Reborn As A Villainous Cannon Fodder

Drip...

Drip...

Blood trickled down the blood-red vine piercing through Mei's chest.

In the center of the palace, she just stood there in a daze. Her life force was fading fast, but her hair kept turning red, strand by strand.

"Liuli...?"

She blinked, hardly believing what she was seeing.

Her heart lurched painfully. She turned around stiffly and locked eyes with Liuli standing at the palace entrance.

Her pupils kept contracting and dilating, but Liuli's face remained completely blank. She just watched calmly as black blood splattered everywhere, like she had been expecting this all along. Or maybe this was her real plan all along.

"So that is how it is..."

"No wonder you kept playing defense back in Western Province City, letting Yuyan beat you down the whole time..."

"No wonder you suddenly slapped her into the demon abyss right when she was most desperate..."

"No wonder she kept escaping in your direction back in the Demon Mist Forest..."

"Hehehe~ It all makes sense now, does it not?"

She let out a weak, cold laugh.

She gave Liuli a meaningful look, then turned to glance at Yuyan who was still shaken from the recent attack.

But just like Mei, Yuyan was frowning hard. Confusion were written all over her beautiful face.

Actually, just like she said, when being hunted through the Demon Mist Forest, Yuyan had gradually started sensing something weird about how Liuli was holding back.

At first, she figured Liuli was just weak, which was why she could overpower her.

But during that final battle at the cliff edge, she felt Liuli's true strength firsthand.

She thought for sure she would die falling into the demon abyss...

But she did not die.

And what made her even more suspicious was how Liuli seemed to get her cultivation sealed again once she entered the abyss. Her attacks became ridiculously sloppy when she was chasing Yuyan.

Now, hearing Mei's analysis, she was connecting all the dots too.

But if Liuli was a mole for the Full Moon Sect...

Then why had she secretly saved me so many times - a righteous immortal she had never even met before?

"Liuli, oh Liuli, I still cannot figure out why you betrayed me. You were the one who told me personally that the Mother Goddess had given you new life. But now you are choosing to betray us all for some righteous immortal..."

"Liuli, before I die, can you at least give me a straight answer?"

Just like Yuyan's doubts, Mei with the vine stabbed through her chest laughed coldly with a curious voice.

But unlike her previous pale, weak appearance, her twin braids had now turned completely crimson. The plum blossom branches spreading around her were blooming every second with vibrant life force.

Everyone's eyes focused on Liuli at the back of the palace.

She shifted her gaze toward Yuyan's direction. But when Yuyan looked back in surprise, Mei finally noticed that the white-robed young man hiding behind her - who only looked like he was at Core Formation stage - was actually the real focus of Liuli's attention.

"So it is you?"

For a moment, she locked eyes with Yino.

Her blood-red pupils went wide. Her skin started getting covered in crimson plum blossom marks, and even her pure white flower-adorned dress was now tinted with a dark red filter.

"Yino... Yino..."

"You are Yino..."

"So it is you. You are the one who has been making Liuli lose her mind. You are that special destined person she keeps talking about..."

Like her wish had been fulfilled, she stopped pretending to be a pitiful dying girl.

Her weak voice gradually became strong and passionate. Even the wound pierced through her chest began regenerating like crazy.

Blood-colored plum blossoms formed from spiritual energy bloomed across her chest. As the bloody hole in her chest kept growing, it fused tightly with the blood-red vine that came from Liuli's hand.

"Hahaha—!"

"Haha! Hahahaha—!"

She covered half her face with one hand, laughing wickedly like she had heard the funniest joke in the world.

On the other half of her face that was not covered, blood-colored seductive eyes now bloomed with phantom plum blossom images—

"Yino!"

She glared at the white-robed young man with bloodshot eyes. "You have really got some incredible masculine charm!"

"All these years, when I felt lost, it was a tree demon sister who reached out to help me. That sister recruited me to become a follower of the Mother Goddess. That sister showed me hope for living as a tree demon..."

"All these years, I looked up to that sister. I kept training and growing. I desperately wanted her approval. I desperately wanted to become one with the senior I admired..."

"But in the end, she never once looked at me properly!"

"Who would have thought..."

"WHO would have thought..."

"That the PROUD, untouchable Senior Liuli I admired was actually just a bitch who obeys every word of some insignificant human!"

"Yino, I really cannot understand it."

"For you, Senior Liuli not only betrayed me, she even betrayed the Mother Goddess she worshipped for a hundred years..."

As her cold laughter reached this point, the madness on her face hit its peak.

As her emotions peaked and fell, the blood-colored demonic energy around her began flowing back toward the wound in her chest.

"Yino!"

"Let me see just what special charm you have that could bewitch my senior like this—!"

As soon as she said this, the space around her chest began twisting.

She was like a human black hole, slowly floating upward. In just a few seconds, all the blood-colored demonic energy floating in the crimson palace was being sucked into her body.

As the black hole kept devouring energy, the blood-colored curse marks all over her body flickered and glowed like they were charging up.

"Master, watch out! She is going to explode!"

Seeing this scene and feeling the incredible energy fluctuations from the spatial distortion, Liuli was the first to react.

At the same time, Yino reacted quickly too, hurriedly grabbing the still-dazed Yuyan and running toward a corner of the palace.

She was already completely confused by Mei's speech.

But the moment Yino grabbed her hand, years of instinctive training kicked in. She quickly summoned a sword formation to protect Yino behind her.

As his senior, she naturally should not hide behind Yino during a crisis.

"Senior Sister!"

"When that plum blossom blooms and explodes, just stay defensive! Do not attack either side no matter what - do not draw any more aggro!"

Sheltered behind Yuyan, Yino seriously explained the tactics to her, while his hands were not shy at all about directly wrapping around her slender waist.

She jumped when she was suddenly hugged from behind, but she quickly noticed the giant plum blossom phantom was rapidly blooming.

She had experienced Mei's second-stage explosive technique once before at the demon abyss cliff - it was incredibly powerful. Yino choosing to hold onto her to prevent getting blown away by the wind was absolutely the right choice!

In the final second before the giant plum blossom bloomed, the fox girl also timed it perfectly and grabbed onto Yino's waistband.

"Jinyue, where exactly are you grabbing in all this chaos—!"

Yino jumped in fright.

But before he could turn around and argue with the fox girl, the terrifying blood-colored demonic energy completely transformed into a blooming plum blossom and exploded throughout the palace—

BOOOOOOM!!!!

In the fierce wind, Yino held tight to his senior sister's waist, but the wind was so strong he kept sliding down until his face was almost buried in the hem of her lower back.

"Hahahaha—!!"

"Yino, what are you so scared of!"

"If you are so capable that you can make Liuli call you master, then come out and let this lady experience your masculine charm too—!"

Under the remnants of the blooming plum blossom, she with blood-red braids was still laughing uncontrollably.

At this moment, blood-colored curse marks crawled up her cheeks. The surging energy kept her emotions on the edge of complete breakdown.

She just inhaled lightly and immediately caught the young man's scent. Then she gracefully turned around, summoned a sword, and charged straight toward Yuyan.

But just as she reached her peak fighting power, a humanoid shadow at the other end of the crimson palace once again radiated killing intent—

"—?!!!"

She gracefully turned and swung her sword at Yino, but from the side, a crimson shadow came crashing toward her.

In almost an instant, she was sent flying, crashing into the palace wall like a pile of rotting flesh with a heavy thud.

"!!!"

Right now, Yuyan's heart was in her throat.

Because although she had been sent flying, there was now a corrupted nun radiating decay, her eyes covered with red cloth, standing right in front of Yuyan.

More than her terrifying peak Divine Transformation cultivation, what made her feel unsettled was how this demonic nun's outfit was almost a perfect copy of Holy Maiden Yunmei from Western Province City, except for the color.

Crimson nun's dress with slits like a qipao, crimson blindfold, even the crimson veil was styled similarly to hers...

Thump! Thump! Thump!

Looking at the crimson nun's profile up close, her heartbeat became more obvious. She could not help but grip her sword tighter, ready to fight at any moment.

But just then, Yino grabbed her hand from behind:

"Senior Sister, stay calm. Do not make any sudden moves. Her aggro is not on us right now."

In this tense moment, Yino pressed close behind Yuyan to reassure her.

His left hand was around her waist, his right hand gripping her hand, holding her firmly like he was afraid she might instinctively swing her sword.

In the vast palace, the atmosphere fell into silence.

Until the one who had crashed into the wall shakily stood up again—

"Who would have thought that even a female corpse that has been rotting for a hundred years would try to stop me!!!"

She coldly swung her sword with a sneer. The several plum blossom branches around her once again transformed into demonic light and bloomed.