I Should Die Alone!

"Shriiiiieeeekkkkk!!!!"

Hm? What's happened?

In that moment an unbearable heat closed in. The temperature was almost as if being thrown into a pool of burning oil.

The shade created by the beast over me was replaced by the sun shining down on me again.

For some reason it had moved away from me.

Then I heard someone familiar out in the outburst of the explosion. It was mild and dampened but I could clearly tell who came.

"Mist Talisman — Perfect Camouflage!"

I could yet move any inch of my body. I was broken and beaten to the point when it was a severe effort to speak a few words.

Nonetheless, my trembling limbs, I murmured.

"S-S-Sen-n-ior…Q-Qiang-g?"

I could almost cry right now but even doing that felt painful.

"Kid!" and he had his hands upon my belly, where the beam had hit me, "Honestly…are you lucky to always make it out alive or terribly cursed to always meet such ill fortunes?"

"Senior…" I gagged exhaustingly, a faint grin arching on my face at the sight of him.

"Shut it! Let me focus on mending this wound first…" his tone told me enough. This wound was not going to be easily taken care of. "We don't have much time!"

His hands still hovering a breadth away from my belly, a warmth, one that was soothing, infiltrated the coldness that had been plaguing me.

With it came my eagerness to hurl a mouthful of blood.

"Let it all out."

"His…heart", I found my voice and my eyes were able to open up as well. "His chest…hole…heart…"

He shoved a pill into my mouth to shut me up. It had little effects but I was no longer torn between consciousness and unconsciousness, and I faintly became aware of my surroundings again.

Qiang and I were in a kind of translucently grey circular field upon which a golden paper clad with red inked letters was glued. From it spread a multitude of lines which covered most of the barrier's surface like chains.

The mosaic's depiction was outside, flailing madly as it was caught on fire.

"Heal fast. We need to retreat as soon as possible."

"No…we can't" I still struggled. "It's targeting me…"

"What do you mean?" his brows furrowed confusingly and suspiciously. "Explain! Quick!"

"I-I…eum…I can't really explain it."

The thrashing of the beast came to an end and we noticed the flames no longer etching on its thick fur skin.

Chu Qiang was not looking pleased with the situation. I suppose he relied on that fire to buy us enough time for an escape and ultimately failed.

"That fire was an artefact…" the words came out begrudgingly and without confidence.

"An artefact?" a bulge condensed itself into my throat. The option of living seemed farther away by every passing second. "And it failed to cause it harm?"

"How fast is it?" he asked me in assessment of the next course of action.

I sighed. My surrendering eyes and shaking head told him as much as needed.

"Too fast, huh."

He clicked his tongue and got up on his feet hastily.

We were yet in the range of his stealth barrier and for now the monster took no notice of our presence. In anger, it tore down on anything nearby it, in search of our location.

The disconcerted expression on Chu Qiang's pale visage was a harsh newfound discovery that he and perhaps his master as well, were not its match after all. But I knew of no one stronger with which I had developed friendly ties.

"I'll stall it until you are able to make a run."

I nodded. I straightened my back, dug myself into a meditative position and focused on healing as much as possible. In order to do so, I needed to breathe the qi within the air so that my body could utilise it for that purpose.

"Be careful, senior."

"Worry about yourself in the meantime," he scoffed sarcastically, a hint of forced confidence clouded his words.

(He needs it.)

"Very well."

Qiang marched towards the edge of the talisman's radius and made the effort to step out. He turned before he made his following move, a tender yet stern gaze catching my attention.

"If we get out of this, I expect a satisfying explanation."

A thorn pricked my bones for a moment as I saw the care he expressed in his demeanour.

I don't know him that well yet he would go this far for me? Why?

"Whatever senior asks me later, I will answer him truthfully."

(I owe him this much.)

"Good."

As soon as the tip of his toes breached the edge, the beast flinched towards us almost immediately in response. It had a terrifying awareness.

His attack upon a cracked tree ceased and his attention was shifted at the slowly pacing man.

With a single bounce, it crossed an impossible distance to reach him and struck the ground mercilessly, the aftermath of a lightning strike issuing.

I understood now that playtime was over.

My body understood it on its own actually. The tremble regained its place.

The burns it was caused to its majestic fur were perhaps the reason it became self-aware of a possible danger even though no wound was visible on its bare skin.

Chu Qiang dodged ahead of time as he too probably felt the premonition of danger.

With this interaction, he experienced the sliver of monstrosity he was up against.

I heard the same knee-cackling sound…it was going to cast this beam attack once again.

"SENIOR, WATCH OUT!"

My warning connected through.

He got away just in time. This particular moment, he had room for a counterattack as the beam had not extinguished from the fanged maw.

He dashed next to it like a darting humming bird, his fist bearing a green glaze behind it, and punched it square into its closest front limb. It did not do much damage but the beast was forced to move away said targeted limb, clearing an opening for a strike directly to the hole in the roof of its chest.

Another fist whistled through the air and it was to be the end of the beast's life when the heart was destroyed. But the equally demonic spawns of Demonic God were not easily dealt with.

Out of nowhere, a long whip-like rod dug down on Chu Qiang's shoulder with a horrifying flash.

Paralysed, what seemed like the tail of the depiction raised him above ground level and shot his spiritless body away from it.

The tail had the head of a serpent, eyes glaring with yellow and red, eyeing me from behind the comfort of the talisman. It was like an entity on its own, unbound to the main body of the depiction.

"Senior!" I cried desperately as his body went limp to the ground. "Senior Qiang!"

He did not respond.

The beast looked ever angrier and even the snake-tail flared madly with its hissing streams.

The bite must have been poisonous or something…

What should I do?

"Hisssssssssssssss!!" the snake hissed again and the energy around me disappeared like a puff of smoke.

It was as if the sounds scared away the qi from the air and deprived me of any chances of healing. In my eyes, the world went black and white and I even heard my own heart batter in the wake of this occurrence. It almost reached the peak of my throat.

"Lei…Ba…" Chu Qiang was crawling on his fours away from the area. "It…drained…my qi…I can't replenish…"

"What!?"

He crawled away to somewhere where even an ounce of the world's energies remained for him to absorb.

So the bite robbed him of his own qi while the hissing removes it from the atmosphere so that there's no chance to replenish…

THAT'S CHEATING!

(But more importantly now.)

I was a sitting duck…

I can move for sure but there was no way I could outrun this thing. Even when I was in my peak form and it was toying with me, I had no chance. With my body at its limit and the beast furiously set on killing me, I could only pray my end to be swift.

"Ugh…I have no drop of qi left in me…"

I raised myself slowly, attempting to stand upright.

My posture was disastrous and my handling of my weapon was akin to a baby holding its candy.

I doubt I could lift a finger in my state.

"It's the end of the line."

I heard a voice in my head. It was malicious in the way it spoke but it was truthful. Even if it was my own mind playing tricks on me, I attributed this devilry to the only devil before me.

The beast!

"Look at me!" I thought I heard it say.

I was drawn and did accordingly.

Its maw was not moving when it spoke. Then it must have been my imagination.

"Now you can die!"

It growled and the tail hissed again.

"Kill me then…" I taunted it, whatever positive expressions I had left, I used them now.

I smiled harshly and it produced a nasty grin as it approached me slowly.

My sword relinquished itself to the dirt and rattled on the pebbles of rocks beneath my feet.

My body wished to kneel in my final moments but I wished to stand in contrast.

"I'm sorry, everyone. I will be leaving without saying my goodbyes…"

I murmured silently.

There was none to hear my final words. Only myself.

…

"Lei Ba!" a voiced echoed in the deep of the forest.

"Huh?" I looked left and right in search of it.

"Lei Ba! Where are you?"

Father?

"Son!" another one accompanied my father's. "Son!"

Mother?

I'm imagining right?

I'm making up my parents' voices because I'm on the verge of death…

"Brother Lei Ba!"

"Brother Lei Ba!"

Brother Yun? Sister Ling? What are you doing here?

"Master Lei Ba!"

Even you senior Wu?

No!

Don't come here. If this is real…don't come!

Leave! Turn around!

"There are broken trees over here. I think he might have gone this way."

My opponent did not twist its head, but I spotted his eyes rolling to the direction of the noises. The snake pronged towards the same angle.

They're real—

No, no, no, no, nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo—

Go back all of you!

I SHOULD DIE ALONE!

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*Check the very first chapters at the very beginning for the Index*