Chapter 49: Wolf God vs. Wolf Demon
“Splash!” Li Chao leaped into the hot spring again, the splashing water drenching me from head to toe. I was thoroughly washed.
He swiped at Mo Ming with his claws, but Mo Ming dodged nimbly. The next moment, Mo Ming disappeared into the hot spring, leaving only a trail of bubbles. Li Chao quickly turned, but Mo Ming had already reappeared behind him, delivering another slap that sent Li Chao flying into a rock garden, smashing it to pieces.
Mo Ming stood in the pool, looking at Li Chao indifferently. “Are you sure you fought me to a draw, and didn’t just run away?”
“You actually! Look down on me!” Li Chao stood up from the rubble, angrily crushing a large marble rock beside him. He glared at me fiercely. “It’s all high school’s fault for making me waste my time!”
“Hey!” I took three steps back, shrinking into a corner. “Why are you glaring at me because high school wasted your time? I was suffering with you back then!”
Li Chao narrowed his eyes and suddenly crossed his arms. “I’ll show you what kind of demonic arts I’ve learned all these years! Disperse!” Demonic light erupted from him, and one figure after another appeared. Li Chao had created clones!
Six clones looked at Mo Ming with wicked smiles. “Let’s see how you catch me now!”
“Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!” The clones leaped in all directions. Silver light flashed on Mo Ming. I thought he was going to create clones too, but he returned to his wolf form and looked at me seriously. “Protect yourself.”
“How can we find him with six clones?” I asked anxiously.
His brilliant green eyes looked ahead, narrowing slightly, his aura intimidating. Then, he said, one word at a time, “One. By. One.”
“Eh?” I was stunned by his answer.
“By the time you find one, the others will have escaped.” Suddenly, Jiang Yan’s voice appeared. I looked happily in the direction of the sound. The teleportation light was fading by the hot spring, but Jiang Yan was injured!
He held his arm, a bloody gash on his face, his eyes crimson red. He held the Dewdrop Bottle and looked at me with a wry smile. “You’re having a good time, summoning Mo Ming away and leaving me to deal with the God of Light and William alone.”
I looked apologetically at his wounds. “I’m sorry…I was reckless.”
“Hmph, you did nothing wrong. The mission is important.” Jiang Yan stretched, the wounds on his face slowly healing.
“You won?” Mo Ming looked at Jiang Yan with a hint of doubt.
Jiang Yan stretched lazily and said, “I ran away.”
Pfft!
Just then, beams of teleportation light appeared one after another. My teammates had arrived. They were back, back to fight alongside me. My teammates…
My nose started to tingle. Si Yi Nuo, Qing Ming, and Mao Mao appeared one by one in the light. They were all injured, but they still came to my side.
“Sorry…we’re late…” Si Yi Nuo said softly, holding Xiao Bai.
“It’s all my fault…” Mao Mao actually started to cry. “I held Qing Ming back…I’m useless…”
Qing Ming silently wiped the tears from Mao Mao’s face, accidentally wetting more of her fur.
Jiang Yan finished stretching and looked around at the blood-stained glass. “Tsk, so filthy. Wolf demons always like to make everything bloody and messy.”
I lowered my head sadly. “It’s my fault…I got that person killed…” I finally couldn’t hold back my tears anymore. My chest and throat ached. “If, if I had been more careful, if I knew how to set up a barrier…that innocent person wouldn’t have died…It’s me…I killed him…”
The entire hot spring area fell silent. Everyone looked at me quietly. Even Mao Mao stopped crying, her sapphire eyes filled with complex emotions and self-blame.
Jiang Yan landed gently in front of me, his black wings retracting into his back in the now calm hot spring. He reached out and pulled me into his chest, stroking the back of my head. I could hear his slow, Jiangshi heartbeat.
“Thump…thump…”
“Don’t cry. You did well. You can save that person.”
I pulled away from his chest in surprise. “How?!”
He gently wiped my face and looked at me with a smile. “Your gun. It belongs to the God of Death. The Death God’s Gun is weak against living beings, but its healing power is the strongest. So, you can do it.”
I immediately took out the gun and gripped it tightly.
“So…Captain, any new instructions?” Jiang Yan stepped back and looked at me with a smile. I looked at everyone, and they looked at me. Mo Ming, Qing Ming, and Si Yi Nuo all focused on me. Mao Mao wiped her tears vigorously and looked at me intently. “This time! I won’t let everyone down!”
I nodded. I had to pull myself together.
I looked at everyone. “Hunt down the wolf demon’s clones. Stay in contact. Be careful!”
“Okay!” Everyone nodded in unison and leaped in different directions. Mao Mao instantly transformed into a gray wolf, her braids still intact. She leaped to Mo Ming’s side. Mo Ming glanced at her, then turned his head in one direction. Mao Mao immediately leaped away. Mo Ming looked at me seriously, then leaped in another direction.
“Whoosh!” Jiang Yan spread his wings and soared into the sky, leaving a black, angel-like silhouette against the full moon.
I grabbed the gun and ran into the glass corridor as fast as I could. The scene before me was horrifying. The security guard on the ground had been completely crushed, his intestines spilling out.
“Ugh!” I vomited. Even though I had watched countless horror movies, even though I could calmly eat while watching intestines being pulled out and brains splattering on screen, this was real. This wasn’t pig intestines, this wasn’t soy milk and ketchup. This was real blood and guts!
Fighting back nausea and with weak legs, I went to the guard’s side, trembling as I picked up the gun. I took a deep breath of the blood-tinged air and deactivated the protective shield.
A dark figure flashed past the glass outside, but I had no time to worry about my own safety. I had to atone for my mistake!
“Save him! Death God’s Gun!” I aimed the gun at the man on the ground. Immediately, the gold of the gun turned pinkish, like rose gold, making the Death God’s Gun even more dazzling. I pulled the trigger, and a beam of pink light shot out, enveloping the man on the ground.
I gripped the Death God’s Gun tightly. The light grew redder, from pink to bright crimson. The intestines began to retract into the man’s body, his crushed form slowly regaining its shape. I was surprised to feel my own strength draining, as if the healing energy came from my willpower and stamina.
But I didn’t care. Even if it cost me my life force, I didn’t care! I had to save him!
Blood still stained his clothes, but the wounds on his head were slowly healing. Suddenly, a huge hand grabbed the back of my neck and lifted me up. Another giant claw swatted the Death God’s Gun from my hand, cutting off the red light. But I saw that the man was breathing again. Good, nothing else…mattered anymore…
He grabbed my neck and leaped, plunging into the hot spring with me, holding me underwater!
“Xia Xiaolan! You don’t have your protection anymore! Let’s see how arrogant you are now! Die, brat! This is the first time I, Hei Zong, have been forced to this point by a human. You must die————”
“Glug, glug.” Hot spring water filled my mouth. I didn’t struggle. I knew it was useless against such a powerful enemy. It would only waste my energy.
Now, my Rose Armor was useless because he was holding my neck. My Guardian Ring was also useless because his hand was on my neck, and the shield would envelop him too.
Xia Xiaolan, you can’t die like this. You can do it. You can find a way!
I fumbled in my bag, grabbed the Youjing, and threw it into the water. “Help me!”
“Awooo————” Suddenly, the hot spring water began to float, enveloping the wolf demon behind me. He released me and started to struggle. “Ah! Glug, glug! What’s happening! Glug, glug, glug.”
“Splash!” I fell out of the levitating water, landing on the ground and coughing. “Cough, cough, cough!” I was soaked, spitting out water from my nose, throat, and lungs. “Ugh—”
“How dare you touch Fu Su’s toy! You’re looking for death!” Fu Su’s cold voice rang out as a beam of teleportation light landed in front of me. He charged out of the light, sword in hand. I immediately lunged at him and hugged his leg, tripping him. He fell into the wet hot spring pool.
“Let go of me!” he snapped at me.
I clung to his pants, my body soaked, and slowly crawled up his body. The water outlet in the hot spring pool continued to gush, filling the now empty pool.
Fu Su lay pinned beneath me at the bottom of the pebble-lined pool, his gaze fixed on mine. My wet bathrobe slid off my shoulder as I crawled. I straddled him, gripping his collar, water dripping from me onto him. Water slid down my hair, dripping onto his stunned face and the corners of his wide eyes, like tears slowly sliding down his cheeks.
“This is my mission!” I said, struggling, my face close to his. “Don’t interfere!” I pushed him hard and slowly stood up, my heavy bathrobe falling to the ground, revealing my swimsuit. The swimsuit transformed into a tight-fitting, crescent moon-colored battle suit. I stepped over Fu Su, walked towards the edge of the pool, picked up the Death God’s Gun, turned, aimed it at the wolf trapped in the water, and glanced coldly at Fu Su, who was pushing himself up from the bottom of the pool. “I’ll clean up my own mess!”
Fu Su’s narrowed gaze was fixed on my face. I glared back at him, not even glancing at the wolf demon, and pulled the trigger without hesitation.
