Damn it. She was really tired, Xie Xiu thought as she kept herself sitting on the back of her Camouflage Chameleon. It was honestly a miracle that she did not drop dead, all things considered.
Her energy reserves were very low compared to how she usually had, and the woman wondered if even a Level 3 [Hero] would probably defeat her, though with extreme difficulty. Purging the effects of poisons and aphrodisiacs from her system took a lot of her, especially since Mei Wu's beast, the Impurity Eater, had ripped a part of her qi pathways.
Stopping her own heart made the damage in that area become more severe, much to her fear and chagrin, and while it didn't seem that it would spread anytime soon, Xie Xiu knew that even if she somehow survived and miraculously escaped the forest that was almost definitely surrounded, her power would be reduced for months until the damage got healed properly.
Adding to that the many other injuries she and her beasts had, it would require months at the very least for them to be in their optimal conditions, and even then, her two beasts, the Gargantuan Earth Worm and the Venomous Viper would most likely die, weakening her power as a ranker.
If she survived, that is.
For now though, she only desired to make herself as irritating as possible to her would-be killers, which is why she never stopped moving through the forest, making sure to always avoid the paths where her loyal chameleon and her senses could notice the presence of the Protector Bees. Even if it was futile and useless, even if she dropped from exhaustion first, and even if they were purposely guiding her to a trap, Xie Xiu didn't care about that at all.
If she could make them sweat and get frustrated by her, waste as much of their time as she could, then she would be satisfie-
A sharp pain entered her mind, causing her to fall from the Camouflage Chameleon's back, her body rolling on the soil as she held back a hiss of pain, her still open wounds burning from the contact with the dirt, the invisibility given by the chameleon being stripped out of her now that she wasn't making physical contact with it.
The chameleon immediately halted in its run, quickly moving towards her, looking concerned as she shakily tried to rise, only to stumble on the ground once more. It extended its tongue towards her affectionately, clearly not liking how fragile and pained she looked.
"Ghk! Uhh... I- I'm fine..." she muttered, blood leaking from her mouth even as she accepted its affectation, gingerly standing on its back once more, clutching her head. "My viper had just died, and I am certain my other companion would follow soon enough."
Even though she practically threw them to their death, they still fought until the end, not deserting her even in the face of their approaching demise. Xie Xiu will miss them.
Refocusing herself, she and her chameleon continued running as far as possible. They both knew that escaping was effectively impossible, but she was determined to make catching her as annoying as she could, at least in her own opinion.
The alraune might probably be enjoying the chase, watching Xie Xiu run around with no real destination, but until she and the Queen Bee get bored and decide to finish her off, the elder would continue running.
At least, that's what she wanted to do, when a scent so new yet strangely familiar invaded her body that immediately started reacting to it.
She gasped softly, feeling the way her body started getting warmer, her breath becoming harsher, and she once more fell on the earth as another mental shock hit her, singaling the death of her Gargantuan Earth Worm.
"Ah..." groaning, she realized that more of the alraune's clones were situated in the direction she was running just right now. And they are already slowly advancing towards her, as she noticed the smell getting stronger by the second.
Immediately, Xie Xiu started thinking what to do now. Running forward was not the best option, that was was clear. But, she realized that maybe the Protector Bees were bringing her to this area after all, since she could see with her eyes how some of the Queen Bee's minions were following her left and right, even if they weren't so close as to pose an immediate threat.
'And there's no doubt that Mei Wu and the other two are following my movements, and would definitely reach me in minutes...' she bit her lips as the sweet scent of aphrodisiac nectars was becoming more and more potent, the lower-ranked alraunes advancing a step by step.
Maybe, had she been at her best, then she could have attempted to brute force her escape against a few of the Protector Bees. While beating and killing them won't be feasible, getting away would have been very probable, if she wasn't so exhausted. Now though, she was tired, spent, and two of her stronger beasts were killed.
If she was to go to her left or right at the moment, then she would be killed by the Queen Bee's waiting minions, no questions asked. She goes forward, and she meets the alraunes created by Jiko Ai's Division Propagation. She retreats, and faces the Gold-ranked alraune, Mei Wu and the Queen Bee.
She can't escape under the earth, and she can't fly, and even if she could, the Queen Bee won't allow her to escape... No matter what she does, it was a checkmate!
'So this is the end of it, huh? I guess this is where I die... It was a fine life though, I suppose. Though a part of me regrets dying after that old geezer.' with such thoughts and a bitter smile, she prepared to give a last 'Fuck you' to her enemies, choosing to kill herself instead of being killed by the enemy. Whether it was ultimately pointless didn't matter to her; as far as she was concerned, it was her method to spite at her opponent, and would gladly do it now that there was no other choice...
And thus, amassing her qi in her arm, she prepared to pierce her own heart, to destroy it with her own hand. Ignoring the unbearable heat running through her body, how her mind was starting to have some thoughts about stopping her suicide, and to just follow the overwhelming desire of lust that was slowly permeating the area, she gave a smile to her Camouflage Chameleon as it looked at her sadly, as it knew what she was about to do.
She had a thought of cancelling her contract with it, thus sparing it from following her in death the moment she no longer could live, but she realized that it had no qualms of dying with her as well.
"Farewell." with such final words, she was about to stab herself-
And then the voice of a faint moan reached her ears, stopping her in her tracks. It was so faint that one would mistake it for an illusion, yet she understood that it was very real, even more so when her dutiful chameleon clearly heard it, turning around, looking to where Jiko Ai's alraunes were situated.
Even more importantly, even as weak the voice was, being so far away, Xie Xiu could clearly remember who that soft and feminine voice belonged to, as her heart started beating faster by something different than the increasing haze of lust entering her body.
Another moan reached her ears, one that was more masculine, yet despite how weird it sounded, she managed to know who made it...
Her eyes widened in shock. The disciples are still alive!? No, in hindsight, it made sense for them to be alive. The alraune clearly wanted to use them as toys or pets for her amusement!
In a split second, many thoughts filled her head as she pondered on what to do now. This development won't change the fact that she would be killed, that much was obvious.
Therefore, she must make a choice, now that she found that the four Level 1 [Apprentices] were alive, but at the sadistic mercy of the alraune. She could easily kill herself here and now, and let them to their fate of being a bunch of broken batteries for the alraune to feed on, or she could give them at the very least some mercy of that torment, and end their suffering, and kill them herself before she kills herself afterwards.
It was harsh, even cruel and brutal choice, but in Xie Xiu's mind, she knew for certain that she won't be able to save them at her current state. If she couldn't even have the power to save herself, then how would she be able to save these four as well? Even more so, the fact that they were much weaker than her, and way closer to the source of the aphrodisiac, their minds are already starting to break and crumble from the pleasure and lust. And as the moans got clearer and louder as the alraunes that captured them were advancing, that made the decision even clearer for the female elder.
"Let's go and give them the mercy they so deserve." she ordered the Camouflage Chameleon who hissed with determination as she jumped once more on iits back before they rushed forwards, Xie Xiu doing her best to ignore the burning sensation between her legs and the small yet increasingly loud voice that was telling her to just succumb and give up.
At the same time, she didn't ignore how the feeling of nature intensified behind her, as the plants and grass started getting more vibrant, and the familiar qi of plants and nature emanating, with its source chasing after her rapidly.
'Even from here, I could feel that blasted alraune running after me. Though at this rate, she won't reach me before I reached the disciples first!' with that, she and the Camouflage Chameleon doubled their efforts as she gave it some of her remaining energy to make it run faster and easier. She must at the very least kill the disciples and free them from the suffering they are experiencing, and would experience at the hands of Mei Wu, the alraune and the Queen Bee...
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It was hard. So, so hard... Thinking was so hard. Her mind was starting to feel more and more blank. Every second and every moment spent under the control and effects of the liquid of lust, as the scent invades her nose continuously, breaking down her ability to reason and to do anything more than moan and wriggle futilely.
Xie Zu moaned in pleasurable agony, her body shivering as it was lifted in the air, naked as the day she was born.
It shouldn't have reached this point, a small voice in her head whispered. She and her fellow disciples shouldn't have gotten draggen into the fight, and yet-
Yet, here they were. From the moment their noses picked that sweet scent, it was clear that their fate was sealed. Having no way to contact the two elders, being unable to defend themselves against the waves of lust consuming their bodies, and being surrounded by a silver-ranked alraune whose human body looked as child-like as she oozed lust and malice; Xie Zu and her fellow clan members were put into an impossible fight from the get-go.
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It was then that lust, consuming her and her fellow members, exploded violently from the inside of their hearts and minds, and was unleashed at each other. The other woman with her immediately started kissing her boyfriend, not giving a damn as they ripped each other's clothes, kissing and groping each other with no care or decency, losing all the ability to reason and think rationally as they started having sex under the watch of the amused alraunes.
The only reason she and the second male disciple didn't do the same was because they tried their best to resist, and the fact that they had lovers back in the clan.
The alraune though didn't give a damn. No, that wasn't correct-
Xie Zu was certain that the alraune couldn't care about her struggle, or fear or anything. She found some prey to play with and torment, and thus she wanted to break them.
Consent? Understanding? Fidelity to one's love? What's that? The alraune seemed to be unable to comprehend the meaning of these things. In other words; "I don't need these pointless things." she seemed to convey.
The one, and only attempt to actually fight back resulted in two oversized leaves under the alraune's petals being thrown, cutting off one leg and one arm from the man who defied the alraune. The sliced limbs were immediately eaten in front of Xie Zu and the now crippled man as he wailed in agony, the pain so much that the aphrodisiac nectar couldn't stop his reaction, breaking down as he begged for his life-
And yet he wasn't lucky. He was just either a pet, or a dessert; the moment he dared to choose being something other than a pet, he automatically became a dessert, and his worth was deemed to be nothing but food. Prehaps, it was to make an example to Xie Zu, who was back then still tried to resist, or maybe it was just the malice and predatory nature of the alraune enjoying the power it had.
Regardless of the reason, the results were still the same, as she found herself in the air, vines capturing her limbs, aphrodisiacs and healing nectars directly pumped into her blood. Her clothes were not only ripped, but melted by the alraune's acid the moment they reached the ground, as if telling her that pets don't need clothes.
From a proud member of a clan to a beast's pet... the ultimate humiliation and degradation. She wished for Xie Xiu and Xie Yao to protect her, to save her, to annihilate this monstrous and vile beast-
And yet, none of what she wished became true, as her body burned with desire and betraying her, her hands forcefully tied behind her back by the vines that were sturdier than natural platinum and even diamond.
She had already lost track of time, since even with her understanding that it must have only been less than thirty minutes since Xie Xiu and Xie Yao began the fight inside the Queen Bee's hive, it felt as if she was under the alraune's grasp for hours.
It felt as if she was bound for so long, her body aching and almost begging for release as two vines almost gently and tenderly teased her increasingly sensiitive nipples, driving her mad even as her mind tried to keep its grasp on her quickly eroding sanity.
Surprisingly, and almost thankfully, the alraune didn't bother touching her between the legs, so that was a small mercy; though Xie Zu felt that maybe that was for a reason more sinister than just boredom. Honestly, her body was so burning with desire that she won't be surprised if she will climax just by the vines touching her breasts soon enough.
The other two humans still alive though had vines circling around their waists and stabbing them, the same aphrodisiac and healing nectars being shoved into their blood, not even stopping from touching and having sex as the alraune dragged them along her as she moved forward.
The smell of sex was slowly mixing with the stench of aphrodisiacs that filled the air, making Xie Zu's attempts to think even more difficult, and she shuddered, moaning as she nearly lost herself due to a vine almost pinching her nipples.
"No... someone, save me... heavens, please..."she begged from the bottom of her heart. Despite her wanting to defy the heavens by virtue of being a cultivator and a warrior, she still hoped that mercy would be given to her-
And for a moment, she did believe that it came, even as the alraune kept advancing, dragging her and the other two while at it, and vaguely, in the midst of the haze of lust and depravity, Xie Zu barely heard the sound of something rushing towards the alraune's position. Something fast from what she could comprehend, hearing how the trees seemed to be pushed away, the grass and flowers were flattened. Despite hearing no footsteps, since her senses were still not sharp enough for that, she could feel as something huge and quick was rapidly moving towards them.
And Xie Zu really hoped that it was the two elders coming to save her and the other two living disciples.
Please, please, let it be them! Please let them be able to save her! If this single wish was granted, then Xie Zu would be happy, and would not even dare to think of how 'weak and trashy' a plant beast, or any beast for that matter, is, ever again!
The alraune holding her giggled as the sounds of the approaching person were getting louder, loud enough that Xie Zu could faintly hear the footsteps-
Suddenly, a huge chameleon appeared, jumping in the air, and even as her eyes were half-closed from the sheer stimulation she was experiencing, Xie Zu managed, even if barely, to see that Xie Xiu was on top of it!
'My prayers. My prayers were answered!' she thought hopefully, hoping that she would be saved, and that she would then be freed of this hell...!
"P- plea~aahh~!" she tried to articulate her plea to the Xie clan elder, but the scent and aphrodisiacs running in her veins were already washing away her mind clean, and she could only moan. If she wasn't saved soon enough, then she would no longer be able to think of anything but the lust consuming and cracking her very being. If she kept on staying in this hellish scenario for days though, then she was certain that she would forget who she even was, her whole identity and sense of self utterly wiped, crushed and completely erased, without any residue left.
Which is why, she begged for the heavens to save her, in any way that can be achieved! She truly believed she would be saved as soon as Xie Xiu appeared, not even thinking about the possibility she would be killed by her own senior, or that the thought would even enter Xie Xiu's head.
Thus, she was rather unprepared as the alraune willingly threw her away, freeing her from the vines, along with the ones injecting the healing and aphrodisiac nectars in her system, thrown away so far away, her body flying above the trees as the momentum kept her going, dozens of meters behind the alraune and still going.
Xie Zu couldn't really notice how long she was flying, thrown away by the beast, until her body crashed into a tree with enough force to crack it. She choked from pain and pleasure, the healing nectar still in her body surprisingly helping her gain some focus now that the aphrodisiac wasn't being injected in her body nonstop.
"Ah- uh... hah!" she gasped as she tried to stand up, every movement feeling as if she was being tortured by the heat still in her body. "I- I must run away... quickly..." she whispered, nearly falling on the ground. The smell of the aphrodisiac seemed to be way thinner where she was at the moment, so she must use this chance to escape as much as possible.
As much as she wanted to watch as Xie Xiu would erase the alraune that dared to do this, she knew that a fight of that level is way beyond her, and that she would be killed easily, if worse, if she tried to go there. Xie Zu knew that she won't be able to fight that blasted alraune even if she was fully healed, in top shape, and fully equipped, let alone now, where she was mentally drained, her body was a wreck, and she was completely naked with no weapons.
No. The best option is to do her best to escape, and hope for the best. Hope is the one thing that drove people to do their best to survive, after all, and she was no different.
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Voices. Sounds. Something... feels weird... It felt confusing, yet not?
Deep, deep inside of my very soul, I felt as if something that was forcing me to close my eyes and shut down my senses was suddenly lifted-
And I opened my eyes, my chest feeling as if I was just dealing with a nightmare, as I gazed down my soulscap-
Wait. Something is wrong... but what is it...? Is it how even as my eyes are open, I can only see black, yet I could sense I can only go further into its depth, but I feel like I am not able to leave it and wake up at the moment? Is it the fact that it isn't my chest that is trembling- it's my whole being?
As if I was...
The memories hit me right away like a train. The fight between me and Wu-chan against the two Xie clan's elders, me being almost killed and-
I felt as if blood froze in my veins, my face paling.
Jiko Ai. Narcissism and instincts... She took control of...!
No, no no! Wu-chan!
Horror gripped my heart as I felt as I was about to explode from fear, willing myself to wake up and get back in control of my own body, yet I felt as if I was only falling deeper into the darkness. For a moment, I felt as if my Narcissism was surprised, as if she didn't expect me to wake up so soon.
Yet, despite the fear I felt for my beloved, there was something else that I could feel. Understanding?
'Wait, that isn't my own emotion...' I found myself thinking, and somehow, I just realized these were Jiko Ai's emotions... she somehow was allowing me to get access to her own feelings? And she was... telling me to calm down?
... Just who does she think she is!?
"You bitch..." I gritted my teeth at the black void, looking upward. "You better not be harming Wu-chan!" I yelled, rage feeling like magma running in my very being as I glared, even as tears fell from my eyes at what she might have done to Mei Wu, hoping that she could hear my sheer hatred towards her ever harming my love.
"... Huh? You- you're awake so soon...? That's strange..."
I heard her voice, one that sounded so similar to mine that I would have thought I was just talking unconsciously to myself. Surprisingly, I find it odd how she seemed so surprised at me waking up.
'No.' I realized, 'she's just surprised I was able to wake up so soon. As if she expected me to wake up, just not right now?' I thought, frowning even as rage still filled my soul.
"... Ah, so that's how it is... Wu-chan truly loves us so dearly, doesn't she?"
Hearing Jiko Ai's fascinated answer, as if she found the solution to a complex problem to be rather baffling and intriguing.
'Wu-chan...? What does she have with that...? Wait, what am I feeling- no, sensing as if it is running through my very cells?' I looked around, even as the black was the only thing I could see.
This sensation... the Apoptosis...!?
"Y-you! What did you do to her!? If you forced her to give you power..." I hissed back at her, and I felt rather sadistically happy when I sensed her give the equivalent to a grimace in response to my anger.
"Oh, great. Should have expected that. Look, I'm in the middle of hunting a pesky chameleon and its summoner while my hungry not-babies are feasting on the other beasts' corpses. I'd rather keep my eyes on her at the moment, you're kinda distracting."
I only glared harder, not amused. Like hell I would just let you do what you want after you threatened to break Wu-chan.
"Fine, I'm sorry I was so happy at having a chance to get out that I decided to enjoy some revenge and threatened that I would do terrible things to our beloved. If only you stayed asleep for one more hour..." I felt her sigh with irritation.
Our beloved? So she also loves Wu-chan as well? As in romantic love? Still, I was far from thrilled at what she did, and made my displeasure known even as I wasn't able to forcefully take over my body.
"Oh, for Hajun's sake!" I felt myself confused as she swore using the name of a mass murdering narcisstic god from the Shinza Bansho series. Was it because she's my Narcissism and instincts?
"I would have talked with you about it after this is ove- Nope! You won't save your disciples so easily you pesky prey!" I felt her grumble in irritation before I felt the sensation of hunger and gleeful sadism clear in her tone, mixed with rage.
She... she is chasing Xie Xiu? And what happened to Xie Yao? And what about Wu-chan!? Hey!
"Oh, fine! You're really getting irritating, so here! Take these memories!"
Wait- what the fu-
And then, I suddenly felt myself consumed by the green, one so familiar yet strangely it felt rather new. I didn't even have time to process how Jiko Ai felt rather irked by my supposedly constant disruptions, before I found myself in the familiar lush and vibrant grass that was my mindscape-
No, something in me told me that it wasn't exactly my mindscape, or more accurately, it isn't a part that seemed to be under my control, the feeling of instincts that this area reeked of, made it clear who this area's ruler was supposed to be.
I had no more time to even inspect any further, my eyes barely getting time to register anything more before something slammed into my mind, causing me to clutch my mental head in agony.
And I saw, heard, and felt myself as I was making a deal with Wu-chan about a deal to allow me to date her too, along with... myself?
"What?" I asked myself, utterly flooded by the visions that were so detailed, so full of emotions, that I almost believed that they were real, before I realized what just happened.
"... These were Jiko Ai's memories...?"