Split Zone No.13

I focused all my MF on my feet, planning to block that combined attack from Piercer and the Scorpion Ray for Nie Zun with my body!

A smile then appeared on Ta Lai’s face!

He lifted the hand with that jade stone ring and moved it while facing Nie Zun!

Nie Zun, who was originally about to move, was now rooted to the ground!

“Oh no!”

This was bad! Ta Lai was restricting Nie Zun’s movements so that my attack will hit Nie Zun directly! He was trying to destroy Nie Zun! And I would be the one who destroyed him!

No! I will not let that happen!

Uneasiness overcame me, and it felt as if I returned to that forgotten memory which tormented me night after night!

In my memory, I killed my lover with my own two hands!

How could I let such a thing happen again!

Gritting my teeth, I reached out with both hands, using my MF as a shield. At the same time, I moved so fast that it almost seemed like I teleported right in front of Nie Zun!

Bam!

Everything happened in that moment.

In a second, the light from Scorpion Ray slammed into my back. Nie Zun caught me as I fell forward.

I could smell his familiar scent as I fell into that cold embrace. It was light and not overpowering, the scent that accompanied me every night.

His embrace did not feel warm, but like bathing in a cold river, I did not want to leave it.

I felt a burning sensation on my back, as if there was someone roasting me with a fiery torch.

Nie Zun was panting as he held me. My hands were against his chest, and I reached for his face.

It no longer felt smooth under my fingers, and I looked at him as I started to tear.

“You said you wouldn’t leave me, you said you’d protect me forever,” I said softly.

“I’m Shen’er...” I could hear my own voice trembling.

I left a streak of blood on that cold and expressionless face of his as I touched his face, trying to look at what changed in him as I looked into those eyes.

“Kill her,” Ta Lai said in his elegant manner.

Nie Zun’s gaze changed!

The burning sensation on my back was getting unbearable, and it felt as if I was just beside a raging fire!

Black lines started to appear once again in Nie Zun’s bright red eye!

“Careful, Ah Shen!” Jiao S rushed over to my side as she sensed something wrong, no longer caring about the giants.

But this was a mistake. The giant grabbed her from behind and threw her into its mouth!

As I saw a blood red tongue and canines, Jiao S was already gone!

I tried to forcefully use my MF to maintain my consciousness and mobility, but Nie Zun’s hands were already tight around my neck!

“Ugh...” Nie Zun’s hands were strong. With just seven fingers, he had my neck in a death grip and lifted me high up above the ground!

My feet left the ground slowly, and I felt this agonizing, painful pressure on my neck. I was choking as I tried to think of something to say to Nie Zun.

What should I say.

Don’t be afraid, I’m still here.

Don’t be in pain, don’t be sad, I won’t die.

Don’t blame yourself, it’s not your fault.

Don’t cry, we’ll always be together.

I saw Nie Zun’s tears as I thought of that last phrase.

He looked like he had already given up all hope as those tears were flowing from both his eyes. His tears were dripping down his face, and they were dripping into my heart.

Those hands of the devil were on my neck, lifting my entire person up.

I knew this could not kill me, but I still felt like I was about to die in the next instant.

I was not scared, nor was I sad.

I was just worried about him.

“Admit it... You love him...” A lazy, feminine voice sounded in my ear. I felt a pair of hands move up my back, leaving a chilly feeling as it moved.

That pair of hands moved up from my back, then through my neck and through Nie Zun’s hands, and finally, they covered my eyes.

I felt wet lips near my ear, as she asked, “Need my help?”

“No! Not even when I die!” I shouted in my heart, but choking sounds were all that came out of my mouth.

Nie Zun’s expression changed as he heard me struggling while being strangled.

That black mist which surrounded him in a thin layer suddenly became a thick fog, as if trying to pull me with him into it.

A horrifying aura emanated from his eyes!

He let go of me suddenly, and I crashed onto the ground!

*Cough cough cough*

I held onto my neck as I coughed, tears in my eyes.

As I regained my vision, I saw this lonely, dark and twisted aura which surrounded Nie Zun. It looked like black fog and a viscous black liquid. Nie Zun’s eyes were now absolutely devoid of humanity.

Ta Lai’s eyes widened. Using his left hand, he moved that jade stone ring a few times.

There was no use. Nie Zun seemed to have lost all control, and that dark aura around him seemed to be getting stronger. A rage was emanating from that dark fog around him, and anyone who was at the scene would be overwhelmed by an impending sense of death.

Even I was quite surprised. The Nie Zun right now is the devilish Nie Zun.

This felt like that time when he protected me after having recently arrived in the Split Zone. But he was more like a devilish infant at that time.

Today’s Nie Zun had one bright red eye shining in that dark fog, and his eyes looked like the most cruel and heartless pair of eyes in this world. The corner of his lips then started to turn up slowly in an evil, menacing smile.

I was on the floor, and my lower abdomen already felt numb. It healed so slowly that it seemed like it was not healing at all, and the burning sensation on my back seemed to be slowly swallowing me up.

I struggled to get up, hoping to stop Nie Zun from falling into that abysmal darkness.

I don’t want him to turn into a devil, even if it was for me.

By now, Ta Lai had sensed something amiss, and it was the first time his smile faded from his face. With a stride, he started moving towards Nie Zun!

Nie Zun had an expression which looked like it was frozen in a half smile. He was enshrouded in darkness, and he clasped his hands together as he faced Ta Lai! With that action, two dark air currents condensed in between his palms, and it flew towards Ta Lai!

Being unprepared, Ta Lai seemed to be shocked as he was instantly surrounded by the dark air currents!

He muttered, “That can’t be, how could you...”

He looked like a god of death that had absorbed all the sin and monstrosity in this world, and even I no longer recognized that face. It looked like it belonged to a stranger, one that had a cruel smile. There was nothing but darkness that emanated from him, enshrouding him in the scent of death and a killing aura. It felt as if he was the only devil in this world which killed everyone he met, no matter who they were.

Just a moment ago he was a puppet being controlled. Right now, he was a devil that nobody could control. Everyone was being pulled into this dark domain with those murderous hands of his.

Ta Lai looked at all this as he was engulfed in that black fog, and an anger rose in his eyes.

That’s right. It wasn’t surprise or fear. It definitely wasn’t a look of composure either. It was a rage that did not fit that elegant image of his at all.

Such rage did not come from someone getting angry at something. It was a rage that came about when one saw an arch-nemesis, where one still felt like destroying that enemy even after a long time of not having crossed paths.

But why did he look at Nie Zun in such a way?

“The soul of Satan huh? How are you related to Cang Ming?” Ta Lai enunciated each word clearly. He sounded like he was on the verge of doing something with explosive violence.

The soul of Satan...

Satan Cang Ming?

Does this mean that the aura surrounding Nie Zun right now was that same aura that Satan Cang Ming left behind wherever he passed, just like what is said in those legends?

This was highly possible. According to Gaoqin Jiuye, the reason Cang Ming had Satan as a nickname was because he left this dark aura behind wherever he went.

And right now, Nie Zun definitely had the power to make everyone fear him.

“You dare hurt her...” Nie Zun spoke in a cold, low-pitched voice which sounded extremely powerful.

His eyes remained heartless, but he looked lost. It was obvious that he did not even know who the ‘her’ referred to. That darkness and pain had eaten away at him, and all he remembered was the hatred towards whoever had hurt me, but he did not remember me.

A real devil would not remember kindness and love, because as long as he still had these things, he would not be able to turn into a real devil.

Nie Zun lifted his hand, and with that movement, the black fog surrounding Ta Lai seemed to surge as it turned into black vapour.

I could only make out Ta Lai’s head in that black fog. He still had that look of rage on him, and he locked his gaze squarely on Nie Zun.

“Nie Zun, don’t forget that you’re Nie Zun, my Nie Zun...” I was already out of strength. I lay on the ground, my face against the icy cold stone.

I was listening to the sounds, and listening to my own heartbeat.

I was crying, telling Nie Zun not to forget himself, and not to forget me.

Not to turn into a devil.