Chapter 266
Chapter 266: Qin Shanshan’s Remorse-Filled Death
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When Qin Shanshan was tossed to the ground without any regard to her, she had still been sound asleep .
She felt as though she was dreaming . In her dream, there was a person hounding her for her life, and she could hardly make out any features on that person’s face . She was so frightened that she scrambled all over the place, trying to get away from the madman after her .
The sudden feeling of free falling followed quickly by a painful sensation of slamming into the ground jolted her right back to her senses, and she opened her eyes immediately .
She glanced about her surroundings and gradually began to discover that her surroundings were quite different from the place she had been at when she first fell asleep .
Her dream and reality had seemed to coincide, and she couldn’t help but let out a shrill shriek in fear . She was now as wide awake as she had ever been .
“What is this place? Who dares play a prank on me and bring me here while I’m asleep?!”
“Martial brother Chen?”
“Martial brother Hua?”
“Martial brother Ke? …”
Every time she shouted the name of one of her martial brothers, Qin Shanshan’s heart constricted with increasing fear . On the one hand, she absolutely did not believe that any of the Dawn Sect disciples would have the gall to play such a prank on her in the middle of the night . Yet, on the other hand, she sincerely hoped that this was nothing more than a prank . That way, she could relieve herself of her present consternation and dread after giving the culprit of this prank a harsh excoriation . At the very least, she would not have to worry for her life .
But as reality would have it, things were hardly as rosy as she had hoped they were . This was hardly a prank at all; and she had truly encountered an enemy whose appearances could not be clearly seen .
The more Qin Shanshan thought about it, the more tense and fearful she got . The eerie silence from her surroundings seemed to close in on her heart and stifle its regular beats . At this moment, she felt as though a massive beast were hidden in the dark of the night as it stared transfixed at her, ready to pounce at her and devour her at any moment .
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She did not want to die . Qin Shanshan wanted to live well and live long . She was only slightly over twenty years-old right now . To cultivators, this was merely the beginning of their long lives . How could anyone be willing to perish just like that?
A gentle breeze swept across, and her surroundings were immediately filled with rustling noises . Qin Shanshan’s heart constricted even more, and her fear escalated to unprecedented heights . In that single moment, it was as though something within her had snapped, and she began to scream and bellow at the top of her voice –
“Come out! Come out right now! Don’t you think for one moment that I can’t sense your existence just because you’re hiding in the dark . If you dare to bring me to this place, why don’t you dare to show yourself? You’re just a coward!”
“Oh? If I’m a coward, then what does that make you and your present reactions?” A crisp, soft voice resounded from behind Qin Shanshan’s body, sending chills down her spine and causing her to shudder in fear . Qin Shanshan whipped her head around, and she was immediately greeted with a pair of bloodshot eyes . She once again let out a shrill shriek as she scrambled to retreat on all fours .
“You, you, you…who are you?!”
Qin Shanshan could not see the appearance of the person who had just appeared because that person was fully wrapped up in black . The only thing that was revealed was an enthralling pair of black eyes with a peculiar tinge of red within them .
Black eyes with red hues… Qin Shanshan’s heart thumped ferociously as she exclaimed with a trembling voice, “You…you’re a demonic cultivator!”
Qin Shanshan had once heard from Qin Lingyu that the most ubiquitous feature among all demonic cultivators was the redness in their eyes . After all, regular spiritual cultivators would never possess any forms of red hues in their eyes .
That said, it was not true that all demonic cultivators would present themselves with a pair of distinct red eyes . The truth of the matter was that there were many ways in which a person could conceal the red hues within their eyes . This was one of the reasons why most people were unable to tell apart regular spiritual cultivators from demonic cultivators to begin with .
If her other martial brothers were around right now, Qin Shanshan would most certainly have commanded all of her martial brothers to suppress the demonic cultivator in front of her . However, she knew that her martial brothers were not anywhere nearby, and the two of them were alone in the midst of the wilderness . Furthermore, the demonic cultivator appeared to be far stronger than she was . Thus, she cast all thoughts of capturing or suppressing the demonic cultivator to the back of her mind .
The demonic cultivator facing her chuckled lightheartedly and quipped, “Not bad . At least you’re able to tell that I’m a demonic cultivator . ”
Despite its contents, the demonic cultivator was most certainly not praising Qin Shanshan at all . In fact, her words even seemed to be laced with contempt and disdain . Beads of sweat started to form on Qin Shanshan’s forehead . She stared back at the demonic cultivator as she stammered, “I…I’ve got no grievance with you . Why did you bring me all the way here?”
“No grievance? Really?” The demonic cultivator raised an eyebrow curiously and gazed meaningfully into Qin Shanshan’s eyes as she responded, “If I say that…I’ve got a whole load of grievance with you from our respective previous incarnations, do you believe me?”
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“Wh-…what kind of nonsense are you spouting right now?!” Qin Shanshan grew infuriated and anxious, “Who would possess memories of their previous lives?! Are you toying with me right now?!”
“If you insist that I’m toying with you right now, then there’s nothing I can do either . Or…perhaps you can simply consider my actions the result of finding you to be an eyesore . I wonder if you’ll feel better if you think this way?” The demonic cultivator calmly suggested .
“But I’m not the only one you think of as an eyesore, right? You must see all of the spiritual cultivators as an eyesore! Do you think I don’t know the perverse mentality that you demonic cultivators have? You see people as nothing more than steppingstones, and you would resort to all means to increase your own cultivation level . Can you even call yourself a human? Look at you! You’ll most certainly be persecuted if you show your face to the world right now!” Qin Shanshan’s infuriation had reached her boiling point, well exceeding the amount of fear in her heart . Thus, she began to look on the demonic cultivator with disdain and antipathy .
“You don’t have to remind me about being persecuted . I’ve experienced a fair amount of that by now . That said…I can’t believe people like you can even find it within yourself to allege that I view people as steppingstones . That much is an eye-opener to me . ” The demonic cultivator chuckled lightly; her tone of voice was clearly nuanced and laced with innuendoes .
“People like me? You…speak clearly! What do you mean by that?!” A trace of guilty conscience flickered across the depths of Qin Shanshan’s eyes, yet she continued to berate the demonic cultivator with an arrogant look on her face .
“I’m sure someone like you would know just exactly what I mean, isn’t that right? Or do you need me to…remind you once more?”
Without waiting for Qin Shanshan to analyze what exactly “remind” meant, the demonic cultivator waved her hands, and five talismans shot up and hovered above Qin Shanshan’s head . Instantly, the air rippled with intense energy, and a complicated pattern began to congeal and form within the boundaries of the five talismans, connecting them together to form a small formation array .
Then, a beam of red light shot straight from the heart of the formation array onto the ground, and Qin Shanshan, who stood directly under the formation array, immediately clutched at her head and cried out in pain, “Ahh!”
The incidents that had occurred over the last few days which had earlier been omitted from her memories suddenly gushed straight back into her mind like waters bursting out of an overflowing dam, sending a wave of immense pain and dread surging through every crevice in her mind . It was as though she had just been forced to relive all of those dreadful memories once more . The victims who had been hurt or even perished under her schemes once again appeared before her very eyes, demanding repayment and revenge as they snatched back their respective treasures and tools which Qin Shanshan had stolen, before stabbing and plunging them into various parts of her body .
Qin Shanshan began to tremble and convulse as she curled up on the ground . Her tears, mucus and sweat were strewn all over her face in a gooey mix . She wanted to open her mouth to beg for mercy, but every time she opened her mouth, she found that the only sound she could make was unintelligible squeals and groans – this was the result of the excruciating pain she was experiencing right now .
The demonic cultivator standing right in front of her watched every moment of her torment with a cool, frigid stillness in her eyes .
Qin Shanshan continued to convulse in pain for an extremely long time . Perhaps it had been as short as one or two incense sticks of time, or perhaps it could have been as long as an entire hour of excruciating pain and torment . Then, when the throbbing pain in her mind began to subside, she remained helplessly on the floor . The earlier pain and torment had taken the life and vigor out of her body, and she felt as though her life were already hanging by the thread .
Just then, the demonic cultivator that seemed almost to blend into the dark of the night began to walk towards Qin Shanshan once more . The demonic cultivator stood beside Qin Shanshan and looked down at her as she placidly stated, “Qin Shanshan, do you know something? All of this is but repayment for what you’ve done . You reap what you sow . Back when you began to oppress people using Qin Lingyu’s identity, you should already have prepared your heart for such an outcome . ”
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“You…you know my brother?!” Qin Shanshan widened her eyes . ”
“Mm, I guess you can say that . ” The demonic cultivator gave an ambiguous response with hardly any undulations in her tone of voice .
“You dare treat me this way despite knowing who my brother is?!” Qin Shanshan glared furiously at the demonic cultivator in front of her, “Aren’t you afraid that my brother will look to settle the score with you?!”
The demonic cultivator raised an eyebrow, “Qin Shanshan, do you really think that your brother is number one in the entire world? And, since I dare to make a move against you despite knowing your identity, do you think I would be concerned even if Qin Lingyu came looking for me for revenge? Besides, I’m a demonic cultivator to begin with – why would I have to have regard to your brother who is a spiritual cultivator? In fact, I do hope that he will come looking for me for revenge . Hah . That way, it’ll save me some time personally locating him . ”
“Just what have us brother-sister duo done to offend you? Why do you have to treat us this way?!” Qin Shanshan’s fear finally took over her heart once again, and she began to cry out in despondence .
“You’re going to die soon anyway . What’s the point of asking so many questions?” The demonic cultivator looked back at Qin Shanshan as she disclosed the bombshell of the fate she had prepared in store for Qin Shanshan .
The demonic cultivator took in Qin Shanshan’s expressions with her cold and frigid eyes, yet there was not a single trace of emotion in her eyes – neither joy, nor hatred .
“You…you’re really going to kill me?!” Qin Shanshan was astounded, and she began to bawl at the top of her lungs . She suddenly mustered all of her strength and clambered over to the demonic cultivator and clung to her leg as she cried out with tears and mucus streaking down her face, “Please, I beg you…I beg you not to kill me . I’ve got a lot of treasures in my Interspatial Ring . I can give them all to you! As long as you spare my life, I’m willing to give everything I have to you…”
A trace of contempt finally flickered across the depths of the demonic cultivator’s eyes . She squatted down as she slowly quipped back, “Qin Shanshan, tell me, how much of your Interspatial Ring contains things that you’ve obtained by killing and stealing? Didn’t those people beg you for their lives before they died as well? And did you spare them their lives? Have you ever considered how these people felt at that point? These people have all died with a remaining grievance, do you know that?!”
Qin Shanshan was taken aback by the demonic cultivator’s rhetoric . Twisted, horrendous images of the faces of those who had perished to her schemes once again surfaced in the forefront of her mind – each of them wearing an expression of hatred and indignation . All of them glared back at Qin Shanshan with bloodshot eyes that were filled with judgmental looks laced with an irreconcilable, insatiable vengeance .
If all of these people were able to turn their hatred and vengeance into something corporeal, Qin Shanshan would most certainly have perished under their curse a long time ago .
Qin Shanshan recalled the first time she killed a person to seize a treasure . That was the first time that her hands had been dyed red with the blood of her fellow sect mate – back then, what did she feel?
That’s right, she was intensely afraid and fearful . In fact, she trembled so much in fear that she was unable to sleep for a few days straight . Every time she closed her eyes, the image of the fellow disciple she had murdered would surface in her mind, staring at her with bulging, bloodshot eyes and relentlessly haunting her . That disciple had died with a remaining grievance .
At that time, Qin Lingyu consoled her, saying that he would deal with everything and sweep everything under the rug on her behalf, and nobody would ever find out that she had murdered that fellow disciple .
Then, when everything blew over, and the Sect’s investigations did not reveal that the disciple had perished as a result of an unnatural death, Qin Shanshan grew emboldened . It was as though a notion in her heart had now surfaced and come to the forefront of her mind – as long as she sees something that she likes, she would seize it by any means . After all, her brother would always be there to clean up the mess on her behalf .
Thus, over time, she gradually became numb to the feelings of killing and stealing . Whenever her greed and avarice resulted in the death of a fellow disciple, she would no longer feel any remorse or grief in her heart .
Crack! Qin Shanshan’s recollection ended there and then . Her neck had been twisted and bent beyond belief, and she was unmistakably dead .
Just before dying, Qin Shanshan finally understood one of the undeniable truths in life – there was always someone stronger out there . As long as a person committed crimes unceasingly, he was bound to step on the toes of a person he could not afford to offend, and he was bound to get retribution .
However, that realization had come far too late .
The demonic cultivator released her hands, and Qin Shanshan’s corpse slumped to the ground .
She knew that Qin Shanshan had already received sufficient punishment in the form of the remorse tearing away at her heart, and thus she chose to allow Qin Shanshan the reprieve of a quick and painless death .
After dusting her hands, she turned around and faced a group of trees and shrubs beside the path a distance away .
“Haven’t you seen enough yet?” The demonic cultivator asked coldly . Even though the tang in her voice was pleasing to the ears, the contents of what she said was so frigid that it could freeze hell over .
Her gaze swept across the dense foliage . In the next moment, a figure stepped out from behind the trees and revealed itself .
This figure was clothed in civilian clothes – who else could it be apart from Ye Xiuwen?