Chapter One (continued)

The leader knew that the winner of this struggle would certainly be Chongwu Camp. But he didn’t like this woman who stayed so calm in this volatile situation. He wanted to find her weak spot, to provoke some sort of response. He bent over to sneer at her, a dangerous glare. “…I’ve heard that you’ve protected demons since childhood, always so softhearted towards them. You’ve freed so many monsters. But then, eight years ago, the evilest of them all, Zhu Yan, attacked the Demon Hunting Bureau and nearly destroyed them completely. Would you plead for him, too?”

Wen Xiao was struck silent a moment. Then, she leveled him in her gaze and said, “The demon beast Zhu Yan is a murderous evildoer. But Chongwu Camp uses murder to stop murder. What’s the difference, then, between you and Zhu Yan?”

At these words, a few Chongwu soldiers stopped smiling, expressions turning ruthless.

“Shut up! Attack!” With this command from their leader, several men suddenly drew their weapons, rushing forward to seize the Deceptive Beast.

At once, Wen Xiao pulled the dagger from her waist to face the enemy. But then, suddenly, a familiar pain sliced through her chest like a hand recklessly yanking at her heart.

Why at this moment? Why now?

In an instant, Wen Xiao’s strength failed. The dagger slipped from her hand and fell to the ground. She panted, struggling to breathe, and collapsed with a hand to her chest.

Upon seeing this, the Deceptive Beast anxiously tugged on Wen Xiao. “Big sister, why are you putting on an act right now?”

“I’m not acting…” Wen Xiao’s voice grew even weaker and frailer, her face devoid of color.

The Chongwu leader needed no more than that pause to charge forward, sword lifted to slash at the beast.

Wen Xiao shoved the Deceptive Beast away from her, using all her strength to keep the Chongwu’s blade distant. Her knuckles whitened, arms shaking. The disparity between her and these Chongwu forces could not be greater. He brought his sword down bit by bit with incredible force…

The burly fellow wielding the blade eagerly watched Wen Xiao exhaust her energy with this weak resistance. He sneered at her, laughing, yet the power in his blow was unaffected. It delighted him to see her overwhelmed and all her attempts to resist fail.

“Go!” Wen Xiao roared out through gritted teeth.

Everything happened quickly. The Deceptive Beast’s response was too late. As if Wen Xiao’s cry woke her back up, she turned to help the fallen goddess. Wen Xiao withdrew her hand. The icy blade stabbed her shoulder. Blood soaked her blue clothes. The pain didn’t stop her from grabbing her dagger and swiftly severing the red cloth binding her and the Deceptive Beast together.

“Go!”