TBWE Chapter 14

He Has Come

 

The crimson patterns on the blade crawled up Xi Chu’s neck and the side of his face along the wound.

 

Like cracks spreading across cold porcelain.

 

Chu Li heard a sound like burning.

 

“Chu Li!” Her shoulder tightened as she was yanked backward, stumbling.

 

The hands clasped between Xi Chu and Chu Li were soaked through with thick, viscous blood. If she wasn’t careful, her hand would slip away.

 

In his chest, where blood flowed freely, only a black dagger was embedded.

 

He closed his empty palm and looked up at the group of people who had burst into the bedroom.

 

Four men and one woman, all with expressions of readiness for battle, holding bronze bells. After breaking in, they immediately formed hand seals, and ancient, obscure language flowed through the room.

 

The air stirred with ripples, and countless red threads emerged from the bronze bells, overwhelming the bloodied young man like a blanket.

 

The crimson patterns on Xi Chu’s body intensified, as if they would merge with his flesh and dissolve him inch by inch.

 

The human skin he had carefully crafted began to disintegrate—half his face remained intact, while the other half became a twisted vortex. Slender black shadows spread from beneath his feet like a tide.

 

As if drawn by some strange attraction, Chu Li’s gaze was fixed on that face where beauty and absurdity coexisted.

 

She thought of Van Gogh’s starry night, but this was a thousand times more twisted than that painting.

 

The several people dealing with Xi Chu simultaneously bled from their mouths and noses, their eyes falling into chaotic, frenzied madness.

 

“Put on the ritual masks! Xiao Song, take the people and go!” The woman seemed to be the leader among them, barely maintaining a thread of clarity.

 

Chu Song broke free from his confused state and pressed a ghost mask that emitted a strange fragrance onto Chu Li’s face. In the moment before her vision went dark, she saw that all of them had put on masks of various forms.

 

She also saw Xi Chu violently grip the red threads, stare quietly at her, and pull at the corners of his mouth, seeming to say something.

 

A smile appearing on that face was horrifying beyond measure.

 

Chu Li didn’t have time to make out those words before Chu Song pressed down her ritual mask and grabbed her arm to hastily flee.

 

BOOM——

 

Silver light tore through the dark night, and the rain that had been building up for so long came crashing down.

 

Chu Li was hastily stuffed into the passenger seat. Before her seatbelt was even fastened, the car was already speeding into the night rain.

 

The rain poured down heavily, and the scenery outside the car windows became large patches of dark colors.

 

She removed the ritual mask and placed it on her knees, her gaze wandering dazedly around the car interior. She pulled out a bundle of tissues and began repeatedly wiping the half-dried blood from her palms.

 

“Damn! What kind of hellish weather is this!”

 

Chu Song floored the accelerator, blood seeping from his eye sockets and nose, but he couldn’t spare time to wipe it. He glanced at Chu Li and saw her face was clean as white porcelain, with only a single drop of blood splattered below her eye.

 

Clearly, that wasn’t hers either.

 

His expression was strange. “You… are completely unaffected by Him?”

 

Chu Li kept her head down, as if she hadn’t heard, continuing to wipe repeatedly.

 

Blood, so much blood.

 

It wouldn’t come clean. What should she do?

 

Bloodied tissues piled up at her feet, but even after wiping to the end, she couldn’t get it clean.

 

Some dried blood had seeped into her palm lines, covering them like crimson patterns. She suddenly felt very nauseous.

 

Chu Song noticed her distress and comforted her. “Bear with it for now. We can’t stop the car right now. Once we get back to the main family, you’ll be safe.”

 

With each breath, Chu Li was filled with the thick smell of blood. She pinched her palm to distract herself. “What about your companions?”

 

“They’re the most outstanding young ritual masters of this generation in the main family. Don’t worry. He was severely injured and revealed his true form—it’s just a manifestation anyway. They can handle it.”

 

This car had no music system, and the endless rain beat against the windows with a monotonous, tedious sound.

 

“What did you mean earlier when you said I wasn’t affected?”

 

“See the blood on my face?” Chu Song smiled bitterly. “His true form is an existence that humans cannot comprehend. Anyone who sees his true appearance will fall into chaos, and prolonged staring will drive them mad to death. Only wearing ritual masks can reduce some of the effects. Didn’t you feel anything at the time?”

 

Chu Li leaned against the car window, her voice very soft. “Just a little dizzy.”

 

Like the dizziness from looking at a kaleidoscope for a few moments.

 

“Here, this is yours.” She returned the small paper figure to Chu Song.

 

The thumb-sized paper figure was completely intact—exactly as it had been when given to her.

 

Chu Song looked like he’d seen a ghost and nearly crashed the car into the landscaping.

 

“I… damn…” He stared wide-eyed. “When you stabbed Him, He didn’t fight back?”

 

This paper figure was also something the Grand Nuo had asked him to pass along, meant to preserve Chu Li’s life. He had never imagined it could remain completely intact.

 

Chu Li shook her head and leaned wearily against the car window.

 

Not only had He not fought back, He had gripped her hand and helped her stab harder.

 

Remembering that scene, the nauseous feeling surged up again.

 

Chu Song opened his mouth, not knowing what to say, so he simply said, “If you’re tired, sleep. I’ll wake you when we arrive.”

 

Whether physically or mentally, she was already very exhausted. Chu Li closed her eyes, and in the gentle swaying, her consciousness gradually grew drowsy.

 

****

 

BOOM——

 

The thunder was deafening.

 

Chu Li awakened from a bizarre dream. Two car headlights couldn’t penetrate the dense rain, and this car seemed to be traveling through a thick darkness.

 

Wisps of unease coiled around her heart.

 

She looked out the window, then turned to look behind the car.

 

“Where have we——”

 

Another “BOOM,” and silver light briefly tore open the dark rain curtain.

 

Chu Li seemed frozen in place, cold air rushing from her back to the tips of her hair as she stared in horror at the rear windshield.

 

A shadow followed like a ghost, appearing and disappearing with the lightning, briefly vanishing, then reappearing.

 

In just a few seconds, the distance had closed significantly.

 

From a blurred shadow to being able to see the basic outline clearly.

 

The lightning was fleeting, and outside the car returned to pitch blackness.

 

A drop of sweat fell on the ritual mask on her knees, and her voice was like a murmur. “He’s coming…”

 

Chu Song: “What?”

 

Chu Li turned her stiff neck and looked forward. At the end of the two car headlight beams stood a figure holding an umbrella.

 

“He has come.”

 

That monster had caught up.

 

The car suddenly braked hard, splashing accumulated water outside the windows. Chu Li was caught off guard and lurched forward, the seatbelt cutting painfully into her chest and abdomen.

 

Chu Song’s whole body was trembling, cold sweat pouring down his temples. He gripped the steering wheel hard, trying to turn and drive away.

 

The car stalled at this moment.

 

“Tap, tap, tap…“

 

The sound of footsteps in the rain was particularly clear, stepping through puddles, walking step by step toward the headlights.

 

The well-tailored suit was soaked with blood, and as he walked, the blood color spread through the rainwater.

 

Chu Song’s teeth chattered together, making clicking sounds. His pupils contracted to pinpoints as death’s guillotine pressed against his neck.

 

He didn’t want to die…

 

He was still young. From birth, he had received praise from his family, saying he had great hope of entering the main family from a branch family.

 

As long as he completed this mission, he could successfully enter the main family and no longer be just a branch member.

 

But he wasn’t prepared to die for the mission!

 

Chu Song rolled his eyes to look at the blank-faced Chu Li, remembering what the Grand Nuo had said before leaving, a fierce look flashing in his eyes.

 

Before Chu Li could react, a knife was pressed to her throat, and her neck stung slightly.

 

Chu Song’s lips moved rapidly a few times, then he firmly gripped her shoulder while his other hand held the short knife pressed against her pale neck, like a gambler making a desperate bet. “Leave, or I’ll kill her!”

 

Her mind buzzed as she realized from the stinging in her neck that this wasn’t just a threat.

 

His movements were too practiced, so practiced that she suspected Chu Song had killed before.

 

“Miss Chu, I have no choice either.” Chu Song stared intently out the window, his tone sinister. “Although I came to save you, I didn’t plan to die for you.”

 

The blade pressed closer by a fraction, and a drop of blood rolled down.

 

A terrible, spine-chilling pressure descended like a blanket.

 

The umbrella-holding figure stopped in front of the car.

 

The face under the black umbrella showed not a trace of blood, beautiful and inhumanly so. Behind gold-rimmed glasses, his eyes were like bottomless abysses.

 

Chu Song felt with crystal clarity the killing intent of the deity his family had worshipped for generations.

 

A well-defined hand pressed against the car hood.

 

Rainwater flowed along his fingers and wrist bones.

 

The blade pressed closer again, and Chu Song’s eyes showed madness. “I said leave, or she will——”

 

CREAK——!

 

The entire car’s metal frame made tooth-aching sounds of compression and deformation, torn open instantly from hood to roof by tremendous force.

 

Scattered metal crashed to the ground, splashing up sheets of rainwater.

 

Chu Song realized He wasn’t going to spare him. His last bit of rationality completely collapsed, and just as he was about to use the short knife to slice open the throat, he met those pitch-black pupils.

 

In an instant, it was as if countless light-years were stuffed into his brain, completely exceeding human brain capacity.

 

Chu Song’s eyeballs bulged out, blood vessels burst one by one, inhuman screams squeezed from his throat as he was lifted by an invisible force and thrown sideways.

 

The bloodied short knife fell onto Chu Li’s leg.

 

A black umbrella stopped above Chu Li’s head, completely blocking the rain.

 

Enormous fear triggered adrenaline. She grabbed the short knife and, in a flash of lightning, stabbed toward the figure beside her.

 

The blade pierced his abdomen, warm blood gushing out, staining the bloody water on the ground red.

 

She pulled out the knife, wanting to stab again, but her wrist was caught. Xi Chu applied slight pressure, forcing her to release her grip, and the short knife fell into the rainwater.

 

His expression was calm as he bent down slightly, his cold fingertips wiping away the moisture at the corners of her eyes, then wiping away the tiny blood drops seeping from her neck.

 

“Li Li has made herself quite a mess.”

 

He casually threw the ritual mask from Chu Li’s leg aside, pulled her up and pressed her against his chest, sighing softly. “I told you not to trust strangers easily. You don’t listen well.”

 

Heavy rain poured down, Chu Song screamed miserably, and she was pressed against the chest of the monster who had once again donned human skin, forced to smell the rich scent of blood.

 

“Shall I avenge you?”

 

Realizing what he intended to do, Chu Li began struggling frantically, tears streaming continuously.

 

“No, no…! Don’t do this, don’t do this…”

 

As someone raised with simple moral values, she couldn’t face having someone die in front of her, especially when that death was inextricably linked to her.

 

“Why? He wanted to kill you, yet you show mercy. I saved you, but why didn’t you hold back when you struck me?”

 

Chu Li’s throat felt blocked by a soaked sponge, unable to make a sound.

 

“Worshipping a deity, yet betraying the god. Li Li, look at the fate of those who betray their god.”

 

Xi Chu gripped her shoulders and forcibly turned her toward Chu Song, who was writhing on the ground in chaotic madness.

 

Chu Li couldn’t make a sound, could only keep her eyes open as tears fell one after another.

 

At the last moment, he sighed and reached out to cover her eyes.

 

SPLURT!

 

The sound of a rotten watermelon bursting drilled into Chu Li’s ears.

 

Xi Chu gathered her into his arms, gently patting her back as if comforting her, never once letting her see the pile of mangled flesh just steps away.

 

“Li Li, let’s go home. You’re so dirty. Let’s go back and I’ll help you take a bath, okay?”