Xiu Xiang was sure that every bone in her body would be crushed to pieces if Wei Xing exerted any more strength into his embrace, but the pain wasn't as shocking as the fact that she was being embraced by the man who she thought was made out of stone.
At the moment, Wei Xing held none of that calm and composed demeanor. He looked more like a frightened child than anything else. He buried his face into her shoulder as he repeated himself, "Don't leave me."
"Wei Xing... you're hurting me..." Xiu Xiang managed to say as she softly patted him on the back. That only made him hold her tighter as if she would disappear at any given moment.
She was sure that Wei Xing had fallen under the spell of the illusion mist and was suffering from his worst fears, but what could that fear possibly be for him to succumb to this state?
But then, she remembered that she was in no better state than he was. She had left Bai Qing behind after hearing his tormenting scream. She needed to get the both of them back to Bai Qing before she too fell under the spell of the illusion mist.
"Wei Xing, you're...!"
"Xiu Xiang... don't leave me again," Wei Xing said suddenly.
She froze at his words.
What?
Wei Xing's deepest fears had something to do with her? How? Why?
She didn't get the chance to think further because she suddenly heard a menacing voice from behind her.
"Demoness!" the voice hissed.
Xiu Xiang blinked once and Wei Xing was gone before her eyes. She was all alone within the illusion mist.
"Waste!" someone called out. She whipped around and saw her sibling disciples from the North Peak. Wang Yue was leading the group as they circled around her. Xiu Xiang was no longer wearing her plain white clothes but the tattered uniform of North Peak. It was as if she had gone back to that weak Xiu Xiang. She tried to call out her fire but nothing came out. Fearing for her life, she started to run away, but Yi Yan appeared from the crowd and swung her whip, easily catching her.
They tied her up to that pole and one by one they inflicted pain on her. Master Feng Mian stood in the background sneering at her broken figure.
"I'm under the spell of the illusion mist..." Xiu Xiang thought as she closed her eyes and tried to will away the scene before her but she felt lashes of pain over and over on her body.
Was it an illusion?
"Xiu Xiang..." she heard someone call out to her. Her eyes fluttered open and she realized she was no longer tied to the pole. The scenery before her disappeared and she was no longer at North Peak but an open battlefield. Bloody corpses filled the battlefield and she was in the middle of it all. It was exactly like the end of the novel.
"Wei Xing?" Xiu Xiang called out. She turned around and there he stood, but something was off about him. Wei Xing wasn't wearing the red wedding robes from earlier. He was dressed in white robes, covered in blood. The eyes that normally looked back at her with a calmness and tenderness was gone. There was only loathing and disdain.
She was about to call out to him when he raised his sword and aimed the tip toward her.
"Did you honestly think an evil demoness like you would have a happy ending?" Wei Xing asked sharply.
"Wei Xing, I...!" Xiu Xiang suddenly wanted to tell him that she wasn't really the Demoness and that she doesn't want to be someone who instilled fear onto others, but before she could get another word out, Wei Xing sent his sword flying. She watched as his sword pierced her where her heart was.
I don't want to die...
She tumbled backwards as darkness slowly engulfed her. First her feet were swallowed up by the darkness, then the darkness inched up to her knees, then up to her stomach. When it reached her chest, Xiu Xiang thought she heard someone call out for her.
"Xiu Xiang...!"
"Who...?" Her body felt like a thousand pounds and she could barely keep her eyes open. The voice calling out to her grew louder.
"Xiu Xiang!"
"Who is it...?" She tried to keep her eyes open as she tilted her head to the side. A blurry figure of someone in white was reaching out for her. She tried to lift her arm up, but it felt so heavy. The voice grew louder still, giving her the extra strength, she needed. She struggled to lift her arm up. Slowly inch by inch, she managed to reach out. A warm hand wrapped around hers and she felt something soft pressed against her lips.
Wei Xing felt the warmth of someone and a fresh scent of blossoms. He was sure that he was under the spell of the illusion mist when he heard Xiu Xiang's voice. It was enough to snap him out of the illusion. His eyes fluttered opened and realized that he had his arms wrapped around Xiu Xiang. The only problem was, Xiu Xiang had already fallen under an illusion.
"Xiu Xiang!" Wei Xing cried as he tried to shake her awake. Her brows were knitted tightly together as if she was suffering intense pain. He was just about to call out to her again when he heard the roar of a horde of demon beast. The demon beasts trapped within the barrier were scarce on food and when something managed to make it inside and fall under the illusion, they normally come crawling out in hordes.
Wei Xing didn't even flinch as he thrust out his sword to let it do all the work. The sword flew with precision and slashed the demon beasts into pieces. When the threat was gone, he finally turned his attention back onto Xiu Xiang. He brushed back the strands of hair that clung onto her face and breathed, "Xiu Xiang..."
He couldn't help himself and leaned in to pressed his lips against hers.
"Please wake up..." he pleaded. With no other choice, he carried her in his arms back toward the exit of the forest. Halfway towards the exit, he bumped into Bai Qing who had been calling out for Xiu Xiang.
"What are you doing here?" Wei Xing asked sharply. Bai Qing glared at him but her anger subsided the moment she saw an unconscious Xiu Xiang in his arms.
"What happened to her?" she gasped.
"She fell under an illusion. We need to get her out of mist," Wei Xing explained. With that said, the two hastened out of there.
When Xiu Xiang came to, she realized that she was out of the dense forest and back where she started. She felt warmth enveloped around her and the scent of pinewood. She looked up and her and eyes locked onto a pair of dark eyes. Sensing a different kind of danger, she jumped up and out of that person's grasp.
"You--!" Xiu Xiang looked down and realized the person who had been holding onto her in their embrace was Wei Xing. She then remembered that strange soft sensation on her lips and her hand unconsciously went up to touch her. She glared back at him and wondered if she hadn't been taken advantage of when she fell under the illusion. But then she remembered that Wei Xing wasn't that kind of person. A strait-laced person like him would never kiss her. He probably doesn't even know what kissing was.
"You were trying to break into the Cave of Inheritance," Wei Xing said as a matter of fact as he got up to his feet. He brushed the dirt off him casually as if she hadn't just tried to commit the worse offense of the century.
She lowered her hand and was about to throw back a retort when a yellow figure jumped out.
"Don't hurt Jie Jie!" Bai Qing exclaimed as she appeared out of nowhere and clung herself onto Xiu Xiang. Wei Xing's face instantly darkened.
That look on Wei Xing was enough to kill an entire army. Was he angry that Bai Qing was standing up for her? Seriously, this character brought endless problems.
This wasn't good at all. Not only had Xiu Xiang been brought back to the entrance of the forest, she could hear the sound of people approaching. With no other choice, Xiu Xiang wrapped a tight arm around Bai Qing's neck and whispered, "I'm sorry."
Once again, it was high time that Bai Qing made herself a little bit more useful—
As her scapegoat.
"What are you doing?!" Bai Qing cried only to snap her mouth shut when she saw the dangerous flames that had appeared in the palm of Xiu Xiang's hand. The crowd arrived at last, led by Sect Leader Lin and Sect Leader Bai of the Qing Qiu Sect.
"Qing Er!" Sect Leader Bai cried when he saw his granddaughter in the hands of some unknown woman.
Sect Leader Lin eyed Xiu Xiang wearily and asked, "Were you the one who broke into Tian Ling Sect?"
"What if I am?" Xiu Xiang asked. She eyed the crowd and saw Hua Jian mixed amongst the cultivators. He nodded back at her signaling to her that he was ready to open a portal to escape at any given time.
"Are you that Demoness everyone has been talking about? How dare you kidnap Qing Er!" Sect Leader Bai accused.
Kidnap? As if she wanted to kidnap the person who brought her endless misery!
"If I didn't kidnap her, I wouldn't have leverage over the great sect of the cultivation world now, would I?" Xiu Xiang lied.
"There is no reason why we can't come to an agreement, now is there?" Hua Jian said suddenly as he approached the front. "If you let Maiden Bai go, we'll promise to leave you with an intact body."
The crowd cheered as they agreed with Hua Jian's suggestion.
"Why should I do that? If I die, she dies as well," Xiu Xiang warned. Her grip on Bai Qing's neck tightened and everyone flinched when they heard a sharp gasp escape from her lips.
"Let her go. Take me instead," Wei Xing said suddenly. Everyone's eyes fell on him.