Chapter 385: Chapter 385

385: Chapter 373: Xu 385: Chapter 373: Xu Ying Xiu cast a Yin Talisman and summoned a Ghost Crane from within Ghost Mountain.

He leapt onto its back and coldly looked down at Hongying, saying, “I remember our master-servant relationship.

Today’s grave mistake will be dealt with once we return to Central Netherworld.

Ghost is of no use to me anymore.

If you are worried about his body attracting the great snake, then feed his remains to this ghost crane— it will also save me the effort of feeding it with Spiritual Power.”

With Ying Xiu’s cultivation, he certainly lacked no Spiritual Power; he merely wanted to make Hongying declare in front of everyone her lack of involvement with Ghost.

This way, he could rightfully take her away.

He initially wanted to turn Ghost into Yao, but that plan had failed.

He did not want to lose Xu Ghost as well.

Hongying pursed her lips and remained silent, her lifeless gray eyes ‘looking’ at Ying Xiu.

Seeing her infuriated Ying Xiu, and he clenched his fists tightly, making a cracking sound: “Hongying!

Don’t test my patience!”

“Crown Prince,” Hongying suddenly spoke, “Hongying has served Your Highness for more than two hundred years.

Today, I wish to ask Your Highness for a favor, may I hope for your consent?”

Ying Xiu, suppressing his impatience, asked in a deep voice, “What is it?”

Hongying turned her face toward a direction, her gray eyes directly staring at the Bronze Gate, where an ancient and mottled bronze sword was inserted.

She said, “Your Highness, could you pull out that sword for me?”

Ying Xiu’s expression changed.

Although he could not discern the origin of the sword, a sword lodged in the Bronze Gate was obviously not ordinary.

The dangers of rashly pulling out the sword were unknown to anyone.

“Hongying, what exactly are you plotting!”

“Do you not wish to?”

A long crack had already opened in the ground, and Hongying, holding Ghost’s body, was unintentionally sliding into it.

She did not flee toward the realms like other cultivators.

She sat there calmly, seemingly waiting for something.

Ying Xiu’s tone suddenly became anxious as he manipulated the Summoning Spirit Technique, but Hongying showed no response.

“Let’s get out of here first!”

Hongying closed her eyes and stopped talking.

A terrifying suction force emerged from the crevice, causing the Ghost Crane under Ying Xiu’s feet to begin descending uncontrollably.

Ying Xiu controlled the Ghost Crane, maintaining a distance, when his expression suddenly changed: “What are you trying to do?”

Baili An had unknowingly arrived next to the bronze sword Hongying had indicated.

He gripped the sword’s handle and seriously said, “I’m meddling.”

As his words fell, the earth thundered and the slowly opening gate suddenly sped up, resembling a massive rift in a heavenly pit.

The terrifying suction force pulled all nearby cultivators in.

Even the Ghost Crane under Ying Xiu’s feet dropped, taking him down with it.

It seemed like countless invisible hands in the gusting suction force grasped his life-gate, hindering him from mobilizing his Spiritual Power, as he was about to crash into the crevice.

Baili An pulled out the bronze sword.

He was about to hand the sword to Hongying when he heard her suddenly let out a long, piercing howl.

The sword in her hand flew out of her grasp!

The wide-open Bronze Gate eerily stopped, maintaining its tilted position.

Ying Xiu slammed heavily against the cold gate, grunted once, grasped the gate with his fingers, and narrowly avoided falling.

Suddenly, something cold and wet seemed to flow beneath his palm.

The still-terrified Ying Xiu suddenly raised his hand, then froze completely.

In the chilling winter evening, Baili An suddenly felt an unfamiliar chill.

He looked down at his palm where the handle of the bronze sword had rubbed, blurring the bloodstain.

When Hongying screamed, he had instinctively gripped the handle tightly, but to no avail.

The sword, originally embedded in the Bronze Gate, now simultaneously pierced through the bodies of Ghost and Hongying, nailing them to the gate.

The blood profusely streaming from beneath Hongying stained Ying Xiu’s robes and palms red.

The scene was utterly despairing, shocking, and bleak.

Ying Xiu seemed to suddenly realize something, an indescribable grief overflowing from his heart.

His lips instantly lost all color as he shouted, “Hongying!!!”

She had asked him to pull the sword, not for herself but to rectify the mistake Ghost made by opening the gate, keeping the irreversibly opened Bronze Gate at bay.

But the cost was her life.

Lying in her arms, Ghost had long been devoid of life, his bloodshot eyes marked with dried tears.

Hongying tidied his disheveled hair, pulling at the wound in her chest as she raised her hand, a trace of pain sweeping across her eyes.

Ying Xiu sprinted over, grabbing the sword handle with both hands, his eyes bloodshot and his face contorted with urgency: “Sister Hongying, don’t be afraid, I will pull out the sword and save you now.

I possess the Central Netherworld’s Purple Blood Secret Technique.

Even if your soul disperses now, I can still save you!”

His voice choked, his breath coming out in frantic sobs.

Hongying, though indifferent, had shown him genuine and sincere companionship over the years, but even until the last moment, he had doubted and been angry with her.

Regret nearly overwhelmed him.

He knew, if even she was gone, there would be no other Xu Ghost in the world who could treat him as she did.

He violently pulled at the sword, the massive trembling sword stirred.

The blood beneath Hongying flowed more profusely, deepening the pain on her face, yet her voice remained calm and gentle: “Your Highness, if this sword leaves my body, the gates of the three realms will continue to open, and everyone in Ghost Mountain, including you, will die.”

Ying Xiu’s hands trembled violently, his movements hesitatingly stopping.

His throat soured, his heart panicked, tears uncontrollably flowing as he shook his head: “I don’t believe it, I don’t believe it.

There must be a way, there must be…”

He delusionally roared: “I must have a way to save you!”

Hongying chuckled lightly, her face pale and faint from excessive blood loss, the trembling sword tip clearly transmitting her hesitation and turmoil through his palm.

Hongying said, “Your Highness, when you could have saved me, you were just watching from afar.

The one to ferry me across, it was never you…”

It was never you, my prince.

The prince she had served, it was never him.

She raised her palm, the light in her gray-white pupils dimming bit by bit.

A brilliant azure light suddenly ignited at her fingertips, condensing into the Xu Seal, symbolizing “promise without oath.”

Ying Xiu stared blankly at the Xu Seal in her hand, a mixture of grief and disbelief voiced: “Sister Hongying, are you returning the Xu Seal to me?

You really don’t want to be my Xu Ghost anymore?”

The Xu Seal departed from her finger, Ying Xiu tearfully caught it with difficulty.

But his fingers passed through the Xu Seal, barely retaining it.

The Xu Seal, narrating Hongying’s life, burned with the last fire of life, falling before Baili An.

Baili An’s face paled, watching the faint green glow, everything seemed so confusing and elusive.

He spread his hand, the Xu Seal fell into his palm, then extinguished.