The Shameless Young Miss

The Last Play to Lihua's Rage (3)

  Takeshi's face filled with confusion. After his fight with the entity named Aran, Aran explained the curse of Warford Castle.  The castle was haunted with the dead ghosts of the former inhabitants. Although the general, who lived at the time was married and had three children.  He raped a woman he found in the forest and left her for dead.  Instead of dying, the woman demanded the general to marry her and make her his concubine.  But he refused and kicked her out of his land.  She in turn cursed his land and family before committing suicide. His land died along with his people, one by one they fell with a sickness that they couldn't cure.  Her dark spirit lived in the castle made the dead spirits who once lived there, her servants. 

But before she committed suicide, she found out she was pregnant and lived long enough to give birth to her baby and had her mother take care of the baby.  Aran was the descendant of the baby.  Throughout the years, only one child could be born carrying the woman's rage and vengeance.  Throughout the years, they figured out how to capture the trespassing and thieving  humans and use the human's qi to advance their own qi cultivation, making them breakthrough Heavenly Dragon Martial Stage easier.  The crystals came from a nearby mountain where phoenixes nest.  The crystals are a build up of the phoenixes tears and ashes.  Once the tears and ashes were combined with human qi, it crystallizes and keeps the humans trapped in the crystal.  They built a mechanism to suck the qi out of the crystals and they in turn absorb the qi into their body at night.  

When Aran laid dying, Aran confessed to his sins and gladly closed his eyes in peace as he breathed his last breath.  Finally finding peace. 

When Takeshi caught up to the group, the group had been split.  They ran into trouble as they escaped.  After knocking Lihua out after the huge explosion, they were surrounded by a pack of fire wolves.  They split up hoping that they had a better chance of survival.  The first group split up to run away, but instead ran into Red Maidens afterwards.  And from there, Xin, Ethan and Lihua split up with them to escape to safety.  

When the fire wolves were killed and they were able to meet up with the other group and help kill the Red Maidens.  A black light filled the sky and Takeshi felt his gut being punched and his breath taken away from him.  He had to rest his hands on his knees to catch his breath. He had used up most of his qi in his fight with Aran and although it was easy to kill the Red Maidens, it was still a slow process because he had to help kill the pack of fire wolves first and now the Red Maidens.  His qi core was running low with qi. He knew something went wrong so he quickly annihilated the Red Maidens and the group ran towards Xin and Ethan.  Upon seeing the black light touch each Red Maiden, they were confused as to what it was and who it was.  

When Ethan pointed at the black light telling them that it was Lihua, it confused them even more.  

"What are you trying to say?"  Takeshi said.  

But before Xin and Ethan could answer Lady Akira saw Takeshi and flew towards him.  

"Did you think you could leave me behind so easily?"  Akira said as she walked forward forgetting that her burned body had not been healed yet and that she did not wear a veil any longer.  "You'll always belong to me and only me.  As I belong to you and only you."  

Takeshi stared at Akira in surprise.  He watched her die in front of him.  Her body burned with poisoned fire. How did she survive her death?  But before Takeshi could make his move or Akira say another word, the black light passed through Akira and her body burst into pieces.  Blood flew everywhere as it splattered mostly onto Xin, Ethan and Takeshi.  

Every Red Maiden had been killed, with their blood, organs and limbs laying everywhere.  The forest soaking up their blood.  The black light stopped in front of them and out stepped the monster.  Everyone took a step back with every step the monster walked towards them.  However, Takeshi was the only one who stood still.  As he looked into the monsters eyes.  It reflected back a forest green color.  Just like Lihua's eyes.  He knew that somewhere inside the monster, was his Lihua.  It was the Lihua, who he fell in love with.  Although the monster didn't look like Lihua, her soul and her eyes were still the same.  

The monster reached out it's hand, it's fist came out slowly as if it wanted to give Takeshi something within it's fist.  Takeshi reached out and opened his hand to receive the gift.  The monster opened it's hand and two eyeballs fell down into his out stretched hand.  He recognized those eyes.  Those were the eyes of Akira.  The eyes that he gazed upon as a child, that he fell in love with when he was a teenager.  The eyes that he hated as she betrayed him.  The same eyes that he looked into as she died by poison fire.  And the same eyes that came back from the dead to kill Lihua and try to stay by his side again.   

Takeshi accepted the gift and closed his hand around the eyes and squished them, popping the eyes with his strength.  The monster fell forward and without thinking Takeshi caught it as black light lit up the sky again.  The dense, sticky, black qi surrounded them and Takeshi could see the purple ball of light surround them.  And as soon as the purple light flashed, everything ended with a flash of white light.  

Inside his embrace, was the love of his life.  Lihua laid pale and barely breathing as she slept in his arms.  He checked over her body for any wounds and none could be found.  Who is she exactly, he didn't know.  How she was able to turn into a monster and turn back, he too didn't know as well.  But what he did know, was that Lihua is and will forever will be the woman he loves, till the end of time, human or monster.  Lihua belonged to him as he belonged to her.