Chapter 48: Buqi, Nian Nian will Take You Home

Jiang Nian Nian plummeted straight down.

Yin Buqi’s pupils suddenly contracted.

He reached for his sword, leapt forward, and charged fiercely toward her.

His sword strike was terrifyingly swift and powerful.

Water splashed everywhere as Jiang Nian Nian was soaked to the bone, her eyes unable to open.

Yet  she clearly felt a strong force pull her from the Yin spirits and push her toward the shore.

She seemed to realize something and struggled to open her eyes, but a chilling fear surged through her heart.

A sword wound had appeared on Yin Buqi’s arm.

He didn’t resist as he fell from the air.

That wound was self-inflicted—he intended to use himself as bait to lure the spirits into the depths, allowing her to escape!

One by one, the Yin spirits pierced through his body.

A metallic taste of blood filled his throat, and his internal organs suffered immense damage.

Yin Buqi let out a light cough, blood surged from his mouth, staining his lips red.

The hot blood splattered, landing on his pale face, blooming into crimson flowers—bright and eerie.

“No!”

Jiang Nian Nian, who had been pushed to the shore, felt her heart clench so painfully that she couldn’t breathe.

Yin Buqi glanced at her, his lips curling into a faint smile.

He was clearly smiling, yet there was a bitter sadness in his eyes.

He truly loved seeing her look so worried about him.

All eyes were on him, focused solely on him.

If he died like this, she would probably remember him for the rest of her life.

The sword in his hand gradually loosened, and the Yin spirits around him suddenly surged from the water. They loomed darkly, ready to devour him whole.

The once turbulent water surface suddenly grew calm. All the spirits, along with Yin Buqi, sank into the water.

It was as if nothing had happened—as if the recent danger was just a dream.

But the corpses of a few cultivators on the shore served as a grim reminder that this was no dream.

An eerie silence filled the air.

“Buqi! How could you… come back… Buqi, ahhhhhhh! Come back…”

Jiang Nian Nian’s tears welled up in her eyes. Unable to hold them back any longer, she broke into heart-wrenching sobs.

Yin Ci, overwhelmed with emotion, felt his eyes redden, and his heart ached.

“Big Brother Yin…”

He shot a furious look at Tang Murou, then grabbed her by the collar.

“This is all your fault! Are you insane? Why did you fly over there for no reason? Why didn’t you die? Why wasn’t it you instead?!”

“Awoo!” Coal Ball, tied to Yin Ci’s waist, glared fiercely at Tang Murou and barked at her.

Jiang Ziyou said, “Junior brother, calm down. Master said we must treat people with courtesy.”

Other cultivators tried to mediate.

“Yes, exactly. Miss Tang didn’t do it on purpose. The dead cannot return to life.”

“Master Yin, Miss Tang is a Nine-Tailed Fox, the savior of—”

Yin Ci, his eyes bloodshot, interrupted angrily and flung Tang Murou aside.

“If it weren’t for you plucking that lotus for no reason, the spirits wouldn’t have gone berserk. If it weren’t for protecting you, those cultivators wouldn’t have died. And if you hadn’t foolishly gone back,  brother Yin wouldn’t have been swallowed by the spirits…”

“Savior? How ridiculous! I think you just want the world to be in chaos! Beauty is the root of all trouble!”

Hearing this, the others stopped trying to dissuade him and fell silent.

Yin Ci wasn’t wrong—Tang Murou had indeed gone too far.

Tang Murou, filled with resentment, had felt uneasy ever since encountering Jiang Nian Nian.

She had been injured at the Immortal Alliance Conference, nearly killed by the Yin spirits, and now blamed by everyone.

Unable to hold back, she started crying again.

“I was only trying to help! Why are you so mean to me? Do you think you’re the only one grieving? Do you know how much pain I’m in?!”

Slap!

A sharp sound echoed.

Tang Murou clutched her face in disbelief, staring at Yin Ci as though she hadn’t expected him to hit her.

Gritting his teeth, Yin Ci spat, “If you weren’t the Nine-Tailed Fox, I would’ve thrown you down there myself by now!”

Tang Murou’s face instantly turned pale.

She bit her lip as tears fell pitifully, but the crowd’s attention shifted to another commotion.

“Miss Jiang!”

In an instant, a loud splash echoed as Jiang Nian Nian leapt into the water, creating waves before everything returned to stillness.

Jiang Nian Nian cast a water-repelling spell and hurriedly searched for Yin Buqi’s body.

Yin Buqi was hers.

Even in death, he was her ghost, and she had to take him back for a proper burial.

He… feared the cold so much.

She couldn’t leave him alone in this freezing water.

The surroundings were pitch black, with no sign of the Yin spirits.

It was unnervingly calm.

Jiang Nian Nian summoned small spiritual flames for light to check for danger.

After searching for a long time, she finally found Yin Buqi at the bottom of the river, eyes closed.

The surrounding spirits had turned into strands of black mist, seeping into his body.

It didn’t seem like they were corroding his body; rather, it seemed like he was absorbing them!

In his hand was an iron sword—not his original one.

The blade was blood-red, covered in dense black runes, and an eerie glowing stone was embedded in the hilt.

Finally, the last wisp of black mist disappeared.

Jiang Nian Nian swam toward him as fast as she could.

He lay there quietly.

His breathtakingly beautiful face was deathly pale, devoid of blood, and his clothes were torn, revealing countless wounds.

He looked like a beautiful prey caught in a spider’s web.

He had lost the strength to struggle, silently awaiting decay and death.

Jiang Nian Nian touched his face, tears streaming down as she sobbed, “Buqi… I’m here to take you home.”

But just as she held him, the person in her arms suddenly opened his eyes.

His scarlet pupils cracked open with countless fissures, leaking sinister, chilling mist.

The flames in his eyes seemed ready to devour everything.

Jiang Nian Nian: “!”

She felt something long and thin, like a cold serpent, coiling around her neck.

The pressure suddenly tightened, cutting off all air.

It was as if she were being strangled.

Jiang Nian Nian’s breathing was obstructed, her face turning blue as she struggled frantically.

The pain of suffocation filled her with despair.

Her vision darkened, and it seemed as though death was only moments away.

“Buqi… are you… going to kill me?”

Yin Buqi’s entire body tensed, veins bulging on the back of his hand as he gripped the sword, as if he were about to explode.

He resembled a wild beast trapped in a cage.

Jiang Nian Nian smiled bitterly.

With the last of her strength, she kissed Yin Buqi’s lips.

A tear slipped down her cheek, falling into his mouth.

Yin Buqi trembled slightly, and suddenly, the tension broke.

Just before his last trace of consciousness slipped away, the force strangling her neck vanished.

Air flooded in all at once, and Jiang Nian Nian gasped desperately as though she had been resurrected.

Yin Buqi held her tightly, like a drowning man clutching onto his only hope.

His eyes still held lingering confusion as he hoarsely whispered, “Nian Nian…”