185: 4.50 Time's Up

4.50 Time's Up

It was at that moment that Heimo arrived with Luqiu Hong shortly behind him, Luqiu Ning safely cradled in her arms. As soon as the two caught sight of the demon, they gave a sharp gasp. Luqiu Hong instantly burst into tears whilst Ningning merely gazed at her father with a dazzling smile, seemingly uncaring for his different appearance. Whereas Heimo… Heimo was staring straight at Lu Yizhou, his hunched shoulders and the blood that was pouring steadily out of his mouth. Before he realized what was happening, he had jumped in front of the man and held his arm, grateful that the array no longer kept him away.  0

He sought Lu Yizhou's face worriedly. "Are you okay?! What happened?!" He glanced down at the ivory sword that was in a worse condition than before and his face blanched. He almost looked like he was going to vomit. Turning to the demon who was healing Luqiu Ning, Heimo demanded, trying to keep the anger out of his voice and failing miserably. "Uncle, did—did you do this to him?!"

Luqiu Hong's sharp eyes snapped to both of them, confused at Heimo's protective stance and wary of Lu Yizhou. She had clearly been briefed of Lu Yizhou's involvement in this matter, otherwise he suspected that the woman wouldn't hesitate to fight him even at the expense of her own life.

"Lan'er…" Lu Yizhou tried to tug him back except when he exerted strength, more blood coagulated out of his mouth and he bent over to hurl them out.

"Lu Yizhou!" Heimo sounded as if he was going to cry, fear creeping into his trembling body as he supported the man's swaying body.

Uncle Luqiu's eyebrows almost rose to his hairline at their interaction. He gave a short wave and the pressure that was pressing down on Lu Yizhou disappeared abruptly and the relief was so overwhelming that his sight faded for a second. When he came to, he had Hexue stabbed to the ground as a support and Heimo's arms around him, pressing Lu Yizhou's head to the crook of his shoulder as if wanting to hide him away from sight. Lu Yizhou's ears were ringing and voices came back to him like a tidal wave in time for him to hear the demon's question.

"Lan'er, are you protecting him without truly knowing his real purpose toward you?"

"I don't care," Heimo replied in a firm tone. His arms around Lu Yizhou tightened and they were so close that Lu Yizhou could hear the underlying tremor on his voice and his rapid heartbeats. He closed his eyes for a brief respite and relished in his lover's presence. "I don't care what he wants from me. One thing I know is, he has always acted with my best interests at heart. Again and again, he has protected me, treated me with nothing but kindness and gentleness but I… " He swallowed the lump on his throat and even though his next sentence was directed to the demon, it felt like he was confessing to Lu Yizhou instead. His voice was small and fragile. "I have always doubted him, even though I know there was no way he would do something to harm me. I have been such an awful person…"

"You are not." Lu Yizhou forced himself to look up, straight into Heimo's clouded eyes. "You are not allowed to say that to yourself."

Heimo's lips parted, overwhelmed. However, before he could say anything, the demon completed a series of movements with his hands before pushing it toward Luqiu Ning's body. In an instant, the little girl hunched back in pain and gasped, black tendrils of smoke floating out of her body. Luqiu Hong called out in panic and hugged her sister tighter amidst her struggle. It was a short process. Uncle Luqiu caught the black smoke with his hands and pulled it out of his daughter's body. Luqiu Ning screeched with his back arched before she slumped down, sweaty and unconscious. Her ghastly complexion, black veins and nails were no more. In Luqiu Hong's embrace was a healthy little girl with fair skin and flushed cheeks. 

"It's done." The demon said softly. "From now on, she will never be burdened by her own body anymore."

"Really…?" Luqiu Hong cradled her sister to her chest and wept in joy. "Is that true, Father? Everything will be fine from now on?"

"Yes," he said with a smile. "Everything will be fine from now on."

As soon as Uncle Luqiu crushed the black smoke in his hand, a notification sounded in Lu Yizhou's buzzing mind which instantly sobered him up like a douse of icy water on his head.

[System notification: Congratulations! You have successfully completed your mission in this world! The exit portal will be opened in a few minutes. Please prepare yourself for it!]

Lu Yizhou froze as a familiar silver and glittery whirlpool started forming on his peripheral vision. He had completed the mission; Heimo would no longer be condemned by the whole world by performing a forbidden array to open the gate to the demonic realm, sparing him from the fate of being slain by the male protagonist. Luqiu Ning had been cured. Heimo's responsibility was done here. Lu Yizhou was too caught up with the chaos these past few days that he had forgotten about his own mission. He only wished to keep Heimo out of harm and nothing more. But the system notification came like a harsh wake up call to remind him that everything he had was temporary and he had to leave as soon as the time called for it.

Again.

Uncle Luqiu gave the portal a fleeting glance as if he could sense it and turned to Lu Yizhou, intrigued. "Young man, it seems like your time is up."

Lu Yizhou vividly felt Heimo tensing around him. There was a fake laugh in his voice as if he expected Uncle Luqiu to deny the next second that it wasn't what Heimo was imagining about. "W—What are you saying, Uncle? Whose time are you talking about…?"

Rather than comforting him with little white lies, the demon gave Heimo a poignant look and sighed. "Just like how I have to return to the demonic realm soon—" He gestured toward Lu Yizhou who was giving him a dead stare, daring him to say it out loud. For a while, both of them were staring at each other, engaged in a silent confrontation.

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