Qiu Yunru watched as Guo Mei collapsed to the ground in tears. It was a sight too painful to watch: like a child wilting at their parent's grave, she wailed and melted into a puddle.
Meanwhile, a smile flashed across Li Guiren's face. Qiu Yunru was enraged. What a bastard! Even if this was a drama he had been watching in his past life, he would want to cut this guy's dick off. Killing a woman and then bullying her daughter into insanity, what kind of person could do this and still smile?!
Li Guiren kneeled down by Guo Mei's trembling form. He reached out an arm and patted her shoulder as though comforting her, an apologetic smile on his lips.
"Guo Mei is distressed. Don't worry; though your mother has passed on, she has left this sect leader with the duty to care for you. Would I abandon the daughter of my beloved?"
Qiu Yunru gagged within the willow tree. He was going to be sick! Come on, Guo Mei, don't let him do this to you!
On the ground, Guo Mei had gone very still. She had stopped sobbing, though her face and clothes were stained with tears. Her eyes were swollen, and her expression was completely blank. Slowly, she looked up at Li Guiren. She seemed to have no thoughts behind her eyes. Had Li Guiren had really gotten her mind?
Suddenly, she scooped her sword from the ground and stabbed out wildly.
Qiu Yunru gasped in elation, hand over his chest. Yes! Yes! Go, Mei-shijie! Stab this bastard! Get a hit!
Unfortunately, there had been no chance from the beginning. In the next moment, there was the sound of sword piercing through flesh. It wasn't Guo Mei's sword that had met its mark, but Li Guiren's. Pierced straight through the heart, Guo Mei's teary eyes went wide. She choked out a mouthful of blood.
Li Guiren's face was terrifying. For a moment, his smile had vanished when she had lashed out, revealing a brief expression of fury. But now it had returned. There was not a single wrinkle out of place on his smooth and handsome face as he lifted his sword up with this girl's body hanging on it, until her feet were dangling in the air.
Guo Mei gasped raggedly, choking on her own blood as it dripped down her chin. Li Guiren only laughed softly. Qiu Yunru turned his eyes away, feeling suddenly sick.
"Stupid girl," Li Guiren cooed. "As reckless as your mother. Too bad; you could have become something by my side. Tch."
With that, he flicked his sword to the side like both it and her body weighed nothing, sending her flying through the air. Guo Mei tumbled to the shore of the Sword Lake. She was still alive, but barely. Tears streamed from her bloodshot eyes while blood streamed from her wounds, mixing together in the dirt. Her eyes shone in the moonlight with despair.
Li Guiren stalked towards her dying body. He nudged her with his brocade shoe, then grimaced. "So dirty. Why have you made such a mess?" Qiu Yunru could taste acid at these words. He held a weeping branch tightly.
"What is going on here?"
A sudden cold, familiar voice pierced through the night. It was Fu Qiuyue. She emerged from the shadows, looking harried. Her eyes were wide with panic, but her hand was set on the hilt of her sword. "I said: What is going on here?"
Li Guiren turned around and tilted his head with a smile. He sighed, seeming exasperated. "How unfortunate."
Fu Qiuyue's hands shook. She rushed forward and kneeled by Guo Mei's near-dead body, her face white as a ghost's. "Mei...shimei...?"
Guo Mei's head went limp in her arms. Fu Qiuyue's sleeves were stained red with blood. She looked up at Li Guiren, her whole body shaking. She did not let go of Guo Mei's body, clutching it tight to her chest and heaving with wild eyes. Her voice trembled: "Sect Leader Li...did you do this?"
In response, Li Guiren tilted his head again, almost apologetically. He sighed with a soft smile. "I'm afraid so. How unfortunate for you to turn up at such a time. I've grown careless."
Fu Qiuyue bent over Guo Mei's body, tears beginning to fall.
"How could you...Why...? I have to get Shizun. Shizun can fix this. Fan Yao Peak can fix this. I have to get him."
Ignoring Li Guiren in her panicked stupor, Fu Qiuyue lifted Guo Mei's limp form with some difficulty and struggled to her feet. She began to run off towards where He Yongliang's quarters were. Li Guiren sighed behind her.
"Stupid girl. Why don't you rush for revenge before trying to save a life that's already gone? Grief is truly amazing."
With a flick of his wrist, he sent a sword glare flying towards Fu Qiuyue. She crumpled over, crimson blood blooming from a wound in her back. Guo Mei spilled out of her arms and onto the ground, and Fu Qiuyue cried out, trying to reach for her even as her uniform stained red.
This seemed to bother Li Guiren. His smile curled into a sneer of distaste, and he stalked up behind Fu Qiuyue and kicked her harshly in the side, causing her to yelp in pain. "Stupid girl. What are you doing? She's dead. Why don't you let go?"
Fu Qiuyue sobbed on the ground. Blood trickled from her lips now, but she managed to speak: "I don't understand...Shizun loves you so much...I can't fight you, so I have to save her...Fan Yao Peak can even bring back the dead if they try...Please, let me go...How could my shimei deserve this...? Please..."
Qiu Yunru was beginning to feel a crawling all over his skin. He wanted to leave. He really shouldn't be hearing any of this. Desperation was a private thing only reserved for the most dire situations. Why should he get to see Guo Mei and Fu Qiuyue at their most desperate, pitiful moments? If he had been merely playing the game on a computer, he could watch with tears and curse Li Guiren. But it all felt too real now...
Still, he couldn't leave. Memory shards did not allow one to exit on the first viewing until the complete memory was viewed. Qiu Yunru continued to watch, sick to his stomach.
Li Guiren seemed to really hate Fu Qiuyue for her words. He kicked her once, and then again, until her wound split open and she lay in a puddle of her own blood, gasping and sobbing. After letting out some steam like this, Li Guiren seemed to recover. He fixed his hair pin and sheathed his sword, a smile returning to his lips.
"Why waste my time on such useless filth? Tonight I am rid of another nuisance. Rot together if that's what you desire." Li Guiren suddenly seemed to get a cruel idea. His eyes flashed. He dragged Fu Qiuyue's body away from Guo Mei. Fu Qiuyue sobbed, the sounds growing weaker and weaker as blood spilled from her lips. Li Guiren laid her by the edge of the Sword Lake, leering over her mockingly. "Since you care so much, I'll throw you into the lake and scatter her ashes by the shore. If you both become vengeful ghosts, you can spend a thousand lifetimes searching for each other. How about that?"
Fu Qiuyue's eyes widened, but she could no longer speak. All that came from her mouth was a gush of blood. Li Guiren's face twisted in disgust. With that, he kicked her into the water. There was a quiet splash and a ripple, and then the lake was pristine once more, as though nothing had happened at all.