Split Zone No.13

Volume 3

188 Nie Zun Turns into a Demon?

“Nie Zun…”

I mumbled with a slight tremble in my voice.

I heard Gaoqin Jiuye beside me, but I couldn’t hear him as clearly as before. “That’s it. It should’ve been him who cancelled out our attacks.”

I continued looking at Nie Zun, who stayed absolutely still. His eyes were open and it seemed like he was looking at me, but at the same time, it looked like he was looking elsewhere.

I was a little afraid now.

I was afraid because Nie Zun’s eyes looked like they belonged to a stranger. I’ve never seen such foreign eyes on him before.

I’m not afraid if Nie Zun ends up disfigured. I’m not afraid if I see a demon in him, or if he just turns into one himself. But at this point, I feared that unfamiliar and alien gaze of his.

A light emanated from the tablet behind him. He walked down unhurriedly as he was bathed in that light.

The platform was huge. Step by step, he finally reached the end of it.

His hair was a little longer now, and his wispy bangs seemed to flutter even in this sealed up space. His eyes were a pure black and he was still in that black coat. The ends of his coat also seemed to be fluttering on its own.

The starlight in his eyes was replaced by a cold and ruthless gleam. He looked down at Gaoqin Jiuye and I from the top of the platform. The mark in between his brows was so red it looked like blood would drip out of it anytime.

Gaoqin Jiuye shielded me with a hand in front. He spoke in a low tone, “Be careful. Nie Zun seems a little different.”

I was angered by this and I called out loudly, “Nie Zun.”

Eerie silence followed. Nie Zun stood on the platform, hands relaxed by his sides as he looked at me with disdain.

He finally spoke. “Do you wish to die?”

My eyes widened. This…. What’s he talking about… I wanted to say something, but nothing came out when I opened my mouth. Gaoqin Jiuye then grabbed me, as if afraid I would act rashly.

Nie Zun glanced at the hand grabbing me, and looked at me again. “Who is the one who disturbed my sleep. Do you wish to die?”

I felt myself shiver at this. My hands balled themselves up into fists. “Who. Are you.”

There was no change in Nie Zun. “I’m Nie Zun. Why? Do you know me?”

I felt like collapsing to the ground. What’s wrong with him… Can anyone tell me?

Is he suffering from amnesia… How clichéd is this…

Seeing Gaoqin Jiuye and I silent, anger seemed to rise in him. He looked at us with a furious disdain as an air vortex formed behind him. The air vortex turned into a dragon made of wind which started flying around the platform, surrounding him as it ruffled his coat and hair.

That vortex seemed to be ready to attack us anytime. Seeing Nie Zun do this, white fog surged in Gaoqin Jiuye’s eyes immediately.

Unexpectedly, nothing happened.

Gaoqin Jiuye looked confused at this, and he looked downcast as he realized why.

“The air currents in the cave cannot be controlled with MF.”

I was surprised to hear this. Why can’t it be done if it’s just air… We really can’t do anything with MF here in this space?

There was no extra time for me to think as Nie Zun’s air vortex raced towards Gaoqin Jiuye and I, producing an eerie echo in this space.

Gaoqin Jiuye grabbed my hand tightly as he pulled me backwards.

I could feel the force from the air vortex. It was much stronger than that of Gaoqin Jiuye’s or Jiao S’s. Though we had already retreated to a distance of more than 10 meters away, it was still coming at us.

I then made a decision.

I focused my MF onto the hand Gaoqin Jiuye was holding. When the air vortex was closing in, I pushed Gaoqin Jiuye to the right. He did not expect me to do that as he looked at me in shock.

However, there was no time for him to react. He was simply flung sideways by me. At the same time, I stepped forward to welcome the air vortex.

Boom.

It hit me point-blank and I fell flat on my back.

“Pch…” I lay sideways as I coughed out a mouthful of blood. The force was greater than I had imagined it to be. All my organs felt like they were shattered with just that blow.

My body then began healing itself as I was still coughing up blood. I heaved an inward sigh of relief. Lucky thing we could still regenerate in here. I looked up at Nie Zun with difficulty as blood continued to spew from my mouth.

Doubt flashed in Nie Zun’s eyes, as if he couldn’t understand why I did not dodge his attack when I could have obviously done so.

He leapt off the platform with a light tap of his feet.

Gaoqin Jiuye rushed to my side to support me. He shouted, “Are you mad…”

I was panting. The pain of shattered organs is quite difficult to bear. Blood continued flowing out from the corner of my lips. I tried my best to stand, but the pain made it feel like my heart and lungs were burning. The only thing I could do was to lean against Gaoqin Jiuye for that extra bit of support.

I continued panting as I said to Nie Zun, “Do you know why I didn’t dodge your attack?”

Nie Zun stopped in his tracks, somewhere about three meters in front of me and Gaoqin Jiuye.

“Because.” Blood dripped out from my mouth. “I don’t believe that you don’t know me. I don’t believe that you’d really hurt me.”

Nie Zun narrowed his eyes, as if faced with a problem he couldn’t solve.

Gaoqin Jiuye looked at Nie Zun coldly as he held me. “Isn’t protecting her your very reason for existence? How could you bear to hurt her now?”

With those narrowed eyes, Nie Zun looked down at me. “You mean to say that I know you?”

I wiped the blood from the corner of my lips. That raging fire was still burning in my chest. “It’s not as simple as just knowing me. It’s that up to three days ago, we had always been together day and night. We got separated three days ago, and when I meet you here today, you had turned into this stranger.”

An evil gleam flashed in Nie Zun’s eyes. “Day and night? Are you my lover? A lover from a past life?”

I almost died at this. Don’t be this ridiculous even when you’re an amnesiac… There’s no past life here in the Split Zone… I rolled my eyes, tired of explaining further.

“Then tell me what happened to you. Why’re you here?” I wiped the blood from my mouth and leaned against Gaoqin Jiuye.

Nie Zun smiled at this, but that smile looked infinitely more malicious than before. Even so, I could tell that it belonged to Nie Zun. “Too many questions,” he said. You should be saying that I know too much…

“You really don’t know anything?” Gaoqin Jiuye shot a look at Nie Zun in disbelief.

Nie Zun’s eyes narrowed at Gaoqin Jiuye’s question. A strong air vortex began to race towards Gaoqin Jiuye. Attacking without any preamble… Have you turned into a serial killer after losing your memory now…

Though Nie Zun’s attack looked extremely powerful, Gaoqin Jiuye wasn’t someone who could be defeated so easily. Gaoqin Jiuye calmly supported me as I stood up. He called out, “Shen Qi.”

A dark shadow appeared, and Shen Qi already took the form of a human when I looked up, parrying Nie Zun’s attack easily.

Nie Zun’s eyes shone as he saw Shen Qi. “What’s this? It looks interesting.”

Gaoqin Jiuye smirked. “That’s my sword.”

Nie Zun looked at Shen Qi with admiration. “Sword. I’m taking it.”

He then appeared beside Shen Qi, reaching out a hand to grab it. He moved so fast that everything was a blur to me.

“What terrifying speed…” I said in surprise.

Gaoqin Jiuye had a grave look. “Exactly. What’s happening here.”

But Shen Qi was a sword spirit and it couldn’t be taken easily by just anyone. Shen Qi transformed into a ray of light, wrapping itself around Nie Zun.

Instead of being afraid, Nie Zun seemed to get excited at this. He grabbed Shen Qi and threw it at Gaoqin Jiuye’s feet. Shen Qi turned back into its human-shaped form as it stared angrily at Nie Zun.

I noticed dark fog surrounding both Nie Zun’s hands. That fog looked like the soul of a demon itself.

Nie Zun laughed. “Seems like it’s no longer as interesting as when I first saw it. What do I do now? I feel like killing the two of you.”