Chapter 43 (1/2)

Three volumes of Lost You Forever and finally I’m seeing the end of the road ahead, with less than ten chapters left of a novel that has really taken an unforgettable bite out of my soul. A few years ago I probably would have had the energy to power translate the entire thing like I did with Da Mo Yao, but alas the few hiatus that I took with LYF likely seeped some of the fervor from the reading experience for those following along with my translations.Thankfully these last few chapters should offer a nice resurgence for the avid readers, with Tong Hua pulling out all the stops by the end.

With Jing seemingly dead to the world, it would appear that Xiao Yao either chooses to be a spinster, or end up in the arms of the other two men who love her as much if not more than Jing. But things aren’t that easy to redirect, the obstacles between Xiao Yao and Xiang Liu are only growing stronger with Zhuan Xu’s tightening of his rule over the entire vast wilderness, not to mention a new danger to Xiao Yao that is not going to be easy to siolve. Will Xiao Yao get her happy ending, or it is merely worth a life lived as colorfully as hers that she was so loved by three of the most fascinating fictional men in any novel world.

Ch 43 – Thinking of My Dearest Daily to No Avail:

Xiao Yao bowed three times to the moon and was standing up when a little white bird landed on the window sill. It didn’t have a little bird’s noisy affects and was instead silent and staring at Xiao Yao.

Xiao Yao put out her hand and the bird landed on her palm and spit out a small crystal ball. Xiao Yao picked up the ball and saw it wasn’t a real crystal but the fish egg of an echo fish demon. An echo fish had no intelligence but had the strange ability to remember word for word what was said. So people used its fish eggs to forge message jewels for use in transmitting voice mail.

Xiao Yao placed the fish egg to her ear and used her fingers to burst it. Her body shook as the voice said “Xiao Yao, come to the East Sea immediately, don’t tell anyone.” It was Jing’s voice.

Xiao Yao instinctively asked “Jing, say that again.” But a message jewel could only be used once and could not repeat.

The white bird flew away and Xiao snapped alert and grabbed Miao Pu “I have to go to the East Sea immediately! Don’t tell anyone!”

Miao Pu’s freaked out “No! No!”

“Miao Pu, are you going to help me or not?”

Miao Pu stuttered “But…..but……His Majesty ordered Xiao Xiao to guard outside. I can’t beat her in a fight…..” Miao Pu suddenly shut up and looked at the door.

Xiao Xiao appeared and was holding the white bird from earlier and it was already dead. She bowed to Xiao Yao “Miss, what did this white bird give you just now?”

Xiao Yao replied “Why do I need to tell you?”

Xiao Xiao stared at Miao Pu who said in a low voice “A message jewel.”

Xiao Xiao asked “What did it say?”

Miao Pu said “I didn’t hear.”

Xiao Xiao bowed again to Xiao Yao “Will Miss please tell me what the message jewel said.”

Xiao Yao c.o.c.ked her head and thought “If you don’t ask clearly then you can’t report back to Zhuan Xu. Fine, I won’t make it difficult for you!” Xiao Yao walked up to Xiao Xiao and put her hand on her shoulder and leaned in to whisper. “Xiao Xiao, you’re a good girl but too inflexible at times. I’m going to the East Sea and won’t bring you because you clearly won’t let me go.”

Xiao Xiao saw black and her body went slack, tumbling backwards as Miao Pu rushed over to catch her while staring in shock at Xiao Yao.

“Help me!” Xiao Yao had Miao Pu put Xiao Xiao on the bed and covered her with a blanket before putting down the bed veil. At a glance it appeared Xiao Yao was sleeping inside.

Xiao Yao quickly changed and said to the stunned Miao Pu “What are you standing there for? Let’s go!”

Zhuan Xu didn’t just a.s.sign Xiao Xiao to protect Xiao Yao, but only Xiao Xiao and Miao Pu protect her at close range, the other four guards were men and stayed at a distance. They were guarding against outside intruders and never thought that Xiao Yao would take out Xiao Xiao so they didn’t even realize Xiao Yao had knocked Xiao Xiao out.

Xiao Yao pressed the opening and a door to a secret pa.s.sage opened. She went inside with Miao Pu and started walking. Back when Zhuan Xu was renovating the Sheng Nong Palaces, Xiao Yao also studied all the design maps and saw that all the palace residences had secret pa.s.sageways, some just had more than others.

Miao Pu’s expression was desolate and glum, muttering as she walked “His Majesty is going to kill me!”

Xiao Yao said “Then he’ll have to kill me first!”

Xiao Yao’s words didn’t rea.s.sure her as Miao Pu continued to look like she was going to cry.

The end of the secret pa.s.sageway led to the stables and Xiao Yao said “Not sure which former owner of the residence liked to sneak out and play but this is totally helping us tonight.”

Miao Pu picked two of the strongest winged horses and readied the cloud carriage. Xiao Yao huddled in the cloud carriage and handed a jade badge to Miao Pu “This is Grandfather’s badge, allowing unfettered travel in and out of Sheng Nong Mountain.”

Miao Pu took a deep breath and said to herself “If I’m going to die then just go for it!” Miao Pu drove the cloud carriage into the air and handed the badge to the guards at the East Sky Gate and was immediately let through.

After they left Sheng Nong Mountain, Xiao Yao stuck her head out the cloud carriage “Thank you!”

Miao Pu grumbled “My Lady, why did you have to go to the East Sea in the middle of the night? Can’t Xiao Xiao have informed His Majesty, he dotes on you and lets you do whatever. If you wanted to go he would have allowed it. Why sneak around?”

“I heard Jing tell me to immediately go to the East Sea and tell no one.”

Miao Pu gasped “What? The voice inside the message jewel was the Tu Shan Clan Leader? What did he say?”

“To go to the East Sea, and to tell no one.”

Miao Pu thought about it “If he can say those words why can’t he explain more? It’s easy to find someone to impersonate his voice, but those closest to him will see through it if a lot is said. The less is said the more the ruse will work. I think this sounds fishy, my lady let’s go back!”

“Perhaps you are right but it could have been an urgent situation and he could only say such curt phrases. Miao Pu, do you know, even if there is a miniscule chance or even a trap, I have to immediately go.”

Miao Pu sighed and urged the horses faster. Even if this was a trap, the person setting it was ruthless and found the one way to get Xiao Yao to follow instructions. Miao Pu silently prayed for the miniscule chance to come true.

The two strong winged horses flew nonstop and Xiao Yao fed them Jade Mountain stew to keep up their strength. They landed on an island in the East Sea around noon the next day. The two winged horses were spitting foam from exhaustion and could not be used to search over the sea lest they fall into the water from pa.s.sing out.

Xiao Yao pointed to the East where a s.h.i.+p was sailing towards them, and on the mast cover was a beautiful nine-tailed fox.

Xiao Yao said “I’ll go see over there, you hide here waiting for me.” Miao Pu immediately said “No! I’m going with you!”

“Then who will watch the winged horses? If they run away and we need to escape, are we going to run on our two feet?”

Miao Pu had no answer until she said “Xiao Xiao will definitely find us, their powers are strong and at most will be here in two or three hours. Wait until then.”

“We can wait but Jing might not be able to wait.” Xiao Yao picked up her amethyst fish ruby on the necklace and said “I’ll swim over there underwater and look around. If there is any danger I’ll hide deep underwater. They won’t be able to do anything to me there. If you come with me then you’ll be a liability. Plus if you wait here, you can be my backup and I can go forward or retreat. If anything happens, you can also tell Xiao Xiao and find the Xuan Yuan forces stationed nearby to come rescue us.”

Miao Pu had to admit Xiao Yao made sense but she was still upset “Then you quickly come back, just go take a look and no matter what we need to discuss before taking any action.”

“Okay!” Xiao Yao hid behind a rock and slowly disappeared into the water.

Xiao Yao didn’t need the fish ruby to breath underwater but she didn’t want others to know of her body’s new ability and she kept the fish ruby on her because it was a gift from Jing. Right now Xiao Yao felt this ache in her heart as she sank into the water and prayed: heavens, you can do anything cruel to me but please let Jing be alive even if he’s gravely injured or crippled.

Xiao Yao was swimming under the s.h.i.+p taking things in when a woman in purple laying on the edge lifted her head “If you want to see Tu Shan Jing then get on the s.h.i.+p.”

Xiao Yao emerged and asked “Why should I believe you?”

The woman tossed a sc.r.a.p of cloth at Xiao Yao and it on it was writing in Jing’s hand. It was the lyrics of the song she sang for him in his residence.

If beloved is wind above the water

To see and to miss

If beloved is the cloud in the sky

To love and to cherish

If beloved were the tree in the forest

Together and connected

Why does the world have sadness

Only wish with beloved

Together forever, never apart

Xiao Yao finished reading and restrained her tears before jumping on the s.h.i.+p.

The woman in purple handed a bowl of wine to Xiao Yao with a laugh “I’ve heard you are well versed in medicines so I don’t dare to use poison in front of you. This is just a bowl of wine made from the red jade plant. Humans who drink it will sleep for three hundred years, at most it’ll make a G.o.d weak in the limbs and dizzy and a good sleep will shake it off. It’s not a poison or will render you unconscious, therefore it doesn’t have an antidote either. After you drink it I will take you to see Tu Shan Jing.”

Xiao Yao picked up the bowl and sniffed, it really was red jade plant wine. Drinking too much would make it addictive, but one drink wouldn’t harm the body.

The purple robed woman said “I never force anyone, if you don’t want to drink then go back!”

Xiao Yao raised her head and gulped it down “Where is Jing?”

“I always fulfill my promises!” The woman started moving the s.h.i.+p into the deeper reaches of the ocean.

The s.h.i.+p moved swiftly over the water and Xiao Yao could hear the wind whistling around her as her limbs weakened so she laid down on the deck and stared up at the sky.

The s.h.i.+p stopped in the middle of the ocean nowhere, with no land in sight in any direction. The woman walked over and picked up Xiao Yao to place her inside a crystal coffin.

Xiao Yao weakly asked “What are you doing?”

The woman took out the sc.r.a.p of song lyric and burned it, then took Xiao Yao’s amethyst fish ruby and shattered it completely, turning it into purple light.

Tears fell from Xiao Yao’s eyes “Where’s Jing?”

The purple robed woman leaned on the coffin with a smile “Tu Shan Jing is dead! I’m fulfilling my promise now to send you to see him! This s.h.i.+p is taking in water now and soon will completely sink into the ocean. I’m just a hired killer and doing my job. The person who hired me gave specific instructions – no hint of blood and you have to disappear completely without a trace, not even a hair to be found. I thought all night about it and remembered this area in the ocean and how scary it is and come up with this plan.” The woman patted Xiao Yao’s face “Can you imagine how much the person who hired me hates you, to not even let a hair of you remain on this earth? But, only this way can there be no trace left of you, otherwise the Yellow Emperor and the Black Emperor will be hard to deal with.”

Xiao Yao stared at the sky and didn’t feel any rage at being lied to, or fear at imminent death. Only the sadness of having her hopes dashed. Since childhood she had lived a hard life, her heart always drifting, feeling like she would be abandoned at any time. After her engagement to Jing did her heart settle down, thinking that things would finally change. Who knew Jing left her, even if it was just like her parents when a reason that couldn’t be helped. But she was still abandoned again, and she didn’t want to keep being strong anymore to face a long life ahead. If Jing slept in this ocean then she would rather be here with him.

The purple robed woman noticed that Xiao Yao was oddly at peace, not like people she killed in the past, and felt some pity for her. She fixed Xiao Yao’s hair and cloth and sincerely complimented “Your wedding dress is very beautiful, your hairstyle is lovely as well. You are an exquisite bride, the Tu Shan Clan Leader will be very pleased when he sees you.”

Xiao Yao broke into a beaming smile “Thank you!”

The woman startled “Don’t you want to know who wants to kill you?”

Xiao Yao didn’t even care to answer, what difference if she knows or not.

The woman in purple said “I don’t even know who it is, the person paid an astronomical sum so my partner and I decided to take this job and afterwards we can retire.”

The water lapped at her feet so the woman sealed the crystal coffin tightly before looking skyward “So annoying, I have to show my demon form again.” She transformed into a seagull and flew into the sky, her clothes burning on the deck and disappearing.

The crystal coffin slowly sank into the water.

Xiao Yao felt suffocated and couldn’t breathe, until the water seeped into the coffin and she could breathe like a fish returning to the water. Xiao Yao laughed wryly as she thought about this plan and how perfect it was, to kill her with no bloodshed and hidden in the depths of the ocean. Except the plan wasn’t perfect because no one knew that Xiao Yao couldn’t drown.

Because she drank the red jade plant wine, Xiao Yao was woozy and found it hard to think. As the coffin sank she thought she was going to die as well and was calmly facing death, except now she wasn’t going to die and felt like a free falling ent.i.ty that couldn’t find an end to the fall.

Xiao Yao laid in the crystal coffin and looked at the fishes swimming around her. She tapped on the coffin and asked “Have you guys seen Jing?”

The fishes were startled and swam off. Xiao Yao could only lay in the crystal coffin zoned out.

The sun set outside and gradually the water turned dark, as dark as ink. Many fishes glowed in the dark so the water was like a night sky filled with shooting stars. She wondered if Xiao Xiao arrived, whether Zhuan Xu was looking for her, if Miao Pu was crying. Xiao Yao suddenly remembered how angry Zhuan Xu would be and what if he killed Miao Pu. Xiao Yao stopped laying there to enjoy the view and started to try and get out. But no matter how hard she pushed she couldn’t open the coffin.

Xiao Yao tried so hard to open the coffin but it wouldn’t budge, until she was all tired out and hungry. She suddenly realized that she might end up dying after all, not of drowning but of hunger. Xiao Yao rested for a bit before continuing to try and open the coffin.

Suddenly her instinct sensed danger. She looked around and there wasn’t a fish in sight, the colorful underwater was now pitch black. Xiao Yao felt the entire ocean shaking and she remembered the seagull demon saying how scary the ocean was under here. She suddenly remembered what Xiang Liu said before, that after he escaped from the slave death match ring, he almost died in an underwater tornado called a whirlpool. Xiang Liu may not have been that powerful then but something that almost killed him must really be super scary.

Xiao Yao had never seen a whirlpool before but if it was like a tornado on land then anything it pa.s.sed would be obliterated. This really was the perfect way to ensure not a hair of Xiao Yao was left behind.

Xiao Yao tried to bust out of the coffin but it still didn’t move, making her understand why the seagull demon took that extra step of sealing her inside the coffin.

The water churned around her and the coffin was swept up in the waves of the whirlpool, with Xiao Yao getting spun around so hard she was seeing stars.

She could hear the coffin getting crunched and now she prayed for the coffin to stay intact. If the whirlpool was so powerful as to shatter the immovable crystal coffin, then the second the coffin broke Xiao Yao would be crushed to oblivion.

As the water churned faster and faster, the power of the whirlpool increased and in a resounding crack the coffin shattered. Xiao Yao screamed and closed her eyes, but then didn’t experience the pain of being smashed to smithereens.

Xiao Yao slowly opened her eyes and in the whirling inferno she saw Xiang Liu, white hair white robe, standing right in front of her. His hair was fanned out like the wings of a bird and was protecting Xiao Yao by forming a barrier between her and the whirlpool.

Xiao Yao felt like this was a dream and stare dumbfounded at Xiang Liu. He furrowed his brows, clearly he was being affected being in the whirlpool. They were also being carried closer and closer to the center, and by then even Xiang Liu would be crushed.

He moved his hands over Xiao Yao’s face and closed her eyes. She heard his voice “I need to revert to my demon form so that we can escape from here. Don’t look!”

Xiao Yao nodded and felt this humongous impact, like something ripped a hole in the whirlpool. She felt they were far away and the danger was gone. That made her curious and she wanted to open her eyes to see Xiang Liu’s demon form. She hesitated and told herself “just one peek” before opening her eyes.

In the thundering around, she could see a pure white nine-headed sea demon battling with the ocean, with the ocean trying to destroy it but the sea demon taking every hit and bracing for more. This was a battle as powerful as the earth and the sky fighting, without any flowery moves or clever techniques, just brute force against brute force, shaking the world around it.

In the heat of battle, Xiang Liu actually sensed Xiao Yao’s tiny move and one head turned to look at her. Xiao Yao immediately closed her eyes and her heart was racing uncontrollably, not because she was scared of him but because she was so awestruck. It was like someone who had never seen the ocean seeing it for the first time, someone who had never seen the mountain seeing it for the first time. It wasn’t about beauty or ugly, it was about being in awe of such power.

“I told you not to open your eyes.” Xiang Liu’s icy cold voice rang out.

Xiao Yao opened her eyes and saw that they were now on a deserted island. Xiang Liu’s clothes were torn and messy, and his face and neck were covered in injuries.

Xiao Yao forced a smile and tried to act nonchalant “I was just curious what your nine heads looked like.”

“Now you know!” Xiang Liu turned to leave.

“Xiang Liu……Xiang Liu…..” Seeing him about to disappear, Xiao Yao was so anxious she threw herself at him, and Xiang Liu didn’t manage to avoid her and was instead hugged straight on by Xiao Yao. Plus he couldn’t even stand up still and fell down on the sand taking Xiao Yao with him.

Xiao Yao worriedly asked “The injuries are severe, for real?”

Xiang Liu tried hard to push Xiao Yao away to swim off with the receding tide.

Xiao Yao grabbed him and twined herself completely around him, using all her strength so that he couldn’t leave. “I was wrong! I promised to close my eyes and not look but I welshed on my promise and secretly opened my eyes! I just……..just…….I admit it was my pathetic curiosity! I wanted to know what you really looked like. I was wrong! I was wrong……..”

The waves crashed on the beach with a roar and retreated with a howl, the two of them were covered by the waves and emerged again and again so Xiao Yao’s voice was sometimes audible and other times m.u.f.fled. It wasn’t clear how much Xiang Liu heard but it was clear he wasn’t going to accept her apology as he continued over and over to push her off him.

He managed to shove her off once more and Xiao Yao got so frantic she hooked her arms around his legs and jumped up to pounce on him, using her body to tightly grab him and pull him down again. Xiang Liu had no strength left to push Xiao Yao off but he was like a terribly stubborn child and continued to wriggle under her.

The water around them was seeped with red, clearly Xiang Liu’s injuries were bleeding and Xiao Yao begged “I’m wrong! I’m really wrong! If you want to hit me or punish me, whatever you want is fine! Just please stop moving around!”

Xiang Liu said “Let go!”

“No! Not until you first promise me not to leave!”

Xiang Liu was furious and his fangs bared “Don’t push me to eat you!”

“If you want to eat me then eat me!”

Xiang Liu jerked Xiao Yao into his arms and bit down on her neck in one move. Xiao Yao’s body s.h.i.+vered and then she fell slack, docilely nestled into Xiang Liu to accommodate him.

Injured Xiang Liu was like a dying of thirst traveler in the desert encountering an oasis, drinking up her blood in big gulps. Xiao Yao rested her head on his neck and closed her eyes, feeling only the rising and falling of the tides around her.

It wasn’t clear how much time pa.s.sed when Xiang Liu stopped drinking her blood. Xiao Yao drowsily opened her eyes “You can drink more, I’m fine.”

Xiang Liu raised his head to look up at the star-filled sky and the hazy moonlight “Aren’t you scared one whit? You should know a demon is a demon, when gravely injured will lose control and revert to basic instinct. I could have sucked you dry!”

Xiao Yao softly touched the corner of his lips with a trace of blood on it and tenderly said “You’re the one who is scared!”

Xiang Liu scoffed “I’m scared?”

“I saw your demon form, and it wasn’t hideous at all! And you didn’t suck me dry either!” Xiang Liu stared darkly at Xiao Yao and she got up her courage to continue “Your form is larger than me……uhm, okay! So it’s not just larger, it’s much much bigger……and you have more heads than I do, just eight more only…..but the laws of nature didn’t say that a one headed type like me is the norm, right? It just happens that us one headed types are the majority, if nine headed types like you were the majority, I would feel self-conscious that I only have one head.”

“You have so much energy, clearly I should suck some more of your blood!” Xiang Liu still had a p.i.s.sy face but when he leaned down to bit Xiao Yao’s neck and began sucking, Xiao Yao felt only a frisson of excitement and tingling, with no feeling of pain.

Xiao Yao said “Hey! Hey! I was just being polite just now. And you’re really sucking again? A demon really is a demon…..” And with that Xiao Yao fell asleep and finally stopped talking.

Xiang Liu stopped drinking and lifted his head to stare quietly at the sleeping Xiao Yao in his arms.

Xiao Yao woke up lured by the delicious smell of food. She opened her eyes and saw Xiang Liu by the fire roasting fish. The fish was already golden and crispy, the fat dripping into the fire. Xiao Yao crawled over on her arms and legs and stared at the fish while asking in longing “Can I eat it?”

Xiang Liu placed the fish on a large sh.e.l.l plate and handed it to her, on the white sh.e.l.l was a side of vegetables made with seaweed.

Xiao Yao swallowed and started gobbling down the food. She didn’t even stop to talk until all the fish and seaweed was in her belly before sighing “So good! So so good!”

“You’re just hungry.” Xiang Liu handed over a sh.e.l.l bowl with piping hot seafood soup and Xiao Yao took it with both hands and slowly sipped it.

After finis.h.i.+ng the soup Xiao Yao said “Thank you!”

Xiang Liu coldly replied “No need! This is the payment for your blood.”

Xiao Yao pouted “Am I worth so little?”

“What do you want then?”

Xiao Yao said “My thank you was for saving me! You haven’t forgotten why you were injured in the first place, right?”

Xiang Liu furrowed his brows “It’s not that I wanted to save you, I simply have no interest to use my own life to confirm the words of the Voodoo King.”

Oh! Right, the Lover’s Bug! The Lover’s Bug does not live alone, if she died then likely Xiang Liu would die. Xiao Yao smiled sadly “No matter what, thank you for saving me.”

Xiang Liu asked “Why were you imprisoned in the ocean?”

“Someone wanted to kill me.”

Xiang Liu stared in disgust at Xiao Yao “Someone wanted to kill you, so you let yourself get imprisoned?”

Xiao Yao stared at the fire and said nothing.

Xiang Liu pressed on “Why didn’t you fight back?”

Xiao Yao said in a low voice “Jing……disappeared.” She suddenly remembered and anxiously asked “The East Sea is like your home. You….you….have you seen Jing?”

Xiang Liu mockingly said “Do you think I spend my time hanging in the ocean just waiting to rescue people?”

“No….I just thought….Qing Shui Town is also your territory of sorts, perhaps you noticed Tu Shan Hou’s activities. The East Sea may be big but you’re a sea demon….so maybe…..”

Xiang Liu coldly replied “There aren’t that many maybes!”

Xiao Yao lowered her head and her tears came down silently.

Xiang Liu turned around to stare at the ocean expanse, with his back to Xiao Yao, but even then he clearly heard her tears falling. One drop after another, so soft and bunched together, the sound entered his ears like a sharp thorn p.r.i.c.k, each drop a stab to his heart.

Xiang Liu said “If you have time to cry, use it to think about who tried to kill you.”

Xiao Yao suddenly remembered Miao Pu and used her sleeve to wipe away her tears “I have to go back, otherwise Zhuan Xu will kill Miao Pu for sure!”

“Even if the Black Emperor wanted to kill Miao Pu, he’d have to find her first.”

Xiao Yao remembered the seagull demon mentioning a partner. Miao Pu never came to rescue her which meant she likely encountered the other killer. Xiao Yao’s face fell “Miao Pu…..is Miao Pu dead?”

“I don’t know! When I rushed over all I saw were two winged horse corpses in the water. She likely was attacked but I didn’t see her body.” Xiao Yao sighed in relief until Xiang Liu added “She could have sunk into the ocean.”

Xiang Liu always had a way of making her grateful to him in one second, and the other want to choke him to death. Xiao Yao was anxious and upset but there was nothing she could do to Xiang Liu for being mean “I need to find Miao Pu, you take me back to that island.”

Xiang Liu said “I happen to have free time, I can accompany you to go look for Miao Pu.”

“When did you become so nice?”

“Of course there is a price.”

“I only have one head so can’t outthink your nine heads. I don’t think this deal is going to be good.”

Xiang Liu vaulted into the ocean without a care about Xiao Yao’s reverse psychology negotiating tactics. Xiao Yao anxiously jumped into the ocean after him and grabbed a lock of his flowing white hair.

Xiang Liu turned around and glared at her so Xiao Yao let go with a smile “You help me find the seagull demon and I agree to your price.” The seagull demon chose to let the whirlpool swallow her up forever, clearly she knew this ocean expanse very well. Only with Xiang Liu’s help could Xiao Yao hope to find her quickly.

Xiang Liu rose up from the ocean to stand on the waves. His white hair like the clouds, his white robe like the snow, the silver moonlight made him look even more n.o.ble and ethereal, except his expression looking down at Xiao Yao was filled with an evil smirk “Any price I want?”

Xiao Yao stood up on the waves and raised her chin to look at Xiang Liu “As long as it has nothing to do with Zhuan Xu, then any price is fine!” For Miao Pu, even if she had to make a real deal with the devil she would do it. At this point what else did she have left to lose?

Xiang Liu said “The price is for you to stay alive! Even if Tu Shan Jing is really dead, you have to stay alive!”

Xiao Yao stared dumbstruck at Xiang Liu before her eyes went beyond him to stare at the limitless ocean horizon. A life that was long, a longing that had no end in sight……if she didn’t give up and stayed alive, what would that feel like? Probably like a dark night with no sunrise. Xiao Yao didn’t understand why Xiang Liu cared about her life or death.

Xiang Liu coldly said “I just don’t have any interest to die with you! If you want to give up, then first find the way to break the voodoo bug link.”

Right! Her life was connected to Xiang Liu. She really did need to find the solution to break the spell. Xiao Yao said “I accept your price so take me to find the seagull demon!”

Xiang Liu summoned his gold crowned white condor Furball and vaulted on with Xiao Yao.

They were already in the deep ocean but still there was more out there. Furball flew all night but the ocean beneath still looked the same. From above there was still no land in sight, just endless ocean beneath. Xiao Yao said “The ocean really can swallow everything.”

Xiang Liu casually said “We’ve arrived.

Xiao Yao saw a s.h.i.+p below and Miao Pu was unconscious on the deck. The seagull demon was wearing bright red and currently arguing with a man. The man had his back to Xiao Yao so she couldn’t see his face. He was wearing coa.r.s.e clothes that had been washed so many times it was white, his body tall but on the thin side. He didn’t look like a killer at all.

“Kill her! If you don’t kill her then the Black Emperor and the Yellow Emperor will surely find us! Do you want to die? I said kill her!” The seagull demon was so furious she was apoplectic to the point she wanted to kill the man in front of her but didn’t dare make a move.

The man didn’t appear to like to talk so he just ignored the seagull demon’s screaming and calmly said “No kill!”

Xiang Liu flew down on Furball without even trying to conceal himself. Xiao Yao whispered “They are killers! It’s two against one, how’s your injuries?”

Xiang Liu glanced at Xiao Yao “Two against two.”

Xiao Yao rolled her eyes, unsure whether she should be happy that Xiang Liu thought so highly of her, so angry that Xiang Liu thought so highly of her.