“Mei Chen? Is that you? Mei Chen!”
A familiar figure appeared.
Lin Feng looked like he’d been through hell—his once-neat clothes were torn, his face scratched and bleeding.
He stared at me in shock and rushed over.
I didn’t want to see him. I stepped back, hiding behind Ling Ze.
Lin Feng’s eyes widened when he saw Ling Ze.
“M-Master…”
In that instant, everything made sense. Lin Feng was the dragon banished by the gods—the fifth son, imprisoned on Bailing Mountain with Ling Ze.
“Mei Chen, did he save you? Master… she…”
Then Lin Feng noticed the red thread binding my wrist to Ling Ze’s.
He yanked me out from behind Ling Ze, his face dark with anger.
“What’s this? Mei Chen, why do you have a red thread on your hand?!”
Ling Ze flicked his finger, using magic to pull me back to him.
“She’s injured.”
Lin Feng ignored Ling Ze, his Adam’s apple bobbing as his golden eyes turned red, a storm brewing in their depths.
“Mei Chen, tell me—what’s with the red thread between you and him?!”
“Don’t you know what it is?”
Lin Feng froze.
I laughed bitterly.
“It’s my first time seeing one.”
“This red thread means Ling Ze and I are contracted.”
Lin Feng’s voice was low, full of suppressed rage.
“Why?”
But what right did he have to be angry?
He used me, made me a pawn in his quest to become a dragon again, never intended to form a contract with me.
Why should Lin Feng be upset now?
“Lin Feng… Ling Ze is my first demon, and he’ll be my last.”
“You said you’d only have me as your demon.”
My heart ached.
“When did I say that?”
Lin Feng clenched his fists, his face darkening as I felt his demon power surge.
“Lin Feng, calm down,” Ling Ze warned, his expression souring.
“Do you know how many in the heavens are watching you right now?”
Lin Feng glared at Ling Ze, golden scales rising on his neck.
“What did you do with Mei Chen?”
Ling Ze sensed something was wrong.
“Lin Feng, maybe you should ask yourself that.”
A surge of power knocked Ling Ze to the ground, drawing attention from those nearby.
“Ling Ze!”
I ran to him, but Lin Feng grabbed me.
I slapped him hard.
“Lin Feng, do you even have a heart?”
But he didn’t hear me. His demon aura rolled out, thick and suffocating.
“Mei Chen, if you don’t want him hurt, come with me.”
Looking at Ling Ze struggling on the ground, Lin Feng’s red eyes only made my heart ache more.
“Fine, I’ll go with you. Leave him alone.”
“Lin Feng… you can’t repay kindness with cruelty.”
Lin Feng dragged me into the cave and threw me hard onto the icy bed.
Pain from my wounds surged uncontrollably.
He tore my clothes open in a few rough motions.
The cold beneath me and the agony in my wounds made it impossible to straighten my back.
“Let me go… There’s nothing left on me for you to use,” I whispered.
Lin Feng ignored my words, grabbing my neck and biting down hard.
The taste of blood filled my nose.
When he finally lifted his head, some reason had returned to his eyes, but the scales on his neck remained.
“How far did you and Ling Ze go?” he asked, wiping away my tears with his fingertip.
“Did you look like this under him too?”
His cold tail wrapped around my legs. It was no longer smooth, but covered in dragon scales, leaving red scratches on my skin.
I closed my eyes, refusing to react to whatever Lin Feng was doing.
After a long time, hot tears fell onto my wound.
“Mei Chen, will you open your eyes and look at me?”
“Talk to me… please…”
Slowly, I opened my eyes and pushed Lin Feng away, starting to get dressed.
His large hand pressed gently to my back, and he saw the black veins spreading across my body.
I gritted my teeth and tried to get off the ice bed.
Lin Feng reached out to stop me.
“Mei Chen, I was wrong.”
“Come back to me. I won’t try to become a dragon anymore. I’ll just stay with you, okay?”
I shook off his hand with force.
“Are you done? Can I leave now?”
Seeing the coldness in my eyes, Lin Feng’s eyes reddened, but he couldn’t cry anymore.
“Where are you going? To find Ling Ze? I—”
“Lin Feng, I have less than a month left to live.”
“I’m in pain. I just want to sleep.”
“With the little time I have left, just let me rest.”
Lin Feng’s face turned as pale as a sheet.
“You’re in pain…”
He heard me, and once again tore open my clothes, licking my wounds over and over.
He tried to pour spiritual power into my injury, but I pushed him away.
“Save your demon power for becoming a dragon. Don’t waste it on me.”
Lin Feng shook his head frantically.
“I’m not becoming a dragon. I’m not.”
He carefully cradled me in his arms.
“There must be a way to cure the lotus arrow’s poison. I won’t let you die.”
“Mei Chen, I killed all those men in black.”
“I looked for you for so long.”
If it had been before, those words would have made me cry with gratitude. But now, all I felt was pain.
“Lin Feng, none of that means anything.”
Each word struck him like a hammer. He clung to me tighter.
“It means something. It all means something.”
“Mei Chen, I’m sorry.”
“I’ll heal you, and then we’ll be okay again, like when we first met…”
I started to feel dizzy, a burning sensation in my chest.
A mouthful of black blood spilled from my lips.
“Mei Chen!”
I struggled out of his arms and limped toward the cave entrance.
But the next moment, everything went black and I lost consciousness.
Chapter 10
*