Daily Survival After Inheriting a Harem (GL) - Chapter 15.2
Qiu Qi worried that Pei Yuqing might actually be swayed. She quickly raised her moist eyes, tugged gently at Pei Yuqing’s clothes, her voice a low, pathetic whimper like a small animal. “Madam… please don’t abandon me, okay? I’m scared.”
Pei Yuqing grabbed Qiu Qi’s hand and pulled her behind her, her gaze toward the envoy cold and sharp. “Since you’re so confident, then come and try to take her head.”
The envoy chuckled. “Why bother acting tough? With that Profound Ice Ring, you struggle to even conjure a light ball, so how can you fight me? Such a beauty as you, I wouldn’t bear to destroy. Why don’t you relent, and we can both win?”
Pei Yuqing ignored his words of coercion and temptation. “Less talk, just act.”
“Are you really not going to reconsider, beautiful lady?” The envoy licked his thumb, his gaze on Pei Yuqing quite suggestive.
“No, you can persuade people all you want, but what do you mean by taking liberties with my Madam?” Qiu Qi couldn’t stand it anymore. She straightened her small frame and retorted, “Are you pretending I don’t exist? No matter how beautiful my Madam is, she’s still my Madam. Don’t even think about it, and ‘destroying a flower’? I think you’re just fantasizing!”
When dealing with outsiders, Qiu Qi’s eloquence shot up.
The male envoy chuckled. “Go on, curse. You’re only strong with your mouth.”
Qiu Qi’s heart sank, and her confidence instantly dwindled. It seemed that not only did the outside world know about her changed personality, but the news that she couldn’t control the Beast Core Orb had also spread. No wonder there was suddenly a bounty on her head.
No sooner had the envoy finished speaking than a blue light rushed towards him with a speed difficult to capture with the naked eye. He reacted quickly enough to narrowly dodge, but his cheek was still grazed. The bl00d at the wound instantly congealed due to the low temperature, and a chill seeped into the open wound, freezing his right face stiff, making it difficult even to speak.
“Hiss—ah!” The envoy’s face, which had been smiling a second ago, instantly contorted into a grimace. He angrily raised his hand towards Pei Yuqing. “Since you refuse a toast and choose a forfeit, don’t blame me for being impolite!”
Pei Yuqing calmly replied, “The feeling is mutual.”
Her words carried great momentum and confidence, even making the opposing envoy hesitate for a moment as he launched his attack, almost changing direction. But only Qiu Qi, standing behind Pei Yuqing, could see that her plain white garment was largely soaked with bl00d. The thin fabric clung to her straight back, outlining her slender figure, displaying a stubbornness that made one’s heart ache.
The envoy made a gesture, chanting incantations. A few seconds later, several mounds of earth and sharp spikes rose from where Qiu Qi and Pei Yuqing were standing.
Pei Yuqing calmly led Qiu Qi to dodge the attack, then unhurriedly raised her hand to block the arrows flying through the air, and with a backhand, sent dozens of blades from her sleeve.
The metal sliced through the air with “whooshing” sounds, which the envoy quickly dodged, finally hitting the wall with a crisp, loud clang.
“Heh, you’ve got some skills,” the envoy chuckled menacingly. “A starved camel is still bigger than a horse. You truly are the War God’s daughter.”
Pei Yuqing did not relax her guard due to her opponent’s praise. She quickly erected a water wall in front of her. She tilted her head and whispered to Qiu Qi.
“If anything unexpected happens, run without looking back.”
Qiu Qi’s mind was entirely filled with the increasing bloodstains on Pei Yuqing’s back, making her extremely anxious. Then she heard these words, clearly indicating self-sacrifice, and felt even worse.
“No, there’s no reason for Madam to die for me—”
Before Qiu Qi could finish her sentence, Pei Yuqing shoved her hard, pushing her away. “Stop talking nonsense. You’d only get in the way by staying. You might as well go get reinforcements for me.”
On the opposite side, the envoy had re-gathered spiritual energy and began to chant.
Qiu Qi looked around, then casually picked up a few stones from the ground and clutched them in her hand.
She remembered that the “Five Elemental Spirits Arts” book stated that the higher the level of spiritual art, the longer the incantation, meaning the enemy’s casting wind-up would take a long time.
“Spirit of Earth, hear my call—” Before the envoy could finish his sentence, a stone shot through the air, heading straight for his forehead. The air, mixed with the scent of earth, made the stone, imbued with Qiu Qi’s full strength, seem incredibly powerful. One could guess that if it hit, a human body would surely suffer a bloody head injury.
He had no choice but to interrupt his chanting, raising his hand to catch the stone.
“When did My Lord Beast God also stoop to such underhanded tricks?”
Qiu Qi stood on her tiptoes, trying to gain momentum with her height. “What else? If you’re going to hit me, should I just stand there and wait for you to finish your incantation?”
Face or life, no matter how many times, Qiu Qi would always choose to preserve the latter without hesitation.
“Good, you asked for it!” The male envoy suddenly closed his eyes and roared to the sky. Immediately, his surroundings were enveloped in a black mist.
Both Pei Yuqing and Qiu Qi narrowed their eyes in sync, looking as if they were waiting to see him cause trouble.
Soon, Qiu Qi’s nose twitched, and she found that she was somewhat familiar with the scent of bl00d and murderous intent swirling within the black mist. A strange feeling grew in her heart.
“Demonic race,” Pei Yuqing’s gaze deepened, her expression becoming serious.
The Demonic race was composed of Beast-folk and humans who had fallen into madness by practicing forbidden arts. The mark of their members was a black pentagram totem on their chest, symbolizing their contract with the Demon God to exchange lifespan for power.
Demonic magic was wild and unreasonable, automatically scorching everything around it. However, due to the immense pain endured during the casting process, Demon-folk generally wouldn’t use it easily.
The one before them was clearly desperate.
“Don’t struggle. Today is destined to be her death day. I can give you one last chance: get out of the way! Don’t block me from taking the bounty!”
“Even if she dies, she will die by my hand.” Pei Yuqing’s arm, blocking in front of Qiu Qi, remained unlowered. Her eyes flashed cold. Taking advantage of the other party’s pause in speaking, she drew the sash from her waist. With a sweep of her long arm, the soft strip instantly twisted into a soft whip and wrapped around his hand with lightning speed.
“Mere demonic ants. I kill every one I see.”
At this moment, Pei Yuqing didn’t notice Qiu Qi’s eyes rapidly reddening behind her due to her words, and she couldn’t help but weakly shed a few large tears.
“You go first. Go find Butler Yan.”
“I won’t go…”
Hearing the choked sound from behind her, Pei Yuqing turned her head, meeting Qiu Qi’s reddened, moist eyes, and was clearly momentarily stunned.
But before she could ask, “Why are you crying?”, Qiu Qi had already bypassed her outstretched arm, turned and stood in front of Pei Yuqing. Before Pei Yuqing could react, she reached out and tightly hugged her, using her own body as a shield.
A powerful black aura slammed into them, absorbed by Qiu Qi’s fragile back. She grunted, biting her teeth, holding back a cry of pain.
Pei Yuqing looked down at her, her face a mask of undisguised shock, feeling a chill run from her feet to her face. “What are you doing?”
Qiu Qi wiped the bl00d from the corner of her mouth and looked up at her, smiling with her usual carefree demeanor. “Madam knows, I have thick skin, so I’m best suited to be a shield. Don’t worry, it’s just like being tickled, it doesn’t hurt at all…”
Doesn’t hurt at all… my foot! She felt like her internal organs were twisted into a knot. If she weren’t still holding onto Pei Yuqing for support, she would have long since collapsed into a puddle of mud.
“Heh, still so stubborn when facing death!” The envoy raised both hands above his head, re-gathering a larger ball of black aura, intending to deliver the final blow to Qiu Qi.
Pei Yuqing’s fingers twitched, as if to raise her hand and counter him, but Qiu Qi quickly pressed it down.
“Don’t. If you use spiritual arts again, your body won’t be able to handle it,” Qiu Qi looked up at her, her eyes holding scattered points of light, speaking to her in a rare serious tone. “I can get hurt, but you cannot.”
The two looked at each other. Pei Yuqing sensed the look of readiness to die in the other’s eyes, and her heart trembled slightly. Her usually indifferent face showed a hint of emotion, and even her voice, when she spoke, carried an almost imperceptible hint of panic. “Don’t die. You’re not allowed to die yet.”
Qiu Qi’s actions remained unchanged, but the smile on her face grew wider.
The second before the black mist enveloped their vision, Pei Yuqing heard Qiu Qi softly chuckle against her chest, a sense of relief completely oblivious to the approaching danger. Then, that soft, clear female voice slowly spoke close to her ear, “Madam, are you… perhaps a little concerned about me now?”