Lan Ge’s eyes widened instantly. “What do you mean I should go? You know the rule—do not look at what is improper. You’re a gentleman, aren’t you? I’m a gentleman too. I’m still a virgin! Why should I go? I’m not going!”
Fa Hua replied solemnly, “Aren’t you advocates of freedom? Now is the time to put that free and easy spirit into practice.”
Lan Ge answered with equal righteousness, “No. In your heart, I’m that boring, childish, good-for-nothing idiot, right? How could something this important involve me? What if I accidentally see her body and she insists on marrying me afterward? Do you want to marry an ant?”
Fa Hua corrected him calmly. “A Devouring Ant. And she’s the Ant Queen.”
“Then… how about we retreat?” Lan Ge suggested, already backing away.
“I think we can,” Fa Hua agreed. This time, he stood firmly on Lan Ge’s side. The pressure emanating from the figure before them was simply too overwhelming.
The two turned to leave.
Suddenly, a strange force swept over them. There was a flash of light, and they found themselves once again standing beside the Ruby Queen.
“That Backstabbing Pearl!” they exclaimed almost in unison.
They couldn’t even leave?
Fa Hua and Lan Ge exchanged a look.
Fa Hua said in a low voice, “Share the fortune.”
Lan Ge took a deep breath. “Share the hardship.”
Since they couldn’t avoid it, then…
Their thoughts aligned. In the next moment, both of them removed their outer garments and carefully covered the Ruby Queen.
Judging from the sounds they had made earlier, and from the fact that lifting her hair with the Wisdom Sword had drawn no reaction at all, she truly seemed incapable of acting. Otherwise, with her uncompromising temperament, she would have struck long ago.
The two robes covered the Ruby Queen’s slender body. Fa Hua and Lan Ge both wiped the sweat from their brows.
“That’s much better,” Fa Hua nodded.
“Turn her over?” Lan Ge asked.
Fa Hua shot him an annoyed look. “Can’t you make a decision yourself? Why do you always ask me?”
Lan Ge replied earnestly, “Aren’t you from Wisdom City? Don’t you always say I’m childish? Then of course you decide.”
“Turn her,” Fa Hua decided at once. Then, after a pause, he added, “Be careful. Don’t expose anything.”
“Agreed. We must stand on the moral high ground,” Lan Ge said gravely.
They moved with extreme caution, shifting the robes inch by inch as they turned her, making sure nothing improper was revealed.
After considerable effort, they finally completed the task.
The Ruby Queen lay face up.
Her eyes were tightly shut, her brows deeply furrowed. Her beautiful face was deathly pale, without a trace of color.
The first time they had seen her, she had been attempting to break through to the Twelfth-Rank. She was guarded by countless terrifyingly powerful Devouring Ants. After that, she had pursued them relentlessly, her Moon God–level strength pressing down on them until they could barely breathe. If not for sheer chance, they would have died beneath her back-stingers long ago.
And yet now, this once-dominant Ruby Queen lay before them in such a fragile state.
An unsettling thought rose in both their minds.
At this very moment, if they acted decisively, they could likely kill her and eliminate the threat forever.
As the thought surfaced, Fa Hua and Lan Ge exchanged glances. The Peerless Pearl patterns on their foreheads grew hot.
“We can’t kill her,” they said almost simultaneously.
The Peerless Pearl had brought them here. Combined with the faint, lingering resonance from the clash between the Ruby Queen and the Tiger Demon King, it made it impossible for that murderous intent to take root.
From a purely personal standpoint, they had indeed wronged her. They had stolen her heart. Her pursuit of them had been to reclaim what was hers.
“If we don’t kill her… then do we save her?” Lan Ge asked uncertainly.
Fa Hua gave a wry smile. “I can’t think of any other reason the Peerless Pearl dragged us here. Maybe it swallowed her heart and now feels… indebted.”
Lan Ge stared at him. “You think that damned Pearl can feel guilty? I don’t buy it.”
Fa Hua opened the first page of the Divine Codex. The Divine Statue manifested as he gently drew one of the Ruby Queen’s hands out from beneath the robe. Only then did they notice that all six of her back-stingers were gone—clear proof of how brutal her final battle had been.
Fa Hua grasped her wrist and carefully injected a thread of Holy Magic to probe her condition.
The moment the Holy Magic entered her body, it vanished without a trace, like a mud ox plunging into the sea.
Startled, Fa Hua immediately cut off the flow.
“What’s going on?” Lan Ge asked. Through their connection, he had felt the same thing.
Lan Ge seized her other wrist and tried channeling Elemental Magic.
The result was identical. The energy disappeared completely, as if devoured.
“Together,” Fa Hua said, nodding.
Fa Hua raised his left hand. Lan Ge raised his right. Their palms met, completing the Peerless Pearl’s circuit. At the same time, each of them grasped one of the Ruby Queen’s wrists and slowly injected their energy.
A strange sensation arose.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
An inexplicable heartbeat echoed in their consciousness. In the next instant, their Holy Magic and Elemental Magic surged out like rushing rivers, pouring straight into the Ruby Queen’s body.
Her body trembled slightly. A faint luster returned to her skin.
But this was bad news for Fa Hua and Lan Ge.
They couldn’t stop.
Her body felt like a bottomless abyss, endlessly absorbing everything they poured in. Even with the Peerless Pearl allowing them to recover far faster than normal, the consumption was terrifying.
Before long, they felt hollowed out.
So this is how good deeds are repaid, Lan Ge thought bitterly. Getting sucked dry.
“Hold steady,” Fa Hua said in a low voice.
This was no time for complaints. They focused their minds, letting their energies intertwine more closely to accelerate recovery, struggling to resist the immense pull.
At that moment, light bloomed from their foreheads. The Peerless Pearl materialized again, hovering above the Ruby Queen between them. Its glow focused precisely on her heart.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
The heartbeat grew clearer. Each beat caused the Ruby Queen’s body to shudder faintly.
What was it doing?
A soft pink beam descended from the Peerless Pearl, shining directly onto the Ruby Queen’s heart. Her body convulsed violently, and the rate at which she consumed their energy slowed, granting them a brief respite.
Then, without warning, the suction intensified again.
Under that terrifying pull, Fa Hua and Lan Ge felt even their Life Energy being dragged away.
This is it.
Just as they felt they were about to be drained completely, a warm, mellow energy flowed from the Peerless Pearl back into their bodies, instantly stabilizing them.
The Ruby Queen’s trembling ceased. A layer of soft pink radiance enveloped her.
A cycle formed among the three.
Fa Hua and Lan Ge slipped into an unconscious meditative state, while the Peerless Pearl continued to bathe the Ruby Queen’s heart in pink light. Unknown transformations quietly unfolded.
Time passed.
When Fa Hua and Lan Ge regained consciousness, nothing appeared outwardly different. Yet the suction within the Ruby Queen’s body had vanished.
They released her wrists almost reflexively.
Both immediately sensed it. Something had been added to them, and something taken away.
They examined themselves at once.
Their cultivation remained unchanged. Still Eighth-Rank. No miraculous breakthrough. Yet the sensation of gain and loss was undeniable, deeply strange.
The Ruby Queen was now breathing steadily. Her chest rose and fell faintly. Color had returned to her skin, and though her long hair lay disheveled, she looked far better than before.
We saved our greatest enemy, Lan Ge thought wryly.
Though orchestrated by the Peerless Pearl, if they hadn’t harbored goodwill—or a sense of debt—they would never have tried to save her.
“This settles what we owe her,” Fa Hua said quietly. “We took her heart. Now we’ve saved her once. We’re even. If she pursues us again, we won’t feel guilty.”
Lan Ge nodded. “Agreed. If she comes again, killing her won’t trouble my conscience.”
“Can you beat her?” Fa Hua raised an eyebrow.
Lan Ge grimaced. “Life is already hard enough. Don’t make it harder.”
“We’re leaving,” Fa Hua said. “We can’t wait for her to wake.”
He stood and stretched. Though there had been no increase in cultivation, they were in peak condition.
After one last look at the sleeping Ruby Queen, the two moved quietly, climbed out of the pit, and vanished into the forest.