In the next instant, Murong Xiaoya raised her hand with a casual wave. The blazing, sun-like flames before her slowly dispersed, revealing within the vast sea of fire a zone where no flame burned.
Yet at that moment, the space before Murong Xiaoya was completely empty. There was no longer any trace of Li Musheng.
"Burned to nothing, was he?"
The corner of Murong Xiaoya's lips curved slightly as she let out a cold laugh. In that moment she seemed utterly cold and indifferent.
But then, in the next instant, Murong Xiaoya's expression abruptly stilled.
The blood flame blanketing her eyes began to flicker violently, growing unstable all at once, as though it were being drawn back and forced to recede.
"How could this happen? How could I have attacked His Highness? It is impossible... that was not me..."
Murong Xiaoya clutched her own head and dropped sharply to a crouch, an expression of extreme anguish crossing her face.
The killing intent around her, which had been almost tangible in its solidity, wavered and shook, and in that moment showed faint signs of slowly dissolving.
Then, in the air that had shown no sign of anyone's presence, Li Musheng stepped forward out of nowhere and appeared directly before Murong Xiaoya.
At that, Murong Xiaoya seemed to sense something, and snapped her head up to look at Li Musheng in front of her.
In an instant, the blood flame in her eyes that had been gradually fading blazed back up with full force, and the killing intent around her likewise returned to its previous terrifying level.
The anguished expression on Murong Xiaoya's face disappeared, replaced by a look of startled disbelief. She slowly straightened up, and said in a cold voice, "You are unharmed?"
Even as she spoke, Murong Xiaoya struck again with overwhelming killing intent, the Vermilion Bird phantom condensing behind her in an instant and slashing a burning wing through the air toward Li Musheng's heart.
The slash was so fast it touched the limit of perception, the fire light gone in a flash, leaving no trace of its path to follow.
Yet as the fire light swept through Li Musheng's body, it only cut an afterimage in two.
To Murong Xiaoya's eyes, Li Musheng's figure had once again vanished entirely.
"Miss Murong, that was still too slow."
As Li Musheng's voice reached her, his entire form reappeared once more from within the afterimage that had just dissolved, and he shook his head as he looked at her.
"How is that possible?"
Shock spread across Murong Xiaoya's face. In the next instant, the terrifying aura within her, as vast and deep as the ocean, climbed to its absolute peak. The red-gold markings across her palms flowed and gathered, a great red-gold swirling fire blazing to full intensity, and then she raised her hand through the air and closed it sharply toward Li Musheng's heart.
But in the next moment, a slender hand had settled on Murong Xiaoya's wrist without anyone knowing when, and Li Musheng's voice sounded close at her ear, "Still too weak, Miss Murong."
"And if you strike at me again, I may find I cannot hold myself back from killing you."
Li Musheng's words echoed in Murong Xiaoya's ears, and she discovered with shock that the wrist he held would not move no matter what she did, as though a force as heavy as a mountain range was pressing down on her hand, leaving her unable to move even a fraction.
At the same time, an indescribable fear rose in Murong Xiaoya's heart, enough to make even the sky-filling killing intent within her tremble, and then recede like a withdrawing tide.
And at that moment the blood flame covering Murong Xiaoya's eyes gradually faded, and then the expression on her face slowly shifted from the cold ferocity of before into something anguished and filled with regret, "How... did I become like this?"
Visibly to the naked eye, the towering pillars of fire that had been reaching into the sky dissolved into nothing, and the sea of fire enveloping the Mei estate around them slowly lost the overwhelming force it had carried before.
Li Musheng looked at Murong Xiaoya, who had become once more the seemingly soft and fragile young woman from before, and slowly shook his head.
In truth, the moment she had first struck at him, he had already considered killing her where she stood.
But after seeing the unmistakable flicker of inner struggle in Murong Xiaoya at that moment, Li Musheng had ultimately found he could not bring himself to do it.
"Well, this is a problem. If a protagonist in some novel from my previous life had done the same, readers would have torn him apart for being spineless."
Li Musheng furrowed his brow and could not help but grumble inwardly.
But there was nothing to be done about it. Murong Xiaoya was someone he knew, and she had just had her entire family wiped out, a fate that by any measure had cause behind it.
Beyond that, Li Musheng could sense that something was clearly wrong with her.
Though Murong Xiaoya's strength was growing more fearsome by the moment, her state of mind appeared to have been consumed by hatred and killing, to the point where she could no longer control herself at all. She was even trending toward becoming nothing more than a killing machine with no feeling left in her.
"Your Highness... I am sorry..."
The red-gold markings receded from Murong Xiaoya's skin, and the molten gold vortexes in her eyes disappeared as well. She lowered her head and apologized in a quiet, pained voice.
Li Musheng slowly released her slender wrist, walked around her, looked her over for a moment, and then raised an eyebrow and said suddenly, "No need for apologies, Miss Murong. How about showing me your treasure instead?"
At those words, Murong Xiaoya, who had been looking down, suddenly froze, and then slowly lifted her head.
Her long red hair, red as fire, drifted lightly in the lingering heat waves around them.
"Treasure?"
The terrifying aura around Murong Xiaoya had already settled, and at that moment a puzzled expression crossed her delicate, pale features.
Hearing this, Li Musheng rubbed his chin, then reached out and pointed at the area of her left chest, saying, "Is your treasure not right there?"
Murong Xiaoya looked down, and quickly understood what he meant. She slowly placed her hand over her own heart and said quietly, "It is indeed because of it that I was able to destroy the four great families and Han Cuiyuan, and take revenge for the Murong family."
As she said this, a distant, unfocused look came over Murong Xiaoya's eyes, and the blood flame that had seemed extinguished showed signs of kindling once more, with the killing intent lying dormant within her threatening to rise again.
But Li Musheng only glanced at her, and an invisible pulse of his aura entered Murong Xiaoya's body. Everything within her quietly stilled.
"Miss Murong, this thing is beyond your control. You should hand it to me, and let me hold it in your stead."
Li Musheng narrowed his eyes slightly and said slowly.
At that point Murong Xiaoya seemed to have already understood something herself, and grasped why she had done what she had done before.
She looked up at Li Musheng, then lowered her head in silence for a moment, and finally gave a slight nod, saying, "My great vengeance has already been fulfilled. I have no more need of the Vermilion Bird Bone. If Your Highness wishes to have it, please take it."
As she spoke, Murong Xiaoya faced Li Musheng and reached up to gently open her robe.
In that moment, Murong Xiaoya's entire body came into full view before Li Musheng.
And at that point, Li Musheng narrowed his eyes slightly, his gaze coming to rest on the area over her heart.
There was a savage, gaping wound there, wreathed in blood light, as though it would never heal.