The little girl lay in Zhaozhao's arms, gasping for breath with great difficulty. She looked at Sister Aqing, who had been smiling at her just a second ago, in disbelief. How could she try to kill her the next second?
The "daughter - in - law of the village head" had turned to ashes the moment before Aqing's sharp claws swept over. She was not a human being but a puppet doll.
Aqing had been out of her mind at first, but at the weak call of "Sister Aqing" from the little girl, a look of struggle flashed across her face.
She hugged her head painfully, wailing as she pulled out her sharp claws from the girl's body. The next moment, blood gushed out from the girl's mouth.
Zhaozhao looked at the girl in her arms whose breathing was getting weaker and weaker, like a statue that had lost its soul.
She absent - mindedly stroked the girl's face, then nervously tried to stop the bleeding. Her voice trembled as she didn't know whether she was comforting the girl or herself: "Don't be afraid... Don't be afraid. It will stop hurting soon... Zhaozhao will find medicine for you..."
Zhaozhao rummaged through her small cloth bag in a panic. Something warm flowed out of her eyes and dripped onto the ground along her cheeks.
The incident happened so suddenly that no one could react in time.
Song Yao finally remembered her forgotten cousin after complaining to her father. But she didn't expect to turn around and see such a scene.
However, before she could react, another unexpected event occurred. Everything happened in just a split - second.
A disciple of the Xuanmen saw that the monster dared to hurt someone and immediately rushed straight towards Aqing with his sword.
"Monster, die!"
The special spiritual sword used to deal with demons pierced through Aqing's body. A talisman was pasted on her vital point, and Aqing's body suddenly burst into flames.
Aqing suddenly came to her senses. With her last breath, she looked at her own hands and the girl in front of her and let out a shrill scream.
When Su Yuan saw this scene, a look of rage flashed in his eyes. A faint anger appeared on his ice - cold face all year round, which made the Nine - Tailed Fox beside him nervously take two steps back.
Su Yuan flew to a place just a few steps away from Zhaozhao. The tears on Zhaozhao's face stabbed him.
She still... saw these ugly things.
The disciple saw that Aqing was still alive and pulled out his sword to give another blow. But suddenly a hurricane rose around Zhaozhao, knocking everyone around back.
Those with some Taoist skills were all stunned. Was the scales of the Yinglong protecting this little girl?
Song Yao was extremely anxious. She wanted to go over to see Zhaozhao's situation, but was blocked outside by the barrier automatically set up by the dragon scales. She couldn't get any closer and couldn't see clearly what was going on inside the hurricane.
Seeing this, Su Yuan retracted the foot he was about to step out. Looking at the corpse of the puppet on the ground, he sneered and stared straight at the mountain peak with a cold look in his eyes.
The Nine - Tailed Fox came back to her senses and rushed over in a hurry. Looking at Zhaozhao wrapped in the hurricane, she was extremely worried.
This was a disaster. She was the apple of the boss's eye!
"Boss..." the Nine - Tailed Fox murmured.
Su Yuan didn't look at her. He ordered in a deep voice: "Catch that disciple and protect her well. I'll go and see which little devil thinks his life is too long."
The Nine - Tailed Fox shrank her neck. She hadn't seen the boss like this for many years. It seemed that the girl inside was really a reverse scale that couldn't be touched.
In the hurricane, Aqing crawled towards Zhaozhao strugglingly. Looking at the girl in Zhaozhao's arms who was bleeding non - stop, tears streamed down her face.
How could this happen... How could this happen? She clearly wanted to save her. Why...
Aqing spat out a mouthful of blood and tried to use her last bit of demonic power to stop the girl's bleeding, but it was all in vain.
The little girl held on with her last breath. She smiled at Aqing and said intermittently: "Sis... Sister Aqing... It's okay. I... I don't blame you... I know you didn't... didn't do it on purpose..."
Aqing sobbed uncontrollably. She looked at Zhaozhao and seemed to remember something. She tremblingly handed a demonic core to Zhaozhao and begged her crying:
"I don't want it anymore. I don't want anything... I'll return the power to you. Save her... Please save her..."
Zhaozhao held the demonic core in her hands blankly. She didn't know what to do. Just as she was hesitating, the demonic core suddenly turned into a mass of spiritual energy and entered her body through her forehead.
Aqing, half of her body burned, was still begging her to save this poor child.
For the first time, Zhaozhao felt such pain. Her heart ached. The pain that was hundreds of times more painful than when she left her master was about to drown her.
She didn't want Aqing to die, and she didn't want the girl to die either. She tried to infuse spiritual energy into the girl and Aqing, but there was no reaction at all.
Aqing's eyes widened in disbelief at the result. She shouted at Zhaozhao in a hurry: "Blood... Give her your blood."
Zhaozhao did as she was told.
In this small space, it was impossible to tell whose blood smell it was. It messed up people's minds like a sharp blade stabbing into their hearts.
Zhaozhao shed a lot of blood, but neither Aqing nor the dying little girl showed any sign of improvement.
"No... It still doesn't work... Ah——!" Aqing let out a shrill scream of pain. Without the demonic core, her body couldn't bear the flames. She was about to vanish into thin air.
Until the last moment, Aqing still couldn't figure out why. She just wanted to help these children. How could it end up with the girl dying in her hands?
Zhaozhao cried and tried to reach out to grab Aqing's disappearing soul: "Aqing, don't go... You can't go..."
The words Aqing had said to her last night seemed to still be echoing in her ears. She said she would come out after being reformed for a few years. She said she wanted to live with the little girls. She also said... she would invite Zhaozhao to visit her in the future...
How could this happen?
The little girl in her arms spat out another mouthful of blood. Her body temperature was fading.
"Sister, I'm sorry. I can't do what I promised you." She was still apologizing, apologizing for breaking her promise.
This poor child had been apologizing throughout her short life.
She apologized for not being the gender her family wanted, for always having a hungry stomach. And at the last moment of her life, she was still apologizing.
"It's not like this... It's not..." Zhaozhao hugged her. Tears flowed like a broken - dammed river, wetting her cheeks and breaking her heart.
It shouldn't be like this...
"Sister, I... I really want to see what a good life Sister Aqing talked about is like..."
"I also want to go to school... Aqing said there are many, many fun things at school..."
"Sister, am I going to die soon?"
She was running out of strength. Zhaozhao couldn't say a single word. She just hugged her and shook her head while crying.
"But... But I don't even have a name yet... Sister Aqing said she would give me a good name when she came out." A look of regret appeared on her small face. "I... I seem to be too late to wait..."
The girl's hand slipped limply. Her closed eyes would never open again.
This was the first time Zhaozhao truly faced death since she came from Wutong Mountain to the human world. The pain in her heart and the pain in her body overlapped, making her so sad that she felt like disappearing with this poor little girl.
Su Yuan came through the hurricane. What he saw was such a heart - wrenching scene.
Zhaozhao's eyes were red from crying, with crystal tears still hanging on them. She was holding a still - warm corpse in her arms.
"Su Yuan... Help me..." The moment Zhaozhao saw Su Yuan, the spirit she had been holding on to collapsed, and she fell into a coma.
Su Yuan caught the fainting girl and held her in his arms. There was a terrifying look of killing intent in his eyes.