Before Qiu Yunru could move three steps, blood spurted high up into the air. Screams rose all around, and disciples began to flee like scattering mice.
Li Chenyuan had...had...
Qiu Yunru covered his mouth, turning his face away. Even though he was a medicine major, there was only so much he could take before his insides bubbled up his throat.
Li Chenyuan had torn off a young man's head!
Eyes gleaming violet in the darkness, Li Chenyuan tossed that head aside. It rolled, that disciple's mouth still gaping with terror. It rolled, and rolled, and fell right off the cliff, never to be seen again.
Qiu Yunru swallow down the bile in his throat, feeling his knees shake. In all his time in this world, he had never seen something that made his blood run so cold.
What was almost worse than the sight of that severed head, however, was the look on Li Chenyuan's face.
It was utterly devoid of regret. His phoenix eyes were wide, and his pupils seemed to have turned to slits. Whether it was a trick of the light or not, his eyes were overflowing with a spine-chilling malice. His lips were curled into a cruel smirk, and when he opened his mouth, a laugh rang out.
"Ha..." His voice was hoarse and low. Though it was unmistakably his own voice, there was a strange quality to it that made it seem unfamiliar. He saw Qiu Yunru standing there in the almost-empty clearing, and tilted his head with that unnerving smile. "You seem unhappy. Do my actions scare you? How fun."
The hairs on the back of Qiu Yunru's neck stood up straight. He suddenly got the distinct sense that Li Chenyuan didn't recognize him at all.
He himself could barely recognize this look in his shidi's eyes. In all the time he'd known him, from that first day they had collided at the Li Mansion, to five minutes ago, he had never seen such a bloodthirsty and cruel expression on Li Chenyuan's face.
Li Chenyuan stepped forward leisurely. His face was spattered with blood from earlier, and his tongue flicked out, licking some off the corner of his lip. He seemed pleased. "Hmmm."
Fumbling, Qiu Yunru drew his sword. "Wait. Li-shidi."
Li Chenyuan tilted his head, looking at Qiu Yunru with sudden curiosity. "Li-shidi? Li Chenyuan? Are you talking to me?" He looked Qiu Yunru up and down appraisingly. "Do I know you?"
Qiu Yunru could feel a cold sweat dripping down the back of his neck. Drip, drip, drip. "Yes...Yes. I'm your shixiong. You're not acting like yourself. You touched a Demon Soul Idol, and..."
Though he was beginning to babble, hoping to distract his shidi with words, Qiu Yunru had a point to what he was saying.
In studies of demonic cultivators who had utilized Demon Soul Idols, it was possible not to lose one's mind temporarily. If one already had great control over their cultivation, they might be able to keep a handle of themself. However, if they didn't, and went mad...
It wasn't as if they had truly lost their identity. No, it was a temporary madness. Distracting a person with details from their life and things they cared about was one method that could confuse a person overtaken by demonic qi. Though it would certainly not guarantee an immediate return to their normal state, it would disorient them, distracting them from their bloodlust as their usual consciousness contradicted their maddened consciousness.
"You've been studying with me at the Jade Clouds Sect for a year...we both received our Golden Cores on the same day. That was a funny coincidence, right? Haha...hahaha..." Qiu Yunru laughed weakly. His heart pounded in his ears.
He was fully aware that, if he wasn't able to distract Li Chenyuan properly, he would likely die here and now.
It wasn't as if he could turn tail and run. To someone overtaken by bloodlust, running was akin to drawing a target on your back. The fastest moving object becomes the most interesting prey!
Li Chenyuan's fingers curled and uncurled. He seemed both annoyed and confused. "What are you talking about?" He snapped. For a moment, he sounded like himself again. "You're mistaking me for someone else."
"Who are you, then?" Qiu Yunru tried. Subtly, he moved his hand to the hilt of his sword. "If I'm not talking about you, who are you?"
"That's easy! I'm--" Li Chenyuan trailed off. The confidnece in his glowing eyes faltered, and the violet glow flickered for a moment. He frowned, looking down at the ground. "I'm...I'm..."
Qiu Yunru's heart leapt with hope. It was truly working! Confusing him with real memories was causing the demonic qi's hold on him to waver. Even if he had to keep talking for ten hours, this was most certainly his best chance at survival!
Of course, with his infamous luck, Qiu Yunru never got the chance to keep talking.
"YOU VILE CREATURE! I'll KILL YOU WHERE YOU STAND!"
At that moment, that stupid Yan Wenqing rushed forward, brandishing his Mo blade like a mandate from the heavens. With an utterly glorious expression, he spun around once and brought his blade down with enough force to crack the skull of three elephants.
The earth shook. Qiu Yunru steadied himself, covering his mouth as dust rose up, obscuring the clearing.
How can someone have so much power in their blow that they practically split the earth? Is he a kid of a god?
His eyes watered as the dust cleared, and he coughed, waving it away from his face. A part of his heart had sank deep into his stomach, and he almost couldn't bear to look at the scene that was being uncovered. Considering the strength of that strike...
Even though Li Chenyuan had exceptional martial talent, there was almost no way he could escape unscathed.
Qiu Yunru squinted, drawing his dull sword. What would he see? His heart stuttered in his chest, and he suddenly felt nauseous.
What if...he saw...Li Chenyuan's body...?
The thought made him feel sick, so he pushed it away. He'd likely just gotten badly injured. If that was the case, then he wouldn't be able to utilize his demonic qi well, and he would be subdued enough to take care of and bring outside the arena for treatment.
As the last of the dust cleared, Qiu Yunru froze.
He felt as though a bucket of icy water had been poured all over his body.
There was indeed a body on the ground, twitching in a pile of its own blood. However...
It wasn't Li Chenyuan's body, but Yan Wenqing's!