian Zhonghua looked very calm. As he looked into Lin Baihu’s eyes, Bian Zhonghua asked, “Can you stay safe until State Master Li sends someone to rescue you?”

Lin Baihu was stunned for a moment, but then he nodded his head.

After saying ‘good’, Bian Zhonghua recited a spell and summoned the silver blade again. The bright light shining on the small blade transformed into a spiritual deer, which then ran out of the cave as fast as it could. Bian Zhonghua then said: “Protect yourself, I’ll go find the Prince.”

Lin Baihu clenched his fist and said: “You can’t beat the Taotie! You’d better hide away and wait for State Master Li to come here!”

Bian Zhonghua said softly: “I can’t wait.”

Lin Baihu was speechless, but couldn’t advise Bian Zhonghua anymore.

Bian Zhonghua patted Lin Baihu on his uninjured shoulder and rushed out of the cave.

Lin Baihu huddled in the lonely, cold cave, praying in his heart that State Master Li had discovered that something was wrong by now. After several prayers, Lin Baihu suddenly felt an enormous sadness, for no apparent reason.

It was a feeling of helplessness mixed with desperation, and resignation wrapped in resentment.

Lin Baihu felt so incompetent for being unable to protect the Lord. He felt like a waste.

And yet, he couldn’t shed a single tear.

Aahhhhh damn you Taotie, you better not touch baby Qi Ci  Bian Zhonghua hurry up! (ᗒᗣᗕ)

Poor Lin Baihu too, Qin Yicang you better hurry, your hubby is hurt