When she tried to recall her most recent memories, a sharp pain emitted in her mind, forcing her to stop. She glared at the man before her. He wasn't jumbling her memories around, he was clearly trying to wipe away all her memories. Unable to take the pain, she closed her eyes. Her memories were growing faint, Xiu Xiang suddenly wasn't sure why she was there anymore. It was as if her memories were slowly regressing. One by one, memories melted away before her like snow under the hot sun.
"Let her go!" she heard someone shouted in the distance. Her eyes slowly opened to reveal a handsome man in white charge towards them. His valiant figure in the air was dazzling and for a moment, Xiu Xiang breathed out a sigh of relief.
"Wei Xing..."
The finger on her forehead had long been released, however, the pain continued. The memories disappeared faster and faster. Fearing the worst, she repeated over and over, "Kill the man in purple. Save the man in white."
She no longer knew who the two people in front of her were as she watched the intense fight before her, one in white the other in purple. Fear crept up inside her as she struggled in place. It was as if she had been thrown into an endless nightmare.
"You can't win. I've already absorbed the Demon King's soul and erased the memories of the Demoness!" Feng Yue laughed.
Xiu Xiang frowned at the scene before her. She wondered why they look so familiar. She couldn't place a name for either of them, yet she felt she should know them. She was constantly repeating 'Kill the man in purple. Save the man in white'. As she repeated this mantra, she wondered how she was even supposed to do that when she was so weak and tied up. Just then, she heard a mournful whistle. What followed after was an enchanting voice.
"Do you require assistance?"
Her eyes darted around. Where was the voice coming from?
She couldn't pinpoint the location until she realized that the voice was coming from inside of her.
"I've been hiding inside of you ever since you first entered the illusion mist..."
Illusion mist?
A dim memory of her rushing through a misty forest only to stop because of a sad whistling melody.
"Who are you?" Xiu Xiang asked.
There was silence for a moment and then the voice spoke again.
"I can help you but whatever comes after depends on your luck..."
"I'll take my chances. Help me!" Xiu Xiang shouted. She could no longer recognize Wei Xing but seeing him spit out a mouthful of blood scared her enough to ask for help.
A brilliant white light seeped out from within her, quickly forming into a blurry figure of a man. His body wasn't complete as if he was simply nothing more than a projection. With a wave of his white sleeves, the vines that held her in place shriveled up until there was nothing left. She tumbled to the ground before the powerful man's feet. He didn't say anything and turned his attention on the man in purple.
The two men who had been fighting in the distance noticed his dangerous presence and stopped fighting at once.
"Great Grandmaster...?" Those words had just been spoken by Wei Xing when the mysterious translucent man in white charged at Feng Yue. He disappeared inside of Feng Yue and all was still until Feng Yue let out an agonizing cry. Dark energy seeped out from his body, filling up the cave. Blood poured from every orifice on Feng Yue's face. He looked like he was being destroyed from deep within.
"What are you doing to me...?!" Feng Yue snarled. His hands clutched at his chest. He bent over, blood spilling out of his mouth. More and more dark energy escaped from his body, spiraling harshly around the cave.
"He's going to explode!" Xiu Xiang heard Wei Xing cried out. She looked up from where she was. Wei Xing completely ignored the bleeding Feng Yue and rushed over to her side. He had just picked her up and into his arms when Feng Yue's body finally exploded. Meat and blood rained down on them. Thankfully, Wei Xing had casted a barrier over them shielding them both.
"Are you alright?" Wei Xing asked.
Xiu Xiang didn't get the chance to answer because the swirling mass of dense dark energy within the cave suddenly went crazy. There was no place for it to escape to, so it charged straight for them as if searching for a host. Before Xiu Xiang could even cry out 'watch out', Wei Xing had thrown himself over her.
The dark energy blasted itself at Wei Xing's back and entered his body forcefully. He let out a sharp cry as the dark energy merged inside of him. The next thing, Xiu Xiang knew, she was thrown backwards, slamming hard against the rock wall. She heard a loud crack behind her and wasn't sure if it was the rock wall that had cracked or her spine. She dropped to the ground like a rag doll and watched helplessly as Wei Xing was consumed by the dark energy. His once beautiful sharp eyes turned a dark purple while the once pure energy around him turned completely dark. His long silky hair and robes whipped harshly around him, giving a dangerous sense about him. He was bent over, still screaming in agony as if he was being shredded from within.
"You..." Xiu Xiang didn't get the chance to say anything when a massive amount of people entered the large cave. The righteous cultivators had finally arrived on the scene, however, it was too late. Wei Xing was in the middle of turning into an all-powerful demon.
"What have you done?!" Sect Leader Lin cried. He watched as his only disciple was slowly turning into a demon.
"Sect Leader Lin, we must attack him before he completely turns! If he becomes a full demon, he'll be stronger than the Demoness and Hell will descend upon the world!" Sect Leader Qiu exclaimed.
"Elder!" several of the Tian Ling disciples cried out. Unable to fight with their elder, they could only stand back and watch helplessly. Sect Leader Lin hadn't even decided when Sect Leader Qiu rushed forward with his sword.
"NO!" Two people cried out at the same time. Bai Qing jumped out from the crowd and chased after her grandfather while Xiu Xiang jumped in front of Wei Xing.
Time seemed to slow down as Xiu Xiang watched the sharp blade pierced through her body. Her eyes bulged as an impending pain spread across her body. Confusion filled the cave for a moment. No one was sure exactly what had happened in that exact moment except for three people.
Sect Leader Qiu and Bai Qing stared back in shock. They never thought that the Demoness would jump in front of sword for Wei Xing.
"You...!" Bai Qing was at a loss for words. Just what was the relationship between those two?
Wei Xing, who had been suffering under the massive amount of dark energy looked up to see a bloody sword sticking out of Xiu Xiang's body. Just the sight of the bloody sword alone was enough to send the energy inside him into a frenzy. A strange red mark appeared on his forehead and he finally stopped screaming. Sparks crackled around him as he straightened his back.
Sect Leader Qiu felt a murderous aura come from Wei Xing and he quickly yanked the sword out of Xiu Xiang's body. She jerked when the blade left her body and felt herself fall backwards into Wei Xing's arms.
Without caring about his own surroundings, Wei Xing took Xiu Xiang into his arms. Blood pooled around her feet and she struggled to breathe.
"Xiu Xiang?" Wei Xing asked meekly. Xiu Xiang couldn't recognize him but her heart clearly felt something for him. She was dying in this beautiful man's arms. There were strange feelings that she wanted to express but didn't know how. Her lips quivered and she struggled to speak. Instead of words, blood poured out from her mouth.
"Don't speak," he said soothingly. "I won't let you die. I promise..."
Tears leaked from the corner of her eyes. She wanted to apologize badly to this man. She didn't want to leave him. Her hand shook as she reached up to touch his face. He didn't hesitate to grab her hand and help her, pressing her cold palm on his cheek. Her eyes locked onto his, turning misty as she forced a smile on her face. A faint memory of the man standing under an archway appeared in her mind. It was faint but she could see the smile on his face.
She could only smile back at him one last time before closing her eyes and letting the darkness engulf her forever...
Wei Xing watched as Xiu Xiang's eyes closed on him. He shook her softly and called out, "Xiu Xiang?"
When she didn't answer, he shook her a little harder. Her body had already gone cold, but he quickly blamed the temperature of the cave. He leaned in expecting to hear her breathing only to find nothing.
Xiu Xiang was dead.
He let out a thunderous roar of grief and set his sights on Sect Leader Qiu, the man who had killed the woman he loved.
"You...!" He hissed angrily at the elderly man. Just his aura alone was enough to blast several people back.
"Wei Xing, I'm afraid we cannot let you live. You have become a full fledge demon who will soon prey upon humans!" Sect Leader Qiu proclaimed.
Wei Xing laid his lover down onto the ground and with a snap of his fingers, his sword that had been knocked aside long ago flew up and struck Sect Leader Qiu in the chest.
"Grandfather!" Bai Qing cried. She clung onto Sect Leader Qiu to inspect his injury then looked up at Wei Xing. "Please don't kill him! He didn't mean to kill Xiu Xiang!"
"But he did. I want a life for a life. Blood for blood." His hand clawed out and Sect Leader Qiu flew right into his hand. He gripped him tightly by the neck. Wei Xing was just about to break his neck when he heard his master's voice.
"Wei Xing, let him go!" Sect Leader Lin ordered.
He froze for only a moment and then easily broke Sect Leader Qiu's neck. His body hung limp in his hand and was carelessly tossed aside. He ignored the eyes of his people and walked back to his lover's dead body. He carried her in his arms and finally turned his attention on Sect Leader Lin.
"Master, this disciple had failed you. From now on, considered me dead. I will no longer be a part of Tian Ling Sect," Wei Xing said. He easily tore a giant hole in the ceiling of the cave and flew out.
With the structure of the cave unstable, the area started to tremble and crack.
"Get out of the here! The cave is going to collapse!" someone shouted. Everyone raced out of the cave as fast as they could. By the time the righteous cultivators made it out of the cave, the mountain side had collapsed in and the cave was no more. Wei Xing and Xiu Xiang were long gone and nowhere to be found.
"Wei Xing..." Sect Leader Lin stared off into the distance wondering what he should have done differently.