Xiao Rangchen’s brows drew tightly together, and his grip on Lou Yue’s hand grew stronger and stronger.
The presence pursuing them from afar clung to them like a parasite burrowed into their bones.
Taking Lou Yue with him, he plunged once more into the churning waves. The icy seawater swallowed them in an instant.
He shielded Lou Yue in his arms, constantly changing direction.
Yet when they broke through the surface again, Cangya Lan and Yue Qianzhong had caught up with them once more in midair, as though they had been able to lock onto their position.
No matter how carefully they concealed themselves or how thoroughly they masked their presence, they could not shake off the pursuers behind them.
Xiao Rangchen’s heart sank.
Lou Yue, too, sensed the two men drawing near.
She withdrew her gaze from the horizon and looked at the solemn-faced man before her. “Go that way.”
Xiao Rangchen followed the direction of her finger.
With one glance, he recognized that the end of that stretch of sea was the very place he had originally intended to lure Cangya Lan to—the Chaos Abyss.
But he had planned to go there so that, before dying, he could drag Cangya Lan down with him.
Now, however, Lou Yue was at his side.
He could step into a deathtrap alone, but how could he possibly place her in such a desperate situation as well?
Xiao Rangchen turned toward her, his gaze deep and shadowed, his lips pressed tightly together in silence.
Seeing his hesitation, Lou Yue gave a derisive snort. “What? Now that you have me with you, you’re afraid?”
The arm Xiao Rangchen had wrapped around Lou Yue’s waist tightened at once.
Yet her eyes were perfectly clear, without the slightest trace of panic.
Cangya Lan and Yue Qianzhong would arrive at any moment, but the two of them simply stood there, silently staring at each other, neither willing to yield an inch.
“Or do you intend to hand me over to them as a cultivation furnace?” Lou Yue asked coolly.
Xiao Rangchen’s brows twisted instantly, and his gaze sharpened. “If they want to lay a finger on you, they’ll have to step over my corpse.”
“Then what are you hesitating for?”
Xiao Rangchen’s throat tightened. The emotions surging through his chest pressed so heavily that he felt as though they would split him apart.
A violent wind suddenly rose over the sea, splashing the cold seawater against their faces with a bone-piercing chill.
Cangya Lan and Yue Qianzhong were getting closer and closer, their heavy breathing seeming to clamp around his throat.
Before them lay the Chaos Abyss, which devoured all things. Behind them were relentless, powerful enemies.
They had nowhere left to retreat.
Xiao Rangchen swallowed the metallic sweetness rising in his throat, bent down, and pulled Lou Yue fiercely into his arms, locking her against him with both arms.
If only he had not come to cultivate in the Sea of Chaos Abyss…
If only he had discovered the four people lurking in the shadows sooner…
If only he had killed Yue Qi back in Xuandu…
If only he had been a little stronger…
“I’m sorry…” he murmured hoarsely.
If she had never been with him, she would not have fallen into this desperate situation.
Lou Yue leaned against him, her gaze fixed on the Chaos Abyss as she slowly parted her lips.
“Xiao Rangchen, do you know what it means to be driven into a corner and then find a way to survive?”
“I believe we’re not destined to die here.”
She reached out and seized Xiao Rangchen’s wrist, pulling him beneath the surface without giving him a chance to refuse. Together, they headed toward the Chaos Abyss.
The chaotic thoughts in Xiao Rangchen’s mind gradually settled. In the end, only one thought remained—
He would protect her, even if it meant his soul would be destroyed and he would suffer eternal ruin.
The wrist Lou Yue was holding suddenly sank.
The next moment, Xiao Rangchen clasped her around the waist instead. Spiritual power erupted from his body, carrying her as he surged through the sea toward the Chaos Abyss at full speed.
It was too dark beneath the water for her to see his expression, but she could clearly feel the strength in his arm, tensed to its absolute limit.
Half an hour later, the seawater around them suddenly grew even more violent and savage. Spiritual power also became increasingly difficult to gather.
Lou Yue knew they had arrived at the Chaos Abyss.
Holding her in his arms, Xiao Rangchen leaped out of the ceaselessly churning waves.
The sky was still steeped in the deepest darkness before dawn, yet along the distant horizon, a thread of light had already begun to spread. It seemed to be struggling at the edge of the darkness, yearning to break through but not yet quite able to do so.
Across the vast expanse of sea before them, a colossal whirlpool had been carved out of the waters. It resembled the open maw of a dormant abyssal beast, swallowing the light of heaven and the furious waves alike.
A chilling, sinister aura surged madly upward from the depths. Faintly, mournful shrieks and wails pierced straight into the soul.
Four green stone pillars, each more than ten feet thick, plunged directly into the deep sea. The exposed surfaces were covered in ancient runes and curse seals. A faint golden radiance still flowed weakly through them, but they were already riddled with cracks, their surfaces mottled and corroded.
Lou Yue stood atop one of the green stone pillars and gazed down at the pitch-black abyss that devoured everything.
The cold, desolate wind howled upward from its depths, whipping her robes and sending her long hair flying.
In the distant sky, two flying beasts sped toward them.
When Cangya Lan and Yue Qianzhong saw where the two of them stood, a trace of caution and gravity crossed both their eyes.
The flying beasts stopped several yards away, and neither man dared approach rashly.
Cangya Lan fixed his cold gaze on them and spoke first. “Behind you is the Chaos Abyss. Tens of thousands of ghosts, fiends, and murderous spirits are sealed beneath it. Once you fall in, your souls will be annihilated, and not even your bones will remain.”
Yue Qianzhong followed, deliberately softening his tone. “Girl, if you come with me, I can temporarily spare that boy.”
Cangya Lan shot him a sidelong glance. He knew then that Yue Qianzhong’s earlier promise had merely been a deliberate deception.
He looked back at Lou Yue and snorted coldly. “I advise you not to seek your own death.”
Lou Yue found even looking at them disgusting.
Her gaze settled on Xiao Rangchen before her, and she raised her brows slightly as she asked deliberately, “Did you hear that? They said that if I go with them, they’ll let you live.”
There was only her in Xiao Rangchen’s eyes.
He clasped Lou Yue’s hand tightly in his palm, his voice low and unwavering, each word firm and distinct.
“I would rather die.”
Just then, a ray of dawn rose from the surface of the sea. Golden-red light broke through the gloom and spilled over the two of them.
The corners of Lou Yue’s lips slowly curved into a radiant smile as she gazed at the man before her, his features sharp and his bearing straight and proud.
The morning breeze brushed past, stirring his dark hair and sweeping across his clearly defined profile. Within those deep eyes, there was only her—pure, blazing, and utterly unreserved.
She asked softly, “Are you afraid?”
Xiao Rangchen’s expression softened, and a faint, tender smile appeared in his eyes. “I should be the one asking you that. Are you afraid?”
Lou Yue let out an exaggerated sigh, though her eyes gleamed with reckless, flamboyant delight. “I was a little afraid at first. But when I think about the looks on those two men’s faces afterward, I feel… pretty damn good.”
Xiao Rangchen gave a low laugh. He bent slightly and drew her into his arms, his voice husky and gentle.
“Lou Yue… meeting you in this lifetime is the greatest fortune I could ever have.”
Lou Yue’s brows and eyes gradually curved, blooming into a bright smile.
Xiao Rangchen straightened and lowered his eyes to look at her seriously. His gaze traced every inch of her features, as though he wanted to burn every smile and expression of hers into his bones and blood.
Lou Yue lifted her eyes. Her lashes and gaze were gilded by the dawn, and her eyes shimmered with brilliant light.
Word by word, slowly and clearly, she said to him:
“Xiao Rangchen, I like you.”
At her words, the corners of Xiao Rangchen’s lips lifted high, and scorching emotion surged in his eyes, almost spilling over.
His voice was hoarse, wrapped in feelings too intense to dissolve. “Mm… Xiao Rangchen likes Lou Yue too.”
Lou Yue reached out and looped her arms around his neck, sinking completely into his embrace.
One of Xiao Rangchen’s arms encircled her waist, holding her tightly against him, while his other hand gently supported the back of her head.
The rosy light washed over their hair, dyeing both their faces with tenderness and resolve.
The sinister aura of the Chaos Abyss continued to churn, but in this moment, it seemed that only the two of them remained between heaven and earth.
The wind fell silent. The waves sank into stillness.
Xiao Rangchen’s steps were steady as he retreated toward the edge of the stone pillar, one step at a time.
Not far away, Cangya Lan and Yue Qianzhong’s expressions darkened abruptly. They leaped from their flying beasts in unison, spiritual power surging in their palms as they reached out toward the pair—
Holding Lou Yue in his arms, Xiao Rangchen decisively leaned backward.
The two figures, locked in each other’s arms, plunged toward the maw of the Chaos Abyss, which devoured heaven and earth.
The gale howled, whipping their hair and robes into a frenzy.
Lou Yue lifted her head and gazed quietly at the person so close to her.
Xiao Rangchen stared at her, his eyes holding an almost reverent devotion—a love so deep he would willingly burn everything to ash for her.
He said nothing. He only lowered his eyes and kissed her fiercely.
Lou Yue gently closed her eyes, tightened her arms around him, and kissed him back with equal fervor.
Their lips and tongues entwined passionately, as though they sought to mingle every breath between them and carve themselves forever into each other’s souls.
Thus, locked in a tight embrace and sharing a deep kiss, they plunged together into the pitch-black Chaos Abyss.
Until every sense and every fragment of consciousness was utterly swallowed by the abyss…
