The Male Lead I Wronged Has Blackened

CHAPTER 43: Your Turn

　　The boy’s handsome features were like a clear, tranquil pool—bright and sharp. He looked at Si Yao just like that, and it made her heart tremble.

　　Jiang Shuo noticed how flustered she became at his words. He saw cracks in her usually cold, rigid expression, glimpses of tenderness and helplessness flickering in her eyes. In that moment, he even thought that maybe, just maybe, she had feelings for him too.

　　Si Yao struggled hard to pull her hand free from his grip. Then, almost choking on her voice, she said, “Jiang Shuo…”

　　Jiang Shuo saw her reddened eyes, heard the break in her voice, as she looked up at him. Her tone was no longer icy and merciless. Yet she only called his name once and stopped, as if she didn’t know what to say.

　　He saw the flash of inner struggle in her eyes, like she was fighting something difficult inside herself. After a long pause, she finally said, “Fine, I’ll go back first. Everything… we’ll talk about after you break through.”

　　Hearing this, Jiang Shuo’s heart leapt. His gaze was filled with excitement and disbelief as he looked at her. He didn’t even know what to say.

　　Does this mean… she accepts me?

　　Si Yao felt a little uneasy under the heat of his gaze. She turned her head to avoid his eyes and pushed him away with effort, her voice low and tense. “I’ll go back first.”

　　Jiang Shuo’s eyes shone with an unstoppable smile as he watched her leave.

　　It felt like a sudden, beautiful dream, almost too good to be real. But just like that, the dream shattered, breaking as completely as his heart did.

　　Just as Jiang Shuo achieved his breakthrough, an attack struck.

　　At his current level, only one person could silently enter the barrier he had set up without being detected.

　　Si Yao.

　　He had never guarded himself against her.

　　The sharp attack struck Jiang Shuo’s chest, forcibly interrupting his breakthrough. He coughed up blood, eyes wide with shock, and looked toward the cave entrance. There she was, standing there, expression cold.

　　Si Yao’s smile was merciless. With a wave of her hand, another surge of spiritual power crashed into him.

　　The first strike had already dealt heavy internal damage, and her second hit was even more brutal, sending Jiang Shuo flying. He crashed heavily against the cave wall.

　　Footsteps echoed. Then came her sigh. “Jiang Shuo, you should never have been soft with me.”　　

　　“You should have killed me the first time I tried to poison you.”

　　Hearing her calm voice, Jiang Shuo’s heart ached in a way words could not describe.

　　Why… why had he trusted her so completely?

　　Why had he… loved her so much?

　　For the first time, Jiang Shuo felt ridiculous.

　　He wanted to laugh out loud, but no sound would come.

　　Then, Si Yao’s spiritual strikes rained down on him again. She was merciless, shattering his cultivation and severing his meridians.

　　He felt her power lift his body, followed by a dizzying, weightless sensation.

　　Perhaps the cliff he was falling from was millions of feet deep. The sense of falling stretched on, his wounds screaming across his body, but the pain in his mind was even sharper.

　　Despite the agony, Jiang Shuo felt his consciousness growing clearer than ever.

　　He thought about Si Yao’s words.

　　She was right. He should have killed her.

　　The moment she had reached out to him, maybe he should have ended her.

　　As his body plummeted through the air, Jiang Shuo stared blankly at the sky, memories flashing in his mind.

　　He saw himself falling off the cliff, barely surviving. He saw himself finding a chance beneath it, healing his body and making a leap in cultivation.

　　He saw himself return from the cliff, see his conflict with Si Yao, force her to the edge of that same cliff, and then watch as Si Yao gave him a complicated look before leaping into the abyss, while he coldly watched from the side. 

　　Suddenly, his head throbbed as if it would split apart. Pain that was unbearable surged through him, and then he opened his eyes with a start.

　　Before him was an endless, chaotic red.

　　Gasping for breath, Jiang Shuo woke, cold sweat soaking his black hair.

　　Si Yao immediately rushed over, using her sleeve to wipe his forehead, worry in her voice. “Are you all right?”

　　She had found him unconscious beside her, and no matter what she tried, she could not wake him.

　　Jiang Shuo’s eyes were hazy, as if he were still half in a dream.

　　Si Yao waved her hand in front of him. “Jiang Shuo… Jiang Shuo.”

　　At the sound of her voice, his eyes gradually cleared. Seeing his gaze sharpen, Si Yao wanted to tell him to reclaim half of the divine consciousness he had placed on her, but before she could speak, Jiang Shuo’s hand shot up and clamped around her throat.

　　Completely surprised that Jiang Shuo would attack her, Si Yao stared at him in shock. She looked into his eyes and saw them shifting from deep black to fiery red, his once-handsome face now radiating a dangerous, alluring aura.

　　The change made her heart skip in fear.

　　The pressure of his grip increased, cutting off her breath. Her normally pale face flushed bright red under the force of his hold.

　　“Si Yao, you should have died long ago.”

　　Jiang Shuo’s crimson eyes gleamed with a demonic light, and the words spilling from his thin lips made Si Yao’s heart shiver.

　　What had happened to him?

　　Si Yao panicked, gripping the arm clamped around her throat, gasping for breath. “Jiang Shuo…”

　　But his hold did not loosen in the slightest.

　　“Ha ha ha ha ha—”

　　A wild, arrogant laughter rang from behind Si Yao. She could not turn to see it, and Jiang Shuo slightly lifted his head to glance toward the source.

　　“The Demon Clan’s Annihilation Array does more than turn people into fuel. It awakens the evil within, corrupting them into demons.”

　　The laughter faded, replaced by the cold, chilling voice of the Demon Lord.

　　“Now the last hope of humanity stands alongside me as a demon. Once I break this array, it will be the end of your kind!”

　　Si Yao’s heart froze at the words. Jiang Shuo had really fallen to darkness? She looked at him in disbelief, hoping he would deny the Demon Lord, but Jiang Shuo remained silent, giving no answer.

　　“If we don't break the array now, when will we?”

　　Another voice, smooth and alluring, echoed from behind Si Yao. The Beast King had joined the Demon Lord, ready to break the array together.

　　But the Demon Lord remained calm, unfazed, and spoke to Jiang Shuo. “You are impressive, stronger than any of my current protectors. Join me to break the array, and perhaps I will spare your life afterward, letting you serve me as my attendant.”

　　Every word came naturally to the Demon Lord. As ruler of ten thousand demons, he expected Jiang Shuo, now a demon, to kneel to him.

　　Jiang Shuo only smiled faintly. With a flick of his hand, he tossed Si Yao aside and rose to meet the Demon Lord eye to eye.

　　Freed from Jiang Shuo’s restraint, Si Yao coughed violently, gasping for air. She kept glancing at him with worry.

　　In the original story, Jiang Shuo had not turned into a demon. Yet now, Si Yao's worst fears had come true, the plot completely veered off course.

　　And yet, Jiang Shuo’s thin lips curled into a faint smile. His brows lifted slightly, and his words carried an arrogance that even the Demon Lord could not match.

　　“Are you looking to die?”

　　His voice was cold, sending a chill deeper than the depths of hell itself.

　　The Demon Lord’s anger flared. “You insolent brat! You have violated my authority. You are no longer worthy to be my attendant. You are only fit to be my slave.”

　　“Hmph.”

　　Jiang Shuo snorted coldly, glancing at the Beast King and Demon Lord with utter contempt, as if they were nothing more than insects. He raised his hand slightly, and a long sword appeared, black demonic energy coiling around its blade, sending shivers down the spine.

　　“You both will die together.”

　　A tremendous force erupted from Jiang Shuo, a power the Beast King had never felt in his thousands of years of life. His heart thumped wildly.

　　“His power… how has it grown so strong?”

　　Even the Demon Lord was shaken, all previous arrogance gone. “Only those at the Half-Step Divine Transformation Realm can wield a force to make even the two of us wary. Could he have broken through?”

　　The realization terrified both of them. Jiang Shuo had already been able to fight both at once at the peak of his Ascension Realm. If he had truly broken through, they would never stand a chance.

　　“Impossible. That level exists only in legends… no one has ever reached it.”

　　The Beast King shook his head, refusing to believe it. Surely Jiang Shuo had used some secret technique to temporarily enhance his strength.

　　But Jiang Shuo gave them no time to hesitate. With a single leap, he was at the Demon Lord’s side, and then a sword slash erupted with the force to shake heaven and earth. The Demon Lord tried to block it with his energy, but it was useless. Jiang Shuo’s sword pierced his chest, cutting deep into his lungs.

　　The Beast King tried to strike Jiang Shuo from behind, but a wave of sword energy sent him flying, blood spewing from his mouth.

　　Si Yao watched from the side, stunned. She had never expected that even with half of his divine consciousness missing, Jiang Shuo had still broken through.

　　She saw him single-handedly pushing back two of the Demon and Beast Realm’s greatest powers. She saw their wounds multiply under his relentless strikes. She saw their arrogance collapse into terror, leaving them scrambling to escape.

　　“I am the Lord of the Demon Realm! How dare you try to kill me?!”

　　Ascension Realm and Half-Step Divine Transformation were just a step apart, yet the difference in strength was like night and day. The Demon Lord was completely exposed under Jiang Shuo’s sword, facing imminent death, and in desperation let out a roar.

　　The next moment, Jiang Shuo’s sword pierced his chest. The Demon Lord’s eyes widened in disbelief as he stared at Jiang Shuo, unable to accept that he would die in his own Annihilation Array.

　　The Beast King, seeing the Demon Lord fall, knew the situation was hopeless. He turned to flee, but his speed was no match. Jiang Shuo glanced at him with disdain, and in just a few breaths, he caught up and blocked his path.

　　A wave of sword energy, brimming with a savage aura, cut down on him. This was only ten percent of Jiang Shuo’s power, yet the Beast King never got the chance to speak a final word. His enchanting eyes dimmed, and he fell lifeless.

　　The two great powers of the Demon and Beast Realms had fallen.

　　Si Yao, watching it all unfold, could hardly breathe. Everything happened too quickly, like a dream she could not wake from. Her eyes, wide with shock, refused to calm for a long while.

　　Then, the man holding the sword, like a god of death risen from hell, turned to face her. A faint smile played on his lips as he said, “Now, it’s your turn.”

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T/N: Ugh, sorry for the late upload. Damn this internet connection! It exists, but it’s slower than a snail crawling uphill. One second it’s on, the next second it’s gone. Without proper fast internet, I literally cannot upload anything. I am fighting my internet provider every single day. 😑😩

    

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