She looked up and saw the lean, smooth line of his jaw, his high-bridged nose, and his tightly pressed lips. Just then, he lowered his head, their eyes met, and she, flustered, hid her face in his chest again.
Xie Jing felt her soft head rub against his chest repeatedly. He could hear his own heartbeat; she was so close, she would surely hear it.
Not wanting Qin Jiujiu to sense his abnormal condition, Xie Jing forcefully pulled her away from him.
“You stay here, don't wander off!”
He reinforced the barrier before turning to enter the main hall.
Qin Jiujiu watched Xie Jing’s retreating back, a sense of foreboding washing over her. She called out, “Second Young Master Xie, be very careful!” Definitely do not unleash your primal power so easily!
She couldn’t see what was happening inside the hall, only hearing the deafening sounds of battle. Her heart ached with anxiety, but she was unable to leave the barrier. In her desperation, she repeatedly called out to the system in her mind, but the system didn’t even make a sound.
At a critical moment, Xie Yun and Bai Qianluo appeared. The moment the barrier broke, the three of them entered the hall together.
They saw Xie Jing locked in fierce combat with the monster. He lunged forward and beheaded the monster, only to provoke its rage. A roar erupted, and black miasma seeped from the severed neck, quickly regrowing a new head.
As if enraged by Xie Jing, the monster’s nine serpent heads extended their necks and swiftly attacked Xie Jing.
With nowhere to hide, Xie Jing was struck in the chest by one of the serpent heads, spitting out a mouthful of blood on the spot.
Seeing Xie Jing heavily wounded, the monster pursued its advantage. Another head opened its gaping maw and lunged towards his head.
Xie Yun flew forward and severed the head attacking Xie Jing. Before it could react, he lopped off another, then another. The monster’s shriek was deafening, and Qin Jiujiu felt the entire hall tremble.
Bai Qianluo, taking advantage of the monster’s attention being focused on Xie Yun, severed two more heads from the other side.
The monster was clearly in immense pain, its cries growing more piteous.
However, the lost heads quickly regenerated in the same manner, as if they had never been injured.
What Tian Wu said was true!
Bai Qianluo took out the arrow Tian Wu had given her and was about to fire when Jiu Ying attacked her first.
Xie Yun and Bai Qianluo had to dodge, looking for another opportunity to attack.
The monster grew frantic, its assault becoming even more ferocious than before. It roared and focused its attack on Bai Qianluo.
It seemed to have seen through the arrow’s secret and directed all its attacks towards Bai Qianluo.
Unable to dodge, Bai Qianluo was bound tightly by its serpent body, unable to move. The arrow was knocked away and Jiu Ying deliberately flung it aside.
Xie Yun immediately flew up, intending to sever the serpent body binding Bai Qianluo. However, he was struck by a sneak attack from another serpent body. Like Xie Jing, he fell to the ground, only managing to remain standing by propping himself up with his sword, spitting out blood.
Seeing Xie Yun injured, Bai Qianluo cried out anxiously, “Chen Zhi!”
They expected the monster to launch an even fiercer assault on the three of them, but to their surprise, it turned and attacked Qin Jiujiu instead.
All three were caught off guard. Xie Jing reacted first, flying towards Qin Jiujiu.
Qin Jiujiu watched in terror as the monster’s massive serpent head came towards her. In her panic, she found herself unable to move!
Xie Yun and the others were all severely injured when struck. If it were her, it would likely result in a gruesome scene of blood gushing from all seven orifices.
In that moment, Qin Jiujiu thought she was truly going to die. But to her surprise, the expected searing pain did not come. She watched as Xie Jing severed its head, the enormous serpent head rolling to her feet and then dissolving into black smoke, vanishing from the spot.
Xie Jing glanced at her, seeing she was unharmed, and then turned to rescue Bai Qianluo.
Qin Jiujiu felt her necklace chest grow abnormally hot. She looked up at the orb suspended above the hall. Bathed in moonlight, the orb was now pure and flawless.
Her gaze shifted down to the burning incense, which was almost completely consumed.
She seemed to understand why Jiu Ying had suddenly attacked her. It hadn’t intended to attack her, but to capture her.
The moonlight gradually disappeared, and the orb’s glow intensified. The ritual was perhaps nearing completion!
Qin Jiujiu called out to Xie Yun, “Quick, go and snatch that orb!”
Xie Yun was closest to the orb. As soon as he heard Qin Jiujiu’s words, he flew to seize the suspended orb. Unexpectedly, Jiu Ying, who had been fully focused on attacking Xie Jing, suddenly shifted its target to him.
It seemed this orb was crucial!
Xie Yun tucked the orb into his embrace. The monster, now in a state of extreme agitation, lunged at Xie Yun without regard.
Bai Qianluo felt a sudden release around her waist. Xie Jing caught her before she could fall.
Once stable, Xie Jing released her. Seeing Xie Yun fighting with great difficulty, they both quickly flew to his aid.
The three of them occupied different directions, launching attacks at the monster.
But clearly, the three were no match for it. Gradually, they fell into a disadvantage.
Qin Jiujiu saw that the three were clearly outmatched, especially Bai Qianluo, who was already severely wounded. Xie Jing was clearly not himself, likely about to descend into darkness and rage upon seeing Bai Qianluo injured.
In a panic, she impulsively took out the necklace from her embrace.
Death or glory!
“Zhu Qiu, this is Li Muqing’s necklace. Do you want it or not?”
As expected, her words immediately drew the monster’s attention. It suddenly withdrew its attack from Bai Qianluo and lunged directly at her!
“Jiujiu!”
“Jiujiu, dodge quickly!”
Qin Jiujiu saw Xie Yun and Bai Qianluo looking at her with anxious eyes. She heard them shouting something at her, but it was too late!
Struck by Jiu Ying, she felt as if her entire body had fallen apart. She coughed up blood and lost consciousness.
Before losing consciousness, she heard the system’s voice, “Major danger detected. Protection mode activated for host. Classification level: seven… Protection mode has been activated!”
Seeing this, Bai Qianluo also fainted. Xie Yun, using all his strength to kill the monster, was heavily struck and also fainted.
Xie Jing looked at Qin Jiujiu, who had fallen to the ground, his eyes turning crimson. At this moment, all he could think of was killing; only killing could bring him peace.
Jiu Ying had not expected him to unleash such immense power despite his serious injuries. Sensing something was wrong, it, holding the necklace it had just retrieved from Qin Jiujiu’s hand, attempted to escape.
Xie Jing, unwilling to let it go, launched an even fiercer assault, his eyes now bloodshot with rage.
Qin Jiujiu also didn’t expect to wake up so quickly. Her entire body was still in severe pain, but she forced herself to focus on Xie Jing.
Jiu Ying’s momentum had clearly weakened considerably, but Xie Jing was obviously not right.
Her heart sank. If this man were to descend into darkness, her suffering would have been in vain!
She saw Bai Qianluo lying on the ground and concluded that it was because the female lead was injured that he was showing signs of darkening. Was the plot point of the villain turning dark due to the female lead from the novel happening prematurely?
She endured the pain and called out to Xie Jing, “Second Young Master Xie!” Hearing the familiar voice, Xie Jing’s rationality slightly returned. He looked at Qin Jiujiu, his eyes filled with confusion. He had thought she was dead.
He had just realized that after learning of her death, he had not felt joy, but rather as if his heart had been clutched, causing him intense pain.
At that time, his mind had been filled only with the thought of killing!