WBICDPH Chapter 52

Chapter 52 – Words Against the Heart

“I want the dog you’ve been carrying with you!”

The man’s words made Lin Jin’s heart jolt.

The dog?

He instinctively glanced at his collar—where Qiuqiu was tucked inside his clothes.

He wanted Qiuqiu?

Not the red coral bead that had cost over a thousand spirit stones and sparked such fierce bidding—but Qiuqiu instead? Qiuqiu was only a green-eyed hound. What could he possibly want with him?

In a flash, Lin Jin remembered the Heart-Painting Fiend he had encountered during his entrance trial.

Back then, the fiend had disguised itself as Shen Bing and claimed that the demonic disturbance in the trial realm came from the dog at Lin Jin’s side.

Later, Lin Jin had mysteriously fainted. When he woke up, the fiend was gone. Although the elders said they would investigate, he never heard the outcome. The matter seemed to have quietly disappeared.

He had assumed the fiend had been sent to capture him—but now, that motive seemed uncertain.

Had the fiend escaped or been killed?

If it escaped, why had there been no news since? If it died, who killed it? Qiuqiu? But Qiuqiu was only a dog everyone underestimated… could he really—

“What are you spacing out for?!” the demon cultivator suddenly snapped.

Lin Jin came back to himself and forced a dry laugh. “Fine. He’s just a worthless little puppy. If you want him, take him.”

He made a show of reaching into his clothes to retrieve Qiuqiu.

The demon cultivator looked satisfied—but instead of producing the dog, Lin Jin pulled out a highest-level distress signal firework from his storage ring.

As the firework shrieked into the sky and burst into red light, Lin Jin activated an eighth-tier wind talisman and dashed toward the city gates at full speed.

The red signal meant extreme danger—warning nearby disciples to evacuate and requesting immediate rescue from high-level cultivators.

If this demon was associated with the feared Twelve Guards, Lin Jin had no chance in a direct fight. Even combined with his friends, they wouldn’t stand a chance.

All he could do now was pray that someone saw his signal and came to help.

He didn’t dare look back. He just ran.

The city suddenly felt enormous, the gates impossibly far away.

Just as his talisman was about to burn out, a sharp sense of danger struck him. He slammed to a halt.

A deafening crash sounded. The ground ahead split open, and black thorny vines burst upward, twisting together into a towering wall that sealed off his path.

One thorn had nearly pierced his throat. Lin Jin staggered back, a chill running through him.

“Thought you were smart earlier,” the demon cultivator’s voice came from behind him. “Turns out you’re just another fool.”

Lin Jin took a deep breath and turned around.

“Still going to struggle?” the man sneered. “You’re nothing to me.”

“I refuse,” Lin Jin said, summoning his brush. “He’s my bonded companion. As long as I live, I won’t betray him.”

He knew he was outmatched, but he would hold on as long as possible—until help arrived.

He activated a protective artifact, then quickly formed a defensive formation using talismans arranged around him.

Wind howled, lanterns shattered, and sparks scattered through the night.

The demon cultivator attacked with brute force, striking the barrier again and again. Cracks spread across the formation.

Lin Jin gritted his teeth, struggling to maintain it. Under the immense pressure, he dropped to one knee, hands trembling.

Just as he prepared to take another desperate risk, a small furry head popped out from his collar.

Qiuqiu wriggled free and jumped onto the ground.

“Don’t go!” Lin Jin called out urgently. “Just hold on a little longer—help will come!”

But the little dog kept moving forward.

Seeing him step out of the formation, the demon cultivator stopped attacking and watched with a faint smile.

Black thorns rose from the ground, forming a small cage around Qiuqiu. The man lifted the cage, trapping him inside.

Lin Jin collapsed the formation and rushed forward, but the demon cultivator ignored him.

Inside the cage, Qiuqiu glanced back once.

Lin Jin’s hair was messy, his clothes torn, his face smudged with dust.

The dog’s eyes flickered slightly.

…Humans, he thought silently.

So troublesome.