Chapter 126: Fury

"Team leader!" Yu Hai let out a thunderous roar, his body glowing with mystical energy as he charged forward, his complexion turning the golden hue of a statue.

His aura surged violently, instantly reaching the level of a high-ranking Onmyoji.

*Boom! Boom! Boom!*

One after another, the Underworld Guards were cut down. He caught me in mid-air and hurled me away with all his might.

"Team leader, get out of here! Avenge us!" Yu Hai bellowed, only to be swallowed by the tide of Underworld Guards.

The golden radiance on his skin began to fade, and his aura weakened. Suddenly, a barrage of weapons pierced his body, turning him into a pincushion in an instant.

Nightingale and Ghost were also covered in blood, struggling to hold their ground.

"Sister Nightingale, forget about me, just go!" Ghost shouted. He knew he was the weakest among them; if not for him, Nightingale might have already escaped.

Nightingale said nothing, driving her sword through the neck of an Underworld Guard, but a deep gash, exposing bone, was carved into her back.

"Die!" I charged in, slicing the guard who wounded Nightingale in two, then unleashed a wave of blade energy to push back the encroaching enemies.

"Both of you, get out of here! I'll cover your retreat!" I commanded, my gaze resolute. I knew that since I was the primary target, I wouldn't be able to escape. If I could take a few with me, so be it. I only hoped Nightingale and Ghost would survive.

"You go, I'll cover," Nightingale insisted.

"Cut the crap! I am the team leader, and this is an order! At least one of you must make it back to tell Old Fox Zhou that there is a mole in the high command of the Ninth Bureau." I spoke with sharp intensity, a realization that had just dawned on me.

"No, Ghost, you go," Nightingale said, gritting her teeth.

"I..."

"Get the hell out of here, both of you! Do you want Yu Hai and Gao Pingping to have died for nothing?" I roared, and without waiting for a reply, I charged forward.

Nightingale bit her lip, watching my back as I fearlessly rushed toward a squadron of charging Underworld Knights. She shook her head, and two trails of tears flew into the air.

"Go!" She grabbed Ghost’s hand and fled desperately toward the perimeter.

I raised my hand, unleashing my final trump card: the finger-length magic sword given to me by Old Man Li.

As the blade was released, it instantly transformed into ten thousand rays of sword light, strafing the charging Underworld Knights.

*Swish! Swish! Swish!*

More than a dozen knights fell, and the Underworld beasts beneath them were riddled with bloody holes.

The remaining knights continued their charge, determined to crush me. The tattoo on my wrist began to burn, and suddenly, black light enveloped me as scales became clearly visible on my skin.

"Come on, you bastards, taste your grandfather's wrath!" I laughed maniacally and slammed my palm down.

A burst of black light exploded in mid-air, coalescing into a massive claw that descended like a falling mountain.

*Boom!*

Three Underworld Knights and their mounts were flattened into a pile of gore. The ground cracked, and dust filled the sky.

Standing amidst the dust, I held my blade, my spine straight.

I had long suspected that a day like this might come, though I didn't expect it to arrive so soon. So be it. I’ve taken down enough of them to call it a fair trade. If Nightingale and Ghost make it out, it’s a total victory.

Just then, a circle of heavy-armored Underworld Guards surrounded me, with a hundred Underworld cultivators looming in the distance.

In such a formation, for a mere level-six Onmyoji like me, there was no chance of escape.

The captain of the heavy-armored guards raised his massive, thick sword, preparing to strike.

"Wait!"

A sharp, feminine voice cut through the air.

The Underworld Guards parted, and I saw Millie riding toward me on a tall, fierce Underworld beast.

Millie stared at me intensely, and I met her gaze with indifference.

"Are you human?" Millie demanded.

"Yes," I admitted bluntly, taking out the Disguise Orb.

Soon, my body and features shifted, returning to my original appearance.

"You’ve been deceiving me this whole time! You damned human!" Millie yelled, her body trembling. Her heart felt as if it were being torn apart; the person she had unknowingly fallen for was actually a human.

Millie leaped from her beast and kicked me hard in the stomach.

I doubled over, coughing up a mouthful of blood, then slowly straightened my posture.

"Kneel!" Millie’s face twisted as she raised her hands, a ring of dark energy radiating outward, pressing down on me like the weight of a mountain.

My bones cracked, my skin split, and blood poured out.

I kept my head held high, staring calmly at Millie. To make me kneel, my knees would have to shatter; to make me bow my head, my neck would have to be snapped.

Seeing my indifferent gaze, Millie grew even more furious. "You have a stubborn spine, don't you? Well, let's see how long you can last. Take him away."

...

In the dungeon of the City Lord’s mansion, I was shackled in mid-air, with over a dozen Underworld nails driven through my limbs.

At this point, I was barely human in appearance.

"Third Miss," a few Underworld Guards saluted as Millie entered.

Millie ordered them to cut me down and then dismissed them.

She pried my mouth open and forced a pill inside.

I coughed up a spray of blood and slowly opened my swollen eyes.

Seeing my calm, arrogant gaze, Millie felt a maddening frustration; she couldn't stand it!

Many Onmyoji had been captured by Spirit City, but none like me. I had endured every one of the eighteen tortures, yet I hadn't let out a single sound.

Why? Why couldn't a man like this be of the Underworld race?

It was laughable, really. The only man she had ever felt a spark for turned out to be human.

"Beg for mercy, and I will let you go," Millie said.

"Beg for mercy... what is that? I, Qin Feng, know how to beg for love, but begging for mercy—I don't know the meaning of it!" My lips twitched in a way that could have been a smile or a grimace.

"You..." Millie stared at me, her green-lit eyes reflecting crystalline moisture.

"Then join our Underworld race. If you join, not only will you live, you can even be Millie's man," she said, cupping my blood-stained face as she gritted her teeth.

"You join the humans, and you can be Qin Feng's woman," I rasped, my laughter sounding worse than a cry.

Millie let out a roar, a bone sword growing from her hand, which she thrust directly into my mouth.

Tears fell from her eyes as she prepared to finish me off.

"Wait." A voice interrupted.

Millie turned to see Lu Zhiruo walking in. She retracted her bone sword, the moisture in her eyes evaporating instantly.

"Sister Lu, is something the matter?" Millie asked. Lu Zhiruo had retreated after fighting humans when the rifts in the Underworld first appeared; she possessed a human body but an Underworld soul. She claimed to be an Underworld cultivator from the Central Domain, though that was impossible to verify at the time.

"Millie, I happen to need a live human for an experiment. He’s of no value anyway—how about you give him to me?" Lu Zhiruo smiled.

"No problem," Millie nodded. She stopped looking at me and walked out.

I was rendered unconscious by Lu Zhiruo and taken away.

When I awoke, I found myself submerged in a rock pool.

The pool was filled with medicinal herbs, and the wounds on my body and face had scabbed over; a numbing, itching sensation permeated from my bones to my skin.

"How do you feel?" Lu Zhiruo walked over and asked.

"Why did you save me?" I asked.

"Why? I suppose we’re old friends, aren't we?" Lu Zhiruo replied.

"You’re filled with Underworld energy. I don't consider you an old friend. Perhaps the original owner of this body could claim that title," I said coldly.

Lu Zhiruo’s smile faded. "It’s better if we aren't friends. I imagine you hate me more than anyone right now."

"I don't care what your motives are. I tell you this: as long as I’m alive, one day I will wipe out your entire Underworld race," I said sharply.

"I am very glad to hear you say that, and I sincerely hope you can do it," Lu Zhiruo said.

Seeing that I remained silent, she produced a pack of cigarettes from somewhere and offered me one. I took it, and she lit it for me.

I inhaled deeply, only then feeling like I was truly alive.

"I actually hate you, too. You said you would come to pick me up, but even when I was discovered by those terrible Underworld cultivators, I still couldn't wait for you," Lu Zhiruo said softly.

"That wasn't your memory," I noted.

"After that, I was sent to that Blue Talisman Array again. A terrifying soul tried to destroy mine and seize control of my body. Luckily, I was the one who devoured her soul," Lu Zhiruo continued.

What?

I looked up sharply at her.

"If you are Lu Zhiruo, why do you consider yourself part of the Underworld?" I asked.

"Because... I am the same as you," she replied.

I was stunned. The same as me? That meant she was also...

"Then why did you say I hate you the most?" I asked.

Lu Zhiruo was silent for a moment before saying, "Because it was I who orchestrated the exposure of your Dark Team."

I froze, then stood up abruptly, staring at her with gritted teeth. "You had better explain yourself clearly."

"Are you feeling smug because your 'thing' wasn't cut off, and you want to show off your presence in front of me?" Lu Zhiruo remarked.

I sat back down, the memory of Gao Pingping and Yu Hai’s tragic deaths causing a sharp pang in my heart.

"I had to do it. There is a mole in the high command of the Ninth Bureau. Our Onmyoji have been suffering heavy casualties lately. Without rooting out the mole, we couldn't move a single step," she explained.

"So, you used my mouth to pass the message back, and then staged this 'kill two birds with one stone' revenge mission? Using us as bait to smoke out the mole in the Ninth Bureau—what a brilliant scheme!" I said in a hoarse voice.

"You’re right. The mission was a success; the mole has been exposed and brought down," Lu Zhiruo said.

A fire ignited within me. I roared, "So our lives don't matter? I wouldn't bat an eye if I died at the hands of the Underworld, but dying at the hands of my own people—I feel it was unworthy of the brothers who died."

"Calm down..."

"Calm down your sister! Get out of here, I don't want to see you." I shouted.

Lu Zhiruo glanced at me once, then vanished.

Every ounce of strength drained from me, and I slumped back into the medicinal pool.

I had been mentally prepared for such an outcome, but I never imagined it would be for this reason. I simply couldn't accept it.