Chapter 98
Shoutout to nyanmaru for the commission!
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In the struggle, Xuan Jinghe’s only thought was: Who is this person?!
The increasingly approaching strange sounds from the mountains and forests were all cut off by the lake water. Xuan Jinghe continued to sink, exerting all his strength to break free. However, no matter how hard he tried, the arm crossing his waist remained unmoved, like a shackle forged from steel.
The remaining air in his throat was gradually slipping away. No matter how strong Xuan Jinghe’s cultivation was, it was impossible for him to hold his breath underwater for more than a quarter of an hour. Finally, at this moment, his breath ran out, and he violently choked out the last bit of air from his lungs!
The person behind him loosened the hand covering his mouth and forcefully lifted his cold chin.
Immediately, warm lips covered his.
As air flowed into his throat, Xuan Jinghe seemed to have lost consciousness. His long hair and robe sleeves floated in the water, like a lotus blossoming slowly at the bottom of the lake.
The human form was truly the most unreliable. Despite being as hard-hearted as iron, his appearance was graceful and gentle, with soft and cool lips.
“Just like this…”
The man murmured teasingly, then he gazed at Xuan Jinghe’s unconscious profile for a moment. The hint of mockery in his heart turned into an inexplicable sentiment, and he couldn’t help but lower his head again to kiss him.
—Just then.
The Buqi Sword silently pierced through the man’s abdomen, and faint golden blood spread out underwater!
“!”
The man quickly retreated, and Xuan Jinghe instantly broke free from his restraints. He raised his head, revealing his cold brows and eyes!
The back of Iron Sect Master’s hand holding the sword bulged with blue veins, and the sword’s blade surged forth. The sharp sword light even cut through the water in an instant, illuminating the dark lake ahead. However, the fleeting light failed to reveal anything.
Where was the person?
How could someone who had been pierced through the abdomen by a sword still escape so quickly?!
Suddenly, Xuan Jinghe caught a glimpse of a strong and unfamiliar aura rapidly approaching from the side—here they come again!
The Buqi Sword struck out like a lightning bolt, but this time, the newcomer was faster than him. While dodging the blade, a palm from behind grabbed his throat with such force that Xuan Jinghe could clearly hear his own Adam’s apple clicking!
“Iron Sect Master,” the lazy male voice still carried a smile, but each word sounded so sinister it sent chills down one’s spine, “You can’t escape.”
Then, Xuan Jinghe felt a sudden pain in his ear, as the sharp canine teeth of the other party mercilessly pierced through!
Blood immediately gushed out, and Xuan Jinghe’s pupils contracted. He retaliated with a spell in an instant—but the moment he struck, he knew it was already too late.
The teeth released his ear, and the other party’s elusive aura disappeared with the water, leaving only a hoarse and fleeting laugh, then vanished without a trace.
Xuan Jinghe tightly covered his bleeding ear with one hand, his fingertips trembling uncontrollably. His face was as cold as ice, and he quickly surfaced with a splash.
The demonesses had disappeared, and not a single lascivious illusion remained, one after another.
Xuan Jinghe gasped heavily, wet strands of hair falling from his pale cheeks as he loosened his grip, only to find his palm covered in blood.
Who exactly was the one who set up the formation?
Why did they possess such terrifyingly powerful strength, able to overwhelm him in an instant?
Xuan Jinghe barely suppressed his breath, about to swim ashore when suddenly he paused, as if sensing something amiss, slowly raising his eyes to look around.
In the mountains and forests where there was clearly no wind during the day, there was now a pervasive sound of wind everywhere. The long and short whistles seemed to be getting closer, causing the trees by the lake to sway more and more vigorously.
However, the moonlight clearly illuminated the treetops from above, and there was hardly any rustling, almost as if they were still.
Xuan Jinghe’s gaze gradually moved towards the trees, finally understanding why the man had told him not to make a sound underwater—
A stooped figure emerged first from the bushes, moonlight casting a shadow over his bowed back, his dark and blackened skin, numerous rotten wounds all over his body, and constantly emitting sharp, leaking mouths of blood.
Then, more similar figures emerged from the bushes, in groups of three or five, growing in number, surrounding the entire lake from all directions, densely packed with mouths full of sharp teeth exposed in every rotten mouth.
They used to be villagers, some still wearing ragged clothes, but they could no longer be called “people” now, but rather a kind of monster between the living and the dead. The rotten chests emitted a continuous leaky sound, distant and eerie, sounding like the wind blowing whistles through the mountains and forests from afar—
It turned out that there was no wind in the mountains after nightfall.
The “sound of wind” all over the mountains and forests was because they were approaching!
Xuan Jinghe tightly gripped the handle of the Buqi Sword, involuntarily taking a half step back in the water, and in an instant, all the villagers’ murky eyes turned towards him.
The pupils of these living dead had long since dispersed, and they were all full of rotten sclera. Immediately, they emitted even sharper howls one after another, rushing into the lake, splashing water as they surged towards him!
Xuan Jinghe shouted, “Buqi!”
With a clang of snow-white light, Xuan Jinghe soared up on his sword the next moment, barely avoiding the living dead lurking underwater.
But this was not the end. The “villagers” all over the lake were like a boiling pot of dumplings, even reaching out their claws to grab at Xuan Jinghe’s clothes; looking down from above, the dense forest was full of such strange figures surging, dim moonlight illuminating their dark and blackened bodies, numbering in the thousands.
They were actually a tide of living dead all over the mountains!
***
Meanwhile, in the backyard of the hunter’s house.
A fire burned inside the house, crackling softly. The wind in the deep mountains in the distance grew stronger, and through the broken window seams came a long, sharp wail.
“Daoist Xuan has been following Lord Iron Sect Master for many years, hasn’t he?” Qu Xie threw half a stick of firewood into the fire and asked with a smile.
He had been sitting quietly in the corner, neither speaking nor moving, as if his soul had long flown away, leaving only an ignorant and unconscious body lying there. But now, he suddenly opened his eyes and spoke.
Xuancheng cautiously huddled in the farthest corner of the house, and squeezed out two words in response, “Yes.”
“Does Lord Iron Sect Master have any favored Dao companions? What does he usually like to do?”
“Well…” Xuancheng suddenly realized, “Why are you asking about this?”
“Just passing the time, having a chat,” Qu Xie replied.
Xuancheng said cautiously, “It seems that there isn’t much to talk about between me and Young Master Qu.”
Qu Xie shrugged, “I see Lord Iron Sect Master as someone who is very serious and doesn’t like physical contact with others.”
Xuancheng said coldly, “Not only that, Lord Iron Sect Master also dislikes frivolous behavior and won’t pay attention to those who have ulterior motives!”
“….”
The flickering flames illuminated half of Qu Xie’s face, while the other half was shrouded in shadow. He seemed to be smiling, but there was a strange expression in his eyes. After a moment, he casually uttered the words, “Is that so?”
Then, he paused for a moment, and continued to ask without any concern, “Does Lord Iron Sect Master have any favorite foods? What scents does he prefer? What style of clothes does he like to wear? Are there any other daily habits that I should know about but don’t?”
His probing was so blatant that it made Xuancheng feel suspicious. “Why do you want to know so much? Could it be…?”
“I’ll go prepare, to avoid future neglect,” Qu Xie said with a smile, “After all, in the future, he will be locked in the underworld all year round. When you think about it carefully, it’s quite pitiful.”
Xuancheng suddenly stood up, greatly alarmed by this, “What nonsense are you talking about! You—”
The door behind him was slightly ajar, and at this moment, there was suddenly a shuffling sound of footsteps from outside.
Xuancheng’s first reaction was that the old lady had come and he had to scold Qu Xie again, but he had to temporarily shut his mouth. Turning around to open the door, as soon as his hand touched the latch, he heard a voice from behind him:
“If I were you, I wouldn’t do that.”
“What did you say?”
Qu Xie was sitting cross-legged in front of the fire pit, the leaping flames making his figure look ethereal, with only a hint of red cold light flashing in his eyes, his lips revealing a row of white teeth.
The smile was too wide, extremely discordant on the handsome face of the youth, with a kind of eerie atmosphere:
“If I were you, I wouldn’t open the door.”
A chill mixed with fear surged to the top of Xuancheng’s head, and he exclaimed, “Shut up!!”
Bang! Bang!
Mechanical knocking sounded at this moment, and Xuancheng opened the door, only to come face to face with a dark face outside!
“…” Xuancheng subconsciously stepped back, “What… what is this…”
This scene was enough to make anyone doubt their eyesight, as the ragged, decaying unfamiliar “villagers” stared at him intently, suddenly opening their mouths to bite!
“—-What the h*ll!”
Xuancheng exclaimed, subconsciously trying to block, but was fiercely bitten on the wrist by the other party. The intense pain and fear made him explode with great force, pushing the “villager” flying out, crashing heavily to the ground, splitting into two!
The ground was covered in internal organs and dripping blood, but before Xuancheng could be shocked that he had killed someone, he saw the courtyard door collapse with a clang, and then more “villagers” rushed in one after another.
These people were all physically impaired, breathing out long echoes in their chests, dragging their heavy footsteps towards him; and then, the body that had been split in half on the ground suddenly moved, supporting its upper body with both hands, lifting its head to reveal its murky yellow-white eyes, crawling straight towards him!
“Get away… get away!!” Xuancheng trembled, drawing his sword with a clang, “Whoever you are, stop!!”
Before the last word fell, seven or eight living dead pounced on him simultaneously.
Xuancheng no longer cared about violating the precepts against killing, extreme fear making him swing his sword, but there were too many living dead, coming forward like a tide towards Xuancheng, not knowing how to dodge or fear injury, even those limbs that were knocked to the ground were still struggling. In the chaos, Xuancheng’s legs were scratched bloody, and even a severed head that had fallen to the ground bit his ankle in the confusion!
“—–Ah!”
Xuancheng screamed in pain, kicking the head away, using all his strength to push away countless dry hands, and forcefully rose with his sword!
With a loud bang, the shaking roof was pierced by him, collapsing half of it.
But the many living dead did not give up, climbing up amidst the falling debris, reaching out their hands to grab him, and the moonlight clearly illuminated countless cracked bloodthirsty mouths.
Xuancheng’s blood ran cold, and just as he looked up, a familiar powerful spiritual pressure came from afar. He looked up and saw a figure in white robes flying on a sword from a distance, it was Xuan Jinghe!
“Lord Iron Sect Master!”
Xuancheng blurted out, then suddenly woke up as if from a dream, suddenly remembering what he had forgotten—Qu Xie was left behind in the collapsed house beneath him!
He instinctively realized that something was wrong with Qu Xie, but at this critical moment, there was no time to think carefully. If he saw death and didn’t save him in front of Xuan Jinghe, he would definitely be expelled from the sect afterwards. So he had to plunge down, slashing down the living dead swarming around, shouting, “Young Master Qu!”
There was no answer from behind him.
Had he been bitten to death?
In an instant, Xuancheng’s heart was filled with a mixture of guilt and relief, and then he turned his head, only to stiffen.
The house was crowded with living dead, and the floor was covered in rotten blood and limbs. In this scene of purgatory, Qu Xie was sitting cross-legged in the only clean space, holding a wine cup in his left hand resting on his knee, supporting his beautiful chin with his right hand, looking quite interestingly at him.
“….You….how could you…”
Qu Xie didn’t answer, snapping his fingers with his right hand—snap!
As if a command had been issued, several undead beings rose from the ruins with a clatter, their limbs bending in the opposite direction, swaying towards Xuancheng!
“…It’s… it’s you…” Xuancheng trembled, taking a half step back. Suddenly, everything became clear to him. “It’s you, the evil spirit in these mountains, it’s all because of you! You… what are you?!”
Qu Xie laughed.
“You… you’re not human,” Xuancheng’s eyes widened in horror. “What exactly are you?!”
“After you die, your soul will come to the Underworld, which is my domain.”
Qu Xie took a sip of wine, smiling leisurely. “I am a god of the Celestial Realm, what you mortals usually call… the Ghost Crown Prince.”
“The… the Ghost Crown Prince…”
Xuancheng shook his head in disbelief, then suddenly turned and ran outside, screaming desperately, “Lord Iron Sect Master, run! He’s—”
Qu Xie raised his right hand and clenched his fingers.
The next moment, Xuancheng felt a sudden tightening in his heart, his vision darkened, and his knees gave way as he collapsed to the ground with a heavy thud!
Just before losing consciousness, he caught a glimpse of Qu Xie casually pouring the remaining wine from his cup into the fire, then standing up calmly. In the flickering firelight, his silhouette seemed calm and composed, like a devilishly handsome demon.
Immediately after, the Buqi Sword, a world-shaking sword light, struck!
The sword arc swept up a fan-shaped hurricane on the ground, clearing away a large number of undead beings outside the house, leaving a clear space. Xuancheng landed and sheathed his sword, stepping forward. At a glance, he saw his disciple lying on the ground, lifeless. “Xuancheng?!”
“Lord Iron Sect Master!” Qu Xie, both shocked and delighted, hurriedly approached, then turned anxious and uneasy. “These villagers suddenly rushed in, and Senior Daoist Xuan… to protect me…”
Between these sentences, the sound of wind outside the courtyard continued one after another, as the horde of living dead from the lakeside followed Xuan Jinghe’s aura and chased after him!
Xuan Jinghe was soaked in lake water, his cheeks with a cold glow like white porcelain, his wet black hair tied haphazardly behind his head. With one hand holding the sword and the other supporting the unconscious Xuancheng, he interrupted Qu Xie sharply, “Follow me.”
“Where is Lord Iron Sect Master going?”
“We can’t stay here, take the old lady and go to Guicheng.”
The night was dark with layers of black clouds, and the dim moonlight reflected the scene of mountains of corpses and seas of blood. Xuan Jinghe swept away the living dead who kept coming, but before he could reach the main house, he saw the back door of the main house being forcefully pushed open, and the old lady screamed as she fell out, with several living corpses crazily tearing and biting at her, rolling on the bloodstained ground.
Xuan Jinghe had never witnessed such a bloody scene of cannibalism. Seeing the flesh and blood scattered on the ground, even the strongest heart couldn’t help but change color, as he sent those several living dead flying with one palm. But the old lady’s intestines were already exposed, her lips twitched a few times, and a large mouthful of blood gushed out suddenly, indicating she was beyond saving.
“…”
Xuan Jinghe stood still, his hand holding the sword trembling slightly.
“It’s okay, Lord Iron Sect Master.” Qu Xie reached out from behind and held his cold and tense wrist, speaking gently, “It’s not your fault.”
Xuan Jinghe dryly opened his mouth, but at this moment, he felt Xuancheng’s body suddenly convulse, and then he vomited a large mouthful of blood.
“Xuancheng?”
Xuan Jinghe immediately called out several times, but received no response. Instead, he saw Xuancheng’s body twitching more and more violently, to the point where even he could barely support him with one hand. Seeing this, Qu Xie hurriedly came forward to help, shocked, “Daoist Xuan was just bitten once, how could it turn out like this?”
Xuan Jinghe knew this was not good. Seeing the surrounding living dead gradually gathering, he made a decisive decision, pressing down on Qu Xie’s shoulder, pushing him into the woodshed behind him, then swiftly entering himself, closing the thick wooden door tightly and bracing it with the latch. He waved his hand to ignite a pile of firewood with spiritual power, then carefully and quickly laid Xuancheng flat on the ground.
“Cough, cough!”
Unconscious Xuancheng coughed up black blood, his upper body arching up from the ground in an extremely strange posture, as if he was about to spring up from the ground.
Xuan Jinghe didn’t care about the increasingly loud banging on the door outside the shed, quickly checked Xuancheng’s body for wounds, then forcibly infused a pure stream of spiritual power into his dantian. His face was as cold as solid ice, “He really was just bitten once?”
Qu Xie looked extremely frightened, “Y-yes, how could this…”
At this moment, there was a muffled knocking sound from the corner of the shed. Both of them turned their heads to see the coffin from earlier!
This shed was where the coffin had been placed just now, and at this moment, the thin coffin lid was constantly shaking with each knock, with wood chips and dust falling down as if whatever was inside was about to break free.
Qu Xie gasped for cold air, seeming to be terrified, and covered his mouth.
—Boom!
With a loud bang, the coffin lid was lifted by a living corpse, the hunter who had been dead during the day sat up straight, his chest heaving and emitting a sharp scream. With his rotten mouth wide open, he crawled towards Xuan Jinghe!
—How could this happen?
He was clearly a corpse during the day, but resurrected at night?!
Various strange phenomena flashed through his mind, all the clues connecting together. Xuan Jinghe suddenly realized the most fatal key.
But there was no time to think about it now. He chopped the hunter’s body diagonally in half with one sword strike, the sound of two heavy crashes resounding as the two halves fell to the ground. Even the half of the body with the head still attached struggled to crawl forward, only to be pierced through the skull by a sword, splattering the ground with rotten blood, before finally falling to the ground motionless.
“… People who are bitten to death are corpses during the day, but wake up at night.”
Xuan Jinghe breathed heavily, holding the blood-stained Buqi Sword, each word squeezed out from his dry throat, “They lurk in these mountains during the day and come out to roam for food at night. Anyone who makes noise becomes their target… That’s why even though the old lady is insane, he instinctively remembers to sleep, so he won’t be found by these wandering dead when she’s asleep.”
“It’s our fault,” Xuan Jinghe hoarsely said, “It’s us who came knocking at his door seeking shelter, leading these dead here.”
Outside, there were all sorts of long and short screams, as if cold winds were surrounding the woodshed from all directions.
“…Lord Iron Sect Master,” came the trembling voice of Qu Xie from behind at this moment.
Xuan Jinghe turned around.
He saw Xuancheng standing up from the ground at some point, his face dark and lifeless, his eyes dull and fixed on Xuan Jinghe’s neck.
Then he let out a piercing scream from his throat, like a beast howling, and lunged straight at Xuan Jinghe!
Xuan Jinghe blocked Xuancheng with a sword, forcing him to stay away, and closed his eyes tightly.
The fresh blood and flesh so close made Xuancheng go mad, desperately clawing forward. The black fingertips, already turning black, were less than two inches away from Xuan Jinghe’s throat several times. Qu Xie immediately exclaimed, “Lord Iron Sect Master!”
“…”
Qu Xie’s mind raced, ready to throw himself recklessly to save him, “Be careful!”
But then he was stopped by Xuan Jinghe raising his hand.
Lord Iron Sect Master tightly gripped the sword hilt, the veins on his slender backhand bulging, trembling incessantly. Reflected in his pupils was Xuancheng’s face, twisted in rage, but his gaze seemed to penetrate through this face, seeing the shy and familiar figure of his former sect disciple.
“Roar!”
Xuancheng’s fresh corpse mutated, his chest and trachea not yet decayed, still emitting greedy roars, struggling to lunge at Xuan Jinghe’s neck again—but at this critical moment, Xuan Jinghe withdrew his hand, sheathing the Buqi Sword.
Qu Xie’s eyelids twitched, “Lord Iron Sect Master?”
In the nick of time, just as Xuancheng pounced forward, Xuan Jinghe used the scabbard to heavily strike him away, smashing the wooden door of the woodshed with a loud crash!
Half of the wall collapsed, and Xuancheng fell into the ruins of bricks and tiles. The living dead, who had been constantly knocking on the door outside, immediately swarmed in, crowding the woodshed to the brim!
Xuan Jinghe pressed Qu Xie’s shoulder, soaring into the sky with his sword, “Let’s go!”
The two of them flew together on the sword, rising high into the air. At this moment, a faint white moonlight leaked through the dark clouds, illuminating the surging tide of living dead below. Looking down from above, it was like a swarm of locusts, overwhelming the small courtyard.
Qu Xie shouted loudly against the wind, “Where are we going now?”
Xuan Jinghe stood behind him, pressing his shoulder with one hand, his five fingers gripping tightly.
“Lord Iron Sect Master?”
“…” Xuan Jinghe’s slightly hoarse voice finally sounded, as if enduring some kind of pain, he said briefly, “Follow me.”
The Buqi Sword cut through the night sky, finally leaving behind the roaring of the countless living dead. After a while, they abruptly descended sharply, crashing onto a high cliff with a thud.
Xuan Jinghe’s spiritual power was on the verge of depletion, staggering a few steps and standing at the edge of the cliff, he clutched his neck with one hand, retching several times before barely suppressing the black blood rising to his throat.
Qu Xie hurried forward, “What’s going on?”
“…”
Xuan Jinghe didn’t answer, taking a deep breath and standing up.
His pale face was as frosty as snow, but his expression was calm and composed. He glanced sideways at Qu Xie, his eyes flashing with a faint cold light.
—Is it him?
The person who set up the formation in the lake was obviously a few years older than Qu Xie, but Xuan Jinghe knew that if it was a true expert in the evil path, age, appearance, and figure could all be disguised. Only details such as voice, expression, and movements were difficult to fake.
Who was that person?
“Lord Iron Sect Master?” At this moment, Qu Xie suddenly noticed something, reaching out in shock, “Your ear, why is it injured?”
Xuan Jinghe raised his hand to stop him, “It’s nothing.”
Seemingly unaware, Qu Xie was full of nervousness, “Who hurt you? When were you hurt? Could it be those… those living dead? What should we do? Shouldn’t we immediately set off to Guicheng to find a doctor? Now both our lives are hanging by a thread on you alone, you must not—”
His words halted, as Xuan Jinghe pressed his temple with two fingers, swiftly probing his spiritual sea.
—There was indeed nothing.
No golden core, no spiritual power, and the cultivation base that was barely at Foundation Establishment stage was almost negligible.
It couldn’t be him.
But as Xuan Jinghe gazed at the worried face of the young man before him, a sharp needle-like intuition pierced through his mind, as if some extreme danger was quietly approaching; however, at this moment, he was already at his weakest, with no energy to discern that seemingly absurd intuition.
Qu Xie held his hand, his voice low and gentle, “Lord Iron Sect Master.”
Those words were like an endless spider web, light and dense, covering from all directions, binding one’s senses and consciousness tightly.
Xuan Jinghe, supporting himself with one hand on the sword hilt, slowly knelt down, and Qu Xie followed suit, leaning beside him. His voice was soft as if it could lull someone into a dream at any moment, “Let me take you to a safe place, Lord Iron Sect Master. The deep mountains are cold at night, full of dangers everywhere. I’ll take you to a warm and safe palace…”
“Cough! Cough—”
Xuan Jinghe could no longer suppress his spiritual power, abruptly coughing up a mouthful of dripping black blood!
Qu Xie stopped talking abruptly, only to see Xuan Jinghe being jolted awake by the intense pain, suddenly pulling his hand away. In an instant, his sleeve flipped over, revealing four black claw marks on the inside of his left wrist!
Qu Xie’s face, which had always been lively and expressive, finally changed.
“…When did this happen?” he uttered after a while.
“Encountered a group of living dead by the lake, accidentally attacked while checking,” Xuan Jinghe stopped his panting, hoarsely exhaling, “Never seen anything like this before, impossible to guard against.”
Not to mention him, even the senior masters in the Immortal Alliance who had cultivated for hundreds of years had never seen such a large-scale and aggressive living dead. It was simply unheard of, unseen, and even if gods were to encounter it, they would be affected.
Xuan Jinghe leaned back against a tree, pulling out a short dagger from his waist and tossing it over without looking back, “Take this.”
Qu Xie caught it, his expression slightly darkened.
“The key to turning these people into living dead is not dark magic, but the corrupt blood. When living dead scratch or bite people, they will inject their corrupt blood into the human body, instantly turning living people into creatures craving flesh and blood; unfortunately, I only realized this after witnessing Xuancheng’s transformation, but it was already too late.”
“I used all my spiritual power to suppress the poisonous blood at the wound on my arm, but once my spiritual power is depleted, the poison will spread throughout my body, and I will become a monster like Xuancheng.”
Qu Xie’s gaze fell on Xuan Jinghe’s arm, indeed, the black and blue color below the elbow was slowly fading away, gathering towards the small area of skin where the claw marks were.
That was the reverse flow of corrupt blood, slowly being forcibly suppressed at the right wrist.
“If I become like that,” Xuan Jinghe tapped his temple with his fingers, “you use this dagger to pierce through my skull and kill me completely.”
The night was silent, and in the distance, one or two faint howls could be heard from the valley, where solitary living dead roamed.
Qu Xie sat beside Xuan Jinghe, watching his pale and calm profile in the night air, as well as his finely-curved eyelashes that were slightly lowered, comforting him softly, “Why must it come to this?”
Xuan Jinghe remained silent for a moment before saying, “Shouldn’t have let you board the ship.”
If he hadn’t let this young man board the ship from the beginning, then he wouldn’t have followed him to Guicheng, wouldn’t have experienced a terrifying night, and wouldn’t have been trapped on this cliff. Perhaps he would still be the rich young master enjoying the fireworks, a libertine, but at least he would have saved his life.
Qu Xie placed his palm on Xuan Jinghe’s cold hand, sincerely saying, “As long as the corrupt blood can be forced out of your body, you may not necessarily turn into a living dead. Moreover, there are countless people in this world who admire Lord Iron Sect Master, countless people who are willing to live and die with you. For me, it’s even more desirable…”
Xuan Jinghe chuckled briefly.
This was the first time Qu Xie had seen him smile. Although it was somewhat self-deprecating, he was indeed too handsome, making Qu Xie’s words suddenly stop.
“Do you have siblings?” Xuan Jinghe asked.
Qu Xie fell silent for a moment before saying, “I have a younger brother, much younger than me.”
Xuan Jinghe nodded, “That’s good, there’s no risk of extinction.”
“…He has been mentally underdeveloped since childhood, weak and disabled, and even shows signs of dementia.”
Xuan Jinghe said, “Childhood delayed intelligence is common, there’s no need to worry.”
The Ghost Crown Prince’s feelings about such comfort were complex. He hesitated for a moment, then changed the subject as if nothing had happened, “Does Lord Iron Sect Master have siblings?”
“No.”
“Have you ever had dao companions?”
“Also no.”
Qu Xie raised an eyebrow slightly, “Oh, why not?”
Xuan Jinghe said faintly, “I was born with a bad fate, estranged from my parents, siblings, and wife, afflicted by conflicts with relatives and difficulties in marriage. So I was raised by my sect since childhood, and after succeeding as Iron Sect Master, I decided not to accept any inner disciples, thinking that this life would be clean and clear enough, but I didn’t expect named disciples like Xuancheng and Xuanzheng to ultimately not escape calamity.”
To be afflicted by conflicts with relatives and difficulties in marriage, this clearly indicates the curse of a solitary fate, the eight characters are incredibly strong, even Qu Xie was surprised.
“Before coming to Guicheng, I heard about the demonic beasts, so I asked a named disciple named Xuanzheng to come and investigate…” Xuan Jinghe took a deep breath, his voice light and hoarse, “I just saw him among the group of living dead by the lake.”
Qu Xie suddenly realized, his gaze falling on the four grim claw marks on Xuan Jinghe’s right wrist, understanding the cause and effect.
The howling wind approached from afar, and several living dead came after hearing the sound, but they couldn’t climb the steep cliffs and could only futilely attempt to do so beneath the high cliffs, wandering aimlessly with staggering steps.
“The living dead should have an important habit, which is that they are no different from normal dead people during the day, only waking up and starting to hunt for food at night. So the male corpse we saw at the hunter’s house was wrapped up by his mother and placed in a coffin, no different from a normal corpse during the day, only breaking out of the coffin at night. We went deep into the mountains during the day without disturbing any living dead, which also indirectly confirms this conjecture.”
Xuan Jinghe’s tone was calm and composed, looking at the dark night sky, “It should have passed the time of the Ox, and the day will break in two more hours. The living dead do not rise during the day, so you alone are enough to pass through the valley back to the ferry crossing, and it will only take half a day by boat to reach Yangzhou. Upon arrival, immediately report to the local sects stationed there, let them send out a large number of people to cleanse all the nearby hills, including Guicheng.” Qu Xie held his wrist tightly, “Lord Iron Sect Master…”
“If you can make it back alive, use the Buqi Sword as proof to tell the Immortal Alliance that you are my only disciple before my death.” Xuan Jinghe paused, then said, “But there is one thing you must remember.”
“…What is it?”
Xuan Jinghe turned to Qu Xie, his eyes bright like cold stars, with slender and long eyelashes; someone with such a face seemed to be born cold-hearted, without a trace of emotion towards anyone.
“The road ahead is uncertain, and people’s hearts are inscrutable. After you leave, don’t tell anyone in the Immortal Alliance that you killed me.”
“The deeper this secret is buried, the steadier you will walk in this life.”
***
In the distant mountains, the wind rustled, carrying the cold blood scent, brushing past the Ghost Crown Prince’s magnificent black brocade sleeves, whistling away into the sky.
Xuan Jinghe’s body temperature was already very high. Earlier, his consciousness was still relatively clear, able to exchange a few words with Qu Xie, but as his spiritual power was rapidly consumed and the intense pain in his arm, his consciousness disappeared for a while, closing his eyes drowsily.
Qu Xie sat beside him, supporting his chin and looking at him, feeling an indescribable emotion surging in his heart, mixed with curiosity, exploration, and excitement, slowly fermenting into an indescribable thrill.
“I don’t know if I can walk steadily in this life… meeting me, your life is destined to be very unstable.”
After murmuring to himself with a smile, he reached out to Xuan Jinghe, suddenly seeming to moved a wound, sucked in a breath of cold air, and opened his robe to take a look inside.
There was a sword wound on the sturdy abdomen of the young man, which had already turned into a dark red color. Without looking, he knew that there was another similar wound in the lower back, because when they were in the lake, he was pierced through the whole body by the Buqi Sword.
“Tsk.” Qu Xie shook his head, pulling Xuan Jinghe into his arms, holding his chin from behind, and teasingly said in a soft voice, “I’ll let you experience the same pain personally later.”
Xuan Jinghe breathed rapidly and painfully, the black corrupt blood on his right wrist was no longer restrained, gradually spreading towards his elbow, and was about to poison his whole body. Qu Xie embraced him intimately with one hand, while the other hand played with his earlobe, touching the wound that pierced through the cartilage of his ear, a mark left when he was pierced by his canine teeth in the lake.
After Xuan Jinghe’s profile was soaked with cold sweat, it took on a cold and pale hue, but his sideburns appeared particularly black because of it. Qu Xie played with it for a moment, then suddenly his fingertips flashed with divine power, and he plucked a fresh flower of the red spider lily out of thin air, using its sharp flower stem to pierce through the wound on his earlobe!
Blood gushed out immediately, and the blood-red petals stuck in the black hair, gave off a surreal beauty. The next moment, the petals suddenly turned into a halo-like light mist, layer upon layer enveloping Xuan Jinghe’s body; the powerful divine power forcibly pushed back the corrupt blood that was about to spread throughout his body, concentrating it at the wound on his right wrist.
Qu Xie drew a cold light with the dagger, cutting off the decayed flesh and blood from his wrist!
Black blood splattered on the ground as Xuan Jinghe’s upper body almost arched backward. Without mercy, Qu Xian pressed him back into his arms. Soon after, fresh blood quickly surged out, pooling into a puddle of crimson beside Xuan Jinghe’s hand.
This was because the corpse poison had been completely drained.
“…”
Xuan Jinghe slightly opened his eyes, but the terrifying fever prevented him from staying awake. In his struggle to speak, Qu Xie gently covered his eyes with the palm of his hand.
“It hasn’t started yet,” he spoke with a chilling tenderness in his tone, “Just sleep.”
As if consciousness was being dragged into an abyss by countless cold hands, Xuan Jinghe’s mind grew dim, and he closed his eyelids.
Qu Xie stood up, cradling Xuan Jinghe horizontally in his arms, and tore open a shimmering black crack in the void, stepping into it with a lift of his foot.
Beyond the crack in space-time was the deafening roar of the underworld, with a blood-gray sky pressing heavily overhead, the so-called underworld — the Guiyuan.
An endless sea of blood occupied the entire field of vision, with a long pontoon bridge extending forward from under Qu Xie’s feet, as if a sharp sword divided the sea into two halves. At the far end of the pontoon bridge was a towering palace, with winding corridors and towering eaves, resembling a black mountain peak standing under the sky, the only awe-inspiring miracle in this vast world.
Humming a cheerful tune, Qu Xie carried the unconscious Xuan Jinghe in his arms, crossing the sea of blood along the pontoon bridge, with the clogs making a clacking sound amidst the towering waves.
Countless demonic birds and beasts gathered from all directions, flapping their bone wings and circling above the two, occasionally extending their long beaks to peek at the Iron Sect Master of the human realm who had mistakenly entered the Guiyuan. At this moment, a long roar sounded from afar, as a thousand-foot-long dragon broke through the clouds, swooping down from the sky with its blood-red hollow eyes fixed firmly on Xuan Jinghe, seeming extremely interested.
This was an ancient dragon long turned to bones, because it was too huge. When the young Gong Wei diligently came down to the Guiyuan to rescue lost souls, he accidentally encountered it and was frightened to tears on the spot, crying all the way back to the heavenly realm. Qu Xie found it interesting, so he treated the dead dragon as a pet and raised it above the palace.
“Not for you.” Qu Xie seemed to be in a very good mood, waving his hand to push away the huge and ferocious dragon head, and said with a smile, “Tonight is our wedding night, so don’t disturb us. Go away!”
The dragon was pushed away by him, rolling along the sea and stirring up thousand-foot blood waves. Reluctantly, it let out a long howl and swam back into the leaden-gray clouds.
The twelve palace gates opened in succession, then closed layer by layer behind Qu Xie, and the majestic palace lit up with the light of night pearls.
Countless gauzy curtains fluttered with the footsteps of the Ghost Crown Prince, leading to a spacious obsidian bed. Xuan Jinghe struggled between half-dream and half-wakefulness, feeling as if he was lying in the clouds, but no matter how much he tried to wake up, he could only fall deeper into the darkness.
Qu Xie sat on the edge of the bed, looking at him with interest from top to bottom, examining the painful face before him.
“Isn’t it customary in the human realm to exchange wedding births?” He played with Xuan Jinghe’s sideburns, seeming to find it quite amusing, “But I don’t have a birthdate. As for yours, I’ll take it myself.” He lightly touched Xuan Jinghe’s slightly furrowed brow with two fingers, and a circle of blood-red divine light spread out, intersecting in the void to form a complex natal chart.
“Oh—” Qu Xie elongated his tone in surprise, “It’s really bad.”
Xuan Jinghe’s eight characters was quite interesting. He was destined to have no descendants, with conflicts with his parents, spouse, and friends, and was unable to survive. Such a fate usually meant he couldn’t cultivate immortality, as it was too easy to go astray, but he happened to have a deep affinity for immortality, and his determination was terrifying. He even broke through the immortalization realm, just a step away from ascension, a feat achieved by only a handful of people in the world.
“It’s no use; this kind of eight character is doomed not to ascend.” Qu Xie’s tone carried a hint of condescending pity, one hand embracing Xuan Jinghe in his arms, while the other lightly rotated the suspended giant life chart. “If you could truly become a deity, I would be in trouble… Hm?”
He paused, squinting his eyes, “There’s a blood light in your fate, indicating a great disaster?”
For a rare Grandmaster of the immortalization realm, what major disaster could be in his fate? Could it be annihilation?
No, even if he really died, the Ghost Crown Prince had countless ways to bring back his soul.
Qu Xie wanted to take a closer look at what that disaster was, but the life chart was extremely intricate and complex, and with the beauty by his side, he didn’t have much mind to calculate it. He lowered his head and gently bit Xuan Jinghe’s cold earlobe with his canine teeth, affectionately saying, “Could that great disaster be meeting me?”
Xuan Jinghe’s brow unconsciously furrowed tighter. He was running a high fever, and his body temperature was rising, emitting an even stronger scent of lotus from the half-opened clothes.
Qu Xie watched him without blinking, recalling how he was protected by him when they opened the coffin in the hunter’s house, a teasing yet fond feeling rising in his heart. Suddenly, he lifted his hand, a flourish of his fingers, and instantly, countless gauzy curtains in the hall turned into a uniform crimson, floating and flying up, as if there was a grand red wedding feast at the yellow springs. Amidst the festive atmosphere, he pressed Xuan Jinghe down into the bedding, pinching his chin, his voice smiling and sweet, “Even if you die ten thousand times, from the heights of the sky to the depths of the Yellow Springs, I can still bring you back. Do you believe it?”
Xuan Jinghe was pressed down, his breathing becoming rapid, his brow furrowing even tighter.
“Oh, it seems you don’t believe it,” Qu Xie provocatively whispered.
“…”
As if entangled by countless nightmares, Xuan Jinghe opened his mouth, but couldn’t make a sound.
Qu Xie said, “It doesn’t matter if you don’t believe it.”
He reached out, and a divine light flashed on the White Jade Reincarnation Platform thousands of miles away. Then, a palm-sized mirror appeared between the bed curtains of the palace out of thin air, with a smooth and misty surface, and a few blood-red characters engraved at the bottom corner — Three Thousand Worlds.
This was a divine artifact that had been placed above the reincarnation wheel since ancient times. When mortals smeared it with blood, they could see their own situation three thousand years later.
This so-called divine artifact was naturally of little use to Qu Xian, a natural-born deity. However, now that Xuancheng was involved, he became interested. He casually pinched Xuancheng’s chilly and slender earlobe, smearing the fresh blood onto the surface of the mirror. Almost in that instant, the bloodstains were absorbed completely by the mirror, and the swirling mist cleared away. The mirror surface became clear and transparent, reflecting a clear image.
—The background was deep and dark, confirming that they were still in the Guiyuan.
“Oh, just as I suspected,” Qu Xian raised an eyebrow, a hint of malice and wickedness flickering between his beautiful brows, “Three thousand years later, you’re still…”
His words abruptly halted.
The scene depicted Xuan Jinghe sitting upright on the ground, shoulders back, waist tightly bound, giving him a slim figure. His three-layered robes were meticulously arranged, with the wide white satin sleeves flowing like water on the ground. His beautiful face showed no change despite the long three thousand years, and the calm and aloofness between his eyebrows and eyes remained as usual. However, there was an unmistakable breath of godhead in his soul —
He had become a deity!
He had ascended to godhood!
How could he ascend?! And why would he descend to the underworld after becoming a god?!
At this moment, the scene in the mirror changed, and Qu Xie saw an even more unbelievable scene.
A yellowish barrier stood in front of the Xuan Jinghe three thousand years later, which was the chaotic seal at the deepest part of the Yellow Springs, but it wasn’t meant to imprison Xuan Jinghe — Within the yellowish seal, a very familiar figure sat cross-legged in a lazy manner. It seemed bored, perhaps because it was forced to listen to the monotonous preaching, one hand playing with the tassel of the scabbard, the other supporting the chin, with malicious eyes locked tightly on Xuan Jinghe’s indifferent face.
On the bed, the Ghost Crown Prince clenched the wrist of Xuan Jinghe beside him with five fingers, veins bulging from the force, but he couldn’t tear his gaze away from the mirror.
— He saw himself.
Three thousand years later, he saw himself, forced to submit under the rule of the Western Boundary god Xuan Jinghe.
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