Lethal Stunner: Kicking Off with Five Beast Husbands-Chapter 168: This is the Taste of Despair

"Stop dawdling, hurry up and escape." Xuan Jiu reached out to Xiao Jinsheng.

Xiao Jinsheng was about to place her hand in Xuan Jiu’s palm but fell into a snow pit just as she neared him.

She struggled for a long time and still couldn’t climb out of the pit.

Meanwhile, Chen Yunji just stood idly by, watching without offering any help.

Xuan Jiu couldn’t take it anymore. He reached into the pit, pulled Xiao Jinsheng out, and scolded Chen Yunji: "You have no awareness at all."

"Xuan Jiu, I think my leg might be broken," Xiao Jinsheng sobbed.

"Don’t worry, don’t worry. I’ll carry you." Xuan Jiu comforted her as he crouched down, his back to Xiao Jinsheng, and urged her anxiously: "Get on quickly."

He wasn’t sure whether the Terminal had already discovered them or whether they could escape from Cloud Island.

But as long as they weren’t yet on the dining table of Cloud Island, Xuan Jiu would never let go of his hope for survival.

Yet he waited and waited, but Xiao Jinsheng didn’t climb onto his back. When he turned to check,

he found that she was already standing behind him, leaning over, smiling sweetly at him. "Xuan Jiu, could you do me a favor?"

"What is it?" Xuan Jiu hesitated. Her smile seemed strange to him.

But his heart was no longer in his own body.

His abilities—Puppet and Mind Reading—had also stopped functioning temporarily because his heart had been disconnected.

As Xiao Jinsheng came closer, Xuan Jiu felt a creeping dread crawl up his spine.

She tilted her head and leaned nearer, sighing as she spoke: "I don’t want to fight the Terminal anymore. And as for you..."

Xiao Jinsheng raised her hand, forming it into a sharp blade, and without hesitation, plunged it into his back, piercing his chest.

A bloodied hand burst through flesh, fabric, and skin, emerging from Xuan Jiu’s sternum.

"Your life can save my Beast Husband." Xiao Jinsheng withdrew the hand that had impaled his heart.

Blood welled up in his throat, spilling out as it reddened Xuan Jiu’s lips and splattered upon the snow in bright, tragic blossoms.

"Xuan Jiu..." Xiao Jinsheng sobbed, her voice choking as she reached out with her bloody hand, but then pulled back in guilt. "Don’t hate me. I didn’t want to kill you. I didn’t mean to!"

"But the Terminal kidnapped my Beast Husband. If I don’t kill you with my own hands, they will die."

"I... I don’t want them to die."

"I’m sorry. I’m so sorry."

"Xuan Jiu... I’m sorry."

Xuan Jiu collapsed onto the blood-stained snow, only able to see Xiao Jinsheng’s tear-streaked face as it blurred in his vision.

He couldn’t tell if the fading was due to the loss of his life force or the raging snowstorm.

Though the heart taken from his chest no longer belonged to him, in that moment all Xuan Jiu could feel was the cold.

He was so cold.

So unbearably cold.

The bitter wind tore through the bamboo walls of the crude shelter, sending icy snow crashing down on Xuan Jiu’s head.

Startled, he shivered violently, his foggy consciousness stirring back to life.

The charcoal fire in the bamboo hut had long since gone out.

And he realized, he was still in the bamboo hut.

Xuan Jiu glanced down at his pristine white chest and wiped at the cold sweat on his forehead.

Shuddering, he muttered to himself in relief: "What a bizarre nightmare. Scared me half to death."

He peered at the bamboo walls’ gaping hole, exposed to the wind and snow.

Grumbling, Xuan Jiu said, "I told you, Chen Yunji is out of his mind."

"Who builds a bamboo hut on Da Xue Mountain?"

"Freezing me to death."

Still muttering to himself, Xuan Jiu headed toward the courtyard, intending to gather materials to repair the house.

Just as he reached for some bamboo pieces, a hand beat him to it, lifting the pile away.

Xuan Jiu turned his head to look and saw a Puppet in the form of Chen Yunji.

The Puppet smiled at him.

Startled, Xuan Jiu took a step back, remembering the eerie presence of the Puppet in his dream, his gaze now filled with caution.

The Puppet said nothing as it silently measured the bamboo and cut it into suitable lengths to patch up the broken walls.

Frowning and rubbing his temples, Xuan Jiu couldn’t shake the sense of mental fatigue weighing him down.

It’s just a dream, he told himself.

Yes, just a dream.

As he tried to push away the lingering fear, he suddenly heard a sound outside the courtyard gate.

Chen Yunji, his dragon-horned figure, was pushing the gate open. freёnovelkiss-com

Trailing behind him were Xiao Jinsheng and her seven Beast Husbands.

"Hey, Xuan Jiu!" Xiao Jinsheng called out cheerfully, waving in greeting.

"You all..." Xuan Jiu’s voice quivered with surprise and joy.

He lifted his foot to approach, but the harrowing images from his dream flashed across his mind, forcing him to freeze mid-step.

"Why are you avoiding me? What does that mean?" Xiao Jinsheng bristled with frustration, storming off toward the backyard chickens without waiting: "I’ve run so far to come back, I’m starving. Xuan Jiu, go make me something to eat."

"Speak sooner next time," Xuan Jiu retorted, rolling his eyes as he strode toward the kitchen: "Scared me to death."

"Scared? What are you scared of?" Xiao Jinsheng followed him back to the kitchen, relentlessly pressing him with questions.

"Nothing. I’ve been alone too long, gone a bit insane," Xuan Jiu shook his head.

"Then aren’t you afraid?" Xiao Jinsheng asked, her face filled with curiosity.

"No," Xuan Jiu shook his head again.

Xiao Jinsheng’s face suddenly hardened, her eyes fierce as she roared: "No! You should be afraid!"

She raised her claw-like hand, slashing at Xuan Jiu, piercing his abdomen but finding it empty.

Xuan Jiu stared at the Puppet he summoned to block her strike, its Dantian shattered by the attack. The Puppet, in the shape of Chen Yunji, naturally lacked a Star Stone inside.

In that moment, Xuan Jiu couldn’t discern whether it was a dream or reality.

He spun on his heel to flee toward the courtyard gate, only to be kicked back by Chen Yunji, who stood guard outside.

Blocking all his escape routes were the seven Beast Husbands loyal to Xiao Jinsheng, their shadows looming in every corner.

Xiao Jinsheng kicked aside the Puppet’s corpse, giving chase, her smile disturbingly close, her voice gravelly and unsettling: "Let me see—are you feeling fear or despair now?"

"You’re not her!" Xuan Jiu shouted in defiance.

"Of course not." Everyone present, aside from Xuan Jiu, dissolved into black mist that merged into ’Xiao Jinsheng.’

This new form, manifested from the mist, stood before Xuan Jiu as a grotesque embodiment of his deepest fears and despair.

The Terminal—the most enigmatic entity of Mist Continent.

One could only encounter the Terminal upon reaching Twelve Stars and being served upon its dining table.

Its figure shifted again, returning to the likeness of Xiao Jinsheng.

With a sinister grin, it leered coldly at Xuan Jiu: "I’m not her, but I can make sure you die by her hand."

The Terminal crouched down, its Xiao Jinsheng-like face radiating malevolent mirth as it sneered: "Insignificant ant, how foolish to resist the master of this world."

"I can play with you all, allow some time for fun, let you witness your inevitable defeat."

"But now, you must make a choice."

"Do you choose to die for your allies, trading your life for their chance at survival?"

"Or do you choose to go with them to the grave?"

Xuan Jiu’s cold gaze fixed on the figure before him, unable to see it as human.

The Terminal’s projection of Xiao Jinsheng dissipated.

Above the black mist, Xiao Jinsheng and her group appeared, having crossed from Mist East using Li’s powers, heading toward the Northern Territory.

Over the Snow Peak, the Terminal’s mocking voice reverberated.

"You are scared; you fear death."

"Indeed, humanity’s alliances are as fragile as paper."

"Without the will to die, yet harboring rebellion—isn’t that laughable?"

"Your time is short. I believe you’ve made your choice."

"You wish... for everyone to die together."

Claws ripped through Xuan Jiu’s abdomen, excavating a glowing Ten Stars Star Stone from his flesh.

Blood-streaked hands pulled out the Star Stone, tossing it onto the ground.

Dripping in crimson, Xuan Jiu gave a bitter smile: "If you’re the Terminal, I hope you keep your word."

The black mist descended upon the bamboo hut, tearing it apart until only ruins remained.

Amid the wreckage, the bloodied Star Stone landed in a monstrous giant claw.

The Poisonous Fog cleaned the blood off the Star Stone, and in the skies above Cloud Island, a satisfied sigh reverberated: "This is... the flavor of despair."

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