Chapter 81: Her (1/2)

An even more dreadful creature emerged from the darkness. The formation should’ve had two hours left, but the giant fist had caused tremendous damage. Still filled with power, the Formation Orb was busily repairing the fissure, but Feinie herself was nearly spent.

“There might be a sliver of hope if I go. We’re all dead otherwise!” Setting his jaw, Qing Han looked at Lu Yun. “Don’t you dare follow me!”

Lu Yun searched Qing Han’s eyes and found staunch determination. He nodded in acquiescence.

A smile formed on Qing Han’s lips as he looked back at the Dusk governor. “Remember my present appearance.”

The imperial envoy wasn’t good looking, by any means. Grimy-looking skin and a centipede-like scar marring what was a passably clean-cut face, there was actually a sinister air to him.

“There’s definitely something fishy going on between them,” Mo Yi muttered under her breath.

As for Lu Yun, his expression was a little unnatural. Qing Han was a friend unto death, a companion he could entrust his life to. But what about his friend himself? Does he actually like guys?

At the same time, Qing Han seemed allergic to other men. Back when everyone still thought Miao was a man, he’d been reluctant to have much contact with the breathtakingly gorgeous fox. What did it all mean?

What’s going through his mind?

Qing Han had already turned and left the formation, his frail figure quickly swallowed by the shadows. Yuying’s demise and subsequent return to the Tome of Life and Death had taken the Emerald Mistfire with her. Meanwhile, the formation was suffering so much from the new assailant’s violent pounding that it dimmed and was only dully clinging on.

Pitch-black despair reigned outside and there was no sign of Qing Han anywhere to be seen.

Lu Yun started shaking. Had he made the right choice? It somehow felt like something very important was departing from him.

“Redeploy the formation!” he suddenly shouted at Feinie. “It’s our only hope of survival, we can’t let it break! Mo Yi, help her.” Then he steeled himself against the darkness and charged out of the formation.

“Alright!” Mo Yi tracked Lu Yun’s departing figure with her eyes before turning toward Qin Xianhuo and the others. “You three lowlifes will help, or I’ll execute you all. I never promised any of you anything. Anyone who wants to self-detonate can get to it. It’s all the same to me whether you die now, or die later!” She glowered viciously at Qi Shenghui. A shudder ran through the eunuch and he followed her orders like a meek lamb.

……

The endless darkness seemed to swallow everything, light and consciousness alike. Qing Han had no idea what gave him the courage to leave the safe confines of the formation and face the terrifying depths where even gods were buried. Was it merely the Scroll of Shepherding Immortals?

Or was it something else?

...or... someone?

The disguised girl herself was perplexed. If I actually like him, why can’t I summon the courage to reveal my true appearance? Doesn’t he also yearn to meet the pretty girl who saved him from the undead hag in the burial mound?

Was it simple reluctance? Or was it... fear?

I don’t have long to live. I won’t be anything but a fleeting interlude in the story of his life. So why not quietly stay by his side and keep him company as a friend? That wouldn’t be so bad either.

……

The giant monster roared and shrieked as it pummeled the formation again and again. But when it spotted a living being leaving the formation, it threw its head back, loosed an excited howl, and swiped at Qing Han’s tiny figure in an attempt to grab the human.