When a Yandere Cannon Fodder Meets a Dark, Twisted Villain - Chapter 26

“Is that so?”

A sliver of ghostly light ignited silently outside the cage. Ruo Ying’s figure slowly coalesced in the darkness. Gazing at the two figures leaning tightly against one another, her lips curled into a mocking arc.

“I would like to see just how you intend to escape my palm.”

Shu Mo raised her eyes toward the woman in red, her pupils suddenly transforming into gold.

Initially, Ruo Ying remained indifferent, but a realization suddenly struck her. Her expression shifted violently as she attempted to fly backward in retreat, yet it was already too late.

The moment their eyes met, she had already fallen victim to the technique. Her gaze became vacant and dull, and she stood frozen on the spot, sinking into an illusion.

Watching this scene unfold, Shi Yining’s mind settled slightly.

“Daoist Shu, we…” Her words cut off abruptly.

She heard a muffled groan of pain from the person holding her.

Turning to look, those eyes—usually cool, clear, and capable of reflecting the stars and moon—were now tightly shut. Two startling streaks of blood-red tears flowed down from them.

In that instant, Shi Yining’s heart felt as though it had been seized by a sudden grip, aching so sharply it nearly took her breath away.

“Daoist Shu, your eyes…” Her voice was nearly trembling.

Shu Mo’s eyelashes fluttered weakly several times before she finally opened them. Her eyes, which had once been as bright as stars, were now hollow and dim, stripped of all focus.

She tilted her head slightly, “looking” toward Shi Yining. Her voice was extremely soft, carrying a sense of comfort. “It is no matter. It is only temporary blindness; they will recover in the future.”

Ruo Ying’s cultivation was very high; using the Thousand-Illusion Golden Pupil technique against her required an immense toll. Shu Mo had prepared herself long before taking action, and thus she remained calm and composed, facing her current situation with equanimity.

Temporary blindness… These two words were like a blade, repeatedly carving into Shi Yining’s heart.

Two lines of clear tears fell silently. She reached out with trembling hands, gently cupping that jade-carved face. The skin her fingertips touched was ice-cold.

Even though she was freezing herself, Shu Mo had taken off her outer robe to drape it over her…

Why… why be so good to me…

She wasn’t worth it; she wasn’t worth this at all. In their past life, she had nearly ruined her…

Shi Yining endured the bitterness, wanting to pull the outer robe off, but the moment she moved, she was stopped by Shu Mo.

Slender, strong fingers firmly grasped her fair wrist. “Daoist Shi is sensitive to the cold; it is better to wear it and stay warm. I am not cold.”

“You’re frozen to this point, and you’re still acting tough?”

Shi Yining was both heartbroken and exasperated. She held her ground, but without her spiritual power, she truly could not best the other woman. In the blink of an eye, the robe she had just started to remove was back on her shoulders.

Feeling somewhat defeated, she gazed at that jade-like face. When her eyes caught the two streaks of blood-tears, her nose grew sharp with grief again.

She tried reaching out to touch them gently; a trace of warmth still remained.

Shi Yining carefully wiped away the bloodstains, her movements as light as if she were cleaning a rare treasure.

When the last trace of red vanished from her fingertips, she broke down into tears, finally unable to stop herself from pulling Shu Mo into a tight embrace.

Her hug was incredibly forceful, as if she intended to transfer her own life force to the other person to dispel the darkness devouring the light…

The sound of suppressed sobbing reached her ears. Shu Mo returned the embrace, her well-defined fingers slowly moving through the cool, dark hair hanging at the woman’s shoulder.

“I am fine. It is only the over-exhaustion of the pupil technique. I will recover after resting for a while. Do not cry; if you cry until you look like a little spotted cat, you won’t be pretty anymore.”

Shi Yining quickly wiped her tears. “I wasn’t crying. Daoist Shu heard wrong…”

Shu Mo smiled faintly, her pale lips curving into a slight arc. She did not expose the lie.

The surrounding chill was bone-piercing, but her beloved’s embrace was warmer—so warm one might wish to indulge in it forever. Unfortunately, they had not yet escaped danger.

“The illusion might not be able to trap Ruo Ying completely. We must leave as soon as possible.”

The cage had been constructed from Ruo Ying’s spiritual power. Now that the woman was trapped, the cage imprisoning them was gradually disintegrating.

Shi Yining slowly helped Shu Mo up, pushing down her chaotic thoughts. She said calmly, “A person like Ruo Ying is bound to be meticulous. Although the cage is dissipating, there may be even more dangerous traps outside. What do you think we should do, Daoist Shu?”

“We will ‘toss a stone to ask the way’—confirm there is no danger before moving forward. The cold air in this world is all flowing toward the true north. I suggest we go there and bypass any danger we encounter.”

After facing this hardship together, Shi Yining trusted Shu Mo completely. Without any hesitation, she agreed.

After a few moments, a new discovery brought her sudden joy.

“Daoist Shu, my spiritual power is beginning to recover!”

The corners of Shu Mo’s lips tilted up slightly. “The power of the illusion is still gradually strengthening. Since Ruo Ying is trapped within it, she has temporarily lost her connection to the outside world. As long as she cannot escape the illusion, our spiritual power can slowly return to its peak.”

“If that is the case, that is truly for the best!”

Hope began to grow in Shi Yining’s heart. The moment she regained her spiritual power, she immediately cast a spell to form a defensive barrier around the person beside her, shielding her from the external cold.

Sensing this, the curve of Shu Mo’s smile became even more pronounced.

Under the faint, glimmering light, two slender figures were reflected on the ground, leaning on one another…

…

Half a tea-time later, Shi Yining gradually approached the place where the cold air converged. Her gaze inadvertently swept across the desolate ground, and her heart immediately froze in shock.

The two shadows cast upon the ground stretched longer and longer; in the darkness, their silken hair seemed to blend, and their sleeves touched, appearing inseparable at a single glance.

At this moment, Shu Mo’s back remained ramrod straight, yet her forehead leaned gently against the shoulder and neck of the woman beside her, an unconscious display of reliance.

Sensing the other woman’s pace falter slightly, she inquired curiously: “Has Daoist Shi discovered something new?”

Shi Yining snapped back to reality instantly. “We have reached the exit. I only wonder if stepping into the vortex ahead will return us to the outside world, or sweep us into another realm entirely…”

Shu Mo took hold of her jade-like hand, her fingertips sliding down until their fingers were once again interlocked.

“No matter what lies ahead, we face it together.”

“Fine…” A whisper of a response followed, yet it seemed to carry ten thousand unspoken words.

The moment they stepped into the vortex, the world spun violently.

When their vision cleared, everything was a vast expanse of white.

Shi Yining suppressed the astonishment in her heart. “Daoist Shu, beyond the vortex is an endless range of snow-capped mountains… if I am not mistaken, we are currently in the Extreme Cold Ice Domain—one of the legendary Ten Desolate Lands of the Azure Heaven Realm.”

“The Extreme Cold Ice Domain is within the territory of the demonic cultivators, tens of thousands of miles away from the Three Sects. It seems that vortex functioned similarly to a teleportation array.”

No sooner had Shu Mo spoken than a thunderous crack echoed from the distance.

The void tore open without warning, and a fiery red figure flew out from within.

Ruo Ying, having just broken free from the illusion, hovered in mid-air. From her high vantage point, she looked down at the two figures standing close together amidst the ice and snow.

“Mo’er truly has clever methods. The technique of the Thousand-Illusion Golden Pupils has long been lost in this realm; I wonder from where Mo’er managed to learn it?”

Her words carried the faint sound of grinding teeth. Had she not possessed a treasure capable of clearing her mind at a critical moment, she feared she would have been trapped in that illusion forever, slowly turning into withered bones.

“Does Senior think I would tell you?”

Shu Mo’s voice was calm, without a ripple of emotion, as if the person who had appeared was not a powerful enemy, but someone of no consequence.

Hearing this, Ruo Ying’s temper flared. Her figure flashed, and she vanished instantly from her spot.

In the next breath, the protective talisman hanging at Shi Yining’s waist shattered with a bang. Her shoulders suddenly tightened, and in that instant, she was forced away from Shu Mo, falling into a cold, strange embrace.

“Don’t move!” Just as she began to struggle, she received a sharp warning.

“Let her go! If you have business, direct it at me!”

For the first time, Shu Mo’s voice lost its composure.

Ruo Ying cast a spell to seal Shi Yining’s spiritual power, simultaneously placing a silence hex on her, leaving her unable to speak.

“Mo’er, the darling you hold so close to your heart is now in my hands. I advise you to speak the truth. Once I know the facts, I will naturally release her.”

Shu Mo knew her temperament all too well; she understood that telling the truth would be the real harm to Daoist Shi. Her spiritual power had only recovered by less than half; to save her, she had to rely on wit.

“If Senior is so intent on resurrecting your elder sister, have you ever considered that since she died for you all those years ago, she might not wish to see you?”

This matter was the taboo hidden in the deepest part of Ruo Ying’s heart. Her face suddenly twisted into a hideous expression. “Shut up!”

Shu Mo ignored her shout and continued to tear open the old wound.

“Back then, you were competitive and obsessed with taking the top prize in the Sect Competition. To that end, you ignored Martial Aunt Ruo Nian’s repeated warnings and broke into Soul-Severing Island to pluck the Heavenly Spirit Grass that can instantly raise one’s realm. But your strength was insufficient; you were gravely wounded by the guardian beast. To save you, Martial Aunt Ruo Nian died at the beast’s mouth. If she had not gone there, the one who died should have been you.”

“I told you to shut up!”

Overcome with rage, Ruo Ying released the woman she held captive and frantically launched a barrage of attacks at Shu Mo.

With the release of the grip, the seal on Shi Yining’s spiritual power broke, and the silence hex dissipated.

It was at this exact moment that the snow-capped mountains began to collapse.

In an instant, the world lost its color.

Countless tons of snow cascaded down from the peaks, a momentum so vast it looked capable of annihilating all life.

Having regained her freedom, Shi Yining did not hesitate to charge toward the figure about to be submerged by the white tide.

“Don’t come over!” The warning cry from Shu Mo, who had exhausted her spiritual power, had barely left her lips when the other woman reached her side.

A familiar fragrance reached Shu Mo’s nose. In this moment, she, who had faced the threat of death without fear, felt a sudden surge of panic in her heart…

The moment they fell into a warm embrace, countless layers of snow rolled over them.

Cold, heavy, suffocating… it felt as if the entire world was pressing down.

Shu Mo quickly pulled the other woman into a reverse embrace, using her own back to bear the brunt of the impact from the ice and snow.

Shi Yining desperately pushed her remaining spiritual power, raising a fragile barrier around them that flickered and wavered, on the verge of collapse.

After an unknown amount of time, a splashing sound echoed in their ears.

The barrier they had been struggling to maintain shattered completely.

Suddenly, a great deal of water poured into their mouths and noses. It wasn’t the bone-chilling cold they expected; instead, it carried a profound warmth.

Her spiritual power spent, Shi Yining felt her breath becoming heavy.

Just as her consciousness was about to fade, a soft, warm touch gently covered her lips.

The breath passed to her was as clear and fresh as always, carrying that familiar cold fragrance, slowly seeping into the spaces between her teeth…

Support