'It's not the same as it was before,' Li Meirong thought. 'I'm not alone anymore. I've got Zhu Qingyue here to help me.' Her legs suddenly gave way beneath her with the intensity of the relief flooding through her.

Yet instead of collapsing to the hard concrete, Zhu Qingyue caught her. His arms hooked beneath her thighs and back as he lifted her bridal style.

Li Meirong pressed her tear-stained face against his neck, finding the sensation unusually chill as she leaned further into his hold.

It was strange for him to feel so cold, but it mattered little to her. She knew she could rely on him and was glad for it. She needed Zhu Qingyue's support to help her avenge Chou.

As he was such a prominent figure in the sect, Li Meirong was certain that Zhu Qingyue could be a pillar of support against Senior Wei. Surely, with a word from the Bestiary Division's Grandmaster, or his son, Chou's death wouldn't go unpunished.

"Zhu Qingyue, I'm so glad you're here." Li Meirong confessed softly, a gentle blush rising to her cheeks.

There was no response from Zhu Qingyue. He remained unexpectedly silent.

"Zhu Qingyue, can I depend on you to help me?" Li Meirong asked as she craned her neck slightly to stare into his eyes.

She held her breath in anticipation, not exactly sure what to expect from his reaction. She always preferred to solve matters on her own, but wouldn't mind abasing herself if she had no other choice.

Zhu Qingyue's pupils turned slit and sharp like the edge of a blade as they stared soullessly at her.

She unconsciously flinched at the harsh, freezing stare she was met with.

All her plans dissipated with a single look from his indifferent gaze.

Zhu Qingyue's warm and intimate golden eyes which had always looked at her with the utmost affection, had noticeably changed. His stare made her shiver with fright.

He stared at her with complete indifference, his appearance contrasting harshly with his caring embrace.

The hue of his irises shifted to an icy lavender, so intense that a single look could have frozen over hell itself.

This was not the first occasion in which Li Meirong had felt genuine fear because of Zhu Qingyue. But she knew that this did not mean that he was the ruthless man she had sometimes thought him to be, despite her impressions.

On the contrary, he proved himself by being there for her, caring for her and supporting her when no one else did.

Zhu Qingyue stood deathly still and seemed entirely unresponsive, almost like a statue. He looked devoid of any emotion.

In spite of his sudden change, and in spite of her own growing apprehension towards him, Li Meirong chose to ignore her fears and place her trust in him.

She wanted to trust Zhu Qingyue.

After several moments of awkward silence, Li Meirong let go of the tugging wariness gnawing at her insides and begged him again for assistance.

"Senior Wei… he killed my plant spirit, Chou. Will you help me avenge his death?"

The corners of Zhu Qingyue's thin lips curved upwards into an icy smile; his distant, lackluster eyes glinted with malice.

"It is not in my nature to assist that which is not mine," he replied.

Li Meirong frowned at his words. She fully intended to give him a piece of her mind, but a long ivory finger pressed tightly against her lips, silencing her.

"... Unless, of course," Zhu Qingyue drawled, tracing his finger across her lips. "You will offer me something worthy in return, a thing which I have not yet taken. I will even go so far as to bring the plant spirit back to life."

His whispers were full of unspoken suggestions, his tone laced with undisguised contempt.

The inside of Li Meirong's mouth suddenly tasted sour. Her mind was reeling with Zhu Qingyue's words echoing in her ears.

What could she offer him that he had not already taken?

A sense of dread crept into her heart, coiling itself into a tight knot.

Li Meirong anxiously pushed away from Zhu Qingyue the instant she felt herself regain control of her legs again. Her sense of fright gave more force to her shove than she had actually possessed, but it didn't faze him in the least.

She immediately knelt before him, slamming her forehead down on the cold concrete. Her skin bruised upon impact, but she didn't care. She preferred to avoid seeing him, and bowed low to avoid the harsh, discomforting look on his face.

From above her head, she heard him chuckle darkly, as if her panic was awfully entertaining to him.

"Is begging your only talent?" He asked amusedly.

His scornful response pained her in ways she hadn't experienced before, but if groveling before Zhu Qingyue could bring Chou back for her, then she would be more than willing to let go of her pride and do so.

She kept her forehead pressed to the ground, struggling to remain calm. "I will be forever grateful if you lend me your assistance this one time, Senior Zhu. I would do anything to bring him back. Please don't let my plant spirit die in vain."

"You would do anything?" Zhu Qingyue's grin stretched wide. He appeared all too pleased by her response.

The world appeared to stand still, as if it was waiting with bated breath for an answer to that question, as the silver-haired man's appearance gradually shifted.

Throughout their entire interaction, his deadpan gaze never strayed from Li Meirong's quivering form on the ground.

He assessed her with a look of long-awaited expectation, like a snake waiting for its prey to stumble so it could strike.

"Anything." Li Meirong repeated the word, clenching her fists. She was desperate enough to swear upon it.

"What a good girl," Zhu Qingyue murmured. "An eye for an eye, they say. A life for a life."

Zhu Qingyue's teeth stretched out into sharp fangs, his face growing more bestial.

He bent down and grasped Li Meirong's chin, tilting her face up so she would look straight at him.

What she saw caused her to let out a sharp gasp. From one breath of time to the next, Li Meirong stared in horror as she saw Zhu Qingyue's appearance gradually alter itself.

His mouth slowly stretched impossibly wide. A thin trail of saliva glistened from an endless row of razor-sharp fangs. His pure-as-jade appearance had reshaped itself into the stuff of nightmares.

Li Meirong's clenched fists started trembling, as she dared to stare at the man who no longer seemed to be a man at all.

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Preview to chapter 364

This… creature, with whom she had shared her most intimate moments, this man who had asked her to marry him nearly every single day, was scrutinizing her in a way that made her feel as if he were demanding a pound of flesh for his assistance.

Her pound of flesh.

The same sense of hopelessness consumed her once more. She didn't want to cry anymore, but she was so frustrated that her eyes burned with unshed tears again.

Nothing made sense at all. It was like a horrible, neverending nightmare she couldn't wake up from.

This Zhu Qingyue was someone she couldn't recognize. The monster before her looked at her as though she were a piece of meat. A tender morsel just waiting to be devoured.

Worse yet, she was immobilized to the spot, unable to fight him, and unable to retreat.

Everything around them was pitch black. Only she and this monstrous version of Zhu Qingyue existed in this endless abyss.

She tried to keep her calm mask, hiding the terror she felt inside. She stared unblinkingly, at Zhu Qingyue instead of showing her fear, her breath coming out ragged and shallow.

"What do you want from me?" she pressed. "Just tell me!"

Zhu Qingyue's bestial head dipped down and forwards until his lipless mouth grazed hers, and then he exhaled. His breath felt scorchingly hot. His sharp teeth sliced her skin and cut her lip.

"You offered anything," he said. "What you offered, I shall take."