The face before her was both familiar and strange. On this face were scars that Meng Ruji had personally inflicted, running from the left temple to the right corner of his mouth.
The scars looked terrifying. New flesh had already healed the wounds, but left traces completely different from his original skin tone, reminding Meng Ruji of the hatred that had once existed between them.
Meng Ruji suddenly swung her hand, knocking his away, while her other hand quickly grasped all the silver coins in her palm.
In the next instant!
The silver condensed, and Meng Ruji formed an array in her palm, conjuring from the formation a long sword glowing with blue light. Curse symbols flowed along the blade’s edge. Without a word, Meng Ruji swung the sword to strike.
Zhan Ye dodged sideways. The blade returned and pressed close again, forcing Zhan Ye to retreat continuously.
Meng Ruji pressed her advantage, giving Zhan Ye no chance to breathe, until she forced him to retreat outside the inn.
On the street, the wind was desolate, and no one was in sight.
Zhan Ye retreated several steps, steadied himself, then calmly raised his eyes to look at Meng Ruji, who had followed him out of the inn.
Her expression was icy cold as she stood holding her sword, overlapping with past images in his mind. Zhan Ye couldn’t help but grin, his eyes full of madness and obsession.
“You want to protect the people in the inn. You’re still the same as before.”
Meng Ruji gripped her sword tightly. Not one of Zhan Ye’s words entered her ears. Her only thought now was how to kill him.
Looking at the malevolent aura surrounding Zhan Ye, Meng Ruji knew she couldn’t defeat him. Without her Inner Core, the silver on her body couldn’t support her casting higher-level magic. The sword in her hand was already at the maximum power these silver coins could maintain.
Meng Ruji reached into her bosom with her left hand, grasping the gray-black stone.
She tapped it twice lightly, but still no response…
Mo Li was still sleeping. If she called Mu Sui and the others over…
Inner Core power could indeed deal with a malevolent aura, but the Inner Core was with Mu Sui. Although they had defeated Ye Chuan in the illusion last time, the malevolent aura on Zhan Ye was many times greater than Ye Chuan’s…
If she called Mu Sui over, could they win…
If not… she would be harming Mu Sui.
Compared to Meng Ruji’s wariness, Zhan Ye seemed much more relaxed. He even spread his arms and walked slowly toward Meng Ruji, as if to embrace her.
“Meng Ruji, I’ve slept here for many years. Do you know how happy I am to see you again?”
Meng Ruji raised her sword, her eyes devoid of emotion as she watched Zhan Ye’s movements, adjusting her breathing frequency, waiting for an opportunity…
“Swoosh!” A flash of light came from the side, striking directly at Zhan Ye!
It was Ye Chuan, who had been knocked down in the inn, now awake. The light he struck was just a copper coin—not powerful enough, but sufficient to make Zhan Ye turn his attention to Ye Chuan in that instant. Zhan Ye raised his hand, sending a malevolent aura straight at Ye Chuan. As expected, Ye Chuan was struck, but at the moment he acted, Meng Ruji’s figure shot forward like an arrow, stabbing straight at Zhan Ye. The blade broke through the air, creating turbulent waves, piercing directly through Zhan Ye’s heart.
Blood dripped down.
But Meng Ruji’s expression grew even more grave, because…
Zhan Ye had grasped her sword-holding wrist, gripping tightly the branches woven around her wrist, almost embedding them into her skin.
Blood rolled in his throat as he smiled and spoke: “After so long apart, you’ve forgotten that this can’t hurt me.”
Yes, ordinary magic couldn’t hurt him.
Last time, she had used the power of the Inner Core to “kill” him. Now…
Zhan Ye’s grip on Meng Ruji’s wrist grew tighter and tighter, as if he wanted to crush her wrist. Meng Ruji gritted her teeth and endured the pain without making a sound.
“I’m taking you back to the mortal realm.” Zhan Ye stared at Meng Ruji. “Meng Ruji, this time, you’ll stay by my side forever…”
Before Zhan Ye finished speaking, the wind stirred. Without any light or sound, like a gentle spring breeze passing by, the next moment, Zhan Ye’s eyes widened—his arm had separated directly from his body.
The hand gripping Meng Ruji’s wrist was still applying force, but the strength diminished in that instant.
Meng Ruji immediately reacted, turning and retreating to distance herself.
Horrifyingly!
Zhan Ye’s arm on her wrist didn’t let go, following her as she retreated.
In a moment of suffocating silence, Zhan Ye’s body and the arm that had left his body finally gushed forth torrents of terrifying blood!
The sword in Zhan Ye’s chest disappeared as Meng Ruji’s magic withdrew. Covered in blood but still pressing his bleeding wound, he stood in place, looking behind him with a sinister expression.
Mu Sui approached slowly, a fluffy rabbit on his shoulder. But the rabbit wasn’t as docile as usual—it bared its teeth with blood-red eyes, looking somewhat terrifyingly ready to devour people.
Mu Sui’s expression was no different from usual, yet inexplicably carried more authority. In his hand, a formation rotated. The formation was golden, with curse arrangements that were the Inner Core usage method that Meng Ruji had taught him in the illusion last time.
So he had learned it long ago…
Meng Ruji violently tore off the severed arm from her wrist and threw it aside.
She looked at Mu Sui, who had arrived, gazing at the formation in his hand, feeling somewhat envious of his comprehension ability.
That Inner Core—she had spent who knows how many times more effort than he did to gradually master it back then.
This guy had only learned it once in the illusion a few days ago, and now he could use Inner Core power to chop off Zhan Ye’s arm…
“Where did you want to take my wife?”
Mu Sui’s voice was cold but carried a hint of hoarseness.
Meng Ruji looked at him, frowning slightly. For some reason, she felt something was off about Mu Sui.
Hearing this, Zhan Ye smiled grimly: “It’s you, Qianshan Jun. You actually… obtained her Inner Core.”