Chapter 159 – Chapter 157: Resurrection
It hurts, it hurts, it hurts a lot.
Ji Ma once again experienced the pain piercing through her chest, the suffering echoing throughout her body.
She could feel the cold bronze sword penetrating her chest, she could even feel her flesh continually healing. The new flesh was desperately trying to push the bronze sword out, but each movement made the wound hurt even more.
The Blood Horn Cup had granted her the healing speed of a physical troll. However, it hadn’t transformed her into a troll; her body was still ordinary. The Blood Horn Cup was only keeping her alive. Moreover, as time passed, the effectiveness of the Blood Horn Cup would gradually diminish.
Perhaps due to her heart having stopped working, her brain was deprived of blood, her thoughts frozen, leaving only the instinctual desire to survive and the pain. She instinctively wanted to pull out the sword from her chest, but no matter how hard she struggled, she couldn’t move at all.
Ji Ma fell into a hallucination, various images flashing before her. She lost awareness of time and the present. For a moment, she felt like a demon king with a harem of thirty, getting stabbed in the chest in her own bedroom, lying in her pool of blood, consciously experiencing the slow fading of her life.
In the next moment, Ji Ma felt as if she had just jumped off a building to commit suicide. She fell onto the concrete floor, not dead yet but in excruciating pain, regret and the will to survive driving her to move her fingers desperately on the ground.
Call 120… need… to go to the hospital…
“I can still be saved…”
Ji Ma spoke weakly, still unaware that she could open her mouth to speak.
The bloodied bronze sword was pulled out, clattering to the ground. In her haze, she seemed to see a large hand emitting a white glow.
“Doctor…? Help… help me…”
“Ji Ma, I’m here.”
A hand pressed firmly on the wound piercing her chest, causing a surge of even more intense pain that spread throughout her body, making her convulse. What was more terrifying was that her pierced heart still had a pulse, beating once.
The pain of a shattered heart almost made Ji Ma faint.
Fortunately, a warm sensation flowed into her chest, alleviating much of the heart-wrenching pain. The pulsing of newly formed flesh brought a gradual relief from the pain.
Her heart finally started beating normally, the blood in her veins began to flow again. Ji Ma felt muddled, but her chaotic thoughts gradually cleared.
Taking a deep breath, she was overwhelmed by the mixed scents of blood, holy oil, and burnt flesh, stimulating her nasal passages. The feeling of being alive was truly wonderful.
Her heart still throbbed faintly with pain; under normal circumstances, she would be rolling on the ground in agony. However, having just been through an immense pain and now feeling extremely weak, opening her eyes felt like exhausting all her bodily strength. What came into view were the fragmented corpses scattered around her.
Muscular men, their once strong bodies now appeared like dolls ravaged by malicious children, disfigured and strewn about.
As memories returned, Ji Ma recalled that she had jumped down from the treetop. She had jumped down because of a lack of strength and determination, using the sword to pierce her chest.
Before jumping, she had deliberately kissed her lucky ring for good fortune and had drank a sip of blood from the Blood Horn Cup.
The large hand covering her chest dimmed.
Ji Ma realized it was George who had saved her, and she was being held in his arms, her head resting on his breastplate adorned with an enamel sun.
Ah, it seems my seductive gestures didn’t go to waste before I jumped.
Ji Ma weakly said, “I’m better now.”
“That’s… great.”
George’s voice sounded off, as if he were running out of strength.
Ji Ma immediately asked, “Can you still move?”
“I won’t last long.”
George tightened his grip on the spear in his hand, the banner of the Holy Hall fluttering from it. A massive blade was stuck beside him, and a horned head in a helmet rested next to the blade.
Nearby, the sounds of battle could be heard as a group of soldiers from the big benefactor’s side passed through the courtyard. Upon seeing the man and woman, they cautiously approached George, tiptoeing in fear of his strength, while George only turned his head slightly to look at them.
The soldiers immediately scurried away like startled sparrows, hastening their steps in a rush to escape.
“A tactic of the empty city…”
Thinking about it, who would dare to provoke someone who had just killed a demon? Unless they were a fool.
Ji Ma felt somewhat reassured while waiting for her body to recover. She looked at the horned demon’s head nearby and saw the imprint of a fist on it, asking, “You fought him for quite a while, right? You even used your fists.”
“My sword was destroyed by it before the fight.”
“You took his weapon and won?”
Ji Ma felt a wave of dread; this sounded like a narrow victory. Going unarmed against someone with a weapon, had she known his weapon was broken, she would have used a scroll to escape long ago.
“No, I landed a punch on his forehead before he could strike.”
“He just died?”
“Yeah.”
“How are you so strong? That’s not scientific.”
“Did you use the trump card you mentioned before?” Ji Ma asked, “The one against the demon king Jima?”
“Yeah, pretty much.”
“What’s the cost?”
“Now I’m completely exhausted, my magical power is depleted.”
“I thought you were downgraded.”
“If only it were just that.”
Ji Ma immediately understood George’s meaning; if it were simply a downgrade, George could still escape this dangerous noble district with her.
Now, they could only hope the Shadow King would come through. A wave of chaos to eliminate the big benefactor.
Ji Ma’s heart was heavy with anxiety. She glanced again at the fist imprint on the horned demon’s helmet, the corners of her mouth lifting, feeling elated.
You waste who consumed my extraordinary substance, and yet you laugh because I was killed in one blow by a sword? At least the virgin in death took me out with a holy sword, and you could only use your fists against me. I’ll have to find a way to pay some bards to spread the news of the virgin’s victory today.
Let the masses know that I’m not the only one who was defeated in a single blow. There’s another fool who couldn’t even withstand one punch.
George asked, “How did you get here?”
“Randomly teleported by a scroll, what can I do? So I had to take a gamble.”
“You’re lying.”
“Hehe.”
Ji Ma shifted her gaze elsewhere.
The dazzling light behind the windows of the building before her gradually faded. The entire building reverted to its original state, the white walls reflecting the distant flames. On a balcony of the third floor, there was a commotion, with a corpse slumped against the railing.
Ji Ma could clearly see his face; he seemed to be a charismatic poet, quite famous. He was one of the esteemed guests of Shalin City, worthy of sitting on the big benefactor’s flower boat to enjoy their supplies directly.
This kind of esteemed guest, Shalin City could no longer protect. No esteemed guest would dare return to Shalin City to spend a high price on slaves again. The auction of the flowers of Shalin City had also become a history, just like a house burning bright in the fire, turning into a wasteland.
It could be said that the decline of Shalin City had effectively become a foregone conclusion. Unless the city could survive tonight.
Just as she thought that, there was a sudden approach.
A group of heavy footsteps came directly towards the two.
Ji Ma looked over and saw that the big benefactor was striding over with more than twenty muscular men.
His expression was grim, stripped of his usual composure and politeness, like a lone wolf pushed to the brink. His once neatly trimmed brown beard was stained with ash and blood. His demonic right hand still gripped his bone sword as he walked, slightly limping.
It seemed he had been attacked by the Shadow King.
Ji Ma felt a heavy weight in her heart; just what she feared was coming.
If they were merely mortals, George could use his last breath to take out a few with a glance and intimidate the rest. But if it was the big benefactor, a golden-level extraordinary being, it would be much more complicated.
With a hint of hope, Ji Ma asked, “George, can you kill the big benefactor again?”
“No, but I’ll try to scare him.”
Probably, a cornered wolf wouldn’t be frightened.
The big benefactor stood ten meters away from George, his eyes reddened, asking, “Brave one, must you push people to the brink? I can’t believe you conspired with the Shadow King to drag Shalin City into irreversible hell.”
“I didn’t conspire,” George said. “I’ve been to the safety zone you set up; that’s the real hell. You are a demon disguised in human skin.”
The big benefactor raised his hand and commanded, “Form up!”
The muscular men immediately dropped their axes and spears, enclosing George and Ji Ma in a half-circle.
Despite the big benefactor’s eyes appearing bloodshot, as if he might lose his sanity at any moment, he suppressed his anger, saying, “Give me back the succubus girl, and I will let you leave. Otherwise, I will take you down with me even in death.”
“Absolutely not!”
