I Just Want To Follow The Plot!

Arc 1.8

Of course, Yang Zhelan, like the brute he is, straight up punched a hole in his stomach, which caused the inner demon to die with an insta-kill.

Next up was Chu Qiu, then Nie Yuan, then Zhou Fu, and finally it came to Shi LanHua.

She took a deep breath, and then, it began.

In front of her laid something unexpected. 

It was a slightly younger version of Zero, who was covered in bloody gashes and injuries, one arm was torn off, and he laid there with lifeless eyes.

Zero, who was watching this scene occur, trembled. He remembered this scene. It was during the war, when one of his wings and arms got torn off. He was severely injured, and if not for his quick wits and help of the spiritual beasts, he would never have survived this.

Similarly, Shi LanHua stared at this in a daze. 

"F-FengFeng?"

There was no reply.

"C-Come on! Hey, what's going on? You're such a strong person, you said you'd protect me forever, right? Please... stand up!"

She looked like she couldn't take it anymore and started sobbing. The bright and kind girl, who never showed any weakness before, is now holding a bloody corpse with tears streaming down her face and her immense grief was reflected in her eyes for everyone to see.

"I never wanted to see this ever again... At least, this is just an inner demon trial.", as she said those words, the 'Zero' in front of her dissipated and she stood up, calmness gradually returning into her eyes. Although it broke her heart to see this, Shi LanHua was not stupid. These events are ones that occurred many years ago. Isn't Zero alive and kicking right now? That's all that matters. The one and only thing she could never get rid of was the guilt which had plagued her for years, the fact that she failed as an older sister, the fact that she couldn't protect her one and only beloved younger brother. She ever really cared much for her other siblings, since all they ever do everyday was fight over the position of the heir to the throne. However, Zero was different. 

Born from the diluted bloodlines of a pureblooded phoenix and some unknown woman, he was bullied from a young age. But Lady Liu, the woman who gave birth to him, never had any thoughts of gaining the favor of the king of phoenixes, whereas she just lived her life in peace. She always had this dazed look on her face, which made her look dazzling.

Shi LanHua loved it. She loved how Lady Liu would always care for her more so than her own birth mother, as she was always thinking of ways to curry favor with the emperor.

She also loved her only son, Zero. He was very adorable. In fact, the moment he was born, she secretly made a vow that she would protect her little brother forever.

When Lady Liu died, she felt her whole world collapsing, and it was during those mournful days that Zero would always reach out to her and cheer her up with a big smile.

A kid who isn't even 4 already lost his mom, but he still worried about her more than he did so about himself.

The gesture may not have seemed like much, but to Shi LanHua, it meant the whole world. 

No one knows how much she cried that day, but when morning arrived, she swore to never let Zero experience the darkness of this world.

Sadly, things may not go as planned sometimes. Shi LanHua was simply too young, and even with her title as a 'genius', she could not prevent all the harassment that went flying towards Zero.

She felt so powerless, but she couldn't give up.

No matter what, she must protect him, even if it meant giving up her own life.