Chapter Ninety-Two: The Violet Emperor

A familiar figure.

A familiar voice.

Ye Ran drew in a breath and rose to his feet, staring at the silhouette walking out of the violet mist, then glanced at Xia Li and Pandora beside him.

Within the purple haze stood ancient giant trees and an endless expanse of white snow.

Yes, this was not the world of illusion, but the world of reality. That violet figure was Zi Er’s true form.

She came forth from the purple mist, peerless in grace, unmatched under heaven.

Ye Ran wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and said, “I do not like killing,”

Yet his brow furrowed, and the blood on the back of his hand was once again being drawn in at a speed visible to the eye.

“Your body cannot deceive you. Your craving for blood is more urgent than that of the demon race,”

The purple-haired woman no longer had the spider legs at her back. In their place was an extraordinary weapon, a curved blade like a half-moon, translucent and pure as jade.

She stepped up behind Ye Ran and said, “The prosperity of every race has come through slaughter; every strong one must pass through the baptism of blood. Only in a rain of blood can the most beautiful flowers bloom,”

At first Ye Ran only frowned, but when he heard the words “the most beautiful flowers bloom in a rain of blood,” he was suddenly alarmed.

It was said that the most beautiful flower in the world was called Crimson White Bones, growing on the Burial Heaven Ridge at the border of the divine and demonic realms. This flower needed neither water nor sunlight, only nourishment from a rain of blood. It was said to be the most tragic and pitiless bloom in the world.

Pandora giggled. “Zi Er, why not kill this woman first and educate the boy slowly afterward?”

With a flick of her long whip, she lashed toward Xia Li.

“Ah... wait, I surrender!”

Xia Li, who had long been trying to fish in troubled waters, hurriedly forced a smile and raised her hands, but Pandora’s whip showed no mercy.

Ye Ran’s brow tightened, and he stepped forward to deflect the whip.

Of course he knew Xia Li had been injured so badly because of him.

When the giant shadow appeared in the abyss, Xia Li had protected him with telekinesis and a wall of force. Pandora had seized the chance to attack; otherwise, with Xia Li’s strength, she would never have feared Pandora.

Xia Li stuck out her tongue and, enduring the pain, hid behind Ye Ran.

Pandora chuckled. “Well now, boy, do you always like to play the hero and rescue the beauty?”

“Pandora, you and I belong to different races. We were never friends. This time I came to Westside only to repay my benefactor for saving my life. I, Ye Ran, repay kindness with kindness and vengeance with vengeance. The favor of the divine envoy who saved me, I will repay as well.”

Xia Li looked at him in some surprise. She had thought this boy, first poisoning her and then colluding with the demon race, must be sneaky and vile by nature. Yet now it seemed he clearly separated gratitude from resentment and possessed a fierce, upright temperament.

Pandora smiled and looked at the purple-haired woman. “Zi Er, it seems you’re the one who must do it.”

The purple-haired woman turned around. When she looked at Ye Ran, her gaze was still as calm as still water.

“Benefactor, are you also of the demon race?”

“Of the third evil vein of the demon race, Ziyue of the Purple Emperor Palace.”

Though he had his suspicions, Ye Ran was still stunned after receiving the answer.

“Benefactor, I don’t understand...”

She was clearly of the insect race. The green giant lizard on the first level of the underground nest had plainly called her Third Sister. He had heard it clearly, beyond any doubt. Even the elder Sices of Redleaf Academy and the Sun God Apollo had said she was of the insect race.

“She understands,”

Gong Ziyue looked toward Xia Li.

Xia Li rolled her eyes at her.

Ye Ran stared blankly at her, then nodded. After a long silence, he said resolutely, “Benefactor, whether you are of the insect race or the demon race, I, Ye Ran, do not care. The kindness I owed you has already been repaid, and this sword is returned to its rightful owner. I hope there will never come a day when we stand against each other in mortal combat.”

He threw the purple sword in his hand toward Gong Ziyue, who reached out and caught it.

“Benefactor, Divine Envoy Xia Li saved my life. She suffered because of me, and I cannot stand by and watch her die. I do not ask you to spare her, but if you want to kill her, you’ll have to get past me first.”

With one final, unyielding look, he turned and took Xia Li’s hand, striding out of the swirling purple mist and into the snow-white forest.

His nerves were taut, his fists clenched. In his heart he thought that if Pandora and Gong Ziyue moved against them, he would have no choice but to fight with his life on the line.

Yet until he had dragged Xia Li deep into the snowy woods, Pandora and Gong Ziyue still did not make a move.

“Zi Er, why not kill them?”

Seeing them grow farther and farther away, Pandora felt unwilling to let it go.

Gong Ziyue said, “The twin curse on his body has not yet disappeared.”

...

They had gone a great distance and still no sign of Pandora or Gong Ziyue pursuing them appeared. Not only that, but the two of them seemed to grow fainter by the moment. Only then did Ye Ran and Xia Li finally relax.

“Cough... cough...”

Once her guard dropped, Xia Li felt that her injuries were too severe to bear. She coughed up another mouthful of blood, her body nearly unable to remain upright.

“I’ll carry you.”

Without another word, Ye Ran lifted her onto his back and walked step by step toward the distant Wall of Desperation.

A bitter, bone-piercing wind blew in, and Xia Li could not help shivering.

If it were any other time, she would never have feared such wind and snow, but now her origin and vital force had nearly been exhausted. Such cold was enough to kill her.

Darkly, she thought to herself that if she froze to death here, it would be over. The histories would surely record that Divine Envoy Xia Li was the first and only divine envoy in the history of the Goat-Horn Continent to die of freezing, and her lifelong reputation would be utterly ruined.

As she was letting her thoughts wander, she suddenly saw Ye Ran remove his thick padded fur robe and drape it over her from behind. She froze, then smiled. “Boy, I’ll give you this: you do have some conscience.”

Ye Ran snorted, apparently unwilling to pay her any mind.

Xia Li sighed and lay quietly on his back, thinking that this boy truly had a strange temper. Clearly it was because of him that she had been hurt, and yet he still had such a bad attitude, as though he could not be bothered to answer her.

Xia Li spoke to him a few more times, but the result was always the same. Ye Ran seemed to be angry with her, and Xia Li grew displeased as well. In the end she simply stopped bothering him, and before long she had fallen asleep on his back.

Ye Ran, however, remained very alert. The purple energy within him was draining away at a rapid pace, and in this forest of giants and blood dwarves his situation was becoming increasingly perilous. Although the purification of the purple energy had slightly strengthened him, at most he was only at the level of the fourth stage of vital force. Here, he had to be cautious.

As expected, he soon encountered giants and blood dwarves. Carrying Xia Li, he fought his way through the forest as he advanced. By the time they emerged from the snowy woods, the sky had already darkened.

At last the Wall of Desperation stood before them. Ye Ran could faintly see the Night Wanderers riding about with torches in hand.

“It’s the Night Wanderers,”

Xia Li had awakened as well, and when she saw them she could not help but wave excitedly.

The sound of hoofbeats soon drew near, and the patrolling Night Wanderers also spotted them. Yet at this moment Ye Ran’s expression grew even more grave. He quietly retreated two steps toward the snowy forest behind him, glancing sidelong at the Night Wanderers hurrying toward them. From the look of him, he seemed ready to withdraw back into the woods.

Xia Li was startled. “Boy, what are you doing?”

Ye Ran said coldly, “Xia Li, I’ll ask you only once. How do you intend to handle the matter of me, Xiao Meng, and Sinclair?”