Chapter 217 Illegality
"Xu Liunian..." Qi Xia's voice grew colder, his brow furrowing in disdain. "Are you really going to keep pressing forward with this madness? The one whose life is at risk right now is yours."
"I–It doesn't matter..." Xu Liunian forced a pained grin, her voice trembling. "At {End Point}, no matter who it is, if you stay cautious enough, the chances of someone killing you are slim... but I want to prove I can do it."
Qi Xia's frown deepened. "I don’t care about your twisted ideas. What I want to know is what you did to Qiao Jiajin."
"What happens to him doesn’t matter..." Xu Liunian's expression slowly contorted into something more unhinged. "Chu Tianqiu is even more insane than I thought... Haha... tonight, he plans to kill everyone here..."
"And you're not insane?" Qi Xia paused for a moment, his eyes narrowing before he reluctantly loosened his grip on Xu Liunian's neck.
"Stop struggling in vain," Qi Xia said coolly. "If you show any sincerity in joining us now, we might still have a chance to escape."
"No..." Xu Liunian gasped as she lay on the ground, pulling a small knife from her pocket. "I’ve made up my mind... Only by killing you here will you understand how much power I truly possess."
"Qi ge, watch out!" Li Xiangling shouted, seeing the weapon in Xu Liunian's hand. She rushed forward to help, but in her haste, she forgot about her sprained ankle. After only three steps, she stumbled and fell to the ground.
"I don’t want to pretend anymore." Xu Liunian grinned, her voice laced with madness. "I don’t want to be anyone’s pawn... I just want to be myself."
She slowly brought the knife closer to Qi Xia, but he held her wrist firmly, denying her any chance to strike.
"Stop struggling," Qi Xia said coldly. "You’ve already admitted it yourself—most people would not be able to kill me when I’m prepared."
"So, you think that’s the extent of my abilities?" Xu Liunian smiled, flipping the knife in her hand and, to Qi Xia’s shock, aiming it at her own chest.
Qi Xia furrowed his brows, confused by her unexpected actions.
In the blink of an eye, Xu Liunian gripped her other hand above Qi Xia’s, pressing the blade into her own heart.
"Cough..." She retched violently, blood spilling from her mouth as the blade pierced her lung.
"You..." Qi Xia’s eyes widened in disbelief, his voice strained with anger. "Are you out of your mind?!"
"Qi Xia..." Xu Liunian revealed her blood-stained teeth in a grin. "So, what do you think?"
Qi Xia felt a hand slip into his pants pocket, but then, everything went still.
"What...?" His gaze shifted to the lifeless Xu Liunian, his mind reeling with confusion. She had repeatedly claimed she wanted to kill him, yet now, she had taken her own life.
Li Xiangling, having managed to get up from the ground, looked on in bewilderment. She had clearly seen Xu Liunian twist the knife and plunge it into her own chest.
“Qi ge… are you alright…?” she asked.
Qi Xia stood up, still dazed. The sensation of having taken a life with his own hands was something he had never experienced before, and his mind was in a state of turmoil.
Before he could steady himself, the entire room began to tremble.
In the blink of an eye, a humanoid figure materialized in mid-air, sending a shock through both him and Li Xiangling.
“How audacious…” the figure muttered softly.
Qi Xia and Li Xiangling both gazed upward in unison, their eyes widening in shock. Floating before them was a woman whose hair cascaded impossibly long, draping over her body like an ethereal garment—not only her skin, but even her face was shrouded in obscurity.
"A Sacred Guardian...?" Qi Xia’s voice faltered, a sense of disbelief overtaking him.
The woman extended one hand, brushing her hair aside with deliberate slowness. As her face came into view, it was as cold and pale as marble, bearing an expression of chilling authority. Her gaze flicked to Qi Xia, and she repeated, “How audacious…”
A shiver ran down Qi Xia’s spine, the weight of her stare pressing down on him. The mere sight of her sent waves of cold sweat breaking across his skin.
"Are you referring to me...?" Qi Xia gathered his courage to ask, his voice steady despite the weight of the situation. "What have I done that’s so audacious?"
The woman’s cold eyes fixed on him, her voice like ice as she spoke, “Killing others for {Dào}, an illegality.”
Qi Xia’s eyes widened in shock, his mind racing as the words sank in. But before he could respond, a sudden realization struck him. He reached into his pocket, his fingers brushing against something small and round.
It was a {Dào}, the very object Xu Liunian had hidden there in the final moments of her life.
“Wa—Wait a second...” Qi Xia stammered, his usual composure cracking for the first time. “She committed suicide, and the {Dào} was something she slipped into my pocket—how could that be considered an illegality?”
"How audacious," the woman repeated, her voice colder than before. "She died under your hands, the {Dào} is in your pocket, an illegality."
"Motherf— this is utterly absurd..." Qi Xia ground his teeth, the weight of his frustration heavy in his voice. "Are you truly so blinded by surface details? If this is deemed an illegality, then by this logic, anyone in {End Point} is vulnerable to such a method."
The woman hovered in silence for a moment, her cold gaze fixed upon him as though weighing his every word. Then, with a sharpness that cut through the air, she uttered but two words: "An illegality."
Qi Xia’s face twisted with seething anger, his hand sweeping toward the door beside him in a forceful gesture. "Just beyond this door, two factions are embroiled in a brutal conflict, leaving countless dead in their wake... and you stand here, fixated on the notion that I may have committed an illegality?"
Seeing that she was impervious to reason, Qi Xia felt a sinking sensation in his heart. He had already faced three {Sacred Guardians} before, but none had been like her.
White Tiger and Vermilion Bird, though undeniably unhinged, had retained some semblance of reason—enough, at least, for basic communication. But this woman before them seemed to have lost all normal cognitive ability.
What could be done now?
A ridiculous thought flashed through Qi Xia's mind.
As if it were even possible. How could a mere mortal like him hope to flee from a madwoman who exuded an almost divine aura?
What chances of survival did he even have in this moment?
A brash voice rang out from beyond the door. The person shoved against it, only to find it locked tight from the inside.
"Damn, Swindler lad, Kung Fu gal, are you two still in there?" the voice called from outside.
Qi Xia’s expression darkened as he flicked a glance toward the door, before shifting his gaze to Li Xiangling. “Tell that fool to run if the battle can not be won.”
“Qi—Qi ge... What exactly is...?”
Qi Xia bent down and pulled the dagger from Xu Liunian’s body. The sense of finality was unavoidable. Survival was no longer within his reach.
Since death was now inevitable... should he risk it all and face this woman head-on?
“Hey, which {Sacred Guardian} are you?” Qi Xia asked.