After her wounds were dressed, Xue Qilin and Xihe set off to find a way out. Since the place where they had fallen into is enclosed by rocks, they have to walk along the underground river and head for the other end.
The two flame tongues, one floating in front of Xue Qilin and the other released from the tip of one of Xihe’s tails, which wound to in front of her, dispersed the darkness around them.
Relying on their light, Xue Qilin and Xihe, one in front and one behind, walked inside the never-ending cave.
Turbulent rapids hit the shore or the rocks protruding out from the river and made sploshing noise.
Xue Qilin, who is in the lead, is walking at a high pace, her feet nearly a blur.
“Xue Qilin.”
A voice called from behind. The source of the voice is a bit far away.
“Yes!”
Xue Qilin responded without looking back.
“Wait for me.”
Xue Qilin frowned, turned around, and found that Xihe has fallen behind by a lot. Helpless, she slowed down and waited for Xihe to catch up. At the same time, she felt a bit dissatisfied. Xihe has fallen behind several times already.
“You’re too slow, hurry up a bit.”
“It’s you who is too fast!
Hearing the other party’s complaint, Xihe, who has finally caught up, replied with displeasure.
“What! We’re racing against time here! Aren’t you worried about your comrades?”
Qi Qiqi’s situation is not encouraging, her fate is an uncertainty. Xue Qilin has been upset for a while now. Anyway, she wants to rush back as soon as possible and stay by Qi Qiqi’s beside.
“I’ve already accounted for it. If something happens to me, they will immediately flee back to the depths of Martial Demon Realm, so –”
“Xihe, are you really sure about that? Are you sure that the martial demons won’t choose to save you, that they will abandon you and run away on their own?”
Xue Qilin interrupted Xihe and questioned her.
If the whereabouts of someone important to her are unknown, could she let it be and leave them to fend for themselves? Xue Qilin can guarantee that she wouldn’t sit still.
What about the martial demons? There should also be martial demons with a similar character to that of Xue Qilin.
Can they really leave Xihe alone?
“They will, they definitely will.”
Xue Qilin has no reply, because she saw unswerving trust in Xihe’s eyes.
“What about Asura’er? Aren’t you worried about her?”
Jialan’s willful personality, which is really disturbing, makes her unpredictable. At least, Xue Qilin can’t predict her actions.
“Big Sister Beiming is here, so I’m not worried.”
Having said that, Xue Qilin still saw a bit of worry in Xihe’s eyes. It seems that she isn’t as at ease as she claims.
However, why does she behave so calmly? Is it because she firmly believes that Beiming Youyu can protect everything from Asura’er? Xue Qilin is puzzled.
“Are you really not worried at all?”
“Even if I worry, it won’t be of help anyway. I should rest and recover as much as possible.”
“Fine…” Xue Qilin sped up again, “But I am worried about Little Seven’s situation, I don’t have time to dilly dally here.”
Even if she returns to Qi Qiqi’s side now, Xue Qilin can do very little. She can only wait for the other party to wake up.
“At least, I gotta to stay with her.”
The lass muttered in a quiet voice.
Xue Qilin urgently wants to return to Qi Qiqi.
As for Xihe, she doesn’t have time to keep her company. Honestly, even though Xihe saved her, Xue Qilin doesn’t care about the other party’s opinion.
However —
“You really care about her…”
The sigh is not of envy, but of relief.
Just this sentence made Xue Qilin freeze in her steps.
“That’s good… 5 years ago, I thought she would be left alone. Now it seems that my worry was a bit unnecessary.”
This statement… Xue Qilin frowned.
“Do you know Little Seven?”
“I met her once…”
The tone is inexplicably gentle.
The girl’s smile is filled with warmth alike the first rays of the sun.
“I met her once before this.”
Xihe has a reminiscing look in her eyes. She is gazing into empty space absentmindedly.
“10 years ago… well, exactly 10 years ago. At that time, it was also a Martial Demon Realm Trial by Fire. I was almost killed. In the end, she saved me in the nick of time.”
“Little Seven saved you?”
Startled, Xue Qilin stopped and faced Xihe. She didn’t expect there to be such a relationship — savior and saved — between the two.
“She did… At that time, I had already cultivated human form. I was already an Earth Realm expert. Yet I was rescued by a Human Realm little human girl. Isn’t…”
After a pause, the cold expression on Xihe’s face gave way to a bitter expression.
“– it ridiculous?”
Rescued by someone weaker than herself and a human, an enemy of martial demons, to boot, isn’t it ridiculous?
Isn’t it?
It may be ironic, but Xue Qilin doesn’t find it ridiculous.
“How do I say it…”
In order to organize an appropriate response, Xue Qilin pondered for a while.
Finally, she raised her head and smiled.
“I think that it’s a beautiful thing.”
“Hey, Qilin, that’s corny!”
“Shut up! Little Phecda, do you have to pull the rug from under my feet?”
Xue Qilin hit Empyrean Universe, who is in her hand. After releasing a cry of pain, Phecda shut up.
Then, she looked back at Xihe and found that the other side has a surprised look on her face.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
“You just said… that it’s a beautiful thing?”
“Yeah, isn’t it? To cross the barrier of discrimination between races and save one another, isn’t that a beautiful thing? Well, it makes one feel that there is still warmth in this particularly harsh world.”
Xue Qilin folded one arm and nodded her head.
“Warmth…?”
Xihe, with a blank look in her eyes, ruminated the word.
“Yeah, don’t you think so?”
“I don’t know. I think that it’s a thing… a thing to be happy about. But as for warmth…”
Looking a bit emotional, Xihe shook her head so hard that it makes one worry that her slender neck might break.
“I don’t know, I really don’t know.”
“Anyway, it must be a form of redemption for you. Or else, you would have no reason to save me.”
Xue Qilin is convinced that that is the case.
“I saved you because you were kind to her.”
Xihe answered so quickly that it appears like she didn’t reflect on it.
“Her?”
“Mhm, from the Luotian town incident.”
Xihe is referring to the fact that Xue Qilin gave the dying martial demon lass a hug in Luotian town.
“If that is the case, then I misunderstood you. Besides, the time I injured you should have cancelled everything in a stroke. But then why did you save, why did you protect me just now?”
If it weren’t for Xihe protecting the lass with her tails, blocking the falling rocks and withstanding most of the impact from when they hit the water, Xue Qilin’s injuries would not have been limited to what they are now.
Is the reason why Xihe protected her really just due to the incident in Luotian town? Xue Qilin doesn’t believe that it’s the case. After all, to Xihe, she is an enemy. It has been destined that they will be enemies ever since Xue Qilin entered Martial Demon Realm.
“You’re fully aware that I’m likely to get in the way of you guys, which is why you trapped me before, right? In this case, you should have killed and not saved me.”
Xue Qilin asked calmly in a quiet voice.
“Hey, Xihe, why didn’t you kill me?”
Xue Qilin’s limpid eyes, as if capable of penetrating everything in the world, constricted Xihe tightly.
“I…”
“Why? Could it be that to you, the thing you guy pursue is much less important than my life?”
“No, that’s not it!”
“Then why did you save me?”
Xihe opened her mouth several times, but could not give an answer. She appears to be confused. Her wide open eyes are trembling.
“Heaven Demon –”
At this moment, there are melancholy and lament lurking deep in Xue Qilin’s eyes.
“You’re wavering…”
Xihe closed her mouth tightly.
She doesn’t know how to answer? Xue Qilin mused, and then took a step forward.
“You just wanted to save me, so you protected me, am I right?”
Xue Qilin’s bold speculation netted a shout from Xihe.
“Shut up.”
Xue Qilin took another step forward, and then another and another.
“That must be it! Otherwise, you have no reason to save me.”
“I told you to shut up, didn’t you hear me!”
Xihe suddenly looked up and stared at the lass resentfully.
“Look, you’re really wavering!”
“Shut uuuuuuuup!”
Xihe twisted her nine tails together and slammed them violently into the ground, leaving a deep mark on the ground.
After presumably suddenly realizing that she lost her composure, Xihe showed an incredulous expression and panicked.
“I’m sorry, I… But, that’s not the case…”
“Then what is it?”
Xue Qilin’s tone is calm.
“I…”
Xihe closed her mouth shut only after uttering a single word, distressed.
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