516: Stop fighting!

Qiao Linger's chest was filled with overwhelming emotions—sorrow, ecstasy, and an even deeper sense of cherishing what he had regained.

He gazed at Biyu. In the firelight, her features were so clear and beautiful; her eyes, usually so calm, were now shimmering with moisture, reflecting his figure.

An impulse drove him.

Slowly, with hesitation and immense tenderness, he raised his other hand and gently caressed her cheek.

Biyu’s body trembled slightly, but she did not pull away.

She closed her eyes, her long lashes fluttering like butterfly wings.

Beneath his fingertips, her skin was warm, smooth, and cool to the touch.

He applied a gentle pressure, drawing her toward him.

The distance between them vanished in silence.

Their breaths were audible.

Biyu stiffened, then immediately softened.

She leaned her head on his shoulder, feeling his slender arms and listening to his rapid, powerful heartbeat.

After a long while, she spoke in a voice barely above a whisper:

"Qiao Linger, if you do not betray me, Biyu will... live for you in this life, and I can also die for you."

Outside the cave, in the shadows of an ancient tree.

Black Lotus dug her fingers into the rough bark. The bark was shredded, covered in dense scratch marks, yet she remained completely unaware.

She had witnessed everything.

And she had heard those words:

"Live for you, and can also die for you."

"Die for you... Die for you... Die for you!!!"

These words echoed wildly in her mind, overlapping and intertwining with the cold, resolute agony from her memory when she had plunged the silver hairpin into her own heart, before finally exploding!

She had died for him! Her body was barely cold, her soul had only just awakened, yet he was already holding another woman’s hand, listening to her swear the very same oath to him!

What were those seven days and seven nights of humiliation?

What was the agonizing pain of a heart run through?

A joke!

It was all a colossal joke!

"Haa... haa..."

An uncontrollable growl erupted from Black Lotus’s throat, like the low snarl of a tigress!

The Black Lotus mark on her chest burned intensely, releasing a violent surge of Devilish Qi that spread beyond her control.

The black Qi swirling around her suddenly intensified, and her hair whipped about as if caught in a gale. Beneath her fair skin, black demonic patterns flickered in and out of existence, looking eerie and ferocious.

Inside the cave, Qiao Linger, whose soul had been shaken by Biyu’s vow, suddenly felt an inexplicable, intense palpitation, as if something were watching him.

Biyu also keenly sensed the fleeting but bone-chilling fluctuation of Devilish Qi outside the cave. She sprang to her feet, shielding Qiao Linger behind her.

With the Qingming Sword already in hand, its blade shimmering with a clear green light, she shouted sharply, "What demon is lurking there? Come out!"

Outside the hidden Restriction, the night was as thick as ink.

A figure slowly emerged from the shadows of the ancient tree.

She wore a black dress, its hem swaying without a breeze, with faint, dark lotus patterns shimmering across the fabric.

Her face was as pale as paper, save for her eyes, which seemed to burn with black flames hungry to devour everything.

She stared fixedly, with unadulterated venom, at the two figures huddled together inside the cave.

The moment he saw that face clearly,

Qiao Linger was struck as if by lightning; his pupils contracted to pinpricks, the blood drained from his face, and his lips trembled: "Lo... Lotus? White... White Lotus?"

Biyu also gasped, her grip on her sword tightening as she exclaimed, "It’s you? You didn’t die? No... on your body... is this... Devilish Qi?"

"I have returned."

"Thanks to you, thanks to Buddha Wutian, I have walked out of Hell, and I have returned!"

"Open your eyes wide and look at me!"

She flung her arms wide, her black dress snapping in the air. The lotus mark on her chest flared with a dark light, as if it were about to burst through her clothes:

"Look at what I have become! Tell me, Linger, are you happy? Are you glad?"

Qiao Linger shuddered violently, his lips moving, but he could not utter a sound.

"White Lotus... you... are you really..." Qiao Linger was overcome with a complex mix of emotions, his mind in turmoil, unable to find the words to say.

"Shut up!"

Black Lotus interrupted him sharply, "You are not worthy to speak that name! White Lotus is dead! She died in your arms! She died after those seven days and seven nights you hold so dear!

She died before this woman broke in to 'save' you!"

She pointed a finger at Biyu, Devilish Qi flickering at her fingertip.

"And you! What a pure, self-sacrificing Fairy Biyou! Entrusted by another? Loyal to your duty? Hahahaha!"

"Look at what you are doing now! Holding his hand, listening to his sweet nothings, and swearing an oath to die for him!"

"I have only been 'dead' for a few days! My body is barely cold! And here you are in this cave, playing the lovers and pouring out your hearts to each other?"

Biyu’s face turned deathly pale, and her hand on the sword trembled slightly.

"I..." Biyu wanted to defend herself, to say that things were not exactly as they seemed, that her feelings for Qiao Linger were born more of duty and pity...

But she could not bring herself to say it.

Because the pure, betrayed agony and hatred in Black Lotus’s eyes made any explanation seem pale and powerless.

"Nothing to say?"

Black Lotus pressed forward, her Devilish Qi surging even more violently. "One of you speaks of guilt, yet turns around to be tender and affectionate with another woman;

The other claims to be acting on a request, yet in the blink of an eye is acting like a lover with the widow of the person who made that request!"

"What a deep bond of gratitude! What a deep love!"

"Then today, let you taste my killing! Intent! Like! The! Sea!"

The final four words rang out like a thunderclap!

"Boom!"

The hidden Restriction shattered completely!

Black Lotus’s form dissolved into a shrill black shadow, engulfed in monstrous Devilish Qi and a jealous rage that could burn the heavens, as she lunged into the cave!

She moved with startling speed, her target clear: not Qiao Linger, but Biyu, who stood shielding him!

She hated Qiao Linger for his fickleness and 'betrayal,' but at this moment, she hated even more this woman who had 'replaced' her, stealing away Qiao Linger’s gaze and affection!

"Demoness! Die!"

Black Lotus shrieked. Her fingernails elongated, pitch-black as ink and glinting with a cold, deadly light, as she clawed directly at Biyu’s face and heart!

Though shaken, Biyu was a cultivator of no small skill, and her reflexes were lightning fast.

With a clear ring, the Qingming Sword erupted with green light, instantly weaving a solid curtain of Sword Qi before her.

At the same time, she struck rapidly with the tip of her sword, sending blossoms of green lotus Sword Qi to meet the black lotuses.

"Clang! Clang! Clang!"

The phantom black lotuses and the green lotus Sword Qi collided fiercely, producing a rapid series of explosions. Devilish Qi and immortal energy eroded one another, and the turbulent currents of Qi instantly extinguished the fire in the cave, causing gravel to rain down from the ceiling.

"White Lotus, you are no match for me! I, Biyu, have stormed Lingshan, slain demons, and remained invincible, fighting all the way from the foot of the mountain into the Bodhi Hall! You cannot withstand my power!" Fairy Biyou urged.

"Shut up! White Lotus is dead! Call me Black Lotus! Even if you wreaked havoc on Lingshan, I will never spare you! Do you know how much my heart aches? That is how strong I am!"

Black Lotus pulled her hands apart, shaping the Devilish Qi into a black sword, and clashed with Fairy Biyou.

"Stop fighting, both of you, stop fighting!" Qiao Linger rose from the stone couch but was forced back by the fierce winds generated by their duel. He could only cry out in vain, his voice sounding weak and feeble amidst the explosions of Devilish Qi and Sword Qi.