A Good-for-Nothing

309. Kill Me

Translator: Dragon Rider

In SMB.

Zu Zhichong rushing inside unbidden angered the couple of top-ranking officials. Zong Xian reprimanded, “Have you any sense of propriety? This is no place for such noisy folly! We’re having a meeting here! Get out!”

“No! We must stop Chief! By hook or by crook!” Zu Zhichong bellowed, throwing caution to the wind.

Zong Xian’s anger was instantly ignited by his behavior. “Zu Zhichong! If Li Zong really destroys the demonic Qi, He Zheng will survive! Isn’t that the best result we could hope for in these circumstances? He Zheng is still young. He has plenty of time to wait for Li Zong to be reincarnated. Maybe Li Zong will have some preposterous stroke of luck and they won’t have to wait that long! If you have a better solution, I’m all ears!”

Li Zong’s identity had come out of secrecy some time ago, and everybody present knew how powerful the Force of Incarnation of a phoenix was.

Zong Xian continued, “This is our best chance. He Zheng doesn’t have to die, and the Demon King will be eliminated. Can you not understand?”

“Chief cannot get another rebirth! This incarnation is his last one! He will not be reincarnated again! If he dies, he will perish for good, physically and spiritually!”

Zu Zhichong let out a roar, his eyes red.

…

In the room.

Demonic Qi was churning in the inferno. A faint, pained groan escaped He Zheng’s throat. “It hurts so bad.”

He Zheng’s fingers clenched, gripping Li Zong’s clothes tightly. The excruciating pain had, surprisingly, brought He Zheng back to himself. He gazed into Li Zong’s golden eyes. In the familiar embrace, He Zheng gradually recovered his consciousness, his eyes clearing.

“Li–Li Zong.” He Zheng called Li Zong’s name with great difficulty after wheezing for a moment.

“It’s me. I’m here.”

He Zheng raised his hand and pushed his head. The Phoenix Flame was still burning around him, but there was not so much as a spark on him.

He Zheng stirred and Li Zong immediately caught on, helped him sit up and, as if by magic, produced his Thermos bottle which contained tea made with Chinese wolfberries and chrysanthemum to hold it to He Zheng’s lips. He Zheng took a couple of sips of it and rested for a few moments before he regained some strength.

“How did your eyes come to return to normal? I feel a little unused to this color.” He Zheng’s smile was weak, but he had enough mental energy to banter with Li Zong now.

A short while ago, Xiangshan had taken possession of his body and forced his sentience into somewhere pitch-dark. In that place, even air was unable to flow. He had felt as though he were struck fast in mud. It had been a terrible experience.

And he had been overwhelmed by a myriad negative emotions, which affected him and tried to have him give up on himself and give in to the infinite darkness.

When he had been on the verge of losing hope, he had heard Li Zong’s voice. It had been like a beam of firelight, which instantly brightened the darkness. The voice had called his name and said, “Don’t be afraid. You still have me.”

‘Yes. I still have Li Zong. Why would I die?’ He Zheng had groggily thought.

When He Zheng had begun to think, Xiangshan’s control over him had started to weaken.

Li Zong had called He Zheng’s name again and again, and He Zheng had been eager to make a response. He had thought, ‘I want to see Li Zong. I must not let that bastard Xiangshan take my body away.’

With this in mind, He Zheng had followed the beam of firelight and kept walking. It had been what felt like years before he discovered that the darkness around him suddenly gave way to light. Then he had opened his eyes and caught sight of Li Zong.

Li Zong’s face was as handsome as always.

He Zheng gave him a toothy, very cute and very meek smile. “It feels so good to see you again.”

He Zheng was so intent that he failed to notice that black gas was still billowing out of the Demonic Eye on his forehead and going into Li Zong’s body continuously. The blood vessels beneath the bare skin of the backs of Li Zong’s hands were gradually turning black.

Li Zong’s face was now a trifle whiter than even He Zheng’s, but he did not seem to care at all.

The corners of Li Zong’s mouth turned up. He looked down at He Zheng and, in a voice as placid as usual, said, “My eyes are not pretty? I’m not hot anymore?”

“Of course you’re hot. How can the man I like not be hot?” He Zheng’s eyes curved in a smile. He attempted to reach out a hand to stroke Li Zong’s face, but he was so tired that the movement of lifting his hand took a lot of doing, a fine sheen of sweat on his forehead.

To make things worse, there seemed to be an irritating humming in his head as He Zheng moved.

He had a hard job raising his hand, but then it rested on his own forehead. Looking at the reflection on the surface of Li Zong’s golden pupils, He Zheng felt the ugly Demonic Eye on his brow.

“This thing’s so ugly.”

“It’s not ugly. You’re always good-looking,” Li Zong smiled at him. “How do you feel? Do you think you can hang in there for a little while longer?”

He Zheng was delighted. He ignored the annoying hum and, looking up at Li Zong, replied, “I’m okay. Has everybody else got out of here?”

“Yeah.”

“The marionettes are still … Wh–Where’s my aunt?”

“She’s … gone.”

In fact He Zheng had vaguely guessed it. The look in his eyes dimmed somewhat at the news. Moments later, he smiled a self-deprecating smile. “That might not be a bad thing.”

After a quiet, He Zheng’s dejected voice was heard in the room again.

“Li Zong, why do you think the providence is being so unfair to me? Why do I have to be killed? Why do I have to be the so-called vessel for the Seed? Why?” He Zheng had been suppressing his urge to ask these questions for quite a while, and now he finally could not hold it anymore. Teeth clenched, he gripped Li Zong’s clothes. “I’ve been thinking about this for a very long time, but I still haven’t found an answer.”

“Maybe it’s because you’ve met me, and that cost you too much good luck. You can’t have all the good stuff, you know,” Li Zong answered after pondering over it for quite a while, affecting an air of seriousness.

Li Zong’s narcissistic reply instantly dissolved He Zheng’s dejection and he almost burst into laughter.

“What a narcissist.” He Zheng gazed at Li Zong for a long moment, the latter’s golden eyes reflecting the ugly Demonic Eye. Xiangshan was roaring in He Zheng’s mind. The loathsome voice was getting louder and louder.

Everything in He Zheng’s field of view turned blood-red, including Li Zong’s handsome face, which became bloody and mangled.

He Zheng knew that he did not have much time left. His fingers quivered, and so did his lips. He Zheng’s forehead was covered in cold sweat, his face ghastly white. Subduing Xiangshan in his head to retain his own free will was quite an effort. He said, “Li Zong, can I have a kiss?”

His voice was so weak it was barely audible.

But Li Zong still heard him. He stroked He Zheng’s face and kissed him on the lips.

He Zheng gave him a very charming smile, his lips and eyes curved. He gazed at Li Zong’s lips intently. Since everything had turned red, he might as well just focus his attention on Li Zong’s lips. He Zheng said earnestly, “It feels so good. I’m very happy. I’m happy I met you on the plane, and I’m ha–happy my old man traded me for your dragon scale.”

“P–Put your arms around me,” He Zheng added. He found that it was getting increasingly difficult for him to keep Xiangshan under control. Every time he uttered a word, his head felt as though it would explode, and his voice was terribly quavery. It took him a long moment to finish a sentence.

He felt Li Zong tighten his arms around his shoulders slightly. He Zheng wanted very much to pat Li Zong’s hand and tell him it was okay, but he was unable to speak anymore.

Li Zong drew He Zheng deeper into his embrace. He Zheng, pressed against Li Zong’s chest, could hear Li Zong’s robust heartbeat. After listening for a while, He Zheng felt his eyelids grow heavier.

The so-called Demonic Seed was just a source of nourishment for the Demon King. As the Demon King grew stronger, He Zheng, as a vessel, was naturally weakened.

“Replace him with a son and destroy him, and there shall be peace again.”

“Kill one and save millions.”

These two sentences abruptly popped into He Zheng’s mind.

He Zheng smiled, looking at his pale fingertips. His smile was one of utter tranquility. He had never been so calm before. In a halting voice, he said, “I–It never crossed my mind tha–that someday I–I’d get to be a hero and save the world.”

His hands against Li Zong’s clothes, He Zheng slowly closed his eyes, his eyelids becoming more and more leaden, his sentience dissolving. He Zheng gathered all that was left of his strength and managed to utter one last sentence. He said, “Li Zong … kill me.”

If he did not have the slimmest chance of survival, and his death could save the world, then he should, for once, comport himself with selflessness. Actually He Zheng better than anybody knew that he was not at all so selfless as to sacrifice his own life to save the world. But he wanted his grandfather, his cousins, his uncles, Chen Qianlin, and most importantly, Li Zong, to live.

He Zheng waited a long time, but Li Zong did not do it. The Demonic Eye was blinking. He Zheng could feel that the demonic Qi in him was beginning to get stronger again. He was no longer able to subdue his bloodlust. He wanted to kill, to destroy, and to retaliate.

“Ki–Kill me,” He Zheng repeated with great difficulty, tears rolling down from the corners of his eyes.

Li Zong was holding He Zheng in his arms, his face as placid as always.

Fengren looked at the two men amid churning black gas, his face also calm.

It was quite a while before Li Zong finally moved. He Zheng’s eyes struggled open to gaze at Li Zong’s face as he smiled a contented smile. He was willing to die at Li Zong’s hands.

But eventually Li Zong just held He Zheng’s face close to his and planted an affectionate kiss on He Zheng’s bloodless lips. “Haven’t I already told you this? I’m a very powerful man with a very high status. The Demon King is nothing compared with me. I can handle him without breaking a sweat.”

He Zheng had an urge to quip and tell Li Zong that he had just ruined his image once again, but he was unable to utter a single word. He could only stare unblinkingly at Li Zong. “Be a good boy and close your eyes to get some rest. Everything’s going to be okay.”

Li Zong’s voice seemed to have some kind of magic power. He Zheng felt his eyelids becoming heavier and heavier. Li Zong’s words sounded enchanting and He Zheng could not help but begin to close his eyes.

He Zheng’s eyes had just closed when they flew open again, as though he saw something scary. “No … He’ll … He’ll take over.”

“He won’t. I’m here with you. You have nothing to fear. Be a peach and have some rest.” Li Zong smiled a charming smile at him.

Li Zong’s embrace was so warm. He Zheng felt that even if he turned into a new Demon King, Li Zong would definitely be able to kill him at once, so he did not have to be afraid. He could have some sleep. Therefore, he closed his eyes.

He Zheng did not notice that the black gas from the Demonic Eye on his forehead had all been absorbed by Li Zong. The Demonic Eye, having lost its nourishment, became an ugly scab and fell from He Zheng’s brow.

Meanwhile, the shadow behind Li Zong became hideous. There seemed to be something trying to lunge out of the shadow. The backs of Li Zong’s hands were covered with criss-cross black markings, which looked like disgusting centipedes.

Having seen that He Zheng’s eyes finally closed, Li Zong heaved a sigh of relief.

“You don’t have much time.” Fengren’s voice came from behind him. At this time, all the demonic Qi in the room had been inhibited in Li Zong’s body, including the Demon King.

“No,” Li Zong said, cradling He Zheng off the ground sweetly and handing him to Fengren, “which is why you need to take him away.”

“Where are you going?”

Li Zong opened his hand in front of his eyes. There seemed to be a bright scarlet over his fingers. Li Zong lowered his eyes slightly and walked up to the window which was wide open. It was so misty outside that the sky could not be seen. Without a backward glance, Li Zong said in a very soft voice, “Get him out of here. Take good care of him.”

Nobody knew that a short while ago, while speaking to He Zheng, Li Zong had had a constant urge to kill He Zheng.

It scared Li Zong, so if he was to put an end to all this, he needed to make sure that He Zheng was somewhere safe. He must be very very sure that He Zheng was out of harm’s way.

After saying that, Li Zong was enfolded by black gas and vanished into thin air.

Everybody waiting outside saw a black blur in the shape of a gigantic black phoenix, covered by alarmingly potent demonic Qi, shoot through the air like a beam of black light and eventually disappeared from view.

“Hey, is that the Demon King? How did things come to this? Should we give chase? The Demon King is fleeing!” yelled Chen Qianlin, who was the first one to notice.

Zhen Ni’s eyes widened incredulously. She ran a few steps forward as she called out to the blur in a choked voice, “Chief!”

All the others were dumbfounded.

The one shrouded in intense demonic Qi was Supt. Li?

After a brief moment’s astonishment, a white figure whooshed up into the air, turned into a blur and shot in the same direction.