novelraw Chapter 96: Because It’s You
Chapter 96: Because It’s You
The sky above the Xuan family domain was nothing more than a whirlwind of black and purplish clouds, saturated with static electricity so dense that it made the ancestral defensive formations crackle.
Inside the pavilion several kilometers from BaiShe, the atmosphere was paradoxically calm, imbued with a scent of incense and high-quality spiritual alcohol.
Xuan Feng, the Patriarch of the family, was seated near a low table. His long silver hair floated slightly despite the absence of wind in the room. He brought a small jade gourd to his lips, savoring a sip of an amber liquid that deliciously burned his Celestial Emperor meridians.
Suddenly, an icy presence invaded the space.
"While our son is in danger and you are drinking?"
Xuan Feng jumped slightly and hurriedly placed the alcohol gourd on the table, almost spilling the precious beverage. He adjusted his posture, trying to regain his dignity.
"It is not what you think, darling..." he stammered, his blue eyes desperately searching for a valid excuse in front of his wife’s fiery gaze. "I... I am simply monitoring the resonance of the domain. The alcohol helps synchronize my senses with the flow of Qi..."
Sijin snorted loudly, a gesture of total contempt. She approached the railing and looked into the distance, toward BaiShe’s pavilion where the lightning of the Celestial Tribulation was now falling with terrifying regularity. Her piercing gaze stopped on a tiny silhouette rushing toward the center of the crater, amid flames and thunder.
"Hmmm... Who is this idiot girl who thinks she can absorb a celestial Tribulation?" she asked, a fold of curiosity marking her smooth forehead.
Feng scratched his head, a nervous smile stretching his lips. "Well, I think it is his servant found in the lower Kingdoms...Hue Qing. But I must admit that this little one’s physique is quite impressive... She possesses a resistance I would not have suspected in a simple human."
Sijin narrowed her eyes, observing Hue Qing who was now wrapping her arms around BaiShe, using her Emerald Abyss Physique to draw the lightning onto herself.
"His servant, huh?" repeated Sijin in a doubtful tone. "There are plenty of servants in this pavilion. Why is she the only one risking her life like this? I hope there is nothing else between them..."
Feng let out a forced laugh, trying to hide his own discomfort. "Ahaha, BaiShe is a faithful man, he would never cheat on his fiancée, Princess Xue Ming. It is surely just devotion driven by gratitude... BaiShe has always had the gift of attracting people’s loyalty."
...
Meanwhile, at the heart of the chaos, the storm reached its climax. A final binary lightning, half white and half violet, fell from the zenith.
It was the final judgment of the Dao for the sacrilege committed in the lower worlds. At the impact, the gigantic Yin-Yang symbol appeared in the heavens, illuminating the entire domain with divine and terrifying splendor.
In the smoking crater, BaiShe’s blackened body began to crack. The charcoal crust burst under the pressure of a new and dominant Qi. From the chrysalis of ashes emerged a silhouette that no longer seemed entirely human. Golden horns, legacy of the Long Huang Dragon lineage, pointed through his hair now completely silver. On his forehead, the Yin-Yang symbol shone, marking his awakening as the new Dao Executor...
BaiShe was now floating a few centimeters above the ground, carried by a cloud of celestial Qi that masked his intimacy while highlighting his divine stature.
In his arms, he carried Hue Qing. The young woman was severely burned, her clothes in tatters revealing skin marbled with red, but her gaze remained locked with her master’s. She then understood, just like the people present who observed the scene from afar, that BaiShe had become the Celestial Judge.
"BaiShe..." she murmured nervously, her voice now only a breath.
A terrifying thought crossed the young woman’s mind: ’Will he know that I am the Devourer!?’
As the Executor, he now possessed the innate ability to detect the essence of his natural prey.
BaiShe, who had been staring at the sky with an expression of triumph until then, finally lowered his eyes toward the injured woman he was carrying. His eyes were now heterochromatic, reflecting the duality of the power he had just stabilized.
"So it was you, the Devourer, Hue Qing," he declared calmly.
Hue Qing’s heart skipped a beat.
"BaiShe... I... I will explain everything, it is just — " she began, tears rising to her eyes.
"Shhhhhhh..." BaiShe interrupted her, his gaze piercing her soul. "You manipulated me all this time to achieve your goals? To use my protection and stabilize your own power?"
Hue Qing remained silent, her head falling against BaiShe’s shoulder. Tears now flowed freely, tracing clear paths on her soot-stained face. "I am sorry..." she murmured, already accepting her fate.
"The Dao Executor must kill the Devourer... It is the immutable law of this world," continued BaiShe, his voice resonating with an authority that made Hue Qing shiver.
"Yes, I know..." she replied weakly.
"So why did you do everything to save me? Why risk your essence against this lightning that was foreign to you?"
"I..." Hue Qing stopped, unable to put words to the obsession that pushed her toward him despite the danger.
BaiShe tilted his head and pressed his forehead against hers. The thermal contact was intense, their two Qi – one pure and authoritative, the other dark and hungry – mingling in a contradictory dance.
"Even if everyone is against you... I will protect you..." he murmured in her ear, his voice becoming again the suave melody that had already seduced her from their first encounters.
Hue Qing appeared surprised, her black eyes widening. She could not believe what she had just heard. He was ready to betray the very mission for which the heavens had chosen him? He was going to defy the Dao to protect her, the monster?
’Why is he doing all this?’ she thought frantically. ’I have nothing special... Just a girl who used you to achieve her goals...’
"Why?" she asked out loud.
"Because it is you..."
Then, without giving her time to respond, he kissed her. Under the stunned gazes, Xuan BaiShe had just claimed his right to possess the abyss, proving once again that in this world, there was no other law than his own will.