Chapter 447 : Hold Me, Please
447: Hold Me, Please
With a loud "rip," Jiang Mo's shoulder garment was torn open by Yun Qingyue, who nearly pulled off half the sleeve.
In normal circumstances, such actions from her senior sister would certainly have earned a few teasing remarks from Jiang Mo, but now neither of them paid any attention to that. Because beneath the torn clothes, the previously healed wound had been broken open again by the enemy's strike, but this wasn't the most concerning part—at the bloody wound, a mass of black energy was vigorously trying to burrow inside.
Honestly, before witnessing this scene with her own eyes, Jiang Mo hadn't felt anything unusual about the wound. Apart from the initial pain when struck, the White Tiger's constitution would have allowed it to heal quickly, but only upon seeing it did she realize something was wrong.
And this scene before her looked distinctly familiar...
Yun Qingyue's expression turned extremely grim. She reached out her hand as if to do something, then hesitated and withdrew it: "It's demonic qi!"
Yes, demonic qi, and not ordinary demonic qi at that. Even without Jiang Mo constantly maintaining her protective golden light, demonic qi that could remain on the White Tiger divine beast wasn't likely to be common. This familiar scene reminded both Jiang Mo and Yun Qingyue of Abbot Huining, who had been ambushed by Huiqian and ended up with similar black energy attached to his wound.
Jiang Mo didn't know whether Abbot Huining had ultimately been able to expel it, but this thing falling on her body was clearly nothing good. Her eyelid twitched violently, and she immediately activated her protective golden light to resist.
The protective golden light was pushed to its limit by Jiang Mo, suddenly shining with extraordinary brilliance, causing even Yun Qingyue to involuntarily avert her eyes slightly.
However, this golden light obviously had no effect on Jiang Mo herself. Under her watchful eye, the black energy seemed to come alive, writhing within the golden light's embrace like a worm unwilling to die. She looked at it with both disgust and nausea, yet dared not look away, fearing this thing might cause further trouble if she glanced away.
Fortunately, it didn't. Her protective golden light seemed to have some restraining effect on this black energy, though this restraint wasn't enough—Jiang Mo watched as the black energy struggled in the golden light for a long time, gradually weakening, yet still refusing to dissipate.
"Ah Yue, help me," Jiang Mo finally asked for assistance.
Yun Qingyue, also being a divine beast, had adapted after a while and could now look directly at the dazzling golden light. She too saw the situation beneath the light, her beautiful eyebrows having unknowingly furrowed tightly: "You want me to burn them with fire?"
Jiang Mo nodded. She had seen Huiqian's fate and knew how dangerous it was for ice flame to enter the body and burn demonic qi, but wasn't it still outside her body now? While it wasn't yet a threat, better to burn it away quickly.
Yun Qingyue thought more deeply than her and asked before acting: "Are you certain no demonic qi has entered your body?"
This, Jiang Mo truly couldn't be sure about.
Mainly because when the demonic qi attached to her wound, she hadn't felt anything, so naturally didn't know if any had taken advantage and entered her. But she was actually somewhat worried, since that fake monk had specifically stayed behind to ambush her, which couldn't have been just to escape. If escape had been the goal, he would have left long ago, or hidden more carefully so they wouldn't have the energy to search thoroughly.
So the attacker had obviously targeted the two of them, and this strike wouldn't have been aimless. Perhaps by the time he reminded her, demonic qi had already imperceptibly invaded her body.
Just thinking this way made Jiang Mo feel uncomfortable all over, with many negative emotions surging in her heart.
Yun Qingyue didn't receive an answer from Jiang Mo, but seeing her fluctuating energy, she roughly guessed her condition—likely not good. Even if Jiang Mo's wound was fine, her mental state was probably becoming unstable!
The little tiger had only been cultivating for eighty years. In terms of cultivation progress, her advancement had been remarkable, her cultivation speed truly unparalleled. But precisely because she cultivated so quickly, she had spent most of these years in closed-door cultivation, with little time spent on outside training and experiences. In other words, her mental state might not be as perfect as it seemed; it was only her special divine beast constitution that had made her cultivation path so smooth.
Yun Qingyue instantly realized the seriousness of the situation and, fearing Jiang Mo wouldn't listen to any advice now, immediately delivered a swift chop to Jiang Mo's neck without another word, being utterly decisive.
Thanks to Jiang Mo's complete lack of vigilance toward Yun Qingyue, she was truly knocked unconscious by this strike, falling straight into the other's embrace.
· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · · · · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·
When Jiang Mo regained consciousness, she didn't know how much time had passed. Her first sensation as awareness returned was cold.
Before even opening her eyes, Jiang Mo wondered if she had kicked off her blanket, otherwise why would her shoulder feel so chilly? So before opening her eyes, she began reaching around, trying to find the blanket she thought she'd kicked aside.
However, she clearly reached into empty space, and that with only one hand—the other arm she couldn't raise at all.
Jiang Mo vaguely sensed something was wrong and abruptly opened her eyes. The familiar cabin ceiling made her pause momentarily, then full awareness returned, along with her memories from before being knocked unconscious by her senior sister.
She had been ambushed, with demonic qi attached to her wound...
Jiang Mo quickly turned to look at her wounded shoulder, but instead of seeing the wound and torn clothes, a snow-white undergarment covered the injured area. At this moment, she had no time to wonder who had changed her clothes; she hastily pulled aside the garment, revealing a thin layer of transparent ice crystals that had completely frozen her entire shoulder.
Her wound had been frozen, as had the black energy attached to it. This wasn't a permanent solution, but it could obviously temporarily stabilize the situation... She let out a long sigh of relief, finally understanding why she couldn't raise her arm.
Just then, her cabin door was pushed open, and a familiar figure entered the room.
Yun Qingyue had come because she sensed Jiang Mo's awakening. Seeing her relatively calm expression, she finally relaxed a bit. She walked to the bedside and sat down, her gaze sweeping across Jiang Mo's half-open garment to her frozen shoulder: "How do you feel?"
Jiang Mo raised her other hand to touch her shoulder, immediately feeling as if her fingertips were frozen painfully, knowing this was no ordinary ice. She gave a bitter smile and replied: "Not bad, except that I can't raise my arm, I should be fine." As she spoke, she tentatively tried to move the frozen hand, but as expected, it only rose slightly before falling limply.
Hearing this response, Yun Qingyue felt much more at ease, and moved forward to lift Jiang Mo's half-open garment. The wound beneath the ice remained unchanged—neither healing nor worsening, with the black demonic qi frozen on the wound, almost like a decoration.
Of course, neither of them would consider it decoration, especially as Yun Qingyue noticed that the shape of the black energy seemed to have subtly changed. Her expression immediately grew solemn, and with a flash of white spiritual light at her fingertip, she touched the thin layer of ice.
Despite Jiang Mo's tough constitution, she felt a bone-piercing cold surge through her. She involuntarily shuddered, and though the ice layer appeared unchanged when she looked, she simply felt colder. She rubbed her goosebump-covered arm and stammered: "A-Ah Yue, it's, it's c-cold."
Yun Qingyue originally had an ice spiritual root, and after her atavistic return to Swan Goose form, her mastery of ice had surpassed her former abilities. Though the ice on Jiang Mo's shoulder appeared to be just a thin layer, its temperature was actually as cold as profound ice.
It was fortunate that Jiang Mo didn't know this, otherwise she might have worried whether her shoulder would be frozen to death.
Of course, Yun Qingyue wouldn't frighten her with alarmist talk. Seeing Jiang Mo's pitiful appearance, she helped rub her frozen arm: "It's alright, bear with it for now. We'll reach our destination soon, and Sect Leader and the others will have ways to resolve this."
Yun Qingyue's ice flame could burn away demonic qi, but this method was too drastic. When burning the demonic patterns on Huiqian, she had lost control and burned him to death. Now facing Jiang Mo instead of Huiqian, she dared not risk anything. She didn't even dare touch the demonic qi outside Jiang Mo's body, fearing there might be connections between internal and external energies—what if the ice flame followed the demonic qi and burned Jiang Mo?
Jiang Mo could certainly guess Yun Qingyue's concerns, and being afraid of death herself, she wouldn't ask her senior sister to take such a risk. She leaned slightly, resting against her senior sister: "Ah Yue, hold me please, I'm so cold."
This time it wasn't just spoiled behavior, but the truth. Normally, Yun Qingyue's ice spiritual root meant her body temperature was always lower, and Jiang Mo had never felt the need to seek warmth from her. But now Jiang Mo felt her entire body was nearly frozen stiff, even her unfrozen hand was icy and wouldn't warm up no matter how much she rubbed it, while in contrast, her senior sister's hand felt very warm.
Yun Qingyue drew her into her embrace without refusing, though she still admonished: "Will you dare to get injured so casually in the future?"
Jiang Mo drooped her head, huddling in Yun Qingyue's embrace: "I won't, I won't, I'll be good from now on."
Yun Qingyue lightly huffed, saying nothing more, letting her off.
Jiang Mo quickly changed the subject, asking: "Ah Yue, you said earlier that the fake monk looked familiar. Do you know him?" The little tiger showed a vengeful expression: "Next time we meet, I'll have to get revenge!"
Yun Qingyue gave her a strange look, asking in return: "You truly don't recognize him?"
Jiang Mo was bewildered by the question: "Should I recognize him?"