Yu Qingyu's vision momentarily turned black, as the demon's claws dug across his back, resulting in sharp, agonizing pain, which took his breath away.
His body lunged forward, and he would have fallen down on the black sand, if it wasn't for the pair of strong arms supporting him last moment.
"What the-" Liu Wei uttered with shock, staring at the man in his arms, unable to comprehend what just happened.
But it was not the time to be shocked. They were still under attack. The demons wouldn't pause to give them time to recover, after all. Liu Wei quickly glanced around, let go of the man in his arms, and snatched Yu Qingyu's sword, which slipped from the man's hand and was lying on the ground. Finally armed with a weapon again, Liu Wei managed to somehow hold the demons back temporarily.
Meanwhile, Yu Qingyu took a step forward, trying to regain his balance, in spite of his shaking legs. He spit out a mouthful of blood and blinked a few times, until his sight finally returned. Wiping his mouth with his sleeve, he took a look around, analyzing the situation.
He was badly wounded, and Liu Wei had lost his sword. Things didn't look good for them. Their chances of winning… were pretty much nonexistent.
Left with no other option, Yu Qingyu made a sword seal, snatching his weapon out of Liu Wei's hands. The adrenaline was coursing through his veins, filling him with seemingly endless power, and previously unknown fearlessness.
Acting on instinct, Yu Qingyu was finally able to utilize the skills he inherited from Gu Huiji to a full extent. He sent the sword forward, controlling it with his own spiritual energy, and took out most of the demons in close proximity in no time at all.
But that wouldn't last long. The wounds on his back were bleeding profusely, and if he continued fighting, he would soon lose his consciousness and fall. Then, only a painful death awaited both him and Liu Wei.
So, taking advantage of a second of pause before the next wave of demons could get to them, Yu Qingyu jumped onto the blade, pulling Liu Wei together with him. With the man held securely in his embrace, he flew away as fast as he could, escaping from the rest of the demons surrounding them.
He flew over the clover forest, and all the way up the cliff, until he reached the labyrinth of black stones. Only then did he stop. As soon as he stepped down from the sword, he collapsed on the ground. With the adrenaline gone, he was no longer capable of moving around.
But he couldn't just stay lying down like that. So he forced himself to crawl over to a wall, and lifted himself to a seating position, leaning against the black rocks. His breathing was heavy and uneven. As he struggled to remain conscious, he scoured through his bag, looking for bandages.
Liu Wei sat on the ground nearby, observing Yu Qingyu with a dark frown. He watched as the man attempted to bandage his back with difficulty, the crease between his brows slowly deepening. Until he finally lost patience, clicked his tongue loudly, and got up.
It was just too frustrating to watch.
"Give it to me," he walked over to Yu Qingyu and snatched the bandages out of the man's hand. Then, he grabbed Yu Qingyu's sash and loosened it, proceeding to pull down the robes from the man's upper body. Liu Wei's actions were rash, completely disregarding whether it might cause Yu Qingyu pain.
Yu Qingyu couldn't help but hiss as the material soaked with blood got suddenly torn away from his wounded back. But he didn't voice any complaints, and bit hard on his lip to stop himself from making any more noise. It was good enough that Liu Wei was willing to treat him at all. Asking the man to be more delicate would be too much, Yu Qingyu wouldn't dare to do so.
Liu Wei grabbed one of the bottles filled with the transparent, scintillating liquid from the stream, and slowly poured it over the wounds to cleanse them, making Yu Qingyu wince from pain and bit on his lip even harder, until a few drops of blood trickled down his chin. Then, Liu Wei wrapped the bandages all over his shoulder and upper body, covering the wound and stopping the bleeding. It was a bit too tight, but Yu Qingyu wouldn't dare say a word. It was still incomparably better than if he was to do it on his own.
Once Yu Qingyu's wounds were fully dressed, Liu Wei sat down next to him, leaning against the wall, and took out some of the remaining rations from his bag. Not bothering to share with Yu Qingyu, he started eating a pancake and beef jerky.
Yu Qingyu followed his example, and reached for his own bag in search of food. He was able to find one last pancake, but absolutely no meat. With a quiet sigh, he resigned himself to chewing on it. It was dry and flavorless, but still pretty filling. Yu Qingyu couldn't afford to be picky, he needed energy to recover.
"Why did you do that?" Liu Wei asked out of a sudden.
Yu Qinyu swallowed the piece of pancake he had in his mouth, and stole a careful glance at his companion.
Liu Wei was looking at him with dark, cold eyes, the expression on his face completely unreadable. Yu Qingyu couldn't even begin to guess what was going on in his head.
"I…" Yu Qingyu started, but paused right afterwards. Why did he do that indeed? He didn't know it himself.
It made no sense for him to save Liu Wei. He could just leave him behind, and escape alone. It would actually be convenient for him if Liu Wei was to die. There would be no one to get in his way, and he could just continue his mission without having to watch his back… So why did he protect the man, risking his own life at that?