**Chapter Sixty-Two: Extremely Cruel Methods**
Solang Pema could no longer endure being followed by Jiang Li like a ghost. At this moment, he seized the opportunity and struck with a thunderous blow.
In the instant he drew his curved dagger, spirit patterns expanded to their utmost, and a wild wind suddenly appeared, subtly accompanied by the chanting of a sacred song in the gust.
Solang Pema’s sturdy body seemed to disappear into the howling wind and snow as he charged at Jiang Li like a vicious white dragon rolling across the land.
“d*mn woman, you like following me, huh? Let me show you how to k*ll you!”
With Solang Pema’s low growl, a chill swept over, and Jiang Li suddenly regained her senses. The imposing silhouette ahead coalesced through the wind and snow, as the golden curved dagger sliced fiercely toward her face.
Seeing this, Jiang Li clenched her silver teeth, enduring the pain caused by the Black Sun Totem. She stepped back hastily, raising her long sword to protect her front.
“Hmph!”
Jiang Li’s actions provoked a cold laugh from Solang Pema. He twisted his wrist, instantly changing the trajectory of his downward-slashing dagger to strike diagonally against her long sword.
“Clang——!”
The deafening sound of metal clashing erupted, followed by a piercing, shrill noise.
At the moment their weapons collided, leveraging the dual oppression of strength and spirit energy fluctuation, Solang Pema forcefully pressed down on Jiang Li’s long sword that she was guarding in front, the blade spinning and slicing along the length of the sword, producing a dazzling array of sparks.
“Boom——!”
The sound of breaking air exploded.
In a critical moment, Jiang Li used the pommel of her sword to block the incoming curved dagger. The impact between the pommel and the dagger triggered a strong shockwave.
Waves infused with fierce toxins and the cutting winds spread like a ring blade, obliterating the nearby forest area within a radius of nearly fifty meters.
Under the intense impact, Jiang Li was sent flying backward while rapidly chanting the spell formula.
“Etch gold, glass, and jade, slanting sun formation, like a crystal platform…”
“Siye Society defensive precision spell [Golden Glass Platform]? Heh!”
As a defector from the Siye Society, Solang Pema immediately recognized the spell Jiang Li was executing, letting out a cold laugh.
A mere precision spell could never withstand his attack!
While sneering, he did not hesitate, crossing his arms and bending slightly at the waist, leaping forward like a feral beast, his long dagger sweeping horizontally once again.
In an instant, the spirit patterns behind him lit up, and the phantom of a nine-colored lotus flashed behind him, with spirit energy as mighty as a holy mountain in a snowy region guiding through his sinewy arms into the curved dagger. The power of the spirit patterns transformed into a magnificent pale arc of light like an avalanche.
Simultaneously, Jiang Li completed the chanting, and with the fluctuation of spirit energy, nine glass platforms radiating golden light broke through the soil, rising.
The pale arc of light swept by, and the glass platforms shattered one after another with explosive sounds, instantly enveloping the forest in fierce light.
It’s over…
Staring at the raging blizzard ahead, Solang Pema inwardly cursed, when suddenly, he heard a sound resembling hooves colliding with stone slabs.
Slightly dazed for a moment, he traced the source of the sound and abruptly looked up.
He saw a silver-white figure stepping onto the soon-to-disintegrate glass platform, leaping several meters through the air, crossing over his head, and then rapidly descending. The long sword in her hand tore through his sheepskin coat, leaving a gruesome bloodstain on his back.
[Mythological Species: Centaur Minion] appeared, and the Hydra toxin was released!
————
“Interesting.”
Watching the forest enveloped by fierce light, the hidden Beres murmured, a playful smile appearing at the corners of his mouth.
An attack of this scale might not k*ll Jiang Li, but it could severely injure her. Afterward, he only needed to walk over and easily take away the gravely wounded Jiang Li.
“Yeah, quite interesting.”
Just as Beres prepared to rise, a delicate voice suddenly entered his ears. He turned back in surprise, and his pupils suddenly shrank violently.
Behind him, a girl with chestnut hair wearing a red little cloak, holding a spicy strip in her mouth, and carrying a broken sword on her shoulder, had appeared without him noticing.
He and the mysterious substance on him had failed to detect the girl’s arrival.
Just as he turned around, the broken sword in the girl’s hand was already whistling toward his face, and as he tried to dodge, he realized that a bunch of sealing spell formulas had been laid around without him knowing, making his face turn green and white.
Not good, I can’t dodge!
Wait, no…
Beres just realized that the girl was swinging the sword’s body at him instead of the blade, and before he could think about why she would act like this, a jolt hit his forehead, and his brain felt a tearing pain.
A strange impact, ignoring his flesh and spirit energy defenses, poured into his skull, shattering his brain, and his vision instantly plunged into darkness.
As Beres’ skull exploded under the force of Ling Tai Purification, bl**d mixed with brain matter gushed from his nostrils and slightly parted lips. Luxianbei jumped back two or three meters in fright.
What the hell? What’s going on? Someone just gets knocked out and bleeds a bit, but how did his skull blow up? Luxianbei thought, falling into contemplation while staring at the corpse on the ground.
She rushed over and saw Jiang Li in a fierce battle, originally intending to support immediately. But just as she was preparing to act, she discovered this unidentified spiritual ability user lurking in the shadows.
So, without a second thought, Luxianbei thoughtfully arranged for him a full set of sealing spell formulas, generously offering a head massage with Ling Tai Purification.
The result…
I really didn’t mean to k*ll him; I was just worried he would ambush Jiang Li, and it was all Ling Tai Purification’s doing.
Knocking him out? Wouldn’t that make me richer on the Urban Legends Chat Group’s bounty website?
Luxianbei thought, adhering to the principle of killing only when necessary, preparing to deliver a one-stop service of killing, cremating, and burying Beres’ corpse.
At that moment, Jiang Li suddenly coughed violently not far away.
Hearing the sound, Luxianbei’s heart tightened. She looked up to see Jiang Li slumped against a broken tree, her abdominal armor twisted and misshapen, bl**d seeping from her mouth as she clearly lost all combat capability, while Solang Pema staggered toward her, dragging his curved dagger.
After all, Solang Pema was an A+ Grade spiritual ability user. Although his combat methods were somewhat lacking, his spirit energy level was considerable. The Hydra toxin carried by Jiang Li’s blade had been temporarily suppressed by him relying on his spirit energy.
Seeing this, Luxianbei glared fiercely at Beres’ fallen body, quickly averting her gaze, and then activated her movement technique, dashing forward with her sword raised.
Though it was against her principles to hit someone already down,
What time is it?
To hell with principles!
As Luxianbei turned to charge at Jiang Li, Beres’ eyes suddenly moved, and with a soft “poof,” one of his eyeballs, dragging bl**d and flesh, burst from its socket, crawling away into the pitch-black forest…
————
Vision blurring, Solang Pema heavily breathed as he staggered in front of Jiang Li.
He almost died under Jiang Li’s sword.
The pain brought by the Hydra toxin could make even a god abandon life, continuously stabbing at his nerves and driving him almost insane.
He did not even know if he could survive after killing Jiang Li.
But he knew that as long as Jiang Li was alive, he wouldn’t have even a sliver of hope for survival.
So, he slowly raised his curved dagger, summoning the last remnants of spirit energy, and struck savagely at Jiang Li.
“Poof——!”
The sound of flesh tearing echoed, crimson bl**d splattering as the air was instantly filled with a thick smell of bl**d.
Solang Pema’s eyes widened as he watched his arm fly into the air, bl**d mist spraying out in chunks before disappearing from view. The next moment, he felt a heavy impact from the side, and he was sent flying, crashing down heavily into the ground, splattering a mix of bl**d and snowmelt into mud.
Luxianbei kicked Solang Pema away, disregarding his life or d*ath, and immediately pounced in front of Jiang Li, frantically pulling out several test tubes filled with liquid that resembled mercury from her pocket, holding them to Jiang Li’s mouth while softly complaining.
“Didn’t I tell you? The situation is off; letting him go is fine…”
Jiang Li avoided Luxianbei’s gaze, her eyes falling on the test tubes in her hand, attempting to change the subject. “This seems to be a standard potion from the Siye Society…”
“Just now, that Inspector General shoved it at me.” Luxianbei explained, continuing to pout, “That person’s spirit energy fluctuation level is two levels higher than yours, why did you go against him? Only protagonists can k*ll beings of higher levels. Don’t you know that?”
“……” Jiang Li looked at Luxianbei with a resentful expression, saying nothing and refusing to drink the potion she presented to her mouth, seemingly in a sulk.
“What’s wrong? Are you too weak to drink it? Fine! Then I can feed you, right?” Luxianbei said, lifting a tube of potion and pouring it into her own mouth before leaning toward Jiang Li.
“Tsk!” Jiang Li’s cheeks reddened, and she spat, pushing Luxianbei away with both hands, promptly snatching the remaining potion from her hand and muttering, “What kind of feeding is that?”
“What do you mean? In novels, when feeding medicine to incapacitated people, isn’t it done like this?”
Jiang Li rolled her eyes, pulling the cork from one test tube and pouring the mercury-like potion into her mouth. Her slender neck swayed slightly as she adjusted her breathing, her face gradually regaining its color.
At this moment, she turned her head to look at the motionless Solang Pema and calmly inquired, “What do you plan to do with him?”
Luxianbei followed Jiang Li’s gaze and frowned in thought for a moment. She took a vial of potion from Jiang Li, stood up, walked over, used her toes to flip Solang Pema over, then bent down to pry open his mouth, pouring the potion into him and using spirit energy to guide it into his abdomen.
As it turned out, even when dealing with someone paralyzed or unconscious, it wasn’t strictly necessary to do mouth-to-mouth; she had just wanted to seize the opportunity.
Seeing this, Jiang Li was momentarily taken aback, asking in surprise, “What are you doing? If his injuries heal…”
“Don’t worry, it’ll be better if he recovers!” Luxianbei glanced at Jiang Li, saying, “If he’s injured, I fear he won’t last until my methods are finished, and that would be too easy on him.”
“By the way, if the poison on your blade isn’t neutralized, it won’t k*ll him in the short term, right? If there’s a risk of him dying from the poison, please neutralize it first.”
“……” Jiang Li silently gazed at Luxianbei, momentarily at a loss for words.
Although Luxianbei’s tone was so indifferent and her face devoid of any ripple, at this moment, her presence made one’s spine shiver.
After a long silence, she slowly lifted her long sword, giving it a gentle shake, accompanied by a humming sound as she neutralized the toxin within Solang Pema.
Under the dual torment of the Hydra toxin and excessive bl**d loss, Solang Pema had originally lost consciousness. But with the toxin dissipating and the potion entering his system, it began to take effect, and he soon awakened.
He gasped, as if he were pulled out of drowning, breathing heavily, and when he clearly saw the girl’s face in front of him, he suddenly widened his eyes.
“You, it’s you! You are the one from last time…”
“Correct, it’s me.” Luxianbei interrupted.
“Who are you?! Why…?”
“Why did I attack you?” Luxianbei coldly interjected, “I already told you last time, I’m a passing witch. You disturbed me while watching a movie, so you must d*e.”
Luxianbei would not tell Solang Pema the real reason; that would make his d*ath too easy.
Someone like Solang Pema would surely understand that those who got involved in the mix sooner or later had to pay their dues, always prepared to k*ll enemies that might seek revenge or to be killed in retaliation during their continuous slaughter.
Luxianbei aimed to make him feel that his d*ath was utterly worthless and inexplicable.
“……”
What the hell, disturbing your movie!
How could there be someone or some urban legend in this world that bore a grudge against others for such a reason, even to the point of not resting until d*ath?!
Solang Pema glared fiercely at Luxianbei, breathing heavily, feeling as though a lump of pus was congested in his chest, not able to rise or fall.
He stared intently at Luxianbei’s eyes, trying to see something within them, only to find her gaze as calm as a still lake.
He could not sense any anger; it felt as if she was merely casually punishing a thug who had disturbed her movie-watching.
Finally, Solang Pema could not take it anymore, struggling to get up and let out a low growl, “You motherf—”
As soon as he opened his mouth, he heard Luxianbei softly say to him, “Look into my eyes.”
As she spoke, her charm ability and dream-invoking ability were simultaneously unleashed to their maximum extent, momentarily warping the space within her line of sight.
The alluring voice entered Solang Pema’s ears, and in that instant, he almost forgot the warning Miss Rabbit had given him, subconsciously meeting Luxianbei’s gaze, and soon his consciousness began to spiral into a haze.
“Poof——!”
At that moment of clouded awareness, Solang Pema did not hesitate to raise his hand and pierced through his own eyes.
It worked, he avoided it; as long as I don’t meet her gaze, she can’t affect me.
Just as Solang Pema was feeling grateful, he suddenly heard Luxianbei’s voice, which sounded like a demonic whisper.
“Heh, did you forget? Your hand has long been severed by me!”
That’s right, it has been severed… so what I just…
Solang Pema inwardly cursed, and as he became aware that his consciousness had fallen under Luxianbei’s control, a bright light suddenly pierced his eyes, his pupils shook violently, narrowing to a point.
“Now, let’s see what your deepest fear is?” Luxianbei spoke softly to Solang Pema.
As her whispers poured forth, Solang Pema suddenly felt a wet sensation on his face, as if rainwater was splattering down on him. The coldness carried by the water instantly jolted him back to lucidity. He steadied himself and looked forward, then…
He saw that rainy night.
Everything was hazy in the torrential downpour, but Solang Pema saw something darker than the night, like an invisible mist stretching across the sky.
It showcased a dimension beyond time and space, breaching all logic, as if existing in a distorted, strange, and chaotic space without order.
Suddenly, he heard something screeching in his ear, every sound twisted and filled with an unmistakable malice.
Though he could not see anything with a tangible form, fear took root in his mind in an instant, more intense than the most terrifying nightmare. It erupted from every cell in his body, causing him to tremble uncontrollably.
At this moment, the illusion before Solang Pema came to a screeching halt.
Luxianbei had no idea what kind of horrific thing Solang Pema was seeing that scared him so. She had merely amplified the embodiment of his deepest fears and presented it before him.
She attempted to discern what appeared in Solang Pema’s nightmare, but even she, the creator of the illusion, was affected by those visions. Before long, she began to feel dizzy, nearly fainting, forcing her to temporarily interrupt the illusion.
“……”
Solang Pema stared blankly at Luxianbei for a long time before snapping back to reality, suddenly letting out a heart-wrenching scream, “Please, k*ll me! Hurry and k*ll me! Don’t let me see that thing again!”
Luxianbei regained her composure and coldly gazed at Solang Pema, pressing her hands firmly against his forehead, speaking just two words.
“No.”
————
In the distance, Jiang Li watched Luxianbei with deep intent, her brows knitted.
She could tell that Luxianbei was using some sort of hallucination technique on Solang Pema, tormenting him mentally, but could hardly imagine what kind of illusion Luxianbei had conjured for him.
When Solang Pema was immersed in the fantasy, he looked like he was having a seizure, his eyes rolled back and bulged outward, his body convulsing violently while he cried out in anguish, producing chilling, hair-raising howls.
And just when she thought Luxianbei might scare Solang Pema to d*ath like this, Luxianbei paused briefly. After a minute, she pulled him back into the hallucination again.
Jiang Li, “……”
Watching such a scene, she suddenly recalled a line of poetry — “I could have endured the darkness, if only I had never seen the light.”
What Luxianbei was doing now was akin to continuously letting Solang Pema see a glimmer of light, only to thrust him back into the deepest darkness again.
The methods were extremely cruel.
