Rebirth: After Becoming the Villainess-Chapter 360: If She Dies, Can She Transmigrate Back Again?
Song Lianhe was struck speechless.
’Why do I sound like such a scumbag?’
’But that wasn’t the case at all!’
’This won’t do. I have to defend myself!’
"I..."
The man’s expression changed in an instant. He flung his cloak over her head and, without a word, pulled her against his chest!
Before Song Lianhe could even figure out what was happening, the sharp SWISH SWISH SWISH of something cutting through the air whistled past her ears.
"Assassins!"
A Shadow Guard cried out, and the Chi Xiao instantly moved to defend and counter the attack.
Shielded by the cloak, Song Lianhe was plunged into pitch-black darkness. A loud BANG echoed beside her as the door slammed shut.
THWACK! THWACK! THWACK!
A volley of arrows slammed into the wooden door, one after another.
"This is..."
Song Lianhe tried to peek out from the cloak to see what was going on, but a large hand pushed her head back in. "Don’t come out."
Immediately after, she heard the sickening sound of a blade tearing through flesh and grating against bone...
Song Lianhe was acutely sensitive to such sounds. She tensed up, her hands instinctively wrapping around the man’s waist.
She could clearly feel the man’s body stiffen slightly.
But it was only for a moment. Zhou Cangyan spun, pulling her to a safer spot. As he whipped the cloak away, she could finally see again.
The scene in the courtyard horrified her. 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮
Several corpses of men in black lay scattered across the courtyard. They had all died gruesome deaths. One had been struck in the skull with such violent force that one side had caved in, his eyeball bulging and blood seeping from his mouth and nose, his face twisted beyond recognition.
The sounds of fighting raged outside the gate, but more men kept vaulting over the walls.
Zhou Cangyan stood in the middle of the courtyard, his eyes filled with a murderous aura. A cruel, slight smile played on his lips.
With a single hand, he abruptly undid his cloak and flung it at two charging men, enveloping them. He tightened the fabric, binding them together. Then, with a flick of his toe, he sent a fallen blade flying into his other hand and stabbed it straight through both of them...
Yin Huan stood guard at the door. Her fighting skills were average, but she had the advantage of experience in these situations. Her talent for self-preservation was second to none.
The male courtesans had long since fled screaming back into the building, only to be chased down and brutally murdered by the men in black...
Song Lianhe huddled behind a pillar, her breath coming in short, panicked gasps. Her hands fumbled until they found a broken blade, which she clutched tightly.
’I can’t move. I’ll be a living target!’
But someone spotted her soon enough and came charging, swinging a blade down at her—
Her heart leaped into her throat. Song Lianhe gritted her teeth and raised the broken blade to defend herself.
With a loud CLANG, the blade was knocked from her hands, the impact leaving the webbing between her thumbs and forefingers numb.
Before she could even react, the gleaming blade came hacking down toward her head—
She was reminded of the sensation of dying...
Suddenly, the man in black froze, his blade still raised high.
Song Lianhe’s eyes widened. She watched as his head tilted to one side, then rolled across the ground. Blood gushed from the headless torso before it collapsed, revealing the man standing behind it...
Zhou Cangyan’s dark robes were soaked with blood. A few crimson drops stained his fair skin. He was terrifyingly calm, a bloodthirsty aura emanating from him.
He saw Song Lianhe squatting on the ground, her face pale and her eyes wide and vacant.
He frowned, stepping forward and grabbing her arm to pull her to her feet.
Song Lianhe’s legs gave way, and she would have collapsed if he hadn’t been holding her up.
Glancing at the terrified woman in his arms, Zhou Cangyan deflected a projectile from one of the assassins and whispered in her ear, "When you see an opening, run inside and find a place to hide!"
Song Lianhe finally snapped out of it and looked up at him, her expression complex and heavy.
’It’s just like before.’
’At Huaxu Square, he also told me to save myself first.’
She wanted to refuse, but she couldn’t.
If she stayed, she would only be a burden to him.
So, she pressed her lips together and grunted an "Mm."
Seeing her agree, it was as if a great weight had been lifted from Zhou Cangyan’s chest. Even as he swung his sword, he managed to glance down at her, a relieved smile gracing his lips.
More and more men in black vaulted over the wall, and the sounds of fighting outside grew more intense.
Seizing an opportunity, Zhou Cangyan shoved her forcefully through an archway under the eaves. "Go!"
Song Lianhe stumbled through the archway, gritted her teeth, and ran without looking back.
’I can’t help him, but I refuse to be a burden!’
But she had clearly underestimated this assassination...
No, this was an extermination.
The mastermind behind this clearly wanted Zhou Cangyan dead and was willing to carry out a massacre right under the nose of the Imperial City.
Song Lianhe saw several more men in black leap down from the roof, and her blood ran cold.
She stumbled backward, scenes from Huaxu Square replaying over and over in her mind.
’Am I going to die here?’
’But I haven’t made Zhou Cangyan fall in love with me again. Wouldn’t it be a waste to die now?’
’Or, if I die, can I come back again?’
’What if I can never come back?’
Song Lianhe gasped. She couldn’t take that chance. She couldn’t afford to lose that gamble!
Mustering strength from who-knows-where, she heaved a rock from the ground and hurled it at them. As they dodged, she scrambled into a nearby rockery!
The crevice was narrow, but her slender frame allowed her to just barely squeeze inside.
Several of the men in black rushed to the spot and began stabbing their blades into the crevice!
Song Lianhe curled into a tight ball, her face deathly pale as she watched them stab their blades wildly into the opening.
SIZZLE—
She heard the sound of flames flaring up.
Song Lianhe’s heart skipped a beat. She saw a man standing there, holding a torch and letting out a chillingly gleeful laugh.
Then, as Song Lianhe watched in horror, he tossed the torch inside...
The sound of gurgling water was in her ears.
Soaking wet and completely drained of strength, Song Lianhe lay sprawled on a bank.
Who would have thought the rockery hid a secret mechanism? She must have triggered it by accident. A wall panel flipped open, leaving nothing behind her. She plummeted downward. Hearing the sound of rushing water below, she instinctively held her breath just before she hit an underground river with a loud SPLASH...
People can tap into incredible potential in life-or-death situations.
Song Lianhe never knew she was such a good swimmer. Or that she could swallow so much water...
Just when she thought she couldn’t swallow another drop, the current finally carried her out of the underground river. She had no idea where she was.
But at least she had made it to shore and saved her own skin, for the time being.
But before she even had a chance to feel relieved, she heard a malicious laugh. "Well, if it isn’t Princess Qing."
Song Lianhe froze. With great effort, she lifted her head...
At the Southern Official, corpses littered the ground and blood flowed in rivers.
A nauseating, sticky warmth coated Zhou Cangyan’s body, his hair, and his face.
The Heavenly Kill Slash was no exaggeration. As a ghostly god of death who had crawled out of piles of corpses more times than he could count, Zhou Cangyan didn’t even bat an eye at the bloody, horrific scene.
Yin Huan had long since collapsed in a corner, panting for breath. Her hand, still clutching her curved knife, trembled uncontrollably. After the prolonged slaughter, her gaze flickered between frenzied and vacant.
The main gate opened, and a Shadow Guard and Xuan Mei walked in. "My Lord, the Death Warriors outside have been dealt with."
"Mm."
Zhou Cangyan tossed the sword in his hand to the Shadow Guard, turned and walked towards the archway.
After a few steps, he suddenly stopped.
The Shadow Guard and Xuan Mei also stopped.
Zhou Cangyan’s light brown eyes stared intently at the rockery. The muddy ground at its base was trampled with chaotic footprints, and a discarded blade lay nearby.
He paused for a moment, his expression grim, then walked toward it step by step.
Zhou Cangyan reached the narrow crevice in the rockery. The acrid smell of burning hung heavy in the air. He lowered his gaze, his thoughts unreadable, as the hands at his sides slowly clenched into fists.
Finally, he looked inside.
Inside lay a corpse, burned to a blackened crisp.
