Chapter 112: Stop Rubbing It. The More You Rub It, The More It Hurts. Why Don’t You Kiss It?
Qi Ci didn’t understand what was happening. After all, as soon as the black fog pulled Qi Ci up, causing him to stumble, he accidentally hit his head against the door frame. This made Qi Ci feel both dizzy and in pain.
As Qi Ci held his aching head with both hands, he suddenly heard a mournful high-pitched scream. Qi Ci struggled to open his eyes, and by the time he managed to do so, he saw the black fog rushing towards the wooden window, running away in a panic.
What was more surprising, was that a man was standing right in front of him.
Qi Ci rubbed his sore forehead with one hand, and before he could be able to see who was standing in front of him, that man unexpectedly caught Qi Ci into his arms.
The man hugged Qi Ci very tightly with both arms, as if he wanted to melt him into his own flesh. However, Qi Ci began to feel that he couldn’t breathe, so he did his best to push the man and step away.
“You….” Right when Qi Ci was about to ask who it was, he met with that man’s eyes. Qi Ci froze in place, shocked.
It was Bian Zhonghua. He looked at Qi Ci with reddened eyes and an extremely pale face. Even his chest heaved, as if he were short of breath.
Bian Zhonghua’s body trembled horribly, as if he had gone through a horrible and desperate situation, making him look on the verge of collapse. With his sanity hanging from a thread, even the slightest breeze would make him break down.
Bian Zhonghua looked like a fierce beast that had been trapped in a cage for way too long, with broken claws and no longer sharp teeth. Even if someone were to open the iron door for him, he wouldn’t dare to come out of the cage, afraid that outside the cage he wouldn’t find freedom, but a new form of torture.
This kind of Bian Zhonghua made Qi Ci feel strange.
It scared him a little, even.
However, in an instant, these complicated emotions were annihilated by heartache.
“What’s wrong?” Qi Ci stepped forward and carefully stretched out his hand to hold Bian Zhonghua’s hand. With a tentative tone, he asked: “Are you alright?”
Feeling a human warmth touching his palm, Bian Zhonghua looked down, only to see that Qi Ci was interlocking their fingers together.
Bian Zhonghua’s eyes became even redder as he took a deep breath and held Qi Ci’s hand tightly. Bian Zhonghua then smiled softly and said with a desolation that Qi Ci couldn’t understand: “Little Gongzi, I’ve missed you so much.”
“Me too,” Qi Ci didn’t hesitate to reply. “Have you recovered your Mana? Have you suffered? Come, come here and hug me.”
Qi Ci wrapped his arms around Bian Zhonghua’s body and soothingly patted him on the back.
Bian Zhonghua slowly hugged Qi Ci, as if he were a dying man who had been given a life-saving pill.
“Where’s the black fog? Have you driven it away?” After hugging for a while, Qi Ci let go of Bian Zhonghua and asked.
“Mm-hmm.” Bian Zhonghua was reluctant to let go of this warm embrace, but since he didn’t want Qi Ci to notice the difference in him, he had to endure his desperation and restrain himself.
“Have you recovered your Mana?” Qi Ci asked as he stretched out a hand to continue to rub his own sore forehead.
“It has been restored.” Bian Zhonghua replied.
Not only did he recover his Mana, but his three souls also returned to his body. All the memories from the past also came back to him.
All that pain, love, fond memories, and life affairs that made him suffer.
He remembered all of them.
All those broken wooden slips, the black-tinted papers, all the letters that were burned. A longing so strong it became a disease, all because there was no one to talk about the past.
He remembered it all, as well.
Qi Ci was unaware that a storm had raged within Bian Zhonghua’s heart, as if they were destined to meet again after an unfortunate separation. Qi Ci sighed and said: “That’s good—hiss. Can you help me look at my forehead and see if it’s bruised? I hit my head on the door frame and it hurts too much.”
“Yes, it is bruised.” Bian Zhonghua reached out and rubbed Qi Ci’s bruised forehead.
“Stop rubbing it. The more you rub it, the more it hurts. Why don’t you kiss it?” Qi Ci looked at Bian Zhonghua with bright eyes and a warm smile.
As that smile fell into Bian Zhonghua’s eyes, it made him forget the pain and hopelessness of having waited for so long.
As Bian Zhonghua covered the bruise on Qi Ci’s forehead with his lips, it sent a chill through his bones. Then, Bian Zhonghua lifted Qi Ci’s chin and kissed him on the lips, tangling the tip of his tongue with Qi Ci’s, tenderly and lovingly.
Qi Ci grabbed Bian Zhonghua’s arm and devotedly indulged in the kiss. However, Qi Ci suddenly began to feel that something was wrong.
The birthmark that Qi Ci had on his chest began to hurt! It was as if someone was mercilessly stabbing him with a sharp knife, only to then brutally tear something inside him.
“Wh—?!” Qi Ci desperately pressed his chest, while his entire body began to feel such intense pain that he even had to hunch his back in an attempt to make it stop. Even his forehead was drenched in cold sweat.
Witnessing this, Bian Zhonghua was dumbfounded at first, but then he quickly grabbed Qi Ci’s waist with his arm and covered Qi Ci’s chest with his other hand.
An icy cold overflowed from Bian Zhonghua’s palm, penetrating Qi Ci’s chest. Gradually, the pain subsided, and Qi Ci was able to calm down at last. Qi Ci wiped off his cold sweat and asked in severe confusion: “What was that?”
Bian Zhonghua opened his mouth, ready to reply, but just before he could utter a word, he felt as if he had a lump in his throat, making it impossible for him to speak. At that moment, Bian Zhonghua noticed something, frowned, and said to Qi Ci: “I must go.”
“Go? Go where?!” Qi Ci grabbed Bian Zhonghua’s sleeve.
‘You just came back! Where are you going now?!’
“I’m going to save someone. Lin Baihu and the others are in trouble.”
Although Qi Ci didn’t want to let go of Bian Zhonghua, he also understood that he shouldn’t hinder him. Thus, he said: “Then you must take extreme care, alr—Huh?! Hey!”
Before Qi Ci could finish speaking, he was surprised by the fact that Bian Zhonghua had suddenly picked him up.
Bian Zhonghua explained: “You’ll come with me.”
‘I’ve been waiting for many years to see him again, and now that I’ve finally managed to meet Qi Ci again, how could I let him out of my sight?’
Qi Ci was confused: “But I don’t know how to get rid of demons. What am I going to do?”
Bian Zhonghua: “Applaud and cheer for me.”
Qi Ci: “…..Alright, alright.”
…
800 miles away, on the Southern Mountain.
The Tortoise entwined with a Snake was Immortal Lord Zhenwu’s transformation into the form of a Spirit Beast, so it could still fight Taowu. However, Lin Baihu’s body had too many bite wounds, and he was covered in blood. Even then, Lin Baihu fought with all his might to avoid the Taotie’s attacks.
Immortal Lord Zhenwu wanted to help Lin Baihu, but due to a brief distraction, Taowu was able to detect a weak point. Taowu tied its tail around the Tortoise’s neck, causing it to fall into a situation from which Immortal Lord Zhenwu wouldn’t be able to protect himself.
As for Lin Baihu, he was already in a critical situation.
His white feathered wings had been pierced by the Taotie’s sharp teeth, making Lin Baihu unable to fight back. Lin Baihu then fell to the ground in distress, letting out a reluctant mournful cry.
Taotie opened its bloody mouth and fiercely motioned to bite Lin Baihu.
However, before the Taotie’s mouth could close on Lin Baihu’s bird body, a mysterious silver light hit the Taotie’s mouth. Right after, the Taotie rose into the air as if punched by an unknown power, causing it to fall violently to the ground and end up spinning around several times.
As dust rose, in front of the white bird drenched in blood, stood a man.
For a brief moment, Taowu and Immortal Lord Zhenwu forgot about their fight and looked at the mysterious man in unison.
After focusing its gaze on the man, Taowu’s eyes opened wide as it murmured one word at a time: “Demon Emperor Zhonghua…..”
Due to the pain and physical exhaustion, Lin Baihu had already fainted, so Bian Zhonghua hurried to pass him some qi to help him recover his human form. Then, Bian Zhonghua took Lin Baihu to a tree not that far away and handed him to Qi Ci.
“Look after him,” Bian Zhonghua said.
Qi Ci held Lin Baihu and nodded, only to anxiously say: “Be careful.”
“Don’t worry.”
After having saved Lin Baihu, Bian Zhonghua went to rescue Immortal Lord Zhenwu from Taowu. But at the sight of Bian Zhonghua, Taowu no longer wanted to fight Immortal lord Zhenwu, so it let go of the Tortoise’s neck by its own will.
“You, are you….” Immortal Lord Zhenwu turned back into his human form, and with a trembling voice, he struggled to form a complete sentence.
“Immortal Lord Zhenwu.” Bian Zhonghua respectfully clasped his fist in a salute. “My three souls have been reunited with my body, you can go to rest now. Let me deal with them.”
“You?!” Taowu, who had been listening to their brief conversation, suddenly let out a burst of laughter. “Demon Emperor Zhonghua! Do you still think you have a chance? Now that your Neidan has been utterly shattered, what will you do to deal with us?!”
Immortal Lord Zhenwu felt a chill running down his spine.
After all, what Taowu had said was the truth. Bian Zhonghua, who lost his Neidan, was no longer an opponent to the Four Fierce Beasts. Besides, now that Taowu and Taotie were here, it would be even more difficult for Bian Zhonghua to deal with two Ferocious Beasts at once on his own.
Before Immortal Lord Zhenwu could rejoice over the fact that Bian Zhonghua had recovered his three souls, he was once again strangled by fear.
‘Is it today really the moment we will all die?’
Ko-fi goal for extra chapters~~ (*´▽`*) ♡