Chapter 3 Stop!
"Stop right there, where do you think you're going? Who are you? My daughter would never speak to us like this. Who on earth are you?!" Jian Wei shouted aggressively, putting on a fierce facade, but Jian Xin completely ignored him.
"Xiner, what's wrong with you? Are you hurt? Answer your dad, answer me! Xiner!!"
"Boom—"
"Screech—"
Jian Xin still did not stop. Her cold voice rang out in the rain, completely unaffected by the sound of the downpour, "Mother, don't stop me. As long as you are here, I will come back, don't worry! Furthermore, Jian Wei, 'your daughter'? Do you even deserve to say that? Heh." She let out a cold laugh, but those words struck Jian Wei's heart like countless daggers piercing through him. He wasn't startled; truth be told, he had heard these words many times before, but every single time, it felt as though his heart was being punctured by countless sharp swords.
"Dammit! Don't blame me!" Jian Wei roared, making a grabbing gesture as he lunged toward Jian Xin. He figured that as long as he could just drag his daughter back, it would be fine; by then, he would accept whatever scoldings or beatings she threw at him.
Her blood-stained tunic shifted slightly, dodging the attack. Unexpectedly, Jian Wei dropped low and lunged forward with renewed force, his hand reaching out to grab Jian Xin. Failing to dodge in time yet unwilling to be dragged back, Jian Xin twisted sideways, only to be knocked back several steps with a heavy thud. Her vision went black once more, and she swayed unsteadily. Seeing this, Jian Wei's heart ached profoundly. This was the daughter he used to hold in the palm of his hand and dote on; if not for him, she would never have become like this. Under normal circumstances, he would never have done such a thing, but today he sensed something was amiss—today's Jian Xin was very strange! Moreover, she looked exactly like someone whose body had been possessed!
"Stop now, Xiner!"
Jian Xin ignored him, her eyes gradually growing clear and empty to drive away that lingering layer of darkness and the chaos hidden deep within her pupils. A layer of cyan Qi slowly gathered around her legs—this was Spiritual Power, something cultivators could condense only after practicing for a period of time. Yet Jian Xin had just been at the Bone Transformation Stage; she shouldn't have been able to condense this Spiritual Power yet. However, not a shred of astonishment could be seen on the man's face, as if he found this entirely normal. But before the man could figure out his next move, a leg whipped toward him with the unstoppable force of a splitting bamboo, the sound of tearing wind ringing out sharply.
Jian Wei sidestepped the blow and then thrust a palm forward. "Boom!" The sound was loud, but Jian Wei knew very well how much strength he was actually using. He could talk as harshly as he liked, but he would never hurt Jian Xin—he would never hurt his daughter.
"I'm sorry, Xiner, but I have to knock some sense into you. Forgive your dad!"
"Whoosh!" "Boom!"
As Jian Wei closed in on her, a scene slowly materialized in Jian Xin's mind. No one knew why this scene appeared—even she herself had no idea—yet the scenario in her mind perfectly replicated Jian Wei's movements, automatically deducing his next move. *"Grab my leg, then push backward, lock my back of the neck—then, block his hands and twist backward."* The sequence of movements surfaced naturally in Jian Xin's mind, and her hands reacted in tandem.
...
"Boom!" *"No, he's changing his stance. The same goes for moving backward."* Jian Xin struggled as she rolled out from beneath his heavy hands. Another thought flashed through her mind, and the "Jian Wei" within her mental simulation underwent a thousand different changes, prompting a thousand corresponding counter-tactics to surface in her head.
"No more holding back! Don't blame your dad!"
After a few clashes, Jian Xin's already tattered and blood-stained clothes had turned completely dark red. Her small face was deathly pale as she crouched beneath a tree, her hands clutching tightly at something, constantly oozing blood. Meanwhile, the pitch-blackness before her eyes was so overwhelming it was driving her to the brink of unconsciousness.
"Xiner! Stop struggling, let's go home!"
Jian Xin was still gathering her strength beneath the tree, her eyes—which should have been a mix of black and white—now completely turned a lifeless gray.
"Whoosh!"
"Hah!" Jian Wei charged swiftly toward the base of the tree, his left hand grabbing Jian Xin's whipping leg while his right hand lunged straight for the back of her neck. Meanwhile, Jian Xin kicked upward with her other leg to block his right hand, leveraged the momentum to leap upward, used the tree trunk for propulsion, and clenched both fists tightly, wreathed in faint wisps of black fog, as she plunged straight down toward Jian Wei.
"Boom!" The two of them rolled together toward the edge of the cliff. "Whoosh, splash!" Seemingly drawing strength from nowhere, Jian Wei managed to leap up, pulling Jian Xin firmly into his embrace against his chest. As they hit the ground, he coughed up a large mouthful of dark blood. At the same time, Jian Xin's leg was slashed open by an unknown sharp object, leaving a long, gaping wound. Her face as pale as paper, she lost consciousness.
"Xiner! A-Wei! ——"
........
The two of them worked together to carry Jian Xin onto the bed. One of them went off to boil some medicinal herbs, planning to take Jian Xin down the mountain as soon as the weather cleared up a little.
"Creak... Xin..." The woman pushed the door open holding a bowl of medicine, only to be so terrified by the sight before her that she let out a piercing scream, dropping the medicine bowl to the floor where it shattered into pieces.
"Clang! Ah!!"
........