It was Lei Ruolan.
Finally having succumbed to her blood loss, she had been hit in the stomach by the hilt of Yan Wenqing's blade and sent flying, knocking both Qiu Yunru and Li Chenyuan over with her.
The three of them sprawled out on the ground in a pile.
Qiu Yunru, for one, was relieved. Thank the heavens for an interruption to that conversation! He rubbed his nose, which had hit the dirt upon falling.
Despite his relief, however, he couldn't relax. That Yan Wenqing wasn't satisfied at just whacking Lei Ruolan once. He stalked forward, his gaze filled with killing intent.
"Step away from her!" He barked, pointing his blade forward. "This is for my mother's honor!"
Qiu Yunru couldn't help but roll his eyes internally, filled with tiredness. Though this kind of character could be fun to read about every once in a while, it was truly tiring to be in his presence. Couldn't he let go of the idea of justice and honor for two seconds?! It was true that his mother had been killed, but still! Give an innocent player a break!
Qiu Yunru coughed, struggling to his feet. He raised his hands in surrender, stepping in front of Lei Ruolan and Li Chenyuan.
"Yan-qianbei," He said calmly. "That's enough. Please, let's talk. I'm sure there's a better way that won't sully your hands with innocent blood."
"Oh, shut up!" Yan Wenqing yelped, covering one ear with his free hand. "You're just trying to get me to not kill her!"
"I mean...yes...?" Qiu Yunru said. That was the point, yes...
At that moment, something glimmered in the corner of his eye. He glanced over to see a strange object on the ground. Lei Ruolan was reaching out for it with a shaky arm; it must have slipped out of her robes upon falling.
It seemed to be some sort of statue carved from obsidian. It was small, half the size of one's hand, and polished to a blinding state; when it caught the moonlight, one couldn't look at it directly because of its brightness. Though he couldn't see it clearly, it seemed to be a carving of some sort of demon idol, with great ram's horns.
Besides this, Qiu Yunru was horrified to see the state of Lei Ruolan's body. Since she had gotten whacked in the stomach, her whole body had curled in on itself to withstand the pain. Blood dripped from her lips, and her face was an inhuman shade of nauseous pale green from blood loss. Her hand that reached out towards the object trembled weakly, fingers curled like claws.
He almost ran forward to help her, then thought better of it. If he turned his back to Yan Wenqing, who knew what that kid would do? As he prepared to continue stalling with words, however, Li Chenyuan suddenly reached out and picked that strange demon idol up.
"Drop it!" Lei Ruolan coughed. Though her voice was weak, it was clear that she was desperate. "Drop it!"
Li Chenyuan did not drop it. He crouched there, turning the idol over in his hands.
Qiu Yunru suddenly got the sense that something was terribly wrong.
There was a strange look in Li Chenyuan's eyes that he had never seen before. His phoenix eyes, usually dark and shining, glowed with a pulsing red light. His jade-pale skin had gone even white, resembling a real blanket of snow. What's more...
That aura of demonic qi around his head was roiling.
It usually wasn't visible to Qiu Yunru at all. Except for that time he had walked in on Li Chenyuan having an attack in his room that one night, he had only ever seen wisps of violet demonic qi curling around his shidi's head. Those wisps had become even less common one He Yongliang had gotten involved in training Li Chenyuan to manage his demonic cultivation abilities.
However, right now, the demonic qi circling Li Chenyuan was stronger than Qiu Yunru had ever seen it. It swirled in a thick cloud, almost obscuring his face entirely. Much like in the presence of that enormous Shadow Demon Puppet earlier, the air in the cliffside clearing grew heavy and oppressive.
Clearly, whatever this object was, it wasn't something good.
"Drop it!" Qiu Yunru shouted. He had an idea of what this object was. "Li-shidi, put it down!"
He hurried forward, prying Li Chenyuan's hands open and pulling at the object. Surprisingly, Li Chenyuan didn't put up any resistance; QIu Yunru was able to tug it away easily and get a closer look.
His heart sank into the soles of his feet.
"Lei-shijie..." He said quietly, voice hoarse. "Why did you bring this...?"