CH 60

Chapter 60: Witchcraft Sacrifice (XXIX)

“It’s very simple: kill me.” With excitement, Qi Leren told Ning Zhou their only chance to live.

In the holy barrier, time seemed to fall into the abyss slowly. When Qi Leren saw Ning Zhou standing in front of him, she suddenly opened her eyes wide as if she had heard something unbelievable.

“Listen to me.” Excited Qi Leren took Ning Zhou’s hand and said, “The system said, ‘every time a witch candidate is killed, all attributes can be greatly improved.’ See clearly, it’s every time, not every one. This may be the chance it leaves us. My S/L skill can be loaded three times in a row. If you kill me, you can get three strength increases, which is very close to Ye Xia’s!”

The hand was suddenly flung away by Ning Zhou, and Qi Leren looked at her in astonishment. Her beautiful blue eyes filled with anger, and the complicated look stung Qi Leren hard and woke him up.

He had become accustomed to using the pain of death in exchange for the possibility of living. He had repeatedly loaded the file again and again, wearing away the dignity of death itself, and he had even become numb to the pain. He used it as a means to achieve an end, used it rashly, relied on it, and forgot the possible risks intentionally or unintentionally. So what if you died a thousand times or ten thousand times as long as you lived in the end?

He had been regarding it as an ordinary skill for saving and loading points, but for Ning Zhou, it was most definitely murder to stab her dagger into her companion’s chest, and to let herself live with her companion’s death again and again. That kind of mental torture was far more terrible than physical pain.

What kind of feelings did Ning Zhou have? Qi Leren, who was cold all over, did not dare to think about it.

If someone must bear this responsibility, let him be that person, and he must protect her! Qi Leren said to himself.

“Ning Zhou, you listen, I’ll let you kill me, not to let you live, but to let us all live. When I use S/L skills, I basically don’t feel pain, ” Qi Leren lied without hesitation. “If we don’t do this, we will both die here. Looking at it from another angle, if you had such skills now, you would definitely let me do it, right? I want to live and I want you to live.

"Come on, I’ve saved the file, only half a minute.” Qi Leren saved the file, stood tall and waited for the first time in his life, perhaps the only time, when he looked forward to death.

Ning Zhou looked at him quietly, just like countless times before when had she looked at him, so quiet and beautiful, but this time, her calm was full of sadness and struggle, and the knife in her hand was shaking. Even when her arm was injured, her hand holding the knife was as steady as a rock, but this time, her hand was shaking.

She stepped forward, her warm left hand covered Qi Leren’s eyes.

At present, it was dark, and Qi Leren blinked. Eyelashes swept over Ning Zhou’s palm, which brought strange warmth. He felt that Ning Zhou was very close to him, so close that there was no distance.

He suddenly got a little scared. In the dark, he waited for the arrival of the knife. He hoped that the knife would be faster, at least faster than the healing speed in the Barrier of the Holy Spirit. The countdown had reached ten… nine… eight… He silently read the numbers until there was a warm and soft touch on his lips, a gentle and sudden kiss just landing on his lips.

Qi Leren was so shocked and surprised that he tried back up, but his body was firmly held. The next moment, a chill pierced his heart from behind.

The knife was so fast and accurate that he woke up again before he could feel the pain.

He was still standing here, and Ning Zhou was still standing there. She looked calm and didn’t explain the kiss. She just said to him with her mouth: Close your eyes.

Qi Leren closed his eyes.

There seemed to be a warmth on his lips that didn’t belong to him. His heart beat fast, but his soul was calm. If when he first saw Ning Zhou, his love for her was a longing for the distant goddess, then at this moment, he could finally stand side by side with her. He wanted to protect her, even if his strength was so small, but he still wanted to protect her at all costs.

Even if he really had to pay with his life.

He was willing.

This time, he was prepared. When the blade passed through his chest and brought cold death, he flashed countless pictures in his mind and finally settled in front of the jungle bonfire. Ning Zhou jumped down from the tree and raised her face to look at him…

At that moment, the word that had flashed in Qi Leren’s was fate.

This mysterious premonition, which transcended all rationality and abandoned all logic, told him that this was the person he had been waiting for.

After loading the file for the second time, the Qi Leren was limp and staggered for half a step, forgetting to close his eyes – Ning Zhou stood in front of him and looked at him without any unnecessary expression. Cold, just like when they first met.

However, her quiet blue eyes shed tears quietly and silently.

Tears slipped down her cheeks and splashed on her hand holding the knife. She lowered her eyes and watched the water slip from the back of her hand. Her eyes flashed a trace of astonishment. She hadn’t noticed she was crying.

Ning Zhou, bathed in hymns and soaked in dreamy fuzzy light and shadow, never feared and never retreated. Ning Zhou who was always moving forward, Ning Zhou who was crying silent tears for him, was so beautiful that it hurt.

His heart seemed to have been cut with a hole that could not be filled. Qi Leren fought against his weak body to walk to Ning Zhou, and summoned the courage to kiss her face. The salty tears seemed to burn his soul, and fermented his adoration and admiration into love.

He was so sure, so sure, that they were in love at this moment. There was no need for words to express it, just looking at each other was perfect.

The ethereal hymn became more and more distant and blurred, the white holy light began to fade, the sky darkened, the earth shook, the colorful church dome, the complicated holy frescoes, and the exquisite sculptures began to peel off one by one, as if it was all a letter lit by flames, and sparks of fire rolled up the black edge, eating away the white paper bit by bit.

The barrier’s time was running out.

“Do it.” Qi Leren said weakly but firmly, fearless.

Ning Zhou seemed to turn suddenly crazy, throwing her short knife to the ground. In the crisp sound of metal falling to the ground, she covered her face, and the suppressed cries flowed out of her fingers. This torture made her rationally falter far more terribly than death did. She couldn’t do it anymore. She couldn’t do it again.

“One more time, one last time.” Qi Leren struggled to pick up the knife on the ground, stuffed it into Ning Zhou’s hand, and pointed it at his chest. He already had no fear in saying this sentence, even if with this moment again and again, death left him in so much pain that he was about to collapse, he still tried to smile at her, he always wanted to show her the best of himself.

The barrier was collapsing, stripping away the appearance of holiness, revealing the dark reality – countless ferocious and horrible demons and monsters were eyeing them up, breaking through the enchantment and entering the church at any time, causing a cruel massacre. This was not a peaceful and serene world, but a nightmare world dominated by demons and shrouded in fog and death.

“Ning Zhou…..” Qi Leren called out her name in a low voice, facing Ning Zhou’s quiet teary eyes, “I’m sorry to make you so miserable. I know I’m useless, but… I also want to protect you…”

The short knife pierced his heart again. This time, Qi Leren stood up hard, and the blade against his chest pierced the skin and went straight through his beating heart. He didn’t feel any more pain or cold. When he looked at Ning Zhou, he was willing to give wholeheartedly, even if it was his life, even if he really died here, he wouldn’t regret it.

He had never met such a person, but he was willing to do his best for her despite the short time they’d known each other.

She deserved it. She deserved everything.

The file loaded three consecutive times successfully. Qi Leren stood still, the last of his strength drained. He didn’t dare to move an inch, because he would fall if he moved even a little.

The barrier collapsed completely.

At the last moment, Qi Leren saw the blonde woman standing under the cross praying. Her blue eyes were exactly the same as Ning Zhou’s, and Ning Zhou looked at them from a distance and was silent. She smiled at them, which was mixed with sadness, thoughts, pity and helplessness, and looked extremely complicated.

Like a broken mirror, the holy church and the overwhelming demons formed a strange picture, which was broken and peeling off layer by layer, and finally became numerous black and white light spots dispersing.

In this collapsed barrier, everything was disintegrating in vain. Only Ning Zhou standing in front of him was alive. They were staring at each other quietly, as if it was their only hope and salvation.

He had many, many words to tell Ning Zhou. When it was over, he had to say it. He wanted to tell her loudly in front of everyone in the warm sunshine…

The enchantment dissipated completely, and they were still in the underground palace. Ye Xia stood in the empty corridor, waiting for them calmly.

“As long as I kill you, it’s all over. Are you ready?” She asked.

With a clear and crisp sound, Ning Zhou’s pendant fell to the ground. She didn’t go to pick it up, neither did she look back. She just held her knife, stepping towards Ye Xia.

This was her back: never afraid, never retreating, and always walking forward.