Chapter 19: One Wave Subsides, Another Rises

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Mo Liuli, filled with confusion, could only close her eyes and feign sleep. The roar of a dragon she had heard earlier at the Mo residence echoed again in her ears. Within that roar, she seemed to perceive the sorrow and anger of a child.

Her hand instinctively caressed her swollen abdomen. Regarding familial affection, shaped by her circumstances and memories, her heart was as calm as still water. Even when she first learned she was pregnant, she remained indifferent. Yet that roar easily stirred a tender softness deep within her.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

A series of muffled, crisp sounds came from outside the courtyard. Several figures with red heads, ghostly faces, and fanged mouths continuously launched attacks on the yard. Their bloodstained axes struck again and again against an invisible barrier before the courtyard, producing unsettling muffled thuds.

Xiao Junwang, who had left the courtyard earlier, was nowhere to be seen for reasons unknown. Witnessing this sudden attack, a foreboding feeling rose in Mo Liuli’s heart. The skull masks with fanged mouths gave her a splitting headache, as if something was about to burst from her brain. The bloodvine jade pendant also flew off her body on its own, heading outside the courtyard.

The pendant encountered no resistance and landed directly into the hand of one of the ghost-faced, fanged attackers. Their black hoodies bore an embroidered blood axe on the left chest—vivid and lifelike, seamlessly matching the blood axe in their hands.

“Return the Blood Jade! Form the Demon Star! Assist the Master to Conquer the World!” the ghost-faced man shouted, raising his blood axe high. As the cry fell, the crimson blood axe surged like a tidal wave toward the barrier. The others echoed in unison, raising their axes and charging at the barrier.

The sturdy barrier trembled, cracks spreading rapidly, showing signs of imminent collapse.

“Conquer the world?” Mo Liuli grimaced in pain, clutching her head, lips pressed tight as she repeated the words.

“Insignificant pests! How dare you act so boldly before me! Get lost, back to wherever you came from!” Xiao Junwang appeared, riding a phoenix ablaze with fire, cutting through the air. His palm emitted cold, deep blue flames that incinerated the ghost-faced attackers one by one. The flames turned their blood axes to ashes on contact. One attacker’s hand was burned away entirely, leaving not even a bone behind.

Remarkably, despite the agony of his flesh and bone burning, the man did not cry out. Without a hand, he gritted his teeth and, ignoring the flames, charged his body against the barrier.

Now riddled with fissures, the barrier had become semi-transparent. The other ghost-faced attackers, having lost their weapons, also recklessly rammed their bodies against the barrier, determined to break through at all costs. The one who had taken the bloodvine jade pendant formed a strange hand sign and vanished from sight.

Seeing the fearless ghost-faced men, Xiao Junwang’s cold, narrow eyes flickered as he unleashed his flames in sweeping arcs toward their backs.

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Bones along their backs, skull vertebrae—all burned away, leaving only a shattered braincase intact! Their screams pierced through the eastern rooms, chilling to the bone.

Hovering above, Xiao Junwang frowned upon hearing the cries, then extinguished the heavenly fire.

“Ah! Why? Why kill them? Why?” Mo Liuli’s eyes were red as she tore at her hair, nearly mad as she rushed toward the barrier, casting hostile glances at Xiao Junwang.

Her rounded body struck the barrier with muffled thuds, repeatedly and frantically demanding answers, tearing at her hair in madness. Her eyes, dull and lifeless, resembled those of the walking dead.

Xiao Junwang snapped his fingers, withdrawing the barrier, and tightly embraced the frenzied Mo Liuli, soothing her again and again, “Don’t be afraid! Don’t be afraid! I will protect you! Don’t be afraid!”

Seeing Mo Liuli descend into madness weighed heavily on his heart. Without hesitation, he struck her firmly with the edge of his hand, rendering her unconscious.

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Mo Liuli, still filled with confusion, could only close her eyes and feign sleep. The dragon’s roar she had heard earlier at the Mo residence echoed again in her ears. Within that roar, she seemed to perceive the sorrow and anger of a child.

Her hand instinctively caressed her swollen abdomen. Regarding familial affection, shaped by her circumstances and memories, her heart was as calm as still water. Even when she first learned she was pregnant, she remained indifferent. Yet that roar easily stirred a tender softness deep within her.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

A series of muffled, crisp sounds came from outside the courtyard. Several figures with red heads, ghostly faces, and fanged mouths continuously launched attacks on the yard. Their bloodstained axes struck again and again against an invisible barrier before the courtyard, producing unsettling muffled thuds.

Xiao Junwang, who had left the courtyard earlier, was nowhere to be seen for reasons unknown. Witnessing this sudden attack, a foreboding feeling rose in Mo Liuli’s heart. The skull masks with fanged mouths gave her a splitting headache, as if something was about to burst from her brain. The bloodvine jade pendant also flew off her body on its own, heading outside the courtyard.

The pendant encountered no resistance and landed directly into the hand of one of the ghost-faced, fanged attackers. Their black hoodies bore an embroidered blood axe on the left chest—vivid and lifelike, seamlessly matching the blood axe in their hands.

“Return the Blood Jade! Form the Demon Star! Assist the Master to Conquer the World!” the ghost-faced man shouted, raising his blood axe high. As the cry fell, the crimson blood axe surged like a tidal wave toward the barrier. The others echoed in unison, raising their axes and charging at the barrier.

The sturdy barrier trembled, cracks spreading rapidly, showing signs of imminent collapse.

“Conquer the world?” Mo Liuli grimaced in pain, clutching her head, lips pressed tight as she repeated the words.

“Insignificant pests! How dare you act so boldly before me! Get lost, back to wherever you came from!” Xiao Junwang appeared, riding a phoenix ablaze with fire, cutting through the air. His palm emitted cold, deep blue flames that incinerated the ghost-faced attackers one by one. The flames turned their blood axes to ashes on contact. One attacker’s hand was burned away entirely, leaving not even a bone behind.

Remarkably, despite the agony of his flesh and bone burning, the man did not cry out. Without a hand, he gritted his teeth and, ignoring the flames, charged his body against the barrier.

Now riddled with fissures, the barrier had become semi-transparent. The other ghost-faced attackers, having lost their weapons, also recklessly rammed their bodies against the barrier, determined to break through at all costs. The one who had taken the bloodvine jade pendant formed a strange hand sign and vanished from sight.

Seeing the fearless ghost-faced men, Xiao Junwang’s cold, narrow eyes flickered as he unleashed his flames in sweeping arcs toward their backs.

Bones along their backs, skull vertebrae—all burned away, leaving only a shattered braincase intact! Their screams pierced through the eastern rooms, chilling to the bone.

Hovering above, Xiao Junwang frowned upon hearing the cries, then extinguished the heavenly fire.

“Ah! Why? Why kill them? Why?” Mo Liuli’s eyes were red as she tore at her hair, nearly mad as she rushed toward the barrier, casting hostile glances at Xiao Junwang.

Her rounded body struck the barrier with muffled thuds, repeatedly and frantically demanding answers, tearing at her hair in madness. Her eyes, dull and lifeless, resembled those of the walking dead.

Xiao Junwang snapped his fingers, withdrawing the barrier, and tightly embraced the frenzied Mo Liuli, soothing her again and again, “Don’t be afraid! Don’t be afraid! I will protect you! Don’t be afraid!”

Seeing Mo Liuli descend into madness weighed heavily on his heart. Without hesitation, he struck her firmly with the edge of his hand, rendering her unconscious.